The Night Parade by Kathryn Tanquary

The worst thing that could happen to Saki Yamamoto, 13, is having to spend three days at her grandmother's remote house.  It is the festival of Obon when families return to their homes, visit and clean the graves of their ancestors, and leave offerings so that their spirits may return and visit their relatives for one night.

But all Saki wants is to be in Tokyo with her friends, instead of no where with no cell service to keep in touch with them.  On her first evening, Saki, her parents, brother and grandmother head into the town to watch fireworks.  When Saki manages to sneak away, and head to the only convenience store, she meets four locals who tell her to take them to the graveyard, and then dare her to ring the sacred bell.

What Saki doesn't know is that ring the sacred bell invoked a death curse.  Later that night, Saki is awakened by a spirit fox with four tails, who tells her he is there to help her on her quest and that she must now join the Night Parade, for which they are already late.  The Night Parade is the biggest celebration in the spirit world, a time when they pare homage at the shrine on the mountaintop and lasting three nights.  Now, Saki must visit the shrine in order to break the curse.

But things don't go well for Saki the first night of the Night Parade with the fox, who turns out to be quite a trickster, yet in the morning, she finds herself somehow returned to her bed in her grandmother's house.  There are two more nights left of the Night Parade, and each night Saki finds herself with a different spirit guide (besides the fox, there is a tanuki and a tengu).   But the closer she gets to the shrink on the mountain, the more difficult things become, and Saki is running out of time.  Will she actually manage to get the death curse lifted before it is time to go back to Tokyo?

No one was more surprised than I was about this book.  I really didn't like it at first, thinking I've read so many characters like Saki lately, and as well as her cliché video-playing obsessed brother, the bullies, and the busy almost neglectful parents.  Only the grandmother and another girl Saki's age Maeda stood out (and I kept wondering if the grandmother knows something about the Night Parade).  But it didn't take long to see that this was not going in the usual direction.

Tanquary, who lives in Japan and teaches English there (a kindred soul to my own Kiddo who taught English in China), has cleverly taken Japanese tradition, culture and folklore, mixed it into the life of a contemporary girl and produced a wonderful work of speculative fiction.  I had fun reading The Night Parade and only wished for another night or two.

The good part is that you don't need to know anything about Japanese ctradition, ulture or folklore to appreciate this novel.  What you need to know is there, and while there is a night parade in Japanese folklore, the Hyakki Yagyō (night parade of 100 demons), the one in this novel is only loosely based on it.

One of the things I always look for in a middle grade novel is whether the main character grows, and over the course of The Night Parade, I saw Saki go from a shallow, self-centered, follower just wanting people to see her as "cool" to a caring, thoughtful girl who no longer cares what people think of her because of her adventures in the spirit world.  While Saki might be in a spirit world, there is no magic, and she must meet the challenges presented to her despite the tricksters and other obstacles using her intelligence and reasoning power.  I always like to see that in a character.

The Night Parade is a fun, imaginative novel, not for everyone, but if you like your speculative fiction a little different than the usual, this is for you.

The publisher, Sourcebooks has provided a very useful Educator's Guide to download.

And they have also provided fun Activity Kit for your own Night Parade event.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was an EARC received from NetGalley

It's Monday! What are you reading? Women's History Month: Nonfiction Picture Books

It's Monday! What are you reading? is the original weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, but is now hosted by Kathryn at Book Date.  It's Monday! What are you reading? - from Picture Books to YA is a kidlit focused meme just like the original and is hosted weekly by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers .  The purpose is the same: to recap what you have read and/or reviewed and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. Twitter for #IMWAYR

Elizabeth Started All the Trouble 

by Doreen Rapport, illustrated by Matt Faulkner

Disney-Hyperion, 2016, 40 pages (Age 7+)

The struggle for women's right to vote is a long one, but it is also one that really shows the level courage and determination of those women who were willing to fight for that right.  Beginning with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her Declaration of Sentiments (a rewrite of Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence), Rappaport takes the reader on the very well-written, well-researched and long journey towards women's equality.  Prominent trailblazers like Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony are showcased, but so are some lesser-known but equally important and admirable women like Mary Lyon, founder of Mount Holyoke College (1837), female doctors Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell, who opened their own clinic for women and children when no one else would hire them, and the brave women who participated in the Civil War.  She also includes the states that gave women the vote before it was a federal law (Amendment 19), something I didn't know about.  Faulkner's gouache and ink illustration's add so much more information that, thanks to his own impeccable research,  would have otherwise made this a text heavy picture book.  Back matter includes a list of important women, a timeline, research sources, websites, and Author's Note. 

