Review: Bloomability

Bloomability by Sharon Creech
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is actually a re-read and I just skimmed the last half of the book. I enjoyed this book for the gentle look at the confusion of young teenage-ness. Why is one person so enthusiastic about just living? Why is another so demanding? Where does that strength of character/personality come from? Why don't I have it?

When I was 16/17, I was a foreign student in Germany and I remember wondering why I was there. I was not the foreign student type: I was not a bubbly extravert who was out to make friends all over the world. I was a semi-intellectual, pretend nerd. What was I really doing there? This is the part of the book that really speaks to me.

Eventually, like Dinnie, I did come to make real friends and I count my German family as some of the deepest and longest lasting ones. And the experience was a turning point in my life, but at the time, I wasn't sure why. Re-reading this now, I want to assure Dinnie that she will look back on that year as a turning point for her, too. It is a fabulous experience to live in another country for a year.

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Review: The Whale Rider

The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I understand the strong appeal of this book. It is cultural and religious and racial identity all wrapped into one. And I found the story appealing as well. I am not of a particularly mystical or religious bent, though, and the poetical and lyrical sections didn't grab me to the core, as I would expect they would for people who identify with that culture. But I am very glad I read it. It gives me some insight into the Maori culture, in preparation for a planned trip to New Zealand.

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Review: Lupin Leaps In

Lupin Leaps In by Georgia Dunn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I collect cartoons and comics, and I am a cat lover, so I am somewhat biased, but I am not ashamed to admit that I really like this strip. Its gentle humor from the cat perspective is a winner. And the illustrations are very appealing. I am a bit surprised that the blurb for this book describes it as a middle grade book. It is my impression that it is more ageless. It seems to me that it would appeal to anyone who likes gentle humor and the antics of cats.

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Review: Eventown

Eventown by Corey Ann Haydu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I found this a bit heavy-handed with the forgetting thing - alluded to too many times. But that was the point, so I guess it was necessary. I am not sure why I ended up reading two identical-twin books one after the other (The Lost Girl), but I did. This one, I could actually tell the two girls apart, but the differences almost seemed exaggerated. OK, but I am not sure it would appeal to that many kids. I think the most interesting person in the book was actually the MC's friend's mother.

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Review: The Lost Girl

The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This really wasn't my thing. I know it was supposed to be touching and affirming, but I couldn't get into all of the strangeness. First of all, I had a hard time keeping the two twins separate in my mind. The twin that was supposed to have one characteristic kept showing the other characteristic. That could have been part of the point, but it didn't seem to be. Second of all, it hurt me whenever the parents and the school people kept insisting that they had made the best decision for the girls' sake. I once made a decision for one of my children that the child later felt was wrong and I tried to rectify it. No one seemed to feel the girls had anything valid to say. Yes, I know: parents do sometimes have to make difficult decisions for their children. In this case, I felt they needed more buy-in from the children. And, finally magical realism evidently isn't my thing. The author took what could have been a good real-life problem and added a bunch of mystical / magical / supernatural whatever that seemed unnecessary and confusing. I am evidently an outlier with regard to reviewers of this book, however. Take it with a grain of salt.

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Review: The World Is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid

The World Is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid by Jeanette Winter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an interesting book for young people about a female, Iraqi architect, who had unconventional ideas of how to design buildings. Her works embraced many forms, but took inspiration fromQ nature and natural surroundings. Like other reviewers, I would have liked to have seen photographs of the works along with the drawings, but similarly, their absence led me to look them up on the internet. I like that the book includes some of the obstacles she had to face and some disappointments, but also mentions her determination to keep on doing her work, anyway. Interesting and worthwhile.

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Review: Write to Me: Letters from Japanese American Children to the Librarian They Left Behind

Write to Me: Letters from Japanese American Children to the Librarian They Left Behind by Cynthia Grady
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a fascinating book about the internment of Japanese children during WWII and their correspondence with the librarian, Clara Breed. Breed wrote regularly to around 30 children who were imprisoned and sent them books and other supplies. Highly recommended.

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Review: Owls Do Cry

Owls Do Cry by Janet Frame
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I cheat-read this book. I read enough of it to follow what was happening and to feel the mood, but I skipped over significant portions of it. I feel a bit guilty about this for a review, but I am going to review it anyway. The book is masterful - in language, in structure, in characterization, but it is also too much, for me at least. It is the kind of writing that people who actually know something about literature really love: evocative, deep, metaphorical. But I, unfortunately, am much more plebeian. I prefer a good story, with some depth, but not this much. Still, if you are literarily inclined, I would highly recommend it.

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