Biblio Reviews

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (2013) by Chris Grabenstein is one of the very few children's books I've read this year. For me, it is a mix of Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)   and Raskin's The Westing Game (1978). Mr. Lemoncello is a modern day Willy Wonka who loves puzzles and books, and the story Grabenstein spins is a captivating one. The book is a page turner, an overall good update to Willy Wonka, with a very likable narrator in Kyle Keeley. The English teacher in me appreciates the author's goal to encourage kids to read by understanding and experiencing libraries as magical places. (Rating: 3.5/5). Waiting for Clark  (2015) by Annabeth Albert was another read based on a CBR review. It's also another of those m/m romances that I absolutely loved. At ninety-five pages, the story was wholly satisfying and just about the right length. Five years ago, as college roomies, Bryce Weyland and Clark Kenmore shared a kiss, one that...

Sarina Bowen's   The Understatement of the Year  (2014) was the first m/m romance I ever read. It wasn't a genre of romance that I ever really thought about, especially because I'm more into historical romances. Nonetheless, I read it after reading a CBR review of it. Reading this story of Michael Graham and John Rikker made me think of some of my former male students who came out after high school. I remember thinking how wonderful it would have been for them to have had stories like this to read because the featured characters were close to their own age and had relatable fears and experiences. Well-written with likable characters and a reasonable plot, I loved  The Understatement of the Year  and highly recommend it as a romance and not just as porn on the page, which I've found to be the case with many m/m "romances."  (Rating: 4/5) Looking at my orders history on Amazon, I followed up my purchase of  The Understatement of the Year  with...

What would China's population be today if the government had not stepped in to control the population's growth? In 1979, China faced a problem: With one billion people, the country made up 25% of the world's population. In 1980, to combat this problem, China instituted its population-control program: the one child per family policy, an unprecedented, radical take on population control. Mei Fong's  One Child: The Story of China's Most Radical Experiment  (2016)   details the unintended consequences of that policy. Part memoir and more investigative journalism, Fong does a serviceable job of providing context for understanding the why and how of the policy before examining its short and long-term consequences: An estimated 13 million people live as undocumented children because they were born out of "plan." China is a bachelor society creating an imbalance of young men who feel aimless, hopeless, sad, and lonely. China has more than 40% of the world...

Reading  The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland  (2016) by Rebekah Crane, I found myself thinking about history and what the books of today, the ones that resonate years from now, will reflect about the preoccupations and struggles of this historical period in which they've been published. I also thought about John Green's  The Fault in Our Stars  (2012), if only because the characters of these two books seem to deal with snarky teens who are dealing with some serious health issues. Whereas  The Fault in Our Stars  deals with cancer,  The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland  deals with teen mental health. Sixteen-year old Zander Osborne is spending her summer at Camp Padua, a camp for at-risk teens who seem to suffer from some form of a social-emotional-psychological issue. There's Cassie, a self-described manic-depressive-bipolar-anorexic; Alex Trebek, better-known as Bek, a pathological liar; and the titular Grover Cleveland who anticipates becoming ...

There was a heaviness to my chest after I finished Skloot's  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks  (2010). I was in the midst of what felt like a social, emotional, philosophical, and moral gyre that highlighted the uglies of science, race, poverty, and many -- isms . I couldn't put into words what I was feeling because there was just too much. Skloot, however, had already put into words what overwhelmed me so much by addressing the following questions in the  FAQ  section of her website about this book: Q:  Why is the story of Henrietta Lacks so important? The story of the HeLa cells is important for many of reasons: It’s about race and class and science and ethics and the importance of access to education and health care, all of which are vital current issues. Q:  What messages should be taken from the story? Some of that depends on each individual reader, because there are a lot of potential messages from the book: it’s about trust, race and medici...

Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke's The Cinderella Murder  (2014), is an "Under Suspicion" novel. A fictionalized made-for-TV version of  Serial,  Under Suspicion is TV producer Laurie Moran's brainchild--a cold-case program that revisits unsolved crimes by recreating them with all the parties involved in the case--inspired by her own trauma. The program's debut led to the cold case being solved and had huge ratings. Rosemary Dempsey appeals to Laurie to take on her daughter's twenty-year-old case, known as The Cinderella Murder, for her next TV special with the hope that Laurie can produce the same result. Susan Dempsey was a beautiful and talented UCLA student and aspiring actress. She was found dead wearing only one shoe in a park near the home of then hot-shot, now Oscar-nominated Hollywood director with whom she was was set to audition. The plot revolves around the goings-on of Laurie's team as she prepares the production of the show along wit...

Heather Tullis' A Perfect Fit  (2014) is book one of her seven-book DiCarlo Brides series. Based on a good idea, the story ultimately falls flat due to immature writing. The Good The concept: At the reading of their billionaire father's will, two sisters born out of their father's marriage find out that four half-sisters exist. In addition, in order for them all to earn their inheritance, all six have to live together while they launch their late father's new resort. Through that journey, they also eventually meet each of the men their father had identified as their ideal match. To add another layer of complication, sinister figures attempt to destroy the empire the sisters are working to maintain. A Perfect Fit is Cami's story. She is the eldest daughter, the product of her parents' marriage who supposedly struggles the most coping with her father's duplicity. The Bad The execution, which is to say, the writing, the writing, the writing! Tullis...

What creates community? Paul Fleischman's Seedfolks (1997) is a gem of a novella that indirectly addresses this question (among others). Based on how the story ends, the answer seems simple: We build community by letting go of our prejudices and   getting to know people as individuals rather than as stereotypes. Narrated through the perspectives of thirteen ethnically diverse characters living on or near Gibb Street in Cleveland, Ohio, readers are taken on a journey of a neighborhood that transforms into a community--all because of a garden that flourishes from what was previously a vacant, rat-infested, trashy lot. Rich in language and symbolism with characters whose authentic voices and varying perspectives create a vivid portrait of the highs and lows of life,  Seedfolks  is also an uplifting read that highlights the power of storytelling in the hands of a skilled writer. As such, many truths can be gleaned from the story, the most important of which is that...

Night Shadow is the second story in the Exposed  (2016) repackaged first two stories of Nora Roberts' Night Tales Series. It features Cilla O'Rourke from book 1's sister, Deborah O'Roarke who has finished her studies and is now an assistant district attorney in the fictional city of Urbana. She meets her romantic interest, Gage Guthrie, when he saves her from being sexually assaulted in an alleyway...only she met him as alternate-ego-vigilante-superhero, Nemesis. What follows is a Batman inspired romance novel: There's a seemingly Playboy millionaire, his butler, a backstory, a secret cave, sinister criminals, and ruthless politicians who try to overtake the city. Deborah is the new, young, gorgeous, and successful attorney taking the city and its gossip pages by storm. Conflict arises when her ideals of law, order, and justice conflict with those of the man she's falling for. How do they reconcile those differences? On its own, Night Shadow is perfectl...

Hot and potent is apparently what a voice like hot whiskey is like, as described in Night Shift,  book 1 of Nora Roberts' Night Tales Series. Originally published in the early 1990's, the first two books have been repackaged in a two-for-one special entitled, Exposed  (2016). Night time DJ Cilla O'Roarke with the hot whiskey voice is being threatened by a sinister caller. Detective Boyd Fletcher is assigned to protect her. His attraction to Cilla is instantaneous and he has no problem letting her know of his desire to protect and pursue her. Insecure due to her failed marriage, embittered by her parents' deaths, focused on her work, and dedicated to supporting her younger sister, Cilla rejects Boyd's advances at first. But Boyd is unrelenting, as is Cilla's attraction to Boyd. What follows is a satisfying romance with a bit of mystery and suspense, though Boyd's approach to wooing Cilla may seem problematic to some today. A CBR8 Crossposted review.

The premise seems compelling: Two boys, same name, same background, same neighborhood. However, one becomes a Rhode Scholar and the other becomes an inmate serving a life sentence. What led to these boys' diverging paths? A reporting and analysis would be presented. Only, the final product did not deliver on that premise. Wes Moore's The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates (2010) is a New York Times  bestseller that is now common on many schools' summer reading list. That's how I came about purchasing it. In the end, I found the book stylistically bland, socially relevant, and politically irresponsible. In short, The Other Wes Moore does not deliver on its premise, for other than sharing the same name and being black, the two Moores have very little in common. This is because Wes Moore, the writer, comes from an environment rich in resources that enabled him to succeed: he was born from college-educated parents whose married partnership was intact, who had their ...

Pearl Cleage: sassy, seemingly self-assured and wise, I enjoyed her appearance on  The Oprah Winfrey Show  to promote her 1998 Oprah Book Club selection,  What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day  (1997), which I also enjoyed. Edwidge Danticat: a fellow compatriot, I've taken personal pride in her publishing success. James McBride: Winner of the 2013 National Book Award for Fiction for  The Good Lord Bird  (2013), his candidness during his acceptance speech and his interview with Anna Sale for her WNYC podcast  Death, Sex, & Money (one of my favorites)   drew me in. Cheryl Strayed: Best known for her memoir-turned-into-feature-film, Wild (2012), I mostly know of her wisdom and forthrightness in sharing thoughtful and empathic advice (along with co-host Steve Almond) on another of the best podcasts around, WBUR's  Dear Sugar Radio . What do these authors have in common--other than being published, successful writers? They are...

Tessa Dare's  A Night to Surrender  (2011) is the first of her Spindle Cove series. It stars Susanna Finch, the "spinster" mother hen of this village and Victor Bramwell, a recently wounded soldier who is intent on returning to active duty. That's what brings him to Spindle "Spinster" Cove, where he meets a group of emasculated men and unconventional women, the most alluring of whom for him is Susanna Finch. What follows is a humor-filled story full of hijinks and romance. Having read this title three months ago, I do remember enjoying it. Victor Bramwell, newly titled Earl of Rycliff, is a stubborn man but finds his match in Susanna, a woman way ahead of her time: She is an independent woman, and dare I say, a feminist (pun unintended). Together and apart, they are both fully fleshed characters. While the story dragged for me a little 3/4 of the way, there's enough heat and other interesting elements to make this romance overall very enjoyable. A N...

I didn't love Rose Lerner's  Sweet Disorder (2014) as much as Ellepkay  of CBR8 did, though her wonderful review is what sold me on reading it. Nonetheless, she is correct in identifying the nonstandard aspects of this romance as being its main appeal. Sweet Disorder is the story of Phoebe Sparks, a widow whose husband's voting rights get passed on to her new spouse, and Nick Dymond, an injured veteran and middle child of a politically active and ambitious family. Their paths cross when Nick's mom manipulates a depressed Nick to secure a political vote for his younger brother's campaign by marrying Phoebe off to a supporter of their political party. In the end, they both fall for each other which creates a bit of a problem for their family members. What I liked: Phoebe being a headstrong and adult heroine, though presented as foolishly too selfless Phoebe being a plumper heroine and that not being the driving force of the story Phoebe being a widow who was...

With Crossroads  (2015), Riley Hart presents a new world fantasy, one in which previously heterosexual males fall in love and have the full support of the majority of their family. In this story, we meet Nick Fuller, a newly divorced chef and restaurant owner who also just bought himself a duplex next to Bryce Tanner, mechanic and previous playboy who took years to find his passion in motorcycle repair. Nick is looking to start over, and after weeks of spending time with Bryce, their friendship develops into attraction--which confuses both as neither has ever had any gay inclinations. Though they question for one hot second what their attraction means, the fear of being labeled "gay" doesn't prevent them from moving forward. What follows is a lovely fantasy: Nick and Bryce suffer no angst and move full steam into a sexual and romantic relationship that sizzles and scorches off the pages! New to reading m/m romances, I was taken aback by the raw, coarse, and descriptiv...

Kwame Alexander's The Crossover (2014) is not a stereotypical basketball story: It isn't about impoverished black boys from a single parent female-headed household living in a crime-ridden neighborhood who play basketball to escape. Rather, it is a universal story of growing up, of family, and of love told in narrative verse (poetry). Related from the perspective of Josh "Filthy McNasty" Bell, The Crossover is about the experiences of almost thirteen year-old twins Josh and Jordan (JB) in a year when everything changes: JB's interests and time are no longer exclusive to basketball, which challenges Josh's sense of identity, and their father is facing a health crisis for which he refuses to seek medical help. In the end, after facing some adversity and developing some maturity, the boys move forward, united in their bond and responsibilities. Other than his vibrant use of language, a strong narrative voice, and his realistic portrayal of the speed, hea...

To date, I have not watched even one minute of James Cameron's historic blockbuster, Titanic (1998). I may be one of the few, for even my 12-13 year-old students have seen it and have recommended it to me. While it irritates me that Kate and Leo and Cameron's Titanic are cemented in their mind as the definitive Titanic story, I can appreciate the fact that the film provides them with an anchor for visualizing and understanding the events detailed in Walter Lord's  A Night to Remember  (1955), truly " the  classic account of the final hours of the  Titanic. " I had not heard of  A Night to Remember  previously and was scheduled to teach it. Not a fan of the book's structure--the minute-by-minute account through no fewer than twenty different perspectives--my colleague sold me the book as a complex bore of a read. For that reason, she only ever taught excerpts of it. Going into the reading, I was tentative because it had been made so unappealing. Far f...

I have been rooting for Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ever since I found out about her about five years ago. It was through her TEDTalk, " The Danger of a Single Story ," shared during a a professional development about what's been an ongoing conversation in my school district about school culture / cultural proficiency. That TED Talk is probably my favorite so far, if only because it applies more readily to the subject that I teach: English language arts. As such, it is a Talk that I share with every new group of students that I've taught. Though in 2008 she was the recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship, Adichie wasn't as well-known as I thought she deserved to be. So, it was with joy that I read the many positive reviews of  Americanah  (2013) posted for CBR. I was like, "Yay! She's on her way!" Deservedly so, as evidenced by  We Should All Be Feminists (2014), a transcription of her 2012 TEDxEuston Talk . What Adichie calls for i...

With no presence on social media, I have been missing out on the avalanche that is Rupi Kaur, a Toronto-based poet and photographer whose collection of poetry Milk and Honey (2015) was published in October. Apparently, social media had been her primary mode of building and promoting herself. I only became aware of her this past Friday, when, after sharing a few of my favorite poems with my students in recognition of National Poetry Month, one of my seventh grade girls came up to me at the end of class, put the book in my hands with a smile on her face, and said, "Read this." I opened the book and quickly closed it because I had landed on a page of a line drawing that was sexual in nature. My quick thought? "Um, is this book appropriate for a 13 year old? Where did she get this book?" I waited until all students had cleared the room, sat at my desk, and began to read. Two words quickly came to my mind: provocative. feminist. Rupi Kaur "shares her writing w...

A few years ago, I was very surprised when a few of my eighth graders listed A Child Called "It"  (1995) by Dave Pelzer as their favorite book read independently from the previous year. They highly recommended that I read it, too, but when I found out about its subject matter--parental child abuse--I was in no rush to add it to my "To Read" pile. Last January, I came across the Kindle Edition to Sarah Burleton's Why Me?  (2010) and purchased it for $2.99. Up until last month, I avoided reading the book because of its subject matter. When I realized that it was under 120 pages, I decided to read it to remain somewhat on track with CBR8 goals. As a story of abuse, the book fulfills its purpose, for Burleton chronicles a few of the more extreme cases of verbal and physical abuse at the hands of her mother while her step-father stood by. As a story meant to inspire other survivors, I'm not sure that goal was accomplished. This is because Burleton's escap...

After thirty-eight years of marriage, Eleanor Anderson's illusion of an idyllic life and marriage crashes into reality after she wakes up and finds her husband dead from a heart attack. It is after the funeral that she learns and acknowledges that her husband had never really been her own. Told in alternating first person perspective between the legal and the illegal wife--Claire Anderson, a thirty-something psychology professor at a prestigious university-- The Other Wife  (2015) by best-selling Amazon writer Kathleen Irene Paterka is a perfectly good story about love, loss, betrayal, and starting over. A solid writer, Paterka's writing, per se, is not a problem. The biggest issue with this book is that it suffers from a lack of editing. At 387 pages,  The Other Wife  is unnecessarily long. Many ideas connected to the wives' histories with the dead husband and their growing sense of their identity are repeated multiple times. Style-wise, the story is developed so mu...

At the halfway point of reading Aurélie Valognes's debut  Out of Sorts  (2016), my mind took me to Rose's dream sequence in the Golden Girls' season 1 episode "A Little Romance." It was a farcical scene that brought on much laughter mostly because of the brilliance of the four actors. As an audience member, I could follow along because the set up had been clear. I was in on the joke. That wasn't the case when I got to the midpoint of  Out of Sorts . I started to wonder whether I had wandered into a dream sequence and had missed the cues that set up the ridiculousness of the events that occurred. Nope, no such misses, so it was also at that point that I wanted what started out as a quirky but entertaining read to just freaking end. Set in France,  Out of Sorts  is a quick-read that can best be described as a madcap of a story about Ferdinand Brun, a miserable octogenarian who eventually learns to open his heart and get involved with life. These changes are ...

All of the books in the pile were for my classroom library, and I was four dollars short from getting the loyalty card stamp at my favorite independent book store. So back to the shelves it was so I could meet the minimum $30 purchase stamp. It took a while, but I finally settled on an author and genre of romance I'd never read: Beverly Jenkins and African American historical romance. The selection turned out to be a satisfying one. Set in 1881, Beverly Jenkins'  Jewel  (2009) is the story of Jewel Crowley and Eli Grayson of bucolic Grayson Grove, Michigan, an all-Black township established in the 1830's by Eli's grandparents. Lifelong residents of the town, the romance brews when Eli, founder and editor of the defunct  The Gazette,  begs Jewel to pose as his wife for a day to seal the deal with newspaper magnate G.W. Hicks who wishes to revive The Gazette  by adding it to his holdings. Conflict arises when Hicks announces to the surprised town folks...