I remember my mom and grandmother sewing constantly during my childhood. Scraps of cloth went into a basket, Halloween costumes were created and reused for multiple years, and there was always the mindset “it’s still good.” That’s not uncommon for people who lived through or were raised by folks who experienced the Great Depression.
Nancy Bess had a Dress reminded me of that mindset; a mindset I grew up surrounded by, and I’ve had ingrained in me, as well. It’s a beautiful book with historic perspective about a little girl who knows how to make the most out of what she’s got. “Waste not, want not.”
Nancy Bess is a lovely character, a great example for young readers, and her story still resonates in today’s world. If you grew up shelling peas on the front porch of your grandmother’s house this book is for you. If you have a child interested in sewing or creating this book is for you. If you want a great book with historic truth and value to it this book is for you.
I didn’t know what to expect when I checked out One-Dog Canoe for my Kindergartner. It was on the list of recommended reading, and when we snuggled up to read I understood why.
It. Is. Adorable.
In rhyming text that almost feels like a song the reader is guided through a comical, animal-filled adventure of one little girl, her pet dog, and their canoe. Each page is illustrated to perfectly compliment the hysterical story, and One-Dog Canoe was soon a hit with my squad.
An ARC read. Special thanks to Disney and Netgalley for this opportunity.
Jasmine always knew she would rule, but she didn’t expect it to be so soon. When the sultan dies unexpectedly Princess Jasmine is thrown into a role she thought she’d have more time to prepare for, and there are plenty hoping she’ll fail. Without a proper chance to grieve her father’s passing she is expected to handle all the funeral rites and a coronation all while maintaining her composure. As she quickly learns, her world may be collapsing, but life goes on. Surrounded by veteran politicians, Jasmine is struggling to convince them she’s an acceptable sultana, and a message from beyond the grave has her questioning her own sanity. Add a contender for the throne, and Jasmine finds her world falling apart.
Realm of Wonders is the third book in The Queen’s Council series, a reimagining of Disney heroines ascending to the throne with the odds stacked against them. Jasmine is in good company as she joins Belle and Mulan in this series. Realm of Wonders maintains the classic Disney characters we know and love, while expanding the universe to a more mature, historically focused setting. Monir does an excellent job balancing the supernatural suspense with the political power plays, all while maintaining intrigue and mystery around our beloved princess.
Jasmine is a princess I grew up with, and one I loved for her intellect, kindness, and sense of adventure. I appreciated how her character was further expanded in the live action film, but Realm of Wonders really let Jasmine shine, focusing on her thoughts, her emotions, and her struggles. One such struggle is the blatant sexism in such a patriarchal society. There has never been a sultana before, and while it was clearly her father’s strongest desire to see her ascend to the throne those he trusted most have other ideas for a suitable leader. The gender gap is a large focus in Realm of Wonders, driving the plot when a potential usurper arrives claiming his right to the throne. However, Monir doesn’t focus solely on Jasmine for this issue, portraying other female characters in similar situations where they are limited purely by their gender. It should be noted: not all the male characters are villains. There are several who believe Jasmine is the right and worthy leader of Agrabah and go to great lengths to help her, but this is a very “girl power” focused book.
A note to Disney fans: this is classified as a young adult novel, and quite serious in tone. Jafar and Genie are mentioned, but not seen. The beloved sultan’s death is a prominent issue throughout the book. Abu, Raja, and Aladdin are featured, but the sole focus of the book is on Jasmine. Readers looking for a lighthearted read will not find it here; this is a strongly character driven narrative with rich detail, political themes, and supernatural elements.
I found Monir’s writing compelling, and I grew frustrated with any who interrupted my reading. I felt Monir took a lot of time and care weaving the political intrigue with the supernatural mystery only to have the ending feel rushed. Still, all the wants and hopes I had, save one, were met, and the surprise twist left me grinning. This is a solid four star read for me, and I suspect I will be pursuing Monir’s other work in the future.
Realm of Wonders: The Queen’s Council is out October 10. Let me know what you think!
Did you see the new Barbie movie? I did. I went to the theater on my fortieth birthday all by my lonesome to see Margot Robbie personify a beloved childhood toy in ultra stylish clothes. Now I know not everyone enjoyed the movie – I personally thought it was unique, funny, touching, and clever – but I do think a lot of people are loving the nostalgia the movie summoned. It’s one of the reasons I checked out this lovely, lovely book from our library.
In The Story of Barbie and the Woman who Created Her, Cindy Eagan tells us the the story of Ruth Handler, Barbie’s creator. Inspired by her own daughter, Ruth created more than a toy: she created an icon. Barbie was a way for girls to see themselves in any role they wanted – doctor, astronaut, mermaid. Barbie was only limited by the child’s imagination. Each page is inspiring and beautiful with Amy June Bates stunning illustrations that gave me all the nostalgic vibes. What’s your favorite thing about Barbie?
Published by: Carolrhoda Books, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group
Important to note:“Absolutely no epic dragon battles! Does not contain any high-speed jousts on horseback! A complete lack of daring princess rescues!” Now that we have that out of the way…
Don’t you love an underdog? Yeah, me too. Pair that with a witty sense of humor, and I’m ready for a grand adventure. Or, in Charlie’s case, perhaps a bit less grand? Biggerborough is a city full of excitement and wonder, but she’s stuck in the town of Little Import. Nothing interesting ever happens here…or does it? Just when Charlie’s beginning to feel like she’ll never make a difference she discovers her friends and neighbors need her help the most.
The Knight of Little Import is a wonderfully encouraging book that shows anyone can make a difference if they care enough to try. I loved Charlie’s spirit, her can-do attitude, and her thoughtfulness when it came to dealing with each monster. Her big heart and plethora of monster knowledge make her the perfect hero, and a great role model to share with your favorite kiddo. I giggled my way through the story of Charlie and her town of Little Import, and I know you and your child will do the same.
Thank you to Netgalley and Carolrhoda Books for allowing me to review this advance copy. I loved the important message, and the beautiful artwork. The Knight of Little Import is set to be published September 5, 2023. Make sure you check it out, and let me know what you think!
How many times have my boys complained about nothing going their way? How many times have I done exactly the same thing? I think everyone can recall a day where they just wanted to fall back into bed, and start the day all over again. During a particularly rough life season I participated in a church study on Anna Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts. The study helped put some things into perspective for me, one aspect being I can find joy when I look for it instead of focusing on my sorrows. Joy! You Find What You Look For has a similar perspective perfect for young readers, and provides a beneficial tool for parents or caregivers to help them implement this lesson.
Holly is having a no good, very bad day; nothing is going her way, and it doesn’t seem like her luck is about to change any time soon. Holly’s mother listens patiently as her daughter shares all her frustrations and woes before offering an idea to shift her perspective. Through her mother’s kindness, love, and immense patience, Holly begins to see her day wasn’t as rotten as she originally thought.
Gina Prosch does a lovely job of sharing Holly’s story, and I particularly loved the tips for parents and educators on how to guide readers on a “daily treasure hunt for good things.” This book was an absolute delight, and I really enjoyed getting an ARC copy of this brightly colored, charmingly illustrated book. A big thanks you to Boys Town Press and Netgalley. Joy! You Find What You Look For is set for publication tomorrow, August 1, 2023.
Thank you to Netgalley and Kristin Costello for allowing me to review this book.
“No, you are not yet where you want to be – but you aren’t where you were and that’s worth celebrating.”
– Reminder
Vulnerable, raw, and genuine. Grey Matters is Kristin Costello’s open letter to the world about her experiences with anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and ultimately her healing process. Content warnings are available at the beginning of the book, which I always appreciate, but I didn’t find her work upsetting. I actually found comfort in her words because they were so relatable. Poems like “Fixation”, “Instincts”, “Depression Naps”, and “How I Get Dressed” gave me pause. Was it possible I wasn’t the only one who had experienced things like this? The familiarity and truthfulness in Costello’s words connected with all my broken pieces; I could relate because I’d been there – I had experienced that.
While I did enjoy Costello’s work it’s important to remember poetry is subjective. A poem might miss the mark the first read, but may be deeply meaningful during another season of life. I found Costello’s work heavy during this current season in my life, and had to put the book down several times. There was no “powering through” – her words needed to be processed and considered, even if they were beautiful. Phrases like “shipwrecking hands” (“Submerged”) has me highlighting the text, and I’m certain if I had a physical copy of this book it would’ve been annotated quite a bit.
Costello has a unique voice, both fresh and wounded, and fans of Atticus and Rupi Kaur will definitely enjoy her work. She’s definitely a poet to keep an eye on.
