El Nino, by Pam Munoz Ryan

     From the wonderful and talented storyteller who brought us Esperanza Rising, Paint the Wind, The Dreamer and more comes the newest book by author Pam Munoz Ryan, El Niño. This is the story of Kai Sosa, swimmer, surfer, brother to younger sister Abby and older sister Cali. Cali dies two years before this story takes place, never returning from the ocean after surfing out one day, and Kai and his family are still grieving the loss. But what exactly happened to Cali, a master swimmer, to have her apparently drown at sea? Ryan weaves mythology with reality to create a page-turning story of the mythical island of California and the Library of Despair and Sorrow. Meanwhile Kai struggles with his emotions, his attempts to live up to his sister's legacy, and the dreams he continues to have that seem to be a link to Cali...and she's alive!

    Ryan is truly a master storyteller, as you know if you have read any of her other books. She writes in such a hypnotic, poetic style that I don't even realize an hour has passed and I'm one hundred pages into the book! Her vocabulary is accessible yet challenging, with the perfect introduction of new words that feel as though I've known them all the time. In this book, artists Joe Cepeda provides some artwork, which is nice but doesn't really add much to the story. I will also mention that this book is marketed to late elementary grades, and Kai is supposed to be in elementary school, which I think may be Ryan's only miscue. His actions, thoughts, and emotions are much more middle grade than elementary - I was surprised that this was his written age in the story.

    But those are small hiccups in what I found to be an otherwise solid story. If you enjoy mythology there is enough of that here for you to "dive into", even though Kai's real life is the bulk of the story, especially early on. Fans of Ryan will love this, one of her stronger books! Fans of realistic fiction where sea life is part of the setting will also love this...I did! 4 paws and a wag!

Lucy in the Sky, by Kiara Brinkman & Sean Chiki

     After reading and reviewing the graphic novel Rhiannon (January, '26), I asked my human to purchase the first book by this husband and wife team. Lucy in the Sky was published in 2021 and the story takes place over the course of one year, 2012. That year doesn't seem to have any relevance to the story, but maybe you'll find some as you read, so I mention it here. 

    Main character, Lucy, is just turning 12 in the story. She lives with her dad, who is separated from her mom, who travels the world for her job and does not have much time to spend with Lucy. She has friends, but her friendships change as the story progresses, just like they do in real life. Part of being 12 is discovering herself and who she is, which leads her into music - specifically, old albums of her mom's and dad's. She happens upon the Beatles, where the title of the book comes from, and decides she wants to make her own music. She finds that forming and keeping a band is not easy, nor is the rest of her life, it seems.

    I don't know if my writing is doing this book justice, or really sharing my thoughts about it...I really liked this book! It isn't perfect - I wish Brinkman and Chiki would have put more obvious breaks between scenes - but I really found myself wanting to be reading it when I wasn't. I've said it before but to me, that is the sign of a good book! I love the musical references, but I don't know how many of them you will know (because the music referenced was popular in the 1950s and 1960s, mostly). I love the clever Beatles and musical references throughout, like the front cover, for example, and the explanations along the way of the music and its details. Do you know what a 45 record is? LOL!

    I like this duo's work so far, and look forward to future projects! As graphic novels go, they are now on my list of must-read artists. I give Lucy in the Sky 4 paws and a wag - a wag more than I gave Rhiannon, but only because now I understand their style of writing and illustrating...and I like it! I love it! I want some more of it!

Two books, no paws!

     Hello, my reading friends! I wanted to get one more post in before turning the calendar to April (no joke!), and waving a hearty farewell to what seemed like an exceptionally long and cold winter! These two books are not being paw rated, and I'll share why with each. But each book was really good, for very different reasons, and I wanted to share a bit about both - even without a formal Zelda review.

    The first book is a new addition to the school library collection, donated by some generous person in the Richmond community, and an important piece of Richmond history. The book is called (re)Framing Protest (NOW): Design + Hope, curated by The Branch Museum of Design in partnership with Richmond Free Press, with images by Regina H. Boone and Sandra Sellers. The book is a collection, in photos, of the protests that occurred in Richmond, VA after George Floyd was killed by police in 2020. The photos specifically focus on Monument Avenue in Richmond, and the monuments that have stood for a long time in tribute to men who supported and fought for the American South during the Civil War. 

    If you're new to our nation's history, this may be new information, or a bit confusing, but if you know something about the war between the north and the south in the late 1800s, and you know about more recent racial history in the United States, than this collection may make more sense to you. The images are powerful, and need to be part of our collective moving forward as a nation, addressing the racism that is as old as our country. For those of you living in or around Richmond, it may be even more powerful for you - you have probably seen the statues and places this book highlights. In any case, I recommend this to you, wherever you are in your knowledge of race and history, but especially if you currently call Richmond home. NO paw rating, just a recommended from a pup you know and trust!

    The second book I've been reading (and just finished last night!) is not categorized as a kids book, which is why I'm not rating it, but might be a book you older readers could enjoy. It is called Unlikely Animals (you can see why I was attracted to it, right?), by author Annie Hartnett. It is a very easy story to read and follow, but really hard to explain - it has so many twists and turns, plots and subplots - but it is clever, and fun, and funny and sad, and really hard to put down and not just finish! It deals with a lot of adult (and teen) issues, and does not glorify anything that most teens would find objectionable...but again, it is not marketed as a kid's book, so if you go in search of it, know that it is meant for adults. But, like some John Grisham or Stephen King books, written for adults, but teens enjoy and seek out. You won't find Unlikely Animals on the school library shelves, but if you are a more mature reader and like some "older" books, I recommend this! This is author Hartnett's second book, and I will definitely seek out her first book - probably this summer when I need a change of pace again and want something besides a teen or YA book.

    I hope you reading books you love, and finishing at least one book every now and again! Life's too short to read a book you don't like, but if you only read a few pages of every book you try, you are not giving any of the books a chance to win you over! That said, I'm currently reading a really good graphic novel - look for that post for that soon! Happy reading! Wag more, bark less!

Zelda!  xoxo

Radiant, by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

     Radiant is a wonderful story written in verse and very smooth and easy to read. Nelson's writing flows nicely, and even though Radiant is written for a younger audience (early middle grades, late elementary),  I found myself not being able to put it down. There is something warm and wonderful - and kind - about this story, and although I don't know Nelson's other books (yet!), for my introduction to her writing, this was a good place to begin (she is also a Coretta Scott King Award winner...)!

    Radiant tells the story of Cooper, a young Black girl in an all-White elementary classroom. The story takes place in the 1960s, which were both turbulent times (racial violence all across the United States) but also exciting times (the explosion of new music and musicians, such as The Beatles), and Cooper is dong her best to navigate all of it. There is one boy in her class who continues to taunt her with racial stereotypes, and Cooper is trying to be her best, most beautiful self while also wanting to directly confront - and stop - the bigotry.

    The story line isn't incredibly unique, but Nelson writes in a way that really makes you feel part of Cooper's life, the good and the bad. I have always admired writers who write in verse, even though it might seem like fewer words would be easier. I believe that to tell a good story with less words would be more of a challenge, but some authors do it incredibly well - Karen Hesse, Kwame Alexander, and k. a. Holt, to name a few of my favorites. Radiant might be slightly less strong than a Kwame Alexander book, but her writing kept me reading, and that is a very good thing! 5 paws!

Paper Dragons: The Fight for the Hidden Realm, by Siobhan McDermott

     Author McDermott grew up in Hong Kong, born to Chinese and Irish ancestry, folklore and language. I mention this early because a lot of the names, especially, and words found in this fantasy story are words from Cantonese, or Gaelic, or a mix of both. I thought that was really cool and clever, but it made it hard for me to follow all of the characters and the storyline throughout. Maybe you'll have better luck of it, this being the first of what appears to be a trilogy so far.

    Paper Dragons is the story of Zhi Ging, who is chosen as a Silhouette from her village - the second one, in fact, when her village has never had two chosen children for this special privilege. But there is something unique about Zhi Ging, and she knows it, but isn't sure what it is or what it means. This book is her story of discovery, filled with adventure - dragons, magic, monsters and mystery! It really is a good concept for a story, and fans of any modern day fantasy story might like this...but again, I found it a little tough to follow.

    I admit by the time I was half way through the book I wanted to keep reading - you know those books that you just can't put down? Almost like that...close! But not five paws for this one. The one thing McDermott did not do very well, in this pups humble opinion, is explain setting. This fantasy story takes place largely under the sea, which is very cool. But she introduces so many new elements to this story it really needs some expert clarity and explanation to really feel like you, the reader, are in the story. McDermott misses this mark too often. There were too many times I didn't know what was happening, or who was involved. Don't get me wrong - I finished the book, and liked it! But there were many places I had to just keep reading forward and wait for the details to make sense. 

    I imagine her next books in this series will get stronger in this area, and this series could easily become a five paw series. But not yet with this first one. Close, and good, but some things need fixin'!  4 paws.

The Flicker, by H. E. Edgmon

     A dystopian fiction book from author Hedgmon, The Flicker takes place a year after a sun "burst" (a flicker) has scorched the earth and killed most of the people and plant life. Two step sisters have survived, and are traveling through Appalachia into the south looking for one of the characters Native American elder grandmother. They have a dog and a baby with them, and come across other survivors as well as a group who is trying to dominate the supplies and people that have survived this event. There are LGBTQ+ elements, as well as the already mentioned dystopian theme. Friendship, family, and survival are all intertwined here, written in what is meant to be a conversational style (?) that had me confused from the start.

    Sometimes I'll glance at other reader reviews about a book to see if my take on things was spot on or way off. A lot of readers seemed to like this, so please take that into account as well - I'm just one well-read dog, after all! But I did not find this fun to read, or easy to follow (mostly because the character slang/language/dialect was so uneven), and I had to make myself finish the story. I liked the overall idea, even though I don't read a lot of dystopian fiction, but I thought the author had a cool idea to build a story around. But the characters were often just mean to each other, and the language did not flow for me at all. If any of the thematic elements mentioned above interest you, give this a try, and perhaps you'll like it better than I did. I wanted to like it, but just didn't. I would have rather re-read a good dystopian book, like Shipbreaker (Paolo Bacigalupi), or even the City of Ember series. 3 paws. Can't wait to start another book!

The Library in the Woods, by Calvin Alexander Ramsey & R. Gregory Christie

     The Library in the Woods just arrived in the our library yesterday, and the cover artwork was so wonderful I had to sit and read it right away! This picture book tells the story of a library built for Blacks in Roxboro, North Carolina in 1933, and frequented by the author, Ramsey, when he was a boy in 1959. Although the overall story is fictional, it is based on Ramsey's young life when his family moved from Maryland to North Carolina. At that time Blacks were not allowed to do many things that Whites could, and using a library was one of those many things. So Black libraries were built in various places around the South, and when young Ramsey discovered this one for the first time, it changed his life.

    That said, Christie's artwork in The Library in the Woods is so wonderful! He uses acrylic paint on illustration board, and the effect is realistic and yet a little abstract at the same time, giving his images a feeling like you are right there where the story is taking place. The basic idea of the story, that such a wonderful place as a library, was not (and is not) available to everyone and anyone across the world, but especially in this country, makes me pause (not paws), and be a little sad. I'm glad there were (and are) people who help to fix these problems...maybe you are one of those pups? Or will be someday...everyone should have access to books! 5 paws!

Azar on Fire, by Olivia Abtahi

     Happy Valentine's Day, Readers! I hope that you count reading as something you love, like me, on this day celebrating things we love! I just finished Azar on Fire and really enjoyed it! I don't know if I could say I loved it, but it was a good story with likeable and believable characters. It wasn't predictable and had some good story lines throughout, including romance and music. Azar, the protagonist, is an Iranian American teen with roots in South America as well. As a baby she developed nodes on her vocal chords which makes it hard for her to speak loudly, or for long, or even at all. So she is the quiet girl who doesn't talk to anyone at school, doesn't have any real friends...sort of a ghost of a girl. 

    But she loves music! She is a writer, but doesn't foresee ever being able to sing her own songs out loud. And she drums, which actually gets her into trouble at school - trouble she agrees to get out of by entering the school's upcoming Battle of the Bands competition. How can all of this possibly come together and work? I won't tell you if it does or doesn't, but finding out was fun! Azar was very likeable as a character, and very "teenager" in her thoughts and actions. This is the second book by author Olivia Abtahi, and although I have not read her first, it seems to have been good, as all of the press on the front and back cover of Azar on Fire is actually about Abtahi's first book, Perfectly Parvin (I admit this made me a little nervous at the start, wondering if I should just read that one instead?).

    I probably will at some point, and recommend this book to you if any of the storylines or themes I mention above speak to you (no pun intended). I enjoyed the book, and found myself wondering what was coming next when I had to set it aside and do dog stuff (like sleep, or eat, or bark at a bunny outside). 4 paws and a nod toward reading Abtahi's first book in the future!

Holler of the Fireflies, by David Barclay Moore

     The second book by this very good author, and now I've read both of them - not on purpose, necessarily, but I'm glad I did! Holler of the Fireflies is the story of Javari, who lives in Brooklyn, New York but is embarking on a two week summer STEM camp in West Virginia. In these two weeks, he encounters a few different cultures he has never encountered before (Brooklyn and West Virginia aren't too far apart geographically, but culturally there is quite a divide between them...or is there?). He also comes up against racism, but not always from the places you might expect. He also faces questions of sexuality, but all of these big topics are deftly handled in Moore's writing.

    In Moore's first book, The Stars Beneath Our Feet, I wrote that his writing was a little jumpy at times as he wrote in the way his characters thought and spoke, which made the book a little bit disjointed feeling (August 2020). Now I see he writes Holler in the same way, and it was still a little hard to follow in a few places. But now I am learning that this may be Moore's style, and that if I read his books in longer chunks, versus a chapter or two at a time (his chapters are short), things flow better and make more sense. I still think he's not quite there with what he's trying to do yet, but I appreciate the issues he brings up in this story, and once again how memorable his characters are, even after I finished the book. To me, that is the sign of a strong writer and a good story!

    I rated Stars Beneath Our Feet 4 paws, and I'm on the fence about this one as well. Because I loved the characters and their realness and complexity, and I love that he introduced not just one but a few topics sure to land this book on someone's banned or challenged list, I'll give him all 5 paws (my four and the one I don't have but need for books that are this good)! I recommend either of Moore's books, and know I will read whatever he write next! I hope you do, too!

All the Blues in the Sky, by Renee Watson

         The latest book by award-winner Renee Watson, and a book getting a lot of pre-award buzz the last couple of months (the American Library Association is set to announce this years' book awards on Monday, 1/26...the newest Newbery's, Caldecott's, Belpre's, Coretta Scott King's, Prinz Awards and more will be announced that morning! The presentation isn't very exciting, but learning who this year's winners are will be!). Watson is herself already a Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award winner, so she knows how to put together a better-than-average story. All the Blues in the Sky is no exception, but not what I was expecting.

    The books is the story of Sage, who, on her 13th birthday, lost her best friend to a drunk driver. This book is Sage's processing this tragedy, in depth, in verse, in very realistic terms. In other words, it is very heavy and sad, especially at the start, which isn't a bad thing, but a very, very heavy thing, which made it tough to continue with after the first 40 pages or so. In fact, I had to make myself keep going with the story - it was so depressing I just didn't really look forward to reading more like I usually do.

    Don't get me wrong, All the Blues in the Sky is well-written, and a very real and important topic. We all have, or will, know someone who dies, and it can be terribly difficult and sad. What Watson does well is show how living through such a tragedy is not predictable, nor does it follow a prescribed pattern, nor is it easy. Sage experiences all the stages of grief, in random order, and sometimes at inopportune times. She handles it as well and as poorly as anyone would. But I don't recall reading a book where this process is the entire story as it is here. I was relieved after about two thirds through the book that Sage started to be a more complete person again. I've read stories where someone dies, sometimes a main character, but I don't recall ever reading an entire book dedicated to this topic, or this process. In this book, it works both for and against the story.

    Watson dedicates this book to "everyone who has lost a loved one, for everyone who will". I know this book will help young people along the way who are trying to navigate someone's death, and for that I recommend it. At the same time, I had hoped several times while reading it that Sage's grief was part of the book instead of all of it. But now you know - grief is all of this story, or a large portion of it. If you choose to read Sage's story, know this is what you are signing up for, and embrace the feelings she experiences. 4 paws.