Shipwreck Island by S.A. Bodeen

I actually read a ton of books recently and so I have a lot of reviews to write (plus the ones I never wrote in 2013...) but I have decided to review Shipwreck Island by S.A. Bodeen next, for a very important reason. Basically, I want to review this so it is out of my head and I don't have to think about it and get annoyed anymore.

Shipwreck Island is the story of a girl who goes on an unwanted family vacation with her dad, new stepmom and stepbrothers, and gets shipwrecked. In order for this to happen, they board a really sketchy ship that doesn't seem safe at all, and just when things start to get interesting, the book ends. I think this is probably a trilogy, and if so, it makes sense because this feels exactly like the first third of a book instead of a full book. The characters were cute and had some charming moments, but I was just really annoyed by the time I got halfway through and realized I was going to be strung along for a big cliffhanger at the end and not resolved storylines. Even the bits that were supposed to be creative on the island just felt more like sketches than full creations.

That said, I don't read much middle grade and for the appropriately aged reader, this could be a fun but predictable series, but as an adult looking for a brief escape into fantasy, it didn't work. I won't be picking up book 2, but I have heard good things about other books by Bodeen including a shipwrecked YA novel called The Raft that I do want to try out in the future. 

Release Date: July 29th, 2014 Pages: 192  Format: Egalley
Source: Netgalley  Publisher: Feiwel & Friends   Buy It: Book Depository

The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver

Honestly, I can't imagine a book with Lauren Oliver's name on the cover that I wouldn't pick up. She's just that amazing. So of course I had to read her latest novel, the middle grade fantasy tale, The Spindlers. Even though it's not a genre I read a lot of, I adored Oliver's first middle grade title, Liesl & Po and in fact even refer to it as one of my favourite books (because it is). In fact, I was so excited to read The Spindlers that I forced myself to hold onto it for about a month before I did– just because when I finished reading it I would be out of Oliver books to read until 2013. All that to say, I had high expectations.

And did The Spindlers meet my expectations?

Unfortunately, no.

That's not to say this story, about a young girl, Liza, who goes on an underground quest to find her brother's soul, which was stolen by the spindlers, wasn't a cute and fun read. But it wasn't blow-me-away-amazing either. It was okay. And with Oliver, I just expect more than that.

What The Spindlers is, is a great book for the intended audience, but it doesn't have the universal transcendence that Liesl & Po did. Some of my problems with the book included how slow the storytelling was, I put it down quite a few times during its 250 pages and I wasn't excited to go back. I wasn't riveted and pulled in a million directions and put back together. If anything, I was a bit confused. On her journey, Liza is accompanied by a rat of the same size she is. I was never sure if Liza shrunk when she went under her house, or if the rat grew. The setting itself wasn't that vivid, there was just a lot of mentions of dirt. Even the characters, which Oliver is usually so amazingly skilled at, just felt okay. I wasn't especially rooting for Liza, because I didn't feel like I really knew her.

The whole time I was reading The Spindlers, I couldn't help being reminded of Coraline by Neil Gaiman, which is a book I absolutely adore. But unlike Gaiman, Oliver's world isn't the creepy, her characters– even the bad ones– don't feel that scary. And even the plot doesn't feel original. There's a series of obstacles in the way of Liza finding her brother, but I never found myself breathless with anticipation on if she was going to succeed. I honestly didn't care that much, because everything was predictable and even the "big" twist didn't surprise me.

It's really hard to focus on the positive of The Spindlers because I was so incredibly disappointed by it. I love-love-love Lauren Oliver's writing, but this is a book that is cute. It's a book that's fun and charming, there's a talking rat I loved and some adults that don't understand their children. There are some unique and interesting creatures. Overall, The Spindlers is an okay middle-grade novel, and while I certainly haven't given up on Oliver, when it comes to her storytelling– okay is just so much less than what I expect.

Release Date: October 2nd 2012   Pages: 256  Format: ARC  Source: Publisher  
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada  Buy It: Book Depository | Amazon Canada Also By This Author: MG– Liesl & Po; YA– Before I Fall; Delirium (Delirium #1); Pandemonium (Delirium #2)

See You at Harry's by Jo Knowles

See You at Harry's is one of those books I picked up pretty randomly. I hadn't read anything by Jo Knowles yet, and I'd heard good things about her writing, so that was part of it. I was also drawn to her latest novel, and first middle grade book, because it featured the kind of big, crazy family I grew up in. Whatever the reason, I'm so glad I did.

