I hope everyone had a good New Years celebration! Mine was low-key, but honestly I don’t really go out and party. It’s mostly a miracle if I make it to midnight. My goal this year is to read at least 30 minutes a day. I know that doesn’t seem like much, but some days I somehow manage not to read at all. So far so good as far as my goal goes, especially when my son is here with me.
Osnat and her Dove: The True Story of the World’s First Female Rabbi written by Sigal Samuel, illustrated by Vali Mintzi
I picked this one up off a recommendation from School Library Journal, who had voted it one of the best children’s books of the year. I decided to read it because of I loved the colors and techniques used by Israeli-Romanian illustrator Vali Mintzi (who uses a mix of gouache and pen and ink, with added block print techniques). I love learning about fascinating women, and Osnat was definitely an anomaly in her Kurdish Jewish community in Iraq during the 16th century and into the 17th. She was taught to read and write, which was not done for any females, but she was the only daughter of a rabbi who loved learning and sharing that learning. Her father taught at the yeshiva, a school which teaches the traditional Jewish texts of the Torah and the Talmud for the men of their village. She later taught there and when her father passed away, she was chosen by the men to lead it. She was beloved by all. It is said she performed miracles at a neighboring village by saving it from burning. She has the distinction of being the world’s first female rabbi, but also being the first Kurdish Jewish rabbi as well. Highly recommended for ages 8+, 5 stars.
Monster Mayhem written and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos
This is the first selection this year for my Tween Graphic Novel Club because I was hoping to find a strong African-American character, bonuses if it is female. It was a really fun book. Zoey has a brilliant mind for robotics, but unfortunately after a traumatic childhood experience, she tends to hang out by herself or with her created robot friend B-4. It doesn’t help that shortly after she started going to the robotics school, her parents had triplets and so they very rarely have time to interact with her. Aside from building a gigantic robot to help build cities for school, her favorite thing to do on the weekends is go to the cinema and watch old Kaiju (Godzilla) movies.
One day on the way home from school she finds a mysterious ring that summons a giant monster who wants to be her friend. She quickly steps into action and creates a speaking device for to communicate, and the monster begins eating everything in sight. And not only that, but the ring has called some of his monster friends to come eat her city’s buildings. Will she be able to get the help she needs to save the city and its inhabitants? To find out read, this adorable tale of friendship, quick thinking, and learning to work together. Recommended for ages 8-12, 4 stars.
Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer
Originally read May 2016: Cinder is a cyborg (half machine/half 16 yr old teenage girl) living in New Beijing, in a futuristic post-World-War-IV world. She’s a droid mechanic and is visited by Kai, the handsome young prince of the Eastern province, so she can repair his android as it is “of the highest importance.” There seems to be a back story there, but Cinder is not able to determine it at the time, as she is overwhelmed by the fact the prince came to her stall. This is especially true after the plague, called letumosis, breaks out in the bakery across the street and Cinder must flee the area. After her step-sister Peony catches the plague, Cinder is racked with guilt and her truly evil stepmother volunteers her as a test subject to find a cure for the virus. There is the threat of war from the mind-controlling glamour-using Lunar Queen Lavana which has all the world leaders, Prince Kai included, worried. Will Cinder survive the plague and find out the truth about her past? To find out, read the awesome start of The Lunar Chronicles. Highly recommended for ages 14+, 5 stars.
This book has been on my to-read list forever, so I finally took the plunge and got a copy. I am glad I did because I really enjoyed this sci-fi dystopian fairy-tale interpretation of the classic Cinderella. The narrator, Rebecca Soler, was quite good at differentiating between all the different characters and personalities (great performance). I love that the premise of the book is accepting people who are different and even loving them for it or perhaps despite the difference. The world-building was fantastic and the author really sucks your into the book from the beginning. The story is kind of hard to summarize especially when you start with “Imagine a retelling of the Cinderella where the heroine is a cyborg,” and most people don’t quite know what to think about it. But it was really easy to root for Cinder as her life did suck and meeting Prince Kai and everything that happens after really does change her life, for good or ill. Plus Prince Kai…sigh, sounds so dreamy. I kind of picture him like the sweet popular guy Kazahaya in the From Me to You anime.
