USA Free Book Store

The Seventh Wish. Kate Messner. 2016. Bloomsbury. 228 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: I've only seen the ice flowers once.

Premise/plot: Some books are near-impossible to summarize concisely...and do the book justice. This is such a book. I want to just say READ IT. But I won't. That really won't help you make up your mind now, or refresh my memory later. Charlie, the heroine, learns a little about wishes and a lot about life in this middle grade fantasy. Why is it fantasy and not realistic fiction? A talking fish that grants Charlie wishes.

My thoughts: I LOVED this one so much. Why? Perhaps in large part because of the narrator, Charlie. I truly connected with her--despite our differences--and wanted to spend time with her. I just adored her as a character. And because I adored her, I didn't mind a bit reading about Irish dancing (she made it sound super fun!) and ice-fishing (not convinced this is super fun but still not enough of a deterrent to keep me from loving it). I really felt this one was well-layered and peopled with flesh-and-blood characters.

This one was wonderfully balanced between light and dark. On the one hand, we've got Charlie and her friends and their "problems." (A friend whose father is pressuring him to play sports when that is the absolute last thing he wants to do, for example. Charlie's own "troubles" about wanting to earn money so she can buy a dancing dress for competitions.) On the other hand, we've got grown-up problems as well. Charlie's sister experiments with drugs--with heroin--at college and life becomes MESSY very quickly.

The Seventh Wish doesn't read like your typical PROBLEM NOVEL. It doesn't feel weighed down with manipulative messages, themes, and morals. Part of me wishes that this one didn't have the fantasy elements--the fish that grants wishes. The other part realizes that maybe the fantasy elements give this one a just right balance so that it isn't heavy and serious and dramatic and IMPORTANT.

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Best (Worst) School Year Ever. Barbara Robinson. 1994. 117 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: Unless you're somebody like Huckleberry Finn, the first day of school isn't too bad.

Premise/plot: This book is a sequel to the Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Both books are narrated by a girl named Beth who bear witness to the awfulness of the Herdman family. The book loosely takes place between the first and last days of school. The chapters are more episodic than linked to one another. All focus in on the Herdman family. Some chapters are better than others. I wouldn't say that any were wonderful.

My thoughts: I really LOVE, LOVE, LOVE The Best Christmas Pageant ever. And I think the reason why was that it had a point--a redemptive point. The Herdmans surprised everyone with their humanness, and, they weren't just the town joke when all was said and done. That isn't the case with The Worst Best School Year Ever. While there was one touching moment when Beth, the narrator, noticed Imogene at her best, that alone wasn't enough to make up for all the "let's laugh at the Herdmans." The scene I did like was when Beth noticed the initials on the blanket "returned" to baby Howard. I.H. When Howard lost his blanket--he was the bald baby whose head the Herdmans tattooed with waterproof markers--Imogene gave him her old blanket and pretended it was his that she had found. Only Beth suspected the truth. The first book seemed to end with a fuzzy removal of the "us" and "them" distinction. Not so with this one. And that is disappointing.

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Emily's Runaway Imagination. Beverly Cleary. 1961. 288 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: The things that happened to Emily Bartlett that year!

Premise/plot: Emily Bartlett is the heroine of Beverly Cleary's Emily's Runaway Imagination. Emily has many adventures or misadventures, many of which center around the formation of the first public library in her town. I would categorize the book as historical fiction. Reference is made to a world war, and, I think it may even be the first world war. One of the adventures involves Emily's grandpa getting a car. And having a car is a novelty in their town. Most people either walk, ride horses, drive a horse and wagon.

My thoughts: I really LOVE this one. If I read this one growing up, I only read it once. It's even possible this is one we didn't own. It took me so long to get to it as an adult because the local library doesn't have a copy of it. I bought this battered copy of it at my local charity shop for a quarter.

Favorite quotes:

"There are still books left to choose from," answered Mama.
And there were! Just think of it, real library books right here in Pitchfork, Oregon. The Dutch Twins, the Tale of Jemima Puddleduck--what a tiny book that was! Emily had not known they made such little books. The Curly-Haired Hen, English Fairy Tales. But no Black Beauty. Oh, well, perhaps another time. Emily chose English Fairy Tales because it was the thickest, and Mama wrote her name on a little card that she removed from a pocket in the book. Emily now had a library book to read. (117)

"Ma'am, is it all right if I get some books for my family?" he asked.
Mama smiled at the boy. "I don't believe I have seen you in Pitchfork before. Do you live in the country?"
"No, ma'am. I live in Greenvale," he answered. "We read about the library in the Pitchfork Report and I walked down the railroad track to see if we could get some books too."
"Why, that's at least four miles," said Mama, "and four miles back again."
The boy looked at the floor. "Yes ma'am."
"Of course you may take books for your family," said Mama. This boy wanted to read. That was enough for her. It made no difference where he lived. (118)

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Applesauce Weather. Helen Frost. Illustrated by Amy June Bates. 2016. 112 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Today is the day I've been waiting for: the first apple fell from the tree.

Premise/plot: Faith and Peter love, love, LOVE applesauce weather. When the apples are ready to pick from the family's apple tree. Uncle Arthur comes and tells stories--thousands of stories--and it's the best time ever. This year, there's some question though if he will come at all. Though Faith--aptly named Faith--never wavers in her belief that he will come. This year will be the first time for making applesauce WITHOUT Aunt Lucy. Uncle Arthur is still deeply mourning the love of his life. Lucy was someone he knew since he was a child, his best friend and soul mate. Will he come? Will he still tell stories? Or will he be too sad?

My thoughts: I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one. Dare I say it's more than practically perfect in every way, that, it is in fact actually perfect in every way?! I love Faith and Peter. I do. I love Uncle Arthur. I love seeing Arthur interact with his great-niece and great-nephew. I love how Arthur tells true stories--of him and Lucy--and more fanciful tales as well. (For example, how he lost his finger.) I love seeing authentic family moments.

It is a verse novel. But Helen Frost excels in this genre. Her verses resonate. One never feels that her verses are chopped up prose. At least I never feel that way. I suppose I should be careful generalizing!

Here's a verse from Uncle Arthur's perspective:

Here comes an old memory
walking down the road,
like a peddler
pushing a heavy load.
I'll walk out to meet him,
see what he has to sell--
a hammer, and a pound
of two-inch nails,
a cooking pot, and
a new tin pail.
Somewhere in the mix,
I might have found
the beginning of a strange
new tale to tell. (48)

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Weekends with Max and His Dad. Linda Urban. 2016. HMH. 160 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: When Max's dad came to pick him up on Friday night he said, "Tomorrow, I will show you my new neighborhood."

Premise/plot: Max's parents are divorced and he spends the weekends with his Dad. This book chronicles three of those weekends with his Dad. We're not explicitly told if the three weekends are back to back. (I'd like to think they're not.)

The book is divided into three weekends. Each weekend reads like a little chapter book. (I believe each weekend is told in five chapters.) Weekend One is entitled "Spies." In this section, Max goes to his father's apartment for the very first time and sees his new room. Max's new craze is SPIES so when the two go out to explore the neighborhood the next day, they go as secret agent spies. Weekend Two is entitled "The Blues." In this section a couple of things happen: the two go furniture shopping because there's only one chair in the apartment...and Max empathizes with his Dad about missing open mike night. Max thinks his Dad is sad/disappointed/frustrated that he can't go to open mike night because he can't take Max with him. Max is super-sweet in this one and he invites the neighbors to their house for an open-mike night of their own. Weekend Three is entitled "Habitat." It may just be my favorite of the three. I really haven't decided yet. In this section, Max forgets part of what he needs to finish his homework project, invites his friend to sleepover at his dad's place, and generally comes to accept that "Yes, this is home, and this is where I belong too."

My thoughts: I really really liked this one. I'm not sure I LOVED it. But it was so good, so sweet. I loved meeting Max. He seems like such a great kid. I also enjoyed meeting the Dad. I liked that there wasn't really a focus on why the parents were newly divorced. No blame seemed to be passing back and forth. (But the Mom wasn't in this one at all, if I recollect.) The characterization felt authentic. Like these two were real and living in a real neighborhood. It was refreshing to have a middle grade book focusing on the the father-son relationship. I think many, many books are so focused on children that adults seem completely irrelevant to the plot.

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews