Reviews: Moonbird and Seraphina

Review: Moonbird: A year on the wind with the great survivor B95
Published by: Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-374-30468-3
Reading Level: Grades 5 and up

AND


Review: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Published by: Doubleday Canada, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-385-66839-2
Reading Level: Grades 9 and up

I've chosen to review Moonbird and Seraphina in the same entry NOT because they have overwhelming similarities but because what I have to say applies to both. One is a fiction novel about a half dragon caught up in a mystery, the other is a non fiction tale of a bird migration and of B95, a bird who has made the journey over 18 times - flying the distance one would travel from Earth to the Moon and halfway back again. So, no true similarities but one: I disliked both but knew I was reading good stuff.

I don't like dragons - or even half dragons and thus a plot surrounding them is not to my taste. 'Seraphina' reads well and the storyline is interesting - murder, intrigue, fighting between groups. However, make those groups dragons and humans and throw in descriptions on how to clean your scales and I'm out. I enjoyed it more in this second reading (I reviewed it previously for 'Resourcelinks and had a ARC). I can see literary merit in this book - well written, strong plot, well developed characters. I just did not like it. 

The same is true of 'Moonbird'. In this saga about the migration of the rufa red knot, we learn about the travel and diet patterns of this bird species. These birds travel from Terra del Fuego in South America to the breeding grounds of the Canadian Arctic. The migration habits of this group have been tracked as well as their population. Scientists have tagged and identified many of the rufa, tracking them year after year. B95 was tagged 18 years ago and is still flying. Given the fact that the population of the rufa has dropped 80% in the past 20 years, his survival is fairly epic. This is a full colour book, pullouts of bios, features and facts an dis nicely written. However, I couldn't find it in me to care for these birds. That sounds callous but honest - I thought the story was fascinating, I was just not inspired to help. I did like that they mentioned Parks Canada in the list of groups and resources of people for those who are inspired to help - Parks Canada does great work and should be mentioned.

Both books received a 4/5.

Good reads page Seraphina
Good Reads page Moonbird.

Review: Wondershow by Hannah Barnaby

Review: Wondershow by Hannah Barnaby
Published by: Houghten Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-547-59980-9
Reading Level: Grades 9 and up

Sometimes it's the little things about a book. Things which have nothing to do with the story. With this book, it was the dedication. It states:

For the lost and the lonely
For the different and the same

The longing and the beauty conveyed in these two lines made me realize I was in for a treat of a book. I was not disappointed.
To explain the plot of this story gets complicated and detailed. On the one hand, it's a story of a girl in search of her family who joins a circus, telling stories as a "normal" and finds her true family. On the other hand, this is the story of Portia, set in the United States during the 1930s. Portia is our main character - a young girl in search of her family. Portia has always had a way with stories. Her father was her constant audience; her mother was "lean and restless" and departed, leaving a space which was quickly closed and was never spoken of again. Her father and his moods controlled the stories Portia told and through that, as a young child she learned the art of storytelling, the difference between a lie and a tale and how a family can fly away. A visit to the circus was quickly followed by the disappearance of her father, leaving the two mixed in Portias mind: her father must have left to follow the circus. Portia is left with her Aunt, a no nonsense woman who taught Portia to cook and sew and who eventually decided that she was unable to care for Portia as she should be cared for. Portia is left in McGreavey's Home for Wayward Girls with the Mister, a man who uses the home as a front to get cheap labour - the girls are put to work sewing mail order uniforms or picking apples. Portia quickly becomes friends with Caroline, a girl who has caught the eye of Mister. She becomes one of the house girls, who, with Caroline and Delilah the cook, take care of the main home where Mister lives. It is there she finds the files and knows that Mister knows where her father is - she just has to earn his trust enough to be able to access it. When tragedy strikes, Portia leaves and finds the circus, hoping she can find her father, or, failing that, employment. Through the strength of her storytelling skills she finds a place as a "normal' in the Mosco's Traveling Wonder Show and it is there she discovers what family truly means.
So... big set up for a fairly pat plot - discovering family, discovering self, discovering what a freak means vs what a normal means, finding out who the true monsters are in the world. However, all of this is boiled into beautiful prose where the reader is able to watch Portia develop from a headstrong young girl into a woman who is secure in her family and her future. As well, it gives a glimpse into the world of the traveling 'freak' show - shows popular in the 1930s. Through this novel the reader gets a glimpse into part of the world of the 30s. Barnaby creates a set of characters that the reader wants to learn more about and of whom the reader will form definite opinions. Beautifully told, a little different and smart - a fantastic novel.
I give this book a 5/5
Goodreads page

Review: The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

Review: The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

Published by:Balzar + Bray, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, in 2012

ISBN: 978-0-06-202056-7

Reading Level: Grades 9 and up

I was a teen of the 90's. The grunge scruffiness, the bands trying to make a mark, the general questioning of the age. Who am I and why did I used to wear florescent shirts and all that jazz. Reading a book set in that era was nice, especially one that wasn't focused on the popular culture of the times but instead the living in the culture of those times. It felt familiar.
The subject matter was less personal but was still familiar. The story of a girl trying to find her place and her self during her teen years in the 90s sounds like the story of my life. Less like my life was the life of Cameron Post. Her parents die suddenly in a car crash and she's relieved - relieved they will never find out that she was kissing a girl at the time of their crash. Once she is orphaned, Cameron has to live with her well intentioned but old fashioned Grandmother and her very conservative and Christian aunt Ruth. She knows her home life will never be the same and knows that to fit in in her small town she's going to have to lay low and blend in, no matter what inner angst she is feeling. Then, SHE moves to town - beautiful cowgirl Coley Taylor with her perfect life and her perfect boyfriend. Cameron and Coley strike up an intense friendship, one which becomes intense in many ways. When the intensity turns to something physical, Cameron is sent away by her Aunt to be "fixed". Cam is forced to face the reality of what it will mean to deny her true self - and the reality of figuring out who her true self really is.
This book was visually quite beautiful - the descriptions of vistas, towns and places were striking and appealing to the reader. Cameron was a character I enjoyed meeting - and about whom I'd love to read more. Danforth scripted her characters beautifully and believably, and their joys and angst were quite visible and tangible as you navigated their lives. Character, setting, plot - all of these tenants of storytelling were beautifully developed and left the reader informed and wanting more.
This is one book I can't wait to share with my students.
I rate this book 5/5.
Goodreads page.

Review: After the Snow

Review: 'After the Snow by S. D. Crockett

Published by: Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-312-64169-6
Reading Levels: Grade 8+

When I give book talks to students, I don't only discuss books that I enjoyed. I bring out books that I didn't like as well, letting them know they weren't to my taste and why, including a plot review. One book like that is 'Blood Red Road' - I disliked the bleak dystopia and the plot that kept going and going and going. Unfortunately, while reading 'After the Snow' I was constantly reminded of 'Blood Red Road'. The bleakness, the journey, the family revelations, the violence and the times of inaction. It was 'Blood Red Road' all over again and I had to push to finish it.
'After the Snow' tells of a world that has suffered a brand new ice age. The oceans have stopped, America has become inconsequential and survival is of the utmost importance. Willo has only known the world in this state - ice and snow is his normal. He learns from the animals and spends time trapping them for food and for their fur, imitating them whenever he can and recognizing their power and their beauty. One day his family is taken away while Willo is out trapping. Unused to being the pack leader, Willo does what he can to survive, bringing as many supplies as he can to the top of the mountain so he can build a shelter and try to figure out how to find his family. On his way, he discovers a young girl and her brother who are starving and alone. Choices he makes from that point on will jeopardize his chances of survival and alter his destiny forever.
For me, when I read, I need to care about the characters. They could be doing something I've never done (to this point), such as fight cancer, participate in a battle to the death again other people their age, come to terms with the fact their father is a prolific serial killer, or go on a quest to kill the dark lord who-shall-not-be-named. The character of Willo was as bleak as the landscape and even his revelations about his family could not endear him to me. This character, when combined with the abysmal setting of snow and ice, could not make me care about him or his journey. Having not met his family, I had no connection of hope to his finding them, other than not wanting a young boy to be alone. I couldn't connect with the main character, thus, my connection to the book was one of suffering as I pushed to finish it.
I give this book a 2/5. It has merits, it's just not for me and I would not reread it.
Goodreads page.