July Book Reviews
Aug. 7th, 2011 10:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zalenaGerald Morris's Arthurian Tales for Young Readers
Having finished his Squire's Tale series narrating Arthurian legend from the POV of Sir Gawain's squire, Gerald Morris launches a new series of more straight-forward, illustrated, adventures told in his trademark, humorous, style.
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Letter-Blocks-The-BN-Parents-and/Gerald-Morris-s-Arthurian-Tales-for-Young-Readers/ba-p/1096932
Red Glove by Holly Black
Cassel Sharpe grew up thinking he was the only ordinary member of a criminal family possessed of special powers. Now he knows the truth. He is a rare transformation worker able to transform any object with a mere touch of his hand. Manipulated by his family, who used his powers and then erased his memory, he is trying to readjust to normal life. But when his brother is murdered and federal agents show up at his door looking for answers, Cassel must find the killer and confront the possibility that his actions may have put his family in danger. Red Glove is the second book in Holly Black's supernatural teen noir series The Curse Workers. I'm enjoying this series where the magic comes in second to the con. Plus there are no vampires or werewolves or fairies.
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Letter-Blocks-The-BN-Parents-and/Red-Glove-Holly-Black-s-sequel-to-White-Cat/ba-p/1101894
Grand Plan to Fix Everything by Uma Krishnaswami
Dini's parents are moving the family to India, separating Dini from her best friend Maddie for two whole years! Dini's only consolation is the possibility of meeting her favorite Bollywood superstar Dolly Singh while she is in India. Even though India's a big country, rumor puts Dolly in the same small town where Dini and her family will be living. Will Dini's friendship with Maddie endure the separation? Will she make new friends in Swapnagiri? Can she solve the mystery of why Dolly Singh has disappeared from Bollywood films? Dini comes up with The Grand Plan to Fix Everything in this charmingly illustrated middle-grade title.
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Letter-Blocks-The-BN-Parents-and/The-Grand-Plan-to-Fix-Everything-by-Uma-Krishnaswami/ba-p/1104086
Regency Romance for Youth Readers
Romance and other genre novels are often the stepping stones youth readers use to transition to adult literature. Occasionally there is controversy about whether books are appropriate or educational enough for young readers (though rarely is that question asked of the same books when adults read them). The Regency genre, with its attention to social protocol and PG-rated romance, is often something teen readers are guided to or discover on their own. Oftentimes the heroines are a similar age to the readers, 16- or 17-year-old girls taking their first steps into society, facing the challenge of what they will be able to do with their lives given the limitations of their roles or circumstances.It’s not surprising, then, that Regency romances are starting to appear directed specifically at the youth market. This year brings two such titles: Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis and Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury.
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Letter-Blocks-The-BN-Parents-and/Regency-Romance-for-Youth-Readers/ba-p/1108238
Deadly by Julie Chibbaro
A 1907 outbreak of typhoid fever led the New York Department of Sanitation to the discovery that the source of the contagion was a healthy person who unknowingly carried the disease to infect others. The infamous case of Typhoid Mary marked an advance in germ theory at the same time as it challenged the legal precedents and the civil liberties of its carrier. Julie Chibbaro's Deadly is historical fiction that offers an illuminating glimpse into turn-of-the-century New York, the process of investigating disease, and the emerging roles of women in medicine. I loved this book, which not only offers an overview to one of my favorite topics, epidemiology, but had the courage to make romance take a back seat to a woman's passion for science.
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Letter-Blocks-The-BN-Parents-and/Deadly-by-Julie-Chibbaro-Historical-fiction-about-the-infamous/ba-p/1110508
Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt
Gary D. Schmidt's Okay for Now has a huge amount of buzz this summer. After finally cracking the book, it's clear to see why. This stand-alone follow-up to The Wednesday Wars has incredible heart and soul about the outstanding achievements of one boy who has to prove over and over again that the family he comes from, with an alcoholic father and a thuggish brother, does not determine his character or future. I loved both these books, which deeply moved me in their portrayal of young adult life, as well as capturing some of the experience and ethos of coming-of-age in the late 1960s.
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Letter-Blocks-The-BN-Parents-and/Okay-for-Now-by-Gary-D-Schmidt/ba-p/1114670
Beatrix Potter: Illustrator, Author, and Naturalist
This is my biographical birthday post about Beatrix Potter, illustrator, author, and naturalist who transformed her love for nature into beloved books for children. Her 23 little books have been translated into over 30 languages and have been in print for more than 100 years. "I have never quite understood the secret of Peter's perennial charm," she wrote about the character that won her fame. Yet readers still respond to these stories with their rich and detailed illustrations, celebrating the animals and the country life she loved.
I will admit that privately I never liked these books as I have never been a fan of anthropomorphism, or the brutal punishments (often involving maiming) handed out to their mischievous characters. It was Brother who pointed out that great and respect and affection her work receives is due in large part to the detailed, naturalistic, nature of her illustration. She is one of the few illustrators who draws animals with a naturalists eyes.
Her biography revealed further reasons for understanding. Growing up in isolation, she always had a special link with animals, and loved the outdoors. She was an amateur mycologist and even had a paper presented to the Linnean Society by a friend, because women weren't allowed to present themselves. Her scientific drawings are among her best and most vivid work. By comparison, her illustrations for children's literature seem a little sad and diminishing. However, she was a master of marketing, Peter Rabbit was the first patented, trademarked, character, and her 'little books for little hands' won her financial independence from her parents and allowed her to partake of the country life for which she longed.
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Letter-Blocks-The-BN-Parents-and/Happy-Birthday-to-Beatrix-Potter-Illustrator-Author-and/ba-p/1116584
Having finished his Squire's Tale series narrating Arthurian legend from the POV of Sir Gawain's squire, Gerald Morris launches a new series of more straight-forward, illustrated, adventures told in his trademark, humorous, style.
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Letter-Blocks-The-BN-Parents-and/Gerald-Morris-s-Arthurian-Tales-for-Young-Readers/ba-p/1096932
Red Glove by Holly Black
Cassel Sharpe grew up thinking he was the only ordinary member of a criminal family possessed of special powers. Now he knows the truth. He is a rare transformation worker able to transform any object with a mere touch of his hand. Manipulated by his family, who used his powers and then erased his memory, he is trying to readjust to normal life. But when his brother is murdered and federal agents show up at his door looking for answers, Cassel must find the killer and confront the possibility that his actions may have put his family in danger. Red Glove is the second book in Holly Black's supernatural teen noir series The Curse Workers. I'm enjoying this series where the magic comes in second to the con. Plus there are no vampires or werewolves or fairies.
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Letter-Blocks-The-BN-Parents-and/Red-Glove-Holly-Black-s-sequel-to-White-Cat/ba-p/1101894
Grand Plan to Fix Everything by Uma Krishnaswami
Dini's parents are moving the family to India, separating Dini from her best friend Maddie for two whole years! Dini's only consolation is the possibility of meeting her favorite Bollywood superstar Dolly Singh while she is in India. Even though India's a big country, rumor puts Dolly in the same small town where Dini and her family will be living. Will Dini's friendship with Maddie endure the separation? Will she make new friends in Swapnagiri? Can she solve the mystery of why Dolly Singh has disappeared from Bollywood films? Dini comes up with The Grand Plan to Fix Everything in this charmingly illustrated middle-grade title.
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Letter-Blocks-The-BN-Parents-and/The-Grand-Plan-to-Fix-Everything-by-Uma-Krishnaswami/ba-p/1104086
Regency Romance for Youth Readers
Romance and other genre novels are often the stepping stones youth readers use to transition to adult literature. Occasionally there is controversy about whether books are appropriate or educational enough for young readers (though rarely is that question asked of the same books when adults read them). The Regency genre, with its attention to social protocol and PG-rated romance, is often something teen readers are guided to or discover on their own. Oftentimes the heroines are a similar age to the readers, 16- or 17-year-old girls taking their first steps into society, facing the challenge of what they will be able to do with their lives given the limitations of their roles or circumstances.It’s not surprising, then, that Regency romances are starting to appear directed specifically at the youth market. This year brings two such titles: Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis and Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury.
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Letter-Blocks-The-BN-Parents-and/Regency-Romance-for-Youth-Readers/ba-p/1108238
Deadly by Julie Chibbaro
A 1907 outbreak of typhoid fever led the New York Department of Sanitation to the discovery that the source of the contagion was a healthy person who unknowingly carried the disease to infect others. The infamous case of Typhoid Mary marked an advance in germ theory at the same time as it challenged the legal precedents and the civil liberties of its carrier. Julie Chibbaro's Deadly is historical fiction that offers an illuminating glimpse into turn-of-the-century New York, the process of investigating disease, and the emerging roles of women in medicine. I loved this book, which not only offers an overview to one of my favorite topics, epidemiology, but had the courage to make romance take a back seat to a woman's passion for science.
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Letter-Blocks-The-BN-Parents-and/Deadly-by-Julie-Chibbaro-Historical-fiction-about-the-infamous/ba-p/1110508
Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt
Gary D. Schmidt's Okay for Now has a huge amount of buzz this summer. After finally cracking the book, it's clear to see why. This stand-alone follow-up to The Wednesday Wars has incredible heart and soul about the outstanding achievements of one boy who has to prove over and over again that the family he comes from, with an alcoholic father and a thuggish brother, does not determine his character or future. I loved both these books, which deeply moved me in their portrayal of young adult life, as well as capturing some of the experience and ethos of coming-of-age in the late 1960s.
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Letter-Blocks-The-BN-Parents-and/Okay-for-Now-by-Gary-D-Schmidt/ba-p/1114670
Beatrix Potter: Illustrator, Author, and Naturalist
This is my biographical birthday post about Beatrix Potter, illustrator, author, and naturalist who transformed her love for nature into beloved books for children. Her 23 little books have been translated into over 30 languages and have been in print for more than 100 years. "I have never quite understood the secret of Peter's perennial charm," she wrote about the character that won her fame. Yet readers still respond to these stories with their rich and detailed illustrations, celebrating the animals and the country life she loved.
I will admit that privately I never liked these books as I have never been a fan of anthropomorphism, or the brutal punishments (often involving maiming) handed out to their mischievous characters. It was Brother who pointed out that great and respect and affection her work receives is due in large part to the detailed, naturalistic, nature of her illustration. She is one of the few illustrators who draws animals with a naturalists eyes.
Her biography revealed further reasons for understanding. Growing up in isolation, she always had a special link with animals, and loved the outdoors. She was an amateur mycologist and even had a paper presented to the Linnean Society by a friend, because women weren't allowed to present themselves. Her scientific drawings are among her best and most vivid work. By comparison, her illustrations for children's literature seem a little sad and diminishing. However, she was a master of marketing, Peter Rabbit was the first patented, trademarked, character, and her 'little books for little hands' won her financial independence from her parents and allowed her to partake of the country life for which she longed.
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Letter-Blocks-The-BN-Parents-and/Happy-Birthday-to-Beatrix-Potter-Illustrator-Author-and/ba-p/1116584
