May Recommendations--Lynn Becker's Book Picks

Here are some of my favorite reads from this past month:

Novels:
ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE, by Benjamin Alire Saenz, won a 2013 Printz Honor. After reading a discussion on depictions of race in book covers, I saw that this book about two Mexican American teens has no images of the characters on its cover. (Apparently, when the main characters aren't white, covers tend not to show them.) Yes, absolutely, it's insulting but it can also be a welcome relief--I dislike many of the covers that have photos of teens on them, white or otherwise, and wish books with white protagonists would do away with the photos, as well. Anyway, this is an amazing book--a beautifully written, well constructed look at finding friendship and true love.

DARK TRIUMPH, by Robin LaFevers, is the second book in the His Fair Assassins trilogy. This time around we hang on the words of Sybella, one of Death's fierce assassins, as she survives life in the castle of her evil father, and attempts to escort wounded soldier Beast back into the service of the Duchess. Intricate and intense, romantic fantasy doesn't get much better than this.

REQUIEM, by Lauren Oliver, is a satisfying conclusion to the dystopian Delirium Trilogy. First person present POV alternates between "invalid" resistance fighter Lena, and her "cured" best friend Hana, who has remained behind in Portland's loveless society. Non-stop action and romantic entanglements make this book hard to put down. (You'll want to read Delirium and Pandemonium first.)

LOKI'S WOLVES, by K. L. Armstrong and Melissa Marr, is the first book in The Blackwood Pages series for mid-grade readers. Descendants of the Norse gods are alive and well in Blackwell, South Dakota. Children of heroic Thor tend to be large, blond football players, who end up with careers in law enforcement and local government. Children of the trickster god Loki are more inclined to get into trouble. In Loki's Wolves, the stage is set for a modern-day confrontation between the Champion of Thor and the Midgard Serpent, over nothing less than the end of the world.

Easy Reader:
TALES FOR VERY PICKY EATERS, by Josh Schneider, won the 2013 Geisel Award. When Josh doesn't want to eat what his father serves at meals, his dad comes up with some very inventive ways to get him to partake. The humor is age appropriate for beginning readers ages six to nine, who will enjoy being in on the jokes. Tales is a terrific example of writing for this difficult genre, and it's easy to see how the illustrations support the text and advance the humor.

Picture Books:
OL' MAMA SQUIRREL, by David Ezra Stein, features the toughest Mama Squirrel ever! She protects her babies from all kinds of danger, including cats, dogs--and something really big, all the while scolding like nobody's business. The art is loose and expressive, and kids will have fun chattering "chook chook chook!" along with Mama.

THE DARK, by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Jon Klassen, is a beautifully illustrated, age appropriate, scary story about being afraid of the dark. It's wonderful--except for a puzzling passage which takes up a full page, right at the climax of the action. It's a long aside that basically explains the entire story. I don't really understand why it's there--it would work just fine as an epilogue, and be less disruptive to the perfectly pitched tension up to this point. Decide for yourself, because puzzling passage notwithstanding, this book is too good to miss.

A LONG WAY AWAY: A TWO-WAY STORY, by Frank Viva, is a very thought provoking picture book. Along the lines of Mirror, Mirror, by Marilyn Singer, you could probably even call this book a reverso story. Read it from one end, and you are in outer space, where you begin a journey to the bottom of an ocean. Read it from the other end, and you will see the main character awaken from a deep underwater sleep, and journey to a home in the stars. Viva's unique artwork uses a strong, yet whimsical, graphic style.

BRIEF THIEF, by Michael Escoffier, illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo, probably has the best picture book punchline ever. When Leon the lizard needs to go poo, he uses a pair of underpants hanging nearby. Why not? They have holes in them and were probably abandoned. Um, they were not, and you need to see who owns them. The art is gorgeous.

THAT IS NOT A GOOD IDEA! by Mo Willems, uses the device of a silent movie to set up this story. Apparently a very silly goose decides to accept the dinner invitation of a hungry fox. Things are not as they seem tho, and this is a wonderful example of an unreliable narrator. Big surprise ending caps off another outstanding picture book from Mo Willems.