The narrator of See You at Harry's is twelve-year-old Fern, and although she'd deny it, she's also its heart. Fern feels like an outsider in her own family, made up of an older sister, Sarah, who is working at the family restaurant, Harry's, as she figures out what she wants to do after high school, and an older brother, Holden, who is dealing with bullies at school and opening up about being gay. Finally, there's the baby, three-year-old Charlie was a surprise but he's earned his place as the adorable and hilarious centre of attention. But when the unthinkable happens, this family is pushed to the edge and it will take all of Fern's strength to keep herself from falling off.

Knowles broke my heart in See You at Harry's. From the beginning I connected with Fern, which was especially impressive because this is technically a middle grade novel, a genre I sometimes have a harder time with. But with Fern, it was easy. She was instantly sympathetic, funny and intelligent. She just wanted the attention of her family, especially her mother who often ran off to meditate or was busy with Charlie and the restaurant. I wanted to reach through the pages and tell Fern everything was going to be okay– the only problem was, it wasn't. And that's how Knowles broke my heart.

But in spite of all the darkness, and there is a lot, See You at Harry's is remarkable because there still manages to be light. A school dance. A hug. These moments are the ones that change everything. I have read a lot of books that deal with tragedies lately, but this one stands out for the quiet and powerful way that Knowles writes about it, especially because of Fern's perspective. Fern feels invisible, and I think that's something that readers– that people– can universally relate to. Emotional and heart-warming, tragic and heart-breaking, powerful and beautifully written, as difficult as See You at Harry's was to read at times, I'm so glad I decided to pick up Knowles' novel and will definitely be picking up more books by her in the future.

Release Date: May 8th 2012  Pages: 310  Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher  Publisher: Candlewick  Buy It: Book Depository

That Boy Red by Rachna Gilmore

That Boy Red by Rachna Gilmore

Release Date: April 4th 2011
Pages: 220
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Publisher: Harper Collins Canada
Buy It: Book Depository | Amazon.ca

It’s the Depression, but Red’s family is managing better than most on their Prince Edward Island farm. Hard working and resourceful, they have enough to eat and to help others, even if at times they are mocked by their neighbours for putting education ahead of farm work. Eleven-year-old Red has plenty of chores around the farm, and the days can be long, but he still gets the odd break to go swimming or fishing... provided his homework is done.

The back of this book compares it to Anne of Green Gables, and it really is that sort of novel with a male main character. It's written in the kind of language that does take the reader back to the thirties, and the writing flows easily. The book is divided into several distinct, but connected stories which makes it good for reading in chunks, though the whole novel is still a really fast read. Some of the sections– like one where Red's father injures himself– are sadder, while others– like when Red's Granny visits– are funnier, but they all have a taste of both humour and emotion within them.

As easy as the book was to read, there was some language that left me a little confused, like when Gilmore writes: "Ellen complained that he raced through his recitations with no expression whatsoever, but Red figured getting through it mattered more than any highfaultin expression." Obviously language was different eighty years ago but it's hard to imagine this ruddy farm boy that prefers building things to reading using the word highfaultin, and it felt out of place (and not just because I had no idea what it meant).

That Boy Red wasn't the kind of book that I would have gone seeking out myself, but when I had a surprise copy in my mailbox I decided to give it a try. For the short time it took to read it, I guess I'm glad I did; I feel like it's a good contribution to Canadian history and a great addition to elementary school libraries for that reason. But it also wasn't a book I felt in love it, in the emotional all-encompassing way that some novels sweep me off my feet. Instead, it was a book that I enjoyed, and it had some nice moments. Ultimately, I'd recommend That Boy Red to the middle grade readers looking for the a male Anne of Green Gables, and would hope it would hit the mark for them in the way that it didn't quite manage for me.

