Nic Stone!

Clean Getaway is for sure a contender for a Newbery.  I was worried that 2020 would be like last year.  I just couldn't get overly excited about much.  Probably that was me, like I said, it was a rough year, but wow, Stone has written a really different, excellent book here.  I didn't know about the Green Book.  I am embarrassed.  And I am glad that all who read this book will know about it.  The NYPL has digital copies online.  Stone is such a "real character" writer.  No easy answers, no dualistic thinking.  Excellent.

So True

Never That Far is a really good book.  It's short.  It's simple, but it's real.  Yes, dead people visit the living.  But still.  It's real.  It's about loss and the end of this life.  And there is a woman preacher!  And she is both kind and annoying!  And the book isn't what people come to think of as "Christian Fiction."  Actually, I think that a lotta people who read "Christian Fiction" might be offended by it, thinking it isn't "Christian" enough.  But that's my issue! 
Good stuff. 

Not a Luke Warm Feeler

That's me.  I LOVE a book or I HATE a book, it seems.  But I am trying to be more thoughtful, more intentional, less emotional and lazy when writing about the books I've read, so I won't say that listening to All the Crooked Saints was painful.  But it was. I don't know.  Not my thing at all. 

The Thing is...

I really did like Lucky Broken Girl.  It just didn't scream NEWBERY to me in a good way or a bad way -- bad way meaning the way that a book about a white girl in a sod house will get the Newbery even though it is terribly boring and good way meaning that it reminds me of the amazing year that The Crossover won.  This book was too diverse and interesting to be a typical Moon Over Manifest bad-win and not quite good enough to be a Crossover or The Hate U Give kinda book.  THUG is still my favorite this year, I think. 

God Does Not Care Whom We Love, Only That We Love

Loving vs. Virginia:  a Documentary Novel of the Landmark Civil Rights Case is the story of a case that I embarrassing admit, I was unaware until the movie Loving came out last year.  Loving v. Virginia (1967) is a case that should never have had to come to trial, like Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka (1954).
The movie was good.  This book is excellent.  It is especially important for anyone and everyone to read.  It is so very, very well done in poetry and incredible illustrations.  This is a must-read.
It's a novel, so I guess it is technically historical fiction?

From His Soul

I know a little about Mr. Spinelli.  I have such great respect and love for him.  And do believe that he writes from his beautiful soul. I mean, I guess most writers write from their soul?  But when a soul is a beautiful as Mr. Spinelli's and he writes from it, well, books like The Warden's Daughter are born.
This book is something else.

Tom Petty

I bet I am not the only one (of a certain age) who hears Tom Petty singing when he or she thinks of this book.  American Girls is on some Printz buzz lists.
I did like this book.  I gave it four stars which probably isn't fair.  I mean, if it wasn't getting Printz buzz, I probably would have given it five, it was just that I am not that completely excited about it.
I did learn a lot about the Manson family, though.  And it was very different to actually think of the people who committed those crimes as people themselves.  And I think it is very thoughtful and thought-provoking.  I also liked that Anna's new stepmom is married to Anna's mom!  All kinds of love, all kinds of families!
I did love the very real relationship between Anna and her sister.  And I also thought the characters were very, very real and deep.  Good, good book.  Very good and well worth the read and I will recommend it.  But I don't know if it is THE Printz.

Thoughtful and Thought-Provoking

are two words to describe Chris Crutcher, I think, after reading King of the Mild Frontier:  an Ill-Advised Autobiography.
Crutcher's website describes him as an author and a loud-mouth.  After reading some of Crutcher's experiences and his reflections upon his time as a therapist and child advocate, Crutcher can't help but be a loud mouth and it benefits the world when he is.  He is man of incredible wisdom and compassion, two things that we need more of in this life.
He grew up in the small town of Cascade, Idaho, in a family where kids called their parents by their first names (something to which Crutcher calls attention and, this is neither here nor there, drives me crazy) and he often had to fight against his own terrible temper.
I loved Crutcher's honesty.  I was disappointed that he is not a Christian, just because I know the love and peace that comes from being a Christian.  And I want everyone to experience that.  And I also worry about people who were Christians and aren't now have given up on Christianity because of the way in which it is defined in some (most) circles.  But again, that is neither here nor there.
I have read books by Crutcher in the past and now want to read more.  This is a very entertaining and insightful biography.  It didn't just provide insight into Crutcher the author and the man, but into human nature itself.  I especially appreciated his opinion on the word "perfect."  Good stuff.

Another Wonderful Book from CPC

I have always wanted to read The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963, but the cover was terrible.  Now there is a new cover and I like this one better!  This is the one that is over there <- .="" nbsp="" p="">This book was just incredible.  Now I never caught the significance of the title.  Had I thought about Birmingham, Alabama and what happened in 1963, I would not have been so shocked by what happens in the story.  It just didn't hit me and so there I was, reading along, this wonderful book about a loving, incredible family. And then, wow.  The book became even more powerful and it just blew me away. So much happened that year in Birmingham, of course, but how the church bombing was incorporated into this novel was just so profound.  Another must-read for everyone.

While I Didn't Hate It...

I just didn't think Iggie's House was that great.  As you can see from my Judy Blume reviews, she really isn't a big hero of mine, but I have enjoyed some of her books very much.  This one is similar to AYTGIMM in that none of the characters are likable at all, really. It's the story of a girl who sees the evils of racism first-hand when an African American family moves into her previously all-white neighborhood.  It is just okay.

Those Presbyterians....

When I read The Wednesday Wars I couldn't help but wonder if the author, Gary D. Schmidt is a Presbyterian.  He really knows them well!  I say that with all love and respect, as you know.  :)
So I read Okay for Now and loved that.  I had to read this one, in which Doug from OFN is a minor character.  TWW takes place before Doug moves to Marysville from Long Island and doesn't really feature Doug as much as his tough brother, who is a source of misery for Holling Hoodhood, the only WASP in his class and therefore the only kid who has to stay behind on Wednesday afternoons instead of going to religious education classes at the local Roman Catholic Church or synagogue.
The backdrop for this story is the Vietnam War and wow, there is a lot of powerful stuff here.  When kids come in looking for historical fiction, the tendency is for them to look for books on the American Revolutionary or Civil War and to a lesser extent, WW2, but this is one that I will push and push along with with Shooting the Moon and Countdown, One Crazy Summer and others that are from less written about time periods in history.
There is so much in this book.  The dynamic between Holling and his father, his sister's trip out west, so much more.  It is so neat to see the way that Holling develops in the book.  And it even made me want to read Shakespeare!  Fantastic book.  It also taught me what a jerk Mickey Mantle was!

How much misery has there been? Is there still?

Before We Were Free taught me a lot.  It is the story of Anita, living in the Dominican Republic near the end of the reign of Rafael Trujillo, whom I had never heard of, I am embarrassed to say.  This book won the Pura Belpré Award in 2004, instead of the Newbery, of course, no shock there.  That went to The Tale of Despereaux, which I have not read...but come on, not even a Newbery Honor to BWWF?  Olive's Ocean got an Honor that year....really?   And this didn't?  Feels like 1954 to me.  This was the first book I've ever read by Julia Álveraz but it won't be my last.  Incredible.

Something Special

Okay for Now as a book that I tried to read many times before but I just couldn't get into it.  This time I had to read it for work and I was dreading it so much because of all of my failed attempts.  Once I made it through the first chapter, however, I fell in love with Doug and the whole book.  It is set in the tiny town of Marysvile, NY in 1968 and 1969.  Doug is the youngest son of a sweet mom and an abusive dad.  He also has two older brothers, one at war in Vietnam and another a trouble maker who reminded me a lot of the older brother in Troublemaker.  There is just so much in this book.  It is about families and growing up and finding yourself and it is very much about the times in which the book is set.  A fantastic story.

Woodstock

I've never read a book by Jordan Sonnenblick, but have heard nothing but raves about his stuff.  I was pretty excited to see Are You Experienced? on netgalley.com and thankful to get an eARC of it.  This was one really different and fun ride.  Being too young to have experienced the 60s, this time in U.S. history has always intrigued me.  I do have a friend who was at Woodstock and it was neat to talk to her about this book and find that her memories of it were pretty much online with what Sonnenblick has recreated here.  But this isn't an historical fiction piece, it's a time-travel deal. Even though  it is fantasy, time-travel, it reads very realistically and the characters are extremely likable.  It's a pretty long book, but I read it quickly because it kept my interest throughout.  I can't wait to get a copy and I know I'll be able to recommend it to many folks of all ages.

