who does that?!

Stay With Me by Sandra Rodriguez Barron

Rating: 2 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fiction

Review: I have never seen an advance copy of a book so rife with typos. I understand that it's an "uncorrected proof" but this book looked like it had never even been in the same room as an editor. I tried not to let that get in the way of the story however, as I assume that the typos, at the very least, will be corrected before the book is actually published. If not, perhaps Harper would like to hire me as a proofreader.

Even trying to overlook the glaring mistakes in the text, I had a hard time with this book. I did find myself pulled into the story at some points, but overall I found this book to be trite (especially some of the dialogue) and poorly thought-out. The characters are flat and behave inconsistently and unrealistically. Add to that an ending that was far too neat, and this book was very disappointing.

FTC disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

not just what happened

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Genre: historical fiction, YA

Review: One good thing about this book is the particular aptness of its title. The book is not just about what happened, but about what Evie saw (or what she allowed herself to see), and yes, how she lied about both what happened and what she saw.

Not to worry, though, there are plenty of other good things about this book. It’s a good story, for one thing, and engagingly told. Evie is a well-written character. Her level of denial in parts of the book is a bit frustrating, but Blundell writes this aspect of her character, as well as how it changes, very realistically.

I have two fairly small criticisms: first, I'm not sure why Blundell chose to set this book in the early fall. Maybe so the timing of the hurricane would be more realistic? The problem is that by having Evie's family's sudden jaunt to Florida take place at the beginning of September, Evie misses the start of school, which nobody seems to care very much about (although there are a few mentions of how she's supposed to be studying on her own in Florida). Second, post-WWII slang is dispensed so judiciously as to seem forced. Either people use slang, or they don't. But even I must admit that these are nitpicky criticisms, and fade in comparison to the story itself.

the story I really wanted to hear

What-the-Dickens by Gregory Maguire

Rating: 2.5 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fantasy, YA

Review: The frame of this story is that of 3 children in the care of their older cousin. There is a hurricane raging around them, and their parents have gone out to get more insulin for the child's mother. The outside world is a scary place for these children, who live largely separated from everyone else as a matter of faith, and they have no way of knowing whether their parents will make it back to them alive.

To distract them from the terror of the night, their cousin begins to tell them a story, which may or may not be true, about the time he encountered some skibbereen, commonly known as tooth fairies. It's more or less the story of a skibberee born without a clan who must find his way in the world. He finds a friend, they strike out together, etc.

Frankly, I found the story of the children much more compelling than the story of the skibbereen. Both stories are left dangling, with the children never finding out what happened to the skibbereen in the end, and the reader never finding out whether the children's parents returned. I cared much more about the eventually fate of the children. Their story was more than just an excuse for clever puns.