Tag Archive | stepfamily

V is for her very disastrous Valentine’s Day, on repeat! THE DO-OVER, by Lynn Painter (YA book review) #A2Z

Girl in blue van crashes back of red truck driven by boy. Second crash, he comforts her. Third crash, they stand apart. Book cover of The Do-Over, by Lynn Painter. Simon & Schuster.

Determined, organized,
people-pleaser –
now what’s all this!?

Her perfect Valentine’s Day plan gets a jolt when Emilie rear-ends her aloof lab partner’s truck, is told that her summer fellowship fell through, and sees her boyfriend kissing his ex!

This is not on her agenda at all: her divorced parents will be furious about the wreck, she needs that fellowship to pay for college, and how could Josh even do that to her?

Escaping to Grandma Max’s after more bad news from Dad, the high school junior turns in early so this horrible day can finally be over… and wakes up in her own bed on Valentine’s morning!

Her van is fine…until she rear-ends Nick’s truck again. Then she loses the fellowship again, and Josh is kissing Macy again… what is going on?

Next morning is Valentine’s Day yet again, and then the next is, too! Does the universe want her to change something to get out of this time loop?

On every repeated February 14th, she gets to know Nick a little better, but he doesn’t remember the next morning (also Feb. 14).

Different outfit, drive another route to school, talk her way back into the summer program, stop Josh from being alone with Macy, talk her way back into the summer program, convince Dad not to move – what else should she try?

Time for ultra-organized Emilie to go way off-script!

What single day would you want a do-over for?
**kmm

Book info: The Do-Over / Lynn Painter. Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, hardcover 2022, paperback 2023. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

L is LUMINOUS LIFE OF LUCY LANDRY: orphan, treasure seeker, by Anna Rose Johnson (MG book review) #A2Z

book cover of The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry, by Anna Rose Johnson. Published by Holiday House/PRH

Mama the actress died, then Papa,
now her guardian too –
where will Lucy go?

A remote lighthouse on a tiny island in vast Lake Superior!? Living with a family she’s never met? Thankfully, they’re also of Ojibwe and Acadian heritage…

So 11-year-old Lucy goes to the Martin family in 1912, an only child in hand-me-down clothes with a big imagination and few practical skills now among a bustling family of eight.

They gather seagulls’ eggs for cooking, their school lessons arrive every month with the household supply order and a box of books, and not one of the six children believes that Lucy’s mother was a famous actress…

Her ship-captain father told Lucy of a valuable ruby necklace lost when the Elva Jane shipwrecked and how a grand piano from its cargo washed ashore at Mermaid’s Cove across the water from this island – she’s determined to find that necklace in memory of her father!

But first she has to get over her fear of boats and convince the older Martin children to help her search and not make more mistakes at the lighthouse (that scary inspector could arrive any time).

The necklace’s owner is still living? Perhaps she knows a little more.
Who’s that boy searching for the necklace? Lucy must find it first!
A storm is coming while Mr. Martin is away? The children must light up the lighthouse for sailors’ safety!

Lucy tries to find her place in a new family in northern Michigan while keeping memories of her parents alive in this historical novel touched with mystery, glossary of Ojibwe and French words included.

Could you live on an island with little communication to the outside world?
**kmm

Book info: The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry / Anna Rose Johnson. Holiday House, 2024. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Her talents rejected? ‘Tis A SEASON MOST UNFAIR! by J. Anderson Coats (Middle grade book review)

cover image of A Season Most Unfair / J. Anderson Coats. Atheneum Books for Young Readers | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Candlemaking is hot, stinky work, but Scholastica helps her father render the tallow and twist the wicks and dip the candles until they’re just right. Her loving stepmother can’t have children or bend down with her leg brace, so Tick has worked with Papa since she was tiny.

This year Tick is old enough to mold the Agnus Dei charms for travelers’ safety, using pricy beeswax and expensive paints. The charms sell well at the Stourbridge Fair, and Papa can’t see well enough now to paint their fine details.

So why does Papa think he needs an apprentice?!