Invincible Microbe by Jim Murphy and Alison Blank

A great little history of tuberculosis for younger readers, Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure by Jim Murphy and Alison Blank mixes science and stories for an easy to read non-fiction book. It's complimented by red writing and black and white images, which break up the text nicely. For such a complicated issue, Murphy and Blank manage to pare down the story to its essentials which make it easy to follow but still allows the reader some insight into specific events and people. There's even the addition of pronunciation guides for all the scientific names.

There are a few instances in Invincible Microbes when the book felt a bit superficial, but I have a pretty advanced scientific background that means I am definitely not the intended reader. Then, there were other times when historical figures were mentioned without any elaboration at all– when I felt a younger reader would probably benefit from one, even just to say that Alexandre Dumas wrote The Count of Monte Cristo when quoting him, for example.

That said, even as a biology grad student I still managed to pick up some new bits of information especially when it came to reading about the sanatoriums. It was ridiculous to read how recently they were still considered the tuberculosis cure. It was also a bit scary to be reminded that the disease is still far from being erradicated– but that was definitely the message the authors left the reader with. The advent of airplanes and the ease with which people travel the globe means that another outbreak is not only plausible but probable, which makes it more important than ever to try to discover a cure and to diagnose and treat cases world-wide. 

Invincible Microbes is an easy way for a younger reader– probably middle grade– to learn without trying. Murphy and Blank take a complicated and important topic and give a concise history, including plenty of intriguing bits to keep the reader's interest. It's definitely an approach I appreciate and I would certainly pick up another collaboration by them, or try one of Murphy's solo books, in the future.

Release Date: July 10th 2012  Pages: 160  Format: Hardcover  Source: Publisher 
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt  Buy It: Book Depository

Teen Boat! by Dave Roman and John Green

Teen Boat! by Dave Roman (author) and John Green (illustrator)

Release Date: May 8th 2012
Pages: 144
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Buy It: Book Depository

High school can be a time of terrible angst—Fs on tests, bullying jerks, broken hearts, and late-stage puberty are just some of the potential issues that all teen boys face. But what about the issues facing a Teen Boat?

Whoops! When I got Teen Boat! in the mail I thought the illustrations were by some guy named Dave Roman (actually a well-established author of graphic novels) and that John Green, like Looking For Alaska John Green, was the writer. Turns out John Green is also the name of an illustrator, with a few titles under his belt. So there was definitely an adjustment when I started reading Teen Boat! but it didn't take long for me to start enjoying its unique charm.

At it's heart, this is really an absurd graphic novel, and in that sense it reminded me of this series that used to be really popular when I was a kid, Captain Underpants. I really think this book would be perfect for the same kind of elementary school aged audience. Green's drawings are really well done, and they capture the boy-to-boat transformation in a way that makes it seem slightly less ridiculous than it actually is, and just as awesome.

Teen Boat Transformation © Dave Roman and John Green

Roman's words work perfectly with Green's drawings and it wasn't a surprise for me to read these two guys are best friends. The book just has a perfect harmony between text and image. I especially appreciated Roman's many nautical puns, they had me chuckling out loud quite a few times. What I didn't like was Teen Boat's treatment of his best friend Joey, a girl that clearly has a crush on him– but I honestly couldn't tell you why, since all he does is treatment her like dirt and assume that she'll always be there. I would have loved a little more development on that storyline, at least having Joey stand up for herself a bit even if Teen Boat didn't realize what he did was wrong. Instead, she just crushed on him more.

Weak female character aside, Teen Boat! was a cute read, and definitely outside of my usual picks. If I'd known that it was the wrong John Green, I don't know if I would have read it, and so in the end I'm grateful for that mishap; one that belongs perfectly among the befuddled pages of the book itself. In the end, this is an odd and charming book with great drawings and a crazy storyline that doesn't take itself too seriously; Teen Boat! is a great choice for middle grade and the younger spectrum of young adult readers. But even if you're a bit– or like me, a lot– older it's a funny reminder about why I'm so glad that I'm not a teen anymore!

A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle

 A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle

Release Date: May 1st 2012
Pages: 208
Format: E-galley
Source: NetGalley/Publisher
Publisher: ABRAMS
Buy It: Book Depository

Mary O'Hara is a sharp and cheeky 12-year-old Dublin schoolgirl, and her Granny is dying. Then the ghost of Granny's own mother shows up. She needs the help of Mary and her mother, Scarlett, who embark on a road trip to the past. Four generations of women travel on a midnight car journey. One of them is dead, one of them is dying, one of them is driving, and one of them is just starting out.

Honestly, and I don't say this lightly, but this book is really weird. Like, really weird. Possibly too weird for me, though I admit it was the unusual title and haunting cover that drew me in to begin with.

Mary, and especially her mother, Scarlett, tended to be more ghost-like in character than the ghost herself, who had quite a lot of spunk. I did love the way Scarlett spoke with exclamation points though, and loved the snarky way Mary pointed it out, I definitely know people that do that. But I think my favourite parts were when Tansey, the great-grandmother, was reflecting on her past.

A Greyhound of a Girl does a gentle and thoughtful job on tackling the complex issue of death, especially from a child's perspective. Unfortunately, I picked this book up after having read Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver, which is another middle grad novel involving ghost and death and officially one of my favourite books. So it was hard to compare.

In the end, I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about A Greyhound of a Girl. It's a very quiet book, so much so that I wonder how much of an audience it will have with middle grade readers, but that's also refreshing when so much of the focus in MG is often on fantasy and adventure type books. In fact, I hope to be proven wrong, as I'd love to see more middle grade like it.

A Greyhound of a Girl is a book which is all about strong females, but ones that feel authentic and real, with the kind of fragile skin you can reach out and touch. But at times, the novel had a hard time keeping my attention, while at others it lost me completely. With a book that's only about two hundred pages, every page counts, and I spent too many of them dazing off.

There are some strange and special things about A Greyhound of A Girl, and though it wasn't perfect for me, I know when it finds the right reader, it will have exactly the right words.

The Apothecary by Maile Meloy

The Apothecary by Maile Meloy

Release Date: October 4th 2011
Pages: 362
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Publisher: Penguin
Also by this Author: Both Ways Is The Only Way I Want It (Adult)
Buy It: Book Depository

It’s 1952 and the Scott family has just moved from Los Angeles to London. Here, Janie meets a mysterious apothecary and his son, Benjamin. When Benjamin’s father is kidnapped, Janie and Benjamin must uncover the secrets of the apothecary’s sacred book in order to find him, all while keeping it out of the hands of their enemies—Russian spies in possession of nuclear weapons. Discovering and testing potions they never believed could exist, Janie and Benjamin embark on a dangerous race to save the apothecary and prevent impending disaster.

I really enjoyed this first novel for younger readers by Maile Meloy, whose short story collection Both Ways Is The Only Way I Want It I'd previously enjoyed. Obviously The Apothecary, intended for a middle grade audience, is quite different but Meloy's adult work, but it maintains her smart description, concise style and lovely details. There are some quirky but amazingly accurate descriptions, including several of hair near the beginning of the book such as "wore her white hair coiled up like a ghost's pastry on the back of her head" and "tight, gray curls reminded me of a sheep."

Meloy also doesn't let the fact that this is a children's book stop her from throwing in some incredible words, several of which I have to look up to know their precise definition (like corpulent!) even though the meanings are obvious in context. I love the way The Apothecary has of unintentionally expanded the reader's vocabulary, and it's yet another reason it would be a great book for younger readers; Meloy doesn't talk down to her audience.

Admittedly, my advance reader copy of the novel was missing many drawings, but the half I did see were really lovely, though the truth is that I preferred the ones in Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver. Though the pictures are great and compliment the text, Meloy tells as riveting story without them, and her words are vivid enough in creating imagery that the drawings are technically unnecessary.

The Apothecary is packed with adventure, much of it with a slightly magical twist, and I absolutely adored the story it contained. It was a perfect mix of action, exploration of important issues, and a nice touch of romance thrown in. It's a story that is entertaining in a way I didn't expect from Meloy with her quiet and adult short stories, but the result is enjoyable and definitely has convinced me of cross-genre skills.

The characters in this novel were realistic and fun to read. Janie struggled with the issue of being a new girl in a foreign country, and I thought that Meloy dealt with her insecurity and subsequent growth in a very authentic way. I especially loved Pip, a charming and mischievous character certainly worthy of his own novel. The only character I wasn't entirely satisfied with was Benjamin, in particular his romantic storyline which involved a change of mind that was never really explained and left me wanting more. The romance wasn't at all necessary in the story, but if it was going to be there, I did want it to be a little less haphazard.

Having enjoyed Meloy's adult fiction, I was both curious and excited about how her writing would transfer for the middle grade audience; and the result was incredible. An exciting and whimsical adventure, The Apothecary is the kind of classic spy meets fantasy meets historical story that is certain to age well. A very enjoyable experience and I certainly hope that Meloy will write for younger readers again in the future; I might be much older than the intended audience, but I'd be excited to read another middle grade novel by her in the future.

The Wild Book by Margarita Engle

The Wild Book by Margarita Engle

Release Date: March 20th 2012
Pages: 144
Format: E-galley
Source: NetGalley/Publisher
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books
Buy It: Book Depository

Fefa struggles with words. She has word blindness, or dyslexia, and the doctor says she will never read or write. Her mother has an idea gives Fefa a blank book. "Think of it as a garden," she says. Soon Fefa starts to sprinkle words across the pages of her wild book. And when her family is threatened, it is what Fefa has learned from her wild book that saves them.

Maybe it's because I followed up reading The Wild Book with May B. by Caroline Rose Starr, another MG novel in verse about a girl struggling with dyslexia that I absolutely loved, but this novel didn't really live up to the potential. There were some lovely turns of phrase and images, but I found the story itself lacking. It was also this strange sort of book where it seemed too mature in language for its potential audience, but then too simplistic in style for older readers. I'm not really certain who the book is intended for, but despite my love of novels in verse, it apparently wasn't me.

At under 150 verse pages, The Wild Book is extremely short, and unfortunately that seemed like a detriment at times. Often, it came across as a good outline more than a complete book. Engle has some gorgeous images, but the story itself lacked vividness, it felt like it was a picture that hadn't been completely filled in. The historical setting in a lawless Cuba intrigued me, but I never quite felt like I really got to know it either. Overall, The Wild Book didn't quite work for me, but it's short enough that if it intrigues you it may be worth picking up a library copy to try.

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver

 

Lauren Oliver is an author of many talents, she began her career by publishing a contemporary YA novel (Before I Fall), followed up with the first novel in a dystopia trilogy (Delirium) and her most recent novel, Liesl & Po, is a middle-grade story that takes place in a world with similarities to our own only filled with all kinds of magic. Liesl is a young girl whose father has just died, leaving her in the care of a stepmother who locks Liesl in the attic where her only escape is to draw. Then one night Po, a ghost from the Other Side, appears and the two form an unexpected friendship. At the same time, Will, an equally lonely alchemist’s apprentice a botches an important delivery which will have important consequences for Liesl and Po, ultimately drawing the three of them together on a remarkable journey.

Liesl & Po is the magical kind of book that even if it is intended for a younger audience, is filled with a warmth that will enchant the reader regardless of age. This is the kind of timeless story, like Roald Dahl, which will be just as powerful in fifty years as it today. Also like Dahl, this is a story about children, in which the adults are rather one-dimensional villains but that works within the context of the book, as it is reminiscent of a traditional fairy tale.

Oliver’s writing is amazing, lyrical with poetry in just the right places, and complimented by beautiful black and white sketches done by Kei Acedera. It is Oliver’s amazing ability with words that makes Liesl & Po into such an incredibly whimsical story, one that flows smoothly and is filled with pure, young, emotion.

This is a novel that confronts the difficult issue of death and grief in a way that neither minimizes nor sensationalizes it, but rather takes an honest and simple look at one little girl and the astonishing journey she takes.

Ultimately, Lauren Oliver has completely won me over as a reader- she could write a restaurant menu or instructions for installing a television and I would rush to the store to buy it. As a writer, Oliver has a unique and powerful perspective, which she is able to share with astonishing clarity because of the eloquence of her writing, on full display in her timeless and magical novel, Liesl & Po.

Review Elsewhere: May B. by Caroline Starr Rose

"Ultimately, May B. is a moving story of survival – a quick book to read, but the memory of it will last much longer."

Click here to read the rest of my review (Scroll to second half of article).

Irrelevant side note: I absolutely love this cover! Perfect for middle grade but with enough ambiguity to it that an older reader could pick it up, I think the art work is lovely.