A La Carte

Davis, Tanita. 2008. A La Carte.

An empty plate hits the stainless steel deck in the kitchen of La Salle Rouge with a clatter.

Rarely do I so completely agree with a jacket flap. But in this case, it is right on.

Seventeen-year-old Lainey dreams of becoming a world famous chef one day and maybe even having her own cooking show. (Do you know how many African American female chefs there aren't? And how many vegetarian chefs have their own shows? The field is wide open for stardom.) But when her best friend--and secret crush--suddenly leaves town, Lainey finds herself alone in the kitchen. With a little help from Saint Julia (Child, of course), Lainey seeks solace in her cooking as she comes to terms with the past and begins a new recipe for the future. Peppered with recipes from Lainey's notebooks, this delicious debut novel finishes the same way one feels after a good meal--satiated content, and hopeful.

A La Carte does not overwhelm you with its greatness. Perhaps overwhelm isn't the right word, what I mean is that it is subtle and gentle. It's not overpowering. (It's the kind of 'greatness' that sneaks up on you and takes you by surprise.) Most YA novels in one way or another deal with the 'issue' or 'theme' of identity. And A La Carte is no different. It is without a doubt a coming of age story. Lainey--as a person--grows, changes, evolves, learns, awakens through the course of the novel. The Lainey we meet on page 1 is not the Lainey we say goodbye to on page 280. Some things stay the same, of course, but quite a few things change. One is the way Lainey sees herself, knows herself, respects herself.

But A La Carte also offers an in-depth look at family life. Particularly the relationship between Lainey and her mom. It is so well done. So dimensional. I hope that makes sense. In other words, both Lainey and her mom, Vivianne, are fully developed. And their relationship has depth and life.

And then there's the friendship angle. The popularity angle. Lainey is on the fringes, the outskirts of high school society. She's more of a loner. And content to be that way. Sure she wishes that some of her former friends hadn't ditched her for the cool crowd. But she's happy staying in the kitchen. Or so she thinks most of the time. This book examines what it means to be a friend, to have a friend. What does healthy friendship look like? What doesn't it look like?

In a way A La Carte says a great deal about longing. I don't want to say too much more about that because I don't want to spoil this one for anyone.

A La Carte is good. It resonates in meaning-of-life internal drama. There's a richness to it that I can't quite explain. I suppose I mean it has depth and layers.

Saint Julia always said that in cooking, there are very few mistakes that can't be corrected. You can add a pinch of salt and some chopped herbs to the butter if you forgot to put salt in your bread. If your souffle falls, you can serve it with a sauce over it, and it'll look just fine. Gummy mashed potatoes can be resurrected as potato pancakes. But once you add too much pepper to something--it's over. You can't make something less spicy than it is. (179)

Definitely recommended. (Though I must admit the ending seemed a bit too happy to be realistic. Still, overall, I enjoyed it and found it a satisfying read. In fact, it made me a bit hungry!)

Other reviews: Cheryl Rainfield, Little Willow,

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

No Cream Puffs

Day, Karen. 2008. No Cream Puffs.

This isn't what we usually do. If we have time after lunch, we shoot baskets with the boys in the gym. Today we're lined up in front of the mirror in the girls' bathroom. I stand to the side and twist my mood ring around and around my finger. My mess of curly blond hair is a disaster compared to the new feathered style everyone else has. "This is plushy pink." Casey Cunningham pulls a tube of lip gloss out of her purse and opens it. The sweet smell of cotton candy fills the bathroom. She rolls it onto her lips. "It's new."
She rolls it onto Gina's lips and then reaches for Sara, who stands next to me, holding her new purse with both hands. I'm next.
Casey snaps the cap on the lip gloss and puts it back in her purse. I feel the tops of my ears burn; she left me out on purpose. I glance at Sara, but she won't look at me.
"You smell like a circus," I blurt. Their lips sparkle under the lights. Could my lips look like that too?
"I'm sorry, Madison." Casey looks at me, eyes wide. "I didn't think baseball players wore lip gloss." (1-2)

Set in the summer of 1980, No Cream Puffs is the story of Madison Mitchell, a twelve-year-old baseball player who hates to be called a tom boy. So what if she likes to play sports? Does that make her a boy not a girl? NO. She's a girl alright. Her developing breasts (which she tries to disguise whenever she plays ball) and a crush on a teammate prove that.

