Seven Stories Up (2014)

Seven Stories Up. Laurel Snyder. 2014. Random House. 240 pages. [Source: Review copy]

You're supposed to cry when your grandma is dying. You're supposed to be really sad. But as Mom and I sped through the dark streets of Baltimore, I couldn't stop bouncing in my seat.  

I absolutely loved this historical fantasy novel. I loved, loved, loved it!!! Annie Jaffin, the heroine, has never met her grandmother. Her mother almost always changes the subject. Annie knows that her mother doesn't exactly get along well with her mother. But she doesn't know why exactly, she doesn't have the details. And some would probably say that she doesn't need to know the details, that she doesn't need the burden and baggage of all the family troubles. But it still makes for an awkward first meeting. To meet someone who will die within a day or two at most. To have your only impression of your grandmother be her at her physical worst. Annie's grandmother seems desperate with Annie, wanting to express a decade's worth of love all in three minutes. But Annie finds it a bit overwhelming as well.

Seven Stories Up is historical fantasy. Annie wakes up to find herself in 1937, she meets a young girl around her own age: Molly. A girl she realizes relatively quickly is her grandmother. Annie and Molly--what a pair, what a fantastic pair of friends. Molly, who has asthma, has always been kept separate from the world; she's rarely let out of her rooms; she rarely meets anyone; she definitely never gets the opportunity to act her age, to play, to go to a fair or carnival, to go shopping, to go anywhere. The whole world almost has been off limits, and her family rarely takes the time to connect with her. Her father, well, for better or worse, is absent though he's only a few stories down. He's the owner/manager of the hotel. Her mother and her sisters are vacationing this summer. Molly, before Annie's arrival, was friendless and hateful.

I absolutely loved this one. I loved how Annie and Molly are good for one another. I loved how their relationship develops. And I love, love, love the time travel aspect of it.

Will knowing Annie in the past, change Molly's life forever?!

© 2014 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Risked (2013)

Risked (The Missing #6). Margaret Peterson Haddix. 2013. Simon & Schuster. 320 pages. [Source: Library]

I am still enjoying this series. I don't love all books in this series equally. And I must admit I read these more for plot than character (so unusual for me). But the premise still works for me. Jonah is one of those kids, and readers still don't learn HIS past identity. But Jonah and his non-adopted sister (not a historical kidnap victim) travel to the past once more. This time with Chip and two new kids; kids whom they recognize almost instantly as being Romanovs: Alexei and Anastasia. Yes, this book takes readers to the Russian Revolution, to the very house where the family were murdered... Plot twists, as always, abound. It's a complicated mess that always means increased danger to Jonah and Katherine. But there is something about this series that I can't help loving despite the fact that the books are a bit messy.

© 2014 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures (2013)

Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures. Kate DiCamillo. 2013. Candlewick Press. 240 pages. [Source: Review Copy]

What a quirky and lovely book by Kate DiCamillo. I loved the two points of view. I loved the little girl, Flora, and I loved the super-hero squirrel, Ulysses. The writing was just lovely; the story was quite fun and just as odd as I've come to expect from DiCamillo!

It has a great cast of minor characters, particularly both neighbors. Flora's parents are separated and most-probably getting a divorce. Her father's neighbor was great. Her mother's neighbor was great too. I had mixed feelings about Flora's parents. On the one hand, it was oh-so-easy to feel empathy for the father. I am not sure I could find sympathy for the mother. This is in part the fault of the squirrel! The mother is the nemesis of the squirrel. She's out to get him: out to kill him. But there is more to the mother than being a rodent-hater. She's also a writer, a writer of REALLY bad formulaic romances. Flora is at odds with her mother for almost the whole novel, so we see the mother mainly through the eyes of two characters that dislike her: the squirrel and the daughter. There is one confrontation scene that was heartbreaking for me. I felt for the daughter so, so, so much. I could identify with her in that moment. That last poem was oh-so-magical for me.

I would definitely recommend this one!

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Sunday Salon: The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles

The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles. Julie Andrews Edwards. 1974. Scholastic. 288 pages. [Source: Bought]

It was a crisp, sunny October afternoon and Benjamin, Thomas, and Melinda Potter were visiting the Bramblewood Zoo. 

Have you read The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles? What did you think of this children's fantasy novel? I personally loved it a good deal! I enjoyed spending time with Ben, Tom, and Lindy. Their adventures begin with their excursion to the zoo. At the zoo, the children happen to meet a strange man, a professor it turns out. They are resting and discussing among themselves WHAT animal they would take home with them, if they could. This strange man interrupts them and asks if they've ever "considered" a whangdoodle. A what?!?! they essentially respond. That encounter might not have changed their lives too much, been easily forgotten in a week or so, IF, it hadn't been followed up by a trick-or-treating adventure soon after! Lindy was dared by one of her brothers to knock on the door of the local "haunted house." The haunted house, you guessed it, is where this strange professor happens to live. He himself started the rumors so that children would leave him to his work. He's busy making advances in genetics and marveling in studying the nature of DNA...remember this is 1974!

Friendship. These three children find a friend and fellow adventurer in Professor Savant. Someone who challenges them to open up their minds to the world of possibility, a world that allows for just about anything and everything that you can imagine. The four decide to go big, they will work to imagine themselves all the way to Whangdoodleland. Half the book focuses on their time in Whangdoodleland. Readers meet many fanciful creatures...but will they meet...at last...a Whangdoodle?!

If you enjoy fantasy novels with action and adventure and a LOT of imagination, then this one shouldn't be missed!

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

The Hero's Guide to Saving the Kingdom (2012)

The Hero's Guide to Saving the Kingdom. Christopher Healy. 2012. HarperCollins. 448 pages. [Source: Library]

Perhaps I was not in the right mood to appreciate Christopher Healy's The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom. The things that delighted me in the first two or three chapters, became exceedingly annoying by halfway through the novel. I persevered perhaps when I should have set the book aside for another time. The premise is fun and playful. Readers are introduced to four princes all named Prince Charming. Cinderella's prince, Rapunzel's prince, Sleeping Beauty's prince, Snow White's prince. All have proper names and distinct personalities. That being said the princes mostly blended together for me with the exception of Snow White's prince and Cinderella's prince. These two weren't exactly memorable because I loved what Healy did with their stories. I didn't see characters being developed so much as quirks being displayed again and again and again and again. I never really connected with the princes on their (long) journey.

What this MG fantasy has is plenty of action and adventure...also a great deal of humor. For readers who love fairy tales and action/adventure quests with plenty of humor, this one may prove quite pleasing.

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Sunday Salon: Reading Wind in the Willows (1907)

The Wind in the Willows. Kenneth Grahame. Illustrated by David Roberts. 1907/2013. Candlewick. 256 pages. [Source: Review Copy]

I enjoyed spending time with Mole, Rat, Toad, and Badger. I believe this was only the second time I'd read this children's classic. It was a good read. Some chapters I liked more than others, of course. But overall, it was a book that I enjoyed. I'm not sure I loved it however.

Do you have a favorite character? A favorite scene? Do you like Toad despite his obsession with motor cars?! Do you think his friends are right to try to convert him?

Favorite quotes:

He thought his happiness was complete when, as he meandered aimlessly along, suddenly he stood by the edge of a full-fed river. Never in his life had he seen a river before—this sleek, sinuous, full-bodied animal, chasing and chuckling, gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh, to fling itself on fresh playmates that shook themselves free, and were caught and held again. All was a-shake and a-shiver—glints and gleams and sparkles, rustle and swirl, chatter and bubble. The Mole was bewitched, entranced, fascinated. By the side of the river he trotted as one trots, when very small, by the side of a man who holds one spell-bound by exciting stories; and when tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still chattered on to him, a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea.

'Believe me, my young friend, there is NOTHING—absolute nothing—half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.

Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not.

Packing the basket was not quite such pleasant work as unpacking' the basket. It never is. 

for it is impossible to say quite ALL you feel when your head is under water. 

Early or late he's always the same fellow.

"What are we to do with him?" asked the Mole of the Water Rat.
"Nothing at all," replied the Rat firmly. "Because there is really nothing to be done. You see, I know him from old. He is now possessed. He has got a new craze, and it always takes him that way, in its first stage. He'll continue like that for days now, like an animal walking in a happy dream, quite useless for all practical purposes. Never mind him.

At this very moment, perhaps, Toad is busy arraying himself in those singularly hideous habiliments so dear to him, which transform him from a (comparatively) good-looking Toad into an Object which throws any decent-minded animal that comes across it into a violent fit. We must be up and doing, ere it is too late. You two animals will accompany me instantly to Toad Hall, and the work of rescue shall be accomplished.' 'Right you are!' cried the Rat, starting up. 'We'll rescue the poor unhappy animal! We'll convert him! He'll be the most converted Toad that ever was before we've done with him!'

At first Toad was undoubtedly very trying to his careful guardians. When his violent paroxysms possessed him he would arrange bedroom chairs in rude resemblance of a motor-car and would crouch on the foremost of them, bent forward and staring fixedly ahead, making uncouth and ghastly noises, till the climax was reached, when, turning a complete somersault, he would lie prostrate amidst the ruins of the chairs, apparently completely satisfied for the moment. As time passed, however, these painful seizures grew gradually less frequent, and his friends strove to divert his mind into fresh channels. But his interest in other matters did not seem to revive, and he grew apparently languid and depressed.

Try and grasp the fact that on this occasion we're not arguing with you; we're just telling you. 

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Magic Marks the Spot (2013)

Magic Marks the Spot (Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates). Caroline Carlson. 2013. HarperCollins. 368 pages. [Source: Review copy]

Ever since the letter had arrived from Miss Pimm's Hilary had spent more and more time talking to the gargoyle. 

I loved, loved, loved Magic Marks the Spot. Hilary, our heroine, has spent most of her life wanting just one thing: to be a pirate. Unfortunately, young ladies are not allowed into the Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates. And when she makes the application, well, the league itself steps in to "do the right thing" and enroll her in Miss Pimm's Finishing School for Delicate Ladies. And it is to finishing school she goes, for a while at least, but she has no plans of staying there. She is waiting for the right opportunity to escape. And that moment does come, she sneaks away to answer an advertisement:

WANTED: PIRATE CREW

Established, respected freelance pirate seeking experienced crew members for upcoming voyage. Must be able to swashbuckle, swab decks, swill grog, fire cannons, and climb to the crow's nest. Successful applicants will sign contract for one round-trip voyage, with opportunity for further collaboration if merited. Voyage details to be divulged upon acceptance. Applicants trained in treasure location are of particular interest. Please apply in person to 25 Little Herring Cove, Wimbly-on-the-Marsh, at ten o'clock on Saturday morning. Eye patches and hooks OK. Please--no parrots. (75)

Magic Marks the Spot is historical fantasy. Magic is very real in the world Carlson has created. It is not equally distributed, however. Magic plays a definite role. Hilary's gargoyle is magic. And he is a delightful part of the story! The action and adventure center on finding magical treasure, and the mystery on finding the thief who has been stealing magical objects from the elite ruling class.

I enjoyed this one so much! The characters are quite fun. The story is just delightful with plenty of surprises! Would definitely recommend!

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Fortunately, The Milk (2013)

Fortunately, The Milk. Neil Gaiman. 2013. HarperCollins. 114 pages. [Source: Review Copy]

Fortunately, the Milk may just be my favorite Neil Gaiman book. I loved it because it was odd and fanciful. I loved it because it was a fantastic tall tale that stretches in all directions: pirates, aliens, dinosaurs, ponies, vampires, time travel via hot air balloons, etc. It felt like a chapter-book spin on And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, if that makes sense! It was just pure fun with a few doses of insanity! I loved every single minute of it, from start to finish. It was just PERFECT. I think this one could easily become a classic!

First paragraph: There was only orange juice in the fridge. Nothing else that you could put on cereal, unless you think that ketchup or mayonnaise or pickle juice would be nice on your Toastios, which I do not, and neither did my little sister, although she has eaten some pretty weird things in her day, like mushrooms in chocolate.

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

The String Quartet (2013) (MG)

The String Quartet. Dan Hupalo. 2013. CreateSpace. 292 pages. [Source: Review copy]

Every now and then you come across a just-right book. The String Quartet was a just-right book for me. I found it to be the perfect blending of storytelling and characterization, of fantasy and mystery. At its simplest, I suppose, you could say that it was a story about a magical cello rediscovered in a tumbling-down barn. That would be accurate but not do the book full justice.

