Category: Book Reviews

It Only Happens in the Movies

It Only Happens in the MoviesIt Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on October 1, 2017
ISBN: 0358172063
Genres: Realistic Fiction, Romance
Goodreads
four-stars

High schooler, Audrey WInters is coming off a painful break up and has sworn off romance, as well as drama club, for a part time job at the local cinema where she meets Harry.  As she plays the support role at home to her mother, who cannot come to grips with her bitter divorce, Audrey falls for Harry the local “player” who seems to live for flirting and getting high.  Her brother and her close girlfriends try to warn her against becoming involved.  This new, exciting and sexy relationship tests her perceptions of romance, friendship and personal integrity. Audrey’s school research project on romance movies and her role as the zombie bride in Harry’s film-making sideline provide the vehicles for a discourse on the types of romance, attitudes about sex and learning how to be true to you in a relationship.  Bourne uses commentaries on various romance movie elements before some of the chapters for foreshadowing.  Although the copyright is 2017, this edition is published in 2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Reviewed by Sheila Dube, Youth Services, Springvale Public Library

four-stars

Non Stop

Non StopNonstop by Tomi Ungerer
Published by Phaidon Press on September 16, 2020
ISBN: 183866159X
Pages: 48
Genres: Adventure
Format: Picture Book Fiction
Goodreads
five-stars

It isn’t often that I see a picture book that reads like a dystopian nightmare but here we are. Ungerer is wonderful in that you never really know what you’re going to get when you open one of his books and in Non Stop you have no idea what you’re going to get page to page. A man named Vasco is apparently a straggler after what might have been a cataclysmic event that forced people to move to the moon. He is repeatedly rescued by his own shadow from tragedy. After he adopts a young creature named Poco, they both evade disaster and end up living in a cake. I absolutely love this book. It’s somewhat alarming with its references to climate change, isolation and pollution but it will present multiple opportunities to discuss these things that might be weighing on young children. The end is reassuring and even if no discussion arises, it’s a provocative story with striking illustrations.

Reviewed by Sarah Maciejewski, Patten Free Library, Bath

five-stars

The Boy Who Failed Show and Tell

The Boy Who Failed Show and TellThe Boy Who Failed Show and Tell by Jordan Sonnenblick
Published by Scholastic Press on February 2, 2021
ISBN: 1338647237
Pages: 224
Genres: Humor, Realistic Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads
four-stars

The Boy Who Failed Show and Tell

 

How could anyone beat the show and tell narrative where Jordan’s classmate’s house was on fire and he had to jump into the firefighters’ net?  Jordan feels he is doomed and, besides this, his 4th grade teacher truly hates him.  Readers will laugh at Jordan’s exploits with his snake Hector, soon to be Hectoria when many baby snakes come into the world.  Between drum lessons, changing schools, Little League, finding homes for the snakes, and his asthma, 4th grade is not easy.  In this memoir Sonnenblick shows his resilience as readers sympathize with the many obstacles he must battle.  This book gives background to some of the topics covered in his books and is recommended for grades 3-5.

 

Reviewed by Ellen Spring, Oceanside High School, Rockland

four-stars

Hike

HikeHike by Pete Oswald
on March 17, 2020
ISBN: 153620157X
Goodreads
five-stars

Author Pete Oswald take the reader on a hike. Seen through the eyes a a young boy and his dad, the pair gather the their supplies, pack their gear and head off to the mountains to experience all that  nature has to offer.  The boy takes notes and photographs as they take in all that nature has to offer, including overcoming some challenges. Though wordless, you can almost hear the conversations the duo has as the day progresses. Illustrations done in subtle nature tones of blue, brown and green keep the reader engaged, wanting to know  what happens next. Don’t forget to look at the very last page and you will find that this hike is not just an ordinary happening to this father and son- it is a tradition!

A wonderful book that offers the joys of nature, family and tradition.

Gr K-3

Consider for cream

Submitted by Kathy George, Gray Public Library, Gray Maine

five-stars

Lift

LiftLift by Dan Santat, Minh Lê
on May 5, 2020
ISBN: 1368036929
Genres: Adventure
Format: Picture Book Fiction
Goodreads
five-stars

The illustrations by Dan Santat in this picture book are so spectacular it would be easy to overlook how perceptive and nice the story by Minh Le is. Iris is a young child who lives to press the elevator button in her family’s apartment building; it’s her job and she takes it very seriously. One day her world comes crashing down when her parents let her toddler sibling press the button before Iris can. (They seem nice enough but, wow, was it ever an act of horrible betrayal.) When it happens a second time Iris loses it and presses so many buttons the elevator breaks which has a silver lining because she retrieves the button from the trash and tapes it to her wall and then she gets to go to a space station. This book is excellent in how it describes Iris’s pain and reaction and ultimate redemption.  And it is one of those rare reads in which both kids and parents most likely will identify with the character’s mistakes and then reflect with compassion on both the people in the book and themselves.

Reviewed by Sarah Maciejewski, Patten Free Library, Bath

five-stars

The Good Girls

The Good GirlsThe Good Girls by Claire Eliza Bartlett
on December 1, 2020
ISBN: 0062943103
Pages: 368
Genres: Mystery, Realistic Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads
five-stars

The police chief’s daughter, Emma, is missing. She was last seen at Anna’s Run, a dangerous section of the local river. As the police work on the case, they focus on three teens: Claude the rebel slut, Avery the airhead cheerleader, and Gwen the vicious academic. The author keeps us on our toes, switching between third person accounts of each of the girls and diary entries, police interview logs, newspaper articles, and social media posts. The story feels fast-paced due to the constant switching of viewpoints, but we don’t start to discover any answers until very late in the book. But once we do, it’s a harrowing ride through to the surprising ending. With themes of sexuality, lgbt+, feminism, and relationships of all kinds, this is a revenge tale you won’t want to miss. Recommended for ages 14+.

Reviewed by  Kara Reiman, Maine State Library

five-stars

Concrete Rose

Concrete RoseConcrete Rose (The Hate U Give, #0) by Angie Thomas
Published by Balzer + Bray on January 12, 2021
ISBN: 006284671X
Pages: 360
Genres: Realistic Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads
five-stars

Angie Thomas is back with another winner of a book with this prequel to The Hate U Give.  This is the story of Starr’s parents.  Maverick is a 17-year-old living with his mother in the Garden doing his best to get by while his dad is in prison and his mom works two jobs to support them.  He’s doing okay in school, has a great girlfriend, trusted friends and family, and slings a little pot for the King Lords, his dad’s gang.  His life changes completely when he finds out he’s the father of a 3 month old boy, conceived during a brief breakup with his girlfriend.  Suddenly he’s taking full-time care of a baby, staying up all night, sleeping during school, and working after school to pay for baby supplies.  Not too long after that he loses his best friend and cousin.  This is an incredibly thought-provoking tale of the struggle between your past and your future, and decision-making and consequences.  By the end, it’s easy to see that Maverick is well on his way to being the incredible and responsible father that he is to Starr.

Reviewed by Kara Reiman, Maine State Library

five-stars

The Life I’m In

The Life I’m InThe Life I'm In by Sharon G. Flake
Published by Scholastic Press on January 5, 2021
ISBN: 1338573179
Pages: 336
Genres: Realistic Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads
four-stars

The Life I’m In by Sharon Flake

 

For readers who loved Maleeka’s story of being bullied by Char in The Skin I’m In, this companion book is long overdue.  This realistic story is about what happens to Char when her older sister and guardian is fed up with Char’s actions and puts her on a bus to live with her grandparents out of state.

Char wants nothing to do with this, meets up with a girl with a baby and, when the mother leaves Char with the baby at a bus stop, Char’s world is changed drastically.   Characters come into Char’s life and, while some assist her on the way, others, like the man who pulls Char into being trafficked and forces her to call him “Daddy”, are horribly cruel.  But Char is a survivor, remains friends with Maleeka who has learned to stand up for herself, and in the end escapes and returns home to her sister with a new maturity.  This book answers the question of what happens next to Char and gets inside the head of a former bully to show her motivations.

four-stars

Millionaires for the Month

Millionaires for the MonthMillionaires for the Month by Stacy McAnulty
Published by Random House Books for Young Readers on September 1, 2020
ISBN: 0593175255
Pages: 336
Genres: Humor, Realistic Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads

McAnulty knows how to spin an engaging story! This middle grade novel pairs up quiet, rule-following Felix with brash, daredevil Benji, two kids who are not friends and have nothing to talk about until they find the wallet of a billionaire. Benji borrows $20 from the wallet, which he reasons is like a penny to a billionaire, but that billionaire Laura Friendly counters that a penny can be powerful, especially when doubled every day. In fact, this would add up to $5,368,709.12 and so she challenges the boys to spend that amount. In one month. And they can’t give it away and they can only spend it on themselves and they can’t tell anyone about the challenge. McAnulty balances the action with situations that offer chances for Benji and Felix to think about money in a new way and to grow as people. The book is touches on philosophy, privilege, and friendship. Recommend for grades 4 -7.

Reviewed by Jill O’Connor, Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth

Mermaid Moon

Mermaid MoonMermaid Moon by Susann Cokal
Published by Candlewick Press (MA) on March 3, 2020
ISBN: 1536209597
Genres: Fantasy
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads
three-stars

At 481 pages,”Mermaid Moon” by Susann Cokal is a bit of a tome. The main character is a mermaid, Sanna, whose mother was a human. The head witch of their mermaid group casts a spell on all the land people to forget that Sanna ever existed and the rest of the story follows Sanna learning magic so that she can find her mother.

The prose is very descriptive, beautiful, and graphic, and often feels like you are reading poetry. The plot occasionally lags and seems to get stuck for a while, so it might be a little much for readers who want a straightforward story. The author switches between first-person and third-person points of view throughout, which makes it choppy. Written for Young Adults, this book will appeal to those who enjoy lengthy fantasy, or love mermaids and are looking for something different.

Reviewed by Kate Radke, Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook

three-stars