Book Review - Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans

Author/Illustrator: Kadir Nelson
Publisher: Balzer & Bray (September 27, 2011)
Audience: Fourth Grade and up
Source: Purchased Hardcover; Audiobook
History * Non-fiction * African Americans

Description from GoodReads:
In his Coretta Scott King Award-winning We Are The Ship, artist Kadir Nelson told the story of Negro League baseball. In Heart and Soul, he widens his scope to cover a wide range of African-American history, from centuries of brutal slavery to the Civil Rights era to the presidential election of Barack Obama. Nelson's focus is on African-American women and men who struggled through adversity while somehow maintain their integrity. This beautifully illustrated hardcover with a message for us all.

In March, I had a wonderful opportunity to hear Kadir Nelson speak and he shared about his work on Heart and Soul.  As a huge Kadir Nelson fan, I wanted to read the book right then but I had to wait a little over six months to finally get my hands on a copy and my first viewing was to just admire the amazing illustrations in this book.  

Recently, a twitter friend (@maryannscheuer) recommended the audiobook.  The initial thought that ran through my mind was "Why would you listen to a Kadir Nelson book?!".  Obviously you would want to read it so that you can experience the amazing artwork.  And at some level this is true.  However, when I heard that Debbie Allen was the narrator, I decided to give it a try.  And it was an amazing experience.  Of course, in this case, I would suggest listening to the audio if you had the book in hand or had previously viewed the pictures.

Allen as narrator brought Nelson's text and illustrations alive.  As I listened to the audiobook, I was reminded of the time I had lunch with an elderly African-American woman.  I sat there realizing how significant it was to hear the stories that this woman could tell.  First-hand accounts that would be lost as more of our elders passed on.  Nelson's choice to use this technique to share the story of American History through the eyes of an African American family is brilliant.  

This is one book that will end up on my best books of 2011 list.  I am glad to have it as part of my personal collection and would recommend it for any teacher or librarian for classroom, school, or public libraries.  

To get a greater sense of the book, I suggest checking out either the NPR link or the YouTube link listed below.        

To listen to an interview with Kadir Nelson on NPR, click here.  

To watch video about Nelson's work on this book, click below:

For more information about Kadir Nelson, check out his website http://www.kadirnelson.com/
You can follow him on Twitter: @kadirnelson 
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kadir.nelson 

Gratitude Giveaway Hop - Thank you to You the Readers!

Welcome to the Gratitude Giveaways Blog Hop hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and co-hosted by All-Consuming Books.   The hop will run from November 17th to November 27th which will give you plenty of time to enter all the giveaways.  And there are 300 blogs each saying thanks to their followers by offering a simple, easy, one entry giveaway. No long list of optional entries on this hop - they are not allowed.

My Giveaway for one lucky follower is a Maggie Stiefvater Prize Pack - a signed copy of both Forever and The Scorpio Races.

Since this is a Gratitude Giveaway Hop - I just want to thank all of you who read and stop by and comment and well are just wonderful readers. Thank You!!!

Rules for the Contest:

1. Please do not enter any personal information in the comments section (including your email, website, etc.), you must complete the Entry Form to officially enter the contest.
2.  The Contest runs from 12:00 a.m. Pacific Time on November 17, 2011 to 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on November 27th.
3.  You must be 13 or older to participate in this contest.
4.  If you are selected as a winner, I will notify you by e-mail.  If you do not respond within 48 hours, I will select a new winner.
5.  International participants are welcome to enter the contest.

Book Review: Forbidden

Author: Tabitha Suzuma
Published: UK: Definitions (May 27, 2010) / US: Simon Pulse (June 28, 2011)
Audience: Young Adult
Source: Purchased in store
Young Adult  * Romance 

Description from Goodreads:
Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has also also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending. 

*WARNING: BOOK CONTAINS ADULT MATERIAL*

Before I begin to review this book, and tell you why I thought that this was one of the best books I've read, I want to reiterate that this book does contain mature themes. It deals with the incestuous relationship between a brother and sister, so parents or sensitive readers should take note.