Tick doesn’t care that Henry’s father and Papa are friends – how will an inexperienced boy help make enough candles to sell to get them through the bitter winter?

If only she can get some beeswax and make the charms…
If only she can find a way to Stourbridge Fair…
If only she can be sure that Papa still loves her enough…

There are joys among the hardships of living in medieval England, and Tick just wants to do the job that makes her happy!

By the author of The Night Ride, recommended here: https://booksyalove.com/?p=13684

What task did you like to help your family with when you were younger?
**kmm

Book info: A Season Most Unfair / J. Anderson Coats. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2023. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

How friendly is their new-old house in THE TIME OF GREEN MAGIC? by Hilary McKay (MG book review)

book cover of The Time of Green Magic, by Hilary McKay. Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Two families into one.
An old house large enough for all.
Enough love to go around?

Abi had been an only, cherished by Dad Theo and Granny Grace after Mum died when she was a baby.

Now the 11 year old is a middle, squished between 13-year-old Max and grubby hands 6-year-old Louis when Dad marries Polly, and they move into her small house.

The blended family searches and searches for another house to rent, finally deciding on an old, tall house covered with ivy – and room enough for everyone!

With Polly and Theo working more hours to afford the house, Esme is hired to bring Louis home from school, and Max is enraged that his best friend Danny tells everyone that the 18-year-old French art student is his “babysitter” now.

Abi is happy to get back to escaping into books in her own room – so vivid, so real that she can feel the ocean spray in her face as she reads Kon-Tiki.

It isn’t ‘a nowl’ that Louis hears in the ivy, but an invisible friend, a cat-shaped being named Iffen who races up the vines to sleep in his room, who sharpens his mighty claws on the bedside mat, who is hungry.

Could Max finally calm down around Esme?
Is Iffen listen getting larger?
How can Abi see Iffen?!

Perhaps, perhaps the old house’s magic can help their many-parts family become whole.

Did you have an imaginary childhood friend?
**kmm

Book info: The Time of Green Magic / Hilary McKay. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2020, paperback 2021. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

I’m determined, strong, anxious – DON’T CALL ME A HURRICANE, by Ellen Hagan (YA book review)

book cover of Don't Call Me a Hurricane, by Ellen Hagan. Published by Bloomsbury | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Five years since the hurricane,
end of childhood bliss,
more changes ahead…

Eliza’s Italian-American family rebuilt shore-side, but most year-rounders on their New Jersey island sold to developers and moved inland.

Summer before their senior year, Eliza and best friend Isa are lifeguards watching over families and surfers, worrying about the nature preserve being sold, doing what they can as climate activists (maybe going a little too far sometimes).

She usually steers clear of the summer people, but grudgingly agrees to teach city boy Milo how to surf since he’ll be here with dad and stepmom all summer.

Her therapist is trying to help the 17 year old unravel her anxiety about hurricane season, to quiet the litany of climate disaster that keeps Eliza up all night.

Milo wants to help the climate justice group – is he sincere or just trying to get closer to Eliza?

What can they do to save the nature preserve from developers with money, money, money?

Flashbacks to the hurricane’s wrath punctuate this stunning novel-in-verse examining changes and challenges.

How has climate change affected your community?
**kmm

Book info: Don’t Call Me a Hurricane / Ellen Hagan. Bloomsbury, 2022. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Are they cursed by THE GHOST OF SPRUCE POINT? by Nancy Tandon (MG book review)

book cover of The Ghost of Spruce Point, by Nancy Tendon. Published by Aladdin | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Keeping track of the moon in his journal – check.
Learning to moderate his anxious tendencies – sort of check.

June in their remote Maine coastal village means two things to 12-year-old Parker: best friend Frankie arrives from the city to spend her summer, and tourists come to his family’s inn for relaxation and Mom’s incredible cooking.

Frankie is finally here, but the tourists aren’t. Only grumpy neighbor Mrs. Gruvlig would be pleased to have fewer people on Spruce Point – has she reawakened the curse that brought the sailing ship Westward to wreck upon its rocks long ago?

The whole Kids Confidential Meeting – Parker, little sister Bailey, their cousins from across the bay, and Frankie – brainstorm ways to save the inn, like more advertising and Mom leading cooking classes.

Unceasing rain in usually bright June, dangerous-to-touch moths eating all the oak leaves, road to the inn flooding – it must be a curse!

What are those floating green blobs of light in the cove?
Who (or what) is leaving things in the kids’ treehouse?
Why is there a ghost in Mrs. Gruvlig’s yard?

Maybe the sailors who died in the wreck of the Westward are causing the troubles or maybe it’s closer to home!

What’s your favorite ghost story?
**kmm

Book info: The Ghost of Spruce Point / Nancy Tendon. Aladdin / Simon & Schuster, 2022. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Classic tales retold for modern listeners (audiobook recommendations)

Week two of AudioSYNC season brings us re-imagined classic tales.

Download either or both of these professionally produced audiobooks into your Sora shelf by Wednesday- free!

FAQs on getting a Sora free account and the entire AudioSYNC season here.

Now, on to this week’s selections, to read with your ears!

CD cover of The Family Chao, by Lan Samantha Chang | Read by Brian Nishii.
Published by Recorded Books

The Family Chao (free Sora download 5/4-10/23)
by Lan Samantha Chang | Read by Brian Nishii
Published by Recorded Books

After 35 years as restaurant owners, their Wisconsin town still considers the Chao family as outsiders. When the patriarch is found dead, his three sons go on trial for his murder! A retelling of The Brothers Karamazov.

https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/210657/the-family-chao-by-lan-samantha-chang-read-by-brian-nishii/

CD cover of Faraway: Fairy Tales for the Here and Now, by Rainbow Rowell, Nic Stone, Soman Chainani, Ken Liu, Gayle Forman. Published by Brilliance Audio

Faraway: Fairy Tales for the Here and Now (free Sora download 5/4-10/23)
by Rainbow Rowell, Nic Stone, Soman Chainani, Ken Liu, Gayle Forman | Read by Rebecca Lowman, Kate Rudd, Robin Eller, Alexander Cendese, Timothy Andrés Pabon, Andrew Eiden, Michael Crouch, Neil Shah, Fajer Al-Kaisi, Graham Halstead, Jess Nahikian, Frankie Corzo, Josh Bloomberg, Greg Chun, Brian Holden, Kimberly Woods, Ryan Jordan McCarthy
Published by Brilliance Audio

Five modernized fairy tales: “The Prince and the Troll” with the so-captivating voice; “Hazel and Gray” in love in a dangerous forest (Hansel & Gretel with a twisty twist); “The Princess Game” with many suspects interviewed by the police; “The Cleaners” of others’ memories, but not skilled in their replacement; “The Wickeds” as in wicked stepmothers – plural!

https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/193263/faraway-by-rainbow-rowell-nic-stone-soman-chainani-ken-liu-gayle-forman-read-by-rebecca-lowman-kate-rudd/

What audiobooks on the AudioSYNC summer list are you looking forward to most?
**kmm

divider clipart http://www.clipartpanda.com/clipart_images/mondays-throughout-the-day-17164159

Y = Time loop? Time warp? SEE YOU YESTERDAY, by Rachel Lynn Solomon (YA book review) #A2Z

book cover of See You Yesterday, by Rachel Lynn Solomon. Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Just great – her high school nemesis is her new college roommate, and a guy in Physics volunteers her to answer a basic question that she doesn’t know.

Investigative reporting that turned Barrett’s whole high school against her isn’t good enough for the campus newspaper – full stop on her career plans.

Don’t even ask why she’s tagged in every photo of a frat house fire… worst Wednesday ever!

The next morning she wakes up to… Lucie moving in again? The first day of Physics and rude Asian guy and humiliating interview again? What is going on?!?

Somehow, she and Miles (the Japanese guy) are both stuck in a time loop – and he’s been repeating this same day for two months!

