Review: The Nest

By Kenneth Oppel
Illustrated by Jon Klassen
Available now from Simon & Schuster BFYR
Review copy

Kenneth Oppel and Jon Klassen are both titans of children's literature.  Their first collaboration is a creepy confection sure to delight fans of CORALINE.  I hate to make the same comparison as the marketing, but this is one of those cases where it is true.

Steve's baby brother is sick.  It is a congenital problem, and he needs surgery, and he might not ever be completely normal.  That's when Steve first dreams about the angels, the wasps, who offer to help.  At first it seems like his dreams might just be a sensitive boy dealing with a tough time, experiencing his family's stress the only way he can.  But the dreams are getting more sinister, and Steve is starting to suspect that he shouldn't have agreed to let the wasp queen help.  Of course, no adults will believe him that they need to protect the baby from the wasps.

Klassen's art is a terrific accompaniment to the story.  In black and white his distinctive style looks quite sinister.  It's startling white shapes on black backgrounds and shadows on shadows.  Although the illustrations look quite simple, each enhances the mood of the text.

Oppel's writing is in fine form.  The text is rather large on the page, so THE NEST is even shorter than it seems.  The words are as deceptively simple as the illustrations.  Even a slower reader probably won't take to long to get through THE NEST, excepting for breaks to slow the creepy-crawlies.  As short as the story is, it's the kind that burrows into you and makes you look at the world around you in a different way, as everyday things become sinister.  It's also a well done portrait of childhood anxieties, both normal kid fears and trying to understand the fears of your parents which you can sense even when they try to hide them.

I expect this scary story will become a new children's classic.  If it doesn't, that's a true shame.

Review: Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer

By Kelly Jones
Illustrated by Katie Kath
Available now from Knopf BFYR (Penguin Random House)
Review copy

The back of UNUSUAL CHICKENS FOR THE EXCEPTIONAL POULTRY FARMER recommends the book to fans of Roald Dahl, which is a good call.  It doesn't have his particularly wicked humor or sense of real menace, but it does have his matter-of-fact magic and a young protagonist who succeeds through a mixture of cleverness and goodness.  It also has ink illustrations by Katie Kath that will remind readers of Quentin Blake.

Sophie Brown and her parents move to a farm in a small town that they inherited from Sophie's great-uncle Jim.  They're new to farm life, but her dad is still searching for a new job and her mom is making do selling articles and they needed somewhere to live.  Things start to change for Sophie once she finds a catalog for unusual chickens - and then starts finding unusual chickens.  The story is pretty predictable, but it is told with a light hand and strong characterization.

Sophie tells her story through letters to her deceased abuelita, her uncle Jim, and Agnes (who owns the chicken farm).  There are also newspaper clippings, lists, and lessons on poultry farming interspersed throughout.  The drawings by Kath help tell other parts in the story in addition to illustrating some of the memorable parts of the letters.  There are even a few letters from Agnes, poorly typed and brief.  I like how actual facts about the work that goes into raising chickens are woven into this tale of unique chickens and the girl who is determined to protect them from a pernicious chicken thief (and anyone else who might use their strange qualities for unsavory means).

Also wonderful is how smoothly Sophie's heritage is woven into UNUSUAL CHICKENS FOR THE EXCEPTIONAL POULTRY FARMER.  Sophie, her mother, and her abuelita are all Latina.  There's Spanish phrases in her letters to her grandma, the inclusion of a migas recipe, references to the family dancing to Celia Cruz.  It's a small but pertinent detail of her life.  (Especially in her new town, where pretty much everyone but the mailman is white.)

UNUSUAL CHICKENS FOR THE EXCEPTIONAL POULTRY FARMER is an excellent choice for the younger reader who likes their books flavored with a hint of the exotic.  It mostly reads like a contemporary tale of a girl going to a new place, making friends, and finding a hobby.  But the subtle strangeness around the edges is ever present and pervades the entire story.  It's definitely a fantastical book.  A debut worth clucking about.

Review: A New Beginning: My Journey with Addy

Click here to read some of my thoughts on this series as a whole.

By Denise Lewis Patrick
Available now from American Girl
Review copy

Of all the Beforever books I read, A NEW BEGINNING was by far the best.  It takes you back to 1864, where Addy is a former slave living in the North.  Your character is also a little black girl.  So unlike most of the books, some of the stories in A NEW BEGINNING have actual stakes.

To wit, I really enjoyed the story where the girls are chased by slave catchers.  It demonstrates the danger of the time while still being appropriate for a younger reader.  Most of the other storylines are less harrowing, although they do contain interesting historical information.  There are less storylines than most of the other books, but the focus is on quality over quantity.

If you're looking to pick up one of the American Girl CYOA books, this is the one I recommend.

Review: The Wavering Werewolf

By David Lubar
Illustrated by Marcos Calo
Available now from Starscape (Macmillan)
Review copy
Read my review of Extremities

THE WAVERING WEREWOLF is the latest book in David Lubar's Monsterrific Tales series.  I haven't read the previous books, but the premise is simple.  In each book a kid is accidentally turned into a monster and must choose whether to remain a monster or turn back into a human.  The star of THE WAVERING WEREWOLF is Norman, a geeky kid who gets bitten while wandering in the woods.

Those who are familiar with Lubar's books know to expect humor.  My biggest laughs came from Norman's strategy to get people to ignore him: start going into detail about random facts.  Don't expect too much complexity, however.  This series is aimed at the Bailey School Kids crowd.  It kind of reminded me of some of the old Goosebumps books, although the writing was better.  I can see this series and the Lovecraft Middle School books appealing to the same kids.

If you've got a young reader in your life who likes monsters, THE WAVERING WEREWOLF is a good choice.  It plays with some classic tropes in a way that's kid friendly but not patronizing.  I'm definitely going to pass this one on to my niece.  (She's reading!  On her own!  It is so cool.)