Happy Pub Day to all of these new books!
What books are you most excited for this week?
Title: Duck Days (Slug Days Stories #3)
Author: Sara Leach, Rebecca Bender (illustrator)
Genre: Children’s, Contemporary
Publisher: Pajama Press
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback arc
Release Date: October 13, 2020
Rating: ★★★★
The third title in the collection that began with USBBY Outstanding International Book Slug Days. Lauren, a third-grade student who has Autism Spectrum Disorder, takes on the challenges of sharing her best friend and persevering when a classmate mocks her bicycle’s training wheels.
Irma is Lauren’s best friend. Irma knows all the strategies Lauren uses when her Autism Spectrum Disorder makes it hard to “go with the flow.” Lauren helps Irma learn English words and understand unfamiliar customs. So why does Irma suddenly want to introduce Lauren to her mountain-biking, litter-dropping neighbor Jonas? Why is Irma calling Jonas her friend?
As if sharing Irma weren’t bad enough, Lauren also has an alarming new problem at school. Their teacher has announced a mountain biking day when the students will learn to ride their bikes on an obstacle course. But Lauren still uses training wheels. She just can’t face the teasing she will get when her classmates see them. She isn’t brave like Irma. She can’t go with the flow like Dad. How can she possibly face this challenge?
Irma is Lauren’s best friend. Irma has immigrated from Sweden, and she is still learning to speak English. Lauren is on the Autism Spectrum, so while she helps Irma with her English, Irma helps Lauren with techniques to cope with her Autism. One day, Irma introduces Lauren to her new friend, Jonas. Lauren gets upset that Irma now has a new friend. Jonas wants to teach them some bike riding tricks, which intimidates Lauren because she still uses training wheels. When her teacher schedules a bike riding activity, Lauren has to find the courage to ride her bike with training wheels in front of her class.
I loved the Autism representation in this story. Lauren had a lot of visual techniques to help figure out the world around her. She would make hand signals with her father to signal how she was coping with the current situation. Her teacher taught her with flash cards with emotional cues in facial expressions so she could try to read the emotions on the faces of other people. Lauren’s Autism also meant that she liked to have everything scheduled, so when Irma brought another friend over to play with them, it threw her off. Lauren ended up liking Jonas too, so the experience wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be, even though it changed her planned schedule.
Lauren helped Irma with her English, which showed some representation of the immigrant experience. Irma had to go to school and learn a language that she wasn’t familiar with, but she had the courage to do it every day. Lauren would correct Irma’s language, but at least Irma was trying to speak, even when she got it wrong. They were both brave little girls.
This is a great children’s book!
Thank you Pajama Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Have you read Duck Days? What did you think of it?
This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!
This weekend I finished Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers.
I’m currently reading Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten.
Next I will be reading Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao.
What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?
Here are my reviews for the week with my ratings:
I did 8 weekly blogging memes:
How was your week? What did you guys read?
The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
This Sunday I’m reading Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten.
St. Petersburg, 1725. Peter the Great lies dying in his magnificent Winter Palace. The weakness and treachery of his only son has driven his father to an appalling act of cruelty and left the empire without an heir. Russia risks falling into chaos. Into the void steps the woman who has been by his side for decades: his second wife, Catherine Alexeyevna, as ambitious, ruthless and passionate as Peter himself.
Born into devastating poverty, Catherine used her extraordinary beauty and shrewd intelligence to ingratiate herself with Peter’s powerful generals, finally seducing the Tsar himself. But even amongst the splendor and opulence of her new life—the lavish feasts, glittering jewels, and candle-lit hours in Peter’s bedchamber—she knows the peril of her position. Peter’s attentions are fickle and his rages powerful; his first wife is condemned to a prison cell, her lover impaled alive in Red Square. And now Catherine faces the ultimate test: can she keep the Tsar’s death a secret as she plays a lethal game to destroy her enemies and take the Crown for herself?
From the sensuous pleasures of a decadent aristocracy, to the incense-filled rites of the Orthodox Church and the terror of Peter’s torture chambers, the intoxicating and dangerous world of Imperial Russia is brought to vivid life. Tsarina is the story of one remarkable woman whose bid for power would transform the Russian Empire.”
What book are you in bed with today?
This meme is hosted by Steph at A little but a lot. The weekly prompts for 2019 can be found here.
This week’s prompt is Children’s Books That Would Make Brilliant Graphic Novels. Here’s my list:
(All book covers from Goodreads)
Did you make a Six for Sunday list?
Title: Cracked Up to Be
Author: Courtney Summers
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: February 4, 2020 (originally December 23, 2008)
Rating: ★★★★
When “Perfect” Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all of St. Peter’s High goes on alert. How has the cheerleading captain, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school, consummate teacher’s pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace?
Parker doesn’t want to talk about it. She’d just like to be left alone, to disappear, to be ignored. But her parents have placed her on suicide watch and her conselors are demanding the truth. Worse, there’s a nice guy falling in love with her and he’s making her feel things again when she’d really rather not be feeling anything at all.
Nobody would have guessed she’d turn out like this. But nobody knows the truth.
Something horrible has happened, and it just might be her fault.
Parker Fadley was a perfect student, the captain of the cheerleading team and on the honor roll. In her senior year, she stopped doing her school work and started drinking at school. Her boyfriend has broken up with her, but wants her back, and a new boy at school wants to date her. Parker can’t stand the attention, and she’s on constant suicide watch by the school administration. Something really bad happened before Parker’s senior year, and she feels like she’s to blame.
Parker started out as an unlikeable character. There was an author’s note at the beginning that said it was difficult to get this book published because Parker was so unlikeable. Parker broke the rules and didn’t listen to advice. She didn’t even do things she really wanted to at times, because she felt like she didn’t deserve it. Once I found out what happened, I could understand where Parker was coming from and why she behaved the way she did. Her feelings were valid, and this is the only way her story could be told.
There were some triggers in this book, including alcohol abuse, rape, suicide, and the death of an animal. The death of the animal was really upsetting to me. I find it so hard to read about the death or abuse of animals. It’s the one thing that usually makes me stop reading a book. This one wasn’t a major part of the plot, but I don’t like reading that in any story. The other triggering topics were major parts of the plot and affected the way the story played out so they needed to be there, but the death of the animal was upsetting to me.
I liked this story, but it was a heavy read with only a little optimism at the end.
Have you read Cracked Up to Be? What did you think of it?
Title: Girl, Serpent, Thorn
Author: Melissa Bashardoust
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Audiobook
Release Date: July 7, 2020
Rating: ★★★★
A captivating and utterly original fairy tale about a girl cursed to be poisonous to the touch, and who discovers what power might lie in such a curse…
There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it’s not just a story.
As the day of her twin brother’s wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she’s willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn’t afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison.
Soraya thought she knew her place in the world, but when her choices lead to consequences she never imagined, she begins to question who she is and who she is becoming…human or demon. Princess or monster.
Soraya is a princess who was cursed with a poisonous touch. She couldn’t touch anyone, because her touch would kill them. Soraya has been locked away by her family because of her curse. One day, a young man encourages her to come out of hiding. He is the only one who isn’t afraid of her. He makes Soraya question her curse and who she is destined to become.
This was a beautiful fairy tale story. It started with a classic fairy tale curse, with Soraya not being able to touch anyone without killing them. There was a history to her curse and a reason why she was cursed, which followed a traditional fairy tale plot. I wasn’t familiar with the Persian folklore and terms used in this story, so I loved hearing about it in this story. There were many demons and deception that made for a suspenseful story.
The only problem I had with the audiobook was that I wasn’t familiar with the words so they were a little difficult to understand through just listening. This is a personal issue I had with the book, so I didn’t hold it against the book in my rating. At the end of the story, there was an author’s note which explained the words and their meanings, but I would have found it more helpful at the beginning. I think I would have gotten a lot more out of the story if I had been able to read this in print.
I enjoyed this audiobook, but I’d love to read it in print.
Thank you Macmillan Audio for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Have you read Girl, Serpent, Thorn? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Wandering Words, where you give the first few lines of a book to hook your readers before introducing the book.
Here are my first lines:
“Once upon always and never again, in an ancient city by the sea, three sisters worked by candlelight.”
Do you recognize these first lines?
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And the book is… Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly.
Isabelle should be blissfully happy – she’s about to win the handsome prince. Except Isabelle isn’t the beautiful girl who lost the glass slipper and captured the prince’s heart. She’s the ugly stepsister who’s cut off her toes to fit into Cinderella’s shoe … which is now filling with blood.
When the prince discovers Isabelle’s deception, she is turned away in shame. It’s no more than she deserves: she is a plain girl in a world that values beauty; a feisty girl in a world that wants her to be pliant.
Isabelle has tried to fit in. To live up to her mother’s expectations. To be like her stepsister. To be sweet. To be pretty. One by one, she has cut away pieces of herself in order to survive a world that doesn’t appreciate a girl like her. And that has made her mean, jealous, and hollow.
Until she gets a chance to alter her destiny and prove what ugly stepsisters have always known: it takes more than heartache to break a girl.
Have you read Stepsister? What did you think of it?
Title: Miss Meteor
Author: Tehlor Kay Mejia and Anna-Marie McLemore
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, LGBT
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback ARC
Release Date: September 22, 2020
Rating: ★★★★
There hasn’t been a winner of the Miss Meteor beauty pageant who looks like Lita Perez or Chicky Quintanilla in all its history. But that’s not the only reason Lita wants to enter the contest, or why her ex-best friend Chicky wants to help her. The road to becoming Miss Meteor isn’t about being perfect; it’s about sharing who you are with the world—and loving the parts of yourself no one else understands. So to pull off the unlikeliest underdog story in pageant history, Lita and Chicky are going to have to forget the past and imagine a future where girls like them are more than enough—they are everything.
Witty and heartfelt with characters that leap off the page, Miss Meteor is acclaimed authors Anna-Marie McLemore and Tehlor Kay Mejia’s first book together.
Lita Perez has never felt like she fit in in her town of Meteor. Years ago, a meteor hit their town, giving it the name of Meteor. When it hit, Lita was created from the star dust. She grew up with the appearance of a human, but she’s from the stars. Now, that background is starting to affect Lita. She wants to fulfill her dream of becoming Miss Meteor by winning the beauty pageant in their town. She gets the help of her former best friend, Chicky, and Chicky’s older sisters who have competed in the pageant in the past. Chicky and Lita have never been the popular girls, and they’ve both been bullied, so they have to work extra hard to make Lita stand out in the competition.
This story had great queer representation. One of the characters was transgender. The way it was described by that character was that his family thought he was a girl when he was born, but they were wrong. This description takes the “blame” off the person who comes out as transgender, since they didn’t choose to be that way. Instead it shows that other people were wrong in assuming he was a girl as a child. I loved this description, since it takes the pressure off the person for being transgender and shows that it isn’t a choice.
There was a lot of bullying in this story, including transphobia, xenophobia, and homophobia. These acts and abuses were addressed. At first, I found it shocking that characters were saying these things to other characters in such a casual way. This shows how bullying can happen in casual ways, including by people who are closely related to you. Eventually it was addressed, but it was upsetting and shocking to read at some points.
The one thing that I would have liked to see more of is an explanation on how Lita came to be in Meteor. It wasn’t very clear how she was created from star dust. It was an interesting and fun science fiction storyline which left me with some questions.
I really enjoyed this original pageant story.
Thank you HarperCollins Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Have you read Miss Meteor? What did you think of it?
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