Hooray!
More books for you!
Every Friday I recap what I’ve read during the week.
I post the picture of the book
that I took when I finished reading it,
and underneath, my thoughts.
Oh man this week I did NOT get in as much reading as I’d like. Well, I just didn’t FINISH as many books as I’d like, that’s all. I made some progress on a couple of books that I may finish next week. I started work again so a lot of my time went to that, and I’m working on some great side projects in the lettering realm…still, it will be GREAT to read more next week. 
THE MARVELS
By Brian Selznick
First of all, you should buy the book for the cover alone. The first 400 pages are drawings, telling a story that spans over 100 years. There are shipwrecks, fires, families, acting, theater; it all seems like magic. But the cliffhanger at the end of the illustrations makes you read on.
Yes, read on. The next large bit of the book is in text, and follows Joseph, a boy who is running away and finds his way to his Uncle’s house in London, in 1990. It’s a weird place that seems to be frozen in time with no modern conveniences. Joseph’s Uncle Albert is strange, and so is the house. Joseph yearns to figure out the mystery and discovers clues that lead him to ask about the story we saw at the start of the book and how he may be related to it.
I won’t spoil what happens for you, but I will say it’s beautiful and grief filled and simply wonderful.
Wow, this book! I loved the characters, the art, the stories, how everything wove together. It makes you think about the roles that stories play in our lives, and how wonderful they are. At the end I was surprised to find out what inspired the story; don’t skip the afterword!
Brian has done it again.
A beautiful book that you have to see to believe.
SUNNY SIDE UP
By Jennifer and Matthew Holm
Sunny is sent to Florida to stay with her Grandpa for the summer. At the beginning of the book we’re not sure why, but we find out as the book goes along it has something to do with her older brother and a problem he’s having. Her Grandpa lives in a retirement community, which means there aren’t many opportunities for fun. Luckily she makes a new friend to have adventures with.
I liked this MG story and I think it’s an important one for all kids, but especially kids who are dealing with something similar (her brother has an addiction problem and she thinks she may have made things worse/is to blame.) The family dynamics were believable, and it was fun to have it set in the 70s.
As much as I liked the characters, I didn’t feel entirely invested. Also, I found it a bit confusing with the flashbacks; one chapter would take place in the present time, while another may take place a year earlier. I can see why it was structured this way; we sort of get a dramatic reveal of her brother’s problem and I know Sunny is thinking about the past a lot too, but it was a little confusing.
MCTOAD MOWS TINY ISLAND
By Tom Angleberger
Illustrated by John Hendrix
Now this is wacky that works well. McToad mows grass. Every day of the week except Thursday he mows the grass on Big Island, but on Thursday he mows Tiny Island. Getting his lawnmower to Tiny Island is a process, involving eight different methods of transportation. And wait until you see how tiny Tiny Island is. It’s ridiculous and hilarious.
It’s a journey story that is funny because of the lengths MCTOAD has to go to even GET to Tiny Island, but it’s also a great concept book, since there’s a truck, a train, an airplane, etc. To me it felt like giving a story to a concept book, but now I don’t know which part I love more! I just know I felt satisfied reading it.
And the art? John Hendrix is a MASTER not only at illustration, but typography. The words he draws are so beautiful and vibrant, and there are many different fonts in this book. It’s beautiful and funny. Who could ask for anything more?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE KIND?
By Rana DiOrio
Illustrated by Stéphanie Jorisch
This is a fun concept picture book that gives practical examples about what it means to be kind. It’s a great way to start a conversation with kids about kindness and the small and big ways they can practice it each day. The author is also the founder of Little Pickle Press, who published the book. They have a series of books like this, explaining abstract concepts to children.
I’m all about kindness, so I think this is an important conversation to have with everyone, not just kids. I actually have a story in the works about kindness; hopefully becoming a book someday. The illustrations are inviting and can lead to discussion too.
I’LL MEET YOU THERE
By Heather Demetrios
Skylar just graduated and she’s so excited to get out of her tiny California town. She loves her friends; Dylan, who is happily staying in the town with her boyfriend and baby, and Chris who is heading across the country for college in Boston. All Skylar had to do is make it through the summer and she’ll be off to San Francisco, studying art and making collages all the time.
Shouldn’t be too hard; just working at The Paradise, the local motel. Josh worked there before going off to Afghanistan and comes back to work again, but he’s not the same. He lost a lot of friends and part of his leg. He’s dealing with all that but they start falling for each other too. Skylar has a hard time understanding him, and Josh is having a hard time fitting back into his life.
Add on top of this that Skylar’s Mom just lost her job, and Skylar is worried. Who will take care of her Mom? (She has some substance abuse problems) and what will she do about Josh? And should she leave to go to college? CAN she leave?
I loved this book. The sense of place is done SO WELL! You could feel the heat and hopelessness pouring off the pages. The motel was such a character too, with each room being a different theme. The book is told from Skylar’s point of view with little snippets from Josh that actually turn out to be letters he’s writing to a military friend that died. Those are important pieces and really help us understand him. I thought their story had a lot of grit and it felt like a fresh romance to read.
Check this one out!
Have you read any of these?
I’d love to hear what you thought of them!
See you next Friday with more books!
Bye for now,
KE
P.S. Full disclosure: The links above go to Indiebound and are affiliate links. If you buy at Indiebound, I’ll get a little kick back. That would of course be nice, but really I’m happy to be linking to an Indie site 🙂