Let's Go Way Back

Going Vintage is a book that a lot of people are going to love. I know that and I'll buy a couple copies for the library and it will be easy to recommend. I can already think of teens who will devour it.
Mallory has just discovered that her long-time boyfriend, Jeremy, is cheating on her with a cyber-girl. She is heartbroken, being that Jeremy is her first love. Her grandma has moved to a posh retirement community and while helping her move, Mallory stumbles upon keepsakes from her grandma's high school years. Mallory decides to give up technology and "go vintage," live like her gram did in 1962.
The premise is good and original. I just couldn't get into the characters much at all. It wasn't one of my favorites, but I bet it will be popular.

Erma Bombeck

When I was a kid, I remember reading Erma Bombeck's columns in the Pittsburgh Press.  I loved them, as did my grandma.  It was something we enjoyed together.  I read all the books she had written when I was a kid and a tween.  I decided to listen to one, Just Wait Till You Have Children of Your Own, now to see if it held up.  First of all, of course it is dated, but the dated-ness of it makes for a great look into the history of American life, so that wasn't a problem at all, in fact, it is quite informative.  Secondly, it is amazing (and sad) to discover that so many comics of today have ripped off her stuff and use it as their own!  Thirdly, it is clean, truly good stuff and I enjoyed the book thoroughly.

Shame

Rereading Chiefs was not what I expected.  I read it when I was thirteen, shortly after the mini-series came out because I loved the movie.  After our county got OneClick Audio, which I LOVE, Chiefs was the first book I downloaded.
It's been a long time since I read an amazing Stuart Woods book.  Even though I still love him and will read everything I can about Stone, as I've admitted in the past, Woods just doesn't write real books anymore.  Chiefs surprised me because it is truly a classic.  Wonderfully drawn characters, historical content that is truly interesting, suspense like you wouldn't believe and the dialogue is excellent.  This is a fantastic book.
But it was a painful book.
The book spans more than forty years and tells a series of murders that spans that long, as well.  It is told in three books:  Will Henry Lee, Sonny Butts and Tucker Watts, three chiefs of the Delano, Georgia police department.  During those forty years someone in Delano is kidnapping, molesting and murdering young boys.  When the first two chiefs get close to exposing the murderer, they are killed.  The Sonny Butts book and the Tucker Watts books are the hardest to read.  I had to skip around and go backward because of the horrors that Sonny Butts put African American through and the racism present in general.  Tucker Watts' story is the same.  This is a shameful part of American history when it comes to the treatment of African Americans.  Personally I think present day is also a shameful part of American history as well.  We are not much better off.
Fantastic but very disturbing book.

She Took the Moon Over Georgia

The Moon Over High Street's story is a lot like this song.  Great song, I haven't thought about it for years, not until reading the latest by the incredible Natalie Babbitt.  In this story though, it is twelve-year-old Joe who has to choose between money and the moon.  This is wonderful little story.  Man.  I wish I could write like this.

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1!

Countdown was a much-needed book in light of all of the cheese I have been reading.  I listened to the book on cd and I am glad because they did a great job of it.  Countdown is set in 1962 and contains a lot of newspaper clipping and quotes regarding everything that was going on during that time- the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, etc.  If you don't know about Duck and Cover, you'll learn about it in Countdown.  Franny is an eleven-year-old girl growing up with a pilot father, a shell-shocked uncle, an older sister, and a younger brother and all of the stress of coming-of-age during a time of turbulence.  I love the way the book deals with crushes, friends and Communism all at once.  She is crushing on the boy next door, worrying about The Bomb and loving Del Shannon.  Well, really who DOESN'T love Runaway?
There are some harsh words written in here about my favorite president, Harry S Truman.  The author writes about Truman's life and ends with discussing how Truman ignored correspondence from Ho Chi Minh.  And then the author offers the horrible statistics, the casualties of the Vietnam War.  Then the author concludes by saying, "The middle initial S in Harry S Truman's name stood for nothing."  I was struck by this.  I have often wondered what would have happened if Truman had not ignored the letters from Ho Chi Minh.  But it is so easy to play Monday morning quarterback.  We can't say that Truman stood for nothing because of his failure to answer Ho Chi Minh.   It is a disappointment for sure.  A black mark on Truman's record.  But to discredit Truman's entire career because of this very poor error in judgement?  I just think that is going too far.
Still that's one of the things that I loved about Countdown.  The book really requires you to think and it also makes you want to learn more about this very frightening and complicated times and the complicated people who shaped history.
I love the website, which also includes a playlist of all of the many songs that are mentioned in the book.  There's a lot to learn from Countdown...not just history, but also about friendships and growing up, as Franny and her best friend have a lot of issues in this book and if you remember anything about being a kid, man, it all rings painfully true.  Excellent, excellent book.