Snow and Rose by Emily Windfield Martin

 Snow and Rose are sisters.  One day their father, who is a government official, goes into the forest and never returns.  Rose, Snow and their mother are forced to leave their home, and must move to a small home in a little village.  Snow and Rose soon adapt to their new life as peasants, but just as soon, realize that there is something strange going on in the forest around their village.  People keep disappearing and there are unnatural animals that keep showing up and terrorizing their neighbors.  Snow and Rose meet many unusual people including a rude little man and a kind librarian that lends objects instead of books. One night they meet a large bear stuck in a cruel trap.  Moved to compassion the girls free the bear and that starts a chain of events that leads to a confrontation with a force of pure evil.

This is a charming retelling of a lesser known fairy tale. (It has no relationship with the Snow White story with the dwarfs). Martin starts out more or less realistic, and then gradually moves into the fantastic in a way that gently pulls the reader along. I listened to it on Overdrive, and the recording is very good, with occasional sound effects and a good reader.  I have ordered it for the library on CD as well, so if you are doing a road trip this summer with kids of a variety of ages, this would be a good one to listen to in the car. (2017, 204 p.)

One Fun Day with Lewis Carroll by Kathleen Krull and Julia Sarda

This is an odd little picture book nonfiction.  It kind of tells how Lewis Carroll came to write Alice's in Adventures in Wonderland.  It also kind of shows how Carroll used made-up words and expressions.  Krull includes nonsense words from The Jabberwoky, and expressions for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to describe Carroll and his interactions with children. I imagine children might find it fun, but for me using the Jabberwoky words out of context was just distracting.  Sarda's illustrations are interesting, and add quite a lot of liveliness to the book. This is short enough to be read aloud to a class, and I think it would work well to encourage children to use colorful language while writing.  I don't really see anyone reading it either for a report or just for fun. (2018, 29 p.)

Saving Marty by Paul Griffin

When Lorenzo befriends a runt pig, it becomes his most trusted companion.  But pigs have a way of growing, and when Marty gets to be 250 lbs, his affectionate nudges become hazardous.  There are other complications in Lorenzo's life as well.  He is trying to find out what really happened to his Dad who never came back from Afghanistan, and he is struggling through a summer without his best friend, Paloma Lee.  With everything else going on, Lorenzo desperately wants to save Marty from the butcher block, but at what cost?

This is kind of like a mash up of Charlotte's Web and Babe.  Griffin does a good job showing Lorenzo as a boy desperately in need of a friend, but also portrays his mother's concerns for finances and safety with a sympathetic hand. Lorenzo and his mother have a complex and authentic (if not always perfect) relationship.  Lorenzo's and Paloma's friendship is also very sweet.  The audio book has some nice music included (Paloma is a singer who longs for Nashville fame) This is a feel-good book with a some  heart-ache mixed in, great for a reader who is craving something a little sentimental. (2017, 195 p.)

The Question of the Missing Head E.J. Copperman

Samuel Hoenig, who is a genius with high functioning autism, has started a business called, Questions Answered.  When a cryogenics company comes to him for help finding a missing "client" he takes the job.  Soon the case of larceny becomes a murder case as he and his new associate, Ms Washburn, discover a dead body in the cryogenics lab. Samuel's extreme Asperger's ability to notice and interpret clues and Ms. Washburn's astute understanding of human nature are the perfect combination to solve the mystery.

I checked out this novel because it came up on my screen when I was looking for books about Aspergers, and I was curious.  It turned out to be a highly entertaining and very clean mystery. I have studied a little about people with Aspergers, and I thought the author over did it a bit with the stereotypical Aspergers personality traits, but I still enjoyed the interaction between Samuel and Ms Washburn.  Samuel is charmingly both confident and incredibly insecure. I liked that Copperman has Ms Washburn, who serves as Samuel's translator-of-confusing-social-quirks, contribute her own shrewd detective instincts to solving the case. I may well read more in the series just for fun. (2014, 342 p)

Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina by Martin Powell and Sarah Horne

This is a short graphic novel retelling of the classic story of Thumbelina.  All the elements are here, the frog, the mouse, the mole.  The author does add a little at the end that isn't in the original story.  The text is sparse, and both author and illustrator touch on merely the main points of the story.  I guess the book is fine as far as it goes, but there are so many better versions of the story out there with lyric text and lovely illustrations.  Powell has some thought/discussion questions in the back and suggested writing prompts.  I am guessing this book is intended to be used in a classroom setting and it would actually work fine for a one day literacy activity. I picked it up because I thought it was a new publication, but it turns out that it has been around for a while. (2010, 32 p.)

A Case in Any Case by Ulf Nilsson

This is the third in the Detective Gordon series.  In this one Detective Gordon is on vacation, and Buffy is minding the police station.  One night something comes scrabbling outside the police station.  Buffy is so worried she decides it is time to go and get Detective Gordon.  No sooner does he return, than two children go missing.  Detective Gordon and Buffy must work together to solve the mystery, but will Buffy ever discover who the mysterious scrabbler is?

This is a charming intermediate that feels a lot like the old Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel.  There isn't really anything that is scary and no real villain. All the characters are nice and good and the conflict comes from small mistakes the characters make. It has simple color illustrations every couple of pages. This would be a great choice for a child that was an advanced reader at a young age or for a visiting grandparent to read aloud over a couple of evenings. (2017, 95 p.)

Sci-Fu Book 1: Kick it Off by Yehudi Mercado

Wax is a DJ who lives in New York in the 1980's.  When they are not spinning the discs, Wax and his friend Cooky are scooping ice cream at their uncle's ice cream truck.  One day their whole apartment building is scooped away into another world.  Wax becomes a Sci-Fu master and must face the 5 deadly dangers in order to return his family to Earth.  As he goes through training to sharpen his Sci-Fu powers, he begins to turn into a robot and to lose track of what is most important.

I have been in charge of ordering graphic novels for my library for about a year now.  On this blog I have written about 42 of them.  With all that practice, I thought I was getting better with my graphic novel literacy, but this one was difficult for me to read.  I had a hard time following the action of the illustrations, and I didn't understand a lot of the cultural references to the DJ and rap culture. Near the end I was starting to do better.  I am sure that kids and adults who are part of the inner city music culture will enjoy this book just like I enjoyed Real Friends by Shannon Hale because it reflected my childhood culture.  Even though this book has got starred reviews nationally, I doubt if it will be very popular with my patrons.  (2018,144 p.)

The Empty Grave by Jonathan Stroud

This is the fifth and (probably) the last in the Lockwood and Co series.  In this one Anthony, Holly, Lucy, George and Kips are ready and poised to find the real cause of "the problem."  There are no lengths they will not take, nor any place they will not go to find out the truth.  Their courage is not without cost.  They are facing powerful enemies who will stop at nothing to keep their secrets.

I can't really write any better summary without giving away spoilers.  Suffice it to say that this was a fitting and satisfying end to the series.  It seems that Stroud decides to give each of his characters their time in the limelight.  Kips, Holly, George, Lockwood and Lucy each get their moment to shine, and even Inspector Barns, Flo Bones, and the Skull do their bit.  Stroud is such an amazing plotter, and also does such a good job of building suspense. But most of all, we love his characters, and this book shows how much he cared about each one as well. If you haven't read this series yet, do yourself a favor and pick up book one. (2017,437 p.)

Elizabeth and Zenobia by Jessica Miller

After her mother runs away with an opera star, Elizabeth and her father go to live in her father's childhood home.  Elizabeth brings along her closest friend, Zenobia, that no one else can see or hear.  Zenobia is the opposite of Elizabeth.  She is brave and strong with a affinity for the macabre. Elizabeth, on the other hand, is afraid of everything and likes flowers and sunny rooms.  In their new home Zenobia is determined to meet the ghost, or "spectral presence," she is sure lives in the house.  At first Elizabeth  follows along reluctantly, but as the two girls seek for the ghost, Elizabeth gradually learns more about her family's clouded past.

I didn't really like this book at first.  My regular readers will know that I am not fond of the whole "imaginary friend" thing. Even aside from that, I didn't feel sympathetic to either brash Zenobia, or whimpy Elizabeth. But as the story progressed, Elizabeth gets a little more spunky, Zenobia becomes a little less grating and I got caught up in the plot with its ghoulish implications.  All in all, this is a decent horror offering for a middle grade reader.  It isn't as intense as Coraline, but it delivers enough spookiness and suspense that the chill seeker will be satisfied. (2017, 202 p.)

Aspergers on the Inside by Michelle Vines

This is a memoir of a woman who is a "Aspie," a person with aspergers, or high functioning autism.  In some chapters she narrates scenes from her life with commentary, and in other chapters she answers common questions about what it is like to be an Aspie.  I checked out the book because I associate with a couple of people on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum on a regular basis and I was hoping it would give me insight into how a "Aspie" thinks.  It did give me some good insight and it was mostly enjoyable to read.  I must admit I didn't finish the book.  I stopped reading about 50 pages from the end.  There were two reasons for this.  One, the book was due back at the library and I didn't really want to renew it, and two,  near the end she started to come over a little bit whiny.  Her attitude is, I am a great person, and my asperger's traits are positive, rather than negative.  This is a good and healthy view for her to take, but as the book progressed she spent a lot of time wondering why others couldn't accept her as she was, and why she had a hard time building long term relationships.  I probably should have finished it, but I felt that after 250 pages I got a good and sufficient dose of her life experience and insight. (299 p. 2016)

Have Sword, Will Travel by Garth Nix & Sean Williams

Odo, a gentle-giant son of a miller, and Eleanor, a feisty daughter of a female knight, have long been friends. One day Odo finds an enchanted sword in the dried up river.  He reluctantly takes on the title of "knight," and with a much more eager Eleanor as he squire, undertakes a quest to find out why the river has stopped running. Under the tutelage of the old--and slightly forgetful--sword, they have many adventures and find their true destiny.

This is a entertaining new romp by one of my favorite authors.  Although it is not connected to his other recent book, Frogkisser, it has a similar tone and story line. Both are about young people who are given an unexpected magical gift, and must use it to save their people.  I will be happy to recommend both of these to kids who like The Frog Princess series by E.D. Baker. They all have a similar tongue-in-cheek type humor, and have fun with well known high fantasy tropes. (2017, 274 p.)

The Far Side of the Moon by Alex Irvine

One of my professional goals this year is to read one graphic novel, one nonfiction and one intermediate each month. This weekend I managed two genres at one go by reading this informational graphic novel.  It is about Michael Collins who was on the Apollo 11 moon mission.  He was the one who stayed in the ship while Neal Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin went on to walk on the moon. I have read books about Michael Collins before, but I learned new and interesting facts from this short bio, like after the mission Collins was in line to walk on the moon in later missions, but decided to leave the space program.  It is also interesting that later he became the director of the Aerospace Museum in Washington DC. The illustrations for the book are all done in black and white, and do a great job suggesting the overwhelming solitude of space.  Some graphic nonfiction feels like the illustrated format is forced, like they would have been better off in a traditional format. Sometimes they add a goofy cartoon narrator or assume a really informal, conversational tone. Irvine and the illustrator, Ben Bishop, resist the temptation to add comic bells and whistles and just tell the story. This is a great choice for space buffs or anyone who enjoys a good nonfiction. (2017, 64 p.)