The Marvels by Brian Selznick

The Marvels
by Brian Selznick

Brian Selznick's masterful illustrations and writing are combined in this beautiful tome which captures your attention immediately with the elaboratly decorated cover and gilded pages. The first part of the story (approximately half of the 665 pages) is told with Selznick's signature style of illustrations, black and white, telling the story of a lone survivor - Billy Marvel - of a shipwreck in 1766. As the story progresses the reader follows the Marvel family through five generations of actors and theater life.

Abruptly the Marvel story ends (as do the pictures) and a new story (in text form) begins in 1990 as Joseph runs away from school to locate his eclectic and estranged Uncle Albert. Joseph finds himself in a home unluck he has never been. 

How are the two stories connected? Who are the Marvels? What connection do they have to Uncle Albert and Joseph? All of the questions will be answered in this marvelous story loosely based on The Dennis Severs House located in Spitalfields, London.

Brian Selznick created a wonderful book trailer for this book. It can be seen on The Marvels website.

I highly recommend reading any and all of Mr. Selznick's other books, such as the following.

• The Houdini Box (1991)
• The Boy of a Thousand Faces (2000)
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007) - Caldecott Winner
• Wonderstruck (2011)

Harlan Coben Doesn't Fool Around

Back in 2012, I had the most wonderful experience of meeting two authors I had only recently discovered: Harlan Coben and Lisa Scottoline. My mother and I attended the Texas Library Association's LiFTA Luncheon in order to hear them speak about their books. Scottoline spoke about Come Home, which had only been released a week earlier and Harlan Coben enticed readers with bits of his book Stay Close. Since then I have become a huge fan of both of these fantastic authors and when I see information about a new book coming out, I have to jump on it immediately.

I was granted early access to Harlan Coben's next bestseller, which will be released March 22, 2016, title through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Fool Me Once
by Harlan Coben

Like his previous books, Mr. Coben leads you down a pathway and then allows you to plummet off the cliff not realizing you were lead astray. The book revolves around Maya Stern, a retired helicopter pilot, surrounded by scandal and also the murders of her sister (while she was in Iraq) and her husband (soon after her return). When Maya discovers a video of her "dead" husband on the nanny cam given to her by her best friend following her husband's funeral suspicions begin to arise. Could Joe be alive? Who killed her sister? Why is death following Maya and who will be next?

This stand alone novel by this best selling author will have you on edge until the very end. I highly recommend this book. Once you find Coben, you will want to read everything he writes.

**To comply with guidelines set forth by the Federal Trade Commission, Dutton (part of Penguin Group) has provided a complimentary electronic copy of Fool Me Once for review purposes. My review is in no way influenced by the author or publishing company and is solely my opinion.

Great Listens by Mary Kubica

I have recently developed a new addiction. It is an addiction my son has had for years...listening to audiobooks. Don't get me wrong, I have listened to audiobooks in the past, just not to this extent.

I remember when the Harry Potter books were released in audiobook format our family purchased them as quickly as possible. It was back in the day when we took at least one family road trip a year. These trips included my husband, my son, and my parents. All being voracious readers, listening to books as we traveled seemed like a great idea. I never got a great deal out of these listening sessions. As a back seat rider the soothing ride quickly put me to sleep.

I find it so funny to think back on those days driving across the country listening to Jim Dale with his amazing collection of voices spin the tale of Harry and his friends, because my son, Timothy (four at the time) would make comments like, "Always Harry Potter" and "I hate Harry Potter". He wanted to watch his train videos, which he would do because we had a conversion van at the time. Now, at age twenty, he is beyond excited for our upcoming trip to Florida when we will be visiting Universal Studios and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. His feelings and opinions of Harry Potter have greatly changed, just as mine have of audiobooks.

I have discovered I can listen to a book while doing other activities and thoroughly enjoy the story. The best part is being able to increase the amount of literature I cover! I can read one book and listen to another without any problem, just not at the exact same. [Wouldn't that be awesome if you could listen to one book while reading another?!?]

So, to get to the point of this entry...Mary Kubica's The Good Girl and Pretty Baby. I recently discovered Hoopla, an amazing digital service provided by my local library. The service provides library users with 24/7 access to eBooks, movies, television shows, music, and audiobooks. While searching through the audiobooks, I discovered The Good Girl. It sounded like it would be an interesting book, so I checked it out.

The Good Girl
by Mary Kubica

The Good Girl (2014) is the debut novel of Mary Kubica, and what a way to start! The story centers around the abduction of Mia Dennett. Since I listened to this book, I am assuming each chapter was titled Before or After (preceeded by the name of the character from whose viewpoint the chapter was being told), at least this is how the narrator began. Eve, Mia's mother, Collin, Mia's abductor, and Gabe, the detective investigating Mia's abduction tell the main portion of the story. I loved the character development and really cared about each of the people telling their story. It really was a wonderful book to listen to, especially with the various readers performing the narration as the characters. It was a much more realistic, almost as if you were physically there participating in the action.

The book has been compared to Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I can see where some would make the connection because of the narrative and the twists in the storyline.

Pretty Baby
by Mary Kubica

As soon as I finished listening to The Good Girl, I went back to Hoopla to see if Kubica had written anything since this debut. I was thrilled to find Pretty Baby (2015). I immediatly checked it out and downloaded the book. I listened to book as much as I could between work and sleep. The narration for this book was performed by a woman (Cassandra Campbell) and a man (Tom Taylorson) which again provided the sense that you were in the presence of the characters as they told their story. I wanted to know about the characters telling this story, Heidi, Willow, and Chris, and it was much more believeable because of the different narrators. Like her debut, this book provided a wonderful twist and lived up to the hashtag #PsychologicalThriller. 

I'm very excited to say I have recieved an ARC of Ms. Kubica's newest book, Don't You Cry, which will be released in June 2016. I have not had a chance to read it yet, but I will be posting my comments about the book as soon as I have finished it.

Peddles

Peddles
by Elizabeth Rose Stanton

In June 2014, while in Las Vegas for the American Library Association's Annual Conference, Elizabeth Rose Stanton and I played text tag. We attempted to meet each other at various times during the conference and it wasn't until the very last day that we were finally able to connect. She and Toni Yuly were waiting outside the exhibit floor doors and started waving to me before I even made it across the room. You can see our picture together from this previous post.

A few weeks ago when I received a review copy of her latest book, Peddles, from Simon and Schuster, I was thrilled to see the final product of which I had seen snippets on Facebook. I truly did not think Peddles could get any cuter, but I was wrong.

Peddles is an adventurous little pig who does not want to be a conformist. He has his own ideas and dreams to pursue and does not let anything or anyone get in his way. When Peddles hears "whooping and hollering" out in the barn, he begins to ponder the possibility of dancing. Behind the barn Peddles discovers the perfect accessory for his big idea, however it does not work out exactly the way he had envisioned. He soon learns the other pigs who had believed his ideas to be "spacey" were actually willing to provide a helping hand and join in the fun in the end.

I know readers, young and old, will enjoy not only reading this wonder story, but also delight in the beautiful pencil and watercolor illustrations. There might be a few people who will be upset with two of the small images of Peddles as he defecates (or three if you get technical - two times like a pig and once on a toilet), but like Taro Gomi wrote, Everybody Poops!

I highly recommend Peddles by Elizabeth Rose Stanton for all libraries with a picture book collection and as a gift for anyone you know with small children. I believe it will quickly become a favorite story to read over and over again, especially if you love pigs.

**To comply with guidelines set forth by the Federal Trade Commission, Simon & Schuster has provided a complimentary copy of Peddles for review purposes. My review is in no way influenced by the author or publishing company and is solely my opinion.

Most Wanted

Most Wantedby Lisa Scottoline
release date: April 12, 2016

Most Wanted, is the perfect title for Lisa Scottoline's latest stand-alone thriller. It captures the very essence of this complex story. There are so many possibilities for the reason behind the title, but I think the most important one, the one that is the reason for the entire story line is pictured on the cover - a baby.

Christine and Marcus are happy, young professionals wanting to start a family. When they discover Marcus is infertile they decide to use a donor in order to conceive. As Christine prepares to leave her job as a reading specialist, she sees a breaking news story about the capture of a serial killer. She is devastated to see the image of her donor's face being pushed into a squad car in handcuffs.

Is your heart racing? Are you wondering, what would I do? That is exactly how I felt when reading this book! When you think the storyline is going in one direction, Scottoline turns it around and goes another way. The action and excitement keeps the reader on the edge of their seat throughout the book.

As an educator, I have to say I was impressed with the way Christine was depicted in the story. A lot of times educators are characterized as stuck in their profession. They are not given credit for the background and degrees held in order to be in their positions. Educators are often taken for granted and not respected by students or parents because public education is free to all. I respect Christine's decision to quit her job to raise her child, but I also liked reading about how much she cared for and would miss her students. A common characteristic of educators is their feeling of a lack of skills for a career after teaching. I have to admit I have felt this way many times. As I near retirement I wonder what I will do when I no longer have to be at school before 7:00 in the morning. I know I can create engaging lessons for children, keep the attention of large numbers of students with my read-alouds, teach adults how to integrate technology into their lessons, manage a classroom full of four- and five-year olds full of sugar and excitement during a classroom holiday party, and calm a hysterical parent when their child is hurt, missing, or in trouble. But how do those skills relate to the world outside of a school building? Scottoline has placed Christine in just that position and she comes out a true heroine! I'm so happy to see a strong woman educator pull herself up and be the confident leader she was born to be, even if the point of this story was not the fact the main character was a teacher. Thank you for showing everyone, especially teachers, they can do and be anything at any time.

I would highly recommend this book for fans of thrillers, books about educators, and law. 

* To comply with guidelines set forth by the Federal Trade Commission, St. Martin's Press has provided a complimentary electronic version of Most Wanted for review purposes. 

 

Fun with Nursery Rhymes: Little Bo Peep and More

Little Bo Peep and Her Bad, Bad Sheep: A Mother Goose Hullabaloo
written by A. L. Wegwerth; illustrated by Luke Flowers

One might think this book is simply about Little Bo Peep and her bad, bad sheep, but they would be wrong. Readers will find not only Little Bo Peep, but 38 other nursery rhymes in this fun book. The narrator in the story has a very difficult time reciting Little Bo Peep's nursery rhyme, but who can blame her when there is SO much going on in the illustrations

Nursery rhyme characters are running wild all on the pages of this book. The illustrations will capture even the youngest reader, or listener immediately and a number of conversations can be had while reading this book based on the jam packed illustrations. Before you get to the end of the book, try to make a list of all of the different nursery rhymes referenced in the illustrations.  It will be a fun challenge for older children who are more familiar with the various nursery rhymes. Young children may not know all of the characters, but they will quickly be able to recognize Humpty Dumpty and the three little kittens. All of the nursery rhymes depicted in the illustrations are included in the final eight pages of the book along with a small character to help the reader locate the reference in the book. I highly recommend this book for early childhood and elementary school libraries.

*To comply with guidelines set forth by the Federal Trade Commission, Capstone Young Readers provided a complimentary electronic version of Little Bo Peep and Her Bad, Bad Sheep: A Mother Goose Hullabaloo for review purposes.

George by Alex Gino

I was fortunate enough to be in San Francisco on June 26, 2015. I understand if you are not familiar with this date and the historic significance. I will not judge, and I hope you will not judge me for being excited about that day.

June 26, 2015 was the day of the Supreme Court ruling making same-sex marriage a right nationwide.

I am a happily married woman. I have been married to my husband for over 22 years. Why should I not be excited for my friends who are gay or lesbian to have the same opportunity?

George
Alex Gino

I am remembering this time because of a book I just finished reading, George written by Alex Gino. It was during this trip to San Francisco for the American Library Association's Annual Conference I first saw George. In fact, I received an ARC (advanced reader's copy) of the book. I remember when I picked it up and read the insert that said, "This book will change your life" and a message from David Levithan, the editor of the book. I even got a button that says, "Be Who You Are". Sadly, my copy of George was hidden away in one of the many tote bags I picked up during conference. I re-discovered George when I was perusing our district's review shelves. I was so excited to see this title and immediately grabbed it to read and review. Ironically after pulling the book to review my ARC appeared along with the button which I now have proudly hanging with my button collection in my office.

The title character, George, is not gay or lesbian, but a young girl trapped in the body of a boy. Gino creates realistic characters who show true emotion and inner turmoil when confronted with George's reality. I am especially grateful Gino created a character with a safe place for George, even if it is only briefly mentioned. The reader can draw their own conclusions as to the purpose for this insight, but I believe it provides a glimpse into the life of the principal.

The story is woven around the school's study of E.B. White's Charlotte's Web. George desperately wants to play the role of Charlotte when her fourth grade class performs for the lower grades. However, since she is a boy, she is not considered for the role. The book seems to come to an abrupt end, but I like where Gino leaves the story. It is hopeful and uplifting.

The terms transgender and transitioning are used in this wonderful book for readers in third through seventh grade. The topic of being gay is briefly mentioned, but George explains she is not gay, but a girl in a boys body.

I highly recommend George by Alex Gino for anyone willing to stand up for children who need to read about characters in books who are like themselves. Just like books such as And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson, A Tale of Two Mommies by Vanita Oelschlager or Daddy, Papa, and Me by Lesléa Newman, there is a need for book on topics a lot of people feel are controversial. If this is our society's reality, then we need to have books available to reflect all people, and not simply the ones that make us feel the most comfortable reading about and discussing.