Empire of Storms

Throne of Glass book 5
by Sarah J. Maas
Hennepin County Library hardcover 689 pages
genre: YA fantasy

Arg! Once again, I read a book in this series even though I do NOT love her writing style. And once again, I want to read the next book in the series to find out what happens!

Don't like:

• how the characters don't seem consistent in their own storylines from one book to another
• assumptions / jumps being made . . . or perhaps I'm not reading carefully enough to follow nuances
• choppy plot development
• references to long-dead rulers, various gods, etc. Who ARE these people?!
• overdone sex scenes . . . but if I were a sixteen-year-old, these probably would have been my favorite parts

Like:
Obviously, the characters have some resonance with me as a reader, since I want to find out what happens to them. Elide, Aelin, Rowan, Manon, Dorian, Chaol . . . and so many others.
I like how the battles turned out. And I like Aelin's sauciness.

I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives

by Caitlin Alifirenka & Martin Ganda, with Liz Welch
Hennepin County Library hardcover 392 pages
genre: non-fiction, memoir(ish)

Caitlin wrote a pen pal letter in 1997 as a seventh grader. She chose Zimbabwe. Martin Ganda received her letter and responded. Over the years, the two young people growing up a world apart. Caitlin slowly realized that her world was wealthy and shallow; Martin struggled to stay in school and have enough food to eat. A top student, he had many people encouraging him, but was so incredibly poor that survival was a priority. The gifts that Caitlin and later, her parents, sent truly made a significant difference for Martin and his family.

What an amazing book! I don't know where I saw the recommendation, but I'm so incredibly glad I read this book. I would love for my students to learn what Caitlin learned . . . and I love the photographs and the happy ending!

Seedfolks

by Paul Fleischman
PRMS paperback 102 pages (including the author's notes)
genre: YA realistic fiction

I don't remember why we picked this for book club . . . but I'm glad. It was a re-read for me and I really enjoyed it and the many positive messages in it. The kids mostly responded well to it, but they disliked the lack of resolution. I didn't realize / forgot that the author is Sid Fleischman's son. I get the two of them mixed up. This is a lovely book about people and a neighborhood garden that brings them together. The author purposely picked Cleveland for the setting and included lots of immigrants. Wonderful, short book (unless examining plot is your main goal . . . ).

Scythe

by Neal Shusterman
Hennepin County Library hardcover 435 pages
genre: YA SciFi

Oh my word. I don't remember where I heard about this book, but I think it is Shusterman's best ever. I'm not sure I can give a fair summary, so look for that on Amazon. This book was both horrible (I had to put it down, because it is very dark in places) and wonderful (offering insights on morals, philosophy, history, culture) in the guise of a new book for teens. Amazing!!!

Page 53 describes the Thunderhead. "The greatest achievement of the human race was not conquering death. It was ending government." That made me laugh. I would quote more of that passage here, but I'll just tell you to read the book. (The Thunderhead is what today's "cloud" becomes with AI.)

Page 82 ". . . he could tell it was in fine penmanship. It figures she would take penmanship in school. It was one of those classes people took just to be superior. Like Latin." Interesting observation. Taking classes to be superior to others who lack that knowledge or ability.

Page 85 I need to include this entire page. No commentary, except that I'm glad I have faith in God and His plan for eternity.

Page 118 Another journal entry from Honorable Scythe Curie. A passage on religion and the tone cults. I really would love to discuss this book with another reader! Also, I appreciate the scythes taking a name of a Patron Historic. The names were a really interesting part of the story.

Page 235 (Citra) "She resolved not to feel guilty about that. She'd had more than her share of guilt. 'Guilt is the idiot cousin of remorse,' Scythe Faraday had been fond of saying." Yes! Guilt is an idiot cousin and a waste of time.

page 262 From the gleaning journal of H.S. Prometheus - "Human nature is both predictable and mysterious; prone to great and sudden advances, yet still mired in despicable self-interest." Truly, this book has some amazing gems.

page 339 "The idea of truly wishing to end one's own life is a concept completely foreign to most post-mortals, because we can't experience the level of pain and despair that so seasoned the Age of Mortality. Our emo-nanites prevent us from plunging so deep." The nanites in the bloodstream that dull pain, heal, and do other health maintenance are an intriguing concept. Immortality is not something that I think human beings will ever attain on this planet, but as a future innovation in biomedical technology, some of this stuff might be prophetic (like some of the predictions in 1984).

Page 388 Another page contemplating religion and prayer, this time from Faraday's journal.

Page 433 I don't want to include a spoiler, so I'll just say I smiled like crazy when I read this page. If this book doesn't sound that fascinating, I'll just say that Citra and Rowan are two young people who could overpower Katniss Everdeen in a heartbeat. (And I *love* the Hunger Games series.) I MUST buy this book for PRMS and my avid readers. The violence is intense, but the story is amazing.

One irritating thing that I find more and more when I read new books . . . typos! Seriously?! What ever happened to proofreaders? I didn't mark the pages, but it really irked me. How do these get through the publishing process? Here's a new one for me:


(How do you spell "you" with a comma???)

Note added 2019.01.13: I re-read this blog entry when I saw that it had over 100 views. I laughed at myself when I saw an error (now fixed) in the place where I wrote about page 339. (I had "out" instead of "our.")  Then I got to this last note on proofreading and laughed at my own arrogance and carelessness! Sigh. I am only mortal, after all.

Uncommon Learning: Creating Schools That Work for Kids

by Eric C. Sheninger
Colleague's copy, paperback 194 pages plus appendices
genre: non-fiction education

I am not ready to review this book, but it confirms for me that I need to not be teaching at PRMS any more. The goals are lofty and some of the paradigm shifts are overdue. But children are still children and I'm not convinced that the majority of our students are mature enough to be "in charge" of their own learning. Student-centered education has not looked like the ideals put forth in this book, in my experience. I scanned the chapter on MakerSpaces (which is why the book was loaned to me) and it broke my heart. Clearly, I am the crusty old professional they wish to be rid of and I hope they can replace me with the dynamic young thing they're looking for.

Ten Days a Madwoman

by Deborah Noyes
Hennepin County Library hardcover 122 pages
genre: YA non-fiction, history

This story about Nellie Bly was fascinating! From helping students with this as a History Day topic, I was aware of her going "undercover" at an insane asylum. I did not realize, though, that she had a drive and perseverance that was unusual for her time. She had a tough life and was determined to take care of her mother and siblings.

I liked best her trip around the world - a "stunt" to increase readership - and her meeting with Jules Verne and Mrs. Verne in France. From page 92: "In Chicago, a cable that had missed her in San Francisco caught up with her: 'M. and Mme. Jules Verne address their sincere felicitations to Miss Nellie Bly at the moment when that intrepid young lady sets foot on the soil of America.' (The great writer was probably doubly pleased with Nellie in that she brought fresh publicity to his novel: Around the World in Eighty Days was reissued in more than ten new editions in France before Nellie even completed her journey.)"

I liked least the double-blue pages that focused on a story from Nellie's life. They seemed out-of-place in the middle of chapters where they didn't make chronological sense. Overall, though, this was a wonderful non-fiction book about an extraordinary young woman. I learned a lot!

Snow White

by Matt Phelan
Hennepin County Library hard cover unpaged
genre: YA graphic novel fairy tale

This is Snow White retold as a tale of the Great Depression. It is beautiful and has very little text. The "seven little men" are street urchin boys. The story is effective and worth owning (for my personal collection) but I won't buy it for school. I simply don't have enough budget and the story is told almost exclusively through images.

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy

by Jeanne Birdsall
Hennepin County Library audiobook 6 discs
read by Susan Denaker
genre: children's realistic fiction

When this won a National Book Award for Children's Literature, I heard lots of comments about the cover art being off-putting to readers. "The story is much better than the cover art leads you to believe." I've long been meaning to read this to find out for myself, so the audiobook was a perfect chance to do just that. (I clearly spend too many hours in my car!)

Denaker did a great job with the vocal work! The story is about four sisters - Rosalind (12), Skye (11), Jane (10) and Batty (4). Their mother did of cancer two weeks after Batty (Elizabeth, like her mother) was born. The thing that made me crazy throughout this book was that dad was off in his own world for the most part. Rosalind was the parent for her siblings! I know that the freedom the kids had was part of the plot, but it bugged me so much that she was setting limits, giving permission (or denying it), and generally acting as a parent. A twelve-year-old shouldn't have to do this!

The Penderwick family has rented a cottage for the summer. The cottage is at the back of the Arundel property, owned by Mrs. Tiften, a serious piece of work. Her son Jeffery becomes friends with the Penderwick girls (against his mother's wishes) and the five kids have adventures and fun.

Cagney is the handsome teen "garden boy" who works on Arundel's extensive gardens. He had learned from his uncle, who held the job before him until he died. Churchie (Mrs. Churchill) is the housekeeper and Harry the Tomato Man are the other main characters. Oh, and Dexter Dupree is Mrs. Tiften's nasty boyfriend / fiance.

There are four more books in the series. I won't read them. But I can enthusiastically recommend this title to my more innocent, capable readers. It's hard when they're excellent readers, but not ready for more mature content. This book has plenty to interest them.

How to Say Goodbye in Robot

by Natalie Standiford
PRMS hardcover 276 pages
genre: YA realistic

This book came to my attention when a sixth grader returned it and my paraprofessional left me a note. "She was upset by the swear words and sex talk in the book." Since I was unfamiliar with this author or this story, I checked it out and added it to my ginormous reading pile.

It was pretty mild in terms of content (and in relation to some of the other titles in my collection), but it's definitely not a sixth grade book. The blurb on the inside cover doesn't really get at the heart of the story, either, which is probably part of the problem.

Bea is new in town, living with mom (and her increasingly bizarre behaviors) and dad, a college professor who has moved them many times over Bea's life. Bea meets Anne Sweeney on her first day at Canton High School. Anne is one of the popular people, but she welcomes Bea and is kind . . . until she mentions Jonah Tate aka "Ghost Boy" and the funeral they had for him as a joke a few years back. Some joke. Jonah's twin brother perished in the same car accident that killed his mom, back when the twins were little kids.

To me, this is a story about kids who don't fit into the "norm" for whatever the reason. They see the world and themselves differently. Call them freaks, misfits, oddballs . . . or teens who are just trying to figure out their place in the world differently from their peers. It was beautiful and sad, but mostly unfulfilling to me (because of how the story ends). Now that I've read it, I know better which kind of reader to recommend it to!

The AM night radio program (and the people on it) were the neatest part of this story!

Ghosts

by Raina Telgemeier
PRMS paperback 240 pages
genre: YA graphic novel, supernatural layered on realistic

Wow! Another fabulous book by Telgemeier! In this story, the family is moving because Maya has cystic fibrosis and will benefit from a different climate. Older sister Catrina loves Maya and understands the move, but she isn't happy about leaving her home and her friends.

I just decided that I don't feel like blogging any more of this. It's a wonderful story, though I'm not typically a "day of the dead" / ghosts / celebrating with skeletons kind of gal. Telgemeier makes it work. I can think of many of my readers who will love this book and want to visit the town in Northern California to visit with ghosts themselves! (Though I'm pretty sure that Bahia de la Luna is a fictional town.)

Camp Midnight

by Steven T. Seagle and Jason Adam Katzenstein
PRMS paperback 244 pages
genre: YA graphic novel, supernatural

I don't love their artwork style, but I definitely enjoyed the storyline. Skye is supposed to be spending the summer with her dad and stepmom, but they send her off to camp. Camp Midnight is bizarre and the campers . . . all have their secrets. Skye is a dramatic but realistic character and her choices over the course of the summer show her maturing but still a kid. Delightful!

Linda Dierks gifted this to me from her Scholastic Book Fair.

The Fourteenth Goldfish

by Jennifer L. Holm
Hennepin County Library audiobook 3 CDs
read by Georgette Perna
genre: children's fiction, mostly realistic with a dab of SciFi

The "dab" of SciFi is that the protagonist's grandpa has developed a way to reverse aging. His thirteen-year-old self with his seventy-six year old brain, experiences, and attitude make eleven-year-old Ellie do some growing up of her own.

From notes I jotted at stoplights:

The narrator did a great job, but her voice sounded soooo young! It was a bit disconcerting at first.

Why would Ellie's mom keep replacing her goldfish? The teacher emphasized the point of the project / lesson was to learn about death.

Short chapters / fifth grader - fits the upper elementary reader this is intended for.
Science and scientists - I love the way the grandpa piques Ellie's curiosity and gets her researching just for the sake of knowing more.

I had to laugh when grandpa got detention. His comments were funny, even though I can't remember them.

A lot of discussion material on aging, teens, families, communication . . .

Grandpa is a cranky old man, always complaining. Gee - where have I experienced this scenario?