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Book Review: The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Cindy Hudson

Today I’m thrilled to review this great new book for young readers. I’m also excited to feature an interview with author Kathi Appelt tomorrow as part of her blog tour. Check back in then to see what she has to say about the delightful world she created in The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp.

Here’s my review:

J’miah and Bingo are raccoon brothers who live in the rusted frame of an old De Soto, deep within the Sugar Man Swamp of southeastern Texas. They know their job is important—they must listen to the Voice of Intelligence and wake up the Sugar Man if the swamp is in danger.

Chap is a 12-year-old boy who makes sugar pies with his mother in a café at the edge of the swamp. Their landlord has just told them to come up with a boatload of cash or he’ll evict them. The landlord also plans to pave over the swamp to make money with an alligator wrestling tourist attraction. These young heroes have the same thing in mind—save the swamp—but they each have their own thoughts about how they will do it.

The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt brings together creatures great and small in a serendipitous tale that will make you laugh, learn a little, and maybe even wipe a tear or two as you pull for the underdogs. A lot of elements come to play in the story—alligator wrestling, a lost De Soto with Polaroid photos, mischievous raccoons, canebrake rattlesnakes, pirates, an ancient oath, wild hogs and more. Appelt weaves these threads together to create a rich tapestry of a story that doesn’t trip up even once. With vivid writing style that tantalizes all the senses, she keeps the pace moving and the story spinning until the last satisfying page.

I highly recommend The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 9 to 12. Even readers as young as six can enjoy the story with a parent reading it to them.

The author provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Book Review: Coda by Emma Trevayne

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Cindy Hudson

In a future world, after a war that disrupted civilization as we know it, New York City recreated itself in a way to make sure it’s citizens would never rebel against the establishment. In this world music is a drug, and people can’t live without it. Listening habits are tightly monitored to make sure everyone stays dependent on the Corp who controls what they hear.

Anthem is one of the lowly members of this society. His mother has already died from her addiction and his father is not far behind. His driving need is to take care of his twin younger siblings, but his job, one of the many workers who supply blood used to power the city, is aging him prematurely. The only thing that keeps him going is his band. When tragedy strikes one of its members, Anthem feels he must do something to break the Corp’s hold on its citizens, or else everyone is in danger of losing what little freedom they have.

In Coda, Emma Trevayne creates a society where everything is watched and monitored, supposedly for the well being of its citizens but actually to make sure that the people in control stay in control. Anthem isn’t happy with the life that he and his friends lead, but he believes he’s powerless to change the system. His mother made him promise to take care of the twins before she died, and he plans to keep that promise.

But he also rebels against the thought of the twins, innocent and too young to get their first dose of addictive music, growing up in a world like his own. He thinks that taking care of them may be finding a way to change their future.

While it takes place in a fictional future world, Coda deals with issues relevant today: drug addiction, poverty, gender identity, government surveillance, and more. Plus it’s a good love story too. I recommend it for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 14 and up.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Death, Dickinson and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia by Jenny Torres Sanchez

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Cindy Hudson

Frenchie lives down the street from the local cemetery, so she’s well aware of the impermanence of life. But lately it’s been getting her down more that usual and only Frenchie knows why. No one knows she was with Andy Cooper for one crazy night before he committed suicide. Frenchie is haunted by the thought that if only she had paid more attention to the clues, she could have done something to stop him. Finally, when she’s pushed everyone away except a new guy named Colin, she decides to relive the things she did with Andy that fateful night to see if there was something she missed.

Death, Dickinson and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia by Jenny Torres Sanchez is a look at the lasting legacy of suicide, even on people who were only acquaintances of the person who died. Frenchie had a crush on Andy Cooper, but she didn’t really know him, and she’s not sure why he chose her to be with him on his last night. She often goes to the cemetery to find a peaceful place to think, and she likes sitting by the grave of a woman named Emily Dickinson. Even though she knows it’s not the grave of the famous poet, Frenchie finds solace in thinking of Emily’s poetry and what it means to her while she sits there.

Frenchie is rough around the edges, and she’s at a turning point in her life. She wasn’t accepted to the art school she hoped to attend after high school, and she has no credible plan for what she’ll do instead. Andy’s death exacerbates the depression she feels more and more each day. In her quest to relive the hours she spent with him, Frenchie seems to be searching for a way to save herself.

I shed a few tears by the time I turned the last page on Frenchie’s story, and I recommend it for book clubs with girls aged 15 and up. Discussion can center on the effects of teen suicide and the difficulties teens face when graduating high school and determining what they want to do next.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Colors and Opposites by Xavier Deneux

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Cindy Hudson

Chronicle Books has introduced two board books to TouchThinkLearn, it’s wonderful series for toddlers. Opposites helps little ones learn the concept of how things relate to one another. For instance, a kitten is shown at the top of a ladder to demonstrate high, and a mole is shown underneath the ground to illustrate low. Some of the other opposites portrayed include outside/inside, night/day, big/small, and heavy/light.

Colors shows bright vibrant colors while also showing familiar things that may portray them. For instance an apple is red, a teddy bear is brown and a leaf is green.

Several features make these books great for kids. First, the pages are sturdy and thick, so little fingers can turn the pages over and over without tearing them. Second, the illustrations are cut out, with one page showing the raised shape that looks cut from the other. In the apple example I talked about above, the left hand page has a raised apple shape with leaves and a stem drawn on, while the right hand page shows a cut-out space where the apple would be. You still see leaves and a stem above the shape, and the cut out shows apple seeds. In the Opposites book, a full black left-hand page has a raised white crescent moon shape to show night, while the right-hand page is white with a round yellow cut out to show day.

The illustrated shapes are compelling to look at and to touch. The books are recommended for ages 3 and up, but moms and dads can have lots of fun holding their babies and letting them touch the die-cuts while talking to them about what’s shown on the page. These books will definitely be at the top of my gift list for anyone who is having a baby.

You may want to look at this YouTube video that shows kids interacting with the books that will give you an idea of what they look like.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Clementine and the Spring Trip by Sara Pennypacker

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Cindy Hudson

It’s springtime and Clementine has a lot to look forward to. Her mom is pregnant and she’ll soon have a baby brother or sister, the weather is great so she can go outside a lot, and her class is going on a field trip to Plimoth Plantation. But she has a lot to worry about too. She’ll soon be a fourth grader and her friend Margaret has warned her that fourth graders can only eat food that doesn’t make noise. Margaret seems more concerned than ever with staying clean. And to top it all off there’s a new girl in school named Olive who everyone is paying special attention to. It’s a lot for a 9 year old to take in.

Clementine and the Spring Trip by Sara Pennypacker is a great addition to this beloved series for young readers. Clementine goes through a full range of emotions—happy, grumpy, jealous, worried, excited, curious—all the while bringing to light the kinds of things that are likely to resonate with 7 to 10 year olds. Clementine solves each of her issues by facing them head on after she struggles with what to do.

Marla Frazee’s illustrations are cute and capture the action well. Clementine and the Spring Trip, and indeed the entire series, is one of those that young readers can add to their shelves to read over and over again.

The author provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Truth or Dare by Jacqueline Green

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Cindy Hudson

Tenley, Caitlin and Sydney are three high school girls from Echo Bay with something to hide. But when each starts receiving mysterious notes that ask them to take dares or risk their secrets being exposed, they don’t know who to suspect…or to trust. Truth or Dare by Jacqueline Green takes the popular party game to a whole new level.

Caitlin is one of the popular girls at school, and she’s running for class president her senior year. Tenley is Caitlin’s best friend, and she is returning to Echo Bay after being away for several years. Her truth and dare games from the past are legendary. Sydney is living with her single mom, the two of them trying to get by as best they can since her dad left. She loves taking photographs, and she avoids the popular crowd as much as she can. Each girl is flawed in her own way, and maybe that’s why they try to solve the mystery of who’s sending the dares on their own.

There’s also a town mystery at play. Three girls died tragically during the town’s fall festival in the past, and the festival was suspended. But this year it’s back on, and the air is charged with nerves that tragedy will strike again. As the plot unfolds, secrets are revealed and the girls are pushed to perform ever-more-daring acts until the dramatic conclusion.

Truth or Dare is creepy in that it seems someone is always watching the girls to know whether they carry out their dares. It also seems this someone knows things about them that one person shouldn’t know. The secrets they hide are also dark, so it’s easy to shift sympathy both for and against each girl as more about them all is revealed.

This book is the start of a series, and while the ending was a bit more of a cliff-hanger than I usually like, it’s bound to pull a lot of readers in.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Half Lives by Sara Grant

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Cindy Hudson

In the before time the worst thing Icie had to worry about was her ex-boyfriend posting their breakup on Facebook. But when her parents put her on a plane with $10,000, a backpack of survival gear, the key to a bunker in a mountain outside of Las Vegas, and a promise to join her as soon as they can, everything changes. As top government officials her parents had advance word of an impending virus with the potential to spread rapidly and kill effectively.

So Icie went into seclusion with three other refugees she picked up along the way. Together they work to ration their food and pass the time in the hope they can wait out the deadly virus and start anew.

Generations later Beckett leads a band of those who descend from the survivors. They live on the mountain and worship a deity called the Great I Am. They never leave the mountain, and they consider it their duty to protect it from any who would try to harm it. They look out at the hulking remains of a once great city and talk about the people who destroyed it long ago. One day when they see a light among the ruins, they know others have come, and they prepare to defend their home against the terrorists they fear.

Half Lives by Sara Grant takes place in the present time and a dystopian future. Tension builds as the narrative switches between the two places of action and readers begin to see parallels between the present and future, in more ways than one. In both places the characters struggle to survive while searching for truth and meaning in their circumstances. In both places they work to create a future where fear is not the ruling emotion.

It’s unusual to see dystopian fiction that shows both an apocalyptic event as well as the future that has been carved after that event. Grant blends the two worlds together in a way that is both frightening and believable as well as totally engrossing. I recommend it for book clubs with readers aged 14 and up.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: How to Lose Everything by Philipp Mattheis

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Cindy Hudson

Jonathan, Sam, Schulz and Eric are doing what they normally do in summer, hanging out at the skate park, smoking, drinking and talking about sex. But when they hear about an abandoned house not far from their neighborhood in a suburb of Munich, they decide to investigate. While exploring the house they discover hidden money, lots of it. What they do with it will change all of their lives in ways they couldn’t imagine.

How to Lose Everything: A Mostly True Story by Philipp Mattheis is a young adult memoir focusing on that fateful summer of 1994. At first, the boys spend money on things they always wish they could buy, like pizza, beer, candy and pot. But soon enough those petty purchases are no longer enough to satisfy them. Before long their purchases attract unwanted attention, and events start to spiral out of their control.

As the subtitle states and a note in the front of the book confirms, the events are based on a true story although the names of the main characters have been changed and some details altered to respect the privacy of those involved. Knowing it’s mostly true makes the story even more fascinating, as we see how each of the friends reacts to his newfound wealth.

The narrative is told through Jonathan’s voice, and so we see his friends’ actions through his filter. Perhaps not surprisingly, he seems to be the most grounded of the four, happy to go along with his friends but somewhat reluctant to spend the money. This is especially true once he discovers letters from the woman who previously lived in the house and learns about her story.

How to Lose Everything is not just an account of the summer four friends found a lot of money, it’s also a fascinating look at human nature and how it can be influenced by sudden, unexpected wealth. I recommend it for readers aged 14 and up.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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