I mean it’s obvious early on that Prince Kai digs Cinder, but she is so convinced that he is mistaken because she is a cyborg (probably because she’s always been treated like crap by her adopted mother and the older step-sister), though of course he doesn’t know that until much later. The scene in the elevator when he asks her for the second time to go to the ball with him was adorable as was her reaction. And I thought I was gonna scream (in a good way) when he brings her the present on his Coronation Day. In fact, this book made me very emotional (mostly joy though a little bit of spite for the severely evil characters, in the form or Audri and Queen Levana). Aside from Cinder, my favorite characters were Iko and Dr. Erland (even though he was a bit off in the beginning of the book, he more than made up for it in the end). I look forward to reading the next one very soon!
Re-reading the ebook version of the book (Dec 30,2021 – Jan 18, 2022): I am re-reading the book for Teen Book Club in January 2022. Ok technically I started it back in November but only did it for about a week and then started reading other things, so we’ll say it was December. I really enjoyed it again, though it took me awhile to get into it. Had an interesting discussion with the teens about it which included “the greater good”, gov’t propaganda, leutomosis vs Covid, Kai and Cinder’s predictable romance, and the endurance of fairy tales. I’d probably give it 4 stars this time around, with an extra 1/2 star given because of the excellent discussion it made during Teen Book Club.
–>I can identify with this illustration from the book.
I’m a Wild Seed written and illustrated by Sharon Lee De La Cruz
This has been on my to-read list for awhile, so I was glad to finally get a hold of it while I was looking for another nonfiction graphic novel. Sharon is a black queer female and while I will never go through what she has experienced in her life in regards to struggles with racism, gender identity and the pressures of white-centered feminism on non-white individuals, there are some basic things that she went through that everyone can identify with. Lately I’ve been having moments where when I think back on growing up, specifically in high school and college, I wonder how long I have been queer because some instances like her experiences growing up watching “Xena, Warrior Princess” stand out to me too. She talks about historical queer safe spaces like the Stonewall bar, how she used decolonization to “come into her queerness” (dressing more butch, not assuming gender pronouns, and coming to terms with her sexual pleasure), how racism has affected her personally being a Spanish speaking Afro-Latinx and the shame and trauma she endured because of it, but also how she uses her experiences/identities as armor to protect herself instead of letting them weigh her down. At the end of her memoir, she gives helpful books, videos, and LGBTQIA+ Organizations that can be contacted online. Recommended for ages 16+, 4 stars.
Any Way the Wind Blows (Simon Snow #3) by Rainbow Rowell, narrated by Euan Morton
I freaking love this series! The story was originally created as part of Rowell’s book Fangirl, which was great as it was about a girl obsessed with writing fanfics about Simon Snow (who is a Harry Potteresque/Chosen One knockoff), only Rowell decided to do a whole series of books about the story within the story and this is the third book of the spinoff series! Apparently I forgot to write reviews for the other books, so I will do a brief summary of all the books here. The whole trilogy is narrated by the wonderful Euan Morton, who also does the hilarious Christopher Moore and occasionally Star Wars audiobooks.
The first book, Carry On, is about Simon Snow, who is the worst magical Chosen One ever – I mean he can sorta do magic but not very well. It is also about his “arch-nemesis” Tyrranus Basilton Grimm-Pitch, or Baz for short, a vampire magician from one of the most respected magical families out there, and their adventures while still in school. Simon gets dumped by his the hottest girl in school Agatha Wellbelove, and his best friend Penelope Bunce is the sassy wicked smart half-Indian/half English Hermione you wish was in Harry Potter. There’s also a magic-eating monster looking like a younger version of Simon called the Humdrum. Baz and Simon are supposed to hate each other, but it turns out they don’t and they’re both super awkward/adorable about actually liking each other. – Ex. this quote from the book “What you are is a fucking tragedy, Simon Snow. You literally couldn’t be a bigger mess.” He tries to kiss me, but I hold back—“And you like that?” “I love it,” he says. “Why?” “Because we match.” They become close by trying to figure out who killed Baz’s mother, the former headmistress of Watford, and who exactly turned Baz into a vampire. I highly recommend it and give it 5 stars for ages 15+.
In Book #2 titled Wayward Son, Simon defeats the Mage (kind of like Voldemort/Salazar Slytherin) but then feels kind of lost as to what to do next with his life, so the kids from Watford are headed to America. There they meet were-skunks, Penny dumps her no good American wizard boyfriend, and there are some crazy ass vampires who want to take over the world (with a weird love triangle that seemed kinda contrived, especially as Baz hates other vampires). The story is not as good as the previous book. But you do get Shepard, who in my opinion kind of makes up for the rest of the book. Shepard may be the dumbest human alive, but the situations he gets himself into are hilarious. He’s a black guy from Nebraska who likes hanging out with dark creatures like fairies, pixies, trolls, etc and accidentally got himself engaged to a demon and the contract is written all over his body, literally. He is fascinated with the world of magic and eventually joins the Watford kids on their adventures. I rated this book 4 stars.
Book #3 is Any Way the Wind Blows and it is amusing to know the titles aren’t just song titles but also spells in UK world of magic. Shepard has come back to England with Penelope and she is determined to get help from her mother or some other magical source to get Shepard out of his demon marriage contract. She wasn’t planning on falling for him, or visa versa, but it happened nonetheless. My favorite part of the book is her summoning the demon and outmaneuvering them out of the contract, which impresses the demon so much they propose. Simon and Baz’s relationship is on the skids, but it does eventually get back on track. Agatha doesn’t have much of a point in this book except to be a bridge between Simon and the rest of the magical community, especially that of Niamh (pronounced Neev) Brody, a brusque thrown together magical creatures intern love interest of Agatha, who tried to help Simon remove his tail and wings. Highly recommended, 5 stars.
Patience & Esther: An Edwardian Romance by S.W. Searle
I found this one completely by accident. The author was rather nonchalant about the racism and sexism in the story (especially towards Esther who is biracial), though I know some of it is taken from the time period the book is set in. Makes me wonder if Downton Abbey was really like this, or any of the Upstairs Downstairs-esque shows I’ve ever seen. Naive Patience, a poor girl from a large Scottish family, finds a job as a parlor maid at the Honeycutt’s country manor. She must get used to having her own bed and adapting to living with the initially detached and bookish lady’s maid, Esther. I loved hearing the poetry from Esther’s book! Eventually Esther warms up to Patience, they become friends, and then that develops into a romance as they explore their possibilities both inside and outside the bedroom. This is a time of great change in England. The suffragettes are demanding equality and voting rights, there is the rise of the working class, and buying power of the shilling. The South African Boer Wars were going on and the light of the Empire was dying just a bit. The bicycle and the internal combustion engine for cars were created, which allowed greater freedom of movement for women. Sadly hardly anything but suffrage (mostly for white women), a little bit on the rise of the working class, and the Partition of Bengal is mentioned in the comic. Granted I may be a little biased as I love Bertie (who eventually became King Edward VII) and his story, and kind of wanted to hear more about this time period.
Eventually Patience and Esther are chosen from the manor house to go with the Honeycutt’s niece, who is into some pretty racy sexual things (at least for that time period), and leave the country to head to London to set up her own townhouse there. Initially the niece encourages Patience and Esther’s freedom and appreciates their discretion with her comings and goings. By the end of the book, Esther wants to open her own shop to sell her fashion, which does not please the niece at all, and she is helped along by a charitable Indian friend and a white non-binary acquaintance of the niece. All in all I enjoyed Patience and Esther’s tender love story, and I loved the artwork (though it could be a wee bit graphic at times, so keep that in mind if you’re around children). 3-1/2 stars.
Hermione's Knapsack 