Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts

Book Review by Aarene Storms: Paper Wishes

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban

Ten year old Manami doesn't understand much about world politics. She only knows that she loves to walk on the beach on Bainbridge Island with her grandfather and her little dog, collecting shells and listening to the peaceful waves on the shore.

But it's 1942, and Manami and her family are forced by the United States government to leave their homes and most of their possessions and move to an internment camp for Japanese Americans, far away from the familiar sights and sounds of Puget Sound.

Her grandfather is resigned to the imprisonment; her older brother rebels against it. But Mirami, surrounded by events that are simultaneously normal and not-normal, stops speaking.

Instead, she expresses her thoughts and wishes in drawings that she either shares with her friends and family, or turns loose on the winds of Manzanar.

This is a relatively gentle introduction to the historic issues surrounding the internment of Pacific Coast Japanese Americans during WWII. There are some allusions to violent incidents at the camp, but Manami is always a few steps away from these, and so the reader is insulated as well.

Still, her loneliness for her dog, her confusion at the treatment of her neighbors and family by the American government, and her longing for her old life shine through the brief story, which ends before the war does.

Recommended for readers ages 10 to adult.

The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS



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Book Review by Aarene Storms: Amazing Fantastic Incredible: a MARVELous memoir

Sunday, June 18, 2017

Amazing Fantastic Incredible: a MARVELous memoir
by Stan Lee and Peter David and Colleen Doran

Of course Stan Lee's memoir is told in comic format.

Mere print could never capture the exuberance, the ego, and the buoyant zest of the most legendary name in the history of comic books.

Stan Lee not only co-created many of Marvel Comics' most popular superhero characters like Spiderman, Iron Man, and the Uncanny X-men, he spent his long and prolific career writing, editing, promoting and publishing comic books and the comic book industry.

Stan Lee narrates his own life story with the same bouncy, conversational narrative style that he uses when talking to groups at comic book conventions: big gestures, big ideas, and lots and lots of enthusiasm for the fun life he has had.

He doesn't skip over the sad stuff or the hard stuff, but he doesn't dwell there, either. There are lots of little anecdotes from his life and plenty of unexpected stories too, like the time he worked on a WWII US Army campaign to combat venereal disease (give yourself a giggle and do a Google Image search for "VD Not Me" to see some of the vintage posters created by the campaign).

The narrative reads like a brag sheet splashed with copious amounts of super-radioactive slime: it's not great literature, but it is great fun. There are mentions of sex and sexual situations, references to comic book violence, and plenty of scantily-clad female superheros pictured. Plus a few epic superheros who turn green or burst into flame periodically.

Highly recommended.


The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS



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Book Review by Aarene Storms: Mercy: the incredible story of Henry Bergh, founder of the ASPCA and friend to animals

Saturday, June 10, 2017

Mercy: the incredible story of Henry Bergh, founder of the ASPCA and friend to animals
by Nancy Furstinger

It's never a good sign when I start fact-checking a book on page 2, but that's what I did with this book--and not only on page 2, but throughout the volume.

There is much to dislike about this book: The basic narrative of Henry Bergh's life is relatively solid, but too many sentences are based in conjecture, as this one "The Bergh children probably asked their parents for a pet of their own, as many children do" which make my spider-senses fizz.

Sidebars are well-researched, but often very distantly related to the main topic. Photos contemporary to the narrative are included at the back of the book, while the text itself is illustrated with cartoony drawings. The author's bias on the topic of pit bull terriers is clear, but stated as unbiased fact.

The book is designed and supposedly targeted to middle-grade readers, but has an overall lexile of 1140, and contains words like "anthropocentric" which are not defined in context or in a glossary. Many quote sources are cited, but at least one (a quote that didn't make any sense, as horses do not cry, not metaphorically and definitely not literally) wasn't.

And then, there's the math. Page 54 claims that more than 2,500 horses in New York City died of an influenza-like plague in 1872, while most sources state that horse mortality among NYC's population was about 1% of the 11,000 horses in the city.

The ASPCA currently estimates that approximately 2.7 million animals (mostly dogs and cats) are euthanized in the United States each year -- a large number. However, 2.7 million is a vastly different number than the book claims: 4 million dogs euthanized annually, according to page 99. And while the average working lifespan of a NYC cart horse might have been around two years in the 1800's, the majority of working horses were not dropping in the traces before their second birthday as stated on page 2, as horses are generally not started in harness until age 2 or 3.

Not recommended.


The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS



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Book Review by Aarene Storms: If You Could Be Mine

Friday, June 2, 2017

If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan

Seventeen-year-old Sahar has shared kisses and romantic dreams of the future with her best friend Nasrin since they were little girls. But modern Iran is a dangerous place for two girls in love. The punishment for homosexuality might be a beating, or it might be death by hanging. So far, their love has stayed secret ... but when Nasrin's family arranges a marriage for her, Sahar feels she must act.

Although homosexuality is a crime in Iran, transsexuality is not. In fact, the government will pay for sexual reassignment. Sahar knows she isn't really a man in a woman's body. But, what if this is the only way she can ever be with Nasrin?

This absorbing peek into another culture features a wide cast of well-written characters: Sahar, who loves Nasrin. Nasrin, who loves candy, and Bollywood movies, and pretty clothes, and being the center of attention ... and probably also loves Sahar. Sahar's father, who still mourns for his wife and refuses to move forward with his life. Sahar's cousin Ali, a gay man trying to find his place. Ali's friend Parveen, who tries to help Sahar sort things out. And Reza, the doctor engaged to marry Nasrin, who is not as simple and two-dimensional as Sahar might wish.

Kissing, mild cussing, sexual decisionmaking and sexual situations. Recommended for ages 14 to adult.

The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS



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Book Review by Aarene Storms: Through the Woods

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

Five short illustrated stories about ghoulies and ghosties and things that go bump in the night.

Kid stuff? Not exactly.

Some stories are creepy. Some are grotesque. Some are creepy and gross and eerie and weird.


As a confirmed chickenheart, I advocate reading this beautiful, awful, wonderful, disgusting, macabre collection well before bedtime. (In my case, maybe three or four days before bedtime would be best.)

Supercool, and extremely weird. Highly recommended, but not for chickenhearts.

The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS


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Book Review by Aarene Storms: Into the River

Saturday, May 20, 2017

Into the River by Ted Dawe

Te Arepa Santos lives with his grandfather Ra, surrounded by cousins and aunts and uncles, descendants of a Maori woman who married a heroic Spanish pirate.

The day that Te Arepa encounters the giant eel in a haunted stream, his life changes. Soon Te Arepa, like his piratical ancestor Diego Santos, will leave his family home and his traditions to attend an exclusive boy's boarding school in Auckland.

Into the River was the first book ever to be banned in New Zealand, although that country has much stricter "decency standards" than we have here in America.

The book wasn't even banned when it was first published; actually, it spent two years picking up prestigious awards like the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year first.

Then it got rated "for mature readers ages 14+". Then it was banned entirely: not available for sale to any reader in New Zealand at all (although sales of the international Kindle edition went up as readers circumvented the ban).

Why all the fuss? That's what I wondered. So I read it.

The story contains sexual situations -- including naked body parts, masturbation and intercourse -- on the page. There is cussing, and drug use. There is homosexuality, bullying, underage drinking, suicide, lawless behavior and rampant racism.

My verdict: the censors in New Zealand really need to get out more.

In other words, Into the River contains nothing we haven't seen in teen lit before. Why this particular book bothered the outspoken members of Family First, I cannot say.

Unfortunately for my feelings of unfettered righteousness, I did not love the book.

Not because I object to sexual content in teen books (obviously) but rather because I thought that the main character had tremendous potential as a young Maori man entering Western society ... and he quickly turned as mainstream as the bullies around him.

Yawn.

