Review: "Winter Town" by Stephen Emond

Title: Winter Town
Author: Stephen Emond
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company; 2011

Lucy visits New England every winter, for Christmas and New Year's, before heading back down to her new home in Georgia. Every year her best friend Evan looks forward to hanging out and catching up, drawing comics and going on walks, just like when they were growing up. But this year is different. This year, Lucy's hair is short and dyed black. This year, she has a nose ring and a bleak attitude. Evan doesn't know what is going on, but he tries just the same, all while trying to get his dad to back off from hounding him about his school work and getting into an Ivy League school. But will Evan and Lucy be able to overcome their differences that are now even more pronounced than ever? And what is going on between them, anyway?

I had trouble getting into this book. Though I loved all the artwork interspersed throughout the pages, especially the comics, I had a hard time connected with either of the main characters. Evan seemed dull and bland, while Lucy and her story seemed overly dramatic. Evan seemed to be defending his position that his life was hard too, just in a different way, which always seemed a bit weak to me considering what he was up against (abandonment, addiction, severe depression, etc.). Sure, there is a lot of pressure placed on him by his parents, but it seemed very whiny to me. All of this disconnect with the characters is particularly unfortunate because this book is most definitely character-driven, with most of the plot dealing with Evan's reactions to Lucy and vice versa.

As I mentioned earlier, I did really enjoy the artwork, though I liked the comics more than the more realistic illustrations. It all is very reminiscent of comic books and newspaper comic strips, and the loose line drawings are a lot of fun to look at. Emond made them a vital part of the story, including a sort of web comic that Evan creates at the beginning of each chapter, a symbolic story set in a fantasy world about Evan's own life.

I liked how the relationship between Evan and Lucy is never perfect. It doesn't tie up nicely most of the time, and it's clear that they are still just kids despite what they've been through, Lucy especially. This part of the narrative felt very real to me, and I appreciated that. I would like to check out Emond's other work to see how it compares to his latest.

Disclosure: The publisher sent me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: "A Monster Calls" by Patrick Ness, based on an idea from Siobhan Dowd

Title: A Monster Calls
Author: Patrick Ness, from a story idea from Siobhan Dowd
Publisher: Candlewick Press, 2011

Conor's mother is not dying. At least, that's what he tells himself, and what she tells him as well, despite her cancer that is making her waste away. Nothing is going right; he's being bullied at school, his extremely proper grandmother is starting to spend more and more time at his house, and he is having trouble coming to terms with all of this. But one night, at seven minutes past midnight, an ancient monster pays Conor a visit. What he wants is the truth.

This is a story about stories and truth—their power, and how they can be twisted, unexpected, or denied and hidden from view. The yew tree in Conor's back yard, one his mother always comments on, is actually a very ancient being who has seen much in its life. When he visits Conor, he asks for the truth, but also tells him a story each time. And each time, the story varies wildly from what Conor expects.

The stories help lead Conor to his own realizations, but it's much more than a coming-of-age story or the finding of oneself. Conor has to look deep within himself and admit a truth that he wants to bury under guilt and pain.

I love the stories, and the value the monster puts on them. I'm taking a storytelling class right now, and I know they have been a part of culture since humans could speak—yet, Ness veers off from the normal motifs and shows a side to human nature that I wasn't expecting, and one Conor definitely was not.

The illustrations by Jim Kay are absolutely brilliant. Haunting, richly textured black-and-white images creep up toward the words on the page until they completely take over in stunning double-page spreads. They perfectly complement the prose.

If you're a Patrick Ness fan, don't expect this to be an edge-of-your-seat thriller like his Chaos Walking trilogy. This is a much gentler and more subtle book, despite it's darkness and occasional violent emotions. It's a short book, but very rich and worth reading, especially if you're a story lover, which I think most of my readers are.

Siobhan Dowd's premature death made her unable to write this story herself, but we are lucky that Patrick Ness, an incredibly talented writer and someone I think is a gift to young adult literature, was able and willing to pick up the pen and write it for her.

By the way, as a coincidence (?) I started writing this review at seven minutes past midnight. Or maybe there are no accidents.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this from the publisher. Thanks!