The important subtext: Women, go out and exercise your hard earned right to vote.  

Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor

by Robert Burleigh, illustrated by Raúl Colón

Simon & Schuster, 2016, 40 pages (Age 7+)

As a child, Marie Tharp loved maps, a love she no doubt learned from her map-making father in the 1930s.  But Marie wanted her own adventure.  It wasn't easy for her.  After graduating from college as a science major, and applying for jobs, she had to deal with gender discrimination because she was a woman.  But Marie found her adventure anyway: mapping the ocean's surface using sound waves. Ultimately, she created a map that proved the hypothesis that the earth's surface is moving due to changes under the sea, and giving rise to the concept of continental drift.  Raúl Colón's watercolor illustrations not only inform the reader about this remarkable woman's work, but they also reflect the changing time period from the 1920s to the 1950s.  Back matter includes more information about Marie Tharp, a Glossary, Bibliography, Internet Link and Things to Wonder About and Do.

Rachel Carson and Her Book That Changed the World

by Laurie Lawlor, illustrated by Laura Beingessner

Holiday House, 2012, 32 pages (Age 7+)

As a young girl, Rachel Carson developed a love and appreciation of nature, so much so, that she studied to become a biologist in college.  Life wasn't always easy for Rachel, who found herself responsible for supporting her mother, her siblings and their children, all living in the same house.  But getting a job as a biologist wasn't easy for a woman and to make ends meet, Rachel took a job writing radio scripts about sea life for the Bureau of Fisheries.  One was so good, her boss suggested she publish it, that lead to a book in 1941, which sadly didn't do well because of the war.  She continued working as a biologist, writing two more books with moderate success.  But more and more, Rachel noticed that chemical spraying to kill insects were killing insects, birds, fish and other animals and made it her mission to inform people.   Rachel's last and most powerful book, Silent Spring,  was published in 1962, causing quite the uproar in the chemical industry, the government and concerned citizens.  Rachel passed away in 1964 after being diagnosed with breast cancer.  Silent Spring was required reading when I was a teenager, and really made me see the world differently.  I always thought of Rachel Carson as one of those women I really looked up to for her independent spirit, and for having the strength of her convictions and never caving to big business.   Beingessner's tempera paint and ink illustrations carry the sense of the outdoors and the natural world that Rachel loved so much. 

The Watcher: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps

written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter

Schwartz & Wade, 2011, 48 pages (Age 5+)

Jane Goodall started watching animals in nature at the tender age of 5 - chickens, birds, cats, horses, whatever was a part of her world.  Reading about Dr. Doolittle and Tarzan instilled the desire to go to Africa and watch apes.  And that is just what Jane did, working and saving money to go to Kenya.  Once there, she was hired by Louis Leakey to watch and study the chimpanzees in Gombe, Tanzania.  At first, watching from a distance, then little by little, the chimps allowed her to get closer until finally one took a banana from her hand.  But while learning their behaviors was interesting, Jane began to realized that her beloved chimps were in danger of becoming extinct because of poaching and kidnapping.  Jane knew she had to leave Gombe, and try to get help for the chimps and the forests that were also being destroyed.  Since than, Jane has dedicated her life to speaking out for the endangered chimps.   This is a perfect picture book for introducing young readers to the importance of animal activism and conservation through Jane Goodall's inspiring work.  Winter's acrylic and pen illustration's capture the seriousness of Jane's work, as well as the playfulness of the chimps she befriended. 

Coretta Scott by Ntozake Shange, illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Katherine Tegan Books, 2009, 32 pages (Age 5+)

Coretta Scott grew up in the segregated south, walking barefoot 5 miles to school in the dark in order to get there on time, left in the dusk of the white-only school bus.  When she grew up and met Martin Luther King, Jr. Coretta knew that here was partner who would work to overturn the Jim Crow laws. Coretta's story is told in emotionally lyrical poetic text, and accompanied by the intensely moving and equally lyrical oil paintings that Kadir Nelson.  Young readers will appreciate Coretta Scott as a woman in her own right, seeing her not just as the wife of a great man. 

