Book Review: Fangirl by Ken Baker

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Josie is a normal 9th grader who can’t wait for summer to arrive. She loves to write songs, hang out with her best friends Ashley and Christopher, and obsess over her favorite singer, Peter Maxx.

Peter is 16 and would like to have a normal life. Most people imagine his life as a teen pop star is all glamour, but the truth is, he’s exhausted half-way through a 40-concert tour that has him constantly in the spotlight.

When Josie and Peter meet by chance when he stops by her high school to give an award in a video contest, the sparks fly. But can a teen star expect to have a normal relationship with a regular girl?

Fangirl by Ken Baker goes back and forth as it tells the story from both Josie’s and Peter’s perspective. Josie is kind of shy and writes lyrics when she’s trying to make sense of the things in her life. And with her parents’ recent divorce it seems like a lot of things don’t make sense. Peter struggles to stand out as a person, not just an icon. His dad, who sees fame as something fleeting to be  pursued while the iron is hot, pushes him to perform.

Fangirl is every girl’s fantasy—what girl wouldn’t want to get to know the famous celebrity she has a crush on—but it’s also interesting to read about how Josie stays true to herself despite the pressure she feels to act in ways that Peter will like.

Moms who read this with their daughters may need an interpreter to figure out the abbreviations in the text messages that go back and forth between Josie and Peter, but it’s still fun to read. Girls aged 12 to 14 will especially like Fangirl.

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

Book Review: Ask the Passengers by A.S. King

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A. S. King, author of Everybody Sees the Ants and Please Ignore Vera Dietz isn’t afraid to write about big issues facing teens, including bullying, domestic abuse and alcoholism. With her latest book, Ask the Passengers, King delves into the issue of sexual identity and what defining it means not only to the teen, but to the people surrounding her as well.

Astrid Jones is the main character who retreats to her backyard picnic table when she wants to escape the tension in her life. Lying there she focuses on sending her love to passengers on passing airplanes. It’s her way of holding everything together until she graduates high school and escapes the whispers and secrets that come with living in small town, Unity Valley.

And Astrid has a lot of secrets to keep. Her mom is a control freak who favors Astrid’s younger sister Ellis and criticizes Astrid. Her dad smokes pot and mostly refuses to be pulled into the conflict. Astrid’s best friend and next-door neighbor, Kristina, is lesbian, and she dates a popular guy at school who is gay because they give each other cover.

Astrid herself thinks she may be attracted to her co-worker Dee, but she’s not sure if that makes her a lesbian or just confused about what she wants. When an unexpected event tears away the layers Astrid has built around herself, she finally has to decide who she is and how she must go forward.

Ask the Passengers delves into the philosophical as the story follows Astrid on her journey of self-discovery. She wonders why everyone expects her to say outright that she’s not heterosexual when she’s not even sure herself. People thins she’s lying when she says she doesn’t know.

Everyone in Astrid’s high school seems to have an opinion about who’s okay to date and who’s not, and hate messages against gays are scrawled on classroom bulletin boards, so she knows if she makes a statement about who she is it’s more than a casual declaration. Astrid finds that she’s testing the bounds of friendship and learning a lot about people closest to her as well as casual acquaintances through this one issue.

The small stories interspersed about the reactions of passengers on airplanes who receive Astrid’s love are interesting too. They offer little snippets into multiple issues people deal with on a day to day basis. Ask the Passengers offers a lot for discussion both on what Astrid is facing and what the passengers resolve about their lives. I recommend it for ages 15 and up.

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

 

Book Review: If the Buddha Had Kids by Charlotte Kasl, Ph. D.

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There are many books to help parents decide how to raise their children. But a new book by Charlotte Kasl, Ph. D., takes an approach I haven’t seen before. It’s called If the Buddha Had Kids: Raising Children to Create a More Peaceful World. While the guide touches on the tenets of Buddhism and how they relate to parenting children, it also has lots of common sense advice for parents who are searching for ways to raise their children with both love and discipline.

Kasl starts by explaining some of the basic tenets of Buddhism, then she goes on to explore how they can be applied to common situations parents find themselves facing. Each chapter takes an issue—why children misbehave, managing emotions feelings and impulses, use of electronics, struggles over food, and more—and looks at how parents can respond.

Kasl uses examples, both good and bad, from her own parents and discusses challenges she faced raising her own daughter. The chapters are written so it’s easy to focus and reflect on a single issue before moving on to another. To help with the reflection, Kasl frequently lists suggestions and questions for parents.

You don’t need to believe in Buddhism to find the ideas helpful, and Kasl isn’t trying to convert readers to those beliefs as she writes. Rather, she provides advice that will help parents even if they don’t accept all of her suggestions.

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

Book Review: Adaptation by Malinda Lo

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Reese is on her way home from a debate competition with her teammate and teacher when a strange phenomenon occurs: bird strikes across North America bring several airplanes down and all air traffic is suspended. When they try to get from Arizona to their home in San Francisco in a rental car, there’s an accident in the desert. Twenty-eight days later Reese wakes up in an isolated military hospital where she’s told she had advanced, top-secret treatment to save her life.

But when Reese starts to have unsettling dreams and she notices that her scars heal quickly, she begins to wonder what happened to her at the hospital. With her friends David and Julian, she sets out to uncover the mystery.

Adaptation by Malinda Lo is a fast-paced science fiction mystery that keeps you guessing what’s going to happen until the end. It’s most successful when following the main plot line of Reese, her debate partner David, and their quest to find out what happened to them. But there’s a lot going on in the book, and I sometimes found it frustrating when the action slowed down to explore one of several subplots.

There’s the question about the bird strikes and conspiracy theories about the government’s involvement based on its continued reaction by killing birds wholesale. Reese is questioning her sexual identity and whether or not she is attracted to girls or guys. Reese’s friend Julian is involved with groups trying to get evidence of alien contact in the place known as Area 51. There’s also a difficult relationship between Reese and her unapologetically philandering dad, who is divorced from her mother. It’s a lot for a reader to take in.

That can also mean a lot to discuss if you pick this up with your book club. Because of the questioning on sexual issues, I would recommend Adaptation for groups with girls aged 16 and up.

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

Book Review: Soccer Sisters: Lily Out of Bounds by Andrea Montalbano

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Lily Out of Bounds cover imageLily James lives and breathes soccer. She and her teammates, her soccer sisters, have drawn up a code of conduct with 10 rules to live by. But when a new girl, Colby, subs on the team in a couple of tournaments, she leaves Lily questioning some of those rules.

In Colby’s mind, anything is acceptable in a game if it helps you to win. And breaking rules off the field is acceptable if you have fun doing it. Lily has to decide whether to stick to the code or go along with Colby’s rules.

Lily Out of Bounds, the first in a new Soccer Sisters series by Andrea Montalbano, does more than look at the game of soccer and how it’s played, though there’s plenty of soccer play in the book. It also looks at how teens and pre-teens handle the challenges of facing peers who push them in directions they are not sure they want to go.

Lily is confused about Colby’s actions. They help the team to win on the field, and off the field they are a lot of fun. But going along means she has to lie to people she cares about and play in a way that doesn’t feel right to her. Once she begins to see that Colby’s actions do have consequences, she’s more able to determine for herself what’s right and wrong.

Soccer Sisters, with Lily Out of Bounds as the first book, is a promising new series for girls aged 9 to 13.

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

 

Book Review: Every Little Thing Adapted by Cedella Marley, Illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

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Every Little Thing cover imageFrom Bob Marley’s daughter Cedella, comes a new picture book based on her father’s song “Three Little Birds.” The message repeating over and over in the song is “Don’t worry about a thing, ‘cause every little thing is gonna be all right.” The same is true for the book, which is titled Every Little Thing.

A boy rises in the morning to great a new day, with three little birds on his doorstep leading the way. The birds are there when he sees someone sitting alone on a swing at the playground, so the boy includes the lonely kid in a soccer game that’s going on.

The birds are there when he makes a mess baking in the kitchen, but the boy’s parents hold him and tell him it’s going to be all right. And the birds are there when his mom and dad sing him to sleep at night. The illustrations, by Vanessa Brantley-Newton are colorful and fun. They include a grumpy kitty, who isn’t having as good of a day as the boy is. The kitty would like to catch the birds, but in the end, even he ends up charmed by them.

Cedella Marley includes a note in the end about the meaning the song has for her, and how it passes along an important message: “as long as we share our love with others, even if storm clouds gather, we will be okay.”

My husband and I often sang “Three Little Birds” to our daughters when they were growing up. Every Little Thing offers the opportunity to share the music along with a great story for kids. I highly recommend it.

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

Volunteer With Your Family to Give Back to Your Community

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Each year National Family Volunteer Day is held on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. First organized 22 years ago by Points of Light, the day is meant to “showcase the benefits of family volunteering and provide opportunities for families to help communities create supportive environments for their children and each other.” It’s also a way to start the holiday season with giving and service.

While many volunteer opportunities are restricted to adults only, there are lots of things kids can do to be involved as well. Here are a few ideas for ways kids can contribute with their families:

  • Go along with their parents to deliver Meals on Wheels. Elderly shut-ins often love to see children come to their doors. When the girls in my daughter’s Girl Scout troop delivered meals a few years ago, some recipients insisted on giving something back to the girls as their own way of saying thanks. It was a good way to see that there are more ways to give than we may realize on the surface.
  • Collect items in their neighborhood for a cause they support. With a little effort kids can create a flyer to put on neighbors’ doors letting them know they will be coming by on a certain date to pick up donations. The cause can vary from old blankets and towels for an animal shelter, to canned food for a local food bank, to used winter clothing in good condition and new toiletries for a homeless shelter, much more.
  • Organize an event to benefit their schools. Do teachers need extra supplies to hand out to kids who don’t have them? Would a flowering tree look nice next to the playground? Kids can talk to their principals and find out what’s needed, then get a group of friends together to provide it.

For more ideas, check out these resources:

GenerationOn

Points of Light

Hands On Network

 

Book Review: My Bad Parent by Troy Osinoff

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My Bad Parent cover imageMy Bad Parent: Do As I Say, Not As I Did by Troy Osinoff has to be seen to be believed. Osinoff has collected photographs of parents doing questionable things with their kids. Some seem staged to be funny, like the smiling child with the diaper over her head, while others are candid shots where the parents seem to have no clue that they are doing anything wacky to their kids.

Many photos fall into the latter category, including kids riding on motorcycles and kids with guns. Osinoff has grouped the photos into chapter-like categories and added comments. Some you’ll find down right funny, while others will have you shaking your head and calling for a child license to be issued before anyone can get pregnant.

My Bad Parent is a great book to leave out as a conversation starter at your next party or as a gift to expecting parents. For more fun you can visit Osinoff’s website, My Bad Parent.com.

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

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