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.

J vs. K, by Jerry Craft & Kwame Alexander

  The newest chapter book by two of the heavyweights in kid's books! J, as in Jerry Craft, author and illustrator of the New Kid series as well as The Offenders series. K, as in Kwame Alexander, author of award-winning book The Crossover (one of my favorite books ever!), Undefeated, The Door of No Return, and many others. J vs. K pits these two awesome artists against each other as 5th graders, competing for first prize in their school's Storytelling Contest (which no one below the 7th grade has ever won)!

    The writing is very fun and full of word references and puns that will make you laugh out loud! The art is wonderful Jerry Craft artwork, which he uses so well to help tell the story. If you are a fan of either (or both) of these artists, I think you'll find this book to be pretty clever and quite fun. Even if you are not a fan (yet), you're sure to enjoy this book for it's frivolity (yep, as Kwame says in the book, look it up!). It's light, pretty fast to read, loosely along the lines of a Wimpy Kid or Dork Diaries book, especially in how it looks and is put together, and reminded me also of James Patterson's I Funny series. Not my favorite book by either of these folks, but it was fun to read!  4 paws!

Rhiannon, by Kiara Brinkman & Sean Chiki

    A new graphic novel by the husband and wife team of Kiara Brinkman and Sean Chiki. Rhiannon, the main character of this story, was named after a Fleetwood Mac song by her mom, who was killed in a car accident before this story begins. Rhi lives with her aunt in a trailer park in California in the late 1980s, and every summer her friend Kit comes to stay with his family and he and Rhi hang out. In the summer when this book takes place, a new teen, Elizabeth, comes to spend the summer as well, and changes everything.

    Elizabeth is everything Rhi is not; confident, courageous, brave...introducing her into the mix of friends and family in this little trailer park setting sets many different things in motion, and all three teens try to navigate them as best they can.

    I liked this book! I really enjoyed all the music references, much of it taken from late 80s alternative and punk rock, which is an era I know a lot about and enjoy. Aside from the Crass reference, I thought all the songs and bands mentioned were well placed and added to the story, at least for an older pup like me! But I also liked the reality of the book - they way Brinkman and Chiki handled the real world, for many teens, with angst and uncertainty but also with bravery and courage. Some heavy issues arise in the book, but again, I appreciated the honesty of the story, even when the dialogue and action seemed a little choppy.

    I still don't have enough graphic novel experience under my collar to make a lot of comparisons between books, so forgive me for this one: Rhiannon reminds me of a more young adult version of a Raina Telgemeier book, perhaps, but not as graphic in its issues as many older teen graphic novels are. I thought it hit the right middle for middle grade readers, and even early high school, perhaps. I believe Rhiannon is the second book by this duo, the first being Lucy in The Sky, which I would certainly read as well, based on my liking of Rhiannon. 4 paws!

Verify, by Joelle Charbonneaux

  Happy 2026, Readers!!! Let's start the new year off right with a new post!

 The first in what is a two book series (duology), author Joelle Charbonneaux creates a futuristic world where words are understood for the power they hold.  In Verify, protagonist Meri Buckley draws the interest of an underground group trying to end the censorship that the government created a long time ago to maintain "happiness" in the populace. To do that, words have slowly been eliminated over time from people's vocabulary, a task made easier because books no longer exist in paper form. Add to that a desire to save the planet by recycling any paper that is still in use, and Charbonneaux's futuristic Chicago has eliminated print materials - books, newspapers, magazines - in an overarching goal of determining what people think and feel about their government...you cannot use words to "verify" information you are given if the word verify no longer exists, right?

    I found this book to be pretty cool! It reminded me of other books with similar themes, the most obvious probably being Fahrenheit 451 by science fiction master Ray Bradbury. More recent books like The Reader by Traci Chee, Attack of the Black Rectangles by A. S. King, or maybe even Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, although this last mention is less about censorship and more about the wonder of books and stories. Charbonneaux brings up some pretty interesting points both for and against the kinds of censorship taking place in Meri's world, not necessarily in new ways but still in ways that keep the book flowing pretty well. Of course she brings in the romantic element, as one of several side stories (or sub plots). In fact Meri's growing relationship with Atlas reminded me a lot of Legend by Marie Lu, or Divergent by Veronica Roth.

    In all, a pretty good young adult dystopian book about words and the power they hold. I feel this message, although not new (see Bradbury), is more relevant today than it was when you young pups were just being born. Censorship is an issue that never really goes away, and throughout time it rears its ugly head in different ways...like book banning. I liked Verify enough to read Disclose, the second book of this pair, but perhaps not right away. I need a few books in between to percolate the story. 4 paws and a wag!

Answers to Dog, by Pete Hautman

     The latest release by one of my favorite authors, Pete Hautman. Answers to Dog is a dog story, of course, and I love a good dog story! Especially one where the dog is smart, resourceful, strong, and just all-around awesome!

    Throughout this short book Dog, also called Sam later in the story, is a border collie who keeps escaping his kennel and the hands of an abusive handler. He finds Evan, a middle schooler who is shy and a bit of a kennel kid himself. Evan has a mom and dad, but he is quirky, like most teens are in middle school, trying to figure his life out day to day while staying away from the bullies at school. Dog finds Evan, and although things don't sync up right away for them, it puts them both on a journey that is wonderful to read!

