June Wrap Up

Illustration by Andrea De Santis

 I predicted last month that my life would be drastically changing if I ended up being made the official reading consultant at my school. Well, it was made official and my life has already started changing. June was a busy month in general - I finished out the school year, had my birthday, took a long road trip home to Florida for a week, drove all the way back, and interviewed (and was recommended for) my graduate school program. I am suddenly filling up my calendar with summer planning meetings and working a lot on curriculum. It's been a lot, and it feels a little intimidating already, but I think I'm finally on the path I'm meant to be on. It's going to be tough for the next few years as I learn how to do this job and make my way through grad school, but it will be worth it in the end.

Happily, even with everything going on, I ended up reading a lot. I kept up my 100+ pages of reading each day and finished a total of 15 books. That number is deceptive, because seven of those were novellas and two were graphic novels, but I still read quite a bit. I totaled 3,574 pages, which is about average for me this year. I liked everything I read too--it was a bit challenging to pick a favorite this time. Here's the complete list:

Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips (3 stars)

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger (4 stars)

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (5 stars)

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire (5 stars)

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire (5 stars)

In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire (5 stars)

Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire (5 stars)

Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire (5 stars)

Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire (4 stars)

Violets Are Blue by Barbara Dee (4 stars)

The Aquanaut by Dan Santat (4 stars)

Too Bright To See by Kyle Lukoff (4 stars)

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher (4 stars)

Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel by Mariah Marsden and Breanna Thummler (4 stars)

The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy by Anne Ursu (5 stars)

My favorite read this month was The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy, which was a smart middle grades fantasy novel with a complex message. I also really enjoyed Every Heart a Doorway and A Wizard's Defensive Guide to Baking, which were also both very engaging fantasies. Troubled Girls ultimately won out because of its symbolic inclusion of real world issues.

My least favorite of the month was Disappearing Earth, which was not as cohesive or focused as I was expecting. It was still a beautifully written story, but I just didn't vibe with the narrative strategy and found a lot of it to be boring.

In other happy reading news, I completed my Finally in 2020 Challenge this month! I finished all seven series I set out to read. I'm going to continue the challenge by reading more series from my shelves and see how many I can get up to by the end of the year.

I did not haul any books this month. That's great for my overstuffed shelves, but I still wouldn't say I was good about purchases in general this month. Between my birthday, random purchases, and vacation shopping, I acquired an obscene amount of puzzles. 

Anyway, I did end up donating quite a few books. I chose to let go of Disappearing Earth, Elatsoe, Violets are Blue, The Aquanaut, Too Bright to See, A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, and Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic novel. A total of seven books left my shelves.

In July, I plan to continue working on my challenges, like usual. Here's my TBR:

The Test by Sylvain Neuvel

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Tales from the Inner City by Shaun Tan

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsal Faizal

We Free the Stars by Hafsah Faizal

Across the Desert by Dusti Bowling

When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

My physical reading journal was, once again, a failure. I'm still writing down everything I read in it, but I haven't been in the mood to get artistic. Maybe now that it's summer and I will be feeling more relaxed I can give the fancier layouts another shot. I did get some letter stamps for my birthday, so that should help motivate me to experiment a little.

I worked on some other hobbies during the month too. The most notable thing I accomplished was FINALLY finishing the diamond painting I was working on. For some reason, I was never excited to make progress on this, but now that it's done, I love the way it looks.

I started another, smaller diamond painting with round diamonds, so hopefully that one won't take me as long to finish.

I also finished a handful of puzzles, starting with Strawberry Affair by Piecework Puzzles. This was one of my favorite puzzles to work on so far because I loved the image so much. It was so sweet and not too difficult.

I also completed this 500 piece Spiderman puzzle from Buffalo Games. I got it for $5 during a sale on their website and I really enjoyed the vivid colors.

I did also complete three more 500 piece puzzles, but they are part of a set and I haven't completed the fourth one yet. I'm waiting until they are all done to take some pictures, so I'll write about those in my July post.

During my road trip, I actually finished a knitting project too! I made a very simple infinity scarf. It's been a while since I knit something and it felt really good to get back to it. I've got to make more of an effort to work on these again. I still need to wash and block the scarf before I can take pictures, so I'll discuss it in my July post as well.

I didn't have quite as much time to play my ukulele as I'd like due to my vacation, but I did learn Your Song by Elton John and Right Here Waiting by Richard Marx. I also started playing around with Hotel California by the Eagles and You're So Vain by Carly Simon, but those are in their beginning stages still.

So, that about sums up my busy month of June. In July, I'm hoping to enjoy some rest and relaxation, but I do have a lot to do for school that I have to work on. I'm going to try my best to keep everything in balance though. Summer is supposed to be for fun, after all!

Vacation Reading Roundup

 

During the past few weeks, my husband and I took a long road trip from Connecticut to Florida to visit our families. One of my goals for the trip was to keep up with my reading while we were away, and I actually did it. I read at least 100 pages each day we were gone and I ended up finishing six books and liking all of them. Of course, I didn't have time to sit and blog during those days, as most of my spare time was filled with socializing (the horror). Since we're at the end of the month already, I have decided to combine my reflections on my vacation reading into one post. Strap in, we've got a lot of ground to cover.

Violets are Blue by Barbara Dee

**Slight spoilers ahead**

This middle grades contemporary fiction novel centers around a seventh grader named Wren and her difficult family life. Her parents have recently divorced and things are tough. Her dad has remarried a new woman and is expecting twins. He is happy. Her mom is sinking deeper and deeper into depression and is starting to display some worrying behaviors like missing work, feeling ill, and disappearing for long stretches of time. Wren lives with her mom, and constantly feels caught in the middle. She finds escape through her passion - special effects makeup. When she is transforming herself or her friends into different characters, she is able to take her mind off her troubles. When the situation with her mother takes a dark turn, however, she is unable to ignore the problems and must face the hard truth of what is happening.

This was an excellent book, and I liked it a lot. Barbara Dee's writing was easy to read and I thought that Wren's character felt genuine and was very likeable. This novel deals with the difficult topic of addiction, and it was handled very well here. It was totally appropriate for middle grades readers while still being truthful and emotional. The element of Wren's special effects makeup was interesting too, and different from the hobbies usually present in these types of stories. It was nice to break away from sports, traditional art, and music and see something different. One small issue I had was that I thought Wren should have figured out her mom's issues with addiction earlier in the story - there were a lot of clues pointing in this direction - but overall, this was a great book and I can definitely see myself recommending it to students in the future.

Challenge Tally

Middle Grade Mission: 18/24

Total Books Read in 2022: 60

The Aquanaut by Dan Santat 

This middle grades graphic novel follows Sophia, a young girl who has been struggling since her father was lost at sea. She spends most of her time at Aqualand, a marine theme park that her father created, and hangs out with her uncle Paul, who also works at the park. One day, she is shocked to find an "aquanaut" dressed in an old fashioned diving suit arrive at Aqualand. Before long, she discovers that this mysterious character is actually four little sea creatures piloting the water-filled suit. They have decided to leave the sea to seek safety on land and need Sophia's help to stay undercover. She must try to protect them from Aqualand's main investor, a callous man that values profits over the welfare of the animals in his care. 

This was a very cute story with a great message about caring for others, animal welfare, and the importance of family. The art and illustrations were charming and the plot was incredibly sweet. This was an easy novel to read and one that I will definitely be putting in my classroom library. There were times where I wished it was a little bit deeper or more complex, but it was still a great reading experience.

Challenge Tally

Middle Grade Mission: 19/24

Total Books Read in 2022: 61

Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff

This middle grades contemporary novel follows an eleven-year-old kid named Bug. Bug's uncle has recently passed and away, and as they were very close, she is devastated by the loss. Bug lives in an old house that she has long believed is haunted, and soon after her uncle's death, she begins experiencing some alarming supernatural phenomena. She comes to believe that he is trying to deliver her an important message, and figuring out what that message is leads her to realize some important truths about herself. 

This was a beautiful novel, and well deserving of all the awards it has been nominated for. It contains a unique blend of supernatural elements alongside LGBTQIA+ topics. I was surprised by how well it handled realistic and deeply emotional issues through this otherworldly lens. Everything remained respectful, appropriate, and full of love. The whole novel is overflowing with love, actually. It was a pleasure to read Bug's journey. This is a wonderful addition to any young reader's library, as it delivers important messages about being yourself and accepting others. 

Challenge Tally

Middle Grade Mission: 20/24

Total Books Read in 2022: 62

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

 

This young adult fantasy novel follows a fourteen-year-old girl named Mona. She lives in a world where a small percentage of the population is born with magical abilities. Some people are born with very strong powers and can control elements like water and fire. Others are born with less impressive abilities. Mona, for example, can control dough and baked goods. She coax dough into the perfect consistency and achieve perfect bakes every time using her magic. She works at her aunt's bakery, which is the ideal place to use her talents. Her quiet little life, however, is soon disrupted when a dead body turns up in the bakery's basement and Mona is implicated in the crime. She soon uncovers a nasty plot to rid the world of magical people and must find a way to use her modest abilities to help her kingdom defeat those who seek to dismantle it.

This was an excellent story and surprisingly funny. I really enjoyed the world-building in this one and the quirky magic system. Mona doesn't wave a magic wand or say a spell to use her powers. Rather, she touches dough and convinces it to do things. She persuades it in her mind to move, bake, dance, rise, etc. She can also bring baked goods to life, and her sourdough starter, Bob, and a clever little gingerbread man serve as her familiars. The writing was witty and Mona as a narrator was very likable and genuine. One aspect of the story that I particularly liked was Mona's continued assertion that it was ridiculous she had to step up and be a hero for her kingdom. She acknowledged that many adults had to fail in their responsibilities for things to deteriorate to a point where a fourteen-year-old had to step up and fix everything. This was both a good point and a funny way to consider the situation. I'm used to kids in fantasy novels believing their own hype a little too much. This was a very fun little novel and well worth the read.

Challenge Tally

Total Books Read in 2022: 63

Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel by Mariah Marsden and Brenna Thummler

This middle grades graphic novel is an adaptation of L.M. Montgomery's classic about the young, whimsical orphan named Anne Shirley. The story follows her as she is adopted by brother and sister Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert and comes to live with them at Green Gables, a beautiful farm in the small, picturesque town of Avonlea. Anne's quirky and romantic personality leads her into several adventures as she grows up, makes friends, and attends school. Her optimistic outlook on life brings happiness to almost everyone she meets and encourages them to find the magic and wonder in everyday things.

I already loved Anne of Green Gables before reading this, so there was no way I wasn't going to also love this beautiful adaptation of it. It's just a shortened version of the original story, but all of the most memorable parts are there. It's a nice introduction to the original for younger readers. The illustrations are absolutely stunning, and the perfect accompaniment to the text. I kept stopping to marvel at the art as I was reading. Mariah Marsden and Breanna Thummler took an already charming story and somehow managed to make it even more charming. It's worth a read for the pictures alone, but of course, the story is wholesome and wonderful too. It has worthy themes of individuality, kindness, and family, and Anne is just so winsome that you can't help but root for her. This is a book you read when you want to smile. I liked it a lot.

Challenge Tally

Middle Grade Mission: 21/24

Total Books Read in 2022: 64

The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy by Anne Ursu

This middle grades fantasy novel follows Marya Lupu, a young girl growing up in the kingdom of Illyria. Magic exists in Marya's world, but only boys manifest it and become sorcerers. Sorcerers are very important in this world, as they are the people's only defense against the Dread, a terrifying magical force that can wipe out entire villages if left unchecked. Her brother Luka, with his mature demeanor and uncommon intelligence seems destined for this role, and everyone is waiting for the day when he will be selected for magical training. As such, Marya has grown up very much in his shadow. She becomes the unwitting center of attention, however, when an unfortunate accident with the family goat leads to her being sent away to the Dragomir Academy, a school for troubled girls. Right away, Marya can tell that things aren't quite right at this school, and she begins poking around and asking questions. What she uncovers about the school, her classmates, and the Dread is shocking, and will change Illyrian society forever if she can find a way to put all the pieces together and communicate what she has learned.

This novel was amazingly good and I was very pleasantly surprised by it. When I started reading, I figured I was in for another mildly enjoyable magical adventure, but The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy is a book that actually has something to say. Marya has to grapple with complex issues like injustice, power imbalances, sexism, gaslighting, and questioning authority. She learns that the world she lives in has ugly problems that can't be neatly solved. She learns that family can disappoint you on the most fundamental levels. It's easy for readers to draw parallels between what Marya goes through and real problems present in the world today, making this a very thoughtful and smart read. At the same time, it's easy for middle grades readers to understand and contains a very engaging plot. I really loved this one and I appreciate Ursu's clear effort in delivering a message about social justice. This is a little gem of a book and well worth the read for people of any age.

Challenge Tally

Middle Grade Mission: 22/24

Total Books Read in 2022: 65

Whew! That was a lot of reading and mini-reviewing! My trip home was nice, but I am happy to be back to a normal reading and blogging schedule now. July should be back to our regularly scheduled programming.

The Wayward Children Series by Seanan McGuire (Books 5-7)

 

After finishing the first four books in Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series, I kept right on going with the final three books. This series is still in progress, so these aren't the last books ever, but they are all the ones that are out right now. I had really enjoyed the series up to this point, so I didn't mind powering through the rest to see how Eleanor West and her students continued their stories.

Book 5: Come Tumbling Down

Come Tumbling Down continues the story of Jack and Jill, the twin sisters that returned to their world under complicated circumstances way back in Every Heart a Doorway. The story picks up a little after those events when a young woman names Alexis appears in the basement of Eleanor West's school in flash of lightning with Jack's unconscious body in her arms. After Jack recovers, she explains that she was able to revive her sister Jill after returning to the Moor, but living in a revived body made Jill furious. She still wanted to turn into a vampire, and that is only possible for a person that hasn't died before. She found a way to switch bodies with her sister so that she could use that body to accomplish her goal. Jack, who struggles with OCD and can't abide being in a body that isn't her own, desperately needs to switch back before her condition drives her to destroy herself.

Kade, Sumi, Christopher, and Cora agree to travel back to the Moor with Alexis and Jack to help her get her body back. The journey is fraught with danger though, and everyone surviving the ordeal unscathed is not a guarantee. Together, the group must figure out how to survive in Jack's strange and deadly world and track down Jill before she does something to Jack's body that is irreversible.

I enjoyed this book just as much as the previous books in the series. The plot was creative and wonderfully weird, the characters were diverse and interesting, and the writing style was easy to read and very beautiful. While it's true that most of the books in the series don't need to be read in order, this one was different in that regard. I think reading Every Heart a Doorway before this one is pretty much mandatory, and Down Among the Sticks and Bones would be a good idea too. Otherwise, this story wouldn't hit the same way. In any case, it was another strong addition to the series.

Book 6: Across the Green Grass Fields

Across the Green Grass Fields focuses on a new character named Reagan. As the story begins, she undergoes a traumatic betrayal of trust from her best friend and stumbles across a door in the woods. It brings her to the Hooflands, a world full of unicorns, centaurs, and other hoofed mythical creatures. Her arrival is greeted with excitement, because humans are only summoned to the Hooflands when a hero is needed. Regan doesn't feel very much like a hero, but she instantly falls in love with the place and is willing to do what she can to protect it. After living among a herd of centaurs for a while, she discovers the quest she has been brought there to do and sets off to accomplish it. She quickly realizes, however, that the quest she thought she was on is actually something else entirely, and it is up to her to uncover what is going on beneath the surface. 

Again, I enjoyed this novel as much as the previous ones in the series. I tend to prefer the standalone stories to the ones that directly connect to each other, so I liked that this story featured a new character and a new world to explore. As a bit of a former horse-girl myself, I could relate to Reagan's love of the creatures and delighted right alongside her in the magical world of the Hooflands. I liked the new characters and I thought the story was creative and intriguing. The themes in the text of truthfulness, freedom, and acceptance were lovely as well. This was another great entry in the series.

Book 7: Where the Drowned Girls Go

Where the Drowned Girls Go returns back to the current storyline and focuses on Cora. Ever since her adventure on The Moor in book five, she has been struggling with nightmares and has started longing to become "normal" again. She is so distressed that she receives permission to transfer to a different school which focuses on helping its students forget their experiences and assimilate back into society. When she arrives at her new school, however, she discovers that it is a difficult and deeply unpleasant place full of restrictive rules and deceptions. She tries to make the best of her situation, but her efforts are disrupted when Sumi suddenly appears to try and rescue her. Together, the girls discover a disturbing secret at the heart of the school, and must find a way to escape it. 

While I liked this story well enough, I didn't love it the same as the other books in the series. The writing was still beautiful, the characters were still authentic, and the themes were still diverse and interesting. What was different for me was the clarity. Obviously, magic doesn't always function logically and consistently in stories, but I felt like McGuire's explanations for what was going on in this school were hazy and confusing. This story also contained a lot of realistic and dark elements, like mentions of suicide attempts, depression, and eating disorders. It was a bit of a bummer and I just didn't vibe with it as much as I did with the other books. That being said, I still enjoyed it--just not as much as the previous entries in the series.

 

Overall, I thought that the Wayward Children series was really fantastic. I love the consistent themes of people that don't quite fit in finding their place in the world. I love the crazy, imaginative, impossible places the characters visit. I love the diversity in characters. I even love that the books are short. I am definitely a fan and will be continuing on with future books in the series. 

On a side note, this was the last series in my Finally in 2022 Challenge! I read a total of seven series throughout the first half of this year and I really enjoyed most of them! I'll continue to try and get through more of the series I have sitting on my shelves during the rest of the year and see how many more I can finish.

Challenge Tally

Finally in 2022 - Series Edition: 28/28 - Finished!

Total Books Read in 2022: 59

The Wayward Children Series by Seanan McGuire (Books 1-4)

 

I first heard about the Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire a few years ago. Like with a lot of the fantasy series I have picked up this year, I became interested in this one after seeing good reviews on YouTube. What makes these books a little different from what I usually read is that these are all novellas, and while they are all connected to each other, they can technically be read in any order. I decided to read them in publication order anyway (because my perfectionist nature won't allow me to do anything different). Since they are all so short, I will be combining my reviews for the first four books here.

Book 1: Every Heart a Doorway

The first novella in the series introduces us to the thread that ties the books together - Eleanor West and her home for wayward children. Eleanor runs a special boarding school for young people that have traveled to other worlds and are having trouble readjusting to life back home. Much like Alice falling into Wonderland, these kids have found magical doorways, traveled to all sorts of fantastical places, and then been sent back to their normal, ordinary lives. Most of these children are desperate to go back to whatever world they visited and struggle with reintegrating, especially since their families generally don't believe their stories of where they've been. They are able to find some measure of comfort at Eleanor's school, surrounded by other kids that understand what they've been through.

As the story begins, a girl named Nancy has just arrived at the school. She's recently returned from a world of the dead, and just like most of her other classmates, she hopes to find a way back there eventually. As she is settling into her new surroundings, however, one of the other students at the school is gruesomely murdered. As the new girl, suspicion begins to surround Nancy, and this suspicion only intensifies when another murder occurs a few days later. She's not completely alone though, and the few friends she's made so far start working together with her to get to the bottom of whatever is happening and turn their school back into the safe space it's meant to be.

For a short little book, Every Heart a Doorway was extremely impressive. I thought that McGuire's writing was well suited to the story. It was a little dark, a little creepy, and very wise-sounding, much like a dark fairy tale. The story itself was very creative and engaging. I loved how McGuire described the different worlds and the magic systems they contained. The characters were all very interesting and I was excited to learn little bits about each of their backstories and the places they visited. The ending was very satisfying too. I wanted more after I was finished, so I guess it's lucky that I've got six more books ahead of me.

Book 2: Down Among the Sticks and Bones

The second book in the series focuses on Jacqueline and Jillian (Jack and Jill), two of the students in Eleanor West's School. The plot centers around how they first traveled to another world, what they did there, and how they ended up leaving. Jack and Jill are twin sisters, but they aren't especially close. Their relationship has been damaged by their parents, who are quite cold and force them both into roles that don't completely suit them. Jack is supposed to be the pretty, delicate sister that always wears fancy dresses and stays quiet. Jill is meant to be the tomboy, always running around and getting messy. This forced separation has created a strange dynamic between them. They are family and hold onto that connection, but they frequently don't like each other much. 

Their adventure begins on a rainy afternoon when the girls are twelve. They sneak away together to play in an old trunk of clothes, but when they open the trunk, they find a staircase instead. Curious, they travel down the stairs and emerge into a strange world called The Moor. There are rugged mountains, a fierce sea, and, of course, a giant moor. There are also dangerous creatures like werewolves, sirens, and vampires. After wandering around a bit, they run into the powerful man called the Master and explains to the girls that they will have a choice to make. One will stay with him and live a life of luxury in a large estate, eventually becoming his daughter. The other will go live with Dr. Bleak, a mad scientist, and live a life of toil and scientific work. Jack, sensing something sinister about the situation, chooses to go with the doctor. Jill, more interested in the luxuries promised, stays with the Master.

From that point forward, their stories diverge. Both girls are more able to embrace their true natures in their separate places and become happier, more complete people. Not all of the changes they make are positive though, and the Moor is a dangerous place with rules that must be followed. When Jill ignores one of these rules one day, she unwittingly places herself and her sister on a path that could lead to their destruction. 

Similar to the first book in this series, I thought Down Among the Sticks and Bones was excellent. I might even like it a little bit more than the first, actually. The imaginative setting and beautiful writing continued to be engaging, and I really liked the exploration of the relationship between Jack and Jill. It was surprisingly complex for such a short text. I also enjoyed the themes McGuire worked in; she shows the harm that comes from forcing children to adopt roles that don't fit them and the importance of being your true self. It was fun to trace the connections between how Jack and Jill started their stories and how they end up in the first book  too. Overall it was a really solid story and I enjoyed reading it very much.

Book 3: Beneath the Sugar Sky

The plot of the third novel brings us back to Eleanor West's school and picks up a little while after the events of the first book. The story begins when a girl named Rini abruptly falls from the sky into the school's turtle pond. She is looking for her mother, a former student destined to return to the nonsense world of Confection and defeat the Queen of Cakes. The only problem with this is that her mother died at the school many years before Rini was even born. Time is flexible in nonsense worlds, so this is possible in Confection. However, it's not possible in our world, where her mother is very much dead and buried. Rini's focus then shifts to finding a way to resurrect her mother before time catches up with the whole mess and makes Rini disappear entirely. She teams up with a handful of students from the school and sets out on a quest that will span several worlds in an effort to bring her mother back so that she can fulfill her destiny, save Confection from the Queen of Cakes, and give birth to Rini.

This was another excellent little story and I enjoyed it a great deal. I'm starting to sound like a broken record here already, but the writing was excellent, the plot was engaging, and the characters were relatable and diverse. I especially liked the introduction of Cora, a new student to the school that traveled to a water world where she was a mermaid. She's a curvy girl that has endured cruel bullying about her weight all throughout her life in our world. She wants to go back to the mermaid world because her weight was an asset there, and she felt beautiful. I thought the way McGuire spoke about weight and described Cora's feelings was very well done and seemed like good representation. 

The other notable thing about this novella was how the world of Confection was described. It's made entirely out of baked goods and candy and the way McGuire wrote about it was pure magic. Everything was cookies and frosting and layers upon layers of cake. It was simultaneously delicious-sounding and fantastical. The imagery was stunning and really stood out. This was another worthy entry in a great series.

Book 4: In an Absent Dream

In an Absent Dream takes us back in time to the 1960s and focuses on a character named Katherine Lundy, whom we first meet as a teacher at the school in the first book. This is the story of her childhood. Katherine is a quiet, bookish kid with no desire to conform to the societal norms of being a proper housewife-in-training. When she is around ten years old, she comes across a door inside a tree and travels to the Goblin Market, a world based on deals and fair trades. Many amazing items can be found in the market, but the punishment for cheating people or not paying back debts is severe. Katherine comes to love the rules of this unusual place and befriends another young girl named Moon, whom she has several adventures with.

Traveling to the Goblin Market is different from most other worlds. The doors appear over and over again and children called to this place tend to come and go several times throughout their adolescence. They must make a final decision as to stay or go by the time they turn 18. Katherine leaves and returns a few times over the years, and finds it increasingly difficult each time. When she stays at the Goblin Market, it hurts her sister at home. When she stays home, it hurts Moon. She is very indecisive about what to do, and when she tries to find a loophole in the rules of the market to extend her stay, she must deal with the consequences.

This was another great entry in the series and I liked it as much as the others. This one was a little bit different, due to the frequency with which Katherine could travel back and forth to the market. Rather than trying desperately to get back to her different world, like the kids in the previous books, Katherine has to decide whether or not to stay in hers, and the implications of what making that choice means are more deeply explored here. She is disappointing people no matter which decision she makes, so it's very difficult. There is more sadness in this story, and I thought McGuire wrote about loss and longing beautifully.

So obviously, I'm really enjoying this series so far. In my next post, I will cover the last three books and reflect on the series as a whole.

Challenge Tally

Finally in 2022 - Series Edition: 25/28

Total Books Read in 2022: 56

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

 

I first heard about Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger from a YouTube review. The reviewer absolutely loved it, and the fact that it was written by a Native American and included Native American folklore as part of the plot sealed the deal for me. I picked it up on a Barnes and Noble run and included it as part of my 22 in 2022 Challenge this year. 

Elatsoe is a young adult urban fantasy novel that follows a sixteen-year-old girl named Elatsoe (or Ellie). She is a Lipan Apache, and her family's heritage and cultural traditions are a big part of her life in Texas. The world she lives in is much like our own, except for the the fact that magic and monsters are commonplace. Many families have their own special powers that are passed down through the generations. Ellie has the ability to raise the ghosts of the dead. As the ghosts of people are vengeful and dangerous creatures, she limits the use of her powers to animals only. She has raised and trained her own dog, Kirby, and he is her constant, mostly invisible companion. 

As the story begins, tragedy strikes Ellie's family. Her cousin dies in a terrible car accident, leaving his young wife and baby behind. The circumstances surrounding his death are strange, however, and soon after, his ghost appears to Ellie in a dream. He tells her that he was actually murdered by a man named Abe Allerton and begs her to get to the bottom of what happened. Determined to find justice for her family, Ellie begins her own investigation. With the help of her friends and family, she stumbles onto a small town with a deadly secret that stretches far beyond the death of one man. She must use all of her talent to uncover what really happened to her cousin and protect everyone else caught in the middle of Abe Allerton's scheme.

Before I get into my thoughts on the actual text, I want to comment on the cover design and illustrations. This book is absolutely beautiful. The image on the front is stunning and the shiny lettering on the title really stands out. There are even some dogs printed on the cover itself, under the jacket, which is always a nice surprise. The pages are thick and have a nice weight to them--this is one of those books that's heavier than it looks and is nice to hold. Each new chapter is accompanied by a small illustration across the top of the page, and those are really pretty too. The overall design is really well done. This is definitely a good one to have a physical copy of.

The story itself was also a pleasure to read. The way magic worked in the world was interesting. I liked that it went beyond the usual types of powers we see in fantasy stories and was tied to families. The idea of passing down a "family secret" of how to perform different kinds of magic made it seem more special and unique. The inclusion of Ellie's heritage was also a great aspect of the story. This came across in little bits of folktales, descriptions of foods, and participation in different customs throughout the text. You could tell that Little Badger was honoring her own heritage through Ellie's family, and it gave the characters a warm, friendly feeling. She didn't shy away from mentioning the genocide of native peoples either when appropriate in the text, reminding readers of how this dark part of American history is always lurking in the background of these families. Native Americans are very underrepresented in young adult literature, so I thought it was nice to have that kind of diversity here. Other backgrounds and sexualities were also well represented throughout the story. For example, Ellie herself is asexual and her aunt is trans. It was a great blend of different characters and it felt reflective of the makeup of the real world.

The mystery itself was also very engaging. Anything goes in an urban fantasy, and I thought that Little Badger did a nice job of weaving the magic into the story in a way that added to the intricacy rather than just be used as an easy out to explain impossible things. I honestly didn't see where it was going once it moved beyond solving the death of Ellie's cousin--it took a bit of a weird turn. I'm not sure that I loved the final confrontation and ultimate twist (it was a little goofy), but I was never bored while reading it. It was a solid story from start to finish, and I do think will be engaging for its intended audience.

The one aspect of Elatsoe that I thought could have been improved on was the complexity of the characters. This is hard to explain, but I'm going to give it my best shot. I consistently felt like each character came across as much younger than they actually were. Ellie in particular felt like a middle grades character, and I kept having to remind myself when she was doing things like driving that she was supposed to be sixteen. Her inner dialogue, the way she spoke to her friends, and her overall happy-go-lucky nature just felt young, and this clashed quite a bit with the ultra-violent and fairly gruesome situations she runs into throughout the story. The same goes for most of the other characters, including the adults, who come across as if they are parenting slightly younger children than the ones they have. This was a subtle thing I noticed, and not something that significantly impacted my enjoyment of the story. I just kept feeling like this was written for a younger audience and then being surprised when things would take a violent turn.

Overall, however, I thought this was a great and unique story. I don't generally like urban fantasy that much, but I liked the way Little Badger included those elements here. I'll definitely be recommending this one to future students and checking out more work from this author in the future.

Challenge Tally

22 in 2022: 13/22

Total Books Read in 2022: 52

Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips

 

I first heard about Disappearing Earth from a YouTube review. The summary definitely piqued my interest, so I picked it up at Barnes and Noble. Of course, I didn't read it right away, and in the time between when I bought it and now it's been nominated for several awards. I've been reading a lot of young adult and middle grades lately and I figured it was about time to break that up with a grown up book. So, I finally started on this one, hoping to maybe find a new favorite, or at least appreciate some award-worthy writing.

The novel is set in Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, a remote spot on the northeastern edge of the country. As the story begins, two young sisters, ages eight and eleven, go missing. Their disappearance rocks their small community and stirs up latent feelings of sexism and racism against the different indigenous groups that live there. Fear and suspicion spread like wildfire as more and more time passes without a resolution. The sisters seem to have disappeared without a trace, and the police have no useful leads. Each chapter in the book switches perspective to a different person that the mystery of the girls has touched, and all these separate stories come together in the end to present a more full picture of what happened. 

I feel split about this novel. I liked it overall and thought it was beautifully written. I liked how Phillips wove in messages about the racism and discrimination that indigenous people face and the remote setting was interesting to explore. The emotions of the characters felt deep and genuine, and the question of what happened to the girls was very engaging and kept me turning the pages. Despite all that though, I can't deny that I was often bored while reading this. Every chapter switches to a new set of characters, and a lot of their stories have almost no connection to the mystery the novel revolves around. Most of the people that narrate are only connected through a relative that knows someone or through having heard the story on the news. While they are able to draw connections to the missing girls through their different life experiences, many of those connections are not in service of solving the mystery. This is fine, but it made for a slow reading experience filled with "slice of life" type information that wasn't always very interesting and didn't really go anywhere. It was also difficult to remember who was who as the story went on. The Russian names and nicknames were challenging for me to recall within individual chapters, and having several more introduced with each new chapter was tough. On the rare occasions when these characters crossed paths, I found myself having to look back a lot to remember where I had seen that name before, which interrupted my flow. 

So obviously, I didn't really love the individual chapters in the novel, but when I look back over the work as a whole and consider how everything resolves, I do appreciate it. Phillips wove together a complicated web of connections surrounding the central mystery, and she does have important things to say about indigenous people, family, grief, and love. I can see why this novel is highly regarded, and I did enjoy many aspects of it. It just wasn't a special favorite for me. I would have liked a tighter focus on solving the disappearance of the girls, but that wasn't the story Phillips was writing. Disappearing Earth is actually about a lot of things, and readers that enjoy deep dives into the emotional lives of characters will probably really like this one. I'm happy to have finally given it a try.

Challenge Tally

22 in 2022: 12/22

Total Books Read in 2022: 51