Two Miserable Presidents, by Steve Sheinkin

     One of the earliest books from one of my all-time favorite non-fiction authors, Two Miserable Presidents tells the story of the American Civil War in a way that is interesting and easy to follow. That is exactly what author Sheinkin does as well as anyone! Although his more recent books are more polished, this earlier book is still worth your time, especially if you are interested in local history, United States history, or the Civil War.

    The two miserable presidents in this story are Abraham Lincoln, who was trying to keep the country from splitting apart (and then once it did split apart, trying to bring both sides back together!), and Jefferson Davis, the person trying to start a new nation in the South and keep the North from winning the Civil War and eliminating slavery, which was how many White people got very rich back in the early part of our nation's history. The story has many, many actors, and is not necessarily pretty to tell (or to read!). But when my people moved me from the west coast of the country to the east coast, I felt it was my duty to learn more about where I now live. Wherever you happen to live, this book should be required reading as background to one of the pivotal events in our nation's history. Anytime you want to learn more about the United States, go find a Steve Sheinkin book...you will be informed and entertained, and who could ask for more from any book, let alone non-fiction! 4 paws and a wag!

Tiger Daughter, by Rebecca Lim

     Sometimes I happen upon a book I wasn't aware of, and then, if luck is with me, the book I happen upon is a good one! That is the case with Tiger Daughter by Rebecca Lim. I admit I have not read any other books by this author, although it seems she has about 20 titles to her credit. She is Australian, which helped make this story even better because when I read books by authors from other places in the world, the language has some variety to it, and they sometimes approach common topics with a different eye (or pen!). All of this fits this book, and this author.

    Tiger Daughter is the story of Wen Zhou, a daughter of immigrant parents from China living in Australia who is trying to fit in and survive middle school alongside another immigrant boy, Henry. Wen's father is so strict and overbearing it is almost unbelievable at first, probably because, as a reader, I didn't want to believe a parent could be so controlling and cruel. As I read farther, I realized I was feeling a lot of what Wen must have been feeling, and at that point I was hooked in this story! She supports Henry in a way that is also beneficial to her own mental survival, and agrees to participate in an exam that could land them both in a school that would surely change their lives for the better, and give them a future that they don't see day to day being who and where they are.

    It's difficult to explain this story, sort of like some of my favorite A.S. King books, but I found that I couldn't put it down. Even a week after finishing the book Wen stays in my mind and I find myself rooting for her, and remembering that she is just a book character, not an actual human in my world. That, my friends, is the sign of a good book! The writing reminds me of some of my favorite realistic fiction storytellers; Sharon Creech and the late Patricia Riley Giff both come to mind. If this genre is something you enjoy or are open to, read this. You won't be disappointed! 5 paws!

Ban This Book, by Alan Gratz

     Ban This Book is not the newest title by this very good storytelling author, but it is being used as a school-wide book for this season here at River City so I also wanted to read it (along with my human, of course!). The title tells it all - a book about censorship and banning books, which means telling you what you can and cannot read (or see, or hear) based on one person's opinion (or sometimes a group of people) of what is appropriate. 

    In this story, Amy Anne goes to the school library one day to discover that her favorite book of all time - From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - has been banned, and thus taken off the shelf forever. She is incensed (which means she was more than just angry), and immediately began to find out why, what had happened, and how to correct it. She gets help in some unexpected places and the journey to fix what seems easily wrong is not so easy.

    This theme of banning books is timely, given it is Banned Books Month (October this year), and one of Vivi's last posts on this blog before retiring was the book Attack of the Black Rectangles, also a book about censorship and banning books. Banning books is a serious issue for those of us who like books - all books - and the idea of everyone - you, me, my human, everyone! Last year there were more challenges and banned books in the United States than any other year prior. More and more people are deciding it is their right to decide what you and I read. I don't know about you, but I will choose what I read, thank you very much!

    Ban This Book takes place in an elementary school, but Gratz is a great storyteller, and the message is a good one for any age or grade. If you are not already reading this book, stop by the library and check it out! I think you'll like it! 4 paws!

The Other Half of Happy, by Rebecca Balcarcel

    Hello, Readers!  My name is Zelda, and I am blogging to you today as a guest and friend of Violet's! I know she is trying to retire, and she asked if I wouldn't mind sharing a book with you that I just finished reading (Vivi and I and a few other dogs belong to an online dog reading group...we call ourselves the Tall Tails Reading Group!).  I'll try to do her past work justice...happy reading!!!

    The Other Half of Happy is the story of Quijana, a 12-year-old girl living in Texas and trying to navigate a lot of what many of you navigate on a daily basis - school, crushes, family...what makes this such a good story is the reality of Quijana's life, as well as how she does (and doesn't) meet her many challenges. Her younger brother is quirky and becoming more so all the time, and as the older sister she often has to watch him while their parents work or run errands, which is not as simple as it sounds!

    She is also trying to figure herself out, being born to a Guatemalan father and an Anglo mother. She doesn't speak Spanish, but is expected to travel to Guatemala with her family for the holidays. What she would rather do is go to Florida to see her other family, but to get there she would have to lie to her parents. The boy she likes seems to like her...but does he "like her" like her? 

    Author Balcarcel is a very good story teller, and with time I think you'll find yourself completely sucked into this story and Quijana's life. I will admit that it took me a minute to get into the story. The first third of the book seemed to drag a little. But I'm glad I kept reading and I hope you will, too, if you like above-average realistic fiction. Latinx perspectives, LGBTQIA+ inclusion, family struggles that are very realistically written...this book received a Pura Belpre Award, which means many others found it to be better-than-average as well! If you are still reading this post, give this book a try! Quijana is worth it! 4 paws!

Attack of the Black Rectangles, by Amy Sarig King

     The newest book by one of my all-time favorite authors! I was excited to read this book because the cover looked so interesting, and next week is Banned Books Week, so what better way to honor that than with a book about censorship? And then, as an added bonus, this book is written by one of my favorite storytellers! She used to go by the name A.S. King, and has written many other books that I've read and enjoyed - Still Life with Tornado, I Crawl Through It, Ask the Passengers...but I didn't realize this was THAT King author because she used her full first and middle name!

    What I have always loved about her writing is that I usually cannot read fast enough (the story is so compelling), but at the end of the book I can't really describe what the story is about! Sounds weird, I know, but King's writing is so...real, it isn't like she's making up a story, but that I am actually inside the storytellers head, thinking their thoughts, living their life!

    King's books are mostly written for older audiences - probably high school is the best fit, although some mature 8th graders would also enjoy the books. Attack of the Black Rectangles is written more for middle grades. Even 5th/6th graders will be able to manage this story, which is awesome! At the start of a new school year, main character Mac finds himself in a English class that is reading The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen. But Mac, and a few others in his class, quickly find that some of the words and phrases in the book have been blacked out with marker. Who would do such a thing, and why? And what are the words and phrases that were covered up? 

    Censorship, or the hiding of certain words, phrases, thoughts or ideas by a person or group of people, is the main theme of this story, and it is a very important one to think about. In the last couple of years, more books are being questioned and censored all around the country than ever before - people or groups trying to decide for you what you can and cannot read! This isn't the same as your parent telling you a book is too old for you right now - that is called parenting. Censorship is when someone says you cannot read a book - or parts of a book - because they don't believe in the message of the story, or who is represented in the story, or the language used in a story. Is this for someone else to decide...for you?

    October is Banned Books Month, and Attack is a good book to introduce you to this important topic. Check it out and decide for yourself if censorship suits you. 4 paws and a wag!

Turning the page...

     Hello, Readers!  

    I write this post with a slightly heavy heart, as many of you have been following me here for a long time (and I appreciate you!). But it's time for me to turn the page on my blogging...to pass the leash to another, younger furry friend who is also a lover of books and reading and kids. I am getting a bit older, and my eyesight isn't what it used to be, and my reading has slowed down (as has my writing). I'll always be reading something, of course (that won't change), but it's time to pass the book stacks and keyboard to someone younger, faster, and with better eyesight. 

    Thank you for keeping me in good book company over the past many years, and please keep checking this blog for new reading ideas! Feel free to say hello to me anytime in a "comment" - I'll be reading the blog, too! But I'm handing off the Dog with a Blog role to some of my reading friends. It's been a "treat"!!

    💖Violet

Miles Morales: Spider Man the Graphic Novel, by Brian Michael Bendis (author) & Sara Pichelli (illustrator)

     Chapter 2 of my journey into Miles Morales, this is the graphic novel version of the same character written about in my last blog (the chapter book by Jason Reynolds). We have this in the library, and I happened upon it just as I was finishing the Reynolds version. Full disclosure; I don't read a lot of graphic novels, for no particular reason (and to be honest, when I do read them I usually really enjoy them!). So I was a little hesitant to read this, but my expert-teacher friend had read this and wanted to know what I thought of it, as well as the comparison to the Reynolds chapter book.

    I was skeptical at first...but I have to admit, I liked this version better than the chapter book! For one, I am in awe of illustrators like Pichelli who can bring a story to life so colorfully and vividly, panel after panel after panel...what talent! But the story, which was helped along by my reading the chapter book already, was better told - or perhaps, told more completely - than I thought the chapter book was. Reynolds's version explained Miles's friend, Ganke, better than the graphic novel. But the other details were better laid out in the graphic novel, in my not-so-humble pug opinion!

    Apparently there are 26 books in the graphic novel version of Miles Morales, and I may "swing" into the second one sometime this year. If you like graphic novels, you will probably like this! If you enjoy super hero comics, you probably know this one already...but if not, 4 paws and a wag!

Miles Morales: Spider Man, by Jason Reynolds

     This is the chapter book version of the comic book hero, Miles Morales. Reynolds is an incredible writer and storyteller, and one of my favorites! There are a few authors that I watch for to write new books, and then I rush out to read them like they were a bag of treats! Anyway, I am not really knowledgeable about super heroes outside of knowing names of the some of the most popular ones. So I learned, after starting the Reynolds book, that Miles Morales is a sort of alternative telling of the Spider Man story, or maybe more a continuation of the first Spider Man character...but I liked it! Not yet familiar with the storyline (from the comic books), I didn't know anything about Miles or where this story was coming from or heading...but that's okay, right? It added to the adventure of the story!

    All that said, Reynolds created a chapter book (now there is a follow-up as well that I have not read yet) of the Miles Morales story. For someone as gifted as Reynolds at telling a story, I was a little shocked a few times at how clunky the story got. When I realized (with the help of a Miles Morales fan at school) that Reynolds was trying to extend the comic book version of the story, the occasional clunk made more sense. That said, I didn't find this book quite as strong as most of his other books (Ghost being one of my favorites!). Still better than a lot of chapter books out there because Reynolds really IS that good! But not his strongest work. I appreciate that he introduced me to a new, more current version of a super hero, so kudos to him for that! I may read the second one when I happen upon it...but the next entry in my blog will explain that better! 4 paws.

Summer of the Mariposas, by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

     Author McCall creates a wonderful fantasy-laced tale about five sisters who happen upon a dead man floating in a swimming hole by their house in Texas. With much conflict between the girls, they decide to do the right thing and return the body to the family in Mexico. In doing so, they end up as missing children, being hunted by the FBI, interacting with La Llorona via a magical earring, searching for their long-lost grandmother, being attacked by vicious barn owls and a chupacabras...all the while being seemingly watched over by beautiful butterflys.

    Summer of the Mariposas is a fantasy fiction that weaves Mexican folklore with modern realities of being Mexican American in today's world. The situations that lead the sisters to repeatedly seek assistance from  - and be challenged by - fantastical creatures and beings are real, which makes this a nice blend of reality and fantasy. McCall is also the author of the award-winning book Under the Mesquite, which I have yet to read. Knowing it has won awards means it is above-average, and if I saw it at the library I would definitely give it a try.

    Mariposas is a good story, and a few years old, but the 8th graders were reading it here at school, so I thought I should read it, too!  At times it was a little prescriptive, meaning the story followed in a too-obvious pattern, or the conversations between characters was a little too stiff. But as a wonderful weaving of Mexican culture and real life events and situations, it was a good read! 3 paws and a wag! It reminded me of other good Latinx writers, like Alexandra Diaz, who are helping to shed light on the experiences of Latinx people, especially children. A good book!

 

Freewater, by Amina Luqman-Dawson

     I apologize for having such a long lapse between my last post and this one...the school year ended, summer started, and all of the sudden it's mid-July! I know I live in dog years, but sheesh! This summer has gone by fast so far!

    A good way to stay cool during these really hot summer days is to curl up with a good book! Freewater is the first book by author Luqman-Dawson, and the winner of the most recent Newbery Award. Not a bad way to start a writing career, right? This is a fictionalized story of the escaped slaves who established "colonies" in the swamps of the American south during our nation's ugly slave history. In particular, two young people escape from their plantation and end up in one such community. As someone who has done a lot of reading of Black history in the U.S., I was shocked that I had never heard about these communities before, but thankful that this book was written, and that young adult and teen lit is growing so rapidly...I learn a lot from books (and you can, too!)!

    That said, there were a few mildly confusing parts in the story, but not too many to take away from the overall story line. I liked the book, and love what it taught me about our history. For that, I give it 4 paws!

    If you like Black history, American history, or just history in general, this is an above-average read! Try it, and be sure to comment and let me know what you thought of the story!