 Dawn Arterberry is the heroine of The String Quartet. She has recently moved with her father to Vermont; the two are still deep in grief: Dawn's mother has recently died. Within a chapter or two, Dawn will leave home once again, she'll be attending a private boarding school on a beautiful but remote island. The good news is that she's already made a good friend in Elliot; the two have had the summer to get to know one another. Elliot is with Dawn on the fateful day she explores the old barn on the family farm. Of course, neither realizes the significance of that cello, the cello belonging to her grandfather.

Dawn adjusts relatively well to life at her new school; she joins the orchestra and becomes part of a string quartet. And that is, in part, where the proper fantasy-adventure begins... for one day in practice... something unexpected happens.

If you enjoy novels where heroes travel from the 'real world' to a fantasy one, then The String Quartet may be just right for you. I enjoyed the world-building. I enjoyed the storytelling. But most of all, I enjoyed the characterization! I liked getting to know Dawn, Elliot, Davis, and Abigail. 

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Sunday Salon: Reading Through the Looking Glass

Through the Looking Glass. Lewis Carroll. 1871. 228 pages. [Source: Bought]

I love, love, love Through the Looking Glass. I think I might even love it more than Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Together they are just a JOY to read. The thing I love the most about Through the Looking Glass is the language, the writing, the style. The book is just so very quotable!!! The scenes are fun, playful, and memorable.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday--but never jam today.

Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.

They gave it to me--for an un-birthday present.
I beg your pardon? Alice said with a puzzled air.
I'm not offended said Humpty Dumpty.
I mean, what is an un-birthday present?
A present given when it isn't your birthday, of course.
Alice considered a little. I like birthday presents best, she said at last.
You don't know what you're talking about cried Humpty Dumpty. How many days are there in a year?
Three hundred and sixty-five said Alice.
And how many birthdays have you?
One.
And if you take one from three hundred and sixty-five, what remains?
Three hundred and sixty-four of course.

When I use a word, Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, it means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor less.
The question is, said Alice, whether you can make words mean so many different things.
The question is, said Humpty Dumpty, which is to be master--that's all.

I see nobody on the road said Alice.
I only wish I had such eyes, the King remarked in a fretful tone. To be able to see Nobody! And at that distance too! Why, it's as much as I can do to see real people, by this light!

Always speak the truth -- think before you speak -- and write it down afterwards.

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

The Fantastic Family Whipple (2013)

The Fantastic Family Whipple. Matthew Ward. 2013. Penguin. 400 pages. [Source: Review Copy]

All the members of the Whipple family had managed to be born in the same month on the same day: March the first. All, of course, but one. Arthur Whipple had been so eager to join his amazing family that he decided to make a surprise arrival into the world at eleven thirty-four P.M. on February the twenty-ninth, just twenty-six minutes ahead of schedule. But to Arthur's astonishment, his family was not as delighted by the surprise as he had hoped. When the doctor placed Arthur in his mother's arms, she smiled lovingly down at him--but he could sense a hint of sadness in her eyes. And when the nurse came and carried him out for his first bath, he turned back to catch a glimpse of his mother quietly crying as the door shut behind him.

The Fantastic Family Whipple is strange, odd, quirky, and perhaps for the right reader perfectly delightful from cover to cover. It's certainly over-the-top and beyond-belief. It has a huge cast of characters. The Whipple family is a large one. Every single person in the family is a grand success. All except for our narrator, Arthur. He is the failure, the shame, of the family. For he alone is the one who has yet to break any world record. The other members of the family, his older siblings and younger siblings, his parents, well, they break records practically every day. In fact, in a single year, they probably break a thousand records. A chronicler even lives with them for convenience. And that's not all. (For example, there's also an animal trainer (the world's hairiest man) and an elephant!)

The book focuses on a time when all is not well in the Whipple house. For a series of accidents has left them all wondering if there is a curse, a family curse, working against them. Some members of the family are more superstitious than others. And it doesn't help that a new family has moved next door. A record-breaking family that rivals their own in many ways; a super-competitive family. A family that also has one outsider in it. (These two become friendly!)

If you enjoy mystery, bizarre humor, and lots of action, then The Fantastic Family Whipple is for you.  

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Noah Barleywater Runs Away (2010)

Noah Barleywater Runs Away. John Boyne. 2010/2012. Random House. 240 pages. [Source: Review Copy]

Noah Barleywater left home in the early morning, before the sun rose, before the dogs woke, before the dew stopped falling on the fields.

Would I have enjoyed Noah Barleywater Runs Away if I'd read it as a child? No, I'm sure I wouldn't have. Did I enjoy it as an adult? Yes. I've learned to handle those kinds of books now; I can even predict them early on. Plus I've read a certain children's classic twice now!

John Barleywater is running away from home. It becomes obvious within a few pages that this novel has some magical elements in it. By the time readers meet the talking dog and donkey, it's clear that readers are in for a fantastical treat. They may be disappointed that all the adventure happens in story format as an "old man" shares his life story with sprinkles of advice to John in the quirky corners of an old toy shop. I happened to enjoy this aspect of it. I think they have something to learn from one another; I think 'the gift' worked both ways. The old man was able to persuade the 8 year old boy to return home to his parents; and the young boy was able to give the old man some resolution, perhaps.

I guessed the reason why John Barleywater was running away from home. This is revealed to readers in several stories throughout the novel. While most of the stories concern the life of the "old man," he is able to coax the young boy into sharing stories of his own.

Quote:

'You should never want to be anything other than you are,' the old man said quietly. 'Remember that. You should never wish for more than you have been given. It could be the greatest mistake of your life.' (191)

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Sunday Salon: Reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Roald Dahl. 1964. 155 pages. [Source: Library]

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is one of my favorite books to reread. I adore this one. Each chapter feels like a good friend. The text, the illustrations, everything just feels so right, so cozily right about this one.

Willy Wonka is an eccentric factory owner; he manufactures candy, chocolate mostly. He has a contest with five winners; he hides five golden tickets within his candy bars. Charlie Bucket, our hero, is desperate. Not necessarily desperate to win so much as desperate for a miracle. His family is starving. His father, his mother, all four grandparents, and himself--all are starving. If any boy deserves a life time's supply of chocolate, it's Charlie.

The book is quirky, delightful, and full of messages or morals. These messages aren't exactly hidden, they are obvious, especially in the lyrics of the songs. For example, Mike Teavee's song. No reader could miss that message! Is it a message for children or parents?!

"The most important thing we've learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set–
Or better still, just don't install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we've been,
We've watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone's place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they're hypnotised by it,
Until they're absolutely drunk
With all the shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don't climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink–
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSES IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK–HE ONLY SEES!
'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say,
'But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!'
We'll answer this by asking you,
'What used the darling ones to do?
'How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?'
Have you forgotten? Don't you know?
We'll say it very loud and slow:
THEY...USED...TO...READ! They'd READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic takes
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching 'round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it's Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy–Winkle and–
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How The Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There's Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole–
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks–
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They'll now begin to feel the need
Of having something good to read.
And once they start–oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hears. They'll grow so keen
They'll wonder what they'd ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.
P.S. Regarding Mike Teavee,
We very much regret that we
Shall simply have to wait and see
If we can get him back his height.
But if we can't–it serves him right."

Do you have a favorite character? A favorite scene?


© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

The Last Dragonslayer (2012)

The Last Dragonslayer. Jasper Fforde. 2012. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 296 pages. [Source: Review copy]

I liked The Last Dragonslayer. It definitely wasn't love, love, love.

Jennifer Strange is the heroine of this playful fantasy novel. This foundling may not want the job ahead of her, to fulfill her destiny that has been decreed for her for hundreds of years, but she may be the best chance for the world.

The Last Dragonslayer is peopled with some quirky characters. The writing was light and playful, the pacing tended to be just right as well. If I could have finished it in just one sitting, perhaps, I might not have realized the lack of connection I had with the characters and the story.

The characters were just substantive enough to be quirky and interesting at least from a distance. But I didn't feel there was much depth and substance to them beneath the surface. The exception probably being Jennifer Strange, our heroine.

Fantasies depend on world-building, great premises, and good storytelling. Characters are crucial as well. As is pacing. The Last Dragonslayer was entertaining and pleasant but it didn't really make itself unforgettable or memorable.

