It still amazes me how an author, under such tight constraints, can paint the picture so accurately. With a limited use of language and the power of space, Kip Wilson carried me back to the 1930’s where being yourself, whoever you were, was still acceptable, even in the city of Berlin. Although, not a city void of criticism, for there would always be wolves ready to attack, this brief time period gave individuals the opportunity to find their crowd and be embraced. Written in verse, it was an incredible journey where the sights and sounds of Berlin, were at my fingertips.
Through the use of language and space, Hilde’s story was composed on 397-pages, words arranged so strategically that it reads like a work of fiction. Hilde’s gates were finally open as she leaves her controlled world and enters a world where she can find her own niche. She must find employment to begin her new life but with the economy in shambles, Hilde’s options are limited. When Hilde finds Rosa, I think she was able to fully breathe and embrace who she was. This was an emotional read for me as Hilde finally gets to see the world behind her own eyes. 5 stars
The cover got me on this one as I was at the library volunteering. I’m not one for romance but the Gotham in the title swayed me and I liked the illustrations. After reading this graphic novel, I couldn’t believe this was actually, the one and only Mr. Freeze. I was floored! No way! This story was actually about Mr. Freeze and his future wife. I think that there’s a great story inside this book but the way that the story is delivered could have been better. The writing felt choppy and the story felt awkward as the characters cope with what life has given them and they find that perhaps there is more to life. The illustrations were fantastic and they saved the book for me.
When we meet Victor, he’s visiting his younger brother again, like he does every year, at the cemetery. Victor is proving to be quite the successful cryogenics cold tech and his work on perfecting his Accela-Freeze compound is coming along. Oh, what that compound could do, if he could just get everything perfect. Victor is proud of his accomplishments and he conveys everything to his brother as if his brother could actually hear him from beyond. Nora interrupts Victor’s talk when he spots her in the distance. She’s also at the cemetery, visiting her mother’s grave, a surprise since Victor normally sees no one.
Nora. This girl got on my nerves. She was a total flake. Between her words and her actions, I didn’t know what to think of her. The words that came out of her mouth were all over the place. “So, come here often?” yep, that’s what you say to someone that you meet at the cemetery. It doesn’t get better than this for a while and then, she starts to get all romantic with Victor. What’s wrong with her? I knew that she had a disease but I doubted that caused her to act like that. Victor is hesitant at first (and he should be) yet he continues to hang around Nora when he should be running for the hills. Nora does look amazing with her flowing hair, her spaghetti-strapped shirt, and her spunky attitude but is he really listening to her? He needs to take off his glasses and really see her. The illustrations are great! With attention to detail, the illustrator has created some wonderful text boxes that showcase the story. I appreciated his attention to detail and the colors that were used, provided the atmosphere that I expected for this story. These fantastic illustrations make this a good book for me but I felt that the writing alone didn’t work for me. 3 stars
Three. That’s all it took. Whereas some books use series, some use chapters, and some use pages of text, Reyolds began this book using three powerful, long sentences to get his point across. Using his artistic talent, Jason Griffin grabbed those words and he chopped and stretched them. Inserting his special touch, Jason manipulated those words, until he was left with a book that is equally part art and poetry. To fully appreciate it, I read through it a few times.
It’s the combination of art and verse that grabbed me. The erratic use of language spread across this book, I thought for sure, it had to be more than three sentences for its message was worthy of a novel. I couldn’t help but feel the emotions this young man was experiencing and identify with his frame of mind. Where is everyone? Where was his own family? His mother was physically glued to the TV, his father boxed in another room coughing, his brother lost inside his video games and the telephone was connected to his sister’s ear. But, really where were they? He’s looking for a sign in these individuals as his world spins relentlessly. There’s too much going on and not enough solid answers, as the state of the world, the pandemic and his own world changes. Why won’t his parents change the channel? Why doesn’t anyone change the channel? An excellent hard-hitting question.
The contrasting use of color, the edgy images that spread across the page with the limited use of language allow this book to tap into your soul. I felt energized yet also saddened as the truth this book conveyed hit me. This is not a book you should rush through but slow-down, appreciate those three sentences and the art that surrounds them. Make sure you read Reynolds and Griffin section in the back of the book titled, “Is Anyone Still Here?” I highly recommend this book.
And this is why I wait. When I first read Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, I thought it was an okay read but reading it a second time was a different experience for me. Whether this was because I was in a different place in my life, or my mood at the time, or perhaps I was just more ready for it, I found this first book in this series had become more enjoyable and encompassing. After discussing it in book club, instead of gazing into my crystal ball and envisioning the future of the characters, I picked up the new sequel. I couldn’t believe that it had taken this long for it to finally come out. At least now, I would have some solid answers.
Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World begins right where Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe left off, so I’d read the first book before diving into this one. Since the two boys have finally come to terms with their feelings towards each other in the first book, now it’s time to address the rest of the world. We knew the struggle would be difficult as the boys’ deal with their peers and with the family dramatics but they also are looking at their future together. Will this love last?
What I enjoyed about this series were the relationships and how lifelike these characters felt. Having other family members and their stories brought into the book filled out the story and gave us a true picture. These characters struggled, their emotions felt strapped, and yet inside some of them were really glowing. I listened to this book on audio and I highly recommend it. 4 stars.
I felt there were a lot of issues in this book, issues that Emma had to sort through as they couldn’t be ignored. Her family had money but putting money on these issues wouldn’t be the answer. With a respectable and prominent family name, I felt that money had been the families answer before the accident. Money can’t fix the challenges the family is facing now but first, the challenges must be identified and acknowledged.
Emma thought her brother Joey just liked weed but he also tested positive for heroin the night that Candy was killed. Checking into Blue Spruce, Joey sought treatment. Emma would miss Joey but she wouldn’t miss the constant fighting that he had with their parents. Emma’s prescription for pain medication for her injuries in that accident wouldn’t be filled, as their mother feared that Emma would also become a drug addict just like Joey. It didn’t matter how much pain her fractured kneecap was giving her, there would be no prescription. Mother was so bossy.
Mother seemed to be more concerned about how her appearance in the community than with the own children. Having an established business in the community, mother’s top concern seemed to be how she looked in the community now that something had tainted their family’s name. She was scared of losing her high status in the community. Little else did she know, what else was happening that would affect her and the family’s name.
My heart ached for Emma as I read. What more could she do? The expectations that were placed on her were high and the only activity that Emma discovers that provides her any kind of happiness had me shaking my head. Oh Emma!! I thought the author did a fantastic job with the details of this story. There were times that I thought this book was slow but I had to know what happened to Emma and her brother so I continued reading and I’m so glad I did. 4.5 stars.
I loved Long Way Down, also written by this author, so when I saw this graphic novel, I knew I had to read it. Long Way Down touched me on so many different levels as the story played out. Jason used space and time to tell this story, the words arranged just right, letting my emotions take over. I love this about free verse; the reader can put a piece of themself into the story.
In Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel, I felt that my attention was centered more on the elevator ride than on the emotions in the story. I was concerned about the individuals on the ride: trying to figure out who Will would encounter each time the elevator door opened on each of the floors and what that individual would mean to him. This book’s focus was totally different than what I had with Long Way Down. I enjoyed learning more about how these individuals mattered and why they were important to Will which I don’t remember focusing on when I read Long Way Down. Whereas Long Way Down was more emotional for me, this graphic novel explained more[SS1] of Will’s story to me. To me, they complimented one another.
There is a lot of information in this book, this isn’t a graphic novel that you can speed read through. This story is emotional but I think the feelings were angrier and heavier than what I had felt with the other book, when they felt hurtful and heartbreaking. I thought the book was easy to follow and I enjoyed the illustrations. I liked how the illustrations show just enough information not to take away from the text. 4.5 stars.
“We thought we had a wall around our story. But what if there were windows?”
I really enjoyed this story. Told through email exchanges, this story built upon itself exposing issues that had been hidden for years. Ezra awakens one morning to find his sister Bea gone. There had been no warning/signs and no note had been written. Bea’s boyfriend Terrence claims he knew nothing and with Bea’s personal effects still at home, her disappearance is a mystery.
Ezra receives a confidential email from Bea which comforts him but he knows he must face the facts. Bea left him, she escaped and now, he has to face Darren alone. Sure, his mother lives with them but she has done nothing to stop her current husband from abusing her children. Why would she start now? As Ezra and Bea correspond via email, Ezra discovers what finally pushed Bea out the door and I feel that the two of them are growing closer as they’re opening up about a variety of issues. When Ezra talks to their mother about Bea’s disappearance, her reaction made me want to scream. As this story unfolds, there were turns and twists that I didn’t see coming and mysteries that were revealed that I didn’t expect.
An emotional story about connections and family that’ll have you wrapped up inside this book till you turn the very last page. 4.5 stars
I try to go into my books blind, that added mystery as to lies before me, intrigues me. This book however, it bit me! I woke up early today as I had about thirty pages left and I had to know how it ended so. Well, this is book number one! What?!? I’m left hanging for a few months as the second book isn’t due out until then. Mindy left some important questions unanswered. She definitely had me in her grips, clearing some of my uncertainty as she connected each character to the story. I didn’t know what the final outcome would be, but I wasn’t thinking, it was going to be reading a second book.
In the town of Amontillado, time carries more weight than gold. It doesn’t matter how well-off your family is or what type of car you drive, what matters is how long you’ve been a resident of this small community. A stone pillar, engraved with Amontillado’s founding fathers has been placed in the center of town, so they will never be forgotten. You too will not forget some of Amontillado’s residents.
Seven years ago, both Felicity Turnado and Tress Montor had it all. Family, friends, money, and each other. Now, they’re both trying to discover what remains. Tress is currently living with Grandpa Cecil who runs an area animal attraction. My heart immediately broke as I read about her, as she can’t quite recall what happened that turned her world 180 degrees and no one will fill in the blanks for her. Her parents are gone but where exactly, did they go? Tress knows that there were four of them together that night and now, just the two of them remain. Yet, Felicity won’t say a thing and Tress doesn’t realize what that night also did to her.
Tress will try to make Felicity talk; she has her ways. As the perfect opportunity arises, Tress has Felicity right where she wants her. I felt that Tress wanted answers yet she also wanted revenge, she wanted Felicity to feel the pain that she has felt since that night. Felicity is at Tress’ mercy, the night in question begins the conversation but it doesn’t stop there. I too, wanted answers, I wanted them quickly, what happened that was so disturbing and caused so much denial? Just tell Tress what happened to her parents. What did Tress’ parents have to do with the girls not being friends anymore?
The emotions and energy that poured out of this book was intense. Told in a dual timeline, I thought these flashbacks helped build-up the story. In the current time period, Tress and Felicity were interacting under a stressful situation. As they brought up their past, we were whisked back in time to when these events actually took place. I wanted the best for them, but there were times that I really felt my sinister laugh coming through for the characters didn’t act like they deserved it. I can’t wait to finish this one, I need to know how this one ends………I mean really ends. 4.5 stars
“That day there was only enough prayer & blood for one of us to walk out.”
Moth was the lone survivor that day and the causalities included her brother and both of her parents. Since that traumatic day, Moth has lived with her Aunt Jack, pondering whether she should change her name, since there’s no one left who cares. Why was she left behind? I hated to hear that Moth gave up her love of dancing since the accident. Struggling to achieve her success, she was now just throwing it all away. Moth had no friends at school either. Attending a mostly white school, Moth found that the few black students that do attend, don’t include her in their conversations; they’re just like her previous school. It’s not like she’s trying either. She’s just existing, living on the memories that she can recall.
Sani took the seat beside her on the school bus, this seat that no one has ever sat in. Who would have thought it all began on a school bus? Sani is having family issues and he’s popping these mysterious pills, that he’s reluctant to discuss. Being of Navajo descent, Moth feels a connection to Sani through her Hoodoo. With their relaxed conversations, they come to realize that they’re both just surviving. They’re both just there. Sani offers a solution, a way out. A place where they can breathe. Sani asks Moth to run away with him.
I felt at first, when Sani asked Moth to run away with him, that he wasn’t serious. I thought he was just throwing something out there for them to dream about as they were both frustrated but when she responded, he jumped on it. This was an opportunity! This was going to happen! He obviously had been thinking about this.
What a trip this turns out to be for both of them. I enjoyed their journey and the places that they went. I liked that the trip was about connecting and discovery and not a love connection between the two of them. I loved the way the story was written in verse as the words weren’t forced nor did they feel cheesy. I enjoyed how the characters and story came together and the ending was impressive as I didn’t see that one coming. I can’t wait to see what else this author writes.
The sky & the rain baptize our bodies- sinless & free.”
“Sani (looking sad): Do the ancestors ever answer?
And just like that, Gary Schmidt does it again! A fantastic book containing two incredible main characters whose lives were meant to cross. As I was reading both of the storylines in this book, my mind was trying to figure out how the two stories were going to collide. I had a feeling their initial meeting would be memorable.
Meryl Lee was attending an all-girl’s prep school, a school where she felt she didn’t belong. Matt, he was living in an old lobster shack trying to keep to himself, helping out on a lobster boat. Both of their personalities were similar and the road that life that led them both on, had given them similar tests, so it felt as if they were destined to meet sometime in their lifetime.
Hollings car accident had left Meryl Lee devasted. Her parents thought that St. Elene’s Prep Academy for Girls was the answer that Meryl Lee needed to give her a fresh start but Meryl Lee isn’t so sure. The school was geared more towards the wealthier girls and the social aspects of the school don’t match those of Meryl Lee. It’s a difficult move for Meryl Lee yet she holds firm to who she is, as she’s called out for not following the prep school’s rules and her peers also see her as being different. Meryl Lee is a great character and it’s interesting to see the school through her eyes. Matt is a loner and the more that I read about him, the more I understood why. The pieces of Matt’s history are slowly revealed in the book and at times, I was losing my patience as I wanted more. He’s not had a typical childhood but as we start the story, Matt’s has a pretty stable life. Currently, Matt has a job, a place to stay, and most nights, he has a playful competition of skipping stones down by the water with a Mrs. Nora. Mrs. Nora took a walk one night down by the water and found Matt skipping stones and they started meeting up every night since. Matt’s street smart but not book smart, yet. Mrs. Nora decided that she wanted to educate Matt. Mrs. Nora is the headmistress of St. Elene’s Prep Academy for Girls and yep, that’s how Meryl Lee and Matt came together.
This book was quite the journey! Following Matt’s history and the roads that he has traveled was quite an adventure in itself. The book really took off when Meryl Lee met Matt. I had to laugh when Matt was waving a hatchet in his boxers and then, my body was covered in chills and the words seems to be running all together as Meryl Lee hides Matt on the bus. Dang, this book had my emotions all over the place. There were a lot of fantastic moments in the book, parts where the words on the page touched something deep within me. It may be set in the 1960’s but some things never change. Pick this one up, you’ll be glad you did.
One Chapter 