Sonia Sotomayor by Barbara Kramer

National Geographic Children's Books, 2016, 48 pages (Age 6+)

Sonia Sotomayor has the distinction of being the first Hispanic Supreme Court judge and the third woman named to the country's highest court.  Sonia grew up in the Bronx, in NYC and worked hard in school.  She was diagnosed with diabetes at age 8, a year later her father passed away and her mother had to support the family,  Sonia knew she wanted to be a judge by age ten, and worked hard in school, never afraid to ask for help when she needed it.  It paid off - Sonia graduated from Princeton and Yale and went on to fight crime in the NYC District Attorney's office.  Sonia accomplished a lot of firsts in her life so far, and kids will really see just how much a courageous, determined woman can accomplish as they read her inspiring biography.

Women Who Changed the World: 50 Amazing Americans

by Laurie Calkhoven, illustrated by Patricia Castelao

Scholastic, 2015, 96 Pages (Age 7+)

From Pocahontas (@1595 - 1617) to Misty Copeland (1982 - present), young readers will discover fifty inspiring American women who made a difference in the world with their achievements in such a wide variety of ways.  This is the kind of book that can be used as a resource, or staring point for a larger project about a particular women or about who was who in a particular field, such as writers, politicians, athletes, entertainers, artists, and humanitarians, to name a few of the areas included.   My only disappointment was not seeing the name Billie Jean King among these esteemed women, since she did do much for women's tennis in the early 1970s and has continued   

That's what I've been reading?  What have you been reading?

Happy Easter

The Mummy Makers of Egypt written and illustrated by Tamara Bower

We don't tend to take mummy's very seriously nowadays, especially not since they have become the stuff of Halloween and horror movies, but in ancient Egypt, mummifying the body of a deceased person of high stature was not only a very serious business, but also a surprisingly complicated and lengthy process.

In her newest book about ancient Egypt, Tamara Bower introduces readers to the embalmers of the Egyptian royal house, Paneb, the "Overseer of Mysteries" and his son Ipy.  Paneb's job was to care for the bodies of Egypt's royal family after they passed away and to "preserve them for eternity.  Ipy was being formally trained to someday take over his father's job.

To help readers understand the embalming process, Bower takes them through the procedure step by step, beginning with the death of Yuya.  Yuya was a nobleman, a respected official and the father of Queen Tiye, and the great grandfather of King Tut.  As Paneb and Ipy begin the embalming process on Yuya body, each stage in the procedure is carefully explained in detail that includes not just what and why certain things are done to the body, but also the religious beliefs and rituals associated with death.  For example, the heart, not the brain, was considered to be the center of intelligence and the house of the soul, so it was to be protected and not to be disturbed while the lungs were removed.  Organs removed from the body were carefully dried and put into jars to accompany the deceased into the afterlife.  Nothing was simply discarded.

Each page of The Mummy Makers of Egypt with beautifully illustrated, done very much in the classic style of ancient Egyptian art, and includes hieroglyphics with translation, examples of the tools used by the embalmers, artifacts of what the deceased would need in the afterlife.  Most of the illustrations run along the bottom of each page, and rather than include explanations of who is who and what is what, Bower simply puts the persons name or occupation in them.  This makes for a lot of white space above and enables the reader to focus more closely on what is being described on each page (click image to enlarge):

Pages 6  and 7- In the court of Osiris, god of the afterlife and judge of the dead, Yuya's heart is
weighed to see if it is light as a feather, or heavy with evil.

If Yuya's heart is light as a feather, he is welcomed into the
Fields of the Blessed.

The back matter for The Mummy Makers of Egypt consists of a map, a Note About the Story by Bower, suggestions for Further Reading, and Yuya's Family Tree.  There are also photographs of the Yuya and his wife taken after their tomb was discovered in 1905 in almost pristine condition.  The tomb had been plundered, but not completely and yielded much information about ancient Egypt.

I have to be honest and say that beyond going through the ancient Egyptian exhibits at museums, I never had a great deal of interest in mummies, but after reading The Mummy Makers of Egypt, my interest is peaked.  I had no idea what went into the embalming process, but I did know that it was kept secret by the embalmers, and passed down verbally to keep it that way.  To this day, the whole process remains a mystery.

