Winchell Mink

It's always hard to write about books that I just didn't care for. After all, just because I didn't like it doesn't necessarily mean that you won't, and it certainly doesn't mean that it's a bad book and that no one should read it. So I hope that if I ever say that I didn't like something, you'll take that with a grain of salt.

That said, here's what I have to say about a book that I really just didn't care for. The book has its good points too, so I'll try to highlight those instead of its bad points:

Winchell Mink: The Misadventure Begins is a wacky story about a boy who is constantly being tormented by a bully. As Winchell's birthday draws near, he decides to take matters into his own hands and experience life it its fullest. Winchell, along with his pet turtle Hannibal, heads toward the forbidden cliff near his home and finds himself stuck on a ledge. The only person (or turtle) around to help Winchell is Hannibal, who's idea of a solution is to switch bodies with him. And so beings Winchell Mink's crazy adventures in time travel and body-snatching. The good news about this is that Winchell gets to play baseball as a dinosaur. The bad news is that Clayton, the bully who is cruelest to Winchell, seems to be following him during these adventures. How will Winchell get home? Will he ever find his body again? Will Clayton dissect Winchell in his turtle form during science class?

This book is filled with lots of zany humor that is truly laugh-out-loud funny. Sarcasm and puns abound, and several of the scenes in this book are really enjoyable. The one problem is that there isn't really much of an actual plot to tie all of these zany adventures together. The body-snatching seems completely random, and jumping from one adventure to another without transitions is just as exhausting for the reader as it is for Winchell. I'd really suggest that readers perhaps not sit down and read large chunks of this book in one sitting. Taking a break between segments of the story might make the lack of transitions easier to handle.

Overall Grade: C-

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little

The end of summer is approaching. Before school starts again, Moxy Maxwell needs to do her summer reading and finish Stuart Little. Unfortunately, by the time August 23 rolls around, Moxy hasn't even started! And it's not that she hasn't tried to read this book; she and Stuart Little have been practically inseparable all summer. But she keeps finding other very important things to do instead, such as training her dog Mudd or planting a peach orchard that will finance her college education. But if Moxy doesn't get moving there will be "consequences" and Mom might not let her perform in her Daisy Petal Water Ballet. What's a girl to do?

Written by Peggy Gifford, this is a very sweet story about procrastination. Moxy is a very endearing character with a head full of clever ideas, and her antics kept me laughing. The story is very simple and will prove to be an easy read, but its presentation might complicate matters for those who have just learned to read and are moving into chapter books. Sometimes transitions are rather abrupt, and some of the artistry found in the story's format (chapters told in photos or with only a single sentence) may be lost on these new readers who often seek something more straightforward. However, for a reader who is ready to handle these challenges will likely find this to be a quick, breezy, enjoyable read.

Overall Grade: B+



If you're looking for more of Moxy Maxwell's adventures, you may also want to check out Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Writing Thank-You Notes. This is another tale of procrastination and zany ideas well in the same spirit as the first book.

Rapunzel's Revenge

I adore fractured fairy tales. "But what is a fractured fairy tale?" you may be wondering. Well, this is when an author takes a well-known story or fairy tale and does something to change it. Maybe the author changes the setting, so that Cinderella now takes place on the African savanna. Or maybe instead of telling the story from the three pigs' point of view, we get the Big Bad Wolf's story. Or maybe we even get to see exactly what happens after Sleeping Beauty marries Prince Charming. Often, the normally weak female characters found in fairy tales become strong and take control of their own destinites. But whatever happens, a fractured fairy tale turns the story that we know on its head, making it unique in some way.

Rapunzel's Revenge is an absolutely brilliant fractured fairy tale in the form of a graphic novel, written by the excellent Shannon Hale (author of Princess Academy) and her husband Dean Hale, and illustrated by Nathan Hale (no relation to the writers). In this story, Rapunzel grows up happily inside Mother Gothel's villa behind a tall wall, but with every luxury she could ask for. But when she climbs over the wall on her twelfth birthday, Rapunzel discovers that Gothel is a terrible slave master and that her real mother is working in her mines. Gothel, who controls some powerful growth magic that can make plants either grow tall and beautiful of shrivel up and die, punishes Rapunzel by locking her inside the trunk of a very tall tree. After many years, Rapunzel escapes this prison on her own with the help of her 20-foot long braids, which she uses like a lasso. Now that she is free, Rapunzel vows to return home and rescue her mother from the mines and free the rest of the world from Mother Gothel's selfish cruelty.

I was very impressed with this graphic novel. The illustrations are excellent and really go a long way in helping to tell the story. Rapunzel's sidekick Jack, who readers will soon recognize as a character from another beloved fairy tale, is incredibly hilarious and his fairly complicated character is lovable. I also loved the magical Wild West setting that this story was placed in, and Rapunzel's whip/lasso tricks with her hair are pretty awesome. If you're looking for a great story with some familiar characters, but with a very strong heroine, this is definitely the book for you.

Overall Grade: A+

And, best of all, I hear that a sequel is in the works! Currently using the working title of Calamity Jack, this book should be available next year, and I absolutely can't wait.

Gifts

Ursula Le Guin is an author who's been around the block a few times. Her famous and continuously-popular A Wizard from Earthsea was first published in 1968, and she has been writing for readers of all ages ever since. Le Guin is especially well-known for her science fiction and fantasy novels, and for the fact that many of her characters are people of color - a major break from the conventions of these very Caucasian genres.

In Gifts, every family line in the Uplands carries with it a special gift. Sometimes these gifts are wondrous, such as the ability to call animals to you or the ability to instantly diagnose disease. But many of these gifts are frightening, such as the ability to twist other people's limbs in unnatural directions. These gifts are seen as invaluable by the feuding families of the Uplands, who often use their gifts as a way of gaining power over other weaker families. Orrec comes from a family with one of these frightening gifts: The ability to "unmake" anything simply with a glance and a breath. When Orrec beings to finally manifest his gift at the age of twelve his gift seems to be wild and uncontrollable, so he chooses a life under a blindfold rather than run the risk of accidentally destroying those he loves. But over time, Orrec beings to realize that even if his gift is masked, he can still be a weapon in the feuding families' war for power simply by being positioned as a threat to other families.

This book is maybe a little slow to start as we gain a lot of background information about this fantasy world in the opening chapters. However, readers who don't mind easing into the story will find that Orrec's situation is a fascinating one. His voluntary blindness is at once noble and sorrowful, and the discovery that he can still be used as a tool for power unfolds smoothly and steadily as he gradually gains thins knowledge over time. This book is a brilliant fantasy because it really makes you think about how Orrec's situation translates into our own lives. What can you do with the gifts that you have been given? How can these gifts be abused? And if your gifts are frightening, what will you do to prevent its misuse?

Overall Grade: A-/B+

Gifts is the first book in Ursula Le Guin's "Annals of the Western Shore." The following books in the series are Voices and Powers, both of which are also definitely worth picking up!