This is a difficult review for me to write because I can't quite explain how I loved this book to someone who hasn't read it. Just to get it out of the way, the novel doesn't gloss over the aspects of Lochan and Maya's relationship. It's not just a crush. They are properly in love, and strangely... I really wanted them to be. Like for most people, incest is one of those universal taboos for me. So, I was half-intrigued, half-skeptical going into reading this , but Tabitha Suzuma nails it. There is something about the way she writes these two characters that forces you to root for them. A few chapters into the book, I completely abandoned my, "Ewws," for, "Awws," and was already hoping for a way that the two of them could find a way to be together without hiding. The romance is sweet, believable, and paced extremely well -- they aren't making out in chapter 2 or declaring eternal love in chapter 3. Forbidden is a long enough book that Suzuma can take her time establishing Lochan and Maya as separate characters and individuals and make the romance grow out of that slowly. I promise you, I went into this young adult romance thinking that my stomach might turn at the idea of sibling love and came out of it wanting even more moments of them together.

Suzuma does a great job with characters in general. Besides Lochan (my favorite!) and Maya, the other characters in their family are multi-dimensional and interesting. Particular favorites include their alcoholic mother, who was so nuanced, and Kit, their rebellious younger brother. I loved that the alcoholic mother wasn't of the stereotypical scream-and-shout-and-abuse variety. The way her addiction to alcohol made her an absent parent and tore her family apart was different and believable, and caused enough harm to facilitate Lochan and Maya's unusual relationship. Kit, on the other hand, was a fascinating character because he was the 13 years old middle child, in that awkward stage between boy and man. As much as I agreed with or accepted the ending of the novel, the one thing I would have wanted would be more of Kit -- such a fascinating character.

The writing was also really phenomenal. It's told in alternating POV between Lochan and Maya, which is so difficult to manage sometimes, but worked really well in this one. Each of their voices is very distinct and I really like it when authors can pull this off. (If you are a fan of Maggie''s Stiefvater's Shiver or Malorie Blackman's Naughs and Crosses, then you'll appreciate this style of storytelling.) I loved getting inside the heads of these two complex characters and listening to -- or reading, rather -- how they justified their love, criticized themselves, felt cheated or dirty.... Given the subject matter of the novel, it really helped to be told in first person POV.

There's really not much more I can say about this. The novel is a beautiful romance that might step on some toes, but ultimately surprise you. There isn't anything like this out there (that I've read anyway). This novel just represents what I love about fiction. It turns something vile, unexpected, unconventional, and ultimately "wrong," into something beautiful and poetic. I hope you give Forbidden a chance. It's certainly a risky novel, but the reward is so great.

Tabitha Suzuma is the award-winning British author of several young adult novels with difficult subject matter, including mental illness and depression. You can follow Tabitha on twitter: @TabithaSuzuma or on her blog: http://tabithasuzuma.blogspot.com/ 

Her official website is:  http://www.tabithasuzuma.com/

Special Edition Literacy Café: Scott Campbell & Zombie in Love

Back in September, I attended the Book Release and Art Exhibit event for Scott Campbell who illustrated Zombie in Love (written by Kelly DiPucchio).  You can read my post here.   While I was at the event, I chatted with Scott about possibly doing a school visit.  Amazingly enough for my school, he agreed.  (Yes, I did a happy dance when I found out.)

Once it was confirmed, I started planning with Angie who runs the Literacy Cafés for the school.  We knew we could do a great Special Edition Café for Zombie In Love and for Scott Campbell.

Angie started planning and creating decorations.

I had one of our students design a welcome sign.

The room was prepared.  Activities were thought out and prepped.

When Scott arrived, we had Rupert Holmes' Escape (The Pina Colada Song) playing in the background.  We asked him to read the story to the students outside on blankets. (It was a perfect fall day.)

When all of the children came in, Scott did some drawings and talked about his artistic process.  He even drew Mortimer and Mildred for us and we added them to the picture of Lucille Beatrice Bear (Yes, Peter Brown - Lucy is even happy to have Zombies for friends.)

After drawing for us, Scott had a chance to observe students as they worked on some writing and drawing activities that centered around the book.

We wrapped up with punch (yes, there was pineapple rings in it) and popcorn.  Every café has to have food.  And then Scott signed books for his new friends.

Thanks Scott for coming out to the school and hanging with us.  We had a blast. 

Check out this animoto of the Literacy Café.

Guest Post - Review of Anna Dressed In Blood

Author: Kendare Blake
Publisher: Tor Teen (August 30, 2011)
Audience: Young Adult
Format: Hardcover, ebook

My synopsis:
Cas Lowood isn’t your average teenager. Actually - he’s unlike any other person you’ve ever met. He’s a ghost killer (but please don’t call him a ghostbuster). Like his father before him, Cas has the unenviable job of hunting those spirits which still haunt this earth, hurting and killing people in their wake. With his father’s magical and deadly athame blade, Cas is able to send these murderous spirits away from this world. He travels with his mother (a white witch) and Tybalt, their ghost sensing cat, while secretly preparing himself to find and kill his father’s murderer. When he gets a tip about a ghost known as Anna Dressed In Blood out in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Cas knows that she is his next target. The story of a young Anna Korlov, murdered in 1958, inexplicable draws him. Once there, Cas tries to kill Anna but she is too strong - the strongest ghost he’s ever encountered. And she doesn’t kill him. But why? As Cas tries to figure this out he also starts to unravel the mystery of Anna Dressed In Blood.

Review:
Kendare Blake blends horror and teen angst into a delightfully creepy novel that will have you staying up late at night and turning on all the lights. It’s been awhile since I’ve been scared by a book but Anna Dressed In Blood managed it thoroughly. Cas, a jaded 17-year-old, has followed in his father’s footsteps to become a hunter of angry ghost spirits. In Blake’s world, when someone dies a violent death, they don’t always go away to where they are meant to. In her world, both good and bad people can come back as dark, twisted ghosts that lure the living to horrible deaths. Cas stops them by tracking them and setting a trap. Then he uses his mystical athame to send them away to parts unknown. Ghost killing is a gory business and Blake’s descriptions are often gruesome and chilling.

Cas is a complex character. Afraid to let anyone too close, he isolates himself and avoids making any real human connections. I admire Cas but I don’t always like him. He’s cocky and his snarkiness, especially towards those who want to help him, gets old. His father’s death has also made him bitter and serious. But he is also loyal and protective and I liked him more as the book went on. Forced to work with others for the first time, he learns to trust his friends.

Let’s not forget Anna. When we first meet her she is tearing a human body to pieces - one of many people we’ve been told that Anna has killed over the years. She is vicious and terrible but, we learn, she may not be evil. Complicated? You bet. But Blake deftly manages Anna’s evolution from angry, murderous spirit into someone you can sympathize with. Along with Cas and Anna, there is an interesting cast of secondary characters. New friends Tim and Carmel are opposites in the school heirarchy. One is awkward and dabbles in magic and the other is the school’s queen bee, but both are more than their reputations. Morfran, Will, Cas’s mother and their ghost sniffing cat Tybalt round out the eclectic group.

At times frightening, tragic, funny and creepy, Anna Dressed In Blood is a gripping read that you’ll have a hard time putting down. I look forward to Anna’s return in the sequel, Girl Of Nightmares, coming out next year.

For More Information about author, Kendare Blake, check out her website: http://www.kendareblake.com/


You can follow her on twitter: @kendareblake







If you liked this review, please come check out our other YA and younger book reviews at Read Now Sleep Later  and our adult book reviews at Nite Lite .

Thanks, Aly, for letting us guest post on your blog!

And thank you Thuy for stopping by and sharing your thoughts on Anna Dressed in Blood.  I can't wait to pick up a copy, but I will definitely be reading this one with the lights on. :-)