Sweeping Up The Heart (juvenile fiction)

     Amelia, protagonist of Kevin Henkes' Sweeping Up The Heart, lost her mother when she was so young that she has no memories of her. Since she has no siblings it's just her and her father.

     "It was the beginning of spring break. She should have been happy, excited to be free of the curse of seventh grade for a week, but she felt a nagging disappointment in general, and sharp pinpricks of anger specifically directed toward her father."

     This was one of the rare years that Amelia's spring break coincides with her father's. All her classmates are going somewhere fun. But her father doesn't like to travel, so she's stuck at home. And her best (actually only) friend is living in Paris for a year. 

     But when Amelia goes to the clay studio that she considers a second home she meets a boy her age, Casey, the owner's nephew. Despite her initial trepidation she begins to really like him. He has his struggles too, desperately trying to keep his parents from divorcing. 

     Amelia and Casey have been making up stories about the strangers they see. One day he tells her a woman is her mother somehow come back to life. 

     The characters of Amelia and Casey will be quite appealing to kids, especially those who face similar challenges. 

On a purrrsonal note, yesterday was the first day of the UMaine Red Cross blood drive. Of course I ran canteen. There were a few hours we had no volunteers. Lisa, who runs the whole thing, came down and helped me. Having this time with her, given our busy schedules, was wonderful. And our undergrad donors were very impressed that we're long term best friends. 

A great big shout out goes out to my incomparable bestie, the one and only Lisa Morin. 

Jules Hathaway 

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The Things We Miss (juvenile fiction)

      What if you could skip the bad days in your life--go through them on autopilot with no memories left--and just experience and remember the good days? I imagine that could be tempting for even a reasonably happy, self confident adult. For an anxious, self conscious preteen for whom seventh grade is shaping up to be the worst year ever? Simply irresistible. 

     J.P., protagonist of Leah Stecher's The Things We Miss, feels like a real misfit at school. She's socially awkward. And she's taller and heavier than the other girls in her class, several of whom never let her forget it. After a bullying incident she reflects:

     "When I opened my eyes, however, nothing had changed. I was still me, and Miranda was still Miranda, and middle school still sucked. And as much as I wished I could escape it and just jump ahead to some future time when I was less awkward and more confident...I was stuck here."

     That is until she finds an unexpected door in a neighbor's tree house. She comes out on the other side three days in the future with no memory of those days. When things get worse--her beloved grandfather has a recurrence of cancer--the door becomes her default response to stress.

     But it's not long until her grades are suffering and her relationship with her best friend is becoming very strained.

     Is J.P.'s method of escape as harmless as she thinks it is? Can she even stop?

On a purrrsonal note, in May 2019 I received heart breaking news. My beloved Joey Cat had incurable cancer. Fortunately an appetite boosting drug and baby food let him have three good months and when he died I was the last thing he saw, my voice was the last thing he heard, and my touch was the last thing he felt. I am glad I was fully present for him during those months when he needed me most. And I have some precious memories from that time. 

A great big shout out goes out to Joseph Jacob Hathaway, my best little cat in the world for sixteen wonderful years.

Jules Hathaway 

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Gather (YA fiction)

     Anyone who enjoys a good story about a boy and his dog will most definitely want to read Kenneth M. Caddow's Gather. 

     The boy, Ian, is the kind of kid you tend to see in rural Maine. He's the kid who doesn't score well on the standardized tests too many people consider the gold standard of education. But when it comes to hunting and understanding the forest, fixing whatever needs mending, and finding a way to earn money to keep his family from going under he could out do his teachers. The dog is Gather, a loving, loyal critter who shows up and sticks around. 

     Ian's family is just barely getting by. His grandfather is dead. His grandmother has moved South. His father has abandoned him and his mother who, due to an injury incurred on an unregulated job site, has a problem with drugs. She does her best to stay clean, but Ian knows to look for needle tracks. He gets that she has a sickness, not a vice.

     "There's sicknesses, like a cold, you can get better from, even if you don't want to. And there's sicknesses you can't get better from unless you decide to, again and again, every day."

