101. Miraculous

Miraculous. Caroline Starr Rose. 2022. 352 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: The silent dawn trailed Jack down Main Street, crept with him as he slipped his paste brush across each handbill and smoothed the dampened paper flat.

Premise/plot: Jack, our protagonist, is a young boy traveling with Dr. Kingsbury's traveling medicine show. Dr. Kingsbury sells a 'miraculous' tonic that can cure anything and everything. The greater your faith, the quicker the results. Little to no faith, well, might not get you anywhere. But with enough faith and hope, well, you might just find yourself cured. So he claims. So Jack claims. But after Isaac--another boy, an older boy, disappears suddenly without a trace, Jack begins to doubt everything he's believed up to this point. 

Mainly we get Jack's point of view. But there are about three or four other townsfolk who narrate this one. [We do not get Dr. Kingsbury's point of view--thank goodness.] Readers do get a chance to meet about half a dozen or so characters at greater depth. Plenty of folks live in Oakdale, a town/community experiencing drought. Dr. Kingsbury has PROMISED that the tonic (if left uncorked) will even bring the much needed rain to town...

My thoughts: This is an almost book for me. I was this close to being swept up and away into this narrative. I just wanted a tiny bit more. I definitely LOVED Jack (and Cora, a young girl whom he befriends). I was a little more puzzled by some of the other characters. Some I could immediately understood how they were contributing to the story overall. But others not as much. 

This had the potential to be dark(er) and spooky. Dr. Kingsbury could have been a bone-chilling villain with a past packed with deep, dark secrets. As it was, readers get a "dark" secret from the past and a "dark" secret from the present. But any consequences for those secrets happen off screen. And the details are left extremely vague. Two missing boys. Missing. There are no answers as to WHAT happened. 

This one is definitely rooted more in history than fantasy. The only other novel that I can think of with a traveling medicine show and a magical, miraculous tonic is BONESHAKER Kate Milford. That one is definitely dark and spooky.

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

100. Dream, Annie, Dream

Dream, Annie, Dream. Waka T. Brown. 2022. 352 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: You can be anything you want to be. My sixth grade teacher's parting words to the graduating class of Iron Hills Elementary rang in my ears, even over the deafening roar of the rocket motors.

Premise/plot: Aoi Inoue (aka "Annie") stars in Waka T. Brown's middle grade novel. The novel spans from summer of 1987 to summer of 1988. Our heroine is a seventh grader who is dreaming big, but, not without facing challenges from her family, friends, teachers, etc. Can she, an Japanese American, really be ANYTHING she wants to be? At the moment, her interests include acting, writing, and basketball. But her parents, well, they don't want her to be an actor, writer, or professional ball player. No, they are dreaming, of well, her becoming a professor or doctor. They definitely see her hobbies--which are time-consuming--to be a "waste" of time that she could be using to study or do "extra" academic work. Her parents don't seem as supportive as her friends' parents...but perhaps her friends' lives aren't all that perfect either???

She participates in a summer theatre program (1987 and 1988) and a school theatre program. The shows are Annie, The King and I, and Alice in Wonderland.

There's family tension, friend drama, and CRUSH drama. 

My thoughts: I really LOVED that this was set in 1987/1988. Though the author never once mentions BARBIE. I couldn't help but be reminded of the 🎵 We girls can do anything, right, Barbie 🎵jingle. I loved that Aoi loves musicals. I could 100% relate to her struggles with allergies. And I think I bonded a bit with the fact that she was sick over the Christmas of 1987 too. 

I loved the narrative. I loved the story. I loved the fact that this spans a full year. I felt the characterization was excellent. The setting felt very realistic. It was like stepping into a time machine.

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

99. 12 To 22

12 to 22: POV You Wake Up In The Future. Jen Calonita. 2022. 256 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: "I don't know about you, but I'm feeling twenty-twooooooo!" It's a few minutes shy of seven a.m. and I'm belting out Taylor Swift at the top of my lungs. Don't worry. I'm not waking anyone in this house. We've all been up since five, when my little sister, Reese the Wrecker, climbed out of her crib and turned on the TV in my parents' room at full volume.

Premise/plot: Harper, our protagonist, is twelve and a half. Her family is BIG on celebrating half birthdays. So her half-birthday present (or one of them at least) is the permission to start posting on social media. She's been filming videos for months--but only for her family and friends to view. This will be her first chance to start uploading those videos onto social media platforms. The video she filmed that very morning was a video to Taylor Swift's 22. With permission granted, she uploads the videos. By the end of the day she's got hundreds of followers and even more likes. That night she's going to a super-exclusive, popular-and-trendy restaurant for a birthday party for a non-friend. (Yes, a NON friend.) Their moms are friends. Harper has invited her best, best friend, Ava, to the party as well. (Or maybe Celia's mom invited them both out of politeness knowing they are a packaged deal???) Ava knows that Celia and her copy-cat friends are ridiculously not worth it. But Harper, well, she wants to be just as awesomely popular as Celia. #lifegoals When Harper realizes that it was mostly a pity invite (a return for a favor essentially between the two moms), she has a complete and total meltdown...leading to her being a MESS on the bathroom floor. Which is where the novel really begins to get twisty....

She finds a birthday filter...and makes a wish...a wish to be a SOCIAL MEDIA STAR just as popular and big as Blake Riley (her current idol). And not just a star, but a 22 year old star. Because obviously, 22 year olds do not have any troubles or woes. They just have the most amazing lives every single day.

The next thing she knows...she's waking up...twenty-two. EVERYTHING about her life is unrecognizable. Her every wish has come true. She's famous, popular, rich, and FRIENDS WITH TAYLOR SWIFT (and other celebs). But she has NO MEMORY AT ALL of her life in those in between years. The technology has changed so much in those ten years. She barely knows how to do anything...it's a good thing her baby sister Reese (now 12) is there to help her out. (She just happens to be visiting the family. There was a reason. I just don't remember.) 

Is being 22 everything she thought it would be??? Is she living her best life ever??? Does she like how her life has turned out???

My thoughts: I must have watched 13 Going on 30 a dozen times the year it first released. I ADORE that movie so much. I love just about everything. I loved in that movie that it started in the 80s and jumped forward to the present day, mid 2000's. Both times being familiar. That isn't quite the case with this one. The two time periods--presumably--are 2022 and 2032. (Or perhaps 2021 and 2031, I don't know how long it takes for books to go through the writing, editing, publishing phases.) So many of the essentials are the same. Perhaps the biggest difference being that it is more evenly balanced. 13 Going on 30 was clearly a rom-com. This one is more about all aspects of life. Plenty of DOG-LOVING thrown in as well. 

I really enjoyed this one so much. I did. Obviously, it isn't realistic. Not just because of the wish-fulfilling fantasy elements....but because her instant success was definitely too much to believe. But even with all the unbelievable elements, this one just made me giddy.

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

98. The Fort

The Fort. Gordon Korman. 2022. 256 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: I get stuck with Ricky the morning after the big storm. 

Premise/plot: Five boys--four of them being the best of friends before the big storm--discover a hidden underground 'doomsday' bunker in the woods after a big storm destroys their own (puny by comparison) fort. This middle grade coming of age novel has five alternating characters: Evan Donnelly, Mitchell Worth, Ricky Molina, C.J. Sciutto, and Jason Brax. This underground 'fort' has electricity, an old school television and VCR, and forty-plus year old canned goods. The boys are ecstatic, thrilled, and empowered. The fort comes to mean something to each and every boy, but, for some the fort means something even more significant: a safe refuge from an abusive home.

This coming of age novel has its own problems in the sense that it is your somewhat traditional "problem" novel. The conflicts are realistic and complex. Each boy his his own struggles or burdens to carry. But what I loved was the friendship element of this one. How the boys rally around and support one another. 

My thoughts: As an adult, I found this a heart-breaking read in some aspects. I just wanted to reach out and hug the characters. I do think it is realistic and relatable. I would hope to a certain extent or degree that readers would be reminded to be kind. You can never tell what the person next to you is struggling with in their own lives--in their own private, personal lives. You don't know the weight on their shoulders. 

I did love it. I loved the characterization. I loved the story. Definitely recommended.

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

97. The Last Olympian

The Last Olympian. (Percy Jackson #5) Rick Riordan. 2009. 381 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: The end of the world started when a pegasus landed on the hood of my car. Up until then, I was having a great afternoon.

Premise/plot: Percy Jackson and his fellow camp-mates from Camp Half Blood fight the ultimate battle against the oh-so-evil Kronus. (Kronus, if you remember, is currently embodying the body of Luke, a former friend turned traitor.) Kronus' side has won over a lot of discontented demigods and minor gods. It seems like a losing battle from page one. But is it enough for Percy to give up all hope and surrender? 

My thoughts: This was my first time to reread the last two books in the series. The first three books in the series got a little more reread love back in the day. Rachel Elizabeth Dare (who plays quite a big part in the last few books) is a character I had completely forgotten about--mostly. In particular, the love triangle that isn't really a love triangle. (Was there ever any doubt that Annabeth was Percy's choice all along?) If there was a love triangle--and I'm not convinced there truly was--then perhaps it was Annabeth, Luke, and Percy. 

I thought it was packed with plenty of action. Think of an Avengers' movie. 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews