Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Twice a year I go to the Scholastic Warehouse sale to buy books using the water sale money.  My son uses the chance to buy his own books as well with his saved allowance funds.  One of the books he bought the last time was this one.  I also bought one for the WHHS LMC.  Unfortunately, my son's copy fell behind his "to read" pile on his nightstand.  It lay forgotten until I cleaned back there last weekend.

One thing about West Haven is that everyone knows everyone else.  Many of us are third, fourth, even fifth generation Westies.  If we ourselves don't know you, one of our people probably knows one of your people.  We have a rich history in our little city.  The same is true for Norvelt.

Jack is a tween in the early 1960s.  He's obsessed with World War II and prone to nosebleeds.  His wacky neighbor (I kept picturing her as Mrs. Figg from HP) hires him over the summer to help write obituaries.  Although billed as hilarious, I myself only smiled a lot with only one really pee your pants level laugh.

I don't like to genderfy (is that a word?) books, but this is a boy book.  I see why my son liked it so much, and I can see many sophomore boys reading this alongside their WWII and early 1960s history work.  I can also see parents of tween boys liking this, and those who were Jack's age at the same time reading this through a very different lens.

What's nifty is this is already on our shelf.  Bailey also has one, and I think the boy will be donating this one to Carrigan!

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All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.

Origin by Dan Brown

I pre-ordered this as soon as I could on Amazon and eagerly awaited arrival.  I am a big Dan Brown fan and love his prior Langdon novels.  I've also read his works outside of this series.  Unfortunately, my review on this one is mixed.

Based on the beginning of the story, I was expecting much more of a blockbuster revelation about the, well, origin of humanity.  Instead, the premise is really about where we are going as a species.  We are continuing to evolve and there are theories we will merge with our ever-expanding technology to become an ever more advanced life-form.

While the other Langdon books continually keep the reader guessing, the "whodunit" is blatantly obvious rather early in the story.  I think what irked me the most is that there is very little of the classic Langdon symbology interpretation that's part of the magic in the older books.  The previous novels made me want to research and learn about the symbols and cultures Langdon talks about.  This one, not so much. 

Langdon and Brown fans will no doubt want to read this "just because".  It wasn't terrible, but it's definitely not a favorite.

Good luck on your PSATs today!

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All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.

Featured Football Books!

The Ravenous by Amy Lukavics

I eagerly awaited for this to be released after reading The Women in the Walls.  It did not disappoint.  Lukavics is a master of horror with strong female leads.  In short, she kicks butt as an author.  I'm a fan for sure.

From the outside, the Canes look like the perfect family--respected military dad, stay-at-home mom, five beautiful daughters.  Reality: Dad's never home and Mom's a pill-popping drunk.  Oldest daughter a sadistic control freak, second a wuss follower, third a stoner, fourth a budding drunk.  Only the youngest seems somewhat normal.  And it is Rose, the baby, who dies when accidentally shoved down the stairs during an argument between her mother and oldest sister.

I don't want to spoil too much, but Mom does some really scary things to bring her daughter back to life (and to keep her alive).  When she takes off, maintaining their sister's, um, "needs" falls to the older girls.

Look for this to be on display with our new books next week!

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All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.

South of Sunshine by Dana Elmendorf

I really wanted to like this book.  I really, really did.  Alas, I just could not get into it.  I kept picking it up and trying, but I just could not even continue. The friendships and relationships felt completely forced and fake.  The stereotypes were over the top.  I would read a few pages, get annoyed, and put it down.  Try again.  Nope.  I got about 55 pages in and finally gave up.  Very sad, as this book had a TON of potential.

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All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.

  

How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming by Mike Brown

First, let me say sorry in not doing a review recently.  It's been a crazy busy start of the year as both parent and school librarian, plus we're still working on our dining room remodel.  I finally finished this memoir last night.

Mike Brown was a young up and coming star astronomer at CalTech (pun intended) when he starting looking for planets beyond Pluto.  The problem came when he found something that would start a chain of events leading to Pluto's demotion from planet to dwarf planet, thus changing school science textbooks and museum posters forever.

In my day, we had 9 planets....

There is a fair bit of sciencey stuff going on here, but Brown does a good job of explaining things in everyday terms.  The key part of this being a decent memoir is the amount of reflection Brown does.  He's respected and hated at the same time for the biggest astronomical discovery of our time.

This isn't going to rank among my favorite memoirs of all time, but it was a pleasant read and would be perfect for planetary lovers.  Our seniors interested in science might like this as they start their memoir assignment later this month.

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All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.

The Women in the Walls by Amy Lukavics

Creepy, gory, scary, weirdness.  

Just like Lukavics' Daughters unto Devils, the horror is strong with this one.

I had the pleasure of attending a virtual conference session with Lukavics, where I learned of this second novel.  I ordered it from Amazon, and it will be added to the WHHS LMC collection as soon as I finish typing this review.

Lucy lives in a old mansion with her all-business father Felix, aunt Penelope, cousin Margaret, and their staff.  Lucy's mother Eva passed away when she was very young, and Penelope moved in to be a surrogate Mom.  Margaret and Lucy were raised more like sisters, as it is clear Felix and Penelope developed a relationship.  The mansion once belonged to a wealthy woman who opened a home for orphaned children.   

Shortly after the opening of the story, the cook hangs himself.  Then Penelope disappears.  Margaret jumps out an attic window.  The new cook does something that made me want to vomit.

All the while, the country club Felix (and Eva before her death) belongs to seem to be chomping at the bit to kick Felix and his family out.  Felix alludes to the club having a strong interest in the mansion.  But it's their wives everyone needs to be watching out for...

This is not a read for bedtime.  

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All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.

SUMMER READING FORMS ARE DUE TOMORROW!!!!!!