Almost Home

Almost Home by Joan Bauer has been on my to-read list for awhile (but I can't remember where I heard about this book).  This is the story of Sugar Mae Cole, who has so much going for her when she and her mom lose their home.  Sugar's dad is in and out and can't be trusted, and when Sugar's mom breaks down under the stress of being homeless, Sugar finds herself in a foster home.  But as Sugar pours her heart out into her poetry and comes to love the many trustworthy people around her, she finds there is still good in the world and great hope for her future.

This was a quick read (I started and finished in one day) but a beautiful book.  Sugar is a well-developed character who is real and lovable, and the plot kept me interested the whole time.  The author is obviously a really great author.  (She's also the author of a Newbery book called Hope Was Here, which I don't think I've read--so I will definitely plan to read it.) This book helped me get in the mind of those who are homeless or in foster care and how there is always so much more to their stories.

Rating: * * * (3/3 = Loved it)

The Boy on the Porch

I saw The Boy on the Porch by Sharon Creech on the NPR list of best books of 2013.  Sharon Creech is a great children's author whose books I've read before, so I got this book at the library.  This book tells the story of John and Marta--a childless couple who one day finds a 6- or 7-year-old boy on their porch.  The boy doesn't speak, but he has a note that tells John and Marta, "Take care of Jacob; we'll be back for him."  As John and Marta take Jacob under their wing, he blossoms with a gift for music and art, and they come to love him--and begin to worry about when or if someone will come back to get him.

This was a really sweet read, and I love how the book concluded.  I just loved the great life that John and Marta built for little Jacob and how they opened their hearts so willingly.  This book was short and simple, but it was a beautiful story.

Rating: * * (2/3 =  Liked it)

Counting by 7s

I saw Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan on NPR's list of best kids' books for 2013, and it looked interesting to me.  This book is about Willow Chance, a 12-year-old genius who is fascinated by plants and gardening, diseases, and the number 7.  When a terrible tragedy completely changes her world, Willow must come to terms with her new reality and find real friends for the first time.

This was a great book.  I was very into it and had to stay up a little late and then spend my morning reading to finish it.  Willow was a fascinating, entertaining, and endearing character, and I loved all the other side characters' uniqueness as well.  The plot was engaging, and I liked how the point of view focused on Willow but also let the reader into the minds of the other characters throughout the book as well.  The book made me laugh aloud but also feel deeply for Willow in her sorrow.  I really enjoyed this book.  I was just reading some reviews of the book on Amazon, and I liked one thing one reviewer said: "I could point to many instances in the plot that were contrived, when events relied just a bit too much on coincidence to be believable, and when things work out just a bit too easy. To do so would be to deny the slight touch of magic that seems to permeate these pages."  So true!  The way things fell into place in this book just made it all-the-more beautiful.

Rating: * * * (3/3 = Loved it)

Flora and Ulysses

Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo is the Newbery Medal winner for 2014.  It is about 11-year-old cynic Flora who loves comic books.  One day she sees her neighbor outside with an extreme vacuum cleaner, and Flora witnesses a squirrel get vacuumed up.  After Flora does CPR (learned from the Terrible Things Can Happen To You comic strip she follows) on the squirrel, she realizes that the squirrel has been changed--and is now a superhero.  The book follows Flora as she builds a relationship with the squirrel (Ulysses), tries to protect the squirrel from her mother (probably Ulysses's archnemesis), and meets lots of friends along the way.

This book is so, so, SO weird but somehow also engaging, entertaining, and heart-warming.  Kate DiCamillo is an awesome author. (I have loved several of her books--Tale of Despereaux and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane are two of them.) This book had a familiar writing style to me since I've read her books before, and it was (obviously) super well written.  The characters were all so well developed and interesting.  There could be fascinating books written about almost all of the side characters as main characters (Dr. Meescham, Tootie, William Spiver, even Flora's parents).  Flora was a likable, relatable girl, and Ulysses was an unlikely hero.  I enjoyed the book.  The weirdness distracted me a little bit (since I kept stopping reading to comment to myself about how odd it was), but I think kids would find this book hilarious.  I think even Emmeline would love the humor in this book, but the vocabulary in the book is more upper elementary, so we'll wait.

Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)

The Year of Billy Miller

The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes is a 2014 Newbery Honor Book, and I'm working on reading all the 2014 Newberys right now.  This book is about second grader Billy Miller and his interactions with his teacher (part 1), dad (part 2), sister (part 3), and mom (part 4).  From making a diorama for school to dealing with his crying little sister to wanting to stay up super late, Billy is just your typical, likable kid.

This was a quick, cute read.  It was written for a much younger audience than books I usually read.  (This is a lower elementary book--like first through third grade readers.)  I only read it because it's a Newbery, and I have a goal to just read as many of them as possible.  It was a well-written book and a cute story, but I didn't really feel like I got much out of it...most likely since it was written for 7-year-olds.  :) There just wasn't any big climax or conflict or anything; rather, it was just more focused on Billy's day-to-day life.  But I think it will be a cute book to recommend to or read aloud with Emmeline when she's a little older.

Rating: * (1/3 = It was okay)

Paperboy

I saw Paperboy by Vince Vawter on the new children's book shelf at the library a couple months ago and checked it out, but I never got around to reading it.  Then the 2014 Newbery Medal and Honor winners were announced last month, and Paperboy was one of the honor winners.  So, I got the book from the library again and read it this time.  :)  The book tells the story of an 11-year-old boy with a stuttering problem.  When he takes over his friend's paper route for the summer, he experiences new situations and new interactions and begins to find himself.

This was a really nice read.  It was slower for me to get through at times, but I felt like it really did put me in the mind of this sweet, smart 11-year-old.  He had so much he felt and so much he wanted to say, but there was so little he could actually articulate without difficulty.  This book reminded me of books I've read in the past like Out of My Mind or Wonder, where a child who never really expresses him/herself shares his/her mind through the book.  I didn't love Paperboy quite as much as those two books, but I liked reading it.  I was especially touched when I read the Author's Note at the end of the book and realized that this book was more of a memoir than fiction--the author himself has stuttered since he was 5 years old (more than 60 years of stuttering).  He writes, "Have I been cured of my stutter? No. Have I overcome it? Yes." That was the message from the book itself--you aren't defined by your limitations.  A beautiful message.

Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)

The Color of Water

I saw The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother in a pile of books my mom was giving away.  My sister said she had read it as an assignment in high school or college, and after reading the back, I was intrigued and decided to read it.  It is a memoir written by James McBride about his mother.  He grew up knowing his mother was different--he and most of his community was black, but his mother was white.  Not until he was an adult did James learn about his mother's past--growing up in a Jewish family in southern Virginia.  This book tells her story...and his.

This was a really interesting read.  Ruth (James's mother) had a very diverse and fascinating life, and the book kept me reading.  There were some parts that were a little repetitive, and the end dragged on a little,  but otherwise, I really enjoyed reading it and learned a lot.  It exposed me to several different time periods in a couple different places in the US, and I was able to see the racial divide from the point of view of one who was in both worlds.  I was also inspired and touched by all this woman overcame and what amazing children she raised even with so much difficulty. I really enjoyed the book.

Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)