Review: Mission to Pluto: The First Visit to an Ice Dwarf and the Kuiper Belt

Mission to Pluto: The First Visit to an Ice Dwarf and the Kuiper Belt by Mary Kay Carson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is an amazing book. The text is readable and interesting. The people are presented in interesting ways. The information is solid. And the pictures and illustrations are fabulous. If I were still teaching, I would definitely include this in my personal classroom library. A magnificent book for older kids and interested adults.

View all my reviews

Review: The Length of a String

The Length of a String by Elissa Brent Weissman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In spite of this fairly common trope - connecting the past to the present through a diary - I found this book engrossing and worthwhile. The characters are well-drawn and the story interesting. The connections between past and present are sometimes a bit tenuous, but, in a way, that only adds to the feeling that sometimes you just can't know everything and you must accept what you do know.

Aside: in this digital age, I wonder what will take the place of these olden-days, relatively ubiquitous diaries. Having recently needed to look for old photographs for an upcoming wedding, I discovered that digitized pictures aren't always as available as I thought. My current computer doesn't have a CD reader attached and I didn't upload all of the pictures from my first computer era. Interestingly, the most accessible, but most tedious to use, are the (hard copy) pictures in that I long ago placed in albums. I wonder how children generations from now will find out about their heritage.

View all my reviews

Review: The Length of a String

The Length of a String by Elissa Brent Weissman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In spite of this fairly common trope - connecting the past to the present through a diary - I found this book engrossing and worthwhile. The characters are well-drawn and the story interesting. The connections between past and present are sometimes a bit tenuous, but, in a way, that only adds to the feeling that sometimes you just can't know everything and you must accept what you do know.

Aside: in this digital age, I wonder what will take the place of these olden-days, relatively ubiquitous diaries. Having recently needed to look for old photographs for an upcoming wedding, I recently discovered that digitized pictures aren't as available as I thought. My current computer doesn't have a CD reader attached and I didn't upload all of the pictures from my first computer era. Interestingly, the most accessible, but most tedious to use, are the (hard copy) pictures in that I long ago placed in albums. I wonder how children generations from now will find out about their heritage.

View all my reviews

Review: Dietland

Dietland by Sarai Walker
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It is a bit too disturbing for my tastes. It makes some good points, but I had to skim over parts of it, because I am a chicken reader.

View all my reviews

Review: Middle School: Escape to Australia

Middle School: Escape to Australia by James Patterson
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I am glad this book exists, so that middle school kids, usually boys, have something funny to read. The premise is beyond unlikely, so if they can swallow that, the rest of the book is ha ha hilarious. Or not. I am not the right demographic for this book. I don't think bullying or harassing people is funny. And puke and poop jokes just aren't for me either. Out of masochism, I did actually read the whole book, so there is that to be said for it. Other than that, I will pass.

View all my reviews

Review: Front Desk

Front Desk by Kelly Yang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the story. I am sometimes worried when a book tries to take on too many problems at one time, but all of the different side problems in this instance are tied together neatly into one whole. Rather than distracting, they show different aspects of the same problem and how they differently effect each person. It could easily have slipped into tokenism (one black man, one white woman, one Latino friend, etc.), but it didn't feel like that. It doesn't have the depth that would make it an all time classic for me, but it certainly is worthy.

View all my reviews

Review: The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle

The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle by Christina Uss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book came to me at an interesting time. I have been following the progress of a person who called himself the Cycling Sketcher. He started in Virginia and bicycled to California. As often as he could, he would accompany his daily progress with a watercolor sketch. This is basically what the protagonist in this story does as well. Given that she is supposedly 12 years old and has only a small amount of money, you know the story will be completely far-fetched (and it was), but it was rather endearing, anyway. If I can set aside my penchant for realistic stories that are really realistic, rather than obviously fantasy, I must admit, I enjoyed this MC for her determination and persistence. And her observations of people.

View all my reviews