No Cream Puffs is a sports story. No doubt about it. There's baseball games, baseball practice, and plenty of baseball talk. But it is more than that. Much more. It's the story of a girl who feels uncomfortable with herself, her body, her life. A girl who doesn't feel comfortable with her identity. She doesn't want to be solely defined as "the girl" (the only girl) who plays in a baseball league of boys. But as the girl she does get attention at all the games especially by the media who want to turn her into something she's not. It's a story about family. A story about friendship. A story about growing up. Here we see the first glimpses of a young girl changing into a young woman. Her first crushes. This age is often (or should I say always) awkward and painful. Madison's experiences are authentically so. I loved Madison's voice. And I loved her story.

I really loved this book. Karen Day knows how to do real, to do authentic. Everything just feels right about this one.

http://www.klday.com/index.html
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Suddenly Supernatural: School Spirit

Kimmel, Elizabeth Cody. 2008. Suddenly Supernatural: School Spirit.

"The undead are ruining my life. I blame my mother. My mother is a medium. And I don't mean the kind that fits in between small and large."

What's worse than being an uncool kid in middle school? How about being an uncool kid that sees dead people? Kat, soon after her last birthday (12? 13?), has just realized that she shares her mother's gift, her ability to see, to communicate, to help with spirits or ghosts. While Kat loves her mother dearly--most of the time--she has never wanted to share in her mother's line of work. Helping spirits communicate with the living? Not really on her to-do list. But she has little choice in the matter when the spirit that haunts the school library makes her presence known.

Suddenly Supernatural has plenty of supernatural, but it has plenty of your typical drama as well. School. Teachers. Cliques. Friends. Enemies. School dances. Jac, Kat's best friend, has problems of her own. A cello player, a talented genius sort, has lost her ability to play music. These two 'loner' types find great comfort in confiding in one another. Jac understands Kat's unique ability. And Kat understands Jac's personal struggle or turmoil. Both have gifts they don't feel comfortable with. Both feel a bit uneasy about who they are and what they want.

This is the first in a series.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Frozen Fire

Bowler, Tim. 2008. Frozen Fire.

"I'm dying," said the voice. Dusty clutched the phone. She had no idea who this was. A boy about her own age, by the sound of him--fifteen, sixteen, maybe a bit older. (1)

Frozen Fire is a psychological thriller that is fast-paced, tension-filled, and just unputdownable. Dusty, the girl receiving the phone call, is a great narrator. She has more questions than answers, and her choices aren't always the wisest choices--the choices we as readers would likely make--but she's so likable. She's a young teen struggling with some hard losses in her life--the mysterious disappearance of her brother, Josh, and the loss of her mother. Her mother walked out on her and her dad after Josh vanished. Living with just her dad, Dusty wants to believe the best about a mysterious young man who seems to haunt her. There's no reason to trust him, and every logical reason not to...and yet Dusty can't help feeling drawn to this stranger that is so out-of-this-world strange.

Weird. Strange. Supernatural. Whatever you want to call it, if you pick it up, you probably won't be able to put it back down...



http://www.timbowler.co.uk/frozenfire.html
http://www.timbowler.co.uk/extract-frozenfire.html

Winner of the Hull Book Award, 2007

Winner of the Highland Book Award, 2007

Winner of the Redbridge Book Award, 2007

Winner of the Stockport Schools Book Award 2007

Winner of the South Lanarkshire Book Award 2008

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Trials of Kate Hope

Downing, Wick. 2008. The Trials of Kate Hope.

This one was just too much fun. Fun might not be the right word. By fun, I don't mean it's fluff. I don't mean it lacks any in substance or heart. I just meant that I liked spending time with it. That I really really enjoyed it. I loved Kate. And I loved her Grandpa. More than I ever thought I would to tell you the truth. Set in 1973 in Denver, Colorado, it follows the life of a most unusual fourteen-year-old. Kate Hope. Lawyer. Yes, lawyer. She's the law partner of her eighty-something year old grandfather. The book focuses in on two cases. It's really much more interesting than the book cover might suggest.

Another review: Feminist Review, Richie,
Author website: http://www.wickdowning.com/About.htm

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Artichoke's Heart

Supplee, Suzanne. 2008. Artichoke's Heart.

I love, love, love this one. I do. Rosemary Goode is our narrator. And she's a great one. Here's how it begins: "Mother spent $700 on a treadmill 'from Santa' that I will never use. I won't walk three blocks when I actually want to get somewhere, much less run three miles on a strip of black rubber only to end up where I started out in the first place. Aunt Mary gave me two stupid diet books and three tickets for the upcoming conference at Columbia Stated called "Healing the Fat Girl Within." (I'm sensing a theme here). Normally, I'm not a materialistic sort of person, but lets just say this was one disappointing Christmas. At least Miss Bertha gave me something thoughtful, a complete collection of Emily Dickinson poems (so far my favorite is I'm Nobody!), and Grandma Georgia sent money." (3)

Weight. I'm not denying this one is about weight. Rosemary, "Rosie," is struggling with weight, it's true. But she's struggling with so much more than just weight. This novel is just as much about family--dysfunctional and strange and lovable--as it is about weight. Set in a small town in Tennessee, Rosemary is the "fat" daughter of a single mom with a very bossy and nosy sister. (Don't even get me started on Aunt Mary!!!) They own a beauty shop where Rosie often works helping out.

Rosie authentically captures what it is like to be a teen who is unsatisfied with herself, her family, her life. It captures the experience of growing and becoming and transforming. Blending humor and sarcasm with glimpses of raw truth, Artichoke's Heart is practically perfect in capturing both the angst and hope of teen life.

I loved Rosie. Loved her. I loved Kyle. (Loved, loved, loved him.) And I loved the developing relationships throughout the novel especially the changes that occur between Rosie and her mom. It is difficult, extraordinarily difficult to love and appreciate someone who constantly nags and criticizes. Rosie learning to move past and look beyond her mother and her aunt's often-cruel-and-harsh treatment and seeing the bigger picture is unbelievably wise beyond her years.

This is a novel with heart and soul and substance. It's a novel that gets it right. I'm not saying that Rosie could accurately represent *every* 'fat girl' experience. Each individual is different, of course, and there are always differing circumstances and issues and back stories. (Rosie tends to binge. Not every overweight person does. Portion control is not the issue with some folks.) But the novel does do a good job in realistically portraying the fact that weight isn't really about food--either eating too little, too much, or not the right kinds of food. It's emotional. It's psychological. It's so much more than just food.

This scene, one of my favorites, occurs just after Kyle, a cute basketball playing jock asks Rosie if she'd like to come to see him play in a game:

"Get to class, Miss Goode!" I heard Mr. Lawrence shout from behind me. "Climbing a few stairs won't kill you!" Two thoughts pulsed through my head simultaneously. 1) What would become of all the fat girls in the world if people just treated them nicely? 2) The only people who call me Rosie instead of Rosemary are the ones who loved me. Kyle had just called me Rosie. (80)

http://www.suzannesupplee.com/my_books/mybooks.html

Other reviews: Oops, wrong cookie, enduring romance, YA New York,

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Jessie's Mountain

Madden, Kerry. 2008. Jessie's Mountain.

I liked the first Maggie Valley novel, Gentle's Holler (2005); I loved the second Maggie Valley novel, Louisiana's Song (2007); I really really loved the third novel in the series, Jessie's Mountain. My expectations were high. Really high. Yet somehow it surpassed them, my expectations that is. It was so beautifully done. I just love Livy Two Weems and her family. Even Grandma Horace is beginning to grow on me--much more than I ever thought she would when I first met her. The novels, in case you're not familiar with them, are set in North Carolina, in the mountains, during the early 1960s. (Jessie's Mountain opens in December of 1963.) There is so much depth, so much love, so much meaning in the pages. The Weems family has to be one of my favorite fictional families ever. The family is large, yet, it seems right. The siblings might seem confusable at first glance, but they're not.

Livy is our narrator, and this is her story, her coming-of-age story. The novel's moving force is in the characters and not the action of the plot. The plot is there, mind you, but don't expect a thrilling, adventure story that will have you on the edge of your seat. That is not this novel. It's gentler, subtler. I loved it, absolutely loved it. Definitely recommended. But do read them in order!!!

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Blue Like Friday

Parkinson, Siobhan. 2008. Blue Like Friday.

This one has a nice, quirky narrator. Olivia has definitely got a voice all her own. Blue Like Friday is a book about friendship, about life, about holding on and letting go. On the surface, though, this is a light and enjoyable mystery. Olivia has a best friend, Hal; he's definitely quirky and weird. But he's got a tragic past as well. His father died when he was young. And Hal is having a really really difficult time accepting her mother's boyfriend. Hal wants to come up with a plot to get rid of this man for good, a way for it to be just him and his mom again. But plans don't always work out the way you want. And sometimes kids don't really know what's best for them. (It's set in Ireland by the way.)

This one is enjoyable enough. I liked it. I really liked it. But I'm not sure I loved it.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Double Click for Trouble

Woodworth, Chris. 2008. Double-Click for Trouble.

From the flap:

Eddie McCall is a good kid. He does his homework, picks up around the house, and cooks dinner for his mom when she has to work late at a Chicago hotel. Then Eddie's best friend, Whip, shows him a printout from the Internet--a picture of a full-grown, honest-to-gosh buck-naked woman--and suddenly Eddie can't seem to think about anything else. If only there were a man around he could talk to--but for all of Eddie's thirteen years, his father has been a mystery, absent and unknown.

Try as he might, Eddie can't stay away from the computer. He knows his mom will be upset if she sees the sites he's visiting. Still, he sure doesn't expect her to ship him off to her hometown of Sheldon, Indiana, to live with his great-uncle Peavey for an entire month. Peavey isn't exactly the father figure Eddie's been looking for. He spits tobacco juice into a can, calls a toilet a "commode," and certainly doesn't own a computer. He's never even been on a date!

As it turns out, however, both Peavey McCall and Sheldon, Indiana, hold some very surprising secrets...

There were parts of Double Click for Trouble that I loved, just really really loved. Then there were a few elements that didn't quite work for me. Slight irritants in the plot that just kept me from falling deeply in love with the book. Still, I must say that I'm rather fond of this book. It may not be L-O-V-E with fireworks, but I still liked it plenty. And I loved, loved, loved the ending.

The characters. Loved them for the most part. Loved Eddie. Loved Uncle Peavey. Loved Della. Loved Ronnie (Veronica). There were some other characters that I liked but would need to know more in order to love. I never really got to know the Mom enough or Whip enough for that matter. I was intrigued by Whip's story, however. His deep-and-sensitive and vulnerable side that readers get just a few glimpses of now and then. In my opinion, the novel's top strength is in the characters. The developing relationship between Eddie and his great-uncle. His friction-filled relationship with Ronnie. His whole coming-of-age story, it just works. It might not work completely evenly, but it works.

The setting. I loved the book once he got to Indiana. Everything just seemed better after that. The first setting, the urban setting of Chicago, it isn't that it doesn't work at all. It's just that it doesn't work as well. I'll try to explain it. This Chicago-setting was like climbing the first hill of a roller coaster. It's a bit slow, a bit jerky, and there is just a lot of waiting for everything to really begin. After he goes to Indiana, that is when it gets started, that is where the heart and soul of the novel is. It is here that the energy and focus reside.

The plot. The plot didn't work for me all the time. Parts of it worked--and worked well--other parts not so much. But here's the thing, I cared--really cared--about the characters. So I could be almost completely forgiving of the teeny-tiny didn't-quite-work-for-me bits in the plot. I'll be honest. I think the parts that irritated me slightly still ring with authenticity if that makes sense. Eddie, I believe is 12 or 13--somewhere around there, and there are just a few things about him that while authentic make him slightly irritating. There is a reason that it takes a special calling to work--as a teacher or volunteer--with kids in this age group both girls and guys. It's a difficult age to live through, and it's a difficult age group--in a way--to interact with. Not all the time, not every kid, but there are just rough patches that must be endured. It's not fun for the parent, the child, the teacher, or the sibling.

At its core, Double Click for Trouble is a coming-of-age story. It illustrates in just one of many ways this wonderful quote by Brent Runyon:

"The second hardest thing to do in life is to change from a child into an adult. There are so many ways to mess up. So many ways to get lost. It's like crossing the ocean in a rowboat."--Brent Runyon

http://www.chriswoodworth.com/main.swf

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Keeping Score

Park, Linda Sue. 2008. Keeping Score.

I have read most of Linda Sue Park's novels, and I've enjoyed all of them. Some more than others, but I've enjoyed them all. (It's just a matter of degree.) I liked--really liked--this one. I didn't know quite what to expect. It is about baseball. Not about playing baseball necessarily, but about being a fan of the sport. About being a fan of the game, the players, the teams. Our narrator, our heroine, is Maggie, or "Maggie-O" as her father likes to call her. She's a Dodger's fan, a Brooklyn Dodgers fan. The novel is set in the early to mid fifties. (1951-1955). Her mother and brother are Dodgers fans as well. But her father is a Yankees fan. (Hence her name "Maggie-O" and his son, Joseph Michael.) Her father was a fireman. But after a serious injury (all occurring before the novel's start) he now has a desk job. Maggie, however, still visits the fire house, the firemen regularly. Not a week goes by when she doesn't go to hang out with her father's friends, her father's coworkers. She loves to listen to the baseball games on the radio with them. One of the men is new. His name is Jim. He's different from the others--he's a Giants fan. But oddly enough, though he's a fan of the wrong team, it's him that Maggie is most drawn to. He teaches her how to keep score, how to follow the game play by play on paper keeping precise records. Their friendship is real though sports-based. So the news that he has been drafted into the army effects her quite deeply.

Maggie has led a sheltered life. But Jim being sent to Korea opens her eyes a bit to the world around her. Not all at once. But slowly and surely, she is growing and changing and coming of age.

Baseball. War. Friendship. Family. This novel has a little bit of everything to offer readers. It is deeper than I thought it would be. The first half of the novel is just a sports novel. But the second half, it's about so much more. Anyway, I think this novel has something for everyone. Even if you're not a big sports fan.

201 pages

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Greetings From Nowhere

O'Connor, Barbara. 2008. Greetings From Nowhere.

Greetings From Nowhere can be described in many ways: charming, delightful, satisfying, sweet, and a general all around feel-good treat. It's a story told by many narrators. (Aggie, Willow, Kirby, Loretta) Each voice is unique and just right. This isn't a story of one person, it's a story of a whole community of characters. It's a story about humanity, about life. I can't recommend it highly enough. If you're a fan of Because of Winn Dixie, I think you'll just love this one. It just resonates with rightness.

This one would make a great read aloud to share with the whole family.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Bronte's Book Club

Gregory, Kristiana. 2008. Bronte's Book Club.

Bronte's Book Club is a fun title that is just right for the eight to ten crowd. Bronte Bella has just recently moved with her family from New Mexico to California. Wanting to use the move to her advantage, Bronte is determined to make a new start. Typically shy and hesitant in the friend department, she wants more than anything to make a few friends before school starts in the fall. She's nervous but brave. After a few days in her new house, she's inspired to start a book club. A club that will meet every Wednesday for the rest of the summer. She makes fliers and hangs them up around town. But what Bronte realizes is that the perfect book club doesn't just happen overnight. Friendships don't happen overnight either. The book Bronte chooses? Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell.

Books. Friendship. Summer adventures. And snacks. This is perfect light reading for young readers.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Golly-Whopper Games

Feldman, Jody. 2008. The GollyWhopper Games.

If Gil Goodson was to have a chance, any chance at all, he would have to run faster than he was running right now.

I enjoyed The GollyWhopper Games. It's part Chasing Vermeer. Part Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Part The Mysterious Benedict Society. In other words, it's a whole lot of fun. The Golly Whopper toy company is having a contest, a true once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Thousands and thousands of kids want to make it, hope to make it, but no one wants it more than Gil Goodson. His father was fired from the GollyWhopper company--falsely accused of embezzling the company's funds. He's been proven innocent, but the Goodson family is still the town's scapegoats. Gil Goodson wants to win, and if wanting gives you power, then he's fully charged and ready to go. But is he ready to face all of the obstacles and challenges in his path?

Gil is a likable narrator. He is. He's a kid--much like Charlie Bucket--who you want to win. I should note that the other contestants aren't as detestable as Charlie's competitors. The games, the challenges, require mental, emotional, and physical prowess. The finals of the game--for example--require each team of five to solve a logic puzzle. After the mind has been stimulated, then there is a physical stunt required. The puzzles are puzzling. Meaning, the reader can have just as much fun as the characters themselves. For those that love the puzzle-solving elements of Chasing Vermeer and Mysterious Benedict Society, The GollyWhopper Games might be just what you're looking for.

A book that encourages higher thinking skills? A book that encourages team work? A book that encourages determination and diligence? What's not to love?

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Some--but not all--readers might find it a bit predictable. Some might not be on the edge-of-their-seats waiting to see if Gil wins the big game. But even if it is a wee bit predictable on that front, it is satisfying. And being satisfying is important too. After all, I wouldn't want anyone other than Gil to win!

http://jodyfeldman.livejournal.com/

http://www.gollywhoppergames.com/golly1.swf

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Ramona's World

Cleary, Beverly. 1999. Ramona's World.

Ramona's World is the final in the Ramona series. In our last encounter with Ramona, Ramona Forever, her sister, Roberta Day Quimby, is born. Ramona's World opens several months later. Ramona is starting fourth grade. And she's relatively optimistic. She loves being a big sister (most of the time). In the first chapter we read, "She was often excited. She liked to be excited." Isn't that a great description? It does describe Ramona. But it also describes me. I knew there was a reason Ramona and I were such good friends.

In Ramona's World, Ramona gets a best friend. A girl best friend, Daisy. She also has more than a few battles over the evil that is spelling. Ramona has never liked to spell. But it comes to a head in Ramona's World. Spelling threatens to ruin her happiness, unless she finds a way to conquer it once and for all.

I love this quote: "All this made Ramona feel surrounded by words. There were words every place she looked in books and newspapers, on signs and television, on cereal boxes and milk cartons. The world, Ramona decided, was full of people who used their dictionary skills and probably weren't any fun."

There are quite a few things I could highlight from Ramona's World. Elements I loved or found charming. But I think one of my favorite recurring elements are about Mrs. Quimby and her book club. Now that she's back at home, Mrs. Quimby wants to join a book club and stimulate her mind. The first book that the club chooses is Moby Dick. Every now and then, Ramona has some key insight into her mother and her mother's club. It is just really fun.

Example 1: Ramona picked up her mother's book. Moby Dick. "What's this about?" she asked.
"A whale that bit off a man's leg," said Mrs. Quimby. "Our book club decided to read a book we had all heard about all our lives but had never actually read."
"Sounds exciting." Ramona opened the book, which turned out not to look exciting at all. The print was small, the lines were close together, and there were almost no quotation marks. She