The Mummy Makers of Egypt is sure to please young readers, especially those interested in Egyptology, archaeology, and science.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+

This book was purchased for my personal library

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge is a weekly celebration of 

nonfiction books hosted by Alyson Beecher at Kid Lit Frenzy

2015 MG Fiction #Cybils Award Winner: The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands

It's 1665 and Christopher Rowe, 14, is a pretty lucky boy.  The former orphan from Cripplegate Orphanage was picked by apothecary Master Benedict Blackthorn to be his apprentice.  But he is learning how to do more than just make medicinals for the people of London, he's taught Latin and is also begin trained to easily solve puzzles, ciphers and codes.

Master Blackthorn is very pleased with Christopher's work, and has treated him very well.  And in fact, instead of beating him as most other apothecaries would, rather his esteem for Christopher is heightened when he learns that his apprentice is able to decoded the recipe for making gunpowder.  

But now, apothecaries all over London are turning up dead, gruesomely murdered, and Christopher fears for Master Benedict, especially when he is attacked on his way home one night.   Rumor has it that the killings are being done by a group called the Cult of the Archangel, but before Christopher can ask Master Benedict about it, the apothecary suddenly begins yelling at him about a mistake, hits Christopher across the face and sends him on a meaningless errand.  But when Christopher returns, he finds the apothecary shop ransacked, and his master dead.

Confused and crushed by Master Benedict's sudden change in behavior and subsequent death, Christopher finds himself without a home and apprenticeship, and facing a very uncertain future.  But after finding a coded message from his master in the shop's ledger book, the last line of which admonished Christopher to tell no one about it, he is determined to solve Master Benedict's murder, luckily, with the help of his only friend Tom,

One of my guilty pleasures has always been reading Medieval mysteries and this well researched debut novel ranks right up there with the best of them.  Not only that, but it is full of my other guilty pleasure - cryptology.   Mix together a personable, clever main character, a faithful and trustworthy best friend, plus realistic descriptions of London in the mid 1600s, and you have my ideal novel.

The main part of the mystery takes place over six day,s beginning on Thursday, May 28, 1665, Ascension Day to Tuesday, June 2, 1665, The Feast of St. Erasmus, the Protector.  These are an important 6 days, having to do with the restoration of the English monarchy.  The (fictional) Cult of the Archangel rejects the idea of the monarchy and wants the power of God Himself through alchemy and given the deaths of so many apothecaries, would stop at nothing to get it.   This is what Christopher and Tom are up against, and to make matter worse, Christopher is suspected of killing Master Benedict.

While I didn't think the historical part of the novel was explained satisfactorily as the could have been (I had to look up a few things), the codes were and I think any one who enjoys codes will really like that aspect of the novel. But the absolute best part of The Blackthorn Key was that it didn't rely of fantasy to create an gripping, skillfully written novel. (not that's there's anything wrong with speculative fiction, it's just so prevalent in Medieval stories, and realistic fiction is nice for a change).

This is a serious novel but not without some humor.  Tom has a bunch of sisters who seem to be quite taken with Christopher.   And Tom's mother is a Mollie Weasley-type in her kindness towards the orphan Christopher.  Tom's father, so quick to hit children, his own and Christopher, is a good example of how abusive adults were towards children, considering them more a property than human.  And the descriptions of London's streets is so vivid, you can practically smell the stench of garbage and human waste wafting up from the page.

The Blackthorn Key is a definite winner.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

Follow the Moon Home: A Tale of One Idea, Twenty Kids and a Hundred Sea Turtles by Philippe Cousteau and Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Meilo So

After her family moves to a seaside South Carolina town, Vivienne joins a summer school class that is just beginning to toss around ideas for for a problem to solve for their community action class project.  But when she rides her bike around town trying to find a good project, she just ends of lost.  But, then, Viv always feels disoriented in a new place.

On Saturday, Viv takes her dog Samson to the beach for some digging fun.  While there, she is told to make sure any holes Samson digs get filled in before they leave the beach.  A girl named Clementine from Viv's summer school class explains that the beach is a loggerhead turtle nesting area and the newly hatched turtles need a clear path to the ocean or they won't survive or, like Viv, they will get lost.

As the walk the beach, they find a baby turtle that went the wrong way, became dehydrated and didn't make.  Why did that happen, Viv wonders.  That night, Viv discovers the answer to her question about what happened to the turtle and comes up with a really great class project - since sea turtles follow the strongest light they see first, they can get disoriented and go the wrong way towards the brightly lit houses along the seashore, instead of following the moonlight on the ocean.

Next class, Viv and Clementine present their idea: Lights Out for Loggerheads is a way to save the hatchlings and involve the whole town in the project.  Before long, the class is deep into research about sea turtles, visiting the aquarium, and coming up with what they hope will be a workable plan of action.  But will everyone in town be willing to do what is necessary to save the hatchlings?

This is a wonderful picture book for seeing how kids can become young activists and make a difference.  The plan of action is so clearly laid out, it could be used as a model for kids to use for their own ideas.

Vivienne's story is a little thin at the beginning, really just a way to get to the heart of the book, the actual activism, but that's OK and doesn't distract from the book's message.  There is wonderful back matter including a letter from Philippe Cousteau to young activists (Philippe is the grandson of conservationist/environmentalist Jacques Cousteau), a note to parents and teachers and more information about loggerhead turtles.

The illustrations are soft and gentle, all done with watercolor, colored ink and pencil in hues that will make you feel you are so close to the ocean you can almost smell the sea.  The characters are nicely diverse, and their teacher is young and very hip looking.

This is a book that should be in every elementary/middle school science class.   In fact, a useful teacher's guide can be found HERE.

Follow the Moon Home will be available on April 5, 2016

This book is recommended for readers age 6+
This book was received from the publisher

#Cybils 2015 Finatist Reviw: Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman, illustrated by Sarah Watts

Emily Crane, 12, lives an unusual life.  Every year, her family moves to a different state.  Her parents are writing about their dream to lives in every state in a blog called 50 Homes in 50 States.  Life is a somewhat lonely affair for Emily, who has learned to not make friends only to have to say good-bye after a year.  To keep herself anchored, and because she is a reader and book lover, Emily plays Book Scavenger, a game developed by Garrison Griswold, publisher and fellow book lover.  It's a book trading game where players must solve coded clues to find the book they are seeking.

 The Crane's arrive at their newest address in San Francisco on Friday, and right off the bat she meets neighbor James Lee, also 12, a Chinese American boy whose family has lived in the same place for generations.  James is a code/puzzle/cipher lover, who doesn't play Book Scavenger and has a cowlick named Steve.  And he is the one to break to news to her that Garrison Griswold had been shot in a robbery attempt.

Worried about the future of Book Scavenger, Emily, Matthew, and James head to the Ferry Building on Saturday, to find the latest book Emily has been playing for.  On the way, they stop at the BART station where Griswold was shot, and discover a hidden copy of The Gold Bug by Edgar Allen Poe.  Reading it back home, Emily is annoyed that there are so many typos, but then begins to think The Gold Bug is part of the new game Griswold was about to announce.

Emily becomes obsessed with trying to figure out the game, while the two men who mugged and shot Griswold are desperately looking the the copy of The Gold Bug that Emily found.  What follows is lots of excitement, lots of information about puzzles and ciphers, and so many turns and twist it makes San Francisco's famous Lombard Street look like a straight road.  And during all this, Emily learns a few important lessons on what it means to be a best friend.

Jennifer Chambliss Bertman has written a novel that is a fun, fast-paced adventure/mystery to read.  Emily, James and Matthew are all likable characters, well-developed and realistic, though the other characters feel more plot devices that anything else.  Emily's feelings of  loneliness and her desire to have a real friend, especially now that Matthew has discovered music and a group called Flush and has no time for her, can really be strongly felt, the more so after she and James have a falling out.  Being a real friend is a give and take and Emily needs to find that out and Bertman explores this nicely.

Book Scavenger is a great book for introducing problem solving to kids.  There are so many different kinds of codes, puzzles and ciphers that kids can easily learn to do.  And in fact, there are actually enough clues given to figure out the solution the unofficial Book Scavenger hunt for the grand prize, so kids can have some additional fun, all they need is a good tourist map of San Francisco.  There is also the rather weak mystery of who wants the particular copy of The Gold Bug, since clearly the two ding-dongs who attacked Mr. Griswold aren't the interested parties.

James and Emily have a Social Studies teacher who is also into codes/puzzles/ciphers and I expected a lot from a character named Mr. Quisling.  Quisling is a World War II name given to Norwegians who corroborated with the Nazis while they were occupying Norway.  It's only with a long stretch of the imagination that I could see him corroborated with the people involved in Mr. Griswold's attack, but I didn't feel Bertman really tied up that loose end.

I went out to San Francisco not that long ago to visit my Kiddos, and do some sightseeing, so many of the landmarks and streets included in this novel were still fresh in my mind as I read it.  And besides Edgar Allen Poe, Bertman has cleverly worked in the names of a bunch of other writers that young readers may not know about, but might be curious to discover, such as Dashiell Hammett and The Maltese Falcon, Jack Kerouac, Amy Tan and Allen Ginsberg.  Even the game levels are named for famous detectives - Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew, Sam Spade, Miss Marple, Auguste Dupin and Sherlock Holmes.

Be sure to read the Author's Note for information on many of the factual elements she included in Book Scavenger.

The 11-year-old reader that I once was would have loved this boo (so does the adult I am now).

You can become a book scavenger, too, with these fun book-related activities HERE 

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

#Cybils 2015 Finalist Review: Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai

Mai, or Mia as she is called in school, 12, wants nothing more than to hang out with her best friend Montana on Laguna Beach now that summer vacation is finally here, and maybe even speak to her crush and even get to know his name.  Unfortunately, Mai's parents have other plans.  Every summer, her surgeon father travels to the remote mountainous areas Vietnam to fix children's cleft palates and acute burns.  Mom will be staying in Laguna for a big trial she's been working on for three years.  And Mai's grandmother, Bá, has finally heard from the detective she had hired to find someone with information about her husband, Ông, who had died in imprisonment during the Vietnam War.  Someone needs to accompany Bá and look out for her.  After all, she's 79 now and hasn't been back to Vietnam since she and her children fled after the war.

Mai and Bá stay with family, including a tomboy cousin sporting a buzz-cut named Út, who has a fascination with frogs.  While the rest of the village and family warmly welcome Mai and Bá, it's clear the two girls are not liking each other too much.  Mai, who can understand Vietnamese better than she can speak it, finds herself with a translator named Minh, a teenage Vietnamese boy who goes to boarding school in Texas.

It doesn't take long for Mai and Bá to settle in.  Her hope is the Bá will find out what she wants to know and they can get back to Laguna the sooner, the better.  But things don't work out quit like that and as the days go by, Mai settle into a routine as she learns more and more about her Vietnamese roots.  As the pull towards her heritage grows stronger,  she begins to really understand her grandmother's quest for some closure regarding her husband.

And finally, the detective brings news that someone has been found who was with Ông when he was in prison and had left a message for  Bá, a message they must travel to Saigon in order to see.  And little by little, Mai and Út become more tolerant of each other and there is the possibility of a real friendship between them.

At first I wasn't sure I was going to like Listen, Slowly.   Mai struck me as a spoiled, selfish girl who was just interested in herself and her beach life.  She calls her father Dr. Do-Gooder - if it weren't for those kids with cleft palates and burns, he could have take care of Bá and she could have gone to the beach as planned.  Mai is also an overachiever, already throwing SAT possible words into her narration to the point of irritation, so I wasn't sorry when she decided not to do that anymore to pay her mother back for sending her to Vietnam with Bá.

But as the mosquitoes eat her alive, as she suffers a heat rash and a terrible bout of diarrhea, and as this otherwise unknown part of her family embrace her (well, she does have to work a little harder for that to happen with Út), Mai's trip to Vietnam truly becomes a journey of self-discovery for her.  By the end, my whole opinion of Mai changed for the better.

I thought the characters were all believable and I loved cousin Út with her  buzz-cut and frog, as well as love-sick translator Minh.   Mai really turns out to be other than what you think she is.  Thanhha Lai's descriptions of Vietnam all came to life for me - from the crowded hustle and bustle of Saigon to the lush landscape to the quieter village of Mai's relatives, and even the smells of food and other things.

Listen, Slowly is indeed a wonderful story of family, love and belonging and a little bit of comeuppance, too.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

#Cybils 2015 Finalist Review: Footer Davis Probably Is Crazy by Sarah Vaught

Dealing with a mother who has bipolar disorder isn't always easy for Fontana "Footer" Davis, 11, especially when she goes off her meds and ends up in a mental hospital.  Which is exactly what happens after she kills a copperhead with a big-game hunting gun.  To help her cope, Footer enlists her best friend, Peavine Jones, and his younger sister Angel, to carry out an investigation into the fire that burned a neighboring farm to the ground, who shot and killed   Mr. Abrams, the farmer, and what happened to his two grandchildren, Cissy, 12, and Doc, 6, who have been missing ever since.

