L.E. DeLano's Blog, page 11

A to Z Book Review: The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson

My letter “K” pick for this year’s Z to Z challenge was the much-anticipated debut, The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson.

This is a story of institutional racism, of growing up hard and trying to escape/ignore the ways that shaped you – and the things that you carry forward. Ruth, a Yale graduate and the main character, begins the story on election night, 2008, where she and her executive husband, Xavier celebrate the election of President Obama from their comfortable home in Chicago among a bevy of friends, ecstatic and clearly very much in love with each other.

From there, we learn the secret Ruth has been hiding from her husband all these years: she had a baby at seventeen and gave the child up for adoption. This reveal goes over about as good as you think hiding a life-altering secret from your spouse would go over. Shortly after, Ruth returns to her small, economically depressed Indiana hometown (alone), where layers of secrets and family drama unravel as she seeks – and finds – her son.

I recognize fully that I’m viewing a study of racism and economics through the heavily-filtered lens of growing up white, blonde-haired, blue-eyed and middle class, but many elements of this story were universal and resounding. Johnson’s writing is deeply nuanced and heartfelt, but it read slow in places packed with too much extraneous detail, and several times I wanted to grab Ruth by the shoulders and shake her for how naively she was portrayed – particularly having grown up as she did.

Still a strong read, and a good case study on what makes a family. Three stars.

A to Z Book Review: Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey

My letter “J” pick for the A to Z book challenge was Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey. I almost don’t know where to begin with this one – there’s just so much to unpack.

Set in a small rural Australian town in the 1960’s, we begin with our protagonist, thirteen year-old Charlie Bucktin, being paid a late-night visit by classmate (and school outcast due to his aboriginal heritage), Jasper Jones. Jasper begs Charlie to come with him, only to reveal the dead body of a missing local girl, Laura. Jasper is terrified he will be blamed for the girl’s murder, as the local police chief is the town bully and definitely has it out for Jasper.

Jasper convinces Charlie to help him hide the body while they try to solve the murder themselves, and from there, we meet the other players in the small town, and layers of secrets unravel to the unexpected conclusion of the drama.

For all the twists and turns (there were a LOT of them) in the plot, this story is firmly focused on its characters, and that was where it fell a little short for me. The relationship between Charlie and his best friend, a young Vietnamese boy who also feels the brunt of the town’s prejudice – was outstandingly portrayed. Their banter was natural and engaging and I loved their scenes together, but the key relationship between Charlie and Jasper just never quite hit the mark for me. Considering the depth of the secret between them, the stakes just didn’t lend enough conflict and tension to their interactions like I craved. Likewise with Charlie’s burgeoning romance with Laura’s younger sister, Eliza, and Charlie’s own parents – who came across a bit one-dimensional.

Overall, an intriguing read that kept me guessing but wishing for more. Three stars.

A to Z Book Review: In Praise of Difficult Women by Karen Karbo

1/2

I’m way behind on these, so you’ll be getting one a week until I get caught up. My letter “I” book pick was In Praise of Difficult Women: Life Lessons From 29 Heroines Who Dared to Break the Rules by Karen Karbo.

The author profiles twenty-nine motivated, high-energy, “difficult” women who challenged boundaries, misogyny, and societal norms – often despite overwhelming odds and crippling personal demons.

From Hillary Clinton, Eva Peron and Ruth Bader Ginsberg to Shonda Rimes, Laverne Cox, Freda Kahlo, and Jane Goodall (to name a few), Karen Karbo took a large cross-section from varying ethnicities and career paths, giving us a short glimpse into each woman’s life and contributions.

I learned more than a few things about women I admired and came to admire women I’d never heard of before. Still, the book read more like a series of book reports in places. I would have loved to have spent more time getting deeper into each of these remarkable women’s motivations and insights. The chapters were relatively short and didn’t give enough expansion after the rundown of each woman’s history and accomplishments.

I do want to share a meaningful quote from the forward of this book, penned by WILD author Cheryl Strayed regarding these women:

“They said no in a world that expects women to say yes, and yes in a world that doesn’t bother to ask them the question.”

A perfect summation of life as a woman throughout history. I’m giving this one three and a half stars. Worth the read, but you’ll end up Googling, hitting up Wikipedia, and browsing biographies for more.