While the first half of the book raced along with the glory of Maori words footnoted on each page, the last half trudged inexorably towards the main character's expulsion from school.

Buy this to diversify your collections, or to demonstrate the power of censorship (sales soared!), but if you want to read a great coming-of-age story of Maori New Zealand, you may have to write it yourself.


The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS



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Book Review by Aarene Storms: Guy in Real Life

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Guy in Real Life by Steve Brezenoff

Lesh does not have romance on his mind as he staggers home drunk at 2:30am after a heavy metal concert in downtown Saint Paul. He is thinking about his head, his guts, and the sidewalk, and how soon those three things are going to connect in vivid, pukey Technicolor.

That's why Lesh isn't watching where he's walking ... and he walks right into Svetlana,

Svetlana isn't thinking about romance either. She's riding her bicycle, thinking about her friends, and contemplating the amazing artwork she has created for the upcoming Gaming Club campaign ... until Lesh wobbles into her path and sends them both sprawling into a puddle.

The collision of Lesh and Svetlana starts a series of events that might be reminiscent of a modern reboot of a 1970's television sitcom ... until the plot takes a sudden twist and everything changes.

Lesh is so fascinated by Svetlana that he secretly creates a online MMO character that looks just like her. He even names his character "Svvetlana" (with two V's), and campaigns her up to level fifty, gaining power, virtual gold, and lots of magical online loot.

Lesh enjoys spending time with Svetlana (one V) in real life, but he also enjoys being Svvetlana (two V's) in the game.

What could possibly go wrong?

In alternating narrative voices (Lesh and Svetlana, and also the virtual warrior orc Kugnar and the virtual elf priestess Svvetlana), the story gradually stumbles and reels to an unexpected -- and sort of wonderful -- final chapter.

Recommended for readers ages 14 to adult.

The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS



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Book Review by Aarene Storms: Learning to Swear in America

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Learning to Swear in America
by Katie Kennedy

Apparently, it's difficult to calculate how much stuff from space lands on Earth in an average year. But in Learning to Swear in America, there's only one object that anybody worries about.

Asteroid BR1019 is a big one. Not kill-the-dinosaurs big, (probably), but destroy-the-West-Coast-of-America big (possibly). That's why NASA has borrowed Russian teen physics prodigy Yuri Strelnikov: in the hope that Yuri can save California with math.

Yuri's research in antimatter will win the next Nobel Prize (presumably), but he is still a seventeen-year-old boy and the NASA scientists are disinclined to listen to him. That's enough to drive Yuri to use obscenities, if only he knew how.

With help from hippie-girl Dovie (who declines his offer of quick sex before the world goes cold) and her brother Lennon (who sees the world clearly from his seat in a wheelchair), Yuri learns how to swear.

And then, Yuri (maybe) has a chance to save the world (or at least, California).

Highly recommended for readers ages 14 to adult. An excellent pair for The Martian by Andy Weir with (significantly) fewer cuss words.

The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS



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Book Review by Aarene Storms: Bubonic Panic

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Bubonic Panic : when plague invaded America
by Gail Jarrow

Most people know the basic history of the Black Plague: that it probably started in Constantinople in the year 542, and quickly spread through Europe and the Middle East and killed somewhere between a third and half of the population.

What most people may not know is that cases of bubonic plague still occur in modern times -- and that there have been several outbreaks on the west coast of the United States.

Centered first on the Chinese district of San Francisco (1900-1904), plague bacteria -- mostly carried by fleas on rats, but also on ground squirrels, domestic cats, and even humans -- have gradually spread out on the North American continent.

Plague outbreaks were documented in New Orleans (1914), Los Angeles (1924), and even in Seattle (1907). There were fifteen confirmed cases reported in the United States last year!

Is there cause for concern? Are there steps you can take to avoid becoming part of a Monty Python sketch?

Yep.

Read this book, and you'll know what to do.