There seems to be two things going on in this novel - one is Footer's coping with her mother's bipolar disorder which results in her hospitalization whenever she goes off her medication and Footer's fears about her own mental health. the other is the investigation by Footer and her friends, Peavine and Angel, into the death of unfriendly neighbor Mr. Abrams, the fire that totally destroyed his house and his missing grandchildren Cissy and Doc.

To complicate matters, Footer is beginning to have olfactory hallucinations.  At first, she only smells the smoke of the Abrams fire, but as they begin to get stronger and she can smell fire and blood as well.  But when Footer begins to see things that happened at the Abrams farm the night of the fire, she isn't sure if she is crazy and having visual hallucinations, or if her visions could possibly be a flashback, in which case, she and Peavine really needed to solve the mystery surrounding the Abrams farm.  Especially since her own mother is part of the vision or was she really there and why?

To make matter even more complicated, Footer seems to have taken up sleep eating - raiding the refrigerator and pantry without even remembering it.  But without gaining any weight considering the volume of food her seems to be consuming.

If all these disparate things tie together, will all of Footer's worst fears turn out to be true?

Footer Davis is Probably Crazy is  mainly told in the first person by Footer, with the inclusion of school assignments that she relates to what is happening in her life, and notebook entries of interviews with various people - some suspects, most not - conducted by Footer, Peavine and even Angel.  I really liked the mystery part of the story since it seems to me to be the kind of thing an 11 year old could really get into.

The story is well written, well plotted, but I did have a few problems with the novel...

I felt that, with the exception of Footer, most of the characters didn't really have much depth.  They were there only to as props for Footer's story, even Peavine, who had more depth then most of the others, including Footer's mom.  Same with Footer's concerned teacher, Ms. Malone, and the social worker from the Department of Child Services, Stephanie Bridges.

I also wondered why it was necessary for Peavine to have cerebral palsy since it didn't really figure into the story. In fact, it's actually only mentioned once as the explanation for how Fontana became Footer.

And I wondered by Footer's mom was bipolar.  Was it to get rid of her? Or could it be a plausible explanation for Footer's hallucinations and questioning her own sanity in light of some of the events surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the Abrams children, in which case it would just be a plot device.

And yet, oddly enough, despite these criticisms, I very much enjoyed reading Footer Davis is Probably Crazy and would recommend it to middle graders looking for a contemporary mystery.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

Emma G. Loves Boyz: A True Love Journal by Taro Meyer

Emma, 13, is madly in love with Aaron, the lead singer in the band Boyz3000, and she is totally covinced that if they could ever actually meet, he would realize that they were meant for each other.   But what chance did a girl from New Jersey have of meeting the famous lead singer of Boyz3000?

Apparetly one chance when her best friend Jenny invites her to go to the Bahamas for a long weekend with her family to see a Boyz3000 concert, complete with admittance into the after concert Meet & Greet.  Emma can't believe her luck.  There just one snafu - her parents want Emma to pay for part of the trip.  But how to do that in such a short amount of time?

One way is to bake cookies to be sold at a school bake sale with the help of her friends and younger sister Diana, which is fine, though not without its problems.  And there's always dog walking, with the help of her sister.  That's fun, except the elderly lady who they approached misunderstood what they wanted, and Emma finds herself committed to way more than a few dog walks.  But that's okay, too.  After all, it's for a good cause - Aaron, love of her life.

Of course, raising trip money isn't Emma only problem.  An aspiring writer, Emma got a D on a Language Arts paper.  Luckily, her teacher tells her she may rewrite it, but inspiration wasn't a happening thing for Emma right away.  And a D isn't her only problem at school - eight grader and seventh grade hater Renee seems to delight in going after Emma and her friends every chance she gets.

Emma and Jenny finally make it to the Bahamas and yes, they see the Boyz3000 concert.  Does the weekend turn out the way Emma dreamed it would?  Maybe, or maybe not, thanks to a cute boy named Josh. You be the judge.

"Sometimes, " I was told by an 12 year-old lover of books and reading, "girls just wanna have fun and sometimes they just wanna read a fun book, and that is why I liked Emma G. Loves Boyz."