    Hautman is a very good storyteller. This is the third of his books that I have read over the last couple of years, and I always like them...but also have a hard time describing them. He reminds me a lot of another of my favorite authors, A. S King, both of whom write in a way that makes me feel like I've just dropped into the middle of someone's life, and I immediately know them and feel what they are feeling as their story unfolds. And then, just as seamlessly, the story ends, and I feel like I just moved away from my friends suddenly, and it's hard to not think about them and wonder what they are doing. If you've ever moved somewhere new you'll probably know that feeling...it takes a while to let them go and start to look forward to your new surroundings and life (but it does eventually happen!). That is what reading Answers to Dog is like, and I miss Sam the dog and Evan already!

    If you love a good dog story (like Ann Martin's A Dog's Life), like I do, you'll enjoy this! Hautman's books don't usually blow my doors off, but they always make me wish the book continued on. Answers to Dog does that as well. 4 paws and a wag!

    

The Misfits: A Royal Conundrum, by Lisa Yee & Dan Santat

     So about a year ago I reviewed Lisa Yee's Newbery Honor book Maizy Chen's Last Chance, and mentioned that I was really looking forward to this new series, The Misfits. I finally got my paws on a copy of the first of two books so far in the Misfits series, and was excited to have it be part of my holiday break reading binge! Add Dan Santat, Caldecott winning illustrator, and this should be a win-win book, right? Right?

    Ugh. It is not a win-win book. It's not even a 'win' book. I will admit something I hate to admit, but it is very rare that I do not finish a book, but I did not finish this one. I often say life is too short to read a bad book (and in dog year's that is really saying something), but I hardly ever come across a book so bad I don't want to finish it. Yee is such a good writer, and with Santat's wonderful illustrations, I don't know how this fell off so badly...but it did.

    Let's be fair - this is not the worst book I have ever tried to read. The plot is a group of misfit kids who end up at a special school for kids who are not succeeding in "regular" school. In this school a few students are identified as super smart and talented, and then recruited to be teen super agent spies and crime solvers. What an opportunity to create some genuinely quirky characters and situations, right? I think that is what Yee was aiming for...but the characters are not that memorable or cool, and the school and group they end up in is not easy to follow, all that interesting or believable. 

    Before I decided to stop reading, I checked some respected sites for other reviews of this book, and found that there were a lot of other readers that think the same thing. So it wasn't just me having a bad book day. This book made me want to go back to some truly memorable books with similar characters and plots; Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer or the Alex Rider series by Alex Horowitz. As for Misfits, book 1, don't do it. Or if you do decide to try this book, and you find it to be the bee's knees (meaning you really enjoy it!), please post a comment in this blog and let me know...I'd love to be wrong about this book and maybe have a reason to try it again someday. Until then, 2 paws and a hint of a wag.

Graciela in the Abyss, by Meg Medina

     I hope you were as fortunate as I was in these recent snow days to be able to enjoy the beautiful snowflakes outside while reading and reading and reading inside! There isn't much for a small pup to do in the snow except what I need to do, snow or no snow, outside...so in between potty breaks I have been reading the most wonderful book - Graciela in the Abyss by Newbery-winning author Meg Medina and expertly illustrated by twins Anna and Elena Balbusso!

    Graciela is a young girl who becomes a sea spirit far before her time. As she wrestles with that fact, she is becoming part of the sea spirit world, which is a wonderful creation in Medina's master storyteller mind. The world under the sea is full of beauty and wonder, but also has its share of darkness and danger. In this book, darkness and wonder meet, and Graciela has to navigate both if she is to find herself again, and discover who she really is and what kind of being she wants to be.

    Author of the Mercy Suarez books, Richmond author Medina is at her absolute best in this story. I read a lot of books over time, most of them very good, and on occasion I am lucky enough to find a gem - a true masterpiece in a storyteller's tale. Graciela in the Abyss is one of the best books I have read this year! A unique and fantastical story that won't match anything you've read before. Read it soon, and then read it again - books this magical are rare and you'll be glad you got to meet Graciela! 5 paws!

How the Word is Passed, by Clint Smith

     How the Word is Passed: Remembering Slavery and How it Shaped America by Clint Smith is the complete title of this book adapted for young readers (like you and me!) by Sonja Cherry-Paul. In this non-fiction book, Smith visits seven places - six within the United States and one in West Africa - that are crucial to understanding the full story of the history of this country. As Smith explains in the book, we cannot know our nation's complete history if we exclude or ignore the ugly parts. Slavery was an ugly part of this country's history, and the remnants of that history are still with us today. The many races we have in the U.S. are not treated equally and this stems from how the country got started (and continued into the late 1800s and early 1900s). 

    Two of the sites Smith writes about are in Virginia, which was a pivotal state in our Civil War. Another is in New York City, which surprised me as it will many people, I suppose. In each place Smith digs into the history of the location, what it meant during slavery times as well as what it means today. He asks a lot of questions of a lot of people he meets in each place, and that helps us understand the history but also the complexity of inequality as we still live it today.

    I found this book so interesting and powerful, I bought my human the adult version of the book for Christmas (but don't tell him, because I haven't given it to him yet!). It reminded me of another powerful book about race and inequality, Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. I read that book two years ago, and like How the Word is Passed, found it to be truly lifechanging. I encourage you pups of all ages and colors to read this book, and any book that will ask as many questions as it answers about how we got to be here, today, in a nation striving for peace and equality but with still a lot of work to be done to get there. Books like this will help us get there, if we are brave enough to read them. 5 paws.