February 27, 2018

Turning Pages Reads: THE RADICAL ELEMENT, edited by JESSICA SPOTSWOOD

Welcome to another session of Turning Pages!

Synopsis: Women who persist aren't a recent innovation. A history of intolerance, which led to insistent female resistance is not an uniquely American story, but one which nonetheless has heralded seismic shifts within our national history. After the success of A TYRANNY OF PETTICOATS, editor Jessica Spotswood brings together twelve new tales of women who were upstarts and outsiders. From the 1830's through the 1980's, these stories, some based on actual events, others fictionalized accounts of historical periods, regale readers with young women who stood up and out as radically different, and in doing so, changed the way the world related to them. Contributors to this collection include young adult authors Jessica Spotswood, who also edited; Dahlia Adler, Mackenzi Lee, Erin Bowman, Megan Shepherd, Anne-Marie McLemore, Marieke Nijkamp, Dhonielle Clayton, Sarvenaz Tash, Stacey Lee, Meg Medina, and Sara Farizan.

Observations: Claiming an identity -- stepping outside of the role and voice assigned -- can be uncomfortable and awkward, intimidating, to downright dangerous and life-threatening. Without a clear idea of how things will end, each of the young women depicted in these stories sets out on a personal journey -- whether its to use her brown hands in the service of her country, when only paler hands are sought, or to make her escape from abuse, or to take her chances in a traditionally masculine world, playing a man's role. Readers will pause thoughtfully to discover these nuanced angles of history -- taking readers out of the realm of mere nostalgia into the realities of the difficulties and challenges of history through the voices of the traditionally excluded and silenced.

The women's outsider status is significant, as most of these voices are from women in the margins, due to issues of race, religion, sexuality, disability, gender, or professional desire. I appreciated the voices from early in our national history into more recent times. Some of my favorites were the story of the young Jewess, longs to study the Torah, and the Mormon girl who tries to find ties between her new country, and her faith. A Latina drains herself of pigment with the family's magic to bleach herself into the faded shades acceptable for silent films, while brilliant and neurodivergent young woman keenly watches court proceedings to determine the reproductive rights of the mentally unfit. Elsewhere, a half-Japanese girl braves 1950's xenophobia to compete to be the next Miss Sugar, while a young Cuban dons her first pair of go-go boots. The perspectives are fresh, the stories are original, and the anthology is a joy to read.

Conclusion: If you're not a short story aficionado, I think there's still plenty in this novel which will appeal. There's room to read and hop around, and then return to longer stories from time periods which you may not believe will hold your interest. You will be surprised!

In the editor's note, Spotswood outlines the purpose of this collection, and her wish that readers will be able to find themselves within these pages. Even as not a particularly radical individual, I found myself in the bravery and dauntlessness of these heroines, and I believe this book will work well for older middle graders, young adults, and adult readers.



I received my copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley. After March 13, 2018, you'll find THE RADICAL ELEMENT edited by Jessica Spotswood at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

February 23, 2018

Turning Pages Reads: THE RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR MEDIATING MYTHS AND MAGIC by F.T. LUKENS

Welcome to another session of Turning Pages!

Synopsis: Hungry to inhabit his true self, Bridger Whitt will do anything to find a job to help him finance attending college out of state. He’s desperate enough to take a Craigslist interview with a weird entrance exam... no, a seriously weird entrance exam, as in, "Will you enter the office via the window?" He's determined enough to ignore any… little oddities about his magically-everywhere boss (exactly what was Pavel doing out at Lake Michigan when Bridger was there and just happened to be being drowned... by... Things with sharp teeth and cheerfully malicious expressions?!), and has almost entirely tuned out the disembodied voices he sometimes hears around the office. Despite discovering his boss’s true identity, regardless of learning that his crush, Leo, may actually crush on him right back, despite all signs lining up for a HEA, Bridger still can’t find a reason to stay home. After all, there’s nothing to do, and nowhere to grow in the provincial, conservative small town of Midden, Michigan. You can only discover what's real, if you go away and pursue it. Real life can only be magical elsewhere… right?

Observations: Truly, there's no place like home - and this novel brings that theme fresh life, by examining the presupposition that a.) our high school and college years are The Best Years of Our Lives (TM), and b.) that those Best Years can only happen well away from the familiar, known, and loved. This book talks about coming out and Becoming in a way which allows it to be a process that happens internally, and externally, with constant course corrections and revelations along the way. The romance, while not central to the plot, is just squeezable.

