New Kid

I have an overdue library book on my nightstand.

I have no book to read right now - no book that appeals to me.

I don't even want to TALK about books right now but...

I read this book this week.  It kept me up - because I had to finish it.  It is a bright read!  That's my new word for books I thoroughly enjoy that light me up - teach me new ways to look at the world!

New Kid by Jerry Craft

I give it five stars.

The trailer tells you the basics.  The book cartwheels a few sterotypes and schools some "well-meaning" teachers.  Humor and Jordan's grandfather's wisdom often save the day.

Backson. Bisy. KM

 

New YA from Penguin Random House

I got this in my inbox today - a list of new YA from Penguin Random House.

The list has fantasy, thrillers, romance, suspense - you know easy reading for lazy days.

I am very interested in THIS title; Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim.  It has fashion and feminism and fantasy and weaving cloth from starlight.

Which of these books would YOU read?

The Best Time of the Day

I started to read to my collection of stuffies at bedtime about a month ago.

No matter how filled with self doubt, worry, sadness or stress I might be at bedtime - or even just plain tiredness - when I crack open one of my favorite story collections, it washes away.

I miss sharing these words with a small human.  My small human towers over me now.  And he only lends me his small human for overnights occasionally. For now, my stuffed animal friends, some of my own making, will do nicely.

Last night, we all enjoyed a lively reading of In Which Piglet Is Entirely Surrounded by Water.  Milne's run-on sentence at the end had the same soporific effect on me that Owl's story had on Piglet.  I pulled myself back just in time to save Piglet from slipping into the flood.

Uncle Wiggily, My Book House,  Hans Christian Andersen, the fairy tales of Oscar Wilde, and best of all, the stories of Pooh and Piglet and Christopher Robin, are all reminders that imagination rules.

Our imaginations, or MY imagination, can draw pictures of drastic events foreshadowed by the day's stresses.  Can I ever unearth my desk?  And if I don't, will bills go unpaid?  And if they do go unpaid, will I get into debt?  And if I... and those are not even big worries, like saving the world from climate change, or reuniting children with their parents.

Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy just sends Uncle Wiggily on an errand and, voila!, all is right with the world.

Hearing the words, as I look at Howard Garis' drawings with Felina FairyFox and Nutty Romomlia, - it's a time machine, a voyage into innocence.

It is the best time of my day.

Magic for Liars

We sailed away for a week. Here is one of the books I read at sea.

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey.  Not for the squeamish at all!  Ivy is a private investigator and completely devoid of any magical talent.  When an "accidental death" occurs at the private school for magical teens, Ivy is called in.  Her twin sister teaches at the school. 
To "fit in", Ivy lets the students and teachers believe that she has some magical talent.  That is her first lie.

My take?  I knew who was responsible for the death fairly early in the novel and could not resist skipping to the end to see if I was right.  What I discovered was not what I expected, so I backtracked and read the whole book.  This is a book that is steeped in family tensions, envy, and a studied lack of envy.  There are two sets of siblings that take center stage in this book.  The teen siblings are wonderfully portrayed . all the drama, posturing, insecurities of that stage of life are writ large.

This book is intended for adults.  Older teens will enjoy the teen drama and a chance to view tmselves as an outsider might.  It's a good mystery, too. (I read the ARC.)