As they try over and over again to escape this not-great day, the teens discover commonalities (their Jewish heritage, wanting to tell stories that matter, love of classic movies) and differences (his parents are professors, her mom and soon-to-be stepmom run a stationery shop, she’s fat and he’s not).

Doing good deeds, skipping class, asking a retired professor about theoretical time travel – what’s going to break this cycle?

Or do they want to stay in this one September day forever, together?

Another love story set in Seattle by the author of Today Tonight Tomorrow (I recommended here) and We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This (see more here).

What day in your life would you want to experience on repeat?
**kmm

Book info: See You Yesterday / Rachel Lynn Solomon. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2022. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

G is for Graham, seeking RARE BIRDS, friendship, and answers, by Jeff Miller (MG book review) #A2Z

book cover of Rare Birds, by Jeff Miller. Published by Union Square Kids | recommended on BooksYALove.com

In Mom’s Florida hometown for the summer, waiting…

She and 11-year-old Graham have gone from hospital to hospital as doctors try to fix her heart condition – this is the final stop, the last chance, waiting for a transplant.

They’ll stay with Mom’s long-time friend Dom who stored her keepsakes, like her birding journal, even though his son Nick isn’t keen on sharing a room with Graham.

Graham does make a friend his age in the hospital – Lou knows its ins and outs as she’s there with her dad.

Lou lives near Dom’s house, so during their non-hospital time, they learn to handle a canoe and explore the waterways, looking for the birds in Mom’s journal, finding the places that Mom and his late father went during high school.

Can they sight the rare Snail Kite and win the youth birdspotters’ contest?
Why doesn’t Nick want to help with his dad’s house painting business?
Will Mom’s time in this hospital turn out okay?

Friendship and family, learning new things and making new goals – a summer to make memories.

What’s the most unusual creature you’ve ever seen in the wild?
**kmm

Book info: Rare Birds / Jeff Miller. Union Square Kids, 2023. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Sisters sharing DRIZZLE, DREAMS, AND LOVESTRUCK THINGS, by Maya Prasad (YA book review)

book cover of Drizzle, Dreams, and Lovestruck Things, by Maya Prasad. Published by Hyperion /Disney | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Four sisters,
four seasons,
five chances for love…

For the past decade, the four teen Singh sisters have lived in the Songbird Inn on Orcas Island, where their widowed father met and married Pop as they renovated the old property together. But three years ago, the girls’ beloved stepdad died, before he could see their dream named as “the most romantic inn in America” for its unique seaside weddings.

Nidhi has planned her senior year and beyond in great detail as she will head to pastry school in Paris after graduation, with boyfriend Matt. A tree crashing through her bedroom brings Grayson and construction crew to the inn – how will his secret artistic passions affect her carefully ordered life this fall?

Avani has spent the winter avoiding Francisco after a date mix-up, not so easy when his family supplies produce and goat cheese to the inn daily. Her grief for Pop lingers even as Dad begins seeing Amir, so she decides to revive his beloved Winter Ball in his memory, finding that Francisco’s help can make it happen.

Spring on the is photographer Sirisha’s favorite season, and hosting the Thousand Shores theater troupe at the Inn makes it even better – brown girls, queer girls, stories turned and retold. And beautiful Brie leaves her tongue-tied, even as the young actress tries to help Sirisha find the story that will help her photos win the San Juan Snaps contest.

Queen of Romance – Rani’s deep love of romance novels has helped her twin Avani and her older and younger sisters find happiness this past year. As they prepare for the biggest summer wedding of all, which inn visitor will be her happily ever after – socially-conscious Vikram, fun and sporty Leo, or Raj who didn’t kiss her last summer?

A wonderful year in Washington’s Pacific Northwest with the Singh family as they work through past issues with family still in India, decide what their futures might look like, and host a parade of interesting guests in the beautiful inn that they call home.

Where would you build the best inn ever?
**kmm

Book info: Drizzle, Dreams, and Lovestruck Things / Maya Prasad. Hyperion, 2022. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.