Fighting Words by Kimblerly Brubaker Bradley

 When Della and Suki's mom goes to prison for running a meth lab, and the girls , ages 5 and 8, just keep living with their mother's boyfriend, even though he is no blood relation.  When he tries to sexually molest Della, and Suki gets a picture of the act, he gets arrested and Della and Suki are moved to foster care.  Their new foster mother is not particularly affectionate, but she is conscienous and takes care of them.  Della soon starts to settle into their new, life, but Suki is unexplainably angry and volitive. Della can't quite understand why her sister is struggling.  After all, it happened to Della, not Suki... or did it?

Wow, this was a tough one to read.  Brubaker-Bradley doesn't pull any punches as she describes what the girls go through dealing with their pasts of neglect and abuse.  The book is written from the point of view of the 10-year-old, Della.  She is hurt, and damaged, and acts up at at school, but she is also nieve, and ignorant of what her sister went through for years. The voice of Della is pitch purfect.  It feels exactly how a 10-year-old would experience the situation.  The reader is cheering both her and her sister on as they face things no child should have to face.  

As I read the book as a librarian I kept asking myself if the book crossed the line of what I could include in a children's section. The author describes both the "boyfriend's" attempt at raping Della, to the point he pulled down her panties and fondled her genitals, and (spoiler alert) Suki's attempt as suicide by slitting her wrist.  All of the times Suki was raped are only refered to in general terms, like "he hurt her."  In the end I decided to leave it in the "intermediate" section, for grades 4-8.  Is it possible some child will pick it up and be really upset by the content?  Yes.  Is it possible that some adult will be irate because their child was upset?  Yes.  Is is possible it might get into the hands of a child who really needs to know that he/she is not the only one this happened to, and that there is a why out?  Yes!  I am willing to risk the first two senarios, to facilitate the third. (259 p. 2020)

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Ove is a man of few words, and strong opinions.  He was never good at academics, but is a natural at working with his hands and figuring out how physical objects, like motors, and building projects, work.  When the light of his life, his wife, dies, he just keeps going to work, but when he was given early retirement, he figures his life was pretty much over. All that there is left to do is plan his own death with the littlest possible bother to anyone else.  Unfortunely, in Ove's mind, the new neighbors keep interfering.  As he puts off his own moribund plans to help them back up their car or fix a radiator, his old heart gradually finds something in this world to hold on to. 

I had seen this book before, but the title kind of put me off. I knew it had been hugely popular when it came out in 2014, and that they even made a movie of it.  When I mentioned I hadn't read it to my co-workers there was a chorus of people saying, "Oh, you have to read it.  It will make you laugh and cry."  They were absolutely right.  I think it is my new favorite book I have read this year.  I think everyone knows an Ove type person, crusty on the outside, and true blue on the inside.  The writer is brilliant in his characterizations of not only Ove but all the different people in the book.  The book was orginally written in Swedish, but the translater did a brilliant job.  The same author just came out with a new book.  We will see if it lives up to the first. (337 p. 2014)

P.S.  If you are bothered by swearing, you may want to give this one a by.

Brother's Keeper by Julie Lee

 

Sora's family had originally welcomed the Communists who liberated their country of North Korea from Japan.  They soon discovered they had traded one task master for another, just a cruel.  As people in their village who sympathize with South Korea and the Americans start to be seized, and some say, killed, Sora's father decides they need to flee to the south.  Sora is big sister to two younger brothers, and when she and her nine-year-old brother are separated from their parents, Sora understands that it is her job to get her brother safely to her uncle's house in South Korea.  As she toils on her quest to find the rest of her family, Sora begins to understand that the Communists are not the only ones standing in the way of a bright future for her. 

This was published in July and instantly garnered many starred reviews. Like When Stars are Scattered, this is a heart wrenching refugee narrative.  Though not based on a single historical figure, this story is roughly based on Lee's grandmother's experience.  I wasn't aware of the masses of refugees that felt North Korea to the South during the Korean war. I am glad I read it because it gave me new knowledge of history, but I found this story harder to read than When Stars are Scattered.  It had more violent content, and a less happy ending.  It is emotionally very heavy and I wouldn't recommend it to a child unless I knew that they were interested in this kind of book and could handle it.  (320 p. 2020)

We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly

 
Twins Fitch and Bird and their brother, Cash, live in a home where their parents constantly fight.  Their disfunctional marriage affects the children in different ways.  Cash is dyslexic and, without parental support, is at risk of failing 7th grade.  Fitch stuggles with anger issues and Bird, although very bright, struggles with self esteme.  An enthusiastic teacher at their school proclaims January 1986 as space month, and the students have projects leading up the the launch of the space shuttle challenger.  As the launch draws near, the stress of their home environment and challenges in their lives at school threaten to drag all three children into their own kind of black hole.  

This book was beautifully written, and an utter downer. The stupid parents were totally ruining their kid's lives, and the whole time the reader is sinking into dread, knowing how the Challenger flight ended.  I am trying to decide who would like this book.  Maybe if there was a kid in a really dysfunctional home, it might give them hope, that, although their parents were jerks, they might bond with their siblings to get through.  Or maybe, there might be someone who read it and said to themselves, "at least my parents are not that bad."  I was totally not in the mood for this, even though it was really well written.  It is on a lot of Newbery lists this year, but I hope it doesn't win.  We don't really need more depressing Newberys. (391, 2020)

Atomic Habits by James Clear

 

Atomic habits are the small things we do every day that determine our lifestyle.  They are "atomic" because they are small, and seemingly insignificant on their own, but have a big impact on our future success or failure.  Clear goes through specific steps how to create positive habits and eliminate negative ones, and argues persuasively that cultivating the right habits is the only way to achieve life goals. 

This is the top "self-help" book on our library's Overdrive account right now.  The author is a professional blogger and motivational speaker who first learned about habits when he overcame a serious injury to become a pro-baseball player, and then a successful writer.  I didn't find the ideas or information in the book particularly original, but the book is well written and reminding me of things I already believed in a motivational way.  I am glad books like this exist and are popular.  If someone didn't already understand the importance of personal discipline this kind of book could be life changing.  (2018, 306 p.)

The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate

 

In this sequel to The One and Only Ivan, we get to follow the adventures of the lovable mutt, Bob, as he enjoys his new life as a pet.  Although Bob has gotten used to three square meals a day, and scratches behind the ears by his young mistress, he hasn't forgotten his puppy days on the streets, and his friends, Ivan and Ruby.  He visits Ivan and Ruby at the zoo whenever he can, but is haunted by the memory of his sister, separated from him the day his original owners left his whole litter by the side of a highway and drove off.  One day, as he is visiting the zoo, a hurricane hits, and the animals and zoo keepers are thrown into chaos.  Will Bob ever find his friends, and his last remaining family member, again?

Once again, Katherine Applegate is the master of voice.  In Ivan, we got to hear the voice of the methodical and serene Ivan, and in this book we live in the head of the feisty Bob. Bob is at once brave and afraid he is not brave, kind and afraid he is not kind.  He is a truly wonderful character that children will love. The audio version is read by Danny DiVito and he gets it exactly right.  This is a sequel worthy of the original.  (240 p. 2020)

Palm for Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman

 

I consumed another Mrs. Pollifax treat last week.  In this one, Mrs. Pollifax is sent on her first mission where she is more than a courier.  She is supposed to go to a posh health spa in Switzerland and try to find some stolen plutonium.  At the spa she is interested in a young Arab boy who is staying with his grandmother.  She can tell he is anxious about something, though he appears to just be playful.  Her Interpol co-agent thinks she is just being grandmotherly, but Mrs Pollifax wonders if this boy might just be the key to everything. 

 So...this book really shows its age though how it deals with plutonium.  At the beginning of the mission Bishop gives Mrs Pollifax a Geiger counter and plastic gloves and urges her not to touch the plutonium with her bare hands.  Then both she and the bad guys end up carrying the plutonium around in a suit case for days on end.  Yep.  They didn't really understand radioactivity back in the 1960s.  Besides that, it was as fun as the other Mrs. Pollifax books.  There were all the stock characters and Mrs. Pollifax's signature charm and whit.  I usually listen to Mrs Pollifax on RB Digital, which is being taken over by Overdrive this week.  I hope they will still be available. (1967, 191 p)

What's His Face by Gordon Korman

Cooper Vega is an army brat that changes schools like others change Facebook profile pictures.  In each new school he is pretty content to be a nobody, a "What's his face".  This school turns out to be different for two reasons:  One is a Shakespeare obsessed, adrenaline junky girl named Jolie and the other is the ghost of a Elizabethan printer's apprentice named Roddy who lives in Cooper's phone.  What is a guy to do but try out for the school's play of Romeo and Juliet so he can figure out how to help Roddy fulfill his destiny and "cross over"?  

This is a another of Korman's stand-alone school stories.  It is light hearted but neither as deep as Restart or as funny as Ungifted.  Still, there is an element of mystery, a little romance, and sprinkling of Shakespeare trivia.  I think Korman fans won't be disappointed. (2018, 231 p)

Beneath a Prairie Moon by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Abigail was raised to be part of high society, but lost her social status when her father was convicted of embezzlement. Her fiancée broke off their engagement, and soon after her mother died.  Having lost the support of her previous friends, she decides to sign up with a match-making service and become a mail order bride.  The problem is, her matches keep sending her back because she is so fastidious about high born manners.  In one last ditch effort, the owner of the service assigns Abigail to go to a remote Kansas town and give etiquette lessons to 16 cow pokes who have ordered brides.  At first all she can see are their rude manners and hunger for companionship, but dire circumstances show her that under all that dust and bad grammar beat hearts of gold.

Ok, I started the week feeling emotionally fragile, and needed some literary candy to raise my psychological blood sugar levels.  This pretty much fit the bill.  It is a Christian historical romance and is sappy and sweet and silly.  It certainly has a "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" kind of vibe. Though Abigail doesn't start out with Milly's sass and grit, she finds it by the end.  Of course, as always, I listened to it as an audiobook, and the reader does a really good job with all the different voices.  (2018, 342 p.)