     But no matter how precarious their life gets Ian doesn't have the option of getting help from official sources, knowing that they'd break the family up and put him in foster care rather than actually helping them. So he handles emergencies large and small...

     ...until their is one that's too formidable and he takes off for the deep woods rather than losing his canine companion.

     Kids who love or wish they could have an animal companion will be hooked on Gather from page one.

On a purrrsonal note, my college librarian father was ashamed of his contractor brother who didn't go further than high school. But I admired Uncle Ken with his sense of ethics and responsibility and married a man just like him. If Ian was real and all grown up he'd be good friends with Eugene. I can see him down at camp sitting around a fire with Eugene and Richard Brown making plans for hunting season.

A great big shout out goes out to the real life Ians of this world. 

Jules Hathaway 

     

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Red Bird Dancing (juvenile fiction)

     Dawn Quigley's first teaching job was in an urban Native American housing complex. She was so impressed with her students' creativity and kindness and the warmth with which they welcomed her that she carried their stories for decades. "I wanted to write about amazing Native kids who live in an urban setting, who interact with each other and with their city." Red Bird Danced, told in alternating voices by its two child narrators, beautifully brings her vision to life.

     Ariel's beloved aunt is missing like far too many other Native girls and women. Her mother, desperate to find her before it's too late is spending as much as she can on the search instead of on other things such as Ariel's dance classes.

"Dancing is how I connect 

     my body

     and soul

     to the earth. 

How will I do this now?

No more ballet."

     And she is very concerned about her broken hearted mother. 

"I just want to

make my 

mama

smile  again."

     For Tomah reading is a losing struggle. He's stayed back once already and is ashamed of being behind his peers. To cover this up he has taken on a class clown persona.

"Making jokes is how I escape 

getting caught.

Laughter buys 

     me

          time."

     But Tomah is not stupid. He learns beautifully in other ways. He's very in touch with his heritage and community. And when Ariel's aunt is found murdered he knows what to do.

     Quigley's lyrical text dances, unconstrained by traditional verse structure, bringing the narrators and their community vividly to life. The characters are vulnerable and authentic. Readers in the book's target demographics and well beyond will be deeply touched by entering their world. 

On a purrrsonal note, Eugene and I went to camp for the weekend. His best friend and his wife and older son were at their camp. They invited us to an awesome camp fire.

A great big shout out goes out to Eugene and Brown family. 

Jules Hathaway 

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Death at Morning House (YA fiction)

    Imagine my excitement when I discovered a brand new novel by Maureen Johnson in the YA section of my home library, Orono Public Library. You can never have enough by the author of the Truly Devious series. And Death at Morning House is truly the best yet. 

     Morning House is a lavish castle like mansion erected in the 1920s on an island in the middle of a river for a doctor and his wife and seven children to escape to in the summer.  The children's separate playhouse alone is more lavish than most of our homes. In 1932 it was abandoned after the tragic and mysterious deaths of two of the children. 

     In the current century Marlowe's first and only date with her crush ends badly when she accidentally burns a house down. Understandably she wants to get away for awhile. Her wish is granted by the offer of a summer job guess where?

     It turns out the grim reaper has made a more recent appearance at the island. Just months ago at an illicit prom after party a boy fell or was pushed off a cliff. The pusher was one of Marlowe's coworkers...

     ...who most likely will strike again to protect their secret. 

     Can you deduce the culprit in both centuries? It's not easy. I struck out on both counts. Like Johnson's other villains they're truly devious.

On a purrrsonal note, after over three months inter library loans are FINALLY on again. Now I can start requesting the items on my very long list. 

A great big shout out goes out to the drivers who are once again delivering the books.

Jules Hathaway 

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Adventures of Mary Jane (YA fiction)

     "Thirty-odd years ago, I was that student who annoyed everyone by asking, over and over again, 'Why don't the female characters in this book say anything?' or 'Why don't the female characters in this book do anything?' or, just as often, 'Why aren't there any female characters in this book?'"

     As an adult Hope Jahren wrote the book she'd wanted to read as a child which is actually the book many of us wanted to read as children--the adventure book with a daring girl front and center. In 2014 she was rereading her favorite comfort book, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and began to question Mark Twain's portrayal of a minor character, Mary Jane. She set off on a quest to find the real "redheaded one". And then she wrote her story. Within a span of months the narrator of her Adventures of Mary Jane goes through more dangerous and harrowing experiences than most of encounter if we live to be 100.

     Actually 1846 was not a good time to be a teenage girl, especially on the frontier. The tensions that would culminate in the Civil War were getting out of hand. Religion was another flash point. Diseases like typhoid fever with no effective remedy spread. Charlatans and other villains preyed on the unwarranted.

     The very first sentence reads "We smelled the fire before we saw it." The trading post Mary Jane and her mother and grandfather are living at is burning down. AGAIN! It happens so often they have a protocol. 

     When her mother's sister writes asking for help Mary Jane--then all of fourteen, is told that she'll have to go all alone down the treacherous Mississippi River in her mother's place. And that's just the beginning. When her aunt and uncle die she's in charge of not only herself but her two cousins who are given to a very bad man. She has to deal with pestilence, death, mob violence, swindlers, and all the dangers of her times. Her story is a real roller coaster ride of a narrative. 

     Some of the characters including Mary Jane come straight out of Twain's narrative. The others are based on real people and animals. I thought that was pretty darn cool. 

On a purrrsonal note, Friday was the first First Friday Bagels at UMaine. The commuter lounge serves up bagels in a variety of flavors from an awesome local shop on the first Friday of every month in the school year. It's a long standing tradition and always well attended. 

A great big shout out goes out to Brittany who is the one who makes the tradition happen and always gets my favorite sweet cinnamon ones.

Jules Hathaway 

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Angelica and la Guira (picture book)

     Ever hear that music is the universal language? Angie Cruz's Angelica and la Guira explores this premise beautifully. 

     Summer is ending. Angelica dreads saying goodbye to her extended family in the Dominican Republic and returning home in time to start school. Her grandfather gives her a guira, a musical instrument that has been handed down in her family for generations. He tells her it has the power to bring people together. 

     At first it doesn't seem to. Her parents tell her to play it in her room, a suggestion her siblings do NOT appreciate. There's no room for it in her school orchestra or a jazz club. 

     Fortunately Angelica is not about to give up. A bold move yields excellent results. 

     Clever parents can make this lively book more personal by sharing the stories of the special objects that have been handed down in their family and why they are treasured.

On a purrrsonal note, summer is drawing to an end here in Penobscot County, Maine. Temperatures are going down, especially at night. Days are sadly getting shorter. But we're getting glimpses of the colorful leaves that make autumn 🍂 one of the most gorgeous times of the year. I'm looking forward to leaf peeping. 

A great big shout out goes out to Eugene who I can count on taking me. 

Jules Hathaway 

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Birthday Soup (picture book)

     With my birthday coming up in two weeks I was more than ready to review a birthday book. Fortunately I found a really excellent one.

    If you ask most American kids what you eat on your birthday most would say cake and ice cream. Grace Seo Chang's Birthday Soup introduces them to another very special birthday delicacy. 

     When she runs downstairs (wearing her favorite pajamas) Maia smells a delicious aroma. Her mother is preparing miyeok guk which translates to birthday soup in English. It's a soup many Koreans eat on their birthdays to honor their mothers, a tradition that goes back many generations. 

     Maia enjoys helping her family prepare the soup. She wonders if the classmates coming for her birthday party would like it. Fortunately she decides to give them the chance to try it.

     Readers and their families have this chance too. Two versions of the recipe are included. 

     I'd say this lively book is in very good taste!

On a purrrsonal note, the day before my birthday we are going to celebrate 🥳 🎉 🎊 in International Student Association. It will be so much fun to celebrate with friends from all many different countries.

A great big shout out goes out to people who keep special traditions alive.

Jules Hathaway 

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The Monarchs of Winghaven (juvenile fiction)

     A frequent parental concern these days is that kids spend too much time indoors on screens and too little time outdoors in nature. We all know it's not good for the kids. Time spent in nature has proven benefits for physical, cognitive, and psychological health. But what's less obvious is that this lack of contact is also deleterious for nature. Kids who grow up without discovering a passion for green spaces and their inhabitants will not grow up to be the advocates they need. Books like Naila Moreira's The Monarchs of Winghaven can help kindle this passion. 

     "The Field was hidden from the rest of the suburb by woodland. It might have been a farm or orchard once, but it had long since been abandoned and returned to nature."

     It's future biologist Sammie's favorite spot, a refuge she can come to after frustrating days at school where science class is too short and her peers tease her for her interest in "yucky" things. There she can explore to her heart's content, keeping an elaborate nature journal in sketches and words. Used to having the Field all to herself, she's apprehensive when Bram begins showing up...

     ...until she discovers that he's also a naturalist whose photography compliments her narratives and art. They spend a summer making a presentation on monarch butterfly eggs and larvae, discovering that Winghaven (the name they give it) could figure prominently in rebuilding monarch populations. There's just one problem...

     ...a large corporation is in cahoots with local government to raze Winghaven and build a mall. 

     The Monarchs of Winghaven is more than just a one read book. At the back of the book there's a chapter on topics like keeping a nature journal, citizen science, collecting, raising monarchs and 🐦 watching. 

     I think this book is especially important because it shows that what kids want and need from nature is not limited to what adults think. Sure there's a place for educational programs in sanctuaries and parks. But kids can see the potential in much less cared for spaces. My kids spent so many fully engaged hours at a neglected stream running behind the trailer park. And many kids want to have the agency to chart their own explorations...

     ...just like Sammie and Bram.

On a purrrsonal note I liked exploring and documenting nature. When I was an undergrad my mom and sister lived on a North Carolina barrier island. Once when I visited them I spent much of the time documenting the plants and animals of the island, especially the tidal pools. Before one of my zoology courses I shared my notebook with the professor who was so impressed he had me teach one class instead of doing a term paper. 

A great big shout out goes out to independent naturalists both child and adult. We need a lot more of you to help save this precious planet.

Jules Hathaway 

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The Color of a Lie

     Following the horrific second World War returning soldiers and their spouses wanted a return to normalcy more than anything else  The Levittowns, suburban developments of mass produced identical houses, epitomized the safety and prosperity they longed for. But they had their dark side. Kim Johnson's historical novel, The Color of a Lie, brings this dark side vividly to life for YA readers.

     Calvin is in a real bind. Following a tragedy in Chicago his father has moved the remaining members of his family to Levittown in Pennsylvania. There's one major problem. Although they're light enough to pass they're Black. So they've had to invent whole new identities. 

     "'You can be you,' Dad said. Just watch how you talk and who you friendly with.'

     I almost unraveled right then, knowing he meant no Black friends. I flung a betrayed look to Mom. This fresh start wouldn't just be about starting a new life. It'd be about playing white."

     An allegedly haunted woods separates from the Capewoods, an integrated community. Calvin's older brother, Robert, lives, running a last chance boarding school for kids who wouldn't be welcome in regular schools. It's also where Lily, a Black girl whom Calvin has a serious crush on lives with her family. She's attending his otherwise all white high school where she is not at all welcome. 

     Calvin finds himself strongly attracted to this place where he can be himself. He can't stay away even he knows that he and his family would be in real danger if anyone from Levittown found out where he is going and what he's doing there.

     In her author's note Johnson reminds readers that this isn't just dry dusty old history. 

     "Where one resides continues to have far-reaching implications, influencing access to quality education, employment prospects, and overall quality of life. Understanding this historical context is critical, as it brings to light the deeply rooted social inequities that persist today."

     She leaves readers with some thought provoking questions and important resources. In my opinion The Color of a Lie is a very valuable acquisition for school and public libraries. 

On a purrrsonal note, today was UMaine's Student Organization Fair. There were over 200 fine groups recruiting members. It makes me so proud to be a Black Bear and so excited for the school year. 

A great big shout out goes out to all who put work into putting on this fine event.

Jules Hathaway 

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This Book Won't Burn (YA fiction)

     With Banned Books Week coming up so soon Samira Ahmed's This Book Won't Burn is a very timely read.

     To Noor it had seemed like a normal December day. There was nothing alarming in her father's demeanor as he headed off to work...

     ...never to return. The note he left said "I'm sorry. I can't do this anymore."

     "The cruel act of not being loved back by the person you love the most burns like white-hot phosphorus. Maybe it's not that there was no love, just not enough. Maybe they loved themselves more than they loved you. They might've promised they'd walk through fire for you, and you realized too late that they were the one lighting the match."

     Now Noor is enrolled at a new high-school in the last quarter of her senior year. Her mother reacted to being abandoned by selling the family's Chicago home and moving with her daughters--Noor and her little sister, Amal--to a small town. Noor has no plans to adjust--just do whatever she has to do to get by until she can take off for college. 

     Only her second day of school she sees that hundreds of books are being pulled from the school library shelves. Under a new school district policy a book is removed if even one person finds it offensive. And you can probably guess what books were being found offensive. Those by queer and BIPOC authors. 

     Noor hadn't planned on making friends or getting involved. But censorship is a bridge too far. Fighting it is in her mind the right thing to do. 

     This earns her some pretty vindictive enemies in high places: her principal, the school board president who has aspirations for higher offices, and the entire membership of the Liberty Mom's & Dads. She'd pretty much expected that. What she didn't see coming was her formerly activist mom pressuring her to not rock the boat. 

     But she isn't alone. She's being joined by teen and adult allies who share her passion and commitment and refusal to give up.

     This powerful David v. Goliath narrative will appeal to (and hopefully inspire) teen and adult social justice minded readers. 

On a purrrsonal note, Noor would love ❤️ this blog. It's all about promoting the very important books the Liberty Moms & Dads and their real life counterparts would love to ban and burn 🔥. I got an inspiration from Ahmed's book. In it Noor wears a shirt that says "I read banned books." For Banned Books Week I'm going to decorate a shirt to say "I review banned books."

A great big shout out goes out to Ahmed for this clarion call to action.

Jules Hathaway 

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Shut Up, This Is Serious (YA fiction)

     Belen, protagonist of Carolina Ixta's Shut Up,This Is Serious, and her best friend,  Leti are in a world of trouble. It's easier to see with Leti. The daughter of traditional Mexican Catholic parents, she has become pregnant. Her parents don't take the news well. Her father concludes a lecture on what a disappointment she is with "Did she know women like her go to hell? Did she know men like Quentin go to prison?" Her mother is horrified by the prospect of a darker skinned (Quentin is Black) grandchild.

     Leti is actually in a better position that Belen. An excellent, highly motivated student, she's still determined to go to a top university. And Quentin is taking his parenting responsibility seriously. 

     Belen is doing her best to help Leti. Meanwhile she's the kind of teen who is on the brink of falling through the cracks. Her father has abandoned the family. Her mother is away working most of the time. And when she's physically home she's emotionally absent. Big sister, Ava, is constantly criticizing her.

     The girls are seniors. Belen has pretty much given up on school. She has no idea whether she can even graduate, never mind what her life will look like beyond June. She's sleeping with a college student who is only using her. And she's showing signs of depression and anxiety. 

     This truly engaging coming of age narrative is set in a community and culture Ixta brings vividly to life. I hope this brilliant debut novelist is hard at work on her sophomore book. 

On a purrrsonal note,  Maine Hello went just fine. It was so exciting to see our wonderful first year students. The President's cookout was marvelous too.

A great big shout out goes out to the awesome dining crew whose hard work made the cookout fun and memorable.

Jules Hathaway 

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