Word Savvy: Search results for the crossover

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Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Year-End Programming, Part 3

I covered audio books on Sunday and nonfiction on Monday. Now, I'm on to the best Children's and YA titles I read in 2015! I read 25 titles in this category, up from 16 last year.

So, here we go! They're in alphabetical order by author.

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. This is an electrifying, heart-wrenching novel in verse about twin basketball players and their dad, a former NBA pro. It screams to be read in one sitting, it's uber-accessible, and it compels the reader to evaluate the universal themes of family, consequences, identity, and forgiveness. Five stars, for sure - maybe my favorite read of the whole year, and it could probably be devoured by readers 4th grade and up. It is pretty sad in parts, though.

El Deafo by CeCe Bell. I blurbed this in the nonfiction post. I'll just add here that in addition to my endorsement, this memoir is a Newbery Honor Book for 2015. Last year's fave, Brown Girl Dreaming, was an Honor Book, as well. The Crossover (above) was, of course, the winner. These three books are all brilliant. El Deafo could be enjoyed by kids in 3rd grade and up, I think.

Son by Lois Lowry. This is the final book in the Giver quartet, which I greatly admire. The main story is of Gabriel's birth mother, Claire. We find out early on that Claire failed in her role of Birth Mother (Gabriel was delivered via caesarean section) and was reassigned to Fish Hatchery Attendant. She's fascinated with Gabriel and takes risks to see him, even though it's strictly prohibited. "She adored you," a character explains to Gabriel, "but love wasn't permitted." So worth the read and good for kids who've already read The Giver. Maybe ages 10 and up.

Smile by Raina Telgemeier has a lot in common with El Deafo, in that each are graphic memoirs that document the authors' struggles with looking and feeling different in middle school. In Telgemeier's case, a fall causes a traumatic mouth injury and years of pain, dental surgery, and embarrassing orthodontia. Funny, relatable, and hugely popular with students in grades 2-8 - such wide appeal!

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon. Okay, I'm crazy about this one. Madeline is an eighteen year-old kid with Severe Combined Immunodeficiency, a rare disease that renders its sufferers allergic to the world. Her mom, a physician, keeps her enclosed and safe. Things are going reasonably well for Madeline until she watches Olly, a handsome guy with his own problems, move in next door. Suddenly the world that was more or less enough, falls vastly short. Love it! It's probably for 7th grade and up.

Yay! This set of books is probably the best of all four lists I'm compiling this December. Here are my next favorites:

Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty by Christine Heppermann

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz

March: Book 2 by John Robert Lewis and Andrew Aydin

The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin

Sisters by Raina Telgemeier

Here are the others, all of which I liked. There was one I didn't like that I'm not listing:

The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry

The Field Guide (Spiderwick Chronicles #1) by Holly Black

Vivian Apple at the End of the World by Katie Coyle

Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

Zebra Forest by Adina Rishe Gerwitz

Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein

Alex Rider: Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz

The Sixth Grade Nickname Game by Gordon Korman

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry

Ms. Rapscott's Girls by Elise Primavera

Why Do We Fight? by Niki Walker

And that's it! Yay! Tomorrow, I'll do the last list of 2015, which will be my favorite adult fiction.

Thursday, December 31, 2015

Year-End Programming, Part 4

This is it! I've covered audio, nonfiction, and children's and YA. Now, I'm listing my favorite adult fiction of 2015. I read 20 titles in this category this year, down from 28 last year. I got pretty into nonfiction this year, it turns out, which is a surprising development in my reading life. Never a dull moment!

In any case, here's are the best five works of adult fiction that I read in 2015!

The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez. This novel about Maribel and Mayor, two first-generation immigrant kids who live in the same apartment complex in Delaware, is a slow build. I began it as a summer reading assignment, and it wasn't until the last chapter that I realized the deliberate, compelling structure and beautiful prose. It sticks. It's worthwhile. It's highly accomplished.

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini. Ambitious and entrancing, this is a collection of interlacing stories about the inhabitants and relations of a particular house in Kabul. The novel spans generations and continents, and it's peppered with surprising and gorgeous sentences. It's heartbreaking and hopeful, with a moving sibling reunion that resonated.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. This is a spellbinding novel about a flu epidemic that wipes out 99% of world's population. I'm usually not one for disaster scenarios, but I couldn't stop reading this. Mandel weaves the stories several survivors with flashbacks to the world as we know it. Gorgeous, sad, and ultimately hopeful, this novel made me care intensely about each lead character.

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty. I covered this book in the audio books post. I'll just add here that pretty much everyone I know who's read this book also loves it. It's got wide appeal. When my friend Jordan recommended it to me, she said, "Don't be deterred by the dumb title." That was excellent advice.

Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill. Last year's "unlike anything I've ever read" was A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. This year's is Offill's slim and genre-bending novel about a marriage. The wife (she's nameless) narrates the story of her partnership - the early flutterings, the endless days of parenting a baby and then a toddler, the fraught landscape of betrayal, and the spiraling nature of the ordinary. I read it in a couple of hours, and then I started over. This is the other contender, alongside The Crossover, for my favorite read of the year.

And that's it! So many fabulous finds. Here are my next favorites:

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi

And here are the others I liked a lot:

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines

Euphoria by Lily King

The Hand That Feeds You by A.J. Rich

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion

The Knockoff by Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

I'm reviewing as I go in 2016 on Twitter: @52BooksPlus Yay! Reading for Life!

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

American Ninja Warrior

Today marks the first day of a full month of blogging. Buckle up!

We're starting with a STATUS REPORT:

Dog Training: I learned a maneuver called "Quiet Hold." Also, I learned a maneuver called the "Puppy Hold." These very similar moves have been highly useful in curbing undesirable behaviors. Just one more step on the way to the world's most perfect dog.

Summer Reading: I'm reading The Crossover, the Newbery Medal Winner for 2015. It's absolutely fantastic. Shef is reading Spy School, which he really likes. He's trying to convince Mac and me that he's actually a CIA operative who completes training missions right underneath our noses. "What do you think I'm really doing out there on the golf course?" he asked. Mac is reading Marvin Redpost. Let's all hold our breath until he finishes it.

Television: I've finally hit the tv groove this summer. Two shows not to miss: Bloodline on Netflix, which unfolds like a novel, and UnReal on Lifetime which will forever change the way you love the Bachelorette. 5 stars to each.