Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free digital advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Book Description:
“The adventurous spirit of In Your Dreams captures Boys & Girls Clubs’ legacy of inspiring young people worldwide to dream big and create brighter futures for themselves and us all.”—Boys & Girls Clubs of America
As a mother holds her sleeping baby, she ponders the dreams dancing through his head.
Has he traveled back in time to play with the dinosaurs? Is he climbing tall mountains among the clouds? Is he watching dolphins frolic in the sea, or visiting new friends in faraway places?
Told in gentle rhymes with whimsical illustrations to spark the imaginations of children of all ages, this sweet and timeless book is a story of curiosity, possibility, and, above all, the wonder of love.
My Thoughts:
This is a sweet bedtime story. The vibrant illustrations will engage a young child’s interest while sparking their interest about places all over the world. While baby dreams of adventures around the world, the reader learns the most precious dreams are those of his loved ones. This is a future classic that should added to bedtime routines along with stories like Goodnight Moon and Love You Forever.
Thank you to netgalley for providing me with a free digital advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Title: Flower Girl
Author: Amy Bloom
Illustrator: Jameela Wahlgren
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Publication Date: May 2, 2023
Book Description:
From celebrated and best-selling author Amy Bloom comes a jubilant story of self-love, individuality, and gender expression.
Nicki’s favorite aunt is getting married, and Nicki is excited to be the Flower Girl: she is all in for love and pretty petals. But when the family goes shopping to find outfits for the wedding, Nicki doesn’t feel like herself in any of the dresses her mom and aunt pick out for her, and all her happiness and excitement for the wedding evaporates. Nicki must find her voice—and her own style of expression to match it—to make Aunt Carmela’s big day absolutely perfect.
Infused with intelligence and charm and complemented by art by Jameela Wahlgren that’s as warm and tender as a hug, Flower Girl celebrates the magic of finding the clothes that help us shine.
My Thoughts:
This book has a great message that is a lesson to children and adults alike. Nicki is excited to be a flower girl, but she’s “not really a dress kind of girl”. Instead of pushing her to wear a dress, her family helps her to find the outfit that will make her shine. I love the way Nicki’s family embraces her individuality. Wonderful story with a wonderful message.
Welcome to my stop for the TBR And Beyond Tours for Fox Point’s Own Gemma Hopper
Book Info:
Fox Point’s Own Gemma Hopper by Brie Spangler
Genre: Middle Grade Contemporary
Publishing Date: April 11, 2023
Synopsis:
A heartwarming graphic novel about a baseball-obsessed 7th grader, trying to find her place in the sports world and her family.
In their tiny corner of Fox Point, Rhode Island, Gemma Hopper’s older brother, Teddy, is a baseball god, destined to become a Major League star. Gemma loves playing baseball, but with her mom gone and her dad working endless overtime, it’s up to her to keep the house running. She’s too busy folding laundry, making lunches, getting her younger twin brothers to do their homework, and navigating the perils of middle-school friendships to take baseball seriously.
But every afternoon, Gemma picks up her baseball glove to pitch to Teddy during his batting practice–throwing sliders down and away, fastballs right over the middle (not too fast or he’ll get mad), and hanging curveballs high and tight.
Could baseball be Gemma’s ticket to the big leagues or will it mean the end of her family as she knows it?
My Review:
After Gemma’s mother left, she carries the burden of holding the family together. This doesn’t leave a lot of time to pursue her passion for baseball. Her brother, Teddy, is the baseball star of the family. But, when a video of her pitching goes viral it looks like it might be her big chance too.
This book does a great job of realistically portraying the impacts of a mother abandoning her family. Gemma and Teddy both feel responsibility beyond their years, and feel resentment towards each other. Beyond the home, the issues carry into school as Gemma is assigned a school project about her family history. She’s also faced with typical changes in teenage friendships, when her oldest friend seems more interested in impressing popular kids than Gemma’s feelings.
Despite the problems explored in the story, Fox Point’s Own Gemma Hopper, doesn’t feel like a “heavy” book. The graphic novel format adds a lightness by showing the emotions through pictures. The focus on baseball also makes it high interest for young readers. It was very refreshing to have a sports-centered book with a female protagonist.
Author/illustrator of children’s picture books and YA novels, Brie Spangler loves to draw and write stories and drink massive amounts of caffeine, but not quite Dave Grohl “Fresh Pot!”/require hospitalization levels. Writing down the ideas in her head was scary as a kid, so she turned to making pictures instead. Brie worked as an illustrator for several years before she began to write and immediately became a frothing addict. BEAST is her debut novel.
Welcome to my weekly post where I look back at some of my four and five star reads before I started Nicole’s Nook.
Today’s book: Snow White Red-Handed by Maia Chance
Publishers: Berkely Prime Crime
Publication Date:November 4, 2014
Date Read: September 3, 2016
My Rating: 4 stars
Favorite Quote:
Goodreads Synopsis:
Miss Ophelia Flax is a Victorian actress who knows all about making quick changes and even quicker exits. But to solve a fairy-tale crime in the haunted Black Forest, she’ll need more than a bit of charm…
1867: After being fired from her latest variety hall engagement, Ophelia acts her way into a lady’s maid position for a crass American millionaire. But when her new job whisks her off to a foreboding castle straight out of a Grimm tale, she begins to wonder if her fast-talking ways might have been too hasty. The vast grounds contain the suspected remains of Snow White’s cottage, along with a disturbing dwarf skeleton. And when her millionaire boss turns up dead—poisoned by an apple—the fantastic setting turns into a once upon a crime scene.
To keep from rising to the top of the suspect list, Ophelia fights through a bramble of elegant lies, sinister folklore, and priceless treasure, with only a dashing but mysterious scholar as her ally. And as the clock ticks towards midnight, she’ll have to break a cunning killer’s spell before her own time runs out…
My Thoughts:
This book combines all of my favorite genres: romance, mystery, historical fiction and fantasy. As if that isn’t great enough, there’s also a fairy tale connection. This is a delightful twist on fairytale retellings, where they are investigating the truth behind Snow White’s story.
Top Five Wednesday is a Goodreads group that posts weekly bookish prompts. This week’s topic:
April 12th: Magic
Recently it was National Unicorn Day, and I thought it could be a fun time to celebrate stories with magic! What are some of your favorite reads that have magic?
I read a lot of books with magic, and most of them are part of a series. So, I decided to pick a mix of series from different subgenres.
Enchanted Inc.
A fun chick lit series with a mix of sweet romance
Harry Potter
YA adventure
Darkest London
Steampunk romance
The Hollows
Urban Fantasy
All Soul’s Trilogy
Vampire/witch romance with some time travel mixed in
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
April 11: Titles with Animals In Them and/or Covers with Animals On Them (submitted by Rachel @ Sunny Side)
These books are in no particular order. It’s such a diverse mix that it was impossible to compare them.
One of my favorite middle grade books. The One and Only Ivan tells the story of a group of animals living at a mall and the gorilla who finds a way to bring public attention to their plight.
The Art of Racing in the Rain is narrated by Enzo, a dog who belongs to a race car driver. As Enzo tells of the heartbreaks his owner faces, it’s clear he is wiser than most humans.
Thank you to netgalley for providing me with a free digital advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Title: You and Me
Author: Caley Nunnally
Illustrator: Audrey Schmid
Publisher: Ninewise Publishing
Publication Date: April 26, 2023
Book Description:
Celebrate the things that make us all different!
Each of us seem the same in many ways—we all have eyes, ears, noses, and hands. But those things are also what make us very unique from one another. Where one friend loves noodles, another friend may say, “Eww, no thank you!” It’s these differences that make the world—and each of us—more interesting. Mine make me ME, and yours make you YOU!
The world was made for us to play, learn, and dream. If we were all the same, how boring would that be?
My Thoughts:
I loved the way this book used the senses to show our differences. What looks, sounds, feels, tastes or smells good to one person makes someone else cringe. That’s made okay by the repeating the phrase if we were the same “how boring would that be?” At the end of the book, the author also included tips for parent to teach perspective. This is a fun way to teach kids an important lesson.
Welcome to my weekly post where I look back at some of my four and five star reads before I started Nicole’s Nook.
Today’s book: Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan
Publishers: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Publication Date: January 1, 2005
Date Read: Before I joined Goodreads in 2008
My Rating: 4 stars
Favorite Quote
“The only thing certain in times of great uncertainty is that people will behave with great strength or weakness, and with very little else in between.” ― Amy Tan, Saving Fish from Drowning
Goodreads Synopsis
On an ill-fated art expedition into the southern Shan state of Burma, eleven Americans leave their Floating Island Resort for a Christmas-morning tour-and disappear. Through twists of fate, curses, and just plain human error, they find themselves deep in the jungle, where they encounter a tribe awaiting the return of the leader and the mythical book of wisdom that will protect them from the ravages and destruction of the Myanmar military regime.
Saving Fish from Drowning seduces the reader with a fagade of Buddhist illusions, magician’s tricks, and light comedy, even as the absurd and picaresque spiral into a gripping morality tale about the consequences of intentions-both good and bad-and about the shared responsibility that individuals must accept for the actions of others.
A pious man explained to his followers: “It is evil to take lives and noble to save them. Each day I pledge to save a hundred lives. I drop my net in the lake and scoop out a hundred fishes. I place the fishes on the bank, where they flop and twirl. ‘Don’t be scared,’ I tell those fishes. ‘I am saving you from drowning.’ Soon enough, the fishes grow calm and lie still. Yet, sad to say, I am always too late. The fishes expire. And because it is evil to waste anything, I take those dead fishes to market and I sell them for a good price. With the money I receive, I buy more nets so I can save more fishes.”
My thoughts:
Amy Tan’s one of my favorite authors. While not necesarrily my favorite, this is the one that sticks out in my mind the most. It departs form her usual theme of the relationship between Chinese-born mothers and their Chinese-American daughters. In this case, the narrator is a recently deceased woman whose friends go on an expedition to Myanmar in her honor. I love the mixture of adventure, mystery and magical realism.
Top Five Wednesday is a Goodreads group that responds to weekly bookish prompts.
This week’s topic:
April 5th: Platonic Friendship
“Friendship is worth celebrating.” While many of us may love romance, let’s take some time for today’s prompt to feature some of our favorite non-romantic friendships we’ve read about in fiction!
#1 Harry, Ron and Hermione
Harry, Ron and Hermione
I know Ron and Hermione end up together, but for the bulk of the books this threesome are platonic friends who stand by each other and fight evil together.
#2 Elise Sontag and Mariko Inoue
Elise and Mariko form a bond that lasts across time, distance and cultures. Even after years apart, they still have a connection.
#3 The women of Blossom Street
This whole series is filled with the power of friendship and knitting.
#4 The Ya-Yas
The ya-yas have a friendship that endures decades. They know each others secrets and have each others backs.
#5 Willa Jackson and Paxton Osgood
Willa and Paxton don’t exactly start as friends, but they form a special bond
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
April 4: Indie/Self-Published Books (submitted by Nicole @ BookWyrm Knits)
I don’t read a lot of indie books, so I don’t have ten, but I wanted to highlight some local authors who I know personally.
Barbar Helene Smith uses her background working for the FDA to create the believable Connie Murphy mysteries staring FDA investigator.
Rick Iekel combines the history of aviation, the story of the Rochester airport, and personal stories from his years as the director of the airport. The Roc Journey thru the 20th Century
Andrea Page is a former co-worker and friend. After learning of her great-uncle’s role in WWII, she spent years researching the Sioux Code Talkers of World War II.
I can’t share too much about The Divine Meddler without spoilers. I will just say it’s a great concept that combines mystery and redemption.