The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS



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Book review by Aarene Storms: Walk on Earth a Stranger

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Walk on Earth a Stranger
by Rae Carson

For her own safety, and to elude capture from the wicked uncle she is sure murdered her parents back at their little homestead cabin in Georgia, Leah disguises herself as a boy and flees West, to California and the gold recently discovered there.

While travelling, Lee must not only conceal her true identity, but also her most dire secret: she can sense the presence of gold. Small nuggets, deeply buried veins, gold buttons or rings, and even gold dust caught under a fingernail call to Lee like a sweet song. She knows that some would call this talent "witchcraft." She also knows that in California, her power might make her very, very rich.

But first, she has to get there.

With rich, round characters and plenty of fascinating little historical details, Lee's engrossing journey from Georgia to California kept me turning pages.

Some blood, some violence, and some cussing but no sex...so why is this book presented on the SEX IN THE LIBRARY blog?

I'm so happy you've asked!

The author includes a small group of  men in the wagon train group headed west. Without much detail provided, it is clear to the astute reader (and made more clear by the author's note at the end of the story) that these are, in fact, gay men. It is not a huge plot point, and that's the beauty of it: at last, teen literature has matured to the point where a character's sexual preferences are no longer the Central Issue of a book. In fact, the young men's status as "confirmed bachelors" is less of a conflict point than the status of another character who is Presbyterian instead of Methodist. These details are important, but they are not The Problem.

The story clearly leads to a sequel, but stands alone with a satisfying point of pause while we wait, patiently (or not) for the next volume.


The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS



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Book review by Aarene Storms: Unbeatable Squirrel Girl

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl
by Ryan North and Erica Henderson

Who is the cutest, awesomest, most fun superhero who talks to squirrels? Who eats nuts and kicks butts and hates injustice and jerks? It's The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl!

She has the proportionate strength and agility of a squirrel and she (mostly) looks like a girl (the tail tucked into her jeans gives her a big, awesome bum). She bumps shoulders (and sometimes knocks heads) with Iron Man and Hulk, but mostly hangs out with other college student heros like Chipmunk Hunk and Koi Boy.

What's not to love?

If you've read all the Zita the Spacegirl books and are looking for more, here's your series!

No cussing ("butts" is not a cuss word), no kissing (so far), and no balloon boobs. Extra points for diversity without tokenism and for macadamia nuts, those things are awesome.


The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS



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Book review by Aarene Storms: I am Princess X

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

I am Princess X
by Cherie Priest

May is still mourning her best friend Libby, who died a couple of years ago when the car went off a bridge.

But maybe Libby didn't die.

The comic character created by the girls, a princess with blue hair, red Chuck Taylors and a katana suddenly shows up in graffiti all over Seattle. Then, May finds clues hidden in a webcomic: clues that lead her all over town, with a trail that might end with the discovery of a hiding, still-alive Libby.

This quick-moving story is interspersed with pages from the Princess X comic, and features action, adventure, friendship, mystery, and NO ROMANCE.

Extra points for racial and gender diversity among characters that does not feel forced or tokenistic.

Things get a little name - droppy in the Seattle department, but at least the author used to live here and understands that just because there's a Starbucks on every corner doesn't mean that most natives actually buy coffees there.

Recommended for readers of print and graphic novels, ages 12 to adult.

bullying, cancer, child abuse, cussing (mild), death, friendship, gay friends, graphic novel, grieving, illustrated, multi-ethnic, mystery, no sex, parents, straight friends


The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS



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Book review by Aarene Storms: Some Kind of Courage

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Some Kind of Courage
by Dan Gemeinhart

12-year-old Joseph has lost almost all of his family. His mother and little sister died of typhoid. His father was mortally injured by a wagon that flipped over on him when they were going down a hill. All Joseph has left are memories and a horse. And then Mr. Grissom sells the horse.

Joseph loves that horse so much that he takes off after her - following a no-good horse trader through the wilderness of the Wenatchee Valley where he encounters a hostile grizzly bear and a not completely hostile group of Native Americans. He befriends a Chinese boy who speaks "not a lick of English" through the entire story. He helps a family of settlers and runs afoul of a horse thief and highwayman. His happy ending seems sure ... and then tragedy strikes.

Read this story for the historical context (Washington State in the 1890's, just after statehood), for the adventure (grizzly bears! horse racing! gunfights! river running!) for the wonderful character of Joseph, or for the beautiful descriptions of loving relationships between good people.

Or better yet, listen to the audiobook, nimbly read by Andrew Eiden, who sinks deeply into the dialect of the characters and almost gets the pronunciation of "Yakima" entirely right.

Highly recommended for ages 10 to adult. No sex, no romance, some blood, some alcohol, some minor cussing.


The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS



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Book review by Aarene Storms: Soar

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Soar by Joan Bauer

12-year-old Jeremiah is the world's biggest baseball fan, even though he can no longer play. When he was 10, he got sick and eventually had a heart transplant, so now he has to be really careful ... and he can't run.

His love of the game hasn't changed, though. When he and his dad move to a new community, Jeremiah is convinced that baseball will solve the town's problems. But not everyone agrees.

No sex, no blood, minimal cussing. Some off - page drug use (sport steroids) cause a huge scandal in the town.

Excellent parent and teacher characters, and the best ballplayer in town is a 12-year-old girl.

Highly recommended for ages 9 to adult.


The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS



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Book Review by Aarene Storms: The Graveyard Book (graphic novel)

Tuesday, March 7, 2017


The Graveyard Book (graphic novel) volumes 1 and 2
by Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell


A lovely, dark and gentle re-casting of familiar tales from Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Books ... only in these stories, the orphan boy isn't raised in the jungle by wolves, but rather is raised in the graveyard by the dead.

It should be creepy. But it isn't.

Nobody Owens learns to fade, to dreamwalk, to talk to night gaunts, and to open the ghoul gate - skills that a boy growing up in a graveyard should have. He will need all of his skills, and all of his friends among the deceased (or nearly deceased) to help him survive when the man Jack returns to finish what was begun when Bod was just a baby.

The graphic novelization brings new perspective to the stories originally told in Gaiman's award-winning Graveyard Book. The ghosts are still very charming, the ghouls even more icky. I was sorry to see that some of the delightful subtlety of the text-only version was discarded ... in other words, Silas is a vampire. Ms Lupescu is a werewolf. The novel implied it, but the pictures show it with no room for doubt. Ah, well.

The stories are still wonderful, but I think I prefer the original. Or better yet, the audiobook, read by the delightful Mister Gaiman himself.

Dark, but not horrible, scary but not terrifying. Some blood, but not gruesome.

Recommended for ages 12 to adult.


The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS


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Book Review by Aarene Storms: Swagger

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Swagger by Carl Deuker

Jonas Dolan doesn't have a lot of post-high-school prospects until a canny basketball coach helps him improve his game -- and his grades.

For the first time, Jonas considers going to college. But then the family moves from California to Seattle, and all the friends, coaches and teachers supporting Jonas are too far away to help much.

In Seattle, Jonas finds a new friend. Levi is also a talented basketball player, but halfway through the season, Jonas discovers why Levi seems so withdrawn and depressed, especially when Coach Hartwell is nearby.

Although Levi begs his friend to keep quiet and pretend that nothing is wrong, Jonas knows that he will need to do something.

But, what?

Excellent characters facing a truly horrible situation. I even didn't die during the basketball sequences. (Basketball lovers will love the basketball parts. Me, not so much.) Overall, a strong story, recommended for readers (especially sports fans) ages 14 to adult.


The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS



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Book Review by Aarene Storms: Orbiting Jupiter

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt

Jack is twelve years old when his foster brother comes to live with the family on their little farm in Maine. Joseph Brook is fourteen years old, recently released from a facility called Stone Mountain. And he has a daughter named Jupiter, whom he loves deeply although he has never seen her.

The story is slowly revealed, in tiny, agonizing bits. Jack narrates with clear eyes and a farm boy's practicality: that you can tell all you need to know about someone from the way cows are around him. That leaving a guy to get beat up while you go find a teacher is not okay. And that being family means you've got somebody's back.

