Review: Invisible Emmie

Invisible Emmie by Terri Libenson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another great "middle school angst" graphic novel from a debut author! This one is a little bit different from the others.

First of all, the main character does not somehow stand out as being different from everyone else, nor is she teased, picked on or bullied. Instead, she is ignored. Emmie is very quiet, shy, and introverted. She does not talk to other people or speak up in class, and is perfectly ordinary in almost every way, other than having artistic talent. So no one really notices her, and she feels invisible. Katie, on the other hand, is pretty, popular, and outgoing. These two seem to have nothing in common, until one day something happens that causes their lives to intersect, ultimately helping Emmie to find her voice and become visible.

Not only are the two characters' personalities different, the author presents them in two different illustration styles. The passages about Emmie are more like an illustrated chapter book, written in regular prose paragraphs accompanied by doodles to illustrate, while the parts about Katie are told in traditional panels, comic book-style. The colors for Emmie's pages are soft and muted, while Katie's story is told with bright, vibrant colors, further reflecting the differences in their personalities. (Not being a graphic novel person, I preferred reading the "Emmie" sections, no surprise.)

I really enjoyed this book, and thought it was interesting how the author used a different format and color palette for each characters' perspective while telling the story. I don't want to say too much in a review, but in the end it will even make more sense that Katie's perspective is shown in a more cartoon-y fashion. This is a great story for all those kids who have a hard time finding their voice and often feel insignificant, and I readily identified with Emmie's character. While I wasn't quite as shy and quiet as she was in school, I too often felt ignored and invisible, and to be completely honest, I often still do even as an adult.

Fans of Raina Telgemeier and Victoria Jamieson will love this book as well, and I would also suggest it to fans of the middle grade Dear Dumb Diary, Dork Diaries and Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Terri Libenson is the cartoonist for the syndicated comic "The Pajama Diaries". Her second middle-grade graphic novel, Positively Izzy is due out in May, 2018.



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Review: Like Vanessa

Like Vanessa by Tami Charles
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book! I think this is a must-order for any public or middle-school library! Besides being a much-needed book with diverse characters and cultural authenticity, it is a wonderfully rich and multi-faceted story with a positive message about beauty and strength that will have readers reexamining their definitions of beauty and hopefully inspiring them to recognize their own natural beauty. It is due to be released on March 13, 2018; be sure to look for it!

Set in the Newark projects in 1983, 13-year old Vanessa Martin, long-time Miss America pageant fan, is thrilled and inspired to see Vanessa Williams crowned as the first black Miss America (along with Miss New Jersey Suzette Charles, who was also black, as 1st runner-up). Vanessa dreams of one day being on the Miss America stage herself, though she wishes she fit the conventional standards of what is considered beautiful: long, wavy hair; light complexion, slender but curvy body. She sees her hair as too tightly coiled, her skin too dark, and her body too big and shapeless. But, an incredible voice, a school pageant, and a teacher who sees something special in her may come together to give her just the opportunity she needs to pursue her dream, IF she can find the confidence and courage.

While the central theme of this story may be facing fears and reexamining beauty, it includes several other issues that are all inter-related and part of the lives of Vanessa and her family, skillfully woven into the story and adding to it, rather than detracting from it as often happens when authors take on too much. We see the challenges of poverty, threats of gang violence, touching family relationships as well as difficult ones, how families are destroyed by drugs, and the lack of tolerance for those who were different. We also see typical middle school challenges of fitting in, being comfortable in your own skin, changing friendships, and learning how to recognize true friends.

This story has excellent character development, and I immediately fell in love with the characters of Vanessa, Pop Pop, and TJ. While Vanessa's father was a bit of an enigma and a somewhat unsympathetic character at first, I always had the feeling that his withdrawal from the family was the result of something painful and traumatic that had happened, that they were all keeping from Vanessa. I really loved the character of Vanessa's teacher, Mrs. Walton who turned out to be quite different from the well-intentioned but ill-prepared typical white teacher who wanted to "make a difference" but would quickly be overwhelmed and disappear before the end of the semester like so many others as Vanessa first assumed. Some have criticized this character as a "white savior", but I disagree and feel they completely mised the point. She was the child of immigrants and grew up in poverty herself and has a multiracial family. I thought the point of her character was to show that everyone can be guilty of stereotyping people and making mistaken assumptions based on appearances, and it's something we should all be careful of.

