it's tough to measure flying hoots

I read so many amazing books in January!

The Book of Polly by Kathy Hepinstall (adult fiction)

Longer review to come!  Polly is such a badass character.  The story is outlandish.  And it's beautifully written.  My favorite quote?  When Hepinstall describes a neighbor as “a reed-thin woman with a permanently conflicted expression, as though, deep inside her, someone was trying to bathe a cat.”  

The Cow That Went Oink by Bernard Most (picture book)

This is very clever and funny. I enjoyed all the laughing animals and even got the giggles reading aloud each animal's response - neigh-ha, baa-ha, gobble-ha. I appreciated the ending and applauded the pig and cow for speaking both languages by the last page. Booya-ha to the monolingual farm animal haters.  

Don't Wake the Yeti by Claire Freedman and illustrated by Claudia Ranucci (picture book)

This book is filled with lots of fun rhyming. When I read it the first time I couldn't resist reading it aloud. This story of finding a yeti under your bed and becoming best friends with him is charming, funny, and bursting with adventure. My favorite moment is when mom says no to having a yeti, but the yeti is very clever and turns himself into a chair so he goes unnoticed. Since reading this, I've been checking under my bed often, hoping to find my own yeti, but no such luck. Thankfully I can read this book and pretend!

Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk (juvenile fiction)

I enjoyed both the writing and story immensely, but the setting completely swept me up. To live on an island, fishing and catching an assortment of sea creatures and tending to a garden sounds so magical, and I think Wolk did a fantastic job capturing the Elizabeth Islands. I thought the story was engaging enough until about halfway through. At that point, I couldn't put the book down and finished the rest in one sitting. What the heck was happening on Penikese Island? Who were Crow's blood relatives? Questions like this kept me riveted until the very end. Though Kendall was a very one-dimensional bad guy, he played an incredibly scary and effective role. And even as the story became highly improbable at times, I was still hooked. I became very invested in Crow's self discovery. When I finished Beyond the Bright Sea I was still wondering about Crow's brother, the relationship between Maggie and Osh, and what kind of person Crow became.

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (teen fiction)

Jason Reynolds is such an amazing writer, and these poems beautifully reveal the powerful story of Will's haunting elevator journey. The idea of a different ghost getting on the elevator at each floor is quite clever. Though I knew each new character was delivering the same message, I was always surprised by the unique perspective of the ghosts.  I thought the characters were well-crafted, the message so absolutely vital, and the ending chillingly appropriate. 

My favorite lines? 

"If the blood inside you is on the inside of someone else, you never want to see it on the outside of them." 

"I think she hoped her voice would somehow keep him alive, would clot the blood." 

"Shawn was zipped into a bag and rolled away, his blood added to the pavement galaxy of bubblegum stars." 

"That something that my pop said had gotten into him must be what my mom meant by the nighttime."

Undefeated by Steve Sheinkin (teen nonfiction)

Before I read this book there were three things about football I was most certain about. One, I didn't care a flying hoot about it.  Two, I knew very little about how it worked - all that running and tackling and throwing the ball stuff. And three, in regards to its history? Totally boring.  But then I read this book (for official library reasons), and my perceptions of football have radically changed. I'm still not quite sure how much I care about football (it's tough to measure flying hoots). But I know how football works now, and its history is utterly engrossing, and I'm 100% glad I read this book. I think Sheinkin did an outstanding, exhausting, overwhelming amount of research and I applaud him.  This isn't just a story about Jim Thorpe, or his coach, Pop Warner, or even the bittersweet history of The Carlisle Indian School and their football team.  This book is all of that plus a nearly complete and perfectly concise history of football.  Plus it's packed with pictures, plays, and the stories of courageous Native Americans and a smidgen of their history as well. I think this is not only an excellent book for teens who are into sports literature and football. I think it's also great for history buffs and anyone who is fiercely competitive and/or enjoys action-packed narrative nonfiction.