Adventures With Andy & Susie: A Stormy Weekend by Donna Hall

What a pretty little picture book!  With the soft and intentional strokes of a brush, Donna Hall invites children, and adults alike, into an imaginative world.  Adventures With Andy & Susie: A Stormy Weekend is a tale that is not bound by time. 

Andy returns home from a school, far away, and resumes his adventures with his dear black and white cat, Susie.  Together they do the usual things: help Dad with farm chores, pick flowers for Mom, eat a homegrown lunch, and visit a friend from the neighborhood.  Yet, there is also the unusual!  Susie, the cat, wears a curious pair of spectacles, a bus sails through the air, a rabbit wears clothing, Katie is in a steam-powered wheel chair, and beekeepers wear tin hats!

There is a lot for readers to connect with and much more to explore and wonder at. 

While the pictures are bright and flowing, I found that I was distracted by the quotations marks in the text, used for emphasis and expression.  They were understandable, just distracting. 

Adventures with Any & Susie is a cozy book for lower to middle elementary age readers - perfect for snuggling under blankets or curling up in the lap of someone who is dearly loved.

Photo credit: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51PRToLaNDL._SY363_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

This review can also be read in the Canon City Daily Record.

Every once in a while, a reader needs to take a break from something cerebral or intentional, returning to a book that had been thoroughly enjoyed at one point. This cooler weather has brought on the desire to curl up with a good book that never disappoints. It can be hard to explain why we love a favored book. All I can do is tell you what the book is about so you can grab a copy of the magical fiction, The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen - see if this clean, gentle love story transports you, too.

Josey Cirrini is no longer the petulant, spoiled child the town of Bald Slope remembers her to be. Rather she has become quiet and demure, cowed and invalidated by her hard and widowed, Southern Belle mother. Josey's sole purpose in life is to cater to her mother's needs, driving her to luncheons and hair appointments, and helping her keep up the illusion of privileged independence. There are only a few things that bring joy to Josey each day - the handsome man who delivers the mail, travel magazines, and a closet filled to the brim with a secret stash of sweets.

Yet lemon drops and snow caps are not the only things in her closet. Della Lee Baker, a local waitress, suddenly takes up residence there beside the bottles of pop and licorice whips. And does not leave. Instead, the rough and blunt, bleach-blonde woman imparts assignments and food orders that force Josey Cirrini to leave her closet - her room - and venture into the world beyond. With the falling of leaves, and the changing of seasons, magic sets growth and healing into motion.

In this world outside her home, Josey discovers Chloe Finley, a young woman followed by insistent books. A lifelong blessing and curse, books appear, pushing themselves and their content on Chloe - at the exact moments she needs them. Her heart has been deeply broken, making space in her life to befriend the Cirrini daughter... and connect Josey with that mailman she has fallen in love with.

Doughnuts and candy bars are not the only secrets in the town of Bald Slope. And friendship is not the only magic. There's love to be rekindled after decades... the color red, once shunned, now to be worn... a murder to be solved... spirits to be acknowledged... hearts to be opened and healed... snowmen to be built... strength and confidence to be welcomed... and journeys to take beyond the doorways of closets, where candy hearts can no longer take the place of real love and acceptance.

Photo Credit: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51NyGtL2XqL._SX322_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

A Wolf Called Ring by A.W. Sibley

I asked one of the young adults in my home to review this book.  She is an avid reader in high school, and loves animals and their stories.

In my opinion, the book A Wolf Called Ring by Dr. A.W. Sibley was not well-written.  The paragraphs in this book are at average 5 – 10 sentences which makes it hard to read.  It gets me distracted when there are so many unnecessary pauses in the story.  I’m pretty sure that this is supposed to be an autobiography but it isn’t clearly stated.

The wolf’s story line is very detached and makes no sense sometimes.  There are many pieces of information he used for Ring’s part of the story that made no sense and weren’t factual.  It is hard to believe that he actually did some research on this book.  There are multiple places in the book where it mentions that anyone can know that his name is Ring just because of the ring around his neck.

The book wasn’t all bad, though.  The ending was partially a cliffhanger and it was a bit sad, which can be nice in a story.   The book had some good points but most of it wasn’t relevant to the story.  When Honey Gal comes into the story, the reader gets distracted from Ring as we move into the story of his horse.  It is hard to believe he remembers so much from when he was 6-9 years old.

To conclude this review, I will state that I believe the book cover was misleading.  The front cover art makes to boy look detached and apathetic.  All and all, I personally didn’t enjoy the book, but I am sure many others will.

photo credit: Amazon

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Rain Reign by Ann Martin

This review can also be read in the Canon City Daily Record. 

Once in a while a book comes along that is simple and sweet, and yet devastating at its core. "Rain Reign," by Newberry author Ann M. Martin, is a book suggested to me at the beginning of summer. I was hesitant. I knew Ann Martin from her Babysitters Club series (I was a huge nine year old fan) but I wasn't sure I wanted to read anything in that vein right now. Yet I gave it a shot, especially since the book was short, with large bold type, and a decent amount of white space on the page. If anything, it would be a quick read.

I was pleasantly surprised. In this upper-elementary novel, I found the thoughtful coming of age story of twelve-year old Rose Howard, told by Rose herself, concerning the growing up that all must do regardless of gifts and strengths, struggles and restrictions.
Rose is on the Autism Spectrum. High functioning, she is skilled in math, and competent in many types of patterns. She is obsessed with homonyms, following rules and schedules, and prime numbers.

Unfortunately, no one seems to quite understand her condition. There is often confusion in concern for Rose. Teachers, peers, and even her father, seem to be confused and angry in their interactions with this astute young lady. The only one who seems to understand, or to be able to really help make sense of the seemingly senseless world around, is her Uncle Weldon.
Yet Rose's father tries. Wesley is a single dad, suffering from heartbreak and job loss. He loves his daughter, but cannot seem to offer what she needs. He leans on Weldon to provide kindness and compassion for his child. Despite his gruffness and frustration, he has tender feelings. One day he brings home a dog - a gift. Rose promptly names the dog Rain... a name with 2 homonyms (reign, rein). Rain becomes a friend.
One night, a devastating storm moves in from the coast - floods, loss of electricity, phone lines down. Schools close and there is little comforting structure to the days during the disaster. During the destructive storm, Wesley lets Rain out in the middle of the night, as usual, and she does not return. And in the sad moments and days that follow, Rose tells us how she is angry with her father, how much she misses her dog, and her fears. We follow her in a systematic search for the dog, further clashes with her father, and life's messy struggles.

"Rain Reign" is a concise read with deep and tender compassion. Don't let this one slip by this summer.

Photo Credit: Amazon

Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson

This review can also be read in the Canon City Daily Record.
 

Warning ... this book is not for the faint of heart. It is gritty, raw, and honest. There are words and situations that may be triggering and/or offensive to some. Having said this, I highly recommend "Ten Thousand Saints" by Eleanor Henderson, an unconventional coming of age tale not yet told. Nine years in the making, it is thorough, highly detailed and filled with fantastic imagery.

"Ten Thousand Saints" is a no holds barred examination of the straight edge punk scene, 1988, New York. Yet it begins in a small Vermont town with two teenage boys, close friends, brought closer by their sense of loneliness and longing, soothed only by recreational drug use. Jude and Teddy meet Eliza, the daughter of Jude's father's girlfriend, and a New Year's Eve party goes wrong - very wrong. Tragedy strikes leaving Teddy dead from a drug overdose. Jude searches out Teddy's brother, Johnny, in New York City, settles there, and begins to follow a new lifestyle: no drugs, no sex, no alcohol, meat or cigarettes. Young Eliza finds herself tangled and enmeshed in the grieving lives of Jude and Johnny.

Unsentimental, this novel is "West Side Story" meets "Catcher in the Rye." There is intense emotion and fast-paced action, addressing many universal themes and dicey topics. Here children are on the cusp of adulthood, living adult lives and making adult decisions, from only the lessons of childhood. In the face of their parents' mistakes, these teens try to do differently, and, oddly enough, find themselves often in the same boat. History repeats itself, just putting on a new coat for each rising generation.

Ms. Henderson's ability to read and share the thoughts of her characters is masterful. We are drawn to those we meet in these pages. This book explores the fragility of the human soul, regardless of life choices. In these pages, we come face-to-face with AIDS, homelessness, abandonment, homosexuality, drugs, drinking, teen sex, death, adoption, abortion, punk music, friendship, love, parenthood, children's rights, marriage, divorce, religion, fatherhood, motherhood, fetal alcohol syndrome, bullies, and revenge. But don't let that keep you from this story.

I invite you to read with compassion and suspend the judgment our everyday lives seem to demand. Recognize that people who are quite different than us still have the same dilemmas - when is a child an adult, and when is an adult finally grown-up? How does one pull life back into a place of sense when choices are made, often in error, by ourselves or others? Through this tale, we develop a new vocabulary that crosses the lines of comfort and creates empathy.

Photo credit: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51xfoH0dQmL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg