The Parker Inheritance

Juvenile mystery

     "Thus I have created an opportunity for Lambert to earn back everything I took from the city--a fortune totaling $40 million at my last reckoning.  I've created a puzzle mystery that will take you deep into the city's past.  The person who finds this 'inheritance' will receive a tenth of the money; the remainder will be allocated to the city.  In return, the winner must share what he or she learns through the puzzle with the world."

     Candice, protagonist of Varian Johnson's The Parker Inheritance, is anticipating a terrible summer.  Her divorced mother is having their family's Atlanta home renovated to sell it.  So they're temporarily staying in her recently deceased grandmother's home in Lambert, a small town in South Carolina.  She'll miss out on so many fun events with her friends.  Here the only potential friend is a younger boy book snob.  She can wait until she gets back to her Atlanta friends...

     ...until a box with her name on it turns up in the attic of her grandmother's home.  The box 📦 contains a mysterious letter addressed to her grandmother detailing a historical injustice the writer is striving to rectify.  It reveals the first in a series of clues.  The letter ends on this ominous note:

     "Your predecessors failed to protect the Washington family, at great cost.  This is you chance to make right what once went so utterly wrong.  This is your chance to create a better world for your grandchild.  But do not delay.  These clues, like Siobhan, will not be of this world forever."

     Soon after the chapters begin to alternate: the present day ones following Candice and Brandon's progress in solving the mystery; the backstory ones narrating racist events in Lambert's history.

     Since Candice will be returning to Atlanta at summer's end the two detectives are under serious time pressure.

     Puzzle loving kids will enjoy trying to solve the mystery before the book's end while learning about the manifestations of racism in our nation's not so long ago past.  The Parker Inheritance is an excellent acquisition for school and public libraries.

On a purrrsonal note, my visit to my urologist was not to be the final one I anticipated.  There seems to still be a piece of the stone in my kidney.  So in nine months I have to have another ultrasound: that torture that involves drinking 32 ounces of liquid and holding it in while a technician pokes your abdomen.  Weirdly the prospect (and that of seeing a medical care provider which tends to bring out my anxiety) don't bother me because I have an awesome doctor who treats me like I'm an Intelligent human being.  We have some great conversations.  I actually look forward to them.  The only other time I've looked forward to medical appointments was during my three pregnancies when I'd get to hear the fetal heartbeat 💓 💗💖💕.  (Jules)

Well as long as the human vet knows what she's doing.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to Dr. Laura Leddy, urologist extraordinaire.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

     

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

The Greatest Thing

YA graphic novel

"I didn't know who I was...

...where I was going.

I didn't know much of anything back then really.

I just knew...

...that this year I was all alone."

     In high school some kids are surrounded by friends and acquaintances.  Others are happier with a small number of close friends.  When they lose those friends...

     ...Starting her sophomore year, Winifred, protagonist of Sarah Winifred Searles' The Greatest Thing, is in that plight.  Her two best (and only) friends have transferred to a private school.  The picture of her entering her school into a sea of socializing peers is worth at least a thousand words.

     Winifred has an independent study with her photography teacher.  In addition to doing a mentored independent study project she assists with a class.  In that role she gets to know April and Oscar, two nonconformist peers who quickly become her friends.  She begins to hang out with them.  They even begin to create zines.

     They have something in common.  One sleepover during a game of truth or dare each reveals their deepest, darkest secret.  They're all the same:  I hate myself.  Oscar struggles with classes, sure that he's stupid compared to his peers.  April has to cope with the expectations of parents who are simultaneously micromanaging and negligent (especially when drunk).  Winifred is extremely weight conscious, convinced that she doesn't deserve to enjoy food or have good friends.

     In her author's note Searle tells readers that Winifred is her younger self.  The story, although fictional, is based on some of her own remembered experiences.  She ends the note with a message to readers:

     "This book is my gift to the young me, to Win, and to anyone like her.  I hope that if you feel alone, this story can be there for you but also that you find glimmers of hope in your own life.  You deserve happiness.  It just might take some time and effort to get there sometimes.  And you're never as alone as you think you are."

On a purrrsonal note, I have this rainy 🌧 day to work at home.  Then I have two days with important dates.  Tomorrow I have to try to manage my urologist appointment without a panic attack.  I have about 95% odds that she'll say that my ultrasound showed that I'm totally recovered from my kidney stone.  But anxiety is not rational.  Thursday I have to volunteer 🙋‍♀️ in community garden; bus back home to change, check for ticks, and shower; and go to Wilson Center to run my program and enjoy an awesome meal in most congenial company.  Oh, yeah, I just passed my 2500 books 📚 reviewed mark.  (Jules)

This book 📖 has pictures of a gorgeous and smart cat.  So it's a must read.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to our readers who hopefully are continuing to enjoy this blog.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

     

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

Invisible Son

YA Chiller 

     "Like Breanna Taylor.  In her home, a no-knock warrant serving as a good enough reason for the police to kill her while she was in bed.  As if someone breaking into your home, not announcing who they were, wouldn't terrify anyone.  Her death hits harder knowing we're supposed to be sheltering in place.  It's a sobering reminder we're not all safe in our homes.

     We're not safe anywhere."

     I think 2020 is not a year most of us don't have fond memories of. The arrival of a once in a century pandemic that quickly shut down the nation.  Whether we were students trying to adjust to online education--those of us privileged enough to have access to reliable wifi that is, essential workers on the front line day after day, laid off workers striving to cover the most basic costs, or mothers trying to teach their kids while working from home we're not going to wage nostalgic for it.  And for people of color the deaths of unarmed Blacks at the hands of police officers was a constant reminder of their greater vulnerability.  Although we all may have been riding out the same storm, we were in vastly different boats. Kim Johnson helps us to see the beginning of that year from the perspective of someone with a lot less privilege and really care aboutbhim through her Invisible Son.

     Andre had only spent a few minutes at a New Years Eve party.  But he was arrested.  There had been a series of robberies of guests at teen parties.  A backpack 🎒 of evidence had turned up in his locker.  His best friends had let him take the fall for a crime he had no part of.

     Now he's back two months later on a program that involves school, community service, frequent contact with a probation officer, and a monitoring ankle bracelet.  And a racist probation officer who thinks he got off too easy is watching him, ready to pounce if he slips up.  His family tells him to basically follow the rules so he won't get sent back.  But he's determined to learn what happened that night 🌙.  It won't be easy.  His very best friend has disappeared.  Not even Eric's family has a clue where he is.

     Andre is supposed to return to school for the spring quarter.  But news of the pandemic has been filtering in.  The school he returns to is online.  And the coronavirus has more in store.  His grandfather dies in a hospital cut off from his family in his last minutes of life.  His mother chooses to stay closer to the hospital out of fear of reinfecting her family.  His father's shut down book store inches closer to being shut down.

     And through the new normal shitsttorm the names of unarmed Blacks killed by the police filter through.

     I don't have the reviewing skills to do justice to this powerful narrative.  The combination of Johnson's evocative writing and its ability to trigger my memories made me see Andre, made me care about what happens to him, made me even more angry about the unacknowledged systemic and personal racism in America.  

     Invisible Son is a truly worthy follow up to This Is My America.  I can't wait to see what Johnson comes up with next.

On a purrrsonal note, I had a scare yesterday.  My laptop started making a noise sounding like a generator or someone breathing on a ventilator.  My first thought was that it was going down.  I need it for my last year of graduate school.  My budget barely allows for tuition, fees, and textbooks--not replacing it.  But I didn't let myself go into a panic attack.  I went to see the techies at UMaine who did a check up and diagnosed nothing to raise concerns.  Then I was glad I had this unexpected trip because I saw my friend Sam (who was wearing a strikingly gorgeous dress)  who told me Wilson Center might have another drag show.  I said I'll do anything I can to help.  I've picked out a song I really want to try out before the big UMaine drag show in April.  (Jules)

The laptop is annoying AF.  I should be her only laptop.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to techies and Sam.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

     

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone

Both Can Be True

Juvenile fiction

     We live in a society of either ors, binaries, and mutually exclusive categories.  You're either, for example, male or female.  It makes life easier, more predictable,and less messy.  But it also robs life of much beauty and complexity.  Luckily we don't have to restrict our perceptions to either or when both and is a much better option.  That's the powerful message (that far too many adults haven't yet received) that Jules Machias serves up for juvenile readers in Both Can Be True.

     "I made two resolutions when I started at this school two weeks ago:  I'd avoid the whole conundrum of feeling weird about bathrooms 🚻 by never peeing at school, and I'd always let people assume I'm an Ashley.  People think it's cute for a girl to be a tomboy.  But an Asher in a dress is a freak.  So it's safer to let people guess Ash is short for Ashley."

     Ash swings back and forth between girl mode and boy mode.  They hate the in between spaces when neither gender seems to fit.  Their father says that enby and gender fluid aren't real.  It's time for Ash to decide which gender they're most comfortable and perform it consistently so other people won't be confused.  He's afraid that there will be another incident like the one that necessitated changing schools.

     "But I can't imagine what Mom or Mitchell would say if I tried to rescue a dog like Tina's doing.  They already think I'm the world's biggest softie, and they constantly tell me in big and small ways to stop being too sensitive."

     Daniel has lost a lot lately.  His father moved out.  His former best friend won't have anything to do with him.  When his beloved dog 🐕 ❤️ Frankie died his mother declared their home a dog free zone.

     Daniel has ended up with a serious moral quandary.  A vet tech has rescued a dog with medical issues from being euthanized.  But when she has to leave to handle a family emergency he's left holding the dog.  At first he houses Chewbarka in a tent, knowing it can't be a long term solution.  The weather is about to turn cold.  He's falling apart from lack of sleep.  And if the wrong people learn his secret a sweet little dog he's come to love ❤️ will be euthanized.

     When Ash learns about his predicament she pitches in to help.  But finding a safe home 🏡 for Chewbarka without the vetinarian finding out is not their only challenge.  They start to have very strong but confusing feelings for each other, feelings complicated by neither exactly fitting in the binary.

    Both Can Be True is an insightful and engaging read for kids trying to figure out their identities.  Also for dog lovers.  Even though I'm totally a cat person there were a few chapters I was scared for Chewbarka's fate.

     The book reminds me of a poem I wrote last fall semester.

Gender Fluidity 

Some mornings

When I wake up

I feel my sheness.

Some mornings

When I wake up

I feel my heness...

...Sometimes both;

Sometimes neither

Which is perfectly 🥰 okay...

...Because every morning

When I wake up 

I feel my meness...

...It isn't something 

That can be captured

In a name or pronoun,

A box on a form...

...It's the fire and passion 

In my heart ❤️ 💙 💜 💖 💗 

The vision in my mind,

The music 🎶 that sets

My body to dancing 💃 

The stories and poems

Only I can write,

And the freedom and joy,

The song of my soul.

Jules Hathaway 

     

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