Jinx
By Meg Cabot
As usual, I found this as I was perusing the library shelves in the teen section. I loved the cover, and I felt it was high time to delve into another Meg Cabot book!
Summary
Sixteen-year-old Jean “Jinx” Honeychurch earned her nickname at birth. Wherever she goes, bad luck or little accidents seem to occur. Jinx bumps into things, people forget important information when she’s supposed to meet them, etc. Nothing horrible, but a number of little misfortunes can add up to a great deal of annoyance for anyone. She’s also supposed to be the descendant of a witch, Branwen, and is one of two daughters born to the current generation of her family who is destined to have Branwen’s powers. The other daughter is her cousin, Tory, whose family Jinx just happens to be moving in with in New York. But where Jinx doesn’t want anything to do with magic or witchcraft, given a failed spell in the past, Tory is determined to prove her power as a witch, and will stop at nothing to do so, including using black magic to win the heart of the boy she and Jinx are both crushing on.
Worth staying up past bedtime?
Rating: Up ‘Til Dawn
If you could have seen me yesterday, you’d have noticed the bags under my eyes that I earned by reading this book waaaay beyond the time I intended to go to sleep. But it was worth it! This was my second non-Princess Diaries Meg Cabot book and I loved it! Jinx is such an endearing character and I fell in love with her right away. I loved her innocence and friendly nature, and I thought she was a great example of a teen that didn’t have to be wild, complicated, or extremely unusual. Okay, yes, she might have some witch powers, but she didn’t flaunt them, and was quite educated about the whole religion of witchcraft.
This story could easily have been hokey. Witchcraft, voodoo dolls, spells to make boys fall in love with you. But Cabot did an excellent job of making the story accessible, fun, and yes, informative. And as she did with her descriptions of Washington, D.C. in All American Girl, Cabot did a perfect job of evoking the feel of New York City in Jinx. I love it when an author really knows the characteristics of a setting and can make you feel like you’re right there with the characters.
Enthusiastically recommended for ages 14 and up!
The Tooth Fairy
By Peter Collington
A wordless picture book! I love these! I feel like my interest in and appreciation of these books has increased since I started exploring graphic novels. There are so many ways to tell a story, and words are not always necessary. A coworker who shares my love of Flotsam handed this book to me this morning and I couldn’t wait to share it with you.
Summary
As indicated by its title, The Tooth Fairy is about the little lady who collects our lost teeth when we sleep, leaving money in their place. However, the process is much more than just taking a tooth and leaving a coin. The young girl we meet on the first page loses her tooth as she gets into bed, and dutifully places it under her pillow before turning in. In the tree-filled landscape outside her house, a tiny fairy clad in white emerges from a doorway in a tree, and flies into the night. But rather than going straight to the tooth, she goes into a secret tree, where she mines for silver and smelts a coin by hand!
(Can we take a moment to celebrate the awesome Tooth Fairy girl power here? She mines silver and smelts it! Smelts! How cool is the Tooth Fairy?)
After smelting the coin, the Tooth Fairy goes and collects the tooth, leaving her handmade treasure behind. When she gets back to her cute little tree home, she sets up shop again, this time working with the tooth. She cuts strips from it and makes a key for a piano, and the view of her house shows that she has made countless objects from the teeth she has picked up.
As the sun rises, we see the girl find her coin, and the Tooth Fairy is contentedly playing her now complete piano.
Worth staying up past bedtime?
Rating: Up 'Till Dawn
This was an insanely imaginative book and I loved going through the images to discover all the tiny details hidden within. Collington did a great job taking a well-known legend and putting his own spin on it.
I do have to say, I was a little creeped out by all the things the Tooth Fairy made with the teeth. I saw a picture frame, drawer pulls, and an umbrella handle all made of teeth. As much as I support recycling and favor the use of non-ivory products, there was a little bit of a gross-out factor for me. But, to each her own!
Recommended for all ages, especially those with wiggly teeth.
Have you noticed them yet? The subtle (or sometimes not-so-subtle) changes that mean school will be starting soon? I sure have. Children who are bored with everything and increasingly prone to fits of whining and crying at the drop of a hat; elementary parents and high school students rushing to the library with required summer reading that was forgotten until the last minute; and my personal favorite, the back to school section at Target!
In honor of a new school year starting, I thought I’d recommend a few of the books I remember reading and loving when I was in elementary school. Fit these in when you need a break from shopping for new clothes, planning what lunches to pack, or just want to sit under the fan and cool off (anyone else still suffering 100+ temperatures?).
Happy reading and happy new school year!
Bunnicula, by James Howe
When I was in elementary school, I went through a phase where the start of a new school week made me slightly nervous. So Sunday afternoons were my time to relax and ease into the new week. For awhile, I remember always reaching for a book from the Bunnicula series. They always transported me to a fun and new place, and totally calmed my worries and put me in a good state of mind.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst
A classic that every kid should read! Whether you’re having a bad day or not, everyone can relate to Alexander at some point in his or her life!
Kristen Learns a Lesson: A School Story (American Girls series), by Janet Beeler Shaw
I read the American Girl books when there were only a handful of them. I had the whole set of books about Kristen, and I loved reading about her life on a country farm and the things she learned as an immigrant to America. In this book, she meets an Indian girl from a local tribe on her way to school, and learns a lot about a way of life different from her own.
The Magic Schoolbus Inside the Human Body, by Joanna Cole
For some reason, this particular Magic School Bus stands out in my mind above the others. I distinctly remember the picture of the bus among the blood cells, and there’s something with the stomach and digestion … possibly involving Cheetos, if memory serves me correctly. Such an imaginative and informative book!
I'm really tired right now. Yes, I was up late last night (not reading amazingly, but seeing the awesome Matisyahu in concert!), but I am also coming off a long week of activity that included a trip to the beach, the birth of a best friend's baby, and, oh yeah, MY GRADUATION!
That's right, I am now officially a master's degree holder. M.S. in Library and Information Sciences. What a great feeling. The last two years flew by and I still can't totally get my head around the fact that I don't have to study, read, research, and post discussion comments every day and night. However, as I was straightening up the shelves at the library this morning, I realized that I have time to read whatever I want! I immediately grabbed two books to take home, and acquired another shortly after. Reviews to come!
Oh yes, and the photo is me with my favorite reading buddy on graduation morning. I think the dress and mortorboard really rocked, though I broke down and wore the polyester robe for the ceremony.
Cancer Vixen
by Marisa Acocella Marchetto
All right ladies, listen up, because this one’s for you. Normally I try to reserve my personal opinions until after I summarize the book, but this is different. This book performs the magical task of making you laugh, cry, think, and wonder, all at once. Not just about your body and the “what ifs” of breast cancer, but about your strengths as a woman. So read on, because I think Cancer Vixen is a book that should cross the hands of every woman.
Summary
Marisa Acocella Marchetto has such a cool life. She’s a cartoonist who lives in Manhattan, she’s engaged to an Italian restaurateur who feeds her delicious food every day, and she gets to do awesome research for her cartoons that often leads to free haircuts, meals, products, etc. And then one day, she finds a lump in her breast. It turns out to be cancerous, and Marchetto must dive headfirst into surgery, chemo, and radiation therapy. Luckily for us, she chronicles her experience the best way she knows how – in cartoons – and Cancer Vixen is her story. Her writing and illustrations are honest and fun, and she holds nothing back, a quality that makes for some hilarious and insightful statements and images.
Marchetto’s story is not unusually heroic or noteworthy, but her willingness to share her experience in so much detail is unique, and the knowledge and insights she presents will open the eyes any reader, male or female.
Worth staying up past bedtime?
Rating: Up ‘Till Dawn
I absolutely loved this book! The title immediately caught my attention, and the cover holds the image of a strong, fun, independent woman who I immediately wanted to get to know. Marchetto is honest and funny, and isn’t embarrassed to share the nitty gritty details that come with cancer treatment.
Perhaps one of the things that stuck with me most after reading Cancer Vixen was how much I learned about the ins and outs of cancer treatment. While cancer is a widely-discussed topic in current health news, this was the first time I had read such a personal story in such an accessible format. When I finished the last page, I was left with a dozen things to think about, and every time I’ve had the chance to talk about the book with people, I can’t stop raving. So go out and read it!
Recommended for any and all women, ages 14 and up. And the men in our lives could do with reading this, too, as it might give them a little insight into a highly important and personal topic we all need to be aware of!
Jinx
