Book Review: Cress (Chapter 1 only!) by Marissa Meyer

So intriguing! After reading Cinder and Scarlet, I am anticipating this third book in the Lunar Chronicles series. I wish I could have had more than just a small sample, but the first chapter definitely helped stoke my curiosity. Like, why is Cress/Crescent a nickname for the “Rapunzel” character? I imagine it has something to do with a “crescent” moon since she is a prisoner of the Lunars…And what will happen with the group in the Rampion? Will Cinder ever be revealed as Selene? Aargh! The anticipation is killing me! I like the strange mix of technologies and classic stories; it helps keep the reader engaged while they ponder the connections of “Red Riding Hood” and “Wolf”, as well as the main, “Cinderella/Cinder” character. What new ability will she discover? And will her and Kai ever get together? Sigh. I guess I’ll just have to wait until the final chapters are revealed!

But ultimately, I really enjoy this series more than I thought I would. I thought the whole cyborg thing would be an odd detail that wouldn’t quite fit, but as it turns out, it became one of my favorite aspects. Cinder uses her abilities to her advantage, although she is ashamed of them. It fits in with the technological advances of the age, and ultimately makes her the ultimate leader. She has so many advantages, that its almost comical how others will look on her with revulsion or disgust. Its jealousy, people! Too much time has passed since I read the first two books…I like to review books right after I read them so I don’t forget any tiny details that I want to include. So, sadly, I don’t have a review for the first two. But will possibly review this in further detail once it comes out! Huzzah!

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Book Review: I am Pusheen the Cat by Claire Belton

I absolutely adore Pusheen. I’ve seen the cat illustrations in several places online and in the workplace over the last year, and love the quirks and truths that the author captures with Pusheen. Cats are positively fabulous and self-centered, but even their odd and frustrating behavior is endearing at times. Belton conveys this with typical cat activities as well as cat thoughts (which are most likely “exactly” what they think). Cute beyond all imagination, and insightful to cat behavior that only true cat-lovers will fully appreciate. Adorable!

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Book Review: Here I Am by Patti Kim

 

This wordless graphic novel-like picture book follows a young Asian as he immigrated to, presumably, the United States. It portrays the confusion, disorientation, and homesickness one would feel if taken from all they know as familiar and thrown into a completely “foreign” situation. This young boy uses some imaginative techniques to help him remember his “homeland” and to bring a little of his old life into his new. A small mistake allows him to travel into this unknown land that he refuses to accept, and allows him to become familiar with what he feared and thought to dislike. His acceptance blossoms into a new life with friends, family, and appreciation for all these new discoveries.

The author immigrated at a young age, just as the protagonist, and feels that she was rejecting of the new possibilities, just as he did. She brought the story to life with brightly abstract sketches that almost make you feel like you are within this boy’s story–seeing things in flashes and broken with misunderstanding. They grow in vibrancy and clarity as he becomes more familiar and begins to experience all the exciting things within the city. His once closed mind opens to new opportunities and his misplaced “seed” blossoms into a new life. I really enjoyed the change of seasons to illustrate the year that passed and all the things that occurred. He ventures into the unknown with fear, shown with angry faces and confusing illustrations, which turns into his appreciation for the food, smells, colors, and wonderful things around him. A really enjoyable wordless/graphic novel-like book. I would highly recommend for those children brought over when young and still adjusting to the newness of a foreign place. Extremely helpful if they are still learning the local language. Loved it!

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Book Review: Francis, the Little Fox by Véronique Boisjoly

Francis and his father visit Mr. Li’s Small Socks Laundromat for an obvious purpose (laundry if you’re still guessing), and have a small adventure when dealing with a devious Lily, Mouse the cat, Mr. Li, and Madame Bernadette . Francis is an impeccably dressed fox, who even wears his tux on laundry day, unlike many others that will wear “any old thing”. On this laundry day, Francis and his father observe the rules (no cell phones, trumpets, tomato slingshots, etc.) and create diversions to take up their time while waiting on the laundry. They have a sock-tossing contest, draw/read the newspaper, people-watch, and make up stories. In this calm setting, the mischievous Lily appears and decides to cause mischief for the Foxes. She adds too much laundry detergent to their load of wash, and the mass of bubbles leads to the escape of the Laundromat’s pet, Mouse the cat. The Foxes go out to find the cat and look high and low for the cat, while Lily tries to help clean up. Francis helps save the cat, and is ultimately repaid with another one of Lily’s tricks.

This was a very simple, and very matter of fact story, with quaint locations and cute characters. I liked the simple backgrounds and small details, with greater amounts of white space-filling out the frames. The story wasn’t too surprising, but had neat little quirks in plot such as the mischief and causation of subplots in the missing cat. It was just a brief glance into a day of humanized animals, some more classy and ethical than others. Reminded me a lot of Fantastic Mr. Fox, especially with Francis’ snazzy tux. I’d recommend it for young readers, between picture books and chapter books level.

