Review: Fire in My Hands

A Fire in My Hands: A Book of Poems by Gary Soto, illustrated by James M. Cardillo.
Scholastic, New York, 1990.
Poetry, 64 pages.
Lexile: NP . (What does NP mean in Lexile?)
AR Level: 5.4 (worth 1.0 points) .
NOTE: See review for age appropriateness.

A collection of Gary Soto’s poems about growing up Mexican-American in the San Joaquin valley.

A Fire in My Hands: A Book of Poems by Gary Soto, illustrated by James M. Cardillo.

This was languishing in a little free library we frequent, untouched for far too long. I will probably release it back into a different free book environment if none of the kids I know want it.

With only 23 poems this is a slim volume. I thought at first that all or most were written for this book, but they are reprinted from other books or magazines. The majority come from his collection Black Hair, but some are from other sources.

The book also includes a forward, Q&A, and a few lines introducing each individual poem. That helps give context to the poems, adds more of a narrative flow to the book, and also helps make it a bit more substantial. It makes the collection more useful for teachers too.

Review: The Cassandra Curse

The Cassandra Curse (Muse Squad #1) by Chantel Acevedo.
Balzer & Bray, HarperCollins, New York, 2020.
MG fantasy, 360 pages.
Lexile: 650L .
AR Level: 4.6 (worth 12.0) .

Weird things have been happening to Calliope Martinez-Silva (call her Callie, please). She has a terrifying accident, her best friend transforms into a pop star, then she’s informed that she’s one of the nine Muses and a portal sends her to another country. It’s a lot for an eleven-year old! Thankfully there are some other young Muses too, which is timely because with her best friend unrecognizable, Callie needs some backup.

Muse Squad: The Cassandra Curse by Chantel Acevedo.

This book has so much going on. There’s the usual tween intrigue, but made bearable thanks to the magical and mystery aspects. There’s learning to be a muse, and all the different muses from around the world who each have specific powers and callings, and the many many people in Callie’s life and whom she meets on her adventures.

Review: River of Tears

Paola Santiago and the River of Tears (Paola Santiago #1) by Tehlor Kay Mejia.
Rick Riordan Presents, Disney Hyperion, New York, 2020.
MG fantasy, 354 pages.
Lexile: 840L .
AR Level: 5.9 (worth 15.0 points) .

Paola loves space and finds her mother’s fantastical beliefs embarrassing – there’s no scientific reason why she and her friends shouldn’t meet up near the Gila River. But then Emma never arrives at their rendezvous, so Paola teams up with their best friend Dante to mount a rescue that involves little science or logic, and a whole lot of mythology.

Paola Santiago and the River of Tears by Tehlor Kay Mejia.

I’ve been wanting to read more Latine MG fantasy novels, and Mejia certainly delivered with this series starter. Paola is a practical dreamer who wants to be a scientist but knows it’s going to take hard work to get there. She has two best friends; Dante lives in the apartment above her with his abuela, and Emma joined their circle when she moved to the area from Colorado a few years ago. Although we hear a lot about Emma and Pao even talks to her parents, Emma herself is not present – it’s her disappearance that leads her friends into the magical world.

Review: The Way to Rio Luna

The Way to Rio Luna by Zoraida Cordova.
Scholastic, New York, 2020
MG fantasy, 238 pages.
Lexile: 710L .
AR Level: 5.0 (worth 10.0 points) .

Danny Monteverde has been in foster care for as long as he can remember, but it’s been much worse since his older sister Pili ran away. For years he took comfort in the book she left him, but since losing that he’s felt like giving up on fantasy.

The Way to Rio Luna by Zoraida Cordova.

I first came across this book through a review on Charlotte’s Library, and was intrigued as there aren’t many fantasy novels about children in foster care (enough to make a short list, but certainly nowhere near the level or quality of representation one could wish for). Thankfully, in most respects this book solidly delivers!

Review: Ghost Squad

Ghost Squad by Claribel Ortega.
Scholastic, New York, originally published 2020, my edition 2021.
MG fantasy, 246 pages + excerpt.
Lexile: 810L .
AR Level: 5.5 (worth 7.0 points) .

Lucely Luna’s father Simon might be in the business of ghost tours, but the way her Dominican family’s ancestors appear as firefly ghosts is a secret known only to her best friend Syd – who has a witchy grandmother of her own. But with the family finances leaving their house (and magical tree) in peril, the mayor acting weird, and helping Syd hunt for a spellbook through all the town’s graveyards, Lucely is more than stressed. Would a strange spell make everything right or will it add to their problems?

Ghost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega.

Ortega is definitely an author to watch. I appreciated so many aspects of this. Lucely is being raised by a single dad. This comes up a few times, especially as she still struggles with how her mother suddenly left without warning and has almost no contact with them now, but it isn’t part of the main plotline and isn’t magically fixed by the end of the book. Although I no longer work in schools, this is a problem I recall – some students are being raised by single dads (or even grandpas) yet few books reflect that reality.

Lucely isn’t popular at school, but does have a strong support network between her many ghost relatives, her father, and her best friend’s family. The family is financially struggling, but they still make a large breakfast for their extended family who are deceased (since virtuous ghosts can still taste food and enjoy eating).

Review: Aristotle and Dante

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz.
Simon & Schuster BFYR, New York, 2014 (originally published 2012).
YA novel, 360 pages.
Lexile: HL380L ( What does HL mean in Lexile? )
AR Level: 2.9 (worth 8.0 points) .
NOTE: This book is intended for mature teens despite the reading level.

Two loner Mexican-American boys meet at the local swimming pool and strike up a friendship in the late 1980s. Dante is secure, if not always happy, in who he is, and has many talents while Aristole (or Ari) is struggling with the secrets and silence in his family – including those around his brother in prison and those he’s keeping himself. This novel takes place over two years.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz.

I’ve owned this book for at least five years now. It came highly recommended and has won many awards. The majority of reviews rave about it, yet I DNF’d it over and over. Finally read it all the way through… and still didn’t love it. So the poor thing went on my shelf of books that have been read but will be reread, reviewed, and generally dealt with later. Well “later” in this case is 2022, since clearing off that shelf is one of my main goals for the year.

So I had to reread it with an eye for why possibly this wasn’t the book for me, even if it was so clearly beloved by many other readers. Perhaps then a review could be useful even for those who adored this story. As there is already so much written about this novel elsewhere, I’m going to break from my usual formats somewhat and focus mainly on how this particular novel very much didn’t work for me – as perhaps that might help some people decide if it might be a good fit for them or not.

Review: The Immortal Boy

The Immortal Boy by Francisco Montana Ibanez, translated by David Bowles.
Levine Querido, New York, 2021.
Billingual fiction, 154 pages English, 154 pages Spanish.
Not yet leveled.

Two stories in Bogota, Colombia: five siblings try to stay together in their father’s absence, and a girl left in an orphanage follows a child called The Immortal Boy.

The Immortal Boy by Francisco Montana Ibanez, translated by David Bowles.

After rejecting the overwhelming stereotypes of Villoro’s The Wild Book, I was still searching for a Latine youth fantasy novel in translation. I respect David Bowles and had seen this mentioned without a clear age range, so hoped it would work for my diverse MG fantasy booklists.

Alas, it would be a stretch to consider this MG, although it may be suitable for individual readers. The Immortal Boy is disturbing and morbid… but still good? A difficult book to put down and also an emotionally challenging read. The story is one of nearly unrelenting misery, yet paradoxically beautifully written.

Review: A Festival of Ghosts

A Festival of Ghosts (Ingot #2) by William Alexander, illustrated by Kelly Murphy.
Margaret K. McElderry Books, Simon and Schuster, New York, 2018, my paperback edition 2019.
MG fantasy, 264 pages plus excerpt.
Lexile: 610L .
AR Level: 4.5 (worth 6.0 points) .
NOTE: This book is a direct sequel to A Properly Unhaunted Place and this review will contain major spoilers for that novel.
FURTHER NOTE: Pictures on this review are part of the pink posts.

The continuing adventures of Rosa Diaz, from a family of librarians who specialize in ghost appeasement, and Jasper Chevalier, native to the unhaunted town of Ingot and the son of two Renaissance Faire leaders.

A Festival of Ghosts by William Alexander, illustrated by Kelly Murphy

We enjoyed the previous book, so I was happy to continue this story, although it wasn’t immediately obvious where this one would go. After all, I felt the previous book worked well as a stand alone novel. However there was one thread left unteased, and of course that was pulled in to this new story, along with a number of new problems.

Review: On These Magic Shores

On These Magic Shores by Yamille Saied Mendez.
Tu Books, Lee and Low, New York, 2020.
MG fantasy/contemporary, 278 pages.
Lexile: not yet leveled .
AR Level: 4.8 (worth 8.0 points) .

Minerva Soledad Miranda (call her Minnie, please) just wants to fit in as much as possible, but it’s not easy to keep up with seventh grade, let alone audition for the school play, when she has to watch her sisters while her mom works two jobs. It’s hard to focus when they are crying from hunger. And it’s especially difficult when Mama suddenly doesn’t come home.

On These Magic Shores by Yamile Saied Mendez.

As soon as this book arrived, it stood out because of the unusual format. I bought the hardcover, but it’s smaller than any other MG fantasy on my shelf, sized more like a softcover novel. The blurbs were also impressive for a first edition of a new author’s book from an imprint with less than 50 releases.

Tu books is a MG/YA focused imprint of Lee and Low which publishes mainly genre fiction. Their historical fiction has a good reputation, but they’ve only published one other middle grade fantasy novel so far. However, they have a schedule of intriguing books coming up over the next few years, starting with this story of fairies and hardship.

First, just a note to apologize. I’m aware that the author’s last name includes an accent, but with the new version of WordPress, I have not been able to type special characters. No disrespect intended, simply a technical failure here.

Review: Into the Tall Tall Grass

Into the Tall, Tall Grass by Loriel Ryon.
Margaret K. McElderry Books, Simon & Schuster Children’s, New York, 2020.
MG fantasy, 330 pages.
Lexile: 660L .
AR Level: not yet leveled.

All the women in Yolanda’s family have some sort of magical gift, including her twin sister, but not her. Her father is away in the military, she’s become estranged from her best friend and her twin, her grandfather has died, and her ailing grandmother asks Yolanda to take her to the only pecan tree left standing on their property after the grass starts growing taller and taller…

Into the Tall, Tall Grass by Loriel Ryon.

Occasionally I run into a book that seems to be severely underhyped. Sometimes, like with The Secret of the Blue Glass, I can look objectively at the book and see why it might have trouble finding an audience or why it might not appeal to everyone even if I personally loved it. Others I can’t understand why it hasn’t been popular! My only thinking for this one is 2020, or perhaps that some readers disliked the lesbian aspect which is not immediately apparent.

I’ve written about “diverse-adjacent” books before; this one is more stealth diverse. The cover is gorgeous and represents the characters well, but even reading the synopsis, other than the names Yolanda Rodriguez-O’Connell and Wela, nothing that stands out as Latina, and particularly not LGBTQ.