The One and Only Ivan

The One and Only Ivan
by Katherine Applegate
5/5 stars
Reviewer: Dawn

Summary: Ivan is a silverback gorilla who has lived in a cage at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade for the past 27 years. He has not had any contact with other gorillas during this time. He is lonely. He spends his days watching TV (when someone turns it on), eating, and sometimes drawing. He has a few friends- a dog named Bob and an elephant named Stella who lives in the domain next to his. But then one day, a baby elephant named Ruth comes to the mall and everything changes.

Review:

This is an amazing, eye-opening book. It’s heartbreaking and hopeful all in the same story. The text is sparse, almost verse-like, but it’s the perfect way to tell this story- from the eyes and mind of Ivan the gorilla. The themes that this book deals with, like mortality and captivity, would make me hesitate to give it to young, sensitive readers, but it is a wonderful book for animal lovers and middle grade children. This book is not just a great story; it’s inspired by a TRUE story, which readers will find out about at the end of the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed The Underneath by Kathi Appelt. 

The Marriage Plot

The Marriage Plot

Author: Jeffrey Eugenides
Rating: 4/5 stars
Reviewer: Lydia

Jeffrey Eugenides, author of critically acclaimed books such as The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex, has done it again by creating another novel that has been on nearly every Top Ten reading list. Set in the early 1980s, the novel follows three students as they graduate from college and their specialized majors and attempt to journey out into the “real” world.

At the heart of the story is Madeleine Hanna, a lovelorn English major who wrote her senior thesis on the notion of marriage plots in literature. At the same time she is (ironically) dealing with a nasty breakup and the rekindling of an old friendship with another man. In the end, this novel is a love story at heart, asking whether this idea can truly exist anymore. As the book jacket summary says, “Are the great love stories of the nineteenth century dead? Or can there be a new story, written for today?” The book is a charming read, and I although I haven’t read anything else by this author, I enjoyed the humor and wit of the characters. Being an English major myself, I appreciated most of the obscure references to authors, literary theorists, and stylistic movements, since I don’t encounter many of them outside the classroom. This also shows how this literary novel pokes fun at itself and its own literary-ness. However, this might be off-putting to some, as there are a lot of these name-dropping moments. Furthermore, the shift between character’s points of view grew confusing at times, but this did not detract majorly from the book. The Marriage Plot is a good introduction to an author that has been, and will continue to be, pivotal in the American literary scene.

Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging

Angus, Thongs, And Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson

By: Louise Rennison

4/5 stars

Reviewer: Marina

Georgia Nicolson is a 14 year old British girl going through the same trials and tribulations of her American counterparts just using some funny words to describe it. Her cat, Angus, is prone to Scottish wildcat outbursts of stalking his poodle prey and her 3 year old sister is full of surprises. Her parents are, of course, incredibly embarrassing and always causing trouble for her. Georgia’s diary (which is the book we find ourselves reading) is filled with honesty and humor about anything and everything- from kissing lessons to breast growth to the size of her nose. If you’re looking for a laugh out loud relatable story about being a teen girl on the cusp of adulthood this is definitely the book (and the series) for you!

Balloons Over Broadway

Balloons Over Broadway
by Melissa Sweet
Rating: 5/5 stars (Caldecott Honor Winner)
Reviewer: Helen

Summary:
Tony Sarg was a puppeteer who spent his life dreaming of toys that were bigger, brighter, and more animated than anyone had imagined they could be. He started as a marionette maker, and made his way to New York City, where he took his marionettes to Broadway. Eventually, he was commissioned to design animated window displays for Macy’s Department Store; these were very popular and when Macy’s decided to create a Thanksgiving Day Parade they knew Tony was the man for the job. Macy’s challenged Tony to make the parade a spectacular event and Tony did. He combined ideas of using a blimp, rod puppets and his own marionettes. Tony created a new kind of giant floating puppet. Each year the puppets grew more ambitious until Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade became the extravaganza we see on television today.

Review:
This is a book that kids can read over and over and keep making new discoveries. The biography is straightforward but the illustrations are complicated and full of references to the genius and hard work of becoming an inventor. The author’s illustrations include her paintings, photos of toys she made for the project  and newspaper clippings from parade days. This is a delightful book.

Cinnamon Roll Murder

Cinnamon Roll Murder

by Joanne Fluke

3.5/5 stars

Reviewer: Marina

Lake Eden Minnesota is a small town with what has to be the largest per capita murder rate. In this 16th installment in Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swenson mystery series, Hannah finds another dead body and not long after her mother stumbles across a murder scene. As per usual, Hannah commences her investigation into the mysterious deaths using her local resources and leaving her baking partner Lisa to keep track of their bakery. The mystery is somewhat predictable and not really full of too many surprises, but what makes these books enjoyable is the likeable characters and Hannah’s quirky personality. This particular installment also makes strides towards resolving some love triangle issues brought up in previous books (or at least I hope so!

These books can be read independently, but you get a little more character development by reading them all in order (as I have).

World War Z

World War Z

By: Max Brooks

5/5 stars

Reviewer: Marina

Usually I’m not a big fan of zombies, however, there are a few examples in the genre (if you can call it a genre) that stand out to me as really great and this is one of them.  This book is the story of the great Zombie War from inception to recovery told in short stories from many people’s perspectives.  The novel is divided into sections based on the different points in time of the war and each section contains a few different people’s stories from different areas to give the reader a better picture of the whole event.  You get pulled along through the stories easily, always wanting to know each individual’s experience and what happens next in the grand scheme of things.  While it is a story of zombies, more than anything it is the story of people overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds and struggling through challenges to emerge on the other side- not necessarily entirely victorious but emerging and surviving all the same.  

This is both a Teen and an Adult book. 

Saving Zasha

Saving Zasha
by Randi Barrow
5/5 stars
Reviewer: Roberta

Summary:

This is the story of a close-knit family, the Tarkovs consisting of Mrs. Tarkov, sons Mikhail and Nikolai, and daughter Rina, who live on a farm in Soviet Russia at the end of World War II.  Mr. Tarkov went off to fight the war and has not been heard from in two years.  The family hopes that he is still alive.

One day, the two boys find a dying man and his dog, a beautiful German shepherd named Zasha.  It is dangerous to have anything German after the war, so after the man dies and Mrs. Tarkov is persuaded to let the boys keep the dog, but she must be in hiding so that no one finds her and turns the family in for having a “German” dog.  The boys fix up hiding places for Zasha and successfully hide her from dog thieves and drunken soldiers returning home from the war.  They spend a lot of time training her so that she is a faithful and well-trained dog. Even a noisy Katia, daughter of the village’s newspaper owner, who suspects the Tarkovs have a dog is kept away from Zasha.

 But there is news to deal with.  First, Zasha is having puppies.  Second, the wife of the dying man they found is coming to the village and Mrs. Tarkov says that Zasha belongs to her. Will Mikhail and his family be able to keep Zasha and her puppies? Find out in this riviting story that you won;t be able to put down!

Review:This was a heart-warming story about a family overcoming adversity.  The book moved along nicely and was never boring.  Historically, it gave you a good view of post WWII Soviet Russia.  The post script gave the interesting truth about dogs in post WWII Soviet Union.  There were almost no dogs left alive.  Starvation, abandonment, illness and injury plus service in the military left the Soviets with hardly any dogs left.  The Soviet government did establish a program to create a new Russian dog.  This task was given to a soldier and a biologist.  Over a hundred dogs were used in seventeen breeds to finally produce “the black pearl of Russia”- the Black Russian terrier.  First introduced to the public in 1955, the American Kennel Club finally recognized the dog as a new breed in the working class in 2004.