Big Tree by Brian Selznick

Summary from Goodreads:

The fate of all life on Earth may depend on the bravery of two little seeds in this epic adventure from the #1 New York Times bestselling creator and Caldecott Medalist of The Invention of Hugo Cabret . “The tale of the natural world is the greatest story we have to tell, and Brian delivers a brilliant chapter of that tale throughout the pages of Big Tree .” ― STEVEN SPIELBERG “We need brave, big stories like [ Big Tree ].” ― The New York Times Book Review “Has the power to intrigue...affecting.” ― The Wall Street Journal * “An enthralling and expansive meditation on what it means to be alive on this planet.” ― Booklist , starred review * “A balanced and rich book. . . . Powerful.” ― The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books , starred and recommended review * “In evocative prose and peppery dialogue . . . the cinematic story journeys across time and space, contemplating the power of life to heal.” ― Publishers Weekly , starred review * "A special, one-of-a-kind book for the whole family that readers won’t soon forget." ― School Library Journal , starred review * “Masterful.” ― The Horn Book , starred review "Inspirational, important, and beautiful. A fable for our times." ― Alan Gratz, bestselling author of Refugee and Ground Zero "Hello, stars. I thought I heard you calling me." A mysterious voice has been speaking to Louise in her dreams. She and her brother Merwin are Sycamore seeds, who hope to one day set down roots and become big trees. But when a fire forces them to leave their mama tree prematurely, they find themselves catapulted into the unknown, far from home. Alone and unprepared, they must use their wits and imagination to navigate a dangerous world―filled with dinosaurs, meteors, and volcanoes!―and the fear of never finding a safe place to grow up. As the mysterious voice gets louder, Louise comes to realize their mission in life may be much bigger than either of them ever could have imagined! Brimming with humor, wonder, mystery, and a profound sense of hope, Big Tree is a trailblazing adventure, illustrated with nearly 300 pages of breathtaking pictures. It is Selznick's most imaginative and far-reaching work to date and a singular reading experience for the whole family. The audiobook edition of BIG TREE is brought magnificently to life by Meryl Streep and features music composed by Ernest Troost.

Review:

This was a great book! Sometimes you sit down to read a few pages of something and end up reading the whole book. This happened for me. Granted, a lot of the book is done in beautiful, classic Selznick illustrations. The story, the concept, the artwork, and basically the whole thing was just genius. I’ve never read or experienced anything like this.

The idea of a book from a seedling’s point of view is just so cool. And then to find out that it was going to be a movie? I want the movie also. It’s the kind of story that has me looking up at the trees now as I go for walks with my dog, and also has me looking up at the moon…And while the story had some scary elements to it -there are dinosaurs and explosions in it- I found it very calming and poetic. It has you thinking deep thoughts about the world and how things come to be.

I hope this book gets lots of attention and one day the screen time it was meant to receive. But, in the mean time, I hope more people I know read it, so I can chat about it without spoiling anything. It’s a great story with some beautiful ideas and artwork too.

This gets a 10/10. What will Selznick come up with next?

Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy by Angie Thomas

Summary from Goodreads:

Internationally bestselling superstar author Angie Thomas makes her middle grade debut with the launch of an inventive, hilarious, and suspenseful new contemporary fantasy trilogy inspired by African American history and folklore.

It’s not easy being a Remarkable in the Unremarkable world. Some things are cool—like getting a pet hellhound for your twelfth birthday. Others, not so much—like not being trusted to learn magic because you might use it to take revenge on an annoying neighbor.

All Nic Blake wants is to be a powerful Manifestor like her dad. But before she has a chance to convince him to teach her the gift, a series of shocking revelations and terrifying events launch Nic and two friends on a hunt for a powerful magic tool she’s never heard of...to save her father from imprisonment for a crime she refuses to believe he committed.

Review:

I love Angie Thomas’ YA books. I was so excited to learn she came out with a Middle-grade fantasy book. I practically hugged the book when I first saw it. That being said, I didn’t love this book as much as I was hoping to. Maybe my expectations were too high. It wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t great either. And I couldn’t help but keep making comparisons to another book that it was very, very similar to, and not as good as (The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton). It had the same mix of prejudice against a main character who has to prove herself in a world she doesn’t know much about…

I loved how fast-paced the plot was. The pacing reminded me a lot of Rick Riordan’s books. There was never really a good moment to put the book down. And that makes for a fun read. I also love a good story with a family mystery. Why did the father do what he did? I needed to know.

I ended up guessing much if not all of the plot twists. I’m not sure a kid reading would be able to do this. I have read a lot of fantasy books, so it takes a lot to surprise me. That being said, I was kind of hoping to be more surprised about the Msaidizi….But, oh well.

I also never really fully felt like I understood or grasped the world of the Remarkables/Unremarkables. There was a never much world-building. Granted, much of the plot involved being on the run in the unremarkable world. However, I wanted to learn/see more as it went. There were some really cool snapshots of things that just weren’t fully mapped out. Maybe they will be in later installments, but I just felt a little cheated at moments where I wanted more (like during scenes where houses were blowing up or wand trees being searched for).

All in all, there were some good things and some not so good things here. I can see kids really enjoying the pacing and probably being surprised by the plot twists. It was a fun read that didn’t fully live up to its expectations for me. I give it a 7/10.

Imogen Obviously by Becky Albertalli

Summary from Goodreads:

With humor and insight, #1 New York Times bestseller Becky Albertalli explores the nuances of sexuality, identity, and friendship.

Imogen Scott may be hopelessly heterosexual, but she’s got the World’s Greatest Ally title locked down.

She's never missed a Pride Alliance meeting. She knows more about queer media discourse than her very queer little sister. She even has two queer best friends. There's Gretchen, a fellow high school senior, who helps keep Imogen's biases in check. And then there's Lili—newly out and newly thriving with a cool new squad of queer college friends.

Imogen's thrilled for Lili. Any ally would be. And now that she's finally visiting Lili on campus, she's bringing her ally A game. Any support Lili needs, Imogen's all in.

Even if that means bending the truth, just a little.

Like when Lili drops a tiny queer bombshell: she's told all her college friends that Imogen and Lili used to date. And none of them know that Imogen is a raging hetero—not even Lili’s best friend, Tessa.

Of course, the more time Imogen spends with chaotic, freckle-faced Tessa, the more she starts to wonder if her truth was ever all that straight to begin with. . .

Review:

I appear to have taken a hiatus in June…The a/c has been broken and it’s just been too hot and humid to sit for very long at my computer. However, I still have been reading a little. I tend to love books by Becky Albertalli. This one was not my favorite of her novels. However, I read it rather quickly and it helped me get through some awful days so I’m happy to have read it.

As usual with this author, I love the cast of characters. They are all so relatable and authentic. I also loved that the setting was a college campus/visit. This was new for the author. And it lent for more exploration, more finding oneself for the main character, and more opportunities for independence in general. Why don’t more books for YA audiences take place on college campuses?

I also loved the romance. I was doing some serious shipping. When things finally happened,  I might have actually yelled out loud, “woohoo!” and those are my favorite kind of romances.

All this being said, the book had one of my biggest red flags too. I hate repetition, and it was full of it. I get that the main character is a doubter and she needs to go over everything a million times in her head; it’s part of who she is. But, it got a little old for me super quickly.  By the half way point, I kind of hated Imogen. Like the point would have been made, and she would have been the same questioning character with the same doubts if she had maybe half the amount of repetition….She was so worried about coming off queer enough or offending the queer community, she often wasn’t just living or doing anything fun. And again, I get that this was sort of the point. It just was too much. I would have cut that anxiety in half and filled the book with a few more adventures/outings or something new to think about.

All in all a little less self doubt would have made this book so much more enjoyable for me, and just a tiny bit more plot…..But all in all, I still really enjoyed it. I still give it an 8/10.