music – One Chapter

Garvey’s Choice: the Graphic Novel by Nikki Grimes

4.5 stars Graphic Novel Children’s/ Middle School

It’s bullying….short and simple. Everyone is different and that even goes for family members, yet Garvey’s father wants his son to be more like his sister. He wants an athletic son, a son who plays football, someone who can score points, a son who can shoot a basketball but unfortunately, Garvey doesn’t do any of these things. Garvey likes science, he likes space, he likes reading and because he knows he doesn’t fit the mold for his father, Garvey likes food. Garvey uses food to escape, and his classmates have notice and their comments have fallen upon Garvey.

Garvey just wants to be accepted for who he is. He doesn’t feel safe at home or at school. At school, his friend Joe suggests a new club to him and unfortunately, his mind drifts to thoughts of his father. This was Garvey’s choice, but he did it, he made up his own mind and jumped in! He joined a club which ends up being life changing.

This was a great graphic novel to read. I liked how Garvey found himself and his growth throughout the book. Being able to see the characters facial expressions helped tell the story. Most of the text in this graphic novel is found in the captions inside each of the text boxes. This text is quite lengthy on some pages. I find it interesting that some pages do not have any speech bubbles on them while others only have one or two. The text is not difficult to read, and the story is easy to follow. The color palette was nice and keeping all the chapters separate was nicely done. Definitely worth picking up. 4.5 stars

Pizza and Taco: Rock Out! by Stephen Shaskan

5 stars Children’s Graphic Novel

How hard is it to create your own band? Well, Taco and Pizza soon find out. After discussing their favorite bands: Beetles, Jo-Jo’s, Jam Jett, and Food Fighters, they decided to create their own band because that would be so cool!

They each have their own vision of what they should sound/look like, the besties must now make some comprises as they get to work planning and putting their new group together. I love the creativity behind this book as there are lots of funny moments as the duo discovers that this new dream of theirs is harder than they imagined.

Pizza will be strumming the guitar and Taco really wants to play the tambourine in their new band. A calm Taco is portrayed rocking it out, with colorful strings hanging off his instrument as he moves to the music. Pizza feels that Taco should take it up a notch and hammer down on some drums in their band and the contrast between these two pictures is funny. From deciding what they should call their band to recruiting other band members, and deciding how to move forward, it’s obvious that they need to comprise. Pizza needs to let Taco help make some of the decisions as this is a group decision.

The Best Friend’s Dance makes an appearance as they needed some music to perform. After they did some “think, think, think” to come up with some lyrics to write and coming up empty, they put their famous dance to music. The reaction from their potential band members wasn’t what they hoped but the besties thought it was “awesome!” “yaaas!” and that keeps their energy pumped. Who thought putting a band together would be this much work?

Super fun series that keep my grandchildren and I laughing as we read each book. We’ve read each book in this series so many times, my preschool grandchildren know each story by heart, and they tell me if I am missing a word when I read them out loud to them. You don’t really need to read them in order, but you’ll appreciate them more, if you do. They sometimes relate to the previous stories in the sequential books but for the most part, you’ll be able to follow the story. 5 stars

We Will Rock Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins

4.5 stars Children’s Picture Book

Being a dinosaur is hard especially when you’re the only one. Penelope finds that out as she’s the only dinosaur in her school. Penelope is almost like the other human boys and girls in her classroom, almost. At least now, it seems like Penelope is trying to fit in with the other students in her class. Readers learn that Penelope’s favorite thing to do in the whole world is to make music. Rock and roll music to be exact, whether she’s singing it or playing it on an instrument, rock and roll is her favorite music. So, when her teacher tells the class that there’s going to be a talent show, Penelope is pumped as she knows exactly what she was going to do.

Penelope’s name is on the first line for the talent show signup, she was that excited! She knew exactly what she was going to do and had everything all planned out yet when the time came for rehearsals, she froze. Not one peep or roar came out of Penelope as she stood in front of her peers. All of her self-confidence drained right out of her. So much for the talent show now.

Penelope can’t perform because, “I am a dinosaur.” Sad and depressed Penelope arrives home, and daddy takes her aside and talks to her. He doesn’t try to convince her, but he shows her and allows Penelope to see things through her own eyes. The next day, Penelope arrives at school hopeful and determined. The Talent Show is tonight, and she hopes she can rock the building.

It’s a cute story and I like the lesson that Penelope learns. The story touches on a variety of emotions as she navigates life. I like how dad explains the situation to her and he doesn’t preach but shows by example and lets her see things for herself. Penelope still has issues with being a dinosaur around her human friends which she still struggles with daily, and I like that about her. I love the illustrations in this book. I highly recommend reading one of these books in the series if you haven’t, they’re good. 4.5 stars

The Dam by David Arnold

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

The illustrations are just specular! Knowing that this story is based on a true event makes this story much more heartfelt and emotional. As the father and daughter walk into the valley together, there is this calmness in the story as he talks about how the dam will change life in the valley. No longer will there be joyous parties and dancing, the wildlife and animals will cease to come here, for this land will be forever changed. They come to a tall, brick structure and go inside. The daughter is instructed to play her violin one last time inside this structure while her daddy sings along. I can’t describe how wonderful the illustrations are as these two fill the room with their music.

The duo continues playing their music in all the buildings in this deserted community, filling “the houses with music,” until

“The birds heard.

The beast heard.

The earth heard.

The trees heard.

The ghosts heard.

The day was darkening.

Out of the valley they walked.”

Water slowly covers the land, until, “This was covered over. This was drowned. The lake is beautiful.” The father and daughter return to the land, the land they had last visited and played their duet. It is new, yet it’s the same.

The music is still there and it will continue and so will the memories. Life changes but it’s still the same. Fantastic story!! Check out this beautiful picture book! Definitely a 5-star read for me!

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton

That Opal was a hoot! I couldn’t believe the transformation of this lady from the beginning to the end of the book. I was grinning from ear to ear as I heard her, her spunk, determination, and compassion just fell out of the book. Being a black woman, she knew exactly where her place was but that wasn’t a place were Opal wanted to be. If you think about the time period that Opal and Nev were an item (1970’s), equality was a hot issue. Liberation, racism, and equal rights were being sought after and it seemed that everyone was on edge.

On stage, I could only image what their performance was like and I would have loved to just see them up close. I doubt any performance was ever the same as their personalities, feelings, and the chemistry of the stage all came into play when they took the stage. Opal seemed to be the one who pushed their performances, who shined, while Nev filled in where he was needed and he worked on other matters.

Set up like an interview, this book is an oral history of the lives of Opal Jewel and Nev Charles, a singing duo from 1970’s. I loved the book, Daisy Jones and the Six so I knew I would enjoy this book also. The two books are alike yet they’re different. I liked how this book was an interview which consists of flashbacks that told the story of Opal and Nev. We hear from their friends and family, they speak about their ups and their downs, and we forget that this book is a work of fiction. As I read the book, I imagined hearing Opal’s voice as she talked about her relationship with Nev and then, I had to get the audio of this book to actually hear her words being spoken. Her voice brought strength to the words that I had previously read, for it solidified what I had previously thought about her. I really enjoyed the audio version of this book and the books was fantastic also, I got the best of both worlds!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest opinion.

Leaving Lymon by Lesa Cline-Ransome

He’s a person, can’t anyone see this! This book states that it takes places in the 1940’s but the story is all too familiar. Living with his grandparents, Lymon has the stability, connections and the ability to express himself but that quickly vanishes. When they’re no longer able to care for him, other family members step in and accept Lymon into their home but not everyone in the household is thrilled about having him there.

The only person who Lymon was wanting and needing was, the one individual who would just pop into his life, whenever they felt the need to. You can feel the desperation in his voice and in his actions as they made their appearance and when they walked out, Lymon was again looking, looking for them everywhere. Lymon has lots of questions but no one was honest with him. They liked to dance around the questions that he asked of them.

When Lymon lived with his grandparents, his grandfather taught him how to play the guitar and this love united them. This was a connection that he also had with his father, for his father did gigs and he always had another show. I enjoyed this music connection and how the author used this throughout the story.

This was a fantastic story and it was an emotional one for me. Lymon needed some stability and he needed someone to be there for him but would he ever find it and who would that person be? I think the ending was too perfect for me considering how the story was progressing and the characters. 4 stars This is a sequel to Finding Langston.

“Daddy, when am I gonna see you again? Feel like I have been asking this question my whole life and never getting the answer I want. But I keep asking hoping for the answer I want to hear.”

How Sweet the Sound: The Story of Amazing Grace by Carole Boston Weatherford

This wasn’t what I thought this book would be like, but it’s a start. This song was a favorite of my grandmothers and it’s also one of my mother’s favorite songs, when I saw the cover, I knew I had to read it. I wondered what the song’s words came from and what they meant as it’s sang a lot at funerals and religious services.

The song began with John Newton aboard a slave ship. He’s a passenger as the ships being tossed about, during a stormy night. John hears the crew complaining as he worries about the ship going down with the storm. As the storm whips around him, John reflects back on his life.

John’s father was a sea captain and his mother stayed home and took care of him. She took him to church and John was a good Christian boy. When she died, John put on his sea legs and went with his father to the sea, where he got into trouble and he became a wild fellow. This was the time that he also met his wife, Mary.

The storm grabs John’s attention as the boat is being torn apart. Everyone fears the worse and hopes the best. The illustrations capture the fear that these individuals felt. Fortunately, they do eventually find land and John later retires. Once an individual who transported slaves, John now preaches to end slavery. I had a few questions about things that were happening here as it seemed rather choppy. John now writes the first lines to this famous song. Those lines travel across sea and land where other individuals sing them and add their own words to them until ……..we have a song. What? Yep! There are Author Notes at the back (which I highly recommend you read), Additional Reading and Info, and Amazing Grace (the song).

I feel that the illustrations captured the energy of this book. They were bold, colorful, and the individuals presented were nicely done. I was surprised at how much of the book was devoted to the life of John and how much of the book was devoted to the song, itself. Then, to find out that he only wrote the first lines to the song. That was a huge surprise to me! The Author’s Notes at the back of the book need to be read as I found them very informative. They helped answer some of my questions and put the book together for me. I also liked having all the verses of the song together in the back, with the nice illustration in the background, that was a nice touch. I was disappointed that not more was written about the rest of the song though.

The Boy on the Bus by Penny Dale

If you know the song, The Wheels of the Bus, you’ll have to read this book as this book is about a young boy driving the bus but he’s picking up farm animals. At each bus stop, a different animal gets on and sometimes more than one animal boards the bus. The boy is having the time of his life driving the bus, gathering up all the farm animals as he says, “On you get! Take a seat! Not full yet!”

The bus is bouncy up and down over the dirt road as the bus fills up, and I mean fills up! The animals look to be having a good time also as they find room for each other until the bus looks like it cannot hold another person. With realistic looking animals, this is a fun, colorful, and entertaining picture book! 5 stars from this Nana.

Goodnight, My Angel by Billy Joel

What a sweet lullaby and the illustrations that accompany this book couldn’t be any sweeter. Written for his daughter, Billy Joel wrote the song after his daughter aquestioned him about death.

Even though you may not be with the one that you love, they will always be a part of you, is just one of the messages that I took away from this picture book. Memories and dreams, they are in your heart and become a part of you. This would be a great bedtime book. It comes with a CD or you can watch the video of Billy Joel singing the song on YouTube.

Listen to Billy Joel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcnd55tLCv8

We Will Rock Our Classmates by Ryan Higgins

I love Penelope because she’s more than a T-Rex. Penelope loves to go to school and the students in her class don’t treat her any different just because she’s a dinosaur. Instead of playing cops-n-robbers, they play cops-n-dinosaurs so Penelope can play with them. Penelope loves to read, play, and draw just like any other child plus Penelope has feelings just like they do too. Penelope’s favorite thing to do in the whole wide world is, to rock-out on her guitar!

Penelope gets so excited when the teacher announces a talent show that she’s the first one to sign up. She had to walk past Walter the Goldfish to get to the signup sheet, now that’s a brave dinosaur. Rehearsing over and over again at home, Penelope is ready for the big night when she can play on stage.

When they have a school rehearsal, Penelope freezes! What!?! Penelope can’t move. She can’t play her guitar. What will happen on the night of the talent show when everyone comes to watch Penelope rock-out?

Doubt has started to creep into Penelope. She wonders about her ability to play. How can she get the confidence she needs to play? A cute book about this fantastic dinosaur and her classmates.