Witchy Women

Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman is a prequel to Practical Magic (and it is another advanced reader copy I received).

Maria was left in a field for Hannah Owens to find. Hannah is a practitioner of the “Nameless Art” and she begins to pass along her knowledge to Maria. Maria is a fast learner and a natural witch which she discovers is inherited from her mother Rebecca. Rebecca visits one day both to check in on Maria, and more so, to get Hannah’s help breaking a powerful love spell that she now regrets.

Rebecca’s visit sparks a terrible chain of events in which Hannah perishes. Maria seeks out her mother, but she seems to only have eyes for her one true love. Maria is sent off as an indentured servant. She continues to hone her craft during this time on the island of Curacao. It is here where Maria falls in “love” and becomes pregnant by the uppity John Hathorne from Salem.

Several years pass until Maria is freed and decides to take her five-year-old daughter Faith to find her father. Along the journey, Maria cures the ship captain’s son, Samuel, and they develop a relationship. However, Maria is determined to ignore fate’s warnings and continue her search for John. There is so much more, including Maria’s ill-fated reunion with John, her near hanging during the witch trials, her off-and-on relationship with Samuel, and losing Faith (in more ways than one).

I need to look back because I think I already read Practical Magic, and I don’t remember enjoying it as much as this book. This story was a solid page turner, and will certainly appeal to those who enjoy tales of witchcraft. I also enjoyed all the natural remedies which are carefully scripted throughout the story. Aside from witchcraft, this is also a story about understanding true love.

Next up: my goal is to finish the remaining Intermediate Nutmeg nominees before the school year kicks off! Adult novels will be on hold until then.

Forever Friends

The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman is an early edition copy I received. I decided to read this book due to its subject matter around the Chernobyl explosion, which is a new historical fiction time frame for me.

The main characters are Valentina and Oksana. They begin as enemies but grow to be lifelong friends due to experiences that link them together. Their fathers were both working at Chernobyl when it erupted. Now they are being forced to evacuate their town. Oksana’s mother is sent to a hospital for radiation leaving Oksana with nobody to care for her. Valentina’s mother decides to take her with them. This sets the girls off on a new path living with Valentina’s grandmother (whom she has never met) in Leningrad.

Family history becomes a parallel story throughout the book, as “new” character Rifka is sent away from her mother and young brothers to escape the German soldiers during WWII. Eventually, the two stories’ connection is understood.

The plot is mostly engaged with the girls’ struggles and changes. But, I found it interesting to read about how the explosion was at first kept hidden. There are also tidbits about how they treated radiation exposure such as drinking milk, eating cucumbers, taking iodine pills, and staying low to the ground to name a few. For many, the exposure was too high for these remedies to work.

Sensitive topics of religious discrimination, physical abuse, and alcoholism are present. These topics are balanced by friends who become family with a message of being strong, kind, and generous. It is a jump into a time period that may be unfamiliar to some, which can be a gateway to nonfiction about the place and time.

In the Details

Framed by James Ponti is another Intermediate Nutmeg Nominee to check off my reading list. The story begins with main character Florian being kidnapped, before backtracking to the events leading up to this moment.

Florian just moved to Washington with his parents. He is quite brilliant, owing much of his intelligence to TOAST (Theory of All Small Things). Basically this means he pays close attention to the small details in order to better understand the bigger picture. His new neighbor Margaret bonds with him over TOAST, and they use it to analyze people.

This is what gets them involved in a case of stolen artwork from their local museum. Florian’s attention to detail gets him recognition from the FBI and from the bad guys. He is asked to be a covert asset to the FBI and goes through undercover training. Unfortunately, he may not be as hidden as he thought. Readers will find out how/why the head of the Ukrainian cartel kidnapped Florian, and if the true art robbers will be caught.

I appreciated this book’s clear plot and writing style. I think the story can lead to fun conversations and observation/writing exercises for kids to try TOAST in real life.

Humanity

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman is a unique tale of a bank robbery gone amok, and so much more. It is an advanced reader’s copy that I recently received in the mail. I chose this book from the box first because I remember enjoying A Man Called Ove (another title by this author).

We learn a bit about the bank robber’s background to understand what drove him/her to resort to robbery. When the robbery gets botched, he/she inadvertently ends up running into an apartment’s open house event, which turns the robbery into a hostage situation.

Officers Jack and his dad Jim are on the case. Jack is working hard to prove himself, but it seems that every witness is intent on giving him the run around.

We discover more about the officers, while each person/couple viewing the apartment has their own tale to share too (some more riveting than others). I was most interested in Zara, an extremely wealthy banker who attends these open houses to see what the other half live like. In actuality, she is haunted by a man who jumped to his death from a local bridge years ago. Unfortunately, we never get to read the note that she carries around in her purse. The same man on the bridge has impacted police officer Jack and hostage Estelle. Life connects us in unknown ways.

The characters’ interactions are both comical and poignant. Oddly, I had a sense of the movies “Clue” and “The Breakfast Club,” in that strangers are brought together with a farcical element. Yet, among the comedy and idiocy is a serious note: a message of second chances, humanity and grace.

Haunted Happenings

The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street by Lindsay Currie is another Intermediate Nutmeg nominee fitting the spooky category. Tessa’s family (mom, dad and little brother Jonah) moved from Florida to Chicago for her dad’s new job. Everything is different, especially their creepy, old house.

Strange things start happening the very first night there. Tessa hears strange noises, has random drawings appear in her sketch book, and her brother’s creepy doll seems to watch her (among other ghostly events). Luckily, she manages to connect to a group of new friends who are willing to help her figure out the ghost’s message. Andrew, along with twins Nina and Richie, join forces with Tessa to get to the bottom of the haunted house. In doing so, they cause a riff with their friend Cassidy who seems angry to have Tess in the picture.

Similar to a Scooby Doo episode, the gang goes out to solve the ghostly mystery which takes them on a search into the library, local cemetery (chase scene minus the music! lol) and secret places in Tessa’s home. Eventually Tessa is able to figure out the cause of her ghost’s anguish.

This book is a creepy mystery for grades 3-5 showcasing the undeniable strength provided by friends.

Books and Cookies

Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess by Shari Green is an Intermediate Nutmeg nominee written in lyric narrative form. This is a beautiful story in both its message and its writing.

Macy is deaf, relying on sign language to communicate with family and friends. This alone can be challenging. She is dealing with her mom’s upcoming marriage to a man with younger, twin girls which will entail moving from her beloved home and losing their family duo. It’s been just Macy and her mom her whole life. Added to this is a major argument with her best friend over an upcoming family tree project.

Macy is enlisted to help an elderly neighbor pack her bookshelves for her upcoming move to an assisted living facility. In the process of helping her neighbor, the rainbow goddess Lily, Macy learns quite a bit. The pair share snips of their lives through notes to each other. Books, cookies and people’s stories have the answers and uplifting messages needed to get through many of life’s struggles.

She eventually overcomes her frustration with the new family dynamic, heals her friendship and realizes her worth.

Intelligence

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes is the epitome of a suspense novel. It may not be ideal reading for conspiracy theorists at this time, as it involves a biological warfare scheme that Scott Murdoch (code name Pilgrim among other aliases) must unravel.

Scott’s career in a secret investigative agency is revealed through various flashbacks, but the plot deals with events occurring after his early retirement. First is the horrific murder of an unidentifiable body in NYC and second (mainly) is the threat from a solitary terrorist dubbed the Saracen whose mission is to unleash certain death to U.S. citizens.

Scott’s intelligence and support from those he trusts (computer whiz Battleboi and officer Ben Bradley to name a couple) help him along through this page turner. Scott’s foremost mission it to find the elusive Saracen and figure out his plan (thereby saving millions).

Along the way, we discover the Saracen’s background and the events leading him to his sinister plot of destruction. Everything comes together in a masterful way.

This book kept me reading past my bedtime on more than one night.

Fashion Principles

Dress Coded by Carrie Firestone is an advanced reader copy I obtained through this year’s virtual SLJ Day of Dialog. It was a pleasant surprise to find this book and three other titles in my mail this past week.

Set in Connecticut, this story will appeal to middle school girls everywhere! As a former middle and high school teacher, I could definitely connect to the issues at stake in this book (and am happy to say that I was not one of the fashion police!). Fisher Middle School’s principal has an obsession with maintaining a strict dress code, using a special monitor dubbed “Fingertip” who specifically keeps an eye out for shorts’ lengths, visible shoulders and cleavage.

Events get heated when the entire eighth grade camping trip is canceled when Olivia is caught breaking the dress code. Molly witnesses the exchange and decides that enough is enough. She starts a podcast in order to share Olivia’s side of the story. Her podcast starts the #dresscoded movement. Other middle and high school girls want to share their stories too. Molly and her friends add to the movement by putting up posters, signing a petition and going to the school board. When nothing seems to make a difference, they set up their own camp-in at the school. With persistence and strong arguments for equality, they are finally heard.

Short chapters are a combination of podcast interviews, letters, lists and storytelling. The dress code issue is surrounded by other important middle school topics: crushes, changing friendships, family struggles, vaping/addiction, and bullying. Molly learns who her real friends are, and figures out how to navigate stressful family events. There is great depth in this story, making it a must read for teen girls and a conversation starter for everyone.

Keeping the Peace

The Nameless City by Faith Erin Hicks is a fast-flying read about Kaidu, a young teenager who is beginning training to be a fierce Dao. The group of boys are trained to fight in order to keep their people in control of the city. Kaidu feels anything but fierce after his first day of training. The only positive is that his father lives in the city too.

Kaidu doesn’t conform to expectations, and he begins venturing into the city on his own. He meets a skral girl called Rat whose parents were killed by the current ruler’s regime. They become friends as she teaches him how to run across the building tops in exchange for food.

Rat overhears a plan to kill the ruler and his son, and she is almost killed in her effort to alert someone at the palace. Luckily Kaidu’s lessons serve him well in helping to reveal the plan in time. And to save his friend. It seems that peace will stay in the city… for now.

This is a graphic novel with a message of compromise and being open to others; it will appeal to readers who enjoy a quick read with action. It is also a 2021 Intermediate Nutmeg nominee.

Drawn Together

New Kid by Jerry Craft is a well-deserved 2021 Intermediate AND Middle School Nutmeg nominee.

Jordan Banks is transferring to the elite Riverdale Academy Day School to start seventh grade, when all he would really like is to pursue his dream of attending art school. This graphic novel portrays the first year at RAD, while his personal commentary on various events are drawn/noted along the way. Humor is a constant throughout the book with many relatable, laugh out loud moments, and a straightforward approach to serious topics.

First are the discriminatory remarks made by fellow student Andy to each character of a different cultural descent. There are microaggressions from faculty as well; for example, the teacher who calls every black student by the wrong name, and the book fair arranged by stereotyped categories. There is also the stigma attached to students who use financial aid to attend. So many important conversations can stem from the behaviors and events in this book.

The characters are written well, and I think students will connect to them. Jordan is a nice person who takes time to get to know everyone, even oddball Alexandra who always wears a sock puppet on her hand. Jordan has a way of finding classmates who are most genuine. In doing so, he ends up having a decent year, making true friends and learning to speak up for himself and his friends.

I read this story in a day, and enjoyed every moment of it.