However swoon-worthy the romance is, however, what I most appreciate is how much this is a family story. In the best and most inclusive, expansive of ways, F.T. Lukens reminds us that family CAN mean a long-suffering mother who works her butt off for you, and is hopeful she's making up for you not having a Dad, but also it can additionally mean a tough-as-nails Harriet-the-Spy type who loves you, spies on you, then kicks your butt for keeping secrets - like the sister you never knew you needed, a boss and a mentor who both challenges you to rise up, but holds you as you fall apart, and pixies who cheer for you in tiny, tinny, high-pitched, annoying voices, but come on, at least they're not laughing while unicorns try to kill you this week. Or, whatever.

With endless dry humor and plenty of quirky charm, this book never tries too hard, or goes for the easy laugh. It removes itself from some of the stereotype of YA lit with a tight, loving relationship between teen and parent, and allows older people and younger people the respectful, reliant relationships they sometimes have in real life. And the humor just gives the difficulties and subtleties Bridger has while navigating the real world even more life. There's magic. There's mythos. There's a really cranky Sasquatch. While the novel is YA in spirit, it also crosses over for to be enjoyable for other ages, and could be appropriate for adults through older middle grade. While Bridger is definitely moving along toward adulthood - but this doesn't mean he's making all adult decisions - definitely not in the thriving metropolis that is... Midden(and I can't even tell you how much I love that name).

Conclusion:F.T. Lukens brings a joyfully charming innocence into this endearing adventure of a snarky, fearful boy who thinks he is fleeing toward the big, real world — when THE RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR MEDIATING MYTHS & MAGIC reveal that there is more wonder, magic, love, — and terrifying unicorns — in the known world he knows than he could have ever imagined. While I try to review without bias, this was one of my all-time FAVORITE Cybils books of 2018, I have zero chill discussing it, and I want you to read it, too.



I received my copy of this book courtesy of Duet Books, for the Cybils Awards, for which this book was a finalist. You can find THE RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR MEDIATING MYTHS AND MAGIC by F.T. Lukens at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

February 22, 2018

Cybils Review: NEW SUPER-MAN VOL. 1: MADE IN CHINA

Synopsis: Reboots seem to be the story fad du jour when it comes to comic franchises, and while there have been some reboots of Superman, I doubt you've seen one like this before. Brought to you by the writing talents of our own local NorCal comics genius Gene Luen Yang, along with illustrator Viktor Bogdanovic, one of this year's Cybils finalists for Young Adult Graphic Novels was New Super-Man Vol. 1: Made in China.

This "DC Universe Rebirth," as DC is calling it, posits a brand-new origin story for your rebooted Superman, one steeped in DC universe lore as well as more recent traditions in Chinese comics. This time, the would-be Superman starts off as a blustering teenage bully from Shanghai named Kong Kenan. After accidentally saving his own bullying victim from a marauding supervillain, Kenan attracts the eye of a super-secret group trying to build a homegrown Chinese Justice League—they need a Superman, and they think Kenan's perfect for the part. Kenan is stoked: he has fancy powers and his new friends include Chinese Wonder Woman. What could possibly go wrong?

Observations: This is a really fun, international/multicultural take on the Superman comic adventures—kudos for diversity and for introducing new characters and storylines to a classic (some might even say old-fashioned) franchise. And, of course, Gene Yang's writing is always stellar, so this one has a good balance of entertainment and deeper themes, such as politics, family, and, naturally, good vs. evil. Readers will catch a glimpse of some ongoing sociopolitical issues in China through the lens of popular culture—both shared pop culture AND some stuff that will be new to readers, such as some homegrown Chinese superheroes that are not too thrilled with this new Justice League homing in on their crime-fighting turf.

click to embiggen



Not every reader is into superheroes, but those who are will surely enjoy this one. Effort has been put into making Kenan a relatable teen character with regular human storylines, while still packing the story with superhero adventure and humor. That extends to the artwork, too, which was well done: solid and not overly exaggerated superhero-style character design, good flow to the layout, and fast, exciting storytelling.

Conclusion: Pushing diversity to the forefront of comics makes some stodgy grouches go a little nuts, but personally, I'd rather read this new take over the old chestnut. Sorry, dudes. More variety in stories is always good. And I think this one is also being marketed in China, which is, I hope, a success.


I received my copy of this book specifically for the Cybils, courtesy of the publisher. You can find NEW SUPER-MAN VOL. 1: MADE IN CHINA by Gene Yang and Viktor Bogdanovic at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

February 19, 2018

Cybils Review: WHERE'S HALMONI? by Julie Kim

Synopsis: Uh-oh, Grandma's gone missing…. In this year's Cybils winner for Elementary/Middle Grade Graphic Novels, Where's Halmoni? by Julie Kim, Noona and her little brother Joon decide to visit their Halmoni (Grandma in Korean) only to find that she's mysteriously disappeared. Following a set of animal tracks on the floor, they climb through an odd new window and discover a magical forest world peopled with characters from Korean folklore, such as dokkebi (not-so-scary goblins) and various clever and/or greedy animals that help and/or hinder their quest to find Halmoni.

In the process, the kids themselves learn more about Korean culture and language; in fact, some of the creatures they meet speak Korean, and we, like the kid protagonists, have enough context to figure out SOME of it—but never fear; you'll find a really cool visual glossary in the back of the book. It was like a fun little quest of its own to find the corresponding image and Hangul text in the glossary.

Observations: This was an intriguing adventure with lots of action, relatable kid protagonists, and plenty of humor. The characters from Korean folktales, which are explained in the back of the book, make this one feel both traditional and new. For readers unfamiliar with Korean culture, it's a friendly, welcoming opportunity to learn a few new tidbits and also see the similarities between kids across the world. (The little boy's candy stash in his backpack and the epic Rock-Paper-Scissors battle in particular made me smile.)



The images are beautiful, tactile, and present a sort of cross between traditional picture books and graphic novels. Korea, of course, has a strong comics tradition of its own, and this is also a clear influence on the art. The story is simple and in many ways universal, with a folk tale structure, and the author does well in conveying meaning whether in English, Korean, or purely visual form.

Conclusion: Very charming and with many re-read possibilities. It kind of felt like a Korean interpretation of Where the Wild Things Are.


I received my copy of this book courtesy of my library. You can find WHERE'S HALMONI? by Julie Kim at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

February 15, 2018

Thursday Bits and Bobs and Whatnot

...I'll leave you to decide which are the bits, which are the bobs, and which are the whatnot.

Firstly, I don't want anyone to miss the great Kickstarter project that has been launched by our good blogging friend Lee Wind of “I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell Do I Read?” Lee says:
With your help, and the help of our community, the professionally designed, copy-edited, and published book of my young adult novel, “Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill,” will become a reality. 
Together, we’ll donate at least 400 copies to LGBTQ and Allied Teens.

Together, we can change lives, shift the cultural conversation, and empower every teen who reads it to dig deeper, be inspired, and create their own future.
Donate to the Kickstarter and watch the video right here. You can also check out Lee's Facebook Live event coming up: "I’ll be doing a Facebook Live event on Feb 19 at Noon Pacific to demo 'instant antiquing' (what Wyatt is doing in the first chapter of the book) and celebrate the project President’s Day-style."



In case you missed it, don't forget the Cybils Awards have been announced! Check out the winning titles for 2017 over on the Cybils blog, and stay tuned right here on Finding Wonderland for upcoming reviews of nominees and finalists from the Spec Fic and Graphic Novels categories.

Cybils SpecFic Bookmark: THE HEARTS WE SOLD by Emily Lloyd-Jones

The Cybils Speculative Fiction Bookmark:

As a panelist for Cybils YA Speculative Fiction, Round 1, I'm going to be briefly writing up some of the hundreds of book I read as part of the award. As panelist conclusions are not for public consumption, the purpose of these write-ups is to keep track of what I'm reading, and will mostly touch on plot synopsis, with minimal comments on thematic tropes.


Synopsis:Deirdre Moreno would like to just be the kind of girl who does well in school, makes her way in the world, and never looks back, but she can't be. For one thing, anxiety stalks her like a rabid beast. For another thing, she's got reasons for that anxiety; it's been carefully cultivated by her father for years. She's been "damned if you do, damned if you don't" for so long that when her merit scholarship to her boarding school is revoked, it's enough to send her seeking what she never, ever, ever thought she'd be looking to find: a demon, to make a trade. They'll take body parts. You see people with prosthetics all the time, and you wonder if they're happy, if they got what they paid for...

Dee finds the answers to many of her questions, when she meets a bunch of weird kids who call themselves "the heartless," and the daemon who traded for their...hearts. She gets what she needs, to stay in school, but the possibilities for fortune and loss suddenly are much, much bigger than she'd ever imagined. There's another world, just beyond a thin curtain of reality... and it's incursions into this world are a terror Dee's not ready to face. All she can do is hunker down and remember that the choices she made are what have gotten her this far -- and all she has to do is choose to keep going. As things get more and more surreal, it's one of the hardest choices she's ever had to make.

Observations: This is a tricky novel to discuss without presenting spoilers, however, much of the narrative arc is obvious: girl meets demon, girl makes deal with demon, girl realizes she's been a.) duped, b.) got what she didn't think she wanted, c.) fades off into the unfinished lore of folktale history. Most readers have heard the phrase "selling one's soul to the devil," and read for English Lit the requisite cautionary lore from Faust, but this is an unique reimagining of devils, and those deals and exchanges. While most of the story is spent with Dee doing what she's told, fulfilling expectations, the real story begins when she discovers how much one doesn't have to lose, without a heart. How buoyed and lightened one's decisions can be. Once she and her troop of "the heartless" are freed from the normal constraints of humanity, no one - including the daemon - can predict who they'll become... or what they'll do.

Conclusion: Collecting souls, to a demon, one would imagine has some point, but why would anyone want a heart? The answer of what one can do with a heart, that hopeful, deceitful, unpredictable, emotion-centric thing - and what or who we are as humans when we give ours away make for an absorbing narrative that will leave readers thoughtfully considering the state of their own vibrant, living, beating centers - and possibly leave them with an excuse to take up knitting again.



I received my copy of this book courtesy of the public library. You can find THE HEARTS WE SOLD by Emily Lloyd-Jones at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

February 14, 2018

CYBILS AWARD ANNOUNCEMENT

Congratulations to all of the winners! We're especially thrilled about...

Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction: THE DRAGON WITH THE CHOCOLATE HEART, by Stephanie Burgis

MG Fiction: REFUGEE, by Alan Gratz

YA Graphic Novels: SPILL ZONE, by Scott Westerfeld

YA Fiction: PIECING ME TOGETHER by Reneé Watson

See the entire list of excellent books with a little plot write-up on the Cybils Award website. And cheers to all those who nominated and participated!

February 13, 2018

2♦days@the treehouse: Challenge February

Welcome back to our monthly Second Tuesday writing challenge!

From January - June, every second Tuesday of the month, we're going to post an image here on Wonderland of a Creative Commons licensed Flickr picture to which you can respond - with poetic, prose, or whatever kind of writing - and hopefully, you'll share a link in the comments below, so that we can visit your site, read your work and respond. No genre or style limit - just come and join the fun!


Welcome back, it's February, which brings with it, famously, Black History Month, Groundhog Day, that Presidential birthday weekend which translates to "Monday off," and, of course, who can forget Valentine's Day... or, less memorably, National Grapefruit Month, and I am here for THAT, despite myself. This month's image comes from Flickr user Left Hand Rotation of Madrid, Spain, presenting us with Los hombres de Musgo de Béjar. I'm intrigued by the stories which will come from this image, so without further ado:

MOSS MEDIA (Acción Urbana)

I'm not going to bother with Inlinkz this month; just leave your link in the comments below, and we look forward to reveling in your inspiration! Happy writing!

February 09, 2018

Cybils Countdown

Pssst! There's just five more days....

Every single year, the Caldecott, Printz, Newberry, and other awards come up with tons of wonderful titles that... most people have already heard of. And, that's not awful. These books are well-read, widely reviewed, and often touted by major reviewing bodies for their literary impact. But, sometimes "literary" doesn't take into account "beloved."

In 2006, the Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards were founded to address that particular issue. The Cybils Awards accepts nominations from hundreds of ordinary people - young adults and kids, librarians, teachers, and parents - so that the year's panel of judges can read and discover books that might not be famous or popular, but which have both literary merit and kid appeal. Over the years, the nominations have expanded to include self-published books, audio books, and book apps, as well as the usual general categories of for younger and older readers.

Though there are still hundreds of books released each year which get lost in the shuffle, there's been a slight decline in the last year in nominations. Is the gap between books awarded and books beloved finally closing? Or, were we all so distracted with politics in the last year that we forgot to read? We at Finding Wonderland are going to do our best to be more vocal about our support for the Cybils Awards, and remind each other to read widely - and wildly - and to recommend books as hard as we can. We want to see new book vloggers and avid book bloggers, readers, audio-book junkies, reader's advisory librarians, and everyone, really come together to keep young adults and children - and the adults who can't get enough of their wondrously literary books - talking books, swapping books, and best of all, reading.

To that end: in just five days, the 2017 Cybils Awards will be revealed. Watch. This. Space!

February 06, 2018

When That Book Won't Do

Yes, hello. We read & talk books here. No, really.

Maybe you've experienced this, too. You pick up a book, read a chapter, put it down. Meh. You pick up another book - that one everyone's been talking about - and after three chapters, you're bored. You pick up the current #1 on the NYT list, the one your very best friend just loves, and it... underwhelms. You're confused - and a little worried. Is it me, or them? How can it be that everybody loves this book... except me?

It happens to me, sometimes, after the Cybils. When I've had someone else (all of you!) choosing my reading influences for three months, I can be a little... slow at picking up books on my own. It happens. You get over it. It's winter, and that's usually prime reading time... but sometimes, a case of the winter blahs means that nothing tastes right, nothing looks right, and nothing IS right - not clothes, not foods, and not stories. For me, it's an outgrowth of my seasonal affective disorder, and I hate, hate, HATE IT when I get like this. I wear out even myself with this attitude of "Everything is just crap, and I'm over it."

The thing is, IRL it often happen that you're "Meh" about books other people are fired up about. Normally our diversity of tastes and interest isn't scary but revealing, providing us with an opportunity to find new things to appreciate that might be out of our usual wheelhouse. However, when we're struggling to appreciate the intensely intellectual book that everyone is talking about, or failing to feel the love for the scorching hot romance of the year, and feeling like we'll never enjoy a book again, it gets really worrying... Still, we promise, swear, and pinky-swear, that this is perfectly normal (& we're talking to ourselves as well as you). Especially referring to that book everyone else loves, don't worry - you'll love it later. Lend it out now. Read it next month. You'll pull out of this book-block thing in time, but until you do, here are a few tips to see you through:

  • Acknowledge that THIS IS TEMPORARY. This, too, shall pass. Really. It's mood-based, and moods change.
  • Try not reading. You're not enjoying it, and isn't it time to catch up on that new Star Trek series? The Ocean's 11 movies? How about that Super Mario?
  • Rekindle your other creative senses. Sew. Paint. Sculpt. Play with squishy sand. Practice the piano that's under four feet of dust. Sing.
  • Try changing the way you read. A comic book, graphic novel, or audio book might find its golden age just now.
  • Try reading only books on paper. Between the laptop, the tablet, the phone, and everything else... you may just need an old-school breather.
  • Try narrative games. Video games which tell a story - Kingdom Hearts, Portal, The Legend of Zelda - might get you back in the game, literally.
  • Reread an old favorite. For many people, reading a book that they have almost memorized helps rekindle their love of the art.
  • Keep lists of books which don't work - and make note of their genre or style. Now, choose something outside of that genre/style.
  • Visit your local library and check out back copies of The Year's Best Fiction. Short stories or magazine articles may be about your speed.
  • Pick up a book you would NEVER read. Horror? High fantasy? Hard science? Non-fiction? Romance? Give it a whirl.
  • Visit your local library, and check out... coffee table books. Non-verbal picture books. Give the word part of your brain a rest.
  • Acknowledge that there is more to life than reading. Granted, we have no idea what that "more" might be, but we've been told this is true...

It's kicked off to be a tough winter, what with yucky politics, yucky weather, and being sick, re-sick, and sick again, all the while trying to hold onto your regular routines and responsibilities. We know! But like Spring follows winter, a reading hunger will follow a reading fast. In the meantime, we hope we've given you some hope. Hang on, friends. Book Blahs don't last forever.