Cybil Challenge

Two Graphic Novels

2013, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Comics & Graphic Novels, Cybil Challenge, Favorites, Young Adult /

I decided to go with easy reads after struggling through Mrs. L’s Dressmaker. Too much going on at work and at home for me to sit down with anything serious. Plus, my vacation is about to start. Yay for vacation! And yay for graphic novels, even if I only loved one of them.

First, the one I didn’t love. Ichiro. Not my thing, though it should be since it was really just Japanese mythology. I just didn’t like the story. I didn’t like the portrayal of Ichi’s American grandfather. Yea, there are people like that but… no. It just set the whole thing off badly for me and the rest of the book never quite redeemed itself for me. I didn’t hate it, but I definitely did not love it.

I did, however, LOVE Giants Beware. I loved Collete. Loved Gaston and Marie and Valiant, too. Loved all of the townspeople and all of the things that happened outside of the wall. Loved, loved, loved the story. And the art.

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The Drowned Cities

2013, Audiobooks, Books in Bed, Cybil Challenge, Young Adult /

It took awhile for us to figure out which book The Drowned Cities was the sequel to because Tool was the only character from the first book that was in this book. At first I wasn’t sure that was going to be a good thing but I settled into the story and ended up pretty happy with how it all turned out. I do hope we pick up Tool’s story again — it would be pretty interesting to see if the Half-Man can turn the Drowned Cities around when the Full-Men couldn’t.

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The Last Dragonslayer

2013, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Young Adult /

Jasper Fforde! For Kids! The Last Dragonslayer is listed on the Cybils (and at the library) as YA but it seemed a little young to me. Not that older teens won’t like it, I think some would – but I can think of a lot more 10 year olds who would really get into it than I can 17 year olds.

Jennifer Strange is a great character. Tiger Prawns is also excellent. I loved the Quarkbeast (and it looks like the next book is Quarkbeast related, so yay!). I’d like to get to know more of the magician people in future books.

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Cybils 2012 Shortlist (Challenge)

2013, Books in Bed, Cybil Challenge /

It’s that time again. Time for the Cybils Shortlist and time for me to start reading all of the books on the shortlist. (I’m not going to guarantee review of the apps, this year. But, if I do happen to download any of them, I will blog about them.)

Here’s the list (I’ve already read two, from the YA Fiction list.):

Easy Readers/Early Chapters
– A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse (Toon)
– Bink and Gollie, Two for One
– Penny and Her Doll
– Penny and Her Song
– Pinch and Dash Make Soup (Pinch & Dash)
– Ivy and Bean Make the Rules (Book 9)
– Marty McGuire Digs Worms!
– Rabbit and Robot: The Sleepover
– Sadie and Ratz
–Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot

Fantasy and Science Fiction (Middle Grade)
– Beswitched
– Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities
– The Cabinet of Earths
– The False Prince: Book 1 of the Ascendance Trilogy
– The Last Dragonslayer (The Chronicles of Kazam)
– The One and Only Ivan
– The Peculiar

Fantasy and Science Fiction (YA)
– And All the Stars
– Every Day
– Planesrunner (Everness, Book One)
– Seraphina
– The Curiosities: A Collection of Stories
– The Drowned Cities
– Vessel

Fiction Picture Books
– Black Dog
– Chloe and the Lion
– Creepy Carrots
– Extra Yarn
– A Home for Bird
– Infinity and Me
– One Special Day

Graphic Novels
– Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller (Center for Cartoon Studies Presents)
– Giants Beware!
– Hilda and the Midnight Giant
– Little White Duck: A Childhood in China (Single Titles)
– Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: Big Bad Ironclad!
– Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White
– Drama
– Friends with Boys
– Ichiro
– Marathon

Middle Grade Fiction
– Almost Home
– Chomp
– Fourmile
– Liar & Spy
– The Adventures of Beanboy
– The Lions of Little Rock
– Wonder

Non-Fiction (YA and Middle Grade)
– Bomb: The Race to Build–and Steal–the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon
– Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan’s Rescue from War
– Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95
– Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World
– Titanic: Voices From the Disaster

Non-Fiction (Picture Books)
– Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade
– Dolphin Baby!
– Eggs 1, 2, 3: Who Will the Babies Be?
– Island: A Story of the Galapagos
– Looking at Lincoln
– Mrs. Harkness and the Panda
– Nic Bishop Snakes

Poetry
– BookSpeak! Poems About Books
– In the Sea
– Last Laughs: Animal Epitaphs
– Lies, Knives and Girls in Red Dresses
– National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry: 200 Poems with Photographs That Squeak, Soar, and Roar!
– UnBEElievables: Honeybee Poems and Paintings
– Water Sings Blue

YA Fiction
– Boy21
– Code Name Verity (already read this one)
– Endangered
– I Hunt Killers (already read this one)
– Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
– The Storyteller
– The Theory of Everything

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The Apps: From the Cybils Shortlist

2012, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Young Adult /

I’m not going to commit to reviewing these next year. Not because they aren’t good, most are. But it doesn’t make sense to me to pay for apps that nobody in my house is going to use after I’ve played with them for a few hours. I’ll have to wait til JMP is stateside (and a little older) before I consider reviewing these again…

But, here’s what I thought about these:

Be Confident in Who You Are – This was my least favorite app. I’m not sure I’ve met a pre-teen or teen who would do much more than roll their eyes at this one.

BoBo Explores Light – This was fun and an app that some of the older kids might want to play with a little bit.

Harold and the Purple Crayon – I didn’t get to review this. I’m not a Harold & the Purple Crayon fan so I put it off til this month, only to find that the app is not available for download in the US. Oh well. 😉

Hildegard Sings – This was amusing but not THAT amusing. I found it a little hard to know which items you could manipulate within the pages so I was just touching everything.

Pat the Bunny – I loved this one. Could be that it’s because I love Pat the Bunny but I don’t think so. I was prepared to DISLIKE this app because in my head you need to be able to touch all of the different textures in the book. Which is true, but this app is so nicely done that it’s fun to interact with. I also love that you can record your own voice reading the book. If only I’d downloaded it on Jenn’s phone while I was in Hawaii… sigh.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore – This was a fun book for the iPhone. I won’t be uninstalling it.

The Monster at the End of This Book – I had this one installed before the shortlist came out, it was a free download from Starbucks and that’s the only reason I had the app. I am not a fan of this book so I didn’t expect to like it. I LOVE IT. The big kids all love it. GREAT fun app — better than the book ever was.

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Leverage

2 Comments / 2012, Audiobooks, Books in Bed, Cybil Challenge, Young Adult /

Some books should not be listened to on audio. Some books should come with a warning that says “Gut-Wrenching & Heartbreaking”.

I’ve watched a lot of movies of the intense, graphic, emotionally, physically painful variety. I’ve read a lot of books of the intense, graphic, emotionally, physically painful variety. Rape. Child abuse, physical and emotional. Bullying. Horror. You name it, I’ve seen it or read about it.

I read Push twice. I read The Kid, for goodness sakes.

And I sure as hell didn’t expect a book about a High School football player and a High School gymnast to be the most difficult and stomach churning book I’ve ever listened to.

I had to go through long spells of not listening to Leverage because it’s so horrible. Not the writing or the characters but the violence done to characters by other characters. Horrible.

Once we reached the end, TW said it was a book she would recommend to absolutely nobody. Ever.

I can’t quite agree because this shit does happen. Sports culture IS like this. IN HIGH SCHOOL. People should know this. They should read this. Just know, before you start – I don’t recommend it on audio. Do not read this if you’re looking for a feel good sports story, this is not that book. You will feel dirty and sick and heartbroken over and over and over again as you read.  You might even find it difficult to drive past a damn high school football field while/after reading it – or maybe that’s just me?

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Seven Non-Fiction Picture Books (Cybils

2012, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Non-Fiction /

The best thing about non-fiction picture books is that they are fast and easy to read at night, when you don’t really want to start a new book. Heh. These were all nice enough non-fiction books but only one of them was one I’d buy or read again and again. I also have a wee fondness for another one…

All the Water in the World – nice enough, the illustrations were really the best, but there are a lot of better books about the water cycle.

Bring on the Birds – Hmph. It didn’t even include flamingos! The illustrations were nice and bright but it wasn’t even close to the best bird book for little kids.

Can We Save the Tiger? – This was interesting, but the italicized text about various extinct animals was a little hard to read – like the ink was disappearing along with the animals?

I Feel Better with a Frog in My Throat – This is the best of the bunch. Elly spotted it and whined because I hadn’t told her I had it. It was interesting and funny. I’d buy this one for a kid.

Planting the Wild Garden – I liked this one pretty well. Good way to talk to young kids about how seeds are carried – by people, wind, animals etc.  But again, I think there are better books about this topic.

The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs – Here’s my sentimental favorite, having been to El Valle and to Chiriqui and seen a couple of golden frogs in the wild. It’s a horrible thing to think about them only surviving in captivity.

Thunder Birds: Nature’s Flying Predators — This is a nice book for kids who are really interested in birds. The pull outs were the best part.

 

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Blood Red Road

2012, Books in Bed, Cybil Challenge, Fiction, Young Adult /

Blood Red Road, post apocalyptic YA fiction – on audio. Fun stuff. Oddly enough, there’s a bit of a summer king storyline (one of the other Cybils books had a summer king storyline.)  I enjoyed the book quite a bit, there were some great female characters but Saba made me nuts – I’m not sure she ever really learned anything, no matter how it ended or how there were points in the story when it looked like she was learning some important life lessons.

Looks like there is a book 2, we’ll have to listen to that to see what happens next. I hope Emmy grows up and kicks her sister’s butt.

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Dragon Castle

2012, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Young Adult /

Dragon Castle was a wee bit like Tuesdays at the Castle – just a wee bit. What was different was that Rashko’s parents are dumb, and his brother’s not so smart, either. At least that’s what Rashko thinks. What was also different was that the author seemed to be having a whole lot of fun. That’s really what made this book good – the reader never loses the fun.

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