A to Z Book Review: HUNTED by Meagan Spooner

I know I’m way behind on these – apologies, but I’ve been hammering my way through a draft, prepping for (and attending) a big book event, and just generally overloaded. I’ve read a bunch of books on my A to Z list, so you’ll see weekly reviews posted until I catch up.

HUNTED by Meagan Spooner has been on my TBR list for a while now, and it was well worth the wait. A darker-than-you’d-expect retelling of Beauty and the Beast, set in a lush country with richly painted Russian influences, it holds you from the beginning and keeps you enthralled to the end.

Yeava as a protagonist is strong, and her bond to her sisters (and devotion to her father) work well within the story to add tension and stakes, and the way we alternate between her point of view and that of the Beast’s is a great device that really helps show the disparity between who the Beast has become versus the man he once was.

I did like that the author didn’t immediately jump to insta-love between the two – not even at the end – but I did feel that a lot was missing in the build of their relationship. Instead of telling us in exposition that she told him stories and he liked them, and mentioning how he’d become her friend, I would have liked to see more scenes with actual dialogue where that played out. There were a few and they were wonderful. More would have been more wonderful.

The ending – and Yeava’s triumph – was unexpected and authentic to the story. Overall, this book was very well done and much more than I expected. Four Stars.

Meet Me At The ALA Conference!

I am very pleased to announce that I’ve been invited to join the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) Mid-Atlantic Division at their table during the upcoming American Library Association Annual Conference in Washington D.C.. I’ll be at the table (with copies of BLUE!) from 11am to 1pm on Saturday, June 25th, along with classroom discussion guides and other informational pieces.

If you’ll be attending the conference, please stop by and chat – I’d love to meet you!

A to Z Book Review: GALLANT

1/2

My letter “G” pick for the 2022 A to Z book read was GALLANT by V.E. Schwab, a stand-alone gothic-style YA horror story with masterful plot weaving and subtle layers of poignancy that leave you aching.

I have to tell you that this story had two elements that generally make it “not my favorite sort of read.” First, it’s a YA story without a hint of romance for the main character – a true rarity in the genre. Second, it features an omniscient narrator, who tells you the story, rather than having it play out in first person or third person. I sometimes find that off-putting when I read. Despite those two things, this story hooked me from the beginning and held me captive all the way to the shattering end.

Olivia Prior is the protagonist of the story, an orphan born with a clever mind and the magical gift of seeing the dead. She also happens to be mute, a fact that doesn’t stop her from standing up for herself and later doing what must be done. Olivia is mysteriously “found” by her mother’s extended family, taken away from the wretched Merilance School for Girls, and sent to live at Gallant, the family home that guards the entrance to a a dark and sinister mirror realm – one that is intent on encroaching into our world.

“There must always be a Prior at the gate,” she’s informed by her belligerent cousin, Matthew, who thought he was the last of his line until Olivia showed up. As she learns who truly sent for her, and discovers secrets about her true parentage, Olivia stands ready to face the circling force of evil and defend the home – and family – she has come to embrace.

This book has a wonderfully unfolding plot, gripping suspense, a strong protagonist, and though it doesn’t exactly end on happily-ever-after, the lingering and beautiful melancholy of it stayed with me. This was a very good read. Four and 1/2 stars.

A to Z Book Review: Fable

My letter F pick for my 2022 A to Z challenge was Fable by Adrienne Young, a book I’ve been meaning to read for a good, long while. If you love pirate-type adventurous YA with a mystical, magical feel (though there’s only the faintest touch of anything like magic), Fable, and it’s sequel, Namesake are the books for you.

This book has an outrageously stunning cover, rich and masterful world-building, and vibrant characters woven together so beautifully, I swear I could smell the salt in the air and hear sails rippling in the background. The plot in the first book was intricate and kept me guessing. The second book, not so much, but it was still entertaining nevertheless.

Fable, the main character is compelling and fierce and I loved her, but her relationship to her love interest sort of came out of nowhere, with no real background to show us how they developed their attachment. It just suddenly appeared and oh yeah, by the way, we’ve both loved each other all this time and here’s my grand declaration a handful of pages after our first kiss. It was honestly the only thing in this tale that didn’t quite work for me, but it didn’t ruin the books.

I started this on audiobook, but quickly switched to print because the narrator, while competent, was a totally wrong pick for this story. Her happy-perky voice style is better suited to children’s books and insurance commercials than this gritty tale of a girl struggling against a terrible past and an uncertain future. It was jarring enough that I had to bail on the audiobook.

I’m giving Fable (and its sequel, Namesake) a solid four stars.

A to Z Book Review: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

5 Glowing Stars

My letter “E” book for 2022 just blew my head off my shoulders.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine has been out for a few years and I heard good things about it so I added it to my list. Holy WOW! What a book!

I came into this expecting typical chick lit about a woman finding empowerment and maybe love. It was that, but it was SO not that. I can’t begin to get into the layers of complexity or the masterful way her backstory unraveled without writing a book of my own about it. Just – guys – you need to read this.

The supporting characters were rich, fully fleshed out in all their quirks and flaws, and utterly intriguing. Eleanor is a protagonist who will have you rolling your eyes at her lack of social skills (with very good reason), openly guffawing at her foibles and confusion over social norms, and wanting to pull her in close so you can hug her and cry. What a rollercoaster of a book.

On a side note, not enough is written about the profoundly lonely, and this book nails its every wretched nuance. Trigger warning: discussions of physical and verbal abuse and childhood trauma, but even with that, the book is often hilarious and ends on a solid, fist-pumping hopeful new trajectory for Eleanor.

This was such an amazing book. I can’t stop thinking about it. If you choose audiobook, the narrator, Cathleen McCarron, is hugely talented and does the work proud.

A to Z Book Review: The Dispatcher By John Scalzi

5 Stars

My letter “D” pick on my A to Z reading list for 2022 was The Dispatcher by John Scalzi. I caught this on Audible for free, but I’ve always liked Scalzi, so it was an easy pick. I was not disappointed.

Though a short read (or “listen” as it was on audio), it was no less compelling. The premise is this: somehow, for some unknown and never explained reason, murdered people now come back from the dead. They return to the place they considered home, naked and in the same physical state as they were several hours before their untimely end.

This creates all sorts of fallout. Murder victims can now identify their killers – and of course, don’t stay dead, so murder rates go down. This also creates a new profession with it’s own set of skills: Dispatchers.

Dispatchers are hired by hospitals to administer a supercharged pulse of nitrogen directly into a failing patient’s brain, killing them instantly. This heals the critically wounded and buys more time for very ill patients or after surgeries that take a sudden turn for the bad. The patient will return, and the doctors can attempt to treat them again after reviewing whatever previously went wrong. This is the scenario that opens the book, and we begin with a bang (literally) as we meet our protagonist, Mr. Tony Valdez, a dispatcher who undertakes his job in the operating room with compassion and efficiency.

While all of this is completely legal, some Dispatchers (including Tony in his younger days) take side jobs for rich clients, sometimes in morally gray areas. One such Dispatcher is an old friend of Tony’s, and he’s now gone missing after doing some shady business for a wealthy client. When a tenacious detective shows up and enlists Tony in the search, the story wanders into a clever (and sometimes uncomfortable) discussion of privilege and the real definition of what it means to be alive.

The ending wasn’t a surprise revelation, but I didn’t feel cheated by that in the least. This story was fascinating, and the voice of the piece intense. If you listen on audio, Zachary Quinto’s narration is utterly masterful.

Join Me For Children’s Book Day!

This Saturday I’ll be appearing (along with a load of other terrific children’s and YA authors) at the Manheim Community Library in Manheim, PA for Children’s Book Day.

Join us on April 2 as we celebrate National Children’s Picture Book Day and International Children’s Book Day with a FUN!draising event featuring local authors, cookies, activities, and lots of fun! Story Times at 10:30-11 am and 1-1:30 pm! Meet local authors of children’s and young adult books. Books will be available for purchase.

There will be cookies and raffle baskets!

Fun activities include:

A drawing lesson from a children’s book illustrator (virtual presentation in the community room)
Make a button
Color a bookmark
Plant a mini garden
and more!

No registration is necessary. Details Here!