This novel is a foodie delight, a bakeoff for celestial beings where the stakes or death or worse. It’s everything a televised bakeoff would be, complThis novel is a foodie delight, a bakeoff for celestial beings where the stakes or death or worse. It’s everything a televised bakeoff would be, complete with sabotage, difficult contestants and finicky judges. Cai’s reasons for winning make sense and they’re more than seeing a dream of opening a restaurant in her dead father’s name. Everybody has reasons for winning the contest and those reasons unfold naturally as the story progresses.
This is a look at another world of myth and story, one where the gods either walked among human beings, as fallible and real as your next-door neighbor or toyed with humans from the clouds. Near or far, they are presences in mortal lives, they and their magical familiars.
But shining above all this is the love of food. There are dishes described in such mouthwatering detail, you can almost taste them. I wanted to try each one and was sorry this book didn’t come with recipes. Even if some of the ingredients sounded fictional (a blue and red pepper with different Scoville levels?) or were fabulistic in nature, e.g. a desert chicken that only manifested when you sacrificed an item of personal value, I thought they all sounded intriguing and worth the try.
For gourmets, gourmands and lovers of the fantastical, savor this Celestial Banquet. ...more
Family is rather a nebulous concept these days. It can definitely expand or contract depending on circumstances. Such is the situation Denver finds hiFamily is rather a nebulous concept these days. It can definitely expand or contract depending on circumstances. Such is the situation Denver finds himself in when he has to deal with his whiny, pestiferous stepbrother Harlan.
The novel takes us through Denver’s inner journey as he tries to extricate Harlan from a magical spell, the result of an unhappy tree that needs some nurturing itself. The story isn’t subtle in its message about embracing new members of the family but it doesn’t need to be. It’s made for children, after all, and subtlety isn’t a tactic that may work with younger members.
Denver gradually learns how to heal Spiro’s loneliness and disconnection from the other trees in the forest and, in doing so, bridges some yawning rifts within himself. The book also includes helpful tips about trees and a crash course in dendrology that may make some children curious about the green world in which they live. ...more
This fantastical and ludicrous story of one man’s attempt to buy groceries for his children is vastly amusing. I want to say it’s in Mr. Gaiman’s typiThis fantastical and ludicrous story of one man’s attempt to buy groceries for his children is vastly amusing. I want to say it’s in Mr. Gaiman’s typical voice. But he has a trickster’s gift of changing his tone from one book to the next. This children’s book is vastly different from the rhyming, rollicking humor of Pirate’s Stew, the horror of Coraline and the quiet contemplation of The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
This is a father’s attempt to explain why he’s so late with the milk and it’s one ripping yarn. As accompanied by the jittery illustrations of Skottie Young, the narrator always teeters on the edge of disaster but manages to escape by the skin of his teeth and one judiciously placed bottle of liquid dairy product. It’s absurdity at its absolute highest (or is it lowest?), reminding you of the lunacy of a Monty Python skit, complete with inventive dinosaurs, bloodthirsty wumpires, teed-off volcano gods and so much more. The girls listening to him are skeptical but with a story this inventive, who cares?...more
Filled with rollicking good humor, a curious recipe and two kids who definitely didn’t expect the babysitters their parents set up for them, this bookFilled with rollicking good humor, a curious recipe and two kids who definitely didn’t expect the babysitters their parents set up for them, this book combines the antics of a certain Dr. Seuss cat and the wildness of Peter Pan. The children are taken aloft by jovial, well-meaning pirates whose notion of a wholesome meal is flavored by edible and inedible ingredients.
The rhyming text is accompanied by the illustrations of Chris Riddell. His wide-eyed characters are filled with vibrant color, variety, verve and an ever-increasing cast of characters. The children are cautious but get swept up in the action as their house acquires winged sails that send them wafting aloft.
Neil Gaiman once more proves himself adept at writing for adults and children in this animated children’s story. Haul up the anchor, me hearties, and don’t forget the donuts!...more
This fascinating look into Lakota culture features a slightly different yet oddly familiar slant on the notion of creation. This god wasn't done with This fascinating look into Lakota culture features a slightly different yet oddly familiar slant on the notion of creation. This god wasn't done with the world after he created everything in it. He wanted to gift mankind with a precious spirit. But where could he put it?
The passage of this creation is accompanied by illustrations that look like cunning embroidery. There are animals outlined in thick black lines that encompass impossible color combinations. They are breathtakingly lovely. Children and adults will delight in this singular notion of how the world came into being....more
This unusual winter tale not only celebrates the joys of the season but also the camaraderie that is shared when people gather together in celebrationThis unusual winter tale not only celebrates the joys of the season but also the camaraderie that is shared when people gather together in celebration. Living snowpeople emerge in this world but it’s treated as if it’s completely normal. They act much like flesh people do—they eat, they drink, they dance.
The look and tone of this book is like a Rankin-Bass cartoon, which were popular in the 1960s and 1970s. This book was published in 1974, which explains the look of it. There are helpful animals decked out with human accessories and primary colors galore.
It also makes sense that the story poses the threat of climate change (a phrase that began to take shape in the 1970s) as unseasonal warmth attacks the helpless snow community.
How the Littlest Snowman becomes a hero, saving the season, his people and the joy of the human children who built him, is ingenious, clever and something I wouldn’t have considered. The entire tale reminds me of the classic cartoon “Frosty the Snowman” and it deserves wider dispersal among small children....more
Fables have a timeless quality about them. Usually featuring animals as stand-ins for human foibles and behaviors, we can recognize the fallible peoplFables have a timeless quality about them. Usually featuring animals as stand-ins for human foibles and behaviors, we can recognize the fallible people we know (and maybe see them as a mirror for our own flaws).
This collection is no exception. With one-page stories accompanied by amusing color drawings, we see on display gullibility, pride, messy gluttony, thrill seeking and a host of other very-human behaviors. The stories are amusing, uplifting and different from what you may know. These aren’t Aesop’s fables but we can see a great deal of his wisdom in them....more
In this fable about mischievous, playful monkeys, we are given a lesson about the dangers of trusting to appearances. People familiar with fables willIn this fable about mischievous, playful monkeys, we are given a lesson about the dangers of trusting to appearances. People familiar with fables will see a decided resemblance to the story “Henny Penny” with its hysterical fowl declaring that the sky is falling.
The story takes place in a round picture set among a grayish-green backdrop of embroidered flowers, giving it a feeling both artistic and quaint. The pearl changes color as day gives way to night to the luminous depths of a well. It’s a sweet children’s book enhanced with humor and quiet reflection....more
The YouTuber behind the online Tale Foundry videos posted a video about the mutating viewpoint we have of skeletons. Skeletons used to be scary. The iThe YouTuber behind the online Tale Foundry videos posted a video about the mutating viewpoint we have of skeletons. Skeletons used to be scary. The image was that of a grim harbinger of death. But they’re not spooky any longer. They’re rattling bones. They’re dancing remains. They wear a perpetual grin. They can take off their head and recite Shakespearean quotations.
This little children’s book celebrates that Mexican holiday El Día de los Muertos by showing us the other side of death. This is not a funeral; this is a party! The festive illustrations show these hollow-eyed bone creatures as having the times of their unlives. In this book, the skeletons dance and sing during El Festival de las Calaveras: The Festival of Bones. They defy gravity as they fly. They dance on the moon. These are happy creatures indeed! As all that remains of the once-living people (and animals) they were, they have no cares or worries.
This is a fine introduction to this annual festival, with helpful notes in the back on how to make your own ofrenda, bake the pan de muertos and make your own sugar skulls. Curious adults and gleeful children (the ones who like to dress as skeletons on Halloween, e.g.) will find this book very entertaining....more
This is that children’s story that polarizes so many people. Is it the story of unconditional love, the kind that tender mothers bestow upon their chiThis is that children’s story that polarizes so many people. Is it the story of unconditional love, the kind that tender mothers bestow upon their children no matter how old, rich, poor, successful or indigent they are? Is it the selfless, pathetic affection that some women have for their abusers—letting themselves be used, battered, destroyed and broken just to win a scrap of attention from a cruel, indifferent lover?
The boy doesn’t come off as inherently mean, at least not at first. He climbs the tree trunk, plays in the tree’s branches and gathers and eats its fruit, as many a child will do. Yet it forgets about the tree, sometimes for years at a time. When it comes back, the boy changes, cycling through childhood to old age, but he remains as demanding of the tree’s time as ever. The tree changes too, as a direct result of the boy’s predatory behavior. But it is always happy for the boy remembers it when everyone else has left them to be on their own.
In a way, it reminds you of that timeless classic, J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. Peter also would forget his Wendy, often for years. He would return, careless, indifferent to the passage of time, while Wendy would try to hide the encroachment of it on her person. Peter was happy to have Wendy relate her stories and Wendy was overjoyed to see the glorious hero of her youth. Peter, however, never changed and in the end abandoned his adult Wendy for her prepubescent daughter. As Barrie ended his story, that is the way of children: to be callous, casual and cruel.
Is the boy cruel for his constant use of the tree? It is, after all, an inanimate stick of wood. It can’t travel with him unless he uses its wood. It can’t offer true companionship outside of the limited sphere of the ground it inhabits. Is the tree pathetic for loving a human who’ll never make her more than an infrequent part of his life? Humans can’t stay in the same spot forever. The unnamed boy also can’t give anything but fleeting attention.
But they are constant in their affection for one another. When everything else has fallen away, they are there for one another. They are happy. Whatever you take away from this story, that is the part that can’t be denied.
Perhaps that’s why it lingers in the memories of so many people who read it. Happiness is so rare and precious and its sources may seem questionable to those who view it from the outside. What makes one person happy would be a chafing snare to another. So let it spark debate, argument and polarization. What else can we expect of overwhelming emotion? ...more
The idea of feeling yourself cursed in love isn’t a new one and Grant takes his notion of it very much to heart. Is he really cursed to be dumped or dThe idea of feeling yourself cursed in love isn’t a new one and Grant takes his notion of it very much to heart. Is he really cursed to be dumped or does he deliberately choose boys he knows will reject him? Perhaps he realizes early on that he’s settling and the boys come to feel the same way. That’s why they invariably choose someone else over Grant.
The novel tells of a failing business, an impending festival, the looming threat of bankruptcy—all the familiar tropes of a place that needs rescuing along with its inhabitants. There’s many a romance that revolves around places that need aid in getting back into solvency as well as the people who need healing and this romance delivers.
Ben is a bit too waspish for my taste. He’s constantly needling Grant—in a way that Grant feels he needs. He also insists on getting the last word in conversations and arguments (also something I’d find annoying). But on paper the two of them work together, their character traits somehow meshing together to form one imperfect but happy whole.
Neither of them uproot their existence for the other (another trope I can’t stand). It’s a long-distance relationship and Grant doesn’t know if it will last. Neither do we and that unnerving impermanence, that uncertainty is at the heart of this novel, reminding us that love isn’t certain but with perseverance, determination and sheer stubbornness, sometimes it can beat any curse....more
By turns thoughtful, luminous, grim, sparkling and acidic, Ms. Yu uses familiar fairy tales to plumb the depths and heights of the human condition. HoBy turns thoughtful, luminous, grim, sparkling and acidic, Ms. Yu uses familiar fairy tales to plumb the depths and heights of the human condition. However, there are more than reworked fantasy stories here. There are dire warnings of a probable future in which surveillance drones are so prevalent that we can’t take a step without being accosted by one. Characters fight against their baser natures. Sometimes they win; sometimes they lose. Dictators triumph as their cowering subjects repeat the same stupid mistakes. Evil people are toppled when beleaguered citizens cry “Enough!” and rise up against them. Creatures are preyed upon until they learn how to shield themselves.
What are the morals or the lessons? Maybe there aren’t any…or maybe there are. So many of the characters find refuge in imagination, curiosity, the glories and pitfalls of art. Those who can’t perceive the art are considered dullards and fools—which just goes to show that art itself can deceive.
However, I have to admit to disappointment. I was lured into borrowing and reading this book because an online YouTube service mentioned a short story about an animator who is offered three deals by a devil in order to realize his art. It sounded so enchanting; I had to look up the book that contained it. All the searches pointed towards The Jewel Box.
But the story isn’t here. There are stories about people using their art, for good or bad, but the specific story “Daedalum: The Devil’s Wheel” isn’t here. It appeared in a magazine not this anthology. It bothered me. But the other stories vibrate so with the writer’s craft that the sting is minimal.
This is a book to treasure…but that’s not quite the right word. “Treasure” implies something to be hoarded, squirreled away and kept solely to be gloated over with dragonlike greed. This is a book to be shared, to be passed on, to be thrust at your friends while you shout, “You’ve got to read this book!”
Savor it. Devour it. Pass it on to the unsuspecting. Then search out more books by Ms. Yu. Whether there are devils within the stories or not, they are worth the hunt....more
Tales of poor, disenfranchised families are not uncommon. What are the borrowers but people who live off the detritus of other people’s lives?
Jackson’Tales of poor, disenfranchised families are not uncommon. What are the borrowers but people who live off the detritus of other people’s lives?
Jackson’s case is particularly desperate, however. Both his parents are broke, unemployed musicians. He’s ashamed, angry and constantly fighting hunger. So an imaginary, invisible, oversized cat is the last thing he needs. Having to be responsible, caring and dependable while sidestepping the issues of their lives and hiding the fact that he’s being haunted by a figment is wearying for a fifth grader. We can tell that an explosion is coming.
A combination of Drop Dead Fred and A Monster Calls, this book is about a kid who must come to terms with the harsh realities of his life and the well-meaning if misguided treatment from his parents. They’re in desperate straits but no one wants to admit it.
Jackson’s interactions with his family, his friend and the imaginary Crenshaw have a kind of poignancy to them mixed with exasperation. Crenshaw is advisor, pest, worry and comfort all rolled into one. The scene where Jackson coils into the warmth of Crenshaw’s fur while the cat purrs is darling—yet it ends with a pointed jab at the limitations of adult knowledge.
Jackson’s story outlines what happens when parental help fails and their offspring must cope with it. It’s a story about children but with a critical lens aimed at the adult world. ...more
The Knife Witch is a girl of stubbornness, grit, determination and impulse. All her life, people have been telling her what to do and she’s fed up witThe Knife Witch is a girl of stubbornness, grit, determination and impulse. All her life, people have been telling her what to do and she’s fed up with it. Yet she’s resigned that nothing will change…until it does.
This is an adventure story with a most unusual heroine. It’s a tale of a girl who’s never longed for voyaging but finds herself sailing away over the oceans. She’s never craved power or wealth. Then she finds herself commanding a raider crew and wearing gold and jewelry. She’s always been too prickly to make real friends yet manages to gain a loyal following. She knew that she was going to have to marry someday. But she wasn’t looking forward to wedding any of the boobs in her village and they didn’t want to marry a girl who could throw knives with unnerving accuracy.
While I’m sad she didn’t make more female friends (it’s annoying how every witch she encountered kept arguing with and/or trying to kill her), I was tickled by her interchanges with a telepathic kraken determined to win her in marriage. If you want that last statement explained, you’ll just have to read the novel. Like the Knife Witch herself, you won’t believe the wild and crazy ride that awaits you....more
This is a stellar book, a hard-hitting, terrible, terrific and terrifying gut-punch of a novel. I was luThe pill on everybody’s lips is gonna be…Roxy.
This is a stellar book, a hard-hitting, terrible, terrific and terrifying gut-punch of a novel. I was lured in by the cover but utterly delighted at seeing Neal Shusterman’s name at the bottom of it. He’s never disappointed me when it comes to entertaining writing and this is no exception.
But this is so much more, so much deeper than a mere work of fiction. This book tangles with the morass of drug addiction and makes it both alluring and utterly heartbreaking. The authors give the drugs names, personalities and deep interactions with their human victims. Certain drugs are given ’ludes—I mean, interludes—in which they state their purpose, their own unique individual styles and their justifications for existing among humans. The impending construction of a freeway that will decimate a section of the suburbs and destroy the lives of people living there is a foreshadowing and metaphor for the destruction of common people who need prescription drugs and can no longer get them through legal means.
The main story loops among Isaac, Ivy, Roxy and Addison, the latter two being the drugs that will orchestrate the downfall of their chosen human marks. But there are other “characters” here as well. The voices of the various substances being used, misused and abused are alternately horrifying, amusing, poignant and strange. I read about drugs I’ve heard of before and some that are entirely new to me and had to look up online. So this book is also (dare I say it?) educational. Just as I would recommend seeing Trainspotting to show the ugliness behind addiction, this is a book that I would urge on any adolescents who are even thinking about experimenting with drugs.
It’s an incredible rollercoaster of a ride that whips you around but never quite loses control. You flip the pages, almost tearing them, breathless to see what happens next. The novel starts with a foregone conclusion. Yet it’s like the prologue in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Even though you know the ending, you still want to take this journey all the way to the bitter end, to see the forks in the road, to spot the places where the travelers could have made a different turn, taken another path and perhaps reached another destination.
Welcome to the Party. Just don’t overstay your visit....more
