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!