Prettiest Doll

Prettiest Doll by Gina Willner-Pardo
4/5 stars
Clarion Books, 2012
234 pages
Middle-Grade Contemporary

Source: Received an ARC through Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.

This book grabbed my interest with its cover and blurb about beauty contests. I've never had any desire to participate in one and I don't really watch them on television but I adore "Miss Congeniality" as well as several other books about pageants. I trace this back to my love of books with lots of female characters; it's a setting that allows for many women to turn up. So although I didn't really know much about this book, I requested it and gave it a read.

My ending impression is a feeling of being dazed, for several reasons. One is that the pageant doesn't really play that big of a role. Rather it is more of a specter hanging over the pretty Olivia who starts to wonder if there is more to her than just her looks or if that is the only reason anyone will ever value her. I was hoping for more backstage drama but am used to one aspect of a book being played up in the summary so I was okay with that. A second reason for confusion was the writing, which seemed to be in a gray area between middle-grade and young adult. Olivia is only thirteen and somewhat naive yet I thought some of the themes seemed a bit older. However I'm more familiar with MG fantasy so I may not be the best judge of categorization. Third is the plot which, as is unfortunately the case with some contemporaries lacking the epic questness of a fantasy, seemed to meander despite the relative shortness of the book.

What is the plot, you ask? It is partly Olivia rebelling against doing pageants as her mom desires and partly about her own discovery of self. This journey is contrasted with Dan, a runaway Olivia meets and joins, traveling from Missouri to Chicago where both have family to confront. Dan is fifteen but he looks ten due to a hormone growth deficiency so he has his own battles with appearance to wage. Together the two learn some lessons and begin to forge new destinies for themselves. Again, despite the short length of this book, some of their scenes really seemed to drag on. Still I liked the characters for the most part; it just lacked a punch to the gut to make me gush about this book.

Other Opinions:
Wandering Librarians also reviewed Prettiest Doll positively.
Otherwise I haven't seen a lot about this book; if you've reviewed it, please leave a link in comments and I'll add it!

What Came From the Stars

What Came From the Stars by Gary D. Schmidt
3.5/5 stars
Clarion Books, 2012
293 pages
MG Science-Fiction

Source: Received an ARC through Amazon Vine.

After adoring Okay For Now, one of my top reads of 2011, I was excited to see another book from Schmidt and eagerly requested it. I was thrown by a loop to see that it was not a straight contemporary but I wanted to see it through despite the inclusion of fantastical elements. Unfortunately it ended up really not being what I wanted. For my review, I want to divide it into two parts: one for the contemporary and one for the sci-fi sections. The book is also roughly divided into that with italicized chapters detailing another world and regular font for our world although the two increasingly overlap as the book progresses.

Let's start with the contemporary, which I loved. Sixth-grader Tommy lives with his painter father and bubbly younger sister after the death of his mother. Unfortunately the father no longer paints and the sister no longer speaks due to grief even as their house is under assault by a mega-corporation eager to snatch up its land and develop it. Amid this melancholy, Tommy receives a chain from Valorim and soon finds himself speaking its language to the bafflement of his classmates and embarking on its defense. I loved just about everything that was realistic in this book-the sad family attempting to move on without a vital part of itself, the kids at school as well as their teachers and staff, Tommy's battle against the realtor. It was great stuff!

But the fantastical elements were SO hard for me. I dreaded every time I reached a chapter set there (they alternate). There are many made-up words, which are included in a glossary in the back, but they never fully sunk in to my brain so even as I approached the end, I had to keep flipping to check on their meaning. Then there was the fantasy world itself; I understood its basic conflict with evil Lord Mondus using treachery to gain power but I was a little confused on the names of the people around him (were the Valorim and the Ethelim the same people?) I got a very Lord of the Rings vibe from this part with the way names are deployed except that I love LOTR and did not care for this.

Overall: I did not want Schmidt to try something new and was very thrown by the science fiction elements to the point that they distracted me from the overarching themes of the story.

Okay for Now

Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
Clarion Books, 2011
360 pages
YA; Historical
5/5 stars

Source: Library

I originally saw this on Netgalley but skipped over it because I wasn't sure I'd like it. Then I saw several favorable reviews and rethought my previous assessment. I'm so glad I did because I LOVED this book!

It's about an average boy named Doug who moves to a new town in upstate New York in the beginning of the book with his abusive father, his long-suffering mother, mean older brother, and with another older brother serving in Vietnam and follows him as he adjusts to the new town, falls in love, and learns a great deal over the school year 1968-69.

Thus this is a historical novel with appropriate references to Doug's beloved Yankees, the impending landing on the moon, and increasing distaste with the war in Vietnam. However it still feels very contemporary as Doug deals with family, friends, and school just like kids today do. He has similar hopes and fears and I absolutely loved him. He grows up in so many ways and develops into a better person. You also get to see many of the people in his life grow too including his brothers and father, a real nasty piece of work for much of the book.

Besides the story, there was also a lot to learn in this book particularly about drawing, birds and baseball, three things that greatly interest Doug and help him rise above the bitter angry young man he could be.  That was another thing I loved, whenever Doug realized that his go-to response didn't help the situation but that instead he could respond another way.

I'm sorry this isn't the most coherent review; I just really loved this book and I HIGHLY recommend it! So what are you waiting for? Go find a copy and devour it!

Always a Witch

Always a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough
Clarion Books, 2011
276 pages
YA; Paranormal
4/5 stars

Sequel to Once a Witch

Source: Received a free ecopy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Some spoilers for Once a Witch!

After mostly enjoying Once a Witch, I was eager to pick up this sequel and even more pleased to discover that there was a significant time travel element!  This book picks up a few months after the first with everyone recovered from the menace of Alistair Knight but still on guard for his next move.  Tamsin is better integrated into her family, having discovered that she does in fact possess a talent and she seems to have a slightly better relationship with her sister as well as a stronger one with boyfriend Gabriel.

However their peace is shattered when a mysterious stranger travels into their time. Tamsin, banking on the prophecy of her grandmother decides that she is the one who must defeat their enemy and travels back into 1877 to warn her ancestors and protect her future.  Most of the book takes place while she is there, attempting to blend in and prepare for what she can.

For me, the best part of this series is the emphasis on family. Despite her difficult relationships with most members of her family, Tamsin fights for them even in the face of the terrifying Knight family.  I also really liked that they were good villains. They were selfish and thought they were superior beings because of their Talents. Because of their presumed superiority, they felt no compunction about hurting non-magical beings.  The solution caught me by surprise and left me admiring Tamsin and her brains for solving the puzzle.

One last note is that I'm not entirely sure about the mechanics of the time travel and how their actions impacted the future. However I was content to enjoy the ride instead of going back and puzzling through this with a fine-toothed comb.

Overall: A nice companion with another exciting, fast-moving story.

Cover: I do love a fancy dress but this one is kind of hard to see; additionally Tamsin's hair is too straight-it's supposed to be unmanageable.

My Favorite Band Does Not Exist

My Favorite Band Does Not Exist by Robert T. Jeschonek
Clarion Books, 2011
325 pages
YA; Fantasy
3/5 stars

Source: Received a free ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is definitely one of the most unique books I've ever read with a premise I'm not sure I can describe.  The writing is mostly clear (especially with the confusion of plot) with likable characters and there were some interesting thoughts about failure, control, and authorial dictates.  But because of the plot, I didn't feel entirely connected to the book as a whole.

I will try to explain without spoiling anything because this was wonderfully different with a general sense of happiness for me and worth a try if you can get this at the library.  Idea Deity is on the run and suffering from Deity Syndrome, the suspicion that he is a character in a novel where the author while kill him (in this case, in chapter 64).  His chapters alternate with Reacher Mirage, lead singer of the secret band Youforia.  Their lives intersect when Idea realizes that his made-up band Youforia has taken on a life of its own and Reacher realizes that some one is leaking details about his band that would have been impossible to know. Somehow their lives are overlapping and intersecting; mixed up in this is the novel that both guys are reading called Fireskull's Revenant and a mysterious girl with a face on both sides of her head.

I hope that makes sense although it might not because I spent much of the book somewhat confused. Each story within itself made sense but as they started overlapping, my confusion grew. Suffice it to say that there is a very real reason for the similarities in their lives and that most is explained even if I didn't quite catch it all.

Overall: While I cannot in good conscience recommend that you run out and buy this book (because I didn't enjoy it enough to do that), I think it's a distinct change from the usual YA and might be good for fans of Alice in Wonderland, Douglas Adams, and Terry Pratchett.

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