Review: "Anya's Ghost" by Vera Brosgol

Title: Anya's Ghost
Author: Vera Brosgol
Publisher: First Second, 2011

Anya, daughter of a Russian immigrant, insecure in her body, and just trying to fit in at her private school, ends up finding a friend in the most unlikely of places. After falling down a well, Anya discovers a skeleton... and its ghost that's been hanging out down there for about 90 years.

At first, Anya is obviously freaked. But she escapes from the well, with help from Emily (the ghost). Who ends up following her out. Emily turns out to be a great friend, helping her with school and boys, but Anya soon figures out that Emily is here to stay... whether she likes it or not.

This graphic novel is beyond awesome. The illustrations are outstanding, all in black, white, gray and muted purple. The pacing of the story is excellent too—we jump into the story right away with Anya's fall, discovery of the skeleton, and subsequent befriending of Emily Reilly, who died 90 years ago after she fell down the well herself.

This is also a mystery. Anya promises to search for Emily's murderer, who she says killed her parents and then chased her through the woods the night of her fall. But Emily seems strangely uninterested and not very eager for Anya to start her search. She's much more interested in finding Anya a way into the heart of her crush, basketball star Sean. Even when Anya isn't interested anymore. Slowly we begin to see Emily's true personality and psychosis, and Anya tries to uncover Emily's history.

I had to keep going back after finishing this to just look at the illustrations and relive parts of the story. There is true terror within the pages, but a more subtle terror than you might expect in a ghost story.

There's also a lot in here about acceptance of yourself and your culture, with Anya's denial of her background and attempts to keep her family out of the line of sight of her schoolmates. She avoids another Russian student at her school because he acts too "fobby," without giving him a chance at any sort of friendship because of his social status. Throughout the plot, she has to come to terms with all of this.

Whether you read graphic novels or not, this is one you should go out and read immediately. The story and illustrations are in perfect harmony to make for one scary and mysterious ride.

Disclosure: I got this from my local library.

Review: "The Greedy Sparrow" by Lucine Kasbarian

Title: The Greedy Sparrow: An Armenian Tale
Author: Lucine Kasbarian
Illustrator: Maria Zaikina
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Children, 2011

When one thinks of folk tales, familiar ones from childhood are first to come to mind. Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella. But this depends on the child. Armenian children's author Lucine Kasbarian remembers the story of a greedy sparrow she learned from her father and grandmother when she was little. As an adult, she decided to turn that story into a picture book, and with smashing results.

In this tale, starting with the traditional Armenian folk tale beginning of "There once was and was not" (explained in a helpful author's note at the beginning), a sparrow starts off with a thorn in its foot. It asks a nearby baker if she will remove it, and she does it, "with pleasure!" The sparrow flies off and the baker tosses the thorn into her fire. But then in a twist, the sparrow comes back later and demands the thorn back. Clearly it's impossible to retrieve it, so he demands a loaf of bread in return. So the baker does.

In a pattern of lending and replacing, the sparrow goes from bread to a sheep (how hilarious is that cover picture of the sparrow flying with the sheep?), and on to other replacements, until his greed gets him right back where he started.

I loved the predictable pattern of the storytelling, and yet despite knowing that each person the sparrow asks to watch over the items will fail him, I was sometimes surprised at what the sparrow asked for in return! It's really delightful, and we get the beautiful illustrations to show us the funny results (sheep!).

Speaking of the illustrations, there couldn't have been a better artist than Maria Zaikina for this book. Her unusual style of using layered wax and oil paint brings us striking, textured representation of each scene in the story. It definitely lends it a folksy feel. And the clothing! I love the traditional outfits of all the Armenians she illustrated, especially in the wedding scenes. I loved that little bit of my culture brought to life.

Kasbarian mentions a number of real places that are or were in Armenia, such as Lake Van, Mount Ararat, and Aghtamar. In a discussion guide I received with the book, it asks readers to do some research and find out which ones are no longer in Armenia.

My only regret about this book is there is not much background information in the actual book. I would love to see another, longer author's note at the back explaining some of the traditions that were explained in the supplementary material I received with this, like the importance of minstrels in Armenia back in the day.

I will most certainly be keeping this picture book through the years, and when I have children some day, I'll share this part of their heritage with them in the form of The Greedy Sparrow.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the author for review.

Review: "Judy Moody" by Megan McDonald

Title: Judy Moody
Author: Megan McDonald
Illustrator: Peter Reynolds
Publisher: Candlewick Press, 2000
Where I got it: The library.

Judy Moody is a fun series for young readers, with a spunky heroine who isn't afraid to get her hands dirty. Judy wants to be a doctor when she grows up, is constantly being annoyed by her younger brother Stink, has a bunch of collections of things, and has a Venus fly-trap as a pet. In this first book of the series, she has to figure out what things make her Judy Moody, since her third-grade teacher assigned them to make a ME collage—what will she put on her poster?

I've seen this series around a lot over the past few years, and finally decided to check it out (again, thanks to Anita Silvey's Children's Book-a-Day Almanac). I'm really glad I did. Judy is a great character—certainly not afraid to get her hands dirty, she digs right into any type of experiment or fun prospect despite it's possible yucky-factor. She picks up toads, collects scabs (btw, gross) and finds food for Jaws (the aforementioned Venus fly-trap). Plus, she's got a best friend who's a boy, Rocky, which I think is very cool.

The situations she gets into are incredibly realistic, as are the conversations she has with her family and friends. This is especially true when it comes to Stink—I feel like I had the SAME arguments and back-and-forths with my own younger brothers. Stink talks in an erratic way that sounded all too familiar—just random enough, though the thoughts were sort of connected.

And Peter Reynolds' illustrations are awesome. Sort of doodley and cartoony, they are still incredibly detailed. The first double-page illustration is of Judy's room, and his little touches everywhere (a discarded apple core and ice cream container, posters taped to Judy's wall, a jar labeled "Jelly Bean Collection") make it a lot of fun to explore and examine closely.

I will definitely pick up the next titles in this series—I'm loving Judy's different moods, and the way she gets through each and every conundrum and situation she finds herself in. In this first book, my favorite was her solution for her almost-ruined collage (read it and find out what happens and how she fixes it—so great!).

"The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick

Title: The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Author: Brian Selznick

Publisher: Scholastic, 2007

Where and why: I got this at my local library to read for

my children's lit class.

Paris, 1931. We meet a young boy by the name of Hugo Cabret as he flits around the Paris train station he calls his home, keeping the clocks running and trying not to get caught. We don't read this, but see it—detailed and textured illustrations take us into Hugo's world. We will soon hear Hugo's voice and internal thoughts, but the words only tell part of the story, alternating back and forth with the illustrations.

Hugo has a mission and many secrets. Where did his notebook with illustrations of a mechanical man come from? What does the mechanical man do? He believes it will tell him a truth, a secret from his past, that will save his life. With the help of a girl he sees around the station, he does his best to unravel this mystery.

In his Caldecott Award–winning book, Selznick highlights movies and the magic of cinema in his masterpiece, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. His illustrations give readers the sense of watching an old movie, intent on detail and perspective. We learn about the old movies that were pioneers in the industry, and how it was like when people were first exposed to moving pictures.

The story is just as enchanting as the illustrations. I found myself really getting emotionally involved, and feeling what Hugo was feeling. I got sad, furious, and happy at all different points. Though the writing was spare, it worked in the book's dual format.

I don't want to give too much away about the plot, but let me say this: You will want to know what happens to Hugo! There are so many mysteries and questions as we read through the first half, and by the end of the second they are all satisfied (for the most part).

I also loved how Hugo is so brilliant with machines, especially clockwork. Apparently, a lot of magicians used to be clockmakers. I didn't know this! Lots of interesting tidbits in here about those professions, as well as movies.

I would definitely recommend this to readers moving on from easy readers and onto novels. Though this tome is over 500 pages, it's a very quick read—after all, it's mostly pictures. I got through it in a couple of hours. I'd also recommend this to anyone who has an appreciation for art.

As a side note, when this won the Caldecott it caused quite a commotion. Many people were against it because it is technically a book for young adults, and they all felt like it was a betrayal to children and books for children. The Caldecott is mainly awarded to picture books, and this was an aberration that bothered many people. I think it fully deserved it, as it's quite obvious this took Selznick YEARS to complete. Plus, children old enough to read could probably get through this, younger ones with maybe the help of an adult. Either way, it's a great story with amazing illustrations.

What do you think about the controversy?