Review: The Whole Hole Story

Title: The Whole HOLE Story 

Author: Vivian McInerny 

Illustrator: Ken Lamug 

Publisher: Versify 

Pages: 32 

Review copy: Digital copy via illustrator 

Availability: On shelves now 

Summary: Zia is used to the hole in her pocket—she frequently fills it with frogs and other objects. And as it gets bigger and bigger, she starts to wonder what might happen . . . if she fell right through. Would she cover it with a blanket to catch an elephant, or dig a tunnel to the other side of the world? The possibilities are endless, and readers will love following Zia’s adventurous imagination from beginning to end.

My review: What a fantastical adventure and a great one to add to my list of portal books. Zia travels through this delightful world of her own making. It's like a dream sequence, but she has determined that it will not be a scary place so all is cheerful.

The illustrations are playful and Zia's expressions are a lot of fun. It would be a great mentor text for imaginative writing or illustrating. It seems like a book that would really inspire readers to think about what they would do if they had their own portal world to explore. 

Recommendation: This will be a fun addition to any collection particularly if you are looking for fantasy picture books. I'm happy to have another example of portal fantasy to share with students during our genre unit. 

Possible Pairings: 

Picture Books

Another by Christian Robinson

Door by JiHyeon Lee

In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak

Journey, Quest, and Return by Aaron Becker

Lift by Minh Lê illustrated by Dan Santat

Polo and the Dragon by Régis Faller

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett illustrated by Jon Klassen

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Graphic novels

Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi

Glitch by Sarah Graley

Mal & Chad: Food Fight by Stephen McCranie

Paths & Portals by Gene Luen Yang

Where's Halmoni? by Julie Kim

Novels

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

The Barren Grounds by David Robertson

Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott

The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi

Heir Apparent by Vivan Vande Velde

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Sal & Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Alberto Hernandez

The Serpent's Secret by Sayantani DasGupta

Sisters of the Neversea by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

If you want to see more of my reading, visit my Goodreads shelves here. 

Recent Blogposts:

Review: Middle grade novel Generation Misfits

Review: All of a Sudden and Forever: Help and Healing 

After the Oklahoma City Bombing

Question of the Day: Are the Books YA or Adult?

Books I've Read Recently: 

I read a playful picture book The Whole Hole Story which I will review here tomorrow. 

I also read the YA poetry collection Somebody Give This Heart a Pen. I looked for it after watching an excellent interview with her from Candlewick as part of their Black Creators Series.  

In Search of Safety: Voices of Refugees was pretty incredible. I appreciate hearing accounts of refugees willing to share their stories. 

In adult reading, I enjoyed Gray Hair Don't Care which is a rom-com. For a book club I also read Summer of '69 which was a family story set in the year of my birth. It was an interesting story by itself, but the time period made it even more intriguing to me. 

The Coming Week: I am still making my way through Alta California. It's not super compelling, but it does have a lot of information about the California coast and since I've been to many of the places or have heard of them, I like finding out more about the areas. I'll probably keep working through it, but I'm not quite halfway finished. I also picked up Arsenic and Adobo from the library hold shelf after hearing the the author interview on Books and Boba so will likely get started on that. Have a great week!

Review: All of a Sudden and Forever

Title: All of a Sudden and Forever: Help and Healing After the Oklahoma City Bombing

Author: Chris Barton 

Illustrator: Nicole Xu 

Publisher: Carolrhoda Books Pages: 40 

Review copy: Final copy via author 

Availability: On shelves now 

Summary: Sometimes bad things happen, and you have to tell everyone. Sometimes terrible things happen, and everybody knows. On April 19, 1995, something terrible happened in Oklahoma City: a bomb exploded, and people were hurt and killed. But that was not the end of the story. Those who survived—and those who were forever changed—shared their stories and began to heal. Near the site of the bomb blast, an American elm tree began to heal as well. People took care of the tree just as they took care of each other. The tree and its seedlings now offer solace to people around the world grappling with tragedy and loss. Released to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, this book commemorates what was lost and offers hope for the future.

My review: It's very difficult to write for young people when the subject is a horrifying and deadly event. There's a balance of providing the truth without overwhelming the readers. Here Barton shares the terrible thing that happened back in 1995, but has also demonstrated the healing that has happened over time. 

"Sometimes bad things happen, and you have to tell everyone. Sometimes terrible things happen, and everybody knows." The first lines help readers relate to this event. Bad things could mean a lot of different events or situations and many young people have already seen some terrible things on the news or in their lives. 

The tone of the illustrations is subdued with many grays and browns especially in the beginning. As the book progresses, the colors lighten and become a little brighter, but always stay gentle. The illustrations of the tree are particularly hopeful as the roots reach down and stretch out showing connection. 

The awfulness of this event is clear. The pain of the loss is not minimized, but the focus of the text is on how the healing began and continued. There are many stories of people in the community reaching out and connecting with others especially through the memorial and the seedlings of the tree that survived. The hope is also seen when people impacted by this event helped others who were facing tragedy. 

The author and illustrator include helpful notes about their process and the impact this project had on them. 

Recommendation: This is a powerful book that honors the lives of those who died that day while also honoring those who went through the grieving and healing process following the loss.  It's a helpful addition to any personal or public library and would be useful in many ways, but especially for providing a way to talk about loss and grief with young people. 

Possible Pairings: Here you will find fiction and nonfiction picture book titles for readers dealing with loss

Review: Generation Misfits

Title: Generation Misfits 

Author: Akemi Dawn Bowman 

Publisher: Farrar, STraus, Giroux 

Pages: 352

Review copy: Digital ARC via Netgalley 

Summary: Millie is attending a real school for the first time, and she dreams of finally having friends and a little bit of freedom. She finds her chance when she joins an imitation band of her favorite J-Pop group, where she's thrilled to meet a group of misfits who quickly become a tight knit group of friends that are like family.But Millie soon realizes that one of them is dealing with problems bigger than what notes to hit when it comes time for their performance. Can Millie help her friend, even when their problem feels too big to say out loud?

My review:  I did not expect to cry, but the tears welled up more than once. Sometimes because my heart hurt and sometimes they were happy tears. The cover made me think this was going to be an exciting and upbeat book--and it was. But it was definitely more than just a light friendship story. Everyone has struggles they are working through.The main character has been homeschooled and now is beginning sixth grade at school. I was concerned that the book was going to make homeschooling seem like a horrible thing since Millie had a very negative opinion of it in the beginning. That is balanced out a little later in the book though. So often young people feel like they may never find people they can really connect with and this book will be easy to relate to for those readers. This would be especially true for those who have unique music tastes. It really was fun to see the friends in all of their excitement and effusiveness about their J-Pop band and the gloriousness of finding other who share their enthusiasm. One character is nonbinary and uses them/they pronouns. That isn't explained initially so it really isn't something that stands out as an issue for anyone. Later in the story there is a conversation that goes into it a bit when a friend is seeking to understand, but it isn't a conflict it's just part of the character.Each person is distinct and they are all discovering things about themselves as they learn more about each other. They hurt each other along the way, but they also strengthen each other. Through it all they are learning to be true to themselves.

Recommendation: This will be a great middle grade book to hand to those who enjoy contemporary fiction or music or friendship stories.

Extra:

Video discussion with author along with two authors of books featuring music.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

 It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

If you want to see more of my reading, visit my Goodreads shelves here. 

Recent Blogposts:

Reading Beyond the U.S.

Review: Love & Other Natural Disasters

Books I've Read Recently: 

I finished listening to Made in Korea (thanks Libro.fm!) which is a cute YA rom-com. I found out about it on the Books and Boba podcast when they had a great chat with the author Sarah Suk. 

I also ran across A Manga Lover's Tokyo Travel Guide. While I am not a teen manga lover, I still found this comic book to be a lot of fun and I learned a lot of helpful hints in case I ever visit Tokyo again and it was also nice to have memories brought to mind.

In the theme of travel, I also read two books for adults that were place based. When we were in CA to visit family, someone handed me Kendra Atleework's memoir, Miracle Country. She grew up in an area east of the Sierra Nevadas which doesn't seem to show up in books and other pop culture very much. I've really only been there once when we drove from Sacramento to Death Valley. She refers to Mono Lake and many of the other places that I still remember from that trip. The land and the people there are definitely interesting. I also read Disappearing Earth which is a mystery that takes place on the Kamchatka Peninsula which is another place that is rarely a setting in books I read. Both were compelling. 

I haven't read many picture books lately, but one that I really loved is My First Day. Apparently it was first published in Asia with a different title, but here is a trailer made for that first publication.

 

I shared it with my fifth grade classes during our final week of school and we made connections to starting middle school in the fall. Students really enjoyed the book and we also learned a bit about Vietnam. I will definitely be sharing this one at the beginning of school in September. 

In a book store this past week, there was a Pride display so I finally got to read Pride Puppy! which is as adorable as it sounds. A puppy and its family get separated during the Pride celebration, but all ends well. There was also a copy of the Prince & Knight sequel The Shadow King. I enjoyed it in spite of the rhyming text. 

The Coming Week: I'm still reading Alta California which was interrupted by my actual visit to CA. I am also in the middle of the book Summer of '69 for one of my book clubs. I've just started listening to A Sitting in St. James for a virtual book discussion with Ms. Edith Campbell and Dr. Sarah Park Dahlen. I'm not sure what else I'll be reading this week, but I'm looking forward to having the time to read a bit more now that my travel is finished. Have a great week!