Happy New Year!!

Vivi the Reading Pug wishing you a very happy, healthy new year full of good things to read and the sharing of those good books! Be kind to each other, be kind to yourself, and read as much as you can! In fact, if you are one who makes new year's resolutions, resolve to read a number of minutes every day in 2019! Maybe a book a month? Or a week? Maybe reading 20 minutes every day, or more? As the late great Dr. Seuss said, "The more you read the more you know, and the more you know the farther you'll go!" I'll keep reading with you, and together we'll go very far! Happy New Year!

The House in Poplar Wood, by K. E. Ormsbee

A very fun read by an author I have not read before, nor heard of (although she has a 3-book series that begins with The Water and the Wild)! This book reminded me of Scythe (Shusterman), Famous Last Words (Alender), and The Graveyard Book (Gaiman)...all good books, all with some level of scariness to it, all well-written and clever. In fact, this one goes into my top 5 books of 2018! Great fantasy story involving the characters Death, Memory, and Passion, as well as spells (Rites), murder (or was it an accident?), mystery, and more! Treat yourself to something that is not predictable and cleverly written - this book is a treat! 5 paws (and a tail wag)!

The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster

Merry Christmas, everyone! I managed to catch about 20 minutes of the play of this story at school last week (no one knew I had snuck in...dogs aren't allowed at school while kids are there...too bad, right?), and it was wonderful! But I also realized that I had never read this classic tale, and the play definitely sparked my interest! I'm glad it did - what a wonderful story FULL of word play and language twists, with a dose of bored teenager and demons thrown in for fun! In fact, there is so much going on with the writing in this book I sometimes I had to re-read parts of it, because it was very language-rich, in a fun way, like triple chocolate cake (which I shouldn't eat, but still...). This book was first published in 1961, which was way before my time, even in people years, but I don't recall anything at all that made the story seem dated...one sign of a truly good book, I think! Anyway, if you've ever been bored, and you enjoy having words be turned and twisted and explored in really clever and fun ways, like Lemony Snicket meets Alice in Wonderland with a dash of Charley and the Chocolate Factory, give this a try...it's a really fun read! 5 paws (for the play, too)!

And the Ocean Was Our Sky, by Patrick Ness (illustrated by Rovina Cai)

This isn't likely a book you know! It wasn't a book I knew or had heard of, either...I was at the bookstore with Mr. O'Dea looking for something good to read, something new, something I hadn't seen or heard of before..that new! I also wanted something I could donate to the library later, so something middle school students would enjoy. I saw this, the artwork intrigued me, and I know Patrick Ness because I've seen some of his books around, but I don't think I've ever read them. So we bought this, I started it once, thought it was really weird, set it aside...and it sat next to my kennel pillow, waiting for me...calling me...taunting...sometimes the right book just needs the right time, you know? Apparently last weekend was the right time, so I picked it up and started it again.  And the Ocean Was Our Sky is a retelling of the classic book Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, except that this story is told from the whale's point of view. And it takes place in a world where not only men hunt whales, but whales hunt men. The ocean is the sky (to the whales), which makes it hard to read this book quickly - I kept having to remind myself that down is up and up is down. In this story the whales also have the ability to create things like ships and weapons, which the whale hunters carry with them as they hunt whaling ships. Sound confusing? It is, sort of...it took constant reminding that I was reading a whale's thoughts, and that directions were reversed, but the artwork that is woven throughout the story helped! It also helped set and keep the mood of the tale...dark and tense.

I don't know if I have ever read the entire book of Moby Dick, but apparently this incorporates a lot of the language from that book. I imagine that if I read that, and then came back to this, I would appreciate this book even more. I only finished it last night, but it is sticking in my brain...I like that about a book! For that reason, I think this is 4 paws!

Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer, by Rick Riordan

I have to be honest here and admit that I don't read much of Riordan's books...not because they're not good, they are! But because most of you already know how good they are - they fly off the shelves, always and seemingly forever! So there isn't much I could tell you that many of you don't already know. However, in the case of The Sword of Summer I took the plunge because this is one of this year's OBOB books, and I try to read all of them every year...with success most of the time! So as I make my way through this season's OBOB books, it was time for this one...and it is a good one! SoS takes on Norse mythology, much like the Lightning Thief tackled Greek mythology, so I had to learn some new words (always a good thing!) and plenty of mythology I didn't know (also a good thing!) and of course Riordan weaves a great story every single time! The only reason I give this book 4 paws and not 5 is because there were many times while reading I was wishing for it to end so I could move on to whatever my next book would be. Not because it was boring - it wasn't! - or poorly written - it wasn't! - but it just seemed to go on about 100 pages too long. I don't mind long books, if their length is needed...I never felt that way reading Marie Lu or Richard Paul Evans...again, not bad, just a bit long.  If you like action/adventure/fantasy, Riordan is a must-read author! But know that his books can be long, and that isn't always a good thing.

Long Way Down, by Jason Reynolds

The newest by one of my favorite authors - very exciting! Taking a short break from OBOB books to dive into this newest book by the author of Ghost. Long Way Down is written in verse style, which makes it very fast if you account only for the number of words on the page. But much of the time the brevity of the story makes you have to slow down...this book is heavy in terms of subject matter. Reynolds always writes about the young Black experience in America today with realistic words, ideas, thoughts and situations, which is what makes his work so great! That, and his wonderful way with words that captures a ready from the very beginning, every single time. This is a story of a young black boy on his way down the elevator of his apartment building to avenge the death of his brother just the day before. The majority of the story takes place on that elevator ride, which may not sound very interesting, but don't let that stop you form giving this a try. I will admit that I wished Reynolds has not chosen verse for the writing, as I found myself wanting more from him along the way in this one. But that does not mean that verse does not work here - it does! I just wanted a little more a few times during the telling. But perhaps that is just me being greedy for his writing? A multiple-award winning book, I highly recommend it - and everything Reynolds has written so far! 5 paws!

Restart, by Gordon Korman

Another OBOB title for this season, and another by Korman, one of the most consistently good writers of the last 20 years! Much of his work is funny, but all of it is good, so you can never go wrong with one of his titles! That said, while reading Restart I kept thinking that I liked the story, but didn't love it, yet I couldn't wait to find out what comes next! I finished this book in a weekend, which is much faster than I get through most books...so, if I get out of my own way I think I would realize that I really liked this book a lot! I will add that the last chapter was way too much like a made-for-tv movie, and not in a good way...but otherwise, a good realistic fiction story of bullying and second choices - something we all would like to have now and then, right? 5 paws!

The Body in the Woods, by April Henry

I was excited to read this OBOB book, as I have recommended April Henry books to a lot of kids but never read one myself? How can I do that, you ask? When enough kids check out and read the same author over a period of time, I know the author must have something good going on, and Henry has that "something", from all the check-outs her books get. So being an OBOB book was a perfect reason to try one for myself!

I was not disappointed, for the most part - a good murder mystery, set in my once-hometown of Portland, OR, with many places I remember, which always makes a book more fun - a movie, too, for that matter! Who doesn't like reading a book where the characters visit places you, as the reader, have also visited? Fun, right? So Body takes place in Portland, and is a good whodunit, for the most part. What stops it from getting 5 paws is that there are two or three places in the story where 1. The turn in the story seemed written to satisfy where Henry needed the story to go for the bigger story to continue, and 2. I think I predicted all of the turns before they happened, something I am not very good at, which made it a little bit of a let down. Not a big one - overall, this was a sold murder story! But not a 5 paw book...but a 4 paw book! I would probably try another of her books, but not right away...I need to wait a while and hope the next read is a little less obvious in these ways.

If you like murder mysteries, you'll probably dig this! If you like murder mysteries with a bit more to think about, try Katie Alender - Famous Last Words is awesome!

The First Rule of Punk, by Celia C. Perez

How can I NOT read a book with 'punk' in its title? Answer...I can't! I've had this book in the library all school year so far - it was published this year, 2018, but not a single kiddo has looked at it. The cover isn't very attractive to the middle school crowd, I think, and perhaps that is why it sits. However, the reviews on this book have been really good, so I thought I'd better read it so I could talk it up and help it start circulating...or else see why it isn't, if it isn't the cover.

Come to find out, The First Rule of Punk is a good book! I don't know if this is Perez's first book or not (the author notes don't say), but it seems like it might be. There is some formula here that heavy readers might recognize right away, but it doesn't weaken the overall story too much. On the other hand, the strong main character, Maria Luisa, or Malu, carries a lot of the load - she is smart, strong, vulnerable, young, courageous, and very real - someone a lot of readers could identify with, I think. Her parents are divorced, as happens in many YA and teen books, but they are still friends, and are even raising Malu together, even though from different cities. But they aren't a train wreck, and they are both still alive, two things that are usually cookie cutter recipes for most YA books. So the book doesn't follow all the same routes of many books out today, but a few, which makes this a 4 paw book instead of a 5 paw book...but still a fun read! You'll enjoy Maria Luisa and her punk spirit! I know I did!

Avenging the Owl, by Melissa Hart

I just finished this OBOB book last night, after taking WAYYYYYY too long to do so! It was good, and really interesting, especially if you have any interest in raptors...owls, falcons, etc. I have an interest, because last year a pair of Great Horned Owls built their nest and had 2 babies in the tree right behind my house!! As the babies got bigger and the momma looked harder for food to feed them, I became more and more frightened...she looked at me and my brother, Henry, for a long time one early morning...and she could have carried me away if she had wanted to! Yikes! Luckily, my human stayed close by and protected us while we took care of business...if you know what I mean!  ANYway, I haven't read anything by this Hart before, but I did find out that she lives here in Springfield, too! Cool! A good realistic fiction story about a boy whose is forced to move from his Southern California home to Oregon. He leaves his friend behind and quickly gets himself into serious trouble with the police when an owl grabs his new kitten and takes her away! Scary, right? He then tries to shoot the owl, and hits a neighbor boy instead, and ends up having to do community service at the local raptor center. If you like a good realistic fiction story, give this a try - 4 paws!