Metaphors

So was Orphan Island one big metaphor?  I think it was just too smart for me. I have read reviews from people I really respect and admire, like  Czechgirl, who absolutely loved this book, so I am sure I just didn't understand it.  I really had a hard time getting through it because I found the main character to be so unlikable and I really didn't get to know the other characters enough to care about them, though some did seem likable.  I wonder if this is one of those deals where the author had more in what she wrote, but the publisher made her take out a bunch so that they could make it into a sequel.  That is what happened to my friend and her husband with their book Claws.  They weren't too happy with the final product because it was so different from what they had written and was to be made into two books or even three.  The book sold very well!  But the publisher lost a big client during the time the whole thing was coming out, Cornelia Funke, so they didn't end up doing a sequel.  Funke reunited with Chicken House this year, but still, it just goes to show you that money changes everything.
Again, however, everyone else really seemed to love OI for what it was, so it probably was just me. They are saying it is Newbery worthy, so I probably need to take another look.  But there were so many unanswered questions.  Which is great!  But it just didn't pull me in enough to warrant me wanting to ponder the answers.  Again, probably all on me.

Hard Not to Give 5 Stars to GP

Field Trip is the sequel to Road Trip, books written by Gary and his son, Jim Paulsen.  Here is a Q and A with father and son! This is more than a "dog story."  And NO DOGS DIE, by the way!  And it is more than a funny story, though it is funny.  It is another one of those Paulsen-magic-books-that-have-a-lesson-but-in-no-way-preachy-in-fact-you-don't-even-know-there-is-a-lesson deals.  Because I don't think Paulsen writes to teach a lesson.  I think he just writes about life and life just teaches us lessons.  And we learn from them sometimes and sometimes we don't.  Great stuff.  Really.  Thank you, Paulsens.

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.

Esau Have I Hated

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia, the movie, not the song or the remake of the song, has a scene in it, with a line in it, that I have often quoted and always loved.

Travis: And I asked the Lord, "Lord, why have you forsaken me?". But there was silence. So , I asked again, "Lord, WHY have you forsaken me?", and there was silence. So I asked again, "LORD, WHY have you forsaken me?"... and this great booming voice said "Geez, I don't know Travis, I guess something about you just chaps at my ass."

I am thinking that Louise feels that way.  Jacob Have I Loved is a book I read a long time ago by the most amazing, Katherine Paterson.

Having a sister must be very hard.  It is really hard for Louise who always feels out shined by her twin.  There were so many times in this book that I spoke aloud, "What?!" or "No way!"

I was just thinking, I wonder what the book would have been like if told from the POV of Caroline. I bet someone has asked Paterson that.  I have to investigate!

I investigated, but I didn't find anything.  But I didn't look too hard.  I just think that would be a neat thing to find out.

The book takes place on the fictional island of Rass in the Chesapeake Bay.  Louise and Caroline are 14 when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, that's about when the story begins, and the story finishes when both are grown women.  Though the main details are mostly about their growing up years.

This is a good, good, beautiful story.  But can anything else be expected from Paterson, who is just magic with words.

So Weird!

The Rest of Us Just Live Here reminded me of Noggin and Grasshopper Jungle and The Ants Go Marching but not in a rip-off way.  I just think that if one liked any of those, one might also like TROUJLH because one would be able to suspend reality enough to enjoy it.  It is a WEIRD book.  It is snarky and funny.  And I love the "indi-kids" and their names.  And I loved a lot about this book, but I don't know if I got it.
It kinda reminds me of The Lobster, which I saw this weekend.  Although I can't say I liked The Lobster.  It was harsh and painful and sad, but it was a satire.  But I think that it meant a lot more than I got out of it.  But it was too brutal for me to think about it much more.

Newbery! Newbery!

It won't make me upset at all if The Crossover wins the Newbery.  Not only is it an excellent, moving, realistic book, written so so so so so well, it is also a book that kids will like!  In fact, The Crossover is now my top pick for the Newbery because it really will appeal to its audience, not just librarians!  Just fantastic.  I can't wait to read He Said, She Said, also by Kwame Alexander

The poetry here is so incredible.  I mean, I don't know much about poetry, but this just sounded so good.  I listened to the book, read by Corey Allen who also did the EllRay Jakes books! 

This isn't just a basketball story, it is a story about the loss of a parent and the love between brothers (twins) and how hard it is to grow up.  An excellent middle-grade book.  Just an all-the-way-around awesome book.
I first saw it on the Anderson's Mock Newbery List and then when I posted on the discussion on goodreads about Caminar, which I still do totally love, this gal, who clearly has excellent taste in books said that The Crossover was her favorite and I am so thankful that she did!   It made me want to buy it right away, which I did, using my last audible credit and man, man, man, so good!  

Will this win the Newbery though?  Will it be 1954?  Will this be one of those horrid, "Oh it will get the Coretta Scott King Award deals?  We can only pray not.  

Not only will kids love to read this, but even kids who don't love to read will want to read this!  

WINNER!

I said it many times before and I will say it again.

My Life as a...is NOT a Diary of a Wimpy Kid retread.  I don't know if anyone but me has ever thought that, but when I first saw one of the books for the first time I thought it was just going to be one. But from the very first one, which was actually the second one, I was hooked.  My Life as a Joke is just as good as that one and Derek Fallon is just as awesome.  And I can't wait for the next one.
The thing about My Life as...as I have said before, is that they have a serious side and take on real-life issues.
Great, great books from a very talented mother and son.