 

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Book Review: Big Cat, Small Cat by Ami Rubinger

Big Cat, Small Cat is a comparison book of different types of cats’ moods, colors, locations, cleanliness, weight and more; some with open questions for kids to fill in their own idea of what is happening. The illustrations are very basic, but very colorful–all cats are featured on tall or short hills with random colors for the background and various objects placed in the scene.   Almost all the cats feature Cleopatra-like eyes and Cheshire cat grins, which was on the verge of being disturbing and a tad creepy. While I enjoyed the text and think this would be excellent if used in Story Time or Toddler Time, the illustrations were extremely distracting and juvenile. It was almost too plain, with weird lines and unsettling stares from the cats. I think small children would enjoy the text and colorful pages, but slightly older children might just be as creeped out as I was. Okay book, terrible illustrations.

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Book Review: The Line by Paula Bossio

This simple wordless book by Paula Bossio is imaginative and playful, with just a hint of terror. An unknown line travels throughout the book, with a little girl following its progress. It either moves, or is drawn into various shapes that resemble people, loop-d-loops, and then finally a “terrifying” bear-like beast. This terrifies the little girl when it tries to eat her cookie, yet then transforms into a lovable bear. We discover by the end of the book that it is a young boy’s drawing with a pencil that created these images.

I loved this simple and creative illustration style. There was only limited color in the children’s’ clothes, with everything else drawn or shaded haphazardly with graphite scribbles. The illustration didn’t stay in the lines, and eraser marks were clear. This added to the charm and likability of the drawings, and gave this simple story added character. It could even be a possibility that the boy himself drew the girl, even though he looks like he could be a twin to the adventurous protagonist. Sweet and simple.

 

 

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Book Review: Snatchabook by Helen Docherty

This follows the mystery of Burrow Down, a small underground village of woodland creatures such as Eliza Brown the rabbit. Night after night, as they are reading a variety of children’s tales from their favorite books, a mysterious shadow or being steals their books off their shelves or even right out of their hands! Eliza decides to get to the bottom of the mystery, and sets up bait (a stack of books) to catch the thief. With a brave confrontation, Eliza discovers a “Snatchabook”, a tiny creature who has stolen the books. Eliza discovers the creature steals the books since it has no one to read to them. Eliza strikes up a compromise, and convinces the Snatchabook to return each and every book snatched from the Burrow. Once all the books are returned, Snatchabooks are welcome to sit in on the nighttime story readings.

I really enjoyed the quaint illustrations with cute details of lit windows cut into tree trunks, small burrow homes, and the individual stories each family reads. The windy exterior of the burrow homes lends to the realistic and slightly mysterious setting, giving the short story a complete feel. The expressions on the animals’ faces attribute to their dismay and misfortune at being robbed of their prized books. The illustrations of the different stories being told also match to the families telling the stories; a hedgehog group of witches, a badger knight, owl pirates, a rabbit princess and the pea, and a rabbit Red Riding Hood. This was a sweet book, wrapped up nicely with a motto of sharing and befriending those who one might have thought of as an “enemy”.

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Book Review: Fire by Kristin Cashore

This second installment of the Graceling series tells an alternate story that predates Graceling by a couple of decades. This gives a slight history of Leck and how his Grace began. After a brief introduction of Leck’s birth and patronage, the story shifts into the land of monsters, where magical and colorful beasts attract humans and human-like monsters to their death. Their beauty can cause madness, and some even entrance humans into rushing to their death. The human version of the monsters are just as beautiful and deadly. Their beauty, rainbow-colored hair, skin, gaze, and voice can cause a multitude of reactions, bringing humans into their power. These “monsters” have the power of mind control and can sway almost any man or woman with a simple thought. The story opens with Fire, one of the last “monsters”, raised by the cruel and powerful Cansrel, who led the late-king Nax, and his kingdom, into ruin. She lives away from the royal city with Archer and Brocker. The kingdom has slowly been rebuilding its strength, with the aid of Nax’s two sons, Brigan and Nash. A new threat in surrounding lands and ruling parties, Mydogg, the Pikkians, and Gentians, are threatening the new peace with war. Nash and Brigan call on Fire to try to help them understand who the real enemies and allies are, and where any possible threats may originate. She is terribly afraid of becoming overbearing and ruthless as her father was, and tries to avoid the true extent of her power.

This was harder to start than Graceling for me, I’m not exactly sure why. I’ve strained for so long to read, read, read as much and as fast as possible that I think I just hit a wall. Once I got past Leck’s gruesome introduction and the confusion at Fire and Archer’s names and powers, I became enthralled in Fire’s character and depth. Since I was expecting more of the Grace’s and a continuation of the Graceling storyline, this second installment did throw me for a slight loop. Fire’s character was intriguing and sensitive, but also extremely defensive and sheltered. I loved seeing her come out of her shell mentally as well as physically. She finally began to use her power to good use, and didn’t allow for it to control her. I liked Brigan’s strong silent resolve and his blossoming into a brave and strong love of Fire’s. Her relationship with Archer was just plain odd, but I guess satisfied her need for affection without actual love or obsession. She found a player that she could be with that she knew wouldn’t become obsessed and fawn over her unnecessarily. There were brief glimpses of Fire’s relationship with her evil father, which were oddly sweet. She was the only one he trusted and didn’t overpower, and it was interesting to see his version of love for her. I would really love to see if Fire had children and how they would turn out. Yes her father was evil, but other than his history, I don’t recall there being any other “evil” monsters. Just because there was one, doesn’t mean all the “monsters” would be the same. Oh well. On to Bitterblue! Hope its as fantastical as these past two 🙂

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Book Review: Primates-The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas by Jim Ottaviani

Jim Ottaviani brings three great anthropologists and ape behavioral experts to life with his colorful and unique graphic novel, Primates. He delves into the lives of these three great women, their research, and their connection with the great Louis Leakey. Jane Goodall’s story is told briefly, with how she ended up studying chimps in Africa, and a basic view of her experiences and tremendous discoveries. A smooth transition flows into Dian Fossey’s experiences and how she muscled her way into the field and nests of apes. Finally, Ottaviani reveals the tale of  Biruté Galdikas and her brave (and sometimes painful) work with orangutans. Each story has quaint details and illustrations that mirror photographs and likenesses of the women. A final prologue discusses what happened to the women, and Louis Leakey, as their youth faded and the field evolved.

I have looked forward to this book since I first saw it in an upcoming publications magazine, and immediately placed a hold once our library had the book on order. I was very appreciative and a little bit obsessed with anthropology, archaeology, and Jane Goodall when I was younger, and almost decided to go into the anthropology field (forensics more than primates). The book was very simple (with some fictionalized characters and story lines), but covered a great deal of work that each of these women accomplished. I really enjoyed how the women’s personalities were portrayed, as well as the extreme facial expressions Ottaviani chose for major discoveries or the case of a burnt marshmallow ass incident. It was amazing how these women worked their way into a male dominated field, and not only succeeded, but became some of the most well-known and accomplished women in relation to different apes. I love their dedication and strong-willed behavior as displayed in this graphic novel. Super cute and quaint. It was a little bit short, and some fictionalized, but it was a nice representation altogether.

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Book Review: Alanna- Song of the Lioness Book One by Tamara Pierce

Alanna Trebond and her brother Thom decide to switch places to truly achieve their desire and idealized destiny. Alanna wishes to learn swordplay and become a knight, while Thom, who is not very good at these things, wishes to become a powerful sorcerer and wizard. To achieve these vastly different futures from the ones planned for each of them by their scholarly obsessed father, Alanna decides to pretend to be a boy. This allows her to travel to the royal city and study to be a knight, while Thom will go to the convent where young boys study to be a sorcerer alongside the girls studying to be women. While she may be the smallest of the pages and squires, Alanna trains hard, on her own and with others, to defeat bullies and prove herself. She makes quick friends with Prince Jonathan and his companions, and makes herself indispensable amongst the court with her bit of the “Gift” (magic) that she possesses. After saving the life of the prince and aiding the castle healers with her power, she is chosen to accompany Jonathan to the land of the Bhazirs, or desert people. Once in the land, they learn of a magical dark city, one Alanna has seen in dreams and prophecies. Jonathan decides to sneak away to defeat the evil in the city, and Alanna has no choice but to follow and protect her friend.

Alanna is a very strong and intelligent girl, and was incredibly interesting to follow. This book didn’t seem to have a lot of background details and fully rounded characters, but I did enjoy the witty banter Alanna brought to conversations. It seemed very lopsided to present a pair of siblings, twins no less, and hardly have mention of her brothers’ tale or life once they parted ways. While I understand this story was about Alanna and not Thom, it still seemed odd to only mention him once toward the end. This very slightly reminded me of Hero and the Crown, but didn’t seem to be as multi-layered or as comprehensive. I liked the story line very much, but it just seemed incomplete. I feel like if it were another 100 pages or so, it would have been better. I plan on reading more into the series to see if the characters are better developed or if the details improve. It was light and entertaining to read, but just felt….incomplete. I know this a terrible description, but there were just so many details I wish were included! Three years passed in a blink of an eye, it seemed, and things were just hunky dory. Oh well. Hopefully it continues to improve! I think I was just too busy comparing it to others.

 

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