Falling Over Sideways, by Jordan Sonnenblick

After finishing Frog Kisser, a good fantasy fairy tale, I needed something more realistic, so I chose Falling Over Sideways, another OBOB book for the year, by an author of a previous OBOB book, Jordan Sonnenblick. The last book of his I read was Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, which I enjoyed, if my pug memory serves me correctly. But Falling Over Sideways almost made me want to tip over sideways. It is realistic fiction, which I usually enjoy. But Sonnenblick tries to write 8th grade life through a female main character, and she comes off very predictable, forced, and false most of the time. I know he has several books in teen lit, but I don't know how many times he has tried writing from the viewpoint of a girl. As a girl, I can tell you, he didn't pull it off very well. Perhaps you will or have read this book, and get more joy out of it than I did. If so, please let me know! But I got to the very end, hoping something real would happen, and with only a few pages left, I couldn't finish. I have never not finished a book being that close to the end. This is a first. I hope you read it and have a much better outcome - sometimes true middlers enjoy books I don't...I'm probably too old or something. Anyway, not my favorite OBOB book of the year...in fact, my least favorite so far. Can't wait to start something else. 2 paws.

Frogkisser, by Garth Nix

Wow, the start of the new school year has really slowed my reading down! Thanks for being patient...hopefully with the finish of Frogkisser I can get back on track.  Nix has been writing fantasy books for teens for many years, and I have to admit I have never read a single one. Not for any particular reason, they just never floated across my radar. This year one of his books made it into OBOB, and I was happy at the opportunity to read his writing.

Frogkisser is a mash up of fairy tale and fantasy story. It is the story of two princesses and their evil step-stepfather. Anya, the younger princess, finds herself on a journey across the land, first to turn a frog back into a prince for her sister, but eventually this turns into a quest to return the entire kingdom to its original, and long-past, glory. It is a really fun frolicking adventure through monsters, dwarves, wizards, flying carpets, and a lot of frogs (and weasels, and talking dogs, and ogres)...you get the picture!

Most of the time I found myself really drawn into the story, not being able to read the action fast enough. Other times, like the climax of the story, I found Nix rushed too quickly through what should have been the core of the adventure story. I like strong female characters, and Nix tried to mix up traditional fairytale gender roles with good female wizards and evil male sorcerers, which I appreciate (although he occasionally muddies up his attempts to do this with confusing titles for different characters). All in all, I was glad to be reading Frogkisser, but by the end I was looking forward to whatever I am going to read next. I would try another of his books again, just to see if his other work wasn't slightly better. That said, I can only give this one 3 1/2 paws.

House Arrest, by K. A. Holt

Aaaah, OBOB Season is fast approaching - finally! House Arrest is on this season's middle level list, and a book I have not read before. One of the regular's at the BMS Library checked this out late in the spring and really liked it (thanks, Maggie!) - recommending it to me and several other students over the course of several weeks! So when I was able to get my paws on a copy, I was excited to finally read this one!

Holt tells this story through a one-year series of journal entries, being written by the main character, Matthew, who is under house arrest for the year because he stole someone's wallet and used one of their credit cards. Stealing is wrong, and Matthew received one year of house arrest, weekly visits with his probation officer and a counselor, and was ordered to keep a journal of his "progress" throughout the year towards making better decisions and being remorseful for his actions. The reason he stole the wallet and used the credit card was to help pay for medicine for his baby brother who breathes and eats through a tracheal tube. Matthew's single mother is trying to keep up with bills and medicine but not doing as well as she would like. So, when he sees the opportunity to use someone else's money to help pay the high cost of medicine, he takes it. And the dilemma begins.

Is it wrong to steal money to help keep someone alive?

A good story, a lot of room for thoughtful discussion along the way. The style Holt chooses to tell this story seemed a little forced at times, but not too bad...maybe losing a "paw" for it, but still making this a book worth reading. Very realistic fiction, along the lines of The Honest Truth, perhaps, but with more believable outcomes and consequences. 4 paws.