One Chapter

Bottomland by Michelle Hoover

4 stars Mystery/Fiction

It’s the early 20^th century and life on the Iowa prairie is rough and bleak but for this family, they also have to contend with their family’s history. The idea of war is looming and the neighbors surrounding this American-German family make sure that they are reminded of their heritage. Father tries to be neighborly, and I can see him biting his tongue after he tries to cordial with folks, for father is a hard-working man who is trying to make a life for his family and himself, trying to move forward.

All the children, there are a lot of them, have responsibilities to help run the household and its hard work. One morning, two of the girls don’t show up for breakfast and when it’s discovered they aren’t around the homestead, the family starts to wonder exactly what happened to them. There are a few ideas but what was interesting was the events leading up to the disappearance. They explain that one of the girls was more outgoing than the other one, who was a more predictable child and now that two of the children are missing, the responsibilities these children had around the house, will now have to be done by the remaining children.

With a few clues, the family decides how they will try to locate the girls which leaves the family even more shorthanded. This is life, they had to make due to survive, they had to depend on their family to come through. What happened to the girls and will they find them?

I read this book for book club and I was surprised how wrapped up I got in this novel. It was not a fast-paced novel nor was it a thriller, it moved rather slow but I think it was the mystery of what happened and the future of the family, that intrigued me. These girls were so young when they left, so why did they leave and why didn’t anyone see something? Was there a trigger that sent them off and how did they manage? As I read the story from the girl’s point of view as they fled and made their new life, I liked reading exactly what the girls had/were going through and I liked how the author put this together. I liked how things worked out in the end. It was an interesting and relaxing novel, actually a fast read for me.

The Night Gardener by The Fan Brothers

5 stars Picture Book

This is fun, cute, picture book about an older man who creates topiary at night when everyone else is sleeping. I loved the illustrations and the warm feeling that you get from the novel.

There was excitement on the street as the neighbors wake up and see an owl in their tree. This was no ordinary owl but a huge owl that someone has created out of the leaves and branches in the neighborhood tree, this was a topiary owl. But who created this owl? As William went to bed that night, he was excited as he wondered if there would be another topiary in the tree tomorrow.

In the mornings that followed, William and his neighbors were greeted with a variety of topiary animals. There was a parrot, a rabbit, and a fox, for each morning the neighborhood was buzzing with excitement. Everyone wondered who had created these masterpieces. Then, the secret artist surprised them all, for he made the best creation of all and it took two trees to create it. Everyone in the neighborhood loved it!

William decided he needed to stay up and see if he could find out who this Master Gardener was. Will he find out who this artist is or will the artist remain hidden?

Such a cute story about a community and the mystery of the Night Gardener. I liked the curiosity of William and how he wanted to find the Night Gardener. The ending was sweet and I liked how the neighborhood came together and got excited about the topiary.

Small Things by Mel Tregonning

5 stars Mental Health Children’s Picture Book

I know that just about everyone has dealt with the feelings that the boy in the book encounters. What I didn’t know was the impact this picture book/graphic novel would have on me as it, blew me away. Containing no words, this book carries a strong, important message that I feel that children and adults can relate to. I feel that this book needs to read together, at least the first time through, because there are many issues that this boy addresses that an adult should talk with a child about to make sure they understand what is truly happening.

Life becomes overwhelming for this young boy and immediately, I start to see things piling up for him. He’s not fitting in at school even though he tries, his grades at school are falling, and at home, he’s angry at those who are there for him. Life is not good.

With powerful, black-and-white illustrations set in graphic novel format, this fantastic, wordless, picture book tells the story of a boy burdened with anxiety that literally, begins to eat at him. I liked the concept of the emotion eating at him because this is what I typically say when I talk about some emotions so to actually see it, was very effective. The emotions begin to arrive in many places where he encounters his difficulties and then they continue following behind him, in the illustrations. The boy notices the bites which occur on his arms, pants and his head. The emotions have no particular shape but are just random wiggly shapes and they seem to multiple.

I just felt for the boy and I understood completely what he was going through. Day-in and day-out, the same old and nothing was getting better. Just looking at the illustrations, and watching the boy, you felt his despair. Those eyes! The cracks on his face! Who is going to help him!? Then, a door opens and the look.

I think reading it more than once and seriously looking at the illustrations is a must. You definitely need to check out this book. I highly recommend it.

