pancake-librarian
Pancake-Librarian
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Strange The Dreamer - By Laini Taylor
Laini Taylor was already a well known author when Strange The Dreamer came out, but this was the first title by her that I read. It’s fantastical setting is amazing and it’s writing feels dream-like, which is vey fitting.
Lazlo Strange starts his story as an orphan and a librarian before getting swept up with a group of legendary warriors set to find a missing city. Stories of blue skinned gods and superhuman powers combine, as the children of the gods are interwoven with Lazlo’s mission. Taylor leaves the reader to pick apart mysteries while the characters learn that what they knew isn’t as black and white as they once thought.
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When Dimple Met Rishi - By Sandhya Menon
I love Dimple! She has so much sass and brains, and reading about her made me feel like I could do anything. Menon’s novel is sharp, and balances family life with growing up so very well. This was the first book I read in awhile that felt like the characters could be my friends in real life. Citing Dimple’s obsession with iced coffee, and her strong sense of unfairness when her parents don’t listen felt like every time my friends and I ever had anything to complain about.
Setting these teens at a school program really grounds the story for readers who may not be use to the elements from Indian culture. With Dimple’s parents trying to set her up for a future marriage, cultures clash, without making any of it seem wrong. Of course Rishi thinks it’s great idea, and lines up with his culture, and will make him and his family happy. While at the same time of course Dimple doesn’t want any part of it, sees her parents as massively overstepping, and wants nothing more than to achieve her own goals before she ties herself down to anyone.
Reading their story it’s great seeing how Dimple shows Rishi the value of independence, while Rishi shows her things to love about their shared culture. Regardless of what happens in the future, Menon shows that there are ways to combine tradition and innovation and that romance shouldn’t come at the cost of your dreams.
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K-Pop Confidential - By Stephan Lee
This book is pure drama in all the ways I wanted it to be. Stephan Lee does great work showing how cutthroat K-pop idol training is. Candace gives a great introduction to the world of Korean culture through her family’s strong ties to their heritage, while representing the American norms she grew up with.
As Candace travels to Korea to join a trainee program she faces much more than the hard work she expected. I loved reading about her efforts to fit in, and learning about her team members, and family, and her own pop idols. Through it all Candance sticks to her beliefs, and works hard to stay true to herself while under immense pressure. Reading K-pop Confidential is a great rid that works hard to resolve story lines in a rewarding way, while still leaving readers longing for a sequel.
and Candace is right, BlackPink’s song BOOMBAYAH, is iconic! And it has been stuck in my head ever since.
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Ronit & Jamil - By Pamela L. Laskin
Laskin does what she set out to do concisely, and the resulting book of poems is a small and brilliant light in a fearful world. An Israeli girl and a Palestinian boy falling in love is very fitting to the source material of Romeo and Juliet, and the poems are short, sweet, and written in a more relatable language than Shakespeare.
The real world setting lends a certain realness to the story, and writing has the dramatic feel of teenagers in love. This is a book I devoured in one sitting, which only seemed to make it better. A lot of readers online seem to think the story is too quick, but I feel that that is part of the charm. of course they fall in love suddenly and dramatically, that’s how the original material went as well. These short verses do what they set out to do and I think that’s the most important part.
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Dread Nation - By Justina Ireland
This is not your typical zombie book. Ireland thoughtfully crafts a unique setting that reflects racial issues, while allowing readers to take a step away from day to day life. In a world where the civil war ended with zombies, and many slaves find themselves “free” but locked in terrible dangerous jobs. Jane has one of the better jobs lined up, in school to learn zombie killing skills in order to serve high society families.
I like that the main character is working to better herself, while still basically a slave she focuses on educating herself and others, and solving increasingly creepy cases of zombie outbreaks and corruption. Jane realizes how badly society has treated her and others like her, and pushes for survival anyway, her fight is strong, and her story is very real to many people who read it, with just a fe extra zombies.
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The Noble Servant - by Melanie Dickerson
I decided to pick something outside my typical reads, and grabbed this fairytale inspired romance, The Noble Servant by Melanie Dickerson, which is a playful version of The Goose Girl and The Prince And The Pauper. I really like novels that take inspiration from classic stories and myths, but I’ve never read many fairytale inspired stories.
While the characters and story seemed really exciting, with mistaken identities, and nefarious villains, but overall it feels a little bland. Dickerson is a Christian author, and I expected the romance to be subtle and live up to very traditional values. However she really makes a point of brining up God and prayer a lot more than I was expecting. While there are plenty of sweet and sassy moments between various characters, they’re also broken up by long periods of repetitive reflection, paired with constantly switching prospective between the two main characters, which makes it a bit harder to get through.
Overall though, The Noble Servant is a sweet love story, and a very relaxing read, great for anyone looking for a romance with strong Christian values.
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The Star-Touched Queen - By Roshani Chokshi
This book has a ton of cool myths that I’ve never heard of from western style authors. I love that Chokshi is able to tie in both cultural expectations of family, while also keeping the characters independent and unique. The love story is based on multiple Hindu myths and epics, and uses gorgeous language that any romance reader will instantly adore.
I appreciate that the main character Maya isn’t looking for love, but also, she isn’t NOT looking for love, it feels a lot more genuine to your everyday person. Maya shines in many ways, from her clever resourcefulness as she sneaks around to hear what powerful men are up to, to her caring so deeply for her younger sister. It builds a ground work for the many choices she makes later in the story. Maya’s journey is definitely in line with traditional epic poems, but with a modern writing style The Star-Touched Queen is able to pull in readers and make them feel at home.
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Orpheus Girl - By Brynne Rebele-Henry
Orpheus Girl By Brynne Rebele-Henry is short, intense, and amazing. I love how Greek myths are pulled in, and how even though the overall tone is pretty dark, with Raya and her girlfriend both being sent from their small town to a conversion camp, in the end this is a hopefully story.
Another thing I like about this book is the disjointed quality it's prose has. Instead of chapters, most of Raya's story is told in short scenes and flashbacks, with major changes marked into separate sections. It's fitting for how chaotic the story is, upending the lives of its characters and bringing the reader with them.
While I prefer happier LGBTQ stories, there is definitely a place for books about conversion therapy, especially considering that some people still believe that it is the correct path for queer youth to take despite all evidence against it. Stories that show what these experiences are like may help open the mind of readers to see how harmful these situations can be. It also stands firm in it's belief that there's nothing wrong about being queer, while showing the development of a wonderful relationship based in friendship, and offers hope for a kinder future.
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Almost American Girl - by Robin Ha
Graphic Memoirs are wonderful! While a traditional biography might feel like a lot, graphic, or illustrated, memoirs make nonfiction a bit more approachable and still manage to pack in a lot of information.
Robin Ha’s story of moving from South Korea to America is especially suited to this format, since the author is a life long manga fan. The illustrations also help show the differences between the two countries, while color coded fonts point out language differences. A lot of little things point out how different Robin feels from those around her, and not just the Americans, but her extended family too.
Robin’s story does just as much to point out unfair cultural expectations in Korea as it does to point out how hard American culture is to learn. And throughout it all Robin acts probably the way I would have acted, making everything feel more relatable.
It’s easy to see how she feels, and when she changes. Seeing Robin stand up to bullies, or make new friends feels like a monumental victory. They’re victories that readers can get behind too, showing that the regular everyday challenges in this story matter just as much as the big changes.
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Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me - By Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell
This is one of the best and gayest books I have read lately. It is a gem of queer representation, and if that's not enough, the art with its three color scheme is phenomenal!
Tamaki's writing is dramatic, and does a lot with a little. I love how the story is framed through the main character's (Freddy) emails to an advice column. It makes the book feel a lot more unique than if it was a diary entry, or just floating narration. And looking at the art, it's clear that the same unique style shows through with standard black and white pages hit with little pops of pink, pulling the readers across every part of the page to really take in the details.
The story is so fun too, it's really a world I want to spend time in, and I love watching the pink ink highlight different things to show what the characters are focused on, and how the focus changes as the story progresses.
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The Vanishing Stair - by Maureen Johnson
Maureen Johnson is a master in the field of YA writing, and with good reason. Apart from having 22 books under her name (with three more coming out this year!), her writing style shifts from bordering-on-insane-hyperbole of teen drama, to decisive and serious. Which is much the same way she approaches life, with a down to earth view and an absurd sense of humor (I can easily say that following her twitter was a good choice) her characters read as very true to life, and while they probably won't become part of western cannon, her books focus on plot over name dropping and fads of some popular (and already dated) series.
The Truly Devious series is no exception, and The Vanishing Stair is an amazing second act to the trilogy as readers continue to follow Stevie Bell, aspiring detective, and her friends through web of mystery at their elite and very weird boarding school.
Which speaking of, much the same way The Similars by Hanover checked all the fun boxes for a YA mystery. Weird boarding school, conspiracies, ominous links to crime, but Johnson keeps everything shrouded in mystery, making readers work hard to figure out the case, and pairs it with consistent character growth that makes Stevie and her friends more likeable with every chapter.
However, it's not just the characters that pull you into this one. The mystery is no joke, a cold case that includes flashbacks to the rich founder of Stevie's school as he tries to find his kidnapped wife and daughter. paired with mysterious student disappearances in the present day. Clues are everywhere and answers are hard to find, definitely making this a compelling story that is worth checking out.
P.S.
With the Truly Devious Trilogy all wrapped up, don't forget about The Box In The Woods, set to come out in June! A stand alone Mystery featuring Stevie Bell.
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The Similars - by Rebecca Hanover
This thriller-esque story had all the things I love in a good sci-fi book. Of course that begs the question, why didn't I like it more? Hanover's near-future high-tech elite boarding school setting holds all the buzz words I look for, on top of that add in clones, conspiracies, and a complicated (though obvious) villain with a private island? Everything made me more and more excited to keep reading. As the story progressed however, it felt like a drag, the characters felt vaguely robotic. With the main character, Emmaline, starting the novel grieving the sudden death of her best friend, she played the part until it seemed like like a tired recording at which point the story took off and the emotions disappeared in favor of mystery.
I think my biggest complaint is that for all the twists in the story, the people involved felt flat, making any surprise feel like just another day. It left a curiosity lingering, and while I am intrigued enough to seek out the second book, it's probably a bit further down my list than other sequels.
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Winterkeep - by Kristin Cashore
The Graceling Realms Series are some of my all time favorite books, so when I heard there was a fourth book coming out I was jump-up-and-down levels of happy. All of the books in this series focus on the stories of young women and what they can do with the power they hold. Ranging from super human fighters, to queens, to ordinary girls, Cashore’s characters show that everyone has something they can do.
Winterkeep is set in a country of the same name and focuses on Bitterblue (the young queen of a kingdom across the sea) and Lovisa (the daughter of prolific politicians). While the book has other narrators as well, they really serve to progress the story of these two women.
The story itself is great, with a lot of political intrigue that’s split between Bitterblue’s decisive choices as a queen, and Lovisia’s endless questions as a political science student.
Both girls also share Cashore’s signature sex positive style, making this definitely a pick for older teens, but also a great book that talks openly about relationships without shame, which is still hard to find in some places.
Apart from all that though Winterkeep is an adventure story, about finding new places and learning new things and it’s a great read
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Heretics Anonymous - by Katie Henry
Katie Henry’s debut book reads like a love letter to what the church could be. Her characters are nuanced, and very real. Starting with Michael, our atheist protagonist, switching into a strict catholic school, and including his new friends all sharing various reasons they don’t fit in, by the end of the book we hear surprising stories about other kids, family members, even nuns, that make the world of St. Clare’s Catholic School feel like it’s just around the corner.
I really appreciate that the central plot of the book revolves around being considerate of others. With every revelation we see the characters grow and change as they learn about others, in a way that is normalized and expected of everyone.
Of course being set in a Catholic high school there’s a lot of theology talk, but like all other issues, Henry handles it skillfully with emphasis on things the church does well, and not shying away from talking about what should change. This ties in with the students as well, reflecting how they change throughout the story and encourages growth from all angles.
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Out to Get You: 13 Tales of Weirdness and Woe - by Josh Allen
I am a huge wimp when it comes to horror! I cant stand scary movies, any sort of suspenseful story, or spooky books. Therefore, I chose an anthology, to give myself built in breaks. Even with this I found the stories spooky, and while entirely appropriate for kids, I felt totally creeped out!
Allen went with a great angle for his stories, rather than basing them on anything from existing stories many of his characters horrors find themselves rooted in imagination. Sarah Coleman’s art adds to the creep factor with bold black and white drawings that in some places even seem to be slipping off the page, as if they want to escape too.
Having an anthology really adds to the stories as well, delivering bite-sized doses of horror follows in the style of the classic Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, and it definitely shares the undeniable readability, in a way that will only encourage the book to be passed around with flashlights at slumber parties.
I’m glad this book is out there for anyone who wants to spook their friends, but I for one am glad I can return it to the library for the next unsuspecting reader.
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Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself To Freedom - by Carole Boston Weatherford
This book is the first time I heard about Henry Box Brown, and his journey through the mail. Picked for Black history month, This book of poems covers the live of a boy born into slavery as he grows, marries, loses his family, and escapes to freedom though a wooden crate.
Michele Wood’s Illustrations help enhance how crazy this story seems with abstract and disproportional figures. While Weatherford’s writing is bold, starting even before the title page with a concrete poem about a box.
The story itself is well suited to the short poems used, making the often brutal and sad events of Henry’s life bearable by framing them in verses offering clear breaks for the reader and distinguishing separate events clearly.
It’s hard to say how a reader should feel by the end of this book, but that’s one of the nice things about reading, that any reader can have a different reaction to a story. I like to think this story is a realistic look at the horrors of the past, with the included timeline and recommended reads meant to further educate. But after all, as MLK Jr. once said “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
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Hello Lighthouse - by Sophie Blackall
Blackall’s book seems to have all the perfect trappings of a bedtime story. from the soft colors of the illustrations, to poetic repetition heavy lines. Nearly every page calls out “Hello! Hello! Hello!” as if the book is trying to match the pulsing spin of the lighthouse’s big lamp. Even the structure of the book matches the theme, long and narrow to match both the lighthouse and it’s keeper. Even the pictures of the waves and the wind and the keeper’s wife go around and around, like the rooms they live in.
It’s great for showing off how repetitive this very important job is. A detail that is also spoken of in the author’s letter in the back of the book (the best part!). Blackall’s letter also shows how passionate she is about lighthouses, which shows on every page of the story, making it easy to see why it won a Caldecott.
My favorite part of this story is how well it shows this often very lonely job, as a family story instead. Blackall points out how often lighthouse keepers may have had an assistant stay with them, of their whole family, which makes the whole story comforting and familiar to children, as they can easily picture their own families in such a position.
What really helps push this simple story into award winning status, is the joy that rings out with every “Hello! Hello! Hello!” and equal joy that signals the end with a matching “Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye!”
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