When I was a teenager I was obsessed with manga, and as I’ve grown older that obsession has bled over into comic books, graphic novels, and web comics. The Unicorn Legacy held immediate appeal with the stunning cover artwork, and I was happily delighted to see the same caliber of work throughout this book.
The reader is quickly introduced to Celeste, the youngest princess of Lemuria. Today she will be undertaking a huge task – to travel to the Temple of the Goddess, and ask for her blessing of peace, prosperity, and protection for her kingdom. This quest takes place every hundred years by a chosen heiress, and since Astra, the oldest sister of Lemuria is chronically ill the responsibility falls to Celeste. She will journey on her own with only magical weapons to assist her in her greatest hour of need. (Think Sailor Moon or Magic Knight Rayearth, but with unicorns.) Along the way she meets Nell, Rama, Orya, and Izadre, and together they plan to venture to the Temple of the Goddess to fulfill their duty. Other stunning or amusing characters include Celeste’s grandmother, adorable Howler beasts, the mystical unicorns Cerotis and Sadalbari, and the hysterical half-people clan.
This book really ticked all the right boxes for me: stunning illustrations, a great story line, interesting characters (Rama is my current favorite, but I love them all), a heavy dose of cuteness, magic, and unicorns. I highly enjoyed the story myself, but I plan to share it with my boys, and my oldest niece – this seems right up her alley. The main characters are duty-bound, but also want to do the right thing because they have a strong moral code. Rama demonstrates this strongly several times, saying she doesn’t like others being referred to as monsters. Book one ended with a new villain entering the scene, and perhaps a new ally? I can’t wait for the second book to come out so I can find out!
If you could go back in time what would you do? Who would you see, and what would you change? In Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s bestselling novel we’re offered insight into four characters who are presented with just such an opportunity.
Fumiko and her boyfriend, Goro, found Cafe Funiculi Funicula by chance. Fumiko expected a proposal, but instead she gets dumped. It’s only after the breakup, her mind still reeling from the shock, that she remembers the stories she’s heard about this off little cafe. Rumor has it you can travel back in time there, and after some detective work (ie: blatant begging) she discovers this to be true. But there’s a catch – there always is, right? The rules are very, very specific: you must sit in a specific seat in the cafe, and never leave it or you will be forcibly pulled back to your own time. You can only see people who have also been to the cafe, it won’t change your present circumstances, and, of course, there is a time limit. A cup of coffee acts as a timer, and you must drink said coffee before it gets cold…or disaster. Oh, and one more: you only get one chance. Ever.
Time travel has always fascinated me, and I love to see how different authors and directors play with the idea. Kawaguchi’s concept is intriguing, and he carries it out well. Originally written from the stage, Before the Coffee Gets Cold has one setting, and a core group of characters I eventually came to care for a great deal. Some events were clearly foreshadowed, but they weren’t any less exciting when they finally came to fruition. The first part of the book was a bit slow, but looking back it helped to establish the rules so I could enjoy the latter three parts – a sort of necessary evil, much like the third Hunger Games movie. Part one ended well, the stage was set, rules and characters established, and now onto deeper issues, all much more painful, but inevitably more beautiful to experience.
Kawaguchi brought me to tears in the last three parts of the book, and I found the ending to be particularly moving – both tragic and wonderful. I read several reviews complaining about aspects of the story or the writing, so to hopefully alleviate that for others here are some things to know: First, this is a translated book. I personally think it was translated well, but if you have any issues with the prose it probably stems from that. Secondly, the author is Japanese. There are going to be cultural differences, and that is not a bad thing. Several reviewers took issues with things that are quite commonplace in many manga and anime, but nothing Kawaguchi wrote took me by surprise or caused offense. Third, the ending of the book has been made political by several reviewers, and I didn’t see it that way at all. Perhaps I’m seeing it from a mother’s point of view, or maybe it’s all those iconic Southern movies driven into my heart and soul. I didn’t read it as someone standing on their soap box, trying to make a point, but rather a lovely character I adored expressing the same view Julia Robert’s did in her role in Steel Magnolias: “I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special.”
Ultimately, I considered Before the Coffee Gets Cold an enchanting, lovely read that made this reader a bit emotional. (Okay, a lot.) I don’t know if I’ll be jumping into the other books right away, but they’re certainly still on my TBR list for now. A solid four star book.
I was so intrigued by this book when I stumbled upon it. Two girls, one white, one black, thrust together during a riot, just trying to survive the night? Color me curious. I’m Not Dying with You Tonight was full of promise, and I went into it excited to see how the authors would handle such an important topic amongst a violent backdrop.
Lena is a fashion-forward student with a loyal best friend, a loving, but protective grandfather, and a lame excuse for a boyfriend. Campbell is a new student just trying to survive her senior year after her mother dumped her with her dad to pursue a job. Their lives collide one night at a football game; tensions run high, and a scuffle between two high school students turns into an all-out brawl. A gunshot later, and it’s a riot that begins to spread.
I’m disappointed to report I found this book lackluster. I really, really wanted to like it, saw so much opportunity in the text, but ultimately the book fell flat. Let’s start with the main characters: Lena is meant to be tough-as-nails and no-nonsense; she has a lot of people who love, worry, and care for her, but her main focus is on Black (yes, that is his name), her sad excuse for a boyfriend. She tells us early on she had to work hard to get him, and she plans on keeping him, but she does so at the expense of her own self-respect. In fact, her pitiful need to find him despite the riot sends both her and Campbell further into danger. The book could’ve been cut in half if she’d realized her safety was more important than a hookup, and just headed home. She walks her sweet cousin right into danger all for a hot guy, and every good thing she does evaporates in her constant chase to get to a guy who sends up dozens of red flags.
Campbell is actually a pretty sympathetic character, but she’s painted as timid, naive, and sometimes pathetic. At least we hear more of her backstory – we get very little on Lena. Her parents divorced, her dad sued to pay less child support, then stopped completely, causing her and her mom to lose their home. Her mother is too scared to give up her job, so she takes a job out of the country, leaving Campbell with a dad who doesn’t seem too concerned with his daughter to begin with. He spends every weekend at his fishing cabin alone, barely making ends meet, and seems more focused on himself than his child. When he does show up it’s because his store was in danger, not his daughter.
The rest of the characters are flat foils meant to drive the plot further, but do little else, which is a shame because they were actually more intriguing than the main characters.
One thing the authors did well was portray just how high tension can run, and how quickly things could escalate. Sense and reason were thrown out the window, and replaced by fear and panic. The book was highly plot driven, and honestly, for a book about a riot the tension and anxiety didn’t transfer to me as I read. The authors chose to tell instead of show, and because of that the reader was supposed to take things at face value. For example: Lena was clearly scared every time the police showed up, but there was no explanation as to why. We understood why Campbell was distraught over her father’s store – she’d already lost one home, they’re barely hanging on, and now it looks like she’ll lose another. But no explanation from Lena. I would’ve liked more insight instead of the “police just make things worse” statement.
For a book about racial tension and divides I didn’t feel like either narrator really discussed these topics. When they were mentioned they were mainly Lena yelling at Campbell. Campbell did say some ignorant things, but most of that stemmed from fear, and then she was just supposed to take Lena at her word. Instead of an honest conversation, Campbell cowers, afraid to upset Lena because Lena knew the way home, and she doesn’t.
For all that fell short, the book actually brought up some good topics of discussion: what to do if you’re ever in a situation like this? If calling the cops only makes things worse then what do you do? What you’d want your teen to do if they were caught like this? Could your kids call you without fear of punishment? Do you do the right thing or the safe thing? Growing up, my parents made it very clear I could always call if I was in danger without fear of consequence. Lena should’ve known this – her grandfather loves her, and she knew he would come get her in a second. Instead, she relied on an unreliable guy because she wanted to be important to him. You deserve better, girl. Why couldn’t the girls stay in the teaching portable for the night? Why did they have to get home just then? Did Campbell really expect Nicky to stay and protect her father’s store when his grandparents needed help? Does Lena really think looting is okay because people need an outlet to express themselves? Does Lena really think Campbell losing the store might actually be a good thing? The number of deep sighs kept increasing as the ludicrousness continued, and ultimately there was no real resolution for the reader so…why did I spend two days investing in these characters and this book?
I read a review suggesting a map at the beginning of the book, and honestly that would have been a great addition. I waffled between two and three stars for this book – it’s not unreadable, and the concept was intriguing. Some of the characters had great moments, but overall, I was disappointed it missed the mark. Two and a half stars.
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