A Valentine's Day read... Your Dream For Me by Alison Schaffir

Happy Valentine's Day! To celebrate, I have a romantic read. The swishing in of sewing mixed with all the drama of theater caught my attention. I am expecting this one to be leaning toward the sweet romance with all the usual cliches...but let's just see if that truly sums it up.

YOUR DREAM FOR ME

by Alison Schaffir

Level Best Books - Level Elevate

Young Adult Romance

COMING...

MARCH 7th!!!

Seventeen-year-old Scarlett, unlike her theatrically gifted parents, is not one to spend time near a spotlight. Scarlett dreams of becoming a renowned fashion designer, where she can flex her creative talents away from a crowd. So it's no surprise when she sneaks into her school's costume shop to explore the racks. Unexpected, however, is coming face-to-face with Nathaniel Wilder, a talented theater student who piques a new interest.

With fashion still as her main priority, Scarlett vows to learn how to make a 50s-inspired dress for her best friend, Macie. After all, she needs a strong portfolio of work to help her get into her dream school, the Fashion Institute of Technology. The one problem? She has no idea how to operate a sewing machine. Thanks to Nathaniel's encouragement, Scarlett decides to shadow the school's drama teacher to practice her skills, hoping to fuse her passion for fashion with theater...and be closer to him for the spring play.

Scarlett's designs are unfolding, but a distressing event involving Macie shakes everyone in Scarlett's world—causing their friendship to falter and Nathaniel to unexpectedly pull away. With building stressors threatening the rest of the year, including a rival who wants to tarnish Scarlett's reputation, Scarlett must rely on her determined spirit and newfound sewing skills to keep her fashion dreams—and her most important relationships—from unraveling.

GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75479674-your-dream-for-me

AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Dream-Me-Alison-Schaffir-ebook/dp/B0BQ8BQN97

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/?ean=9781685122140

MY TIDBITS

Steering through future dreams, high school drama, college hopes, and a little romance, this is a cute read.

Scarlett's parents might entertain an audience with their on-stage talent, but Scarlett prefers to stay out of the spotlight and create the costumes. After high school, she hopes to attend a great fashion school, but that also means that she has a lot of work ahead of her...and she might be in need of a little help along the way. Luckily, when searching through the theater club's stored wardrobe, she runs into an interesting Senior, who's not only a talented actor but guides her in the right direction. He also captures her interest. Scarlett's life is anything but easy, and soon, she finds herself battling on many fronts and isn't sure she won't fail miserably at all of them.

This is high school romance pure. It holds more than a few cliches...and that's good so. Scarlett's plate is packed full like many high school students. She's trying to balance family, a job, classes, future college dreams, and general life...and that while still having to learn a lot about...well, everything. Her reactions are very fitting to the age group and jump right along with her emotions. She tries her best but has quite a bit to learn, not only about sewing but about relationships and herself. 

Scarlett is a determined girl, who isn't really scared to speak her mind but just doesn't always know how to handle things. It's easy to root for her as she deals with life as best as she can. Especially her best friend throws in a familiar side, which does a great job at reflecting friendship at the age. The romance doesn't overtake the plot completely, which was a nice bonus, and the ending does twist all of this in an unexpected way. It is a bit odd on the time flow, at times, but never confusing. I also would have enjoyed a bit more depth on the fashion end, since she does have such an interest in it as her future career.

High school romance fans are sure to enjoy this one quite a bit. It's an easy read with aspects to predict as well as a couple which surprise. 

Today's review... Where Did My Teddy Go? by Famela Simmons

WHERE DID MY TEDDY GO?

by Famela Simmons

Illustrated by Merilee Burns

Mascot Kids

Picture Book

32 pages

ages 2 to 6

COMING...

MARCH 7th!!!

The day is done and night has come―it’s bedtime for the Foxes. But oh no! Where did Teddy go? Join Child Fox as Mama Fox helps him bathe, brush, and dress for bed while searching for his beloved toy.

AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Where-Did-My-Teddy-Go/dp/1637550839

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/where-did-my-teddy-go-famela-simmons/1142626243

Or directly from the publisher with a coupon, too!

https://mascotbooks.com/mascot-marketplace/buy-books/childrens/picture-books/where-did-my-teddy-go/

Coupon code on Mascot site for $6.95 (to cover shipping): teddyishere

MY TIDBITS

With the perfect atmosphere for a bedtime read, this little fox's search not only comes across as familiar but cute.

It's time for bed, but Child Fox can't seem to find it's teddy bear anywhere.  Mama Fox helps with the search, while they do their nightly, bedtime routine, but Teddy is nowhere to be found.

This is a simple read for the younger reader end and written in easy rhyme. The Child Fox asks where Teddy is over and over again, while Mama Fox answers. There is a little repetition in some responses, making this one kids and 'read' along with. 

The illustrations are nicely done and present familiar scenes as the foxes search their house for Teddy. There are enough details to allow readers to gaze at each page and watch the search.