This story deals with some serious issues, but in an age-appropriate way that is not too graphic, nor bleak or disturbing. The overall tone is inspiring, challenging, and hopeful, and the story moves along at the perfect pace; never dragging, but never rushed, either. The author includes some historical notes at the end about the Miss America pageant and Vanessa Williams, as well as about her own background growing up in Newark and competing in pageants herself, inspired like the character in the story by Vanessa Williams' success. I always like it when an author includes historical context and background information. I recommend this book for ages 10 through 15, and I think many readers would find the themes relatable; fans of Rita Williams-Garcia's Gaither Sisters Series are sure to enjoy this book as well. I highly recommend it, and would not be surprised to see it as a Coretta Scott King finalist next year, if it can get the attention of the right people.

An impressive debut; I'm eager to see Ms. Charles' upcoming picture book and next middle-grade/YA novel due out in the next year or two.

[I received this as a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. Due out in March 2018]

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Review: Tucket's Travels: Francis Tucket's Adventures In The West, 1847-1849

Tucket's Travels: Francis Tucket's Adventures In The West, 1847-1849 by Gary Paulsen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is actually a whole 5-book series bound in one volume and tells the complete story of Francis Tucket's adventures in the old west, starting with being kidnapped by Pawnee after straying too far from his family's wagon train. Over the next two years Francis meets a number of different people, some good and some very bad, as he suffers through many dangers and hardships as he works to find his way West and hopefully reunite with his family.

I bought this for my nephew, as he is a generally a reluctant reader, but does enjoy the adventure and survival stories found in many of Paulsen's books. I have to say, from the summaries I thought it sounded like a great story for a kid, but I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed it. I was a bit concerned about how Native Americans would be portrayed, since these books were written before there was much concern for cultural awareness or sensitivity, but I was pleasantly surprised there, too.

While I can't judge how accurate or authentic the portrayals were, I was pleased to see Paulsen did not fall back on stereotypes and the typical tropes. Different tribes were identified by name and were shown to have their own cultures and languages, and they were not portrayed as savages, but merely as people trying to survive and protect what was theirs, with some individuals being kind and friendly while others were hostile. Paulsen also provides notes at the end to give more historical context and correct misperceptions perpetuated by the TV and film industries.

The pace moved along pretty quickly and while it has a happy ending for Francis, there are many hardships and sad circumstances portrayed, as well as some significant violence, including various deaths. An attempted rape is alluded to, but the language used is vague and ambigous, so would go over the head of many young readers. The violence is realistic to the time period, but is not described graphically. Hunting animals for food is also described, as one would expect considering the story and time period.

I would highly recommend this to young readers who are interested in adventure and survival stories, and it is probably one of the few middle-grade Westerns still around; actually the only one I can think of, which makes it unique.

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Review: Guts: The True Stories behind Hatchet and the Brian Books

Guts: The True Stories behind Hatchet and the Brian Books by Gary Paulsen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Beloved author Gary Paulsen, patron saint of reluctant readers, describes some of his real-life experiences that went into the writing of Hatchet, including witnessing more than one death, plane crashes, encounters with various wildlife, running the Iditerod, and roughing it in the wild. He also gives readers a glimpse into what must have been a difficult childhood, mentioning kind game wardens who looked the other way when he was forced to hunt out of season to feed himself because his drunken parents couldn't provide for him and he was hungry, and several low-paying menial jobs he held as a kid to get by.

This book is a somewhat random compilation of stories, in no particular order, jumping around among various points in Paulsen's life. The writing is not particularly eloquent, but it is gritty and compelling and will have the reader alternately laughing, gripped in suspense, and recoiling in horror (and maybe slightly dubious that one person really experienced all that?). I really liked the quotes from Hatchet sprinkled throughout to remind you of the part of Brian's story that is related to the real-life tale you are about to read.

Readers who were fans of the Brian series, or of tales of hunting and outdoor survival in general, will definitely enjoy reading Paulsen's memoir. I gave it 3 stars from my perspective, but easily 3.5-4 from the perspective of the intended audience.

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Review: Our Only May Amelia

Our Only May Amelia by Jennifer L. Holm
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

May Amelia lives on a farm in Washington state around the turn of the last century, the only daughter of Finnish immigrants. In fact, she is often referred to as a miracle because she was the first girl born in the whole area that had only seen boys before that. Despite her "miracle" status, May Amelia is often the scapegoat for things that go wrong, simply because she's a girl. May Amelia has a hard time being the only girl in a family with seven brothers, and is often scolded for not being a Proper Young Lady due to her independent and adventurous spirit. Life is not easy for anyone living along the Nasel at that time, as frontier life was fraught with danger and tragedy.

I bought this book for my niece who also suffers being afflicted with too many brothers, based on summaries and recommendations, and decided to read it for myself. I found it an enjoyable read, except for one glaring issue - what in the hell does the author have against quotation marks?? The book was filled with dialogue, and not a single quotation mark to be found throughout. I found this to be distracting and confusing, making it hard to follow the story. I do not understand the purpose of this, and can't fathom why an editor let the book go to publication like that. I do not approve of such stylistic choices at all, but particularly for children's literature, since they are still learning and to see correct usage, not be confused. This is very different from having characters use improper grammer in a realistic way.

This is a charming story that draws the reader into May Amelia's world and will have them sharing her emotions. Her close relationships with her favorite brothers were very sweet and touching, but the brusque way her father treated her, blaming her for things that weren't her fault and complaining about her being a girl was maddening, though that was nothing compared to the constant verbal, emotional, and physical abuse heaped on her by her bitter, sadistic grandmother. I admired how independent and adventurous May Amelia was, not wanting to settle down and be a wife and mother, but desiring to travel the world instead. My favorite line in the whole book made me laugh out loud. May Amelia is getting fitted for a dress, and is accompanied by her friend Emma:

May Amelia - "Get Me Outta These Darn Pins"
Emma, shocked - "May Amelia you curse like a boy. You should mind your language--you'll never get a fella if he hears you talking like that."
May Amelia - "I got seven brothers already, why would I need another boy?"

This story is well paced and a fairly quick and easy read, other than the confusion caused by not using quotation marks. It would surely appeal to any other young girl who is burdened with too many brothers or is independent and adventurous like May Amelia and can relate to fighting others' expectations and gender stereotypes. Fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series or The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate would likely enjoy this book as well.

Jennifer Holm has written several middle-grade novels, mostly historical fiction, including Turtle In Paradise, several of which have been award winners or honor books.

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Review: Out of Darkness

Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was inpired to read this after hearing the author, Ashley Hope Perez, speak at a children's literature conference recently. Ms. Perez was an excellent speaker, and I really enjoyed hearing how her students inspired her to write, and I particularly found the story of the real-life historical catastrophe that provided the inspiration and backdrop for this particular book interesting. But, for someone who seems very energetic and upbeat in person, Ms. Perez certainly writes a very bleak story.

I honestly don't know how to rate this book. I mean, it was very well-written and a compelling read, but the ending was so horrific and bleak and disturbing, I almost hated the book afterward. I ended up giving it 3 stars as a compromise, but if I were to break it down, I would give it 4 stars for quality and 2 stars for whether I liked it and felt I would recommend it. I really *wanted* to like it after enjoying and being impressed by hearing the author speak, but I just don't do well with dark and disturbing.

Ms. Perez does an excellent job developing the characters and making you care about them, (view spoiler)[ but then she kills them all! Well, all except one, but you know that one is going to be screwed up for life after what they have been through and witnessed. (hide spoiler)] Since the book starts off with the explosion of the school right away, and the racism of the time is obvious, the reader knows the whole time that the ending can't be good, but can't help but to keep reading because the developing relationships between Naomi, the kids, and Wash are so beautiful, despite the constant threat of Henry, the twins' moody and tortured father who seems like could have been a decent person under different circumstances, if he were just a little bit stronger. Though one can feel the tension building for a sad ending, it isn't exactly what you expect, and is perhaps even worse.

To be fair, there is nothing unrealistic about the fictious events, that are in perfect keeping with the racism and attrocities commited in that place and time. It is very sobering and thought-provoking, and I did appreciate the author's note at the end, describing how the story developed from the thoughts and questions that came to her as she learned more about the New London school explosion and surrounding culture and events. However, I honestly don't know who I would recommend this to, unless someone was specifically asking for historical fiction related to racism and related attrocities. The ending is so dark and almost hopeless I don't think it is a book that just anyone could handle, though I do know a few who love anything that is dark, disturbing and depressing. I would not recommend it for younger teens, but for older teens and adults, and only those prepared for how dark and disturbing it really is.

Ashley Hope Perez has written two previous YA novels that have a more contemporary setting, and I'm curious if they are just as dark and depressing, but I'm not sure I'm prepared to find out just yet. Maybe in the springtime when my mood isn't already so dreary...

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