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

North of Nowhere (2013)

North of Nowhere. Liz Kessler. 2013. Candlewick. 272 pages. [Source: Library]

I enjoyed North of Nowhere. I am not sure that I loved it absolutely. But I definitely found it an enjoyable way to spend a day. Mia, our heroine, did not want to visit her grandmother over spring break, but when her grandfather goes missing--Mia and her mom rush to be with her. While there, Mia goes exploring a bit on her own. She discovers--well, the dog discovers--a boat, and on that boat there is a diary. Mia reads the diary and discovers there is a girl whose loneliness matches her own. She writes in this stranger's diary, asking her if she'd like to be friends. But these two seem fated not to meet one another. Mia also meets Peter. The two don't flirt exactly, but, they do become friendly. Mia tells Peter about the boat and the girl "Dee." A few days later, Peter is missing as well. Mia may just have been among the last to see him...

North of Nowhere is an interesting coming-of-age mystery with a touch of fantasy to it. I definitely thought that Mia and Peter were well-drawn characters, but I'm not sure that any of the other characters were.

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Sunday Salon: Reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Lewis Carroll. 1865. 192 pages. [Source: Bought]

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a great book to read again and again no matter your age. I think I've always adored this one and its sequel Through the Looking Glass. Each chapter feels so familiar and welcome. I love that books become friends. I think that is why I absolutely HAVE to reread books. It's a way of life for me.

The chapter titles: "Down The Rabbit-Hole," "The Pool of Tears," "A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale," "The Rabbit Sends In a Little Bill," "Advice From A Caterpillar," "Pig and Pepper," "A Mad Tea-Party," "The Queen's Croquet-Ground," "The Mock Turtle's Story," "The Lobster Quadrille," "Who Stole the Tarts?" and "Alice's Evidence." I love that simply reading the chapter titles takes you right into the heart and soul of this one!

What is your favorite thing about Alice in Wonderland? I think my favorite thing is the dreaminess of it. How perfectly bizarre and wonderful it is. It is whimsical, quirky, delightful. It is also very quotable! 

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

The 9 Lives of Alexander Baddenfield (2013)

The Nine Lives of Alexander Baddenfield. John Bemelmans Marciano. Illustrated by Sophie Blackall. 2013. Penguin. 144 pages. [Source: Review Copy]

The Nine Lives of Alexander Baddenfield is strange, dark, quirky, and depressing. For me, it was an uneven read. There were a few places that I thought had promise. They would be a couple of sentences here or there that I thought worked, that I thought had potential. But ultimately, the book did not satisfy me. The good news is the book is quite honest. It begins and ends with Alexander in his grave.

But now you say to yourself, "Aha! I know: the twist is that the boy is not really dead. It says it right there in the title--Alexander has nine lives. He will be reborn again and again, so that by his ninth life this awful child will have learned his lesson. His heart will fill with love for his fellow man, and he will become a Not-so-Baddenfield, or even a Goodenfield, and he will turn all his money over to the poor and dedicate his final life to charitable good works." If this were a Hollywood movie, or a fairy tale, or a run-of-the-mill chapter book, this would undoubtedly be the case. But in the real world such things rarely happen. The truth of the matter is that Alexander Baddenfield used up all of his lives without the least bit of remorse or redemption, because Alexander Baddenfield only ever cared about one thing: himself. And that, dear friends, is the most Baddenfield trait of them all. (2-3, ARC)

This is a book that prides itself on the fact that there are no moral lessons or general instructions imparted to the characters OR to the readers. A book that celebrates the fact that there was no redemption. It is a very depressing though at times slightly humorous novel. I'm sure there are some readers out there who will find this one interesting. But for me, it did not work. 


© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Sunday Salon: Reading Mary Poppins Comes Back (1935)

Mary Poppins Comes Back. P.L. Travers. 1935. Harcourt. 315 pages. [Source: Library]

It was one of those mornings when everything looks very neat and bright and shiny, as though the world had been tidied up overnight.

I definitely enjoyed rereading Mary Poppins Comes Back. There are a few chapters in this sequel that I just LOVE. (For example, "The Kite," "Miss Andrew's Lark," and "The New One.") I didn't love the stories--or the chapters--equally, however.

In this sequel, Mary Poppins returns to the Banks family. The four children have definitely missed her. So have Mr. and Mrs. Banks; they are so relieved that she's returned. In this sequel, a new baby joins the family. But Mary Poppins, of course, still manages to make everything run smoothly.

My favorite quotes:

"I want to know how you've been behaving since I went away," remarked Mary Poppins sternly. Then she took out the Thermometer and held it up to the light.
"Careless, thoughtless, and untidy," she read out. Jane stared.
"Humph!" said Mary Poppins, and thrust the Thermometer into Michael's mouth. He kept his lips tightly pressed upon it until she plucked it out and read.
"A very noisy mischievous, troublesome little boy."
"I'm not," he said angrily.
For answer she thrust the Thermometer under his nose and he spelt out the large red letters.
"A-V-E-R-Y-N-O-I-S---"
"You see?" said Mary Poppins looking at him triumphantly. She opened John's mouth and popped in the Thermometer.
"Peevish and Excitable." That was John's temperature.And when Barbara's was taken Mary Poppins read out the two words "Thoroughly spoilt."
"Humph!" she snorted. "It's about time I came back!"
Then she popped it quickly in her own mouth, left it there for a moment, and took it out. "A very excellent and worthy person, thoroughly reliable in every particular." (22)

"She was called Miss Andrew and she was a Holy Terror!"
"Hush!" said Mrs. Banks, reproachfully.
"I mean--" Mr. Banks corrected himself, "she was--er--very strict. And always right. And she loved putting everybody else in the wrong and making them feel like a worm. That's what Miss Andrew was like!" (32)

"Well?" she said gruffly smiling a thin smile. "I don't suppose you know who I am?"
"Oh, yes we do!" said Michael. He spoke in his friendliest voice for he was very glad to meet Miss Andrew. "You're the Holy Terror!" (39)

"Doing nothing takes a great deal of time! All the time, in fact!" (156)

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

New Lands (2013)

New Lands (Chronicles of Egg #2). Geoff Rodkey. 2013. Penguin. 336 pages. [Source: Review copy]

I hung my head over the side of the Thrush and watched the prow carve the seawater into a hissing spray. Viewed up close, the Blue Sea wasn't all that blue, and I wondered--for the umpteenth time in the past few days--who had named it that, and why they hadn't bothered to get it right.

I really enjoyed the first book in the series. Egg and Guts are on a quest, and the journey ahead of them is dangerous and uncertain. These two somewhat unlikely friends make a great pair! I didn't have much of an opinion on Guts in the first book, but he definitely grew on me in the second. (The way he named his hook, Lucy, the way he loves to play guitar, how he loves his foreign language lessons, etc.) I also enjoyed the two female characters, Kira, a native (Okalu), and Millicent Pembroke. (I have mixed feelings on Millicent though). One of my favorite characters, however, is a minor one. I really loved seeing Burn Healy again!!!

If you enjoy adventure-fantasy with a historical feel, then this series might satisfy! I enjoy the action, the adventure, the humor. I really like the way these two are narrated! 

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Secrets At Sea (2011)

Secrets at Sea. Richard Peck. 2011/2012. Penguin. 256 pages. [Source: Review Copy]

I definitely enjoyed this animal fantasy novel by Richard Peck. Helena, our narrator, is the oldest surviving sibling in a family of mice. Her mother and two sisters shared the same fate--drowning, and her father also had an unfortunate accident. So Helena is the oldest, she's the boss, supposedly. Do the other mice like being obedient? Not so much. Helena has two sisters: Beatrice and Louise and one brother: Lamont. They live with the Cranston family. When the Cranston family decides to go to Europe in an attempt to marry their oldest daughter off (Olive), the mice family has an important decision to make. Do they stay behind in the empty house and take their chances, or, do they dare risk it all and travel with their human family? Helena takes the advice of an aunt (who tells fortunes) and they decide to go with their family. They even decide to take an interest in their humans, they will be trying to help them...

I especially loved this one once the journey began. I loved meeting all the other mice on board the ship. I loved seeing the society of mice. And the romance in this one are sweet. The novel is set in the Victorian period, and ends with Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews