Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
By Jesse Andrews
Expected publication March 1, 2012 by Amulet Books
If you're expecting this to be some touching, weepy, meaningful book about how Greg's friendship with Rachel, the girl dying of leukemia, changed his life, you're reading the wrong book. This is more the story of how Greg's mom made him be friends with the dying girl, Greg and his friend Earl made some bad films, and nothing in Greg's life really changed all that much.
Another blogger put it well when they said "I'd hate to be a guy writing a book in 2012 about a girl with cancer if my name wasn't John Green." And that's kinda how I feel about it, too. There are quite a few similarities between Green's latest bestseller and Andrews' debut novel. Both feature girls dying of cancer, both feature sharp dialogue and snarky teenage characters and both are far outside the realm of typical "cancer novels." But there are differences as well. Green's narrator is the girl with cancer herself; Andrews chooses to tell the story from an outside perspective. At its heart, Green's novel is romantic; Andrews' is more about growing up and learning about yourself. Ultimately, it's unfair to try to compare the two - Green has a number of books under his belt already and a built-in audience, as well as a huge multimedia presence, while Andrews is brand-new to the young adult world. To judge it by itself, this book is a really great read. This was a book that made my coworkers ask, "what are you reading?!" as I laughed out loud at my desk during lunch breaks. And I'm not just saying that - this book is really funny. Greg, our narrator, is incredibly self-deprecating and, while this started to wear on my nerves after awhile, I'm glad this was consistent through the end of the novel. Often, an author will start out with something like this (where the narrator is constantly mocking his own narration) and then drop it later in the book. I'm happy that Andrews kept this up to the end. The chapters are short and interesting, so the novel moves at a nice pace. Overall, I really like the style of this book - it's an interesting story told in an interesting way. I'll be looking forward to what else Andrews writes in the future. As a side note, I absolutely love the cover!
Thanks to the publisher for an advance reader's copy.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Review: Partials
Partials (Partials, book 1)
By Dan Wells
Expected publication February 28, 2012 by Balzer + Bray
After the Isolation War came the Partials War and now humanity as we know it is nearly non-existent. The survivors, numbering only perhaps in the tens of thousands, live on Long Island, constantly in fear of dying out completely. No baby in a decade has been born immune to the virus that killed off most of the population. When Kira Walker discovers her best friend is pregnant, she knows she will do anything to make sure that baby lives.
This is a book that I heard about from one of my favorite book blogs (Books Smugglers, if you don't read this already, what are you waiting for??). Dan Wells' earlier novels had also made my radar, so when I saw an ARC of this one at Midwinter, I happily snatched it up.
If you read my earlier review of BZRK, this book is the one that I was way more into than Grant's book. Right from the opening chapter, Wells had my attention. Kira is, admittedly, not a perfect heroine. But there is something about her that is compelling and interesting and makes you really hope that all her hare-brained schemes might actually work. Wells has pacing down to an art form. This book is pretty relentless - you feel the constant push to keep reading, just one more chapter, I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. There are a number of cliff-hangers throughout the novel that really make you wish you didn't have to go to work, or the gym, or sleep (WHY CAN'T I READ IN MY SLEEP? This is perhaps my greatest lamentation). Though a good percentage of the book is action action action, there are some quieter moments mixed in. Kira's struggle with how to live in this world and the balance between what feels right for her and what will make the most people happy is something that I think a lot of teens will be able to relate to. As I said, she's not perfect - some of the things she does had me yelling at the book in frustration. But, for me, she's a better heroine than Katniss Everdeen because she makes the difficult choices. In my opinion, Katniss was not a born hero; she became one due to circumstances forced upon her. Kira, on the other hand, appears to have always had the instinct for heroics. I know in that plot description it says that her best friend's pregnancy encourages her heroic behavior, but she was actually on the path before she found out about the impending baby. This book is exciting and I'm really intrigued by the world that Wells has created. To me, it's believable and horrific. This is a book that could foster some excellent discussion among teens. I desperately want the next book NOW. This is highly recommended for fans of sci-fi, especially dystopian, post-apocalyptic worlds. I highly recommend this for girls, as well, because I think Kira is a great character.
Thanks to the publisher for an advance reader's copy.
By Dan Wells
Expected publication February 28, 2012 by Balzer + Bray
After the Isolation War came the Partials War and now humanity as we know it is nearly non-existent. The survivors, numbering only perhaps in the tens of thousands, live on Long Island, constantly in fear of dying out completely. No baby in a decade has been born immune to the virus that killed off most of the population. When Kira Walker discovers her best friend is pregnant, she knows she will do anything to make sure that baby lives.
This is a book that I heard about from one of my favorite book blogs (Books Smugglers, if you don't read this already, what are you waiting for??). Dan Wells' earlier novels had also made my radar, so when I saw an ARC of this one at Midwinter, I happily snatched it up.
If you read my earlier review of BZRK, this book is the one that I was way more into than Grant's book. Right from the opening chapter, Wells had my attention. Kira is, admittedly, not a perfect heroine. But there is something about her that is compelling and interesting and makes you really hope that all her hare-brained schemes might actually work. Wells has pacing down to an art form. This book is pretty relentless - you feel the constant push to keep reading, just one more chapter, I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. There are a number of cliff-hangers throughout the novel that really make you wish you didn't have to go to work, or the gym, or sleep (WHY CAN'T I READ IN MY SLEEP? This is perhaps my greatest lamentation). Though a good percentage of the book is action action action, there are some quieter moments mixed in. Kira's struggle with how to live in this world and the balance between what feels right for her and what will make the most people happy is something that I think a lot of teens will be able to relate to. As I said, she's not perfect - some of the things she does had me yelling at the book in frustration. But, for me, she's a better heroine than Katniss Everdeen because she makes the difficult choices. In my opinion, Katniss was not a born hero; she became one due to circumstances forced upon her. Kira, on the other hand, appears to have always had the instinct for heroics. I know in that plot description it says that her best friend's pregnancy encourages her heroic behavior, but she was actually on the path before she found out about the impending baby. This book is exciting and I'm really intrigued by the world that Wells has created. To me, it's believable and horrific. This is a book that could foster some excellent discussion among teens. I desperately want the next book NOW. This is highly recommended for fans of sci-fi, especially dystopian, post-apocalyptic worlds. I highly recommend this for girls, as well, because I think Kira is a great character.
Thanks to the publisher for an advance reader's copy.
Review: BZRK
BZRK (BZRK, book 1)
By Michael Grant
Expected publication February 28, 2012 by EgmontUSA
This is a war between two factions: the Armstrong Fancy Gift Corporation and BZRK. This is the story of Noah, who visits his fearless older brother in the mental hospital, and Sadie, who soon will be the only member of her family left alive. This is a book in which there are only two outcomes: victory or madness.
Okay, much like with the Hunger Games, I’m one of the only people who hasn’t read Michael Grant’s Gone series. I spotted this one at ALA Midwinter, the first book in a new series. But I’ll admit: I wasn’t immediately sold on it. I’ve never read him before and the blurb on the back of my ARC didn’t really convince me. However, I went to Egmont’s session about upcoming titles and became infinitely more intrigued by the book when I heard the phrase “evil genius conjoined twins who want to create Utopia.” (It may not have been that exact phrase, but you know what I’m saying.) When I made my way back to their booth, I picked up a copy of the ARC. I’m almost thinking I should have trusted my first instincts on this one.
This is my first exposure to Michael Grant, and, if all the hype can be believed, I wish it wasn’t. I wish I had started with his Gone series, or even the Magnificent Twelve series (which I stumbled on among the “new” books a few months back). Both of these series appealed to me, but, of course, finding the time to delve into a new series is basically impossible in my life. But, you may have figured this out (or not), I can’t resist the appeal of reading an ARC before the book is officially published. So, this series, instead of the other two, is my introduction to Mr. Grant. I won’t say that I hated this book. Parts of the story really grabbed me and some sections flew by. But I also didn’t overwhelmingly enjoy this book – it was incredibly difficult for me to get into this book and it didn’t hold my attention as much as the other book I started reading around the same time. The blurb on the ARC doesn’t really provide a lot of background information (perhaps this will be different for the published version, but I kinda doubt it), and neither do the first 100 pages or so. This is an example of a book that throws you right into the story with no explanation and, in this case, this totally did not work for me. I felt confused and frustrated throughout the first part of this book and this is actually one of the few times where I considered voluntarily putting the book down and walking away from it. I’m OCD about books; if I start one, I pretty much have to finish it. And if I start a series, chances are I’m going to read the whole thing, even if it starts getting old after a while (case in point: The Chronicles of Vlad Tod). But this book was so not reaching me for the first part of it that I seriously thought about giving up on it. However, because of the aforementioned book OCD, I stuck with it. I’m not entirely won over, but I do think there were enjoyable bits that I would have missed. This book is too uneven for me – in terms of pretty much everything: plot, pacing, characters. The publisher buzz that sucked me in – evil conjoined twins who believe they are working toward a better society – was not as developed as I hoped it would be. I think there are some interesting aspects of this novel – both sides believe they are doing the “right” and “good” work – but these are interesting things that could be found in novels that worked better for me. Ultimately, this book was a disappointment for me. However, I imagine that it will still hold great appeal for Grant’s legions of fans and perhaps the faults I found with the novel won’t exist for other readers.
Thanks to the publisher for an advance reader’s copy.
By Michael Grant
Expected publication February 28, 2012 by EgmontUSA
This is a war between two factions: the Armstrong Fancy Gift Corporation and BZRK. This is the story of Noah, who visits his fearless older brother in the mental hospital, and Sadie, who soon will be the only member of her family left alive. This is a book in which there are only two outcomes: victory or madness.
Okay, much like with the Hunger Games, I’m one of the only people who hasn’t read Michael Grant’s Gone series. I spotted this one at ALA Midwinter, the first book in a new series. But I’ll admit: I wasn’t immediately sold on it. I’ve never read him before and the blurb on the back of my ARC didn’t really convince me. However, I went to Egmont’s session about upcoming titles and became infinitely more intrigued by the book when I heard the phrase “evil genius conjoined twins who want to create Utopia.” (It may not have been that exact phrase, but you know what I’m saying.) When I made my way back to their booth, I picked up a copy of the ARC. I’m almost thinking I should have trusted my first instincts on this one.
This is my first exposure to Michael Grant, and, if all the hype can be believed, I wish it wasn’t. I wish I had started with his Gone series, or even the Magnificent Twelve series (which I stumbled on among the “new” books a few months back). Both of these series appealed to me, but, of course, finding the time to delve into a new series is basically impossible in my life. But, you may have figured this out (or not), I can’t resist the appeal of reading an ARC before the book is officially published. So, this series, instead of the other two, is my introduction to Mr. Grant. I won’t say that I hated this book. Parts of the story really grabbed me and some sections flew by. But I also didn’t overwhelmingly enjoy this book – it was incredibly difficult for me to get into this book and it didn’t hold my attention as much as the other book I started reading around the same time. The blurb on the ARC doesn’t really provide a lot of background information (perhaps this will be different for the published version, but I kinda doubt it), and neither do the first 100 pages or so. This is an example of a book that throws you right into the story with no explanation and, in this case, this totally did not work for me. I felt confused and frustrated throughout the first part of this book and this is actually one of the few times where I considered voluntarily putting the book down and walking away from it. I’m OCD about books; if I start one, I pretty much have to finish it. And if I start a series, chances are I’m going to read the whole thing, even if it starts getting old after a while (case in point: The Chronicles of Vlad Tod). But this book was so not reaching me for the first part of it that I seriously thought about giving up on it. However, because of the aforementioned book OCD, I stuck with it. I’m not entirely won over, but I do think there were enjoyable bits that I would have missed. This book is too uneven for me – in terms of pretty much everything: plot, pacing, characters. The publisher buzz that sucked me in – evil conjoined twins who believe they are working toward a better society – was not as developed as I hoped it would be. I think there are some interesting aspects of this novel – both sides believe they are doing the “right” and “good” work – but these are interesting things that could be found in novels that worked better for me. Ultimately, this book was a disappointment for me. However, I imagine that it will still hold great appeal for Grant’s legions of fans and perhaps the faults I found with the novel won’t exist for other readers.
Thanks to the publisher for an advance reader’s copy.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Review: The Legend of Diamond Lil
The Legend of Diamond Lil (J.J. Tully Mystery, book 2)
By Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Kevin Cornell
Expected publication February 28, 2012 by Balzer + Bray
I snagged an ARC of this at Midwinter this January and after quickly devouring the first book, I made lightning fast work of this title as well.
J.J. Tully is back with a new mystery. There's a new dog next door and he needs to find out her story. And, is it possible that the chickens are in danger again?? While this is the second J.J. Tully Mystery, I think it stands alone well as a fun, funny, fast-paced, quick read for beginning readers. This book is just as much fun as the first, while developing a slightly more complex plot. I think the characters Cronin has created are great and will really appeal to children. J.J. is a nice hero and Vince the Funnel provides an excellent foil for him. There are some interesting language choices throughout this book (and the first as well), and I actually think these books would be great for lessons on parody, humor, sarcasm, and the parts of a book. They are enjoyable and I think will appeal to a wide variety of kids. I didn't find the mystery as interesting this time around, but it was a little more involved, which I think is a good development for the series. I'll be interested to see where this goes.
Thanks to the publisher for an advance reader's copy.
By Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Kevin Cornell
Expected publication February 28, 2012 by Balzer + Bray
I snagged an ARC of this at Midwinter this January and after quickly devouring the first book, I made lightning fast work of this title as well.
J.J. Tully is back with a new mystery. There's a new dog next door and he needs to find out her story. And, is it possible that the chickens are in danger again?? While this is the second J.J. Tully Mystery, I think it stands alone well as a fun, funny, fast-paced, quick read for beginning readers. This book is just as much fun as the first, while developing a slightly more complex plot. I think the characters Cronin has created are great and will really appeal to children. J.J. is a nice hero and Vince the Funnel provides an excellent foil for him. There are some interesting language choices throughout this book (and the first as well), and I actually think these books would be great for lessons on parody, humor, sarcasm, and the parts of a book. They are enjoyable and I think will appeal to a wide variety of kids. I didn't find the mystery as interesting this time around, but it was a little more involved, which I think is a good development for the series. I'll be interested to see where this goes.
Thanks to the publisher for an advance reader's copy.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Picture Book Saturday (6)
Me...Jane
By Patrick McDonnell
Published 2011 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
I had seen this book quite some time ago and, though it seems a bit silly to say, I didn't have a moment to pick it up until recently. Which turned out to be a big shame. This book is beautiful in pretty much every way. The story is simple - a very nice telling of Jane Goodall's life. It's a shame to me that people like Jane live largely out of the spotlight nowadays because she is really the kind of person that children should be looking up to. McDonnell perfectly captures her spirit in this book and the illustrations are lovely. The book is laid out in two-page spreads: the words are on the left page and the accompanying illustrations on the right. This gives the reader more opportunity to linger over each spread. But the pages with the text also feature vintage stamp-like illustrations in the background. The way this book is designed is just beautiful. One of my recent favorites and a 2012 Caldecott Medal Honor book.
Dot
By Patricia Intriago
Published 2011 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
This is a very simple concept book essentially teaching children opposites. Intriago uses some common sets of opposites but also includes a few unique pairs. Though this is really quite a simple book, it is visually impressive. This book would be excellent for spatial and print awareness. I don't have much else to say about it but I think it's wonderful in its simplicity.
Big Hugs, Little Hugs
By Felicia Bond
Published 2012 by Penguin Group, Inc.
This is a new book from the illustrator of Laura Numeroff's If You Give... series. I really like her illustration style. The animals she draws are the right amount of anthropomorphous and adorable. This is another simple concept book illustrating the vast variety of hugs. Obviously, this book is just in time for Valentine's Day and books of this ilk are pretty much guaranteed to be charming and cute. Regarding the illustrations again, Bond choose a nice variety of fabrics/materials/patterns as well as making some interesting choices of the animals she represented.
By Patrick McDonnell
Published 2011 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
I had seen this book quite some time ago and, though it seems a bit silly to say, I didn't have a moment to pick it up until recently. Which turned out to be a big shame. This book is beautiful in pretty much every way. The story is simple - a very nice telling of Jane Goodall's life. It's a shame to me that people like Jane live largely out of the spotlight nowadays because she is really the kind of person that children should be looking up to. McDonnell perfectly captures her spirit in this book and the illustrations are lovely. The book is laid out in two-page spreads: the words are on the left page and the accompanying illustrations on the right. This gives the reader more opportunity to linger over each spread. But the pages with the text also feature vintage stamp-like illustrations in the background. The way this book is designed is just beautiful. One of my recent favorites and a 2012 Caldecott Medal Honor book.
Dot
By Patricia Intriago
Published 2011 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
This is a very simple concept book essentially teaching children opposites. Intriago uses some common sets of opposites but also includes a few unique pairs. Though this is really quite a simple book, it is visually impressive. This book would be excellent for spatial and print awareness. I don't have much else to say about it but I think it's wonderful in its simplicity.
Big Hugs, Little Hugs
By Felicia Bond
Published 2012 by Penguin Group, Inc.
This is a new book from the illustrator of Laura Numeroff's If You Give... series. I really like her illustration style. The animals she draws are the right amount of anthropomorphous and adorable. This is another simple concept book illustrating the vast variety of hugs. Obviously, this book is just in time for Valentine's Day and books of this ilk are pretty much guaranteed to be charming and cute. Regarding the illustrations again, Bond choose a nice variety of fabrics/materials/patterns as well as making some interesting choices of the animals she represented.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Review: The Everafter
The Everafter
By Amy Huntley, read by Tavia Gilbert
Published 2009 by Brilliance Audio
Madison is dead. She doesn't know how or why or where she is but she knows that she's dead. She also knows that she's surrounded by glowing objects from her life - the things she lost. And she finds that she can use these objects to travel back to the moments in which she lost them. Can she use one of these objects to figure out how she died?
Okay, this is going to be a really rare review from me. Because I really didn't like this book, but I have nothing to say about it. Normally, my reviews are longer when I dislike a book, but not this time. I have to start by saying: what the h is this book? Like seriously. This book makes pretty much no sense while at the same time attempting to be incredibly philosophical. There is nothing about this book that works for me. The characters are all underdeveloped, including Madison. I suppose this may be because we are only getting snapshots of her life. But what it ultimately means is that I just didn't care about her. I wanted to find out how she died because it would mean the book was over. But, it's not terribly hard to figure out, either. I'm quite surprised that this book had such good reviews on Goodreads. I get that the author was trying to explore the question of life after death; for me, she just didn't do so satisfactorily. Apparently, this is supposed to be the first book in a series, but I don't think I'll be reading anymore. This just did not work for me.
By Amy Huntley, read by Tavia Gilbert
Published 2009 by Brilliance Audio
Madison is dead. She doesn't know how or why or where she is but she knows that she's dead. She also knows that she's surrounded by glowing objects from her life - the things she lost. And she finds that she can use these objects to travel back to the moments in which she lost them. Can she use one of these objects to figure out how she died?
Okay, this is going to be a really rare review from me. Because I really didn't like this book, but I have nothing to say about it. Normally, my reviews are longer when I dislike a book, but not this time. I have to start by saying: what the h is this book? Like seriously. This book makes pretty much no sense while at the same time attempting to be incredibly philosophical. There is nothing about this book that works for me. The characters are all underdeveloped, including Madison. I suppose this may be because we are only getting snapshots of her life. But what it ultimately means is that I just didn't care about her. I wanted to find out how she died because it would mean the book was over. But, it's not terribly hard to figure out, either. I'm quite surprised that this book had such good reviews on Goodreads. I get that the author was trying to explore the question of life after death; for me, she just didn't do so satisfactorily. Apparently, this is supposed to be the first book in a series, but I don't think I'll be reading anymore. This just did not work for me.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Review: The Trouble With Chickens
The Trouble with Chickens (J.J. Tully Mystery, book 1)
By Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Kevin Cornell
Published 2011 by HarperCollins
I'm a big fan of Cronin's picture books and was excited to hear about her foray into chapter books. Plus, the idea for this one just sounded adorable. I picked it up recently because I got an ARC of the second title.
J.J. Tully is a retired search-and-rescue dog, living the good life in suburbia now. But his peace and quiet is interrupted when it becomes evident that his chickens are in danger. Yes, his chickens. I really, really enjoyed this book. It's a very quick read with short, interesting chapters, which I think is perfect for those just beginning to delve into chapter books. Additionally, I think this book has a great tone - it's very funny and I think it's humorous on multiple levels. First, and what will appeal to kids, is that it's just a silly book. A dog is going to rescue some crazy chickens from an evil dog who wears a cone around his head? Absurd humor. But, for an older audience who might pick this up, J.J. has a sarcastic sense of humor that would really appeal to a more advanced reader (once they discover sarcasm, kids never give up on it). Admittedly, some of the things will go over the intended audience's head, as this book also contains a lot of parody to classic noir/crime stories. But I think the story is enjoyable enough on its other levels to still make this an excellent choice. Plus, mysteries are hugely popular with kids, as well as talking animals - best of both worlds!
By Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Kevin Cornell
Published 2011 by HarperCollins
I'm a big fan of Cronin's picture books and was excited to hear about her foray into chapter books. Plus, the idea for this one just sounded adorable. I picked it up recently because I got an ARC of the second title.
J.J. Tully is a retired search-and-rescue dog, living the good life in suburbia now. But his peace and quiet is interrupted when it becomes evident that his chickens are in danger. Yes, his chickens. I really, really enjoyed this book. It's a very quick read with short, interesting chapters, which I think is perfect for those just beginning to delve into chapter books. Additionally, I think this book has a great tone - it's very funny and I think it's humorous on multiple levels. First, and what will appeal to kids, is that it's just a silly book. A dog is going to rescue some crazy chickens from an evil dog who wears a cone around his head? Absurd humor. But, for an older audience who might pick this up, J.J. has a sarcastic sense of humor that would really appeal to a more advanced reader (once they discover sarcasm, kids never give up on it). Admittedly, some of the things will go over the intended audience's head, as this book also contains a lot of parody to classic noir/crime stories. But I think the story is enjoyable enough on its other levels to still make this an excellent choice. Plus, mysteries are hugely popular with kids, as well as talking animals - best of both worlds!
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