"Ok," I replied,. "I get that.  I was once a 12 year-old wanna have fun kind of girl, too.  And since you liked it so much, I'll also read Emma G. Loves Boyz with fun in mind."

And I did read it, and it is fun.

The novel is written from the point of view of Emma's journal entries, where she records everything with exuberance, alots of exclamation points, and CAPITAL LETTER for emphasis.  Emma is a high-spirited, serious, flighty and passionate tween, everything you would expect from a seventh grader.  But, she also has a sense of self awareness - Emma may justify all her screw-ups, but in the end, she owns them with a surprising sense of self-awareness and works correct them.  And even though Emma received a D on her paper, she still manages to maintain really good grades overall, so the subtle message that school is important to her really comes through.

There is fun to be had reading Emma G. Loves Boyz, and lessons to be learned about perservance, responsibility and working for what you want.  All in all, this first book in a projected series is just good clean tween fun.

This book is recommended for readers age 10+
This book was sent to me by the publisher, Red Sky Presents

#Cybils 2015 Finalist Review: Blackbird Fly by Erin Entrada Kelly

Analyn Yengko, or Apple as she was nicknamed by her deceased father, migrated with her mother from the Philippines to Louisiana when she was four years old.  Now in middle school, Anna still feels some shame about her penny-pinching mother, who works hard, but also makes mistakes speaking English, still cooks Filipino food, and doesn't want Apple to forget her heritage.

But while Apple feels estranged from her mother, she really wants to connect with her dad through their mutual love of the Beatles.  If only Apple's mother could understand that and buy her that inexpensive guitar she so desperately wants to have.  But no guitar playing is allowed in her house, only studying and working hard in school.  Desperate, Apple steals $100. from the school's music, feels guilty and gets caught putting it back.  Part of her punishment is that she is no longer allowed into the band room.

Meanwhile, Apple and her two best friends Gretchen and Alyssa have also discovered boys, but boys haven't discovered Apple.  In fact, Jake thinks she's Chinese and eats dogs, a comment the will follow Apple around school once it out there.  But even worse, Apple also finds out that she is number three on their Dog Log, a list complied by the boys of the school's most unattractive girls, and she is devastated.   But when she hears that popular boy Braeden wants to dance with her at the Halloween dance, Apple hopes thing have changed.  She goes to the dance with Evan Temple, a new boy from California, but it becomes clear that Braeden was a set up and Evan leaves when he finds out he was supposed to be ditched.  Suddenly, Apple is really alone.  In the Girls' bathroom, she runs into Heleena, an overweight girl who has always been a target for the  popular kids.

By Monday, Gretchen and Alyssa can't detach from Apple quickly enough.  Ostracized by her classmates, Apple goes to the library for lunch instead of her usual place under the tree with her friends.  After checking out a book about playing guitar, Apple heads over to the band room to leave an apology for the teacher when Alyssa finds her there and accuses Apple of stealing again.  Next, Apple apologizes to Evan.  And suddenly, things begin to change for her.  Sure, the boys still taunt her about being on the Dog Log, but with the help of her new friends Evan and Heleena, Apple discovers who she really is and what most important to her.

Blackbird Fly is so different from what I expected given the cover illustration.  Middle school is the pits anyway, but Erin Entrada Kelly gives the reader an excellent, realistic picture of what a real hell it can be when you are facing the racist and xenophobic attitudes of your classmates, people you have to be near day after day.   I have to admit these were difficult parts of the novel to read, but don't gloss over them.

Apple really grows in the coming of age novel and that is a truly positive aspect of the book.  Kelly really has created well-drawn characters in Apple, her mother, Evan and Heleena.  Interestingly, Gretchen, Alyssa and the boys they like have a kind of opaque quality that renders them as shallow as they really are.

All in all, I found Blackbird Fly to be an interesting look at bullying because of difference, at how easily misinformation about cultures spreads and I think it is especially timely given all the recent talk immigrants and about closing our borders (FYI, I am a child of an immigrant).

My only problem with the novel was why didn't the creators of the Dog Log and their girl supporters get in trouble for what they were doing?  They shouldn't have gotten away with it because it will just keep happening to other girls.

On a lighter note, I found the 2FS4N (2nd favorite song for now) at the beginning of each chapter a nice way to give readers a hint of what to expect in that particular chapter.   I also love the Beatles and yes, I did listen to my Beatles playlist after I finished the novel.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL