All the Impossible Things

by Lindsay Lackey

Maud Hart Lovelace nominee 2022-23

Published: 2019

Genre: YA realistic fiction with some supernatural elements

Red (Ruby) is in foster care. It's time to change to a new house and she is simply counting down the days until her mother is out of jail and she can return to live with her.

But Jackson and Celine Groove are different. And they welcome Red with patience, gentleness, and the animals of the Groovy petting zoo. Tuck the tortoise becomes Red's special friend.

I loved the characters in this book! Celine and Jackson are fantastic and give Red room to be herself. Marvin is quirky and delightful. I love that the animals have literary names.

The supernatural aspect is that Red (and her mother) have the ability to control the wind and weather. Red's Gamma could "dance things to life." Celine can make the stars sing.

The realistic elements are stronger than the supernatural, though, and the author makes a great statement at the end about how sometimes young people's emotions are bigger than they can deal with - like a huge storm brewing. Actually, her entire Author's Note is worth reading!

Page 177: ""She thought of The Mom's three boys, how much they'd hated her. Bio kids had a way of making parents change their minds about being fosters."

This made me think about when Louie and I had talked about adoption. We weren't sure if it would be fair to our bio children to bring in other kids who might need more of our time, energy, and attention . . . Obviously a moot point now.

Chapter 46 (starting on page 268) - I'm amazed at how Marvin has a sense of storytelling in planning out one of his videos. It's pretty cool how he explains to Red what they need to do to make an effective video by using the analogy of a dog rescue video.

Page 333 (and once earlier) - each time the pills that Red's mom Wanda is addicted to get dumped in the sink and washed away, I cringe! Pills should NOT be put into the water system! This is terrible and can be detrimental to the health of an entire ecosystem! I'm so glad it's super easy to get them to a drop box in real life so they can be disposed of properly. I get what the author and characters were trying to do, but I don't like reading about medications being put into the water system.

Page 355: "I was sad. My rage was spent, but my grief wasn't. Grief isn't like anger. Anger can burn out. It can be released. But grief is something that becomes a part of you. And you either grow comfortable with it and learn how to live your life in a new way, or you get stuck in it, and it destroys you."

Celine is amazing! I love that she was able to listen to Red and encourage her.

Page 367: "Red would never forget what losing Gamma had been like. It was a sadness that would stay with her forever. Watching Celine go through surgery and chemotherapy and everything else would be hard. Red knew that. But it would be impossible - for both of them - if they didn't have each other."

Sorry for the spoiler! This is a really good book. Read it. I hope this author is going to write more. For a debut novel, this has a lot of heart and finesse.

Brave Like That

 by Lindsey Stoddard

Libby eBook 419 pages

Published: 2020

Genre: YA realistic fiction

Maud Hart Lovelace nominee 2022-23

There are things I liked about this book, but I had to push myself to read it. Perhaps it just wasn't the right book at the right time for me. Ironic that it didn't resonate strongly for me, but I highlighted a lot of passages!

Firefighters, football, music, a grandma with a stroke, adoption, stray pup, peer groups, middle school, kindness, . . . this book had a lot of themes and topics!

I like that Cyrus was adopted by Brooks Olson, firefighter, after being abandoned on the firehouse steps. 

Chapter 3: "No one knows that, except for the pictures, I can't even read two pages of that playbook and keep the words in my brain long enough to understand them all together. Because that's a secret, and I guess I'm actually kind of a star at keeping it that way. I made it all the way to the sixth grade without anyone finding out."

It's always so sad to me when people can't read / comprehend writing. And it's worse when they have developed workarounds so that people around them don't know and don't help them. 

Chapter 3: "I take off my helmet so I can get a real sip of water, and I pop in an orange slice too. It tastes so good, and if football were all huddles and halftime breaks, talking about the game and the plays, and eating fruit, I'd probably be MVP."

It was hard to see how much Cyrus didn't want to play football when there were so many pressures on him to participate.

Chapter 7: "Even though I've never straight-out lied to Dad and I'm starting to get that uneasy feeling in my stomach, I keep walking toward the door . . . " 

Trust the gut! Lying just drags you down and makes you feel worse!

Chapter 7 - when the "7" - kids walking dogs from the Humane Society in the woods breathe in deeply and chime, "Cheerios!" It made me laugh. I love the smell of the Malt-O-Meal plant when I'm in Northfield! Some of the setting details were delightful because I know and like Northfield. The author did a great job with this.

Chapter 8: "Both times I was pretty good at walking the other way and pretending I didn't know them or what was going on. It left that feeling in my stomach, though, to know that they were doing something bad and even though I wasn't a part of it, I kind of was."

Cyrus is describing a couple of times his childhood friends Marcus and Shane had done something wrong. Their negative behaviors definitely escalate over the course of the story and cause Cyrus to need to take a stand for what he believes in.

Throughout the story, Cyrus struggles with his true thoughts and feelings versus what he thinks his dad, teachers, and peers expect of him. His lies to his dad snowball until he's ready to burst.

Chapter 19: ". . .I'm wondering if maybe the older you get the less you care if others think you look funny or not."

For many of us, that's true. I love Cy's grandma and the connection the two of them share. Her stroke has impaired her, but they communicate simply. 

Overall, it's a really good story. I think Cyrus standing up for Eduardo (and getting to keep Parker) are my favorite parts. 

I did write down the titles of the books that Cy's English teacher read to the class, but now I can't find where I wrote them down . . . grr.

 ???

Calvin Can't Fly by Jennifer Berne

Oliver Button Is a Sissy by Tomie diPaolo

Red: A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall

Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson 

I'd like to get these books and read them. (As of 2/6/23, I've read the first two. I may or may not track down the other two. I do find it interesting and often helpful to use picture books in working with teens. They're short and give ample opportunities to discuss concepts.)

City Spies

by James Ponti

Maud Hart Lovelace 2022-23 award nominee

Libby eBook (pages depends on device and size of font!)

Published: 2020

Genre: YA spy fiction

 

This was a delightful read. Sara Martinez is in family court because her plan to expose her foster parents' fraud has backfired on her. She is rescued by "Mother," the man who leads the special spy group of kids as part of MI6. Each kid is renamed based on their city of origin, so Sara becomes Brooklyn. She joins Paris, Rio, Sydney, and Kat (Kathmandu).  

 

Not sure which chapter, but I highlighted this:

"'You're amazing, Kat,' Paris said. 'Absolutely amazing.'

'Maths is amazing, ' Kat said. 'I just know how to use it.'"

The book is lively, action-oriented, and like most kid spy stories, completely unrealistic! But it is a delightful story of talented youngsters working together and appreciating one another's strengths. Also, the back story of Mother trying to find his children after being double-crossed by his wife . . . that is a very interesting story that will certainly need to be revisited in future books. I love that she is the one who came to the rescue at a critical juncture. 

In chapter 34, I highlighted an inconsequential line because it made me smile. "He loved to bake, and his specialty was a type of fruit pastry called a kolach, which he made from a recipe passed down from his grandmother."

Kolache! I remember my first few experiences with them. And the delicious ones Gretchen Anderson made for me from her grandmother's recipe! And I had never heard of them before I started working in New Prague.

Not sure when I'll get around to reading the other books in the series, but this was fun.

The Missing Piece of Charlie O'Reilly

Maud Hart Lovelace award nominee 2022-23

by Rebecca K.S. Ansari

Libby eBook

Published: 2019

Genre: YA fantasy, mystery

I confess that I did not enjoy this book. In fact, I had to force myself to read it.

 

Charlie has been insisting that his little brother Liam is missing for a year. Everyone else has forgotten that Liam ever existed. Charlie's friend Ana doesn't remember Liam, but she tries to help Charlie figure out what happened.

 

Strange dreams of a woman named Brona and a house fire in Ireland. Charlie's mom struggling with depression. Baseball assistant coach Jonathan. The mysterious wreck of the old orphanage that burned down.

 

This book was hard for me to get through. Ironically, I had marked some passages but returned the book before making note of them. I think the author tried too hard to make this profound. It didn't work for me, but I'm sure there are readers who will love it. Especially if they've ever thought they wished they'd never been born or think the world would be better without them in it.

 

Add in charmed necklaces that cannot be removed, creepy salt mines with undead 18-year-olds, and a theme of regrets tying you to your own past . . . and you have this book.

 

I think what I liked was the idea that this "utopia" that Brona tried to create meant that injuries faded away, food had no taste, etc. In trying to protect the children from unpleasantness, she made a meaningless "home."

 

Ansari is a first-time author with this book.

 

96 Miles

2022-23 Maud Hart Lovelace nominee

by J.L. Esplin

Libby 245 pages (tablet) 457 pages (phone)

Published: 2020

Genre: realistic suspense, survival

 

Wow! This book was so good! Set in the near future, the protagonist's father has gone out of town for work. When the power goes out (everywhere), John and his brother Stew are well prepared. Their father is a strong believer in preparedness and self-reliance. But when thieves come and steal their water, food, generator, and everything else of value, the two boys must find a way to survive.  

I'm too distracted to blog well, but this is Esplin's first novel. I look forward to reading more of her work! The epilog, author's note, and acknowledgements just made this book all the more rewarding. I love the themes of siblings, survival, what would you do? and more. 

I confess that I would love to know more about HOW the power went out. Was it world-wide? What's the bigger geopolitical story? But for your average middle schooler, there's enough here to keep one turning pages!

Count Me In

by Varsha Bajaj

Libby eBook 192 pages

Published: 2019

Genre: YA realistic fiction

2022-23 Maud Hart Lovelace nominee

I enjoyed this book for the most part. It focuses on Karina and her neighbor Chris. Karina's grandfather is Indian and the three of them are walking together after school one day when they are attacked by a racist. The incident shakes up the two youngsters and lands grandpa in the hospital. Karina's love of photography and online posts quickly go viral. #CountMeIn, #WeBelong, #IAmAmerican, and other hashtags catch on in her community.

"I typically have my nose in a book, because I have a genetic flaw that does not allow me to catch, throw, or whack a round object. Also, I don't want to be laughed at." (Chapter 1)

I could so relate to Karina's observations at that stage of life!

"It's cool to think about stuff bigger than ourselves." (Chapter 8)

As Karina and Chris develop an actual friendship, it's nice that they can get past stereotypes and talk about things that are more significant. I love this about kids' transition in middle school - they're stretching their thinking.

"Are we (safe), though?We thought we were safe a few hours ago, when we were innocently walking to our car, reciting rhymes from an old picture book. I hear the hurtful words that were flung at us. That man is still out there in the world. How can we be safe?" (Chapter 11)

It is heartbreaking when a terrible incident robs someone (especially a young person) of their feelings of security. 

"I remind myself that all brown people are not terrorists and that all people with blue eyes are not mean haters." (Chapter 11)

"Like Mr. C says, you have to be able to imagine a better world to make it a reality."

Chris' relationship with Karina's grandpa (Mr. C) was one of my favorite parts of the book. The math tutoring was good for both of them!

"Dear Karina, You may not know who G.K. Chesterton was, but he said, 'We are all in the same boat upon a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.' I am here for you, Amelia Trotter." (Chapter 18)

I love her teacher's words and actions! 

"It means that I cannot be quiet anymore. Count on me to speak up." (Chapter 25)

 

The social media / going viral / hashtags part was anticlimactic for me. I shouldn't have waited so long between finishing it and blogging this. I enjoyed it but it wasn't one that really stuck with me. This book would be a really fantastic discussion book. I'd be curious to hear a group of students talk about it.

Leepike Ridge

by N.D. Wilson
PRMS paperback 224 pages

Tom doesn't like his mom's boyfriend. When he rides a large styrofoam "raft" on the river, he actually falls asleep and ends up sucked under a ridge into the mountain. Missing and presumed dead, Tom just wants to survive. First he lands on a beach-type area with a dead body. After locating the dead man's helmet, he begins to explore.

Filled with adventure, danger, and a little bit of mystery, this book kept me wanting to find out what happened.

Some of the passages were odd . . . like the author's opening on "onces."

Rules

by Cynthia Lord
PRMS paperback 200 pages

I'm glad I finally read this! I like the story of Catherine and her struggle to have a "normal" life, though her brother David has autism and affects her daily existence. Funny, sweet, and touching, this book centers on Catherine's desire to have a friend over the summer while her best friend is staying with her father in California. Between Kristi, Jason, Ryan, and her own family, Catherine is caught between doing what she wants and doing what's right.

Added 2/21/13 (initial post of 11/29/09)
I re-read it to prepare for the 7th grade book club discussion. It's such a lovely little book. Catherine is a bit young to be so agitated by her brother's challenging behavior, but her friendship with Jason truly brings out the best in her (ultimately). Kristi is the new neighbor Catherine hopes to befriend. Ryan is the mean neighbor boy who clearly likes Kristi. Jason is in a wheelchair and cannot talk. His book of words (to point to) becomes a crucial part of the story as Catherine uses her artistic talent to make new word cards for him. The author's notes at the end were interesting.

Home of the Brave

by Katherine Applegate
PRMS paperback, 253 pages

Written in prose poetry, this book was very thought-provoking. Kek is a refuge from Sudan. When he comes to Minnesota to live with his cousin and aunt, there is so much he doesn't understand about his new home. But when he asks Lou if he can work for her, taking care of her cow, he knows just what he's doing.

One of the MHL nominees, I don't really see many kids getting into this book. I really liked it, though. It gives another great look into an immigrant's perspective. It would be interesting to do a book club with this and La Linnea.

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

by Ally Carter
Hennepin County Library, paperback, 284 pages

This is another title that I enjoyed less than I expected. Callie is a student at a private spy school. While in town on a mission, she meets a regular boy and is drawn to him. He cannot know who she really is or what goes on at Gallagher Academy.

There were elements of this story that I really enjoyed, like the students have an assigned language (out of the 14 that they learn) for mealtime conversations and some of the James Bond-type gadgets that they use. But I thought the character development was stilted, especially Macey going from bad-girl to . . . just another girl.

Will I read the sequel? Not sure.