Just when things are looking brighter for Joseph, the end of the book comes crashing down.

What this book is: sweet. compelling. impossible to ignore.

What this book is not: easy.

Highly recommended for readers ages 14 to adult.


The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS



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Book Review by Aarene Storms: Rebel of the Sands

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Amani has great plans to get out and away: out of Dustwalk, away from the mines. Out of the desert and away from the bullies. Out of her uncle's reach, away from a husband who might be chosen for her.

Nothing goes according to Amani's plan, and the adventure begins: a windswept mixture of Arabian Nights and the Wild Wild West, with secret heroes, a train robbery, desert horses made from sand and magic, and a concealed oasis.

All this, and romance too, with a strong-willed main character and a colorful cast of supporting folks including the Rebel Prince, shape-shifting twins, and many hidden secrets.

First in a series -- but the story does not stop on a cliffhanger, which is nice.

Recommended for ages 12 to adult; no cussing, some blood, a few kisses, no sex (yet).


The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS



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Book Review by Aarene Storms: Zombillenium

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Zombillenium: Gretchen
(volume 1)
by Arthur De Pins

Zombillenium is a monster theme park staffed by real monsters: vampires, zombies, werewolves. There's a 5000-year-old mummy selling cotton candy and a modern witch selling balloons. Scary? No: hilarious!

Aurelian's attempt to rob a bar is thwarted by Gretchen the witch (who turns his gun into a banana, and the bartender into a goldfish) which makes the day bad enough -- but his day gets worse when he is subsequently run over by a car driven by a vampire and a skeleton. And then bitten by a vampire and a werewolf. But at least he has a fabulous new job at Zombillenium. Or, errr, maybe not fabulous.

Weird characters and goofy situations combined with cool artwork. The translation from French to English is clunky in places but I got sucked in (oooh, bad vampire pun, sorry). Eagerly waiting for volume 2!

Some cussing, some blood, some sexual references. Lots of dead stuff. Recommended for readers ages 12 to adult.


The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS



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Book Review by Aarene Storms: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
by Jesse Andrews

Senior Greg Gaines has planned out his last year at Benson High School: he's going to keep an insanely low profile, make lousy films, and survive until June.

It's good to have a plan. A plan makes excellent traction when you crumple it up and drive over it.

And that is, essentially, what happens Greg's plan. His mom greets him at the end of Senior Year Day 1 and tells him that Rachel has cancer, and that he, Greg, will go and befriend her.

If this was a regular book about cancer, Greg and his friends and family would learn a touching lesson about the sweetness of life and the bitterness of death. If this was a book by John Green you would need three boxes of tissues just to face the world after the final page.

But it isn't. Here are a few lines from the final chapter, just to give you a taste of the narrative voice:

...doesn't mean I'll be making a film out of this book. There is no way in hell that is going to happen. When you convert a good book to a film, stupid things happen. God only knows what would happen if you tried to convert this unstoppable barf-fest into a film. The FBI would probably have to get involved. There's a chance you could consider it an act of terrorism....

Greg's sarcastic, self-deprecating voice throughout the story rings true to anyone who has ever been a teen -- or even spoken to a teen lately. However, Earl nearly steals the show several times. I won't quote any lines from Earl, partly because I don't want to spoil the fun of reading Earl in context, and partly because he cusses so much that every other word would be bleeped. And that is absolutely all I will say about Earl, except maybe this:
Great story, great characters, buckets of cussing and talking about sexual situations, but no bare skin except sometimes the bald head of Rachel, which looks (according to Greg and Earl) like Darth Vader when he takes his helmet off: "insanely white, like it had been boiled, and sort of veiny and lumpy." Not exactly an erotic image, but hey: cancer isn't very pretty.

Oh, and by the way: there is a movie.

And according to folks at Sundance, the movie didn't totally suck.


The events may not have happened; still, the story is true.  --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS



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