Shelf Awareness--Immortal Consequences

YA Review: Immortal Consequences

Immortal Consequences by I.V. Marie (Delacorte Press, 512p., ages 12-up, 9780593898802)

In Immortal Consequences, a compelling dark academia YA novel, six ambitious teens are stuck in a magic-infused world "parallel to life and death" where there is copious amounts of romantic tension, intrigue, and deception.

Wren, August, Emilio, Olivier, Irene, and Masika have all died, but none have "crossed over to the Other Side." Instead, they are at Blackwood Academy, a purgatorial magic school. Blackwood students generally "graduate" after a few hundred years--they lose "memories of their previous life" to the Forgetting and are sent to the Ether to "reap lost souls for the rest of their existence." Every decade, however, one outstanding student is nominated for the Decennial, a ritual that allows the student the option to join the academic elite or cross over. When the six teens sneak out to watch a new student arrive, they bear witness to a concerning--perhaps impossible--display of magic. Rather than getting in trouble, though, all six are ordered to participate in a startling revision of the Decennial: instead of celebrating one student, this year's Decennial is a competition. The six "unfortunate acquaintances" become immediate rivals, but there will still be only one winner--and all are determined it will be them.

I.V. Marie's well-crafted debut is a riveting page-turner with action, witty banter, mysterious secrets, and unfulfilled longing. Her agile prose describes an ensemble cast of competitive characters who are each driven to be the best, even as they remain haunted by mistakes of their past lives. The six strive to conquer fears, personality flaws, and errors in judgment, yet remain startlingly human: even dead, all are terrified of running out of time. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author. Originally printed in Shelf Awareness.

July's Book of the Month--The Papaer Bridge

July’s Book of the Month is the exquisite picture book, THE PAPER BRIDGE, by Joëlle Veyrenc and Seng Soun Ratanavanh.

Anya lives in the village of Paperlee, where people are “paper-thin and paper-light.” Residents are happy, except for the five-and-a-half days a year when strong winds blow and they keep stones in their pockets so they’re not lifted away. But when windmills suddenly appear on a neighboring mountain, home to the village of Forestlee, the anxious people of Paperlee suddenly need to carry stones with them all the time!

Anya realizes she must go to Forestlee, but first she must design a bridge to cross the chasm that divides the two villages. Using skills gleaned from the papercraft of kirigami, the bridge is built and Anya bravely crosses, only to discover that things are very different in Forestlee. Nevertheless, Anya explains the plight of her people, helps to solve a problem, and in doing so she finds a friend.

Joëlle Veyrenc uses the language of folklore to bring this gorgeous, hopeful story of interconnectedness and problem solving to life. Equally important are Seng Soun Ratanavanh’s meticulous illustrations, which use kirigami, pencil, and watercolor on paper, hand-cut and arranged into scenes, then photographed (back matter shows samples of what the constructed art looks like). Let this mesmerizing tale sweep you away!

--Lynn

Shelf Awareness--Millie Fleur Saves the Night

PB Review: Millie Fleur Saves the Night

Millie Fleur Saves the Night by Christy Mandin (Orchard Books, 40p., ages 4-8, 9781339023373)

In Christy Mandin's wondrous, magical Millie Fleur Saves the Night, the follow-up to Millie Fleur's Poison Garden, young Ms. La Fae employs compassion, care, and homemade moon pies to encourage every townsperson of Garden Glen to be a "friend of the Dark."

Every evening, residents of Garden Glen deploy houselights, spotlights, and lanterns to ensure their homes and gardens are safe from the "scary" and "dangerous" dark. Not so Millie Fleur, whose moon garden wasn't growing and who "hadn't seen a single night creature" since she moved to town. The Dark is always welcome in Millie Fleur's yard so the girl marches (moon pies in hand) to the edge of the woods to greet her old friend and many other creatures of the night. Spiders and bats, katydids and moles follow Millie Fleur back to her garden, which springs to life with their gentle activities. The sweet smell of night-blooming plants enchants her neighbors, but they will have to be brave and meet the Dark if they want to experience Millie Fleur's sparkling garden.

Mandin's enchanting sequel has all the charm and singularity of her first offering and allows readers to once again experience the eccentric perspective of her offbeat horticulturist with a penchant for the sweetly macabre. Digital illustrations are dark, fully saturated, and highlighted with whimsical touches, such as curlicues and faces on plants. Creative, unthreatening, and bursting with atmosphere, Millie Fleur Saves the Night should enchant readers of any age as it encourages them to face their fears and embrace the unknown. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author. Originally printed in Shelf Awareness.

July Recommendations

In MOVING DAY, written by Teri Roche Drobnick and illustrated by Jennifer Black Reinhardt, a family waves goodbye and says, “See you soon.” But the house doesn’t want to go! It’s been in place for a hundred years, but now, with a “lug and a tug,” it’s lifted from its foundation. A crowd gathers as the house is pulled around tight corners and up and down steep hills, until it “smiles” to see its family, waiting in its “new spot.” MOVING DAY offers an entertaining twist by having the house be the one reluctant to move, and there’s plenty of fun language to carry it off. Vibrant, whimsical watercolor and ink illustrations play perfectly with the text, adding details (like the house wearing Victorian shoes and carrying carpetbags) and using extreme perspectives. This move turns out to be quite the parade-worthy adventure!

THE BEAR OUT THERE, by Jess Hannigan, is an uproarious, in-your-face story of a red-headed child who addresses readers to insist—dramatically—that there is a BEAR outside. They know it for a fact. The bear is watching from the woods and the child doesn’t “have to see it to know that it’s out there.” The child points out “bear signs to watch for,” draws “super accurate” pictures of the bear, plays cards while waiting for a rescue, etc. until RATTLE, RATTLE, CREEEAK… well, you’ll see. The twist at the end wraps things up nicely and offers a few more reasons to laugh. Second person narration is really funny, very kid-friendly, and veers in all kinds of directions. Acrylic paint, collage, and digital illustrations are bold and blocky, with plenty of engaging closeups to amp up the humor. It’s perfect for storytime!

FIREWORKS, written by Matthew Burgess and illustrated by Cátia Chien, leads readers on a trek through the city one hot summer day, when the warm, bright sun beats on steamy sidewalks. "Whoop! Weee! Woohoo!” a fire hydrant springs a leak and all the kids know what to do. To the bodega, through the park, then back home for watermelon in the “thirsty afternoon.” After dinner, POP! The first “flower of fire” zings and tizzle-tings across the sky. The strong, lyrical text is full of action, poetic descriptions, and sensory details that zing, just like the fireworks. The joyful mixed media illustrations emphasize the action as well as the details while also leaving much to the imagination. Great book for a warm summer night’s read.

TOTO, by Hyewon Yum, features a girl with a birthmark named Toto. Cousin Charlie thinks Toto looks superpower cool. Grandma kisses Toto (a bit sadly) whenever they meet. Mom was surprised by Toto, but proclaims it “a kiss from an angel.” The girl feels that “sometimes people only see Toto," and when it’s time for school, she starts to believe that “it’s a good idea to hide Toto for a little while.” Even when she makes a new best friend, she worries that Niko will think Toto is strange and ugly. The solution is affirming and “extraordinary!” Hyewon Yum’s work is lovely, as always. Her matter-of-fact, first person text, and pencil and watercolor art, bring this moving story fully to life with plenty of heart to spare.

In I WILL ALWAYS BE…, written by Rebecca Gardyn Levington and illustrated by Rahele Jomepour Bell, a girl shimmies onto a school bus, describing how she loves to “pirouette,” “pop and lock,” and “cha-cha-cha” as a dancer. In the bathtub, she “think[s] and tinker[s],” “tweak[s] and build[s],” as an inventor. She dabbles with “stickers, scissors, cotton,/pom-poms, paper, [and] glue” to “imagine something new” as an artist. In this perfectly rhymed, bouncy text, the girl also sees herself as a scientist, a writer, an athlete, and a baker. Most importantly, she knows that wherever she’s headed she will always be… herself. The colorful, mixed media illustrations are as active as the text, and nicely enhance all of the can-do energy.

HERE IS A BOOK, by Elisha Cooper, is a gentle, uplifting meditation on an artist’s process for making a book, presented by an artist who has made many wonderful books himself. In this one, the artist dreams, gardens, bakes, and enjoys her warm home, filled with "bread, raspberry jam, family, [and] a cat.” She bicycles her finished art to a bustling town, where she delivers it to her publishers office, humming with teamwork, from where it’s sent to the printer, then the books are trucked across a “country and a coast,” to a city, then delivered to a library, where a student finds it and brings it to her own home, filled with "vegetable soup, family, two cats, and humor,” where it is read and loved. This inspiring, idealized look at publishing paints a sweet portrait of the creative and logistical steps that go into creating a picture book. Cooper’s watercolor and pencil illustrations are as evocative as ever.

--Lynn

June's Book of the Month--Jim!

June’s Book of the Month is JIM! SIX TRUE STORIES ABOUT ONE GREAT ARTIST: JAMES MARSHALL, written and illustrated by Jerrold Connors.

The book opens with a story about how James Marshall’s friend Harry was “full of wild ideas.” Apparently, Harry called “Jim” one night to tell him “Miss Nelson is missing!” The next day, Harry brought over the story, written out, and pretty quickly Marshall “whipped Harry’s story into shape” with sketches and a name for the substitute teacher (based on a teacher of his own who told him he would never be an artist).

Story Number Two is about how Marshall hated when his work wasn’t taken seriously, so he tried playing classical viola. But he liked drawing better. He also meets his partner Billy in this chapter.

Story Number Three is about his friendly rivalry with Maurice Sendak and it’s pretty sweet. Arnold Lobel makes an appearance as a James Marshall-style pig with a mustache, while Sendak is a bulldog.

Story Number Four describes how much Marshall wanted to win an award for his work, with a few fun thoughts on his illustrations for The Owl and the Pussycat.

Story Number Five offers some pertinent wisdom during a school visit, and Story Number Six describes how sick Marshall eventually became, without specifically mentioning AIDS (that’s in the backmatter.)

I love, love, love this picture book biography about one of my kidlit heroes, James Marshall. The narrator is a fox, based on the character he thought was most like him. Text is broken up into six distinct stories (or chapters), and it’s paced like the chapter books Marshall wrote. The excellent backmatter enriches the book with context and additional, thoughtful information. Ink and watercolor illustrations, digitally enhanced, are reminiscent of Marshall’s “cartoony style,” but don’t call them “cute” or “zany”—Marshall hated that. Connors even includes a colorful timeline which graphically displays some of the elements in this picture book. It’s not the easiest of reads—it’s hectic, chaotic, and full of depth, but it feels like the biography James Marshall would want and deserves.

--Lynn

Shelf Awareness--Dream for the Land

PB Review: Dream for the Land

Dream for the Land by Laekan Zea Kemp, illus. by Leo Espinosa (Anne Schwartz Books, 40p., ages 4-8, 9780593710302)

Dream for the Land is a moving and ultimately hopeful look at how one family in the Southwestern U.S. works and dreams of rain during a megadrought.

A child with brown skin and messy pigtails chases bunnies away from crops on her family's small farm. But this is the second batch of tomatoes that looks "withered on the vine" and the squash is being destroyed by spider mites. When a horned toad "skitters across the soil," Pá demonstrates how to catch it, kiss its head, and make a wish. The hardworking family prunes and weeds, but the drought means clouds refuse to "burst open over [their] small farm." When Pá was a boy, this same land "used to be green as jewels" and he would swim in the "cobalt river"; now, the river is only a memory. The child realizes the family needs some magic: they find another horned toad and "plant a gentle kiss on his head," dreaming of "the world as it once was" and "the world as it could be."

Laekan Zea Kemp (Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet) tells a tenderhearted story that depicts the hardships of tending a drought-stricken land yet maintains hope. Illustrator Leo Espinosa (Islandborn) uses pencil and Photoshop to illustrate both sweeping landscapes and intimate emotion; an earth-toned palette uses gentle colors that realistically show the stark climate. Though the child's situation is dire, the story ends optimistically. A powerful author's note points out that although the Southwest is experiencing its longest megadrought in 1,000 years, there are "Indigenous communities and other communities of color that know exactly what the earth needs to heal." --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author. Originally printed in Shelf Awareness.

May Recommendations

THE DAY MOON AND EARTH HAD AN ARGUMENT, written by David Duff and illustrated by Noemi Vola, introduces young readers to the planets in the totally relatable terms of a couple of friends having a snarky spat. Even though “both said things they didn’t mean,” neither makes nice, and, “after 4.5 billion years together, [Moon] packs her things and leaves.” The illustrations are bright and cheerful and have gobs of personality—you’ve gotta love Moon’s pink and blue backpack with green straps, the socks and shoes worn by all the celestials, and all the expressive faces, especially the close-up of Moon, full page spread near the end, when she realizes she’s “a long way from home.” Backmatter gives more facts, I love, love this one for ages 3-6 especially!

POP! GOES THE NURSERY RHYME, written by Betsy Bird and illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi, is great, raucous, read-aloud fare. Beginning with —yes, Pop! Goes the Weasel, then on to Mary Had a Little Lamb, Jack and Jill, and more, the weasel in this story has way too much fun disrupting and subverting all of the rhymes. And there’s a large bird who’s taking it all very seriously… Kids will love reciting the familiar rhymes and shouting along with the weasel, and there’s a bit of extra suspense near the end to tie things up nicely. The cartoony digital illustrations are full of action and expertly describe the perfect dose of storytime chaos.

EXACTLY AS PLANNED, written and illustrated by Tao Nyeu, is a clever two-sided book that tells the same story from two different points of view. Moose, who has just knitted a red scarf, is invited to Fox’s home for tea, and decides to bring the new scarf as a gift. Unfortunately, along the way it unravels, and although Moose collects other “random” gifts along the way (apples and flowers), he’s still upset that he doesn’t have a proper gift for Fox. When Fox offers up a skein of pretty blue yarn, Moose knits his friend a hat, and the two chat for hours, enjoying a terrific visit, “exactly as planned.” Flip the book over, and we find Fox cooling freshly-baked brownies for Moose’s visit. When a crow flies off with the treats, Fox is terribly upset at having nothing to offer her guest, but then finds a strand of red yarn that’s gotten stuck on a bush. Since Moose “likes crafty things,” Fox gathers it up, collecting other small treasures, as well. Goat dyes the scruffed-up yarn a delightful blue color, then Fox goes home to welcome her guest. As Moose knits, Fox bakes an apple pie, and the two friends enjoy a terrific visit, “exactly as planned.” This pair of stories imparting kindness and cooperation weave together beautifully. Pastel-colored silkscreen and colored pencil illustrations on light beige paper reinforce the gentle tone and offer plenty to enjoy on repeated readings.

In THERE’S A GHOST IN THE GARDEN, written by Kyo Maclear and illustrated by Katty Maurey, a boy and his grandpa spend time together in a garden that’s full of activity. The ghost may be mischievous, “knock[ing] over flowerpots and trash cans,” or friendly, leaving “little presents.” Grandpa thinks there may be more than one, possibly deer ghosts or fox ghosts, or the “ghosts of migrant birds circling back to their old haunts.” There is peace in this garden, but also regret, as the forest is smaller now, the stream is gone, and the “air is loud with car horns and the neighbor’s music.” Still, the pair listen, and talk, and remember together, as a “ghost circle[s] back to its old home.” Maclear’s lovely, sweet, uplifting text is supported by Maurey’s pitch-perfect gouache on paper illustrations.

In DRAGON DREAMS, written by Roni Schotter and illustrated by Khoa Le, (human) sister-dragons have had “an angry day, with way too much pinching, poking, and pushing.” Daddy tucks them in for dragon dreams, and one sister stays awake listening to the night sounds. Then there’s “a rustle and a whirrrrr” and wings at the window announce her “own special dragon” has come calling. They fly high into the sky, where “stars wink their secrets,” and “comets leave messages on the blackboard sky.” When they arrive at the Secret Gathering, they find dragons “of every color and kind” carrying children “of every color and kind.” Daytime differences are resolved, there is dancing, until it’s time for home and more dragon dreams. A sweet fantasy, supported by a list of the many different dragons who made an appearance at the end, and dreamy, deeply-colored nighttime digital illustrations nicely enhance the magic.

ADI OF BOUTANGA: A STORY FROM CAMEROON, written by Alain Serge Dzotap, illustrated by Marc Daniau, and translated by the author, is a longer, older picture book about a girl who is part of a group of nomadic herders who live in a village of “great chameleon grasses.” Adults take what jobs are available, with Dad driving a “motorcycle as a cab,” and Mom now selling “makala—palm-oil doughnuts—on market days.” The girl loves going to school, where her demanding teacher shows her how to trace words in notebooks so “a strong wind [doesn’t] steal them as soon as they [leave her mouth].” But when Uncle Amadou decides she’s “already become a woman” and must marry, the girl and her parents quietly plan how to “oppose the decisions of the eldest member of the family” to save their “still a little girl” from the arranged marriage. The girl embraces a new life in a new place, far from her old village, where she can play and learn and grow up to fall in love, all in her own good time. An author’s note and backmatter about Camaroon give context. The text is riveting, and brightly colored oil on paper illustrations support it quite well.

--Lynn