It makes a nice bedtime read and will find readers, who will want to hear it again and again.

Learn more here:  https://wheredidmyteddygo.com/

 

Today's review... No Buzzards Allowed by Melodious Mutt

Today's read hits two of my favorite directions: books and music. This picture book is accompanied by music and centers around two buzzards, who've fallen in love, but nobody wants them around. I was definitely curious, so I took a peek.

NO BUZZARDS ALLOWED

by Melodious Mutt

Illustrated by Paige Poppe

Picture Book with Music

ages 4 to 8

32 pages

"What happens when two Arizona buzzards who don't belong find out about a magical place in Oregon?  Find out in "No Buzzards Allowed."  

Purchase here:   https://quirkybirdrecords.com/products/no-buzzards-allowed

MY TIDBITS

With a unusual pair of love birds, this book combines song with a warming tale.

Two buzzards fall in love, but nobody in the Arizona dessert seems to want them around. So, they continue on, searching for a place they can settle down. They meet various animals along the way as they head through California and up to Oregon. There they might very well find a home.

The book is brightly illustrated in water color and presents various animals often not seen in the kidlit world. The animals are well presented and while they shun the buzzards, there is no feeling of malice or bullying. Just lack of acceptance. Listeners/readers will sympathize with the unique pair as they are turned away again and again. It's a gentle tale and does make an okay read-aloud. But this book is built around a song, and it does come across better exactly that way.

The music takes a more traditional direction with an accordion and 3-tact, and that with a slightly more Western flair. I'm a huge fan of introducing kids to various music directions and found this one easy to listen to as well as fitting to the tale. It's an earworm and does invite to singing and swaying along. It's a fun combination, not something a bookworm runs across every day, and introduces readers/listeners to something they might not have heard or seen (the animals) before.

Find out more at:

https://melodiousmutt.com/

Today's read... Alice the Cat by Tim Cummings

I found today's read while browsing through Netgalley's lists and was intrigued by the cover and, especially, the blurb. I'm not going to say much more because this one turned out to be quite different than I expected.

ALICE THE CAT

by Tim Cummings

Fitzroy Books

Young Adult Fantasy

186 pages

COMING...

MAY 23rd!!!

On the verge of her thirteenth birthday, Tess’s life is falling apart. Her mother is dead. Her father is like a zombie. And now her beloved cat, Alice, has started rushing into the street when cars go by, trying to get run over. The only thing Tess can think of that might help? Running away. As she ventures from home, Tess stumbles upon a crew of manga-loving goth kids hiding out in the local haunted house performing séances. There, she discovers that the house’s ghostly entity desperately wants a cat to care for in the afterlife, and it has its sights set on Alice. With the help of an unexpected friend and the brilliant, adorkable kid who has a huge crush on her, Tess will do whatever it takes to save Alice the cat, help the ghost, heal her dad, and survive the summer in one piece.

GOODREADS  /   AMAZON   /   B&N   /   BOOK DEPOSITORY

MY TIDBITS

Messy on the outside and emotion mixed with thought in the middle.

Almost-thirteen-year-old Tess is doing her best to cope after the sudden death of her mother due to cancer, but with her father transformed into a zombie and no one to talk to, it's proving more than tough. When she comes home from school to find that her cat jumped into the middle of the street in an attempt to commit suicide, which made her neighbor run into the tree in their front yard...which then, crashed into the middle of the street and the cat, Alice, then ran off...a chaotic and crazy string of events goes into play. Soon, Tess is chasing time against a ghost and the life of her cat...and maybe, her grief, too.

When I read the blurb, I expected this one to head more in a paranormal adventure direction. This, however, is a tale of grief and dealing with loss. And it's chaotic, which adds a new dimension to keep it more than interesting and...well, chaotic. Tess's home life is a mess in the sense that her father has collapsed into a blackhole, not even bothering to run his business since the loss of her mom. This leaves Tess alone to deal with everything, and at twelve-years, she's in over her head. The cat, Alice, is the last string holding her together. There's a lot going on, and this hits very serious themes as well as emotions.

Tess is in a frantic, confused battle to handle everything, and this is mirrored in the world around her. She has two 'friends', who are all-over-the-place on the mental and behavioral end. One, who has seizures and is claimed to have mental problems (although he seemed more down-to-earth than other characters) and another, who has a super-inflated desire to act out scenes and characters. The three together are like Bonnie-and-Clyde to middle grade extreme...just without the hard crime. Then, there's the ghostly side, which includes a group of odd goths and a ghost, which plays a role but not to the lengths I thought it would. It creates a crazy and quick-paced plot. But again, this all centers around Tess's own dealings with the loss of her mother.

The plot runs quick and draws in with Tess's slightly odd-ball personality. While this will speak to middle graders, I don't see it as completely in their ballpark due to the depth and true issues driving the tale. This hits grief hard and demands to be digested in every way. Older readers will be much more able to handle this, where I'm afraid it might be a bit much for the younger audience to truly absorb or even begin to embrace. It's well-written, brings points completely home, and the insanity makes the difficult aspects really sit. I can recommend this one and found it to be quite the ride.

And here he is...

Tim Cummings has a distinct memory of sitting at a picnic table beneath a colossal oak in his backyard in Port Jefferson, New York, scribbling furiously beneath a sunny sky in a classic marbled Composition notebook. He was incredibly young, maybe four years old; this was before preschool. And in his mind, even though he could not yet even form written words or sentences, he was definitely inscribing his first novel. Weird.

That love of words, of writing, manifested soon thereafter in a lifelong obsession with books and reading. Every possible book written for children—by Beverly Cleary, Ruth Chew, Virginia Hamilton, Roald Dahl, E.B. White, Judy Blume, Madeleine L’ Engle, Mildred D. Taylor, the Choose Your Own Adventure books—was deftly devoured and re-devoured throughout his childhood and teenage years.

A professional performer since childhood, Tim attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and earned his BFA in Acting. He has worked steadily in theatre, film, television, commercials, dance, voice-over, animation, and new media since. He is the recipient of three LA Drama Critics Circle Awards for his work on the stages of Los Angeles.
Never ceasing in his passion for reading and writing, however, he earned his MFA in Writing for Young People from Antioch University Los Angeles. Recent publications include F(r)iction, Scare Street, Lunch Ticket, Meow Meow Pow Pow, From Whispers to Roars, and Critical Read, for which he won their ‘Origins’ essay contest and also received a Pushcart Prize nomination for his essay, “You Have Changed Me Forever.” A regular contributor at Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB), he writes features, reviews, and interviews. He runs several writing workshops per year, does manuscript consulting, and individual writing coaching. Tim is represented by Charlie Olsen at Inkwell Management. www.timcummings.ink

 

Today's read... Aven Green Music Machine by Dusti Bowling

Today's read is the third in a chapter book series, which I've actually been enjoying since book one. This main character came from the best-seller, Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling. So, fans of that book will recognize Aven Green. It's always fun to see what she's up to next, so I'm just going to head on in and take a peek.

AVEN GREEN MUSIC MACHINE

Aven Green #3

by Dusti Bowling

Illustrated by Gina Perry

Union Square Kids

Chapter Book Contemporary

128 pages

ages 6 to 10

Aven Green, the remarkable heroine of Dusti Bowling’s Life of a Cactus series, marches to her own beat in this hilarious, upbeat, and unforgettable chapter book. 
 
“Bowling’s beloved “Life of a Cactus” protagonist returns in a new series of chapter books that capture her life as third grader. . . . Young readers will laugh aloud at Aven’s funny reactions . . . [and] they will be intrigued by the practical skills she has perfected. . . . This chapter book companion to Bowling’s well-loved middle-grade series is a recommended purchase.”—School Library Journal (Starred review)
 
Third-grader Aven Green is a real professional musician! She just needs to choose what instrument to play. When she decides to try the piano, Aven is disappointed when she can’t master Mozart in one whole day. To pick up Aven’s beat, her parents take her for a four-hour drive to see someone just like her play the guitar. With new inspiration and a special gift from her great-grandma, Aven is ready to take on the school talent show. Will she be ready in time? Or will she blow her big chance?

GOODREADS   /   B&N   /   AMAZON   /   BOOK DEPOSITORY

MY TIDBITS

Aven Green is as spunky and determined as ever as she decides it's time to become a professional musician and perform in the talent show.

When the teacher announces the up-coming talent show, Aven is thrilled. She just had the idea to become a professional musician a few days before, and now, she's getting her chance. So, she announces her musical talent to the class. Now, she'll need to figure out which instrument she enjoys, learn to play one of Mozart's songs on it, and impress everyone with her amazing skills...and all of that in one week. But things might not be quite as easy as she hopes.

This is written from Aven's point of view and that as if she's telling her story directly to the reader. Since Aven is such an energetic girl with tons of personality, this makes it no problem to connect with her and be drawn in. The classroom comes across with a slightly humorous, positive, and natural flow. That doesn't mean everything is perfect, though. Her friends and classmates have their own quirks and rough edges, which make that end much more interesting. Readers will also identify with the various situations she finds herself.

One of my favorite aspects of this series is how the author presents Aven. While she faces obvious challenges due to her lack of arms, this is never dwelled upon. It's stated and explored in so far that it affects her life, but the stories go beyond that and aren't built on this aspect. Aven faces the same challenges as every child does and has to deal with many of the same issues. In this book, she learns what really sticks behind mastering a skill such as playing a musical instrument. She holds the same dreams as many kids her age, goes through frustration and disappointment, and has to learn how to face what she's told others when it doesn't portray the truth. In other words, this is a book all readers of that age group can identify with to some point.

The illustrations sprinkled in the pages make this a fun chapter book, which doesn't bog down. The font is easy to read, the chapters clearly marked, and the vocabulary introduces new words but doesn't expect too much from readers, either. 

I can't wait to see what Aven Green is up to next.