Author: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/23/shaun-tan-completes-graphic-novel-after-authors-suicide-her-absence-made-me-try-even-harder

The Dog That Ate the World by Sandra Dieckmann

5 stars Children’s

There’s no place like home. I loved the illustrations in this children’s book and the book, itself felt like a folk tale as the dog appears in a happy, little valley and starts to consume everything around him. The valley was content and merry without the dog but when the dog shows up, he is a greedy guy and takes whatever he wants, which is everything. Therefore, he eats and eats and gets bigger and bigger! Now, the villagers could get angry about the situation but they don’t. That’s the big surprise about this story, the villagers stick together, work together and try to make the best of the situation. I thought this was a cute story, with a good lesson behind it. The illustrations were fantastic and I liked the thicker pages.

Garage Sale Haul

I went to two sales this weekend and made a haul! I found a woman who reads books that I like so we got to talk for a while. She said that she has found that people don’t read much anymore so, she has to buy all her books now whereas she used to trade books with people. Many of her books were nice and a few were worn (loved) but that’s fine because they were all .50 cents. Yes, fifty cents a piece. I didn’t take everything she had, I did have SOME self control as she had some books that I had read already and some books I already had but I found some I wanted to read and some she talked to me about so I bought them. I got quite a variety.

The next sale had kids books for a quarter. I already have quite a few kids books from my own kids and some I bought for my granddaughter but hey, you never have enough. I bought a few that I hadn’t seen before and some classics. I also bought some for the reading program this summer.

I’m getting ready for our summer reading program. This will be my 4th year helping with the summer reading program at the library. My friend and partner are the only original volunteers left. In the summer, for one day each week, we head to one of the local YMCA daycare centers and we meet up with a summer paid library staff person and run a summer reading program there. We bring books, crafts and computer tablets and we spend about 1.5 hours running centers there. One of us runs the book station, one does the crafts and we let the Y staff run the tablets. The kids read books for 20 minutes by themselves or with friends at the station (books are brought from the library and stay with the kids for the whole week). The crafts are brought from the library and the kids work on them and I also provide another craft which I bring from home because there are normally kids who finish quickly :). Along with the city-wide summer reading program, we have the staff keep track of the minutes the kids read each day and mark it down in a notebook. After X number of minutes, the kids get a free book from the library, etc. For kids at these sites, this might be the only time they get to the library all summer so this is an excellent outreach program.

We decided this year that we (the volunteers) would offer the kids a free book if they read over their required reading each week. I’ve been hitting the resell shops and garage sales looking for nice books to hand out to the kids, I have quite a few excellent choices. We are hoping this will spike our reading minutes as last year, they dwindled a bit. I know some kids like free books. I was wondering if we should offer something else besides books, like a small bag of chips instead. Any thoughts? I don’t want to hand out candy and I don’t want to get too something too expensive. I’ve bought some novels, graphic novels, how-to books, National Geo books, and easy books. We just want them to read.

Enemies (Evil Alien Warlord Cat #2) by Johnny Marciano

5 stars Childrens/Middle School Humor

Oh no! Klawde doesn’t have to worry about overthrowing his enemy on his own planet because guess who is on Earth now? Yes, Ffangg! Earth is not big enough for both of these supreme kitties and so, the move is on for one of them to go. Klawde has been training some Earth kitties for his own army but now Ffangg has caused Klawde to rethink his plans.

I liked that in this book we get more of Raj. Raj has a new student in his classroom at school, it is ….Cam! Oh, no! Raj is afraid that his friends will uncover the truth about him from Cam, his former best friend. With a competition at school, Raj has a lot on his mind.

With humor and wit, this series continues to entertain me. I can’t get enough of the feisty Klawde and his bold and spirited attitude for he tells it like-it-is and when he is in his cat mode, I swear he acts like my cat, Charlie. I like the laid-back attitude of Raj and with the introduction of Cam, we got to see another side of Raj. This is a fun, entertaining series.

The Missing Season by Gillian French

3.5 stars YA Mystery

I was really hoping for something creepy from this novel but what I found was something more mysterious than suspenseful. The first half of the novel set the stage but the second half, I felt that I was flipping the pages for a while as the story seemed to lag at first and then, picked up. Since I was truly vested in what was happening, I had to finish the book. Call this story whatever you want, but I thought of it as a fiction with some mysterious elements in it.

The novel takes place in the small town of Pender, where Clara’s father finds work on the demolition of the town’s mill. Clara is used to moving around wherever her father can find employment. I find it amazing how fast seventeen-year Clara fits in with the other teens at Pender and how, she immediately becomes friends with Bree and Sage. Taken to the skate park, Clara notices that this is the place where the teens gather and she notices Kincaid, a guy that Bree also thinks is hot.

As the teens get talking, the story about the disappearance of some local teens is brought up. The locals have their own logical explanations for why they’re gone but these teens believe that the Mumbler is behind the obduction. It’s the Mumbler: he who comes every fall and takes for his own, one bad Pender child. To the marsh, they shall go and only one of them will return. It happens every fall, he collects his victims. Clara is not sure if she believes this story but then, when someone goes missing Clara starts looking for some type of clues. 3.5 stars

Dear Boy, by Paris Rosenthal & Jason Rosenthal

5 stars Children’s

Just like Dear Girl, this book is pretty amazing! It is a powerful, uplifting book, that puts boys in the spotlight. I think all classrooms, libraries, and parents should have a copy of this book as it informs boys that no matter who they are, they are loved, accepted and important.

With a cheerful stance, the book addresses “Dear Boy” as it explains some of the many different circumstances that he might encounter with fun, cute illustrations. The authors explain that it’s okay for “Dear Boy” to not know all the answers to the questions that are presented to him, that being honest is the best choice in a situation, that he don’t always have to play with “boy” toys, and that it’s fun to have different friends for the different things that you do in life. These are just a few of the topics that the authors cover in this book that is sure to give any reader, encouragement and confident to face the day. If you haven’t read Dear Girl, you should check out that book too as they go hand-in-hand with this book. Dear Girl puts girls in the spotlight, giving them the inspiration and motivation to succeed. I highly recommended both books.

Not My Father’s Son by Alan Cummings

4 stars Memoir

I listened to this book on audio and I felt overwhelmed at times at how emotional this story was. I am not familiar with this actor but his story was an emotional one and I was glad that he had his brother with him for the most part, for Alan dealt with some heavy issues. This book uncovers some powerful discoveries and his relationships as he was growing up.

Alan talks about his abusive father and the ways his father would provoke him as he was growing up. I could still hear the emotions in the author’s voice as he spoke about it and I could feel the pain that was inflicted upon him. It wasn’t until many years later, that Alan along with his brother, did something about what occurred all those years and I was glad that they did. For they finally “did something.”

The book was not all depressing as Alan does tell us about some happy and fun moments in his life. I liked when he talked about his brother. They had both experienced life under that roof so they knew what had actually occurred, they had that bond. You can’t take that away and they were able to talk about it and be honest.

This is not a light book but I think it’s a book that provides hope to others.

Endling #2 : The First by Katherine Applegate

5 stars Children’s/ Middle School

I have to thank Byx and his friends for the 3 hours of sleep that I got the other night. When I finally shut off the light early in the morning, I couldn’t get Byx and his journey off my mind so I woke up early grabbed my book light and finished it.

I only had to reread a small section of this book as I got confused with all the different character names and the different places but otherwise, I enjoyed it and I really enjoyed the relationships within it. I thought the novel ended with a small cliffhanger, so yes, I am anxiously awaiting until the next book comes out but I can’t find anything telling me when this is going to occur. I just hope I don’t cry when it does.

This book begins exactly where book one left off at, as we have Byx and his friends out on their journey, searching for more dairnes. This book does a great job of setting up the novel, as it reintroduces the characters and the plot from the previous book. I would suggest reading book one as it will provide a more complete background on the story and will help set the tone but you can just read this book on its own and not be lost.

As the group makes their way, they come upon Razorgulls (you have to love all the creative creatures that are in this series). This is just the first set of such creatures that the friends will have to deal with as they search for more of Byx’s kin. Coming upon a village, they realize that it is ran by natites. The travelers had hoped that they could cruise past this village but the natites aren’t letting them leave until they get what they want. Now it’s up to Byx and his friends to do exactly what the natites want so they can continue on.

I enjoyed how each of them pulled for one another, they backed each other up and they wanted each other to succeed. Each of them, gives it their all, in everything that they do and they appreciate each other. They’re like a band of brothers. I am really enjoying this series and can’t wait for the next book.