Teen Tuesday: Stepping Off by Jordan Sonnenblick

Image: Scholastic Inc.

Stepping Off by Jordan Sonnenblick. 336 p. Scholastic Press/ Scholastic Inc., June, 2024. 9781339023175.

Teen Tuesday features Stepping Off by Jordan Sonnenblick. Sixteen-year-old Jesse Dienstag lives on Staten Island, commutes into Manhattan to attend a prestigious public school and yearns to leave the real world for his family's vacation home in Pennsylvania each summer where he teaches tennis at the local recreation center and hangs out with his two besties, Chloe and Ava, who also happen to live on the same cul de sac as Jesse. There's a wrinkle this summer though. Jesse realizes that he is in love. With both of them. If he's being honest though, he's a bit more in love with Chloe and hopes he can maintain his best friendship with Ava. Love problems aren't the only things Jesse is facing during the summer of 2019. He's devastated to learn that his parents' marriage is in trouble, though neither one addresses the issue with him. His perfect July 4th moment with Chloe and Ava is marred by tragedy, leaving Jesse and Chloe struggling to find ways to support Ava and her sister. 

Returning to the "real world" leaves Jesse stressed and his school work suffers. He also feels a bit left behind by his city best friend, Carson, who seems to have matured over the summer. Visits to Chloe and Ava don't help. As the stress builds, the pandemic hits. 

No one does male teen angst the way Jordan Sonnenblick does. Jesse is smart, self-deprecating and a bit wise beyond his years, but so dorky and cringey, yet hilarious in his romantic misadventures. My students love Jordan's books, and I know this won't sit. Stepping Off is the perfect romance for middle school readers. 

 

Picture Book Review: Ada and the Galaxies by Alan Lightman and Olga Pastuchiv

Image: Candlewick Press

Ada and the Galaxies by Alan Lightman and Olga Pstuchiv. Illustrated by Susanna Chapman. unpaged. mitKids Press/ Candlewick Press, September, 2021. 9781536215618. (Review of finished copy courtesy of publisher.)

I am a terrible book reviewer! I read this gem back in September and, while I noted my love for it on Goodreads, never got around to reviewing it here. So sorry.

Ada lives in the city where light pollution impedes her view of the stars. But after the winter is over, she and her mom make the trek out of the city to Maine to visit her grandparents, Ama and Poobah. Ada cannot wait to see the stars, but first, it needs to get dark and there's plenty to see on the island until then. There's kayaking and beach-combing and an osprey nest to observe. Ada is still impatient for the stars to come out. Poobah points to a big rock, telling Ada that when it's covered with water, it will be dark enough to see the stars. Only the fog rolls in, foiling their plans. Poobah tries to distract Ada with pictures of galaxies in a book, which only help to feed Ada's vivid imagination. When Ada asks to visit the fairy house before turning in, she sees that the fog has lifted and the stars are out. 

An afterword tells readers that the photographs of the stars in the book were taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and that all the information that Poobah gives to Ada is scientifically accurate.

What a beautiful story of the value of being out in nature, of a grandparent's bond and of nurturing a young imagination and sense of wonder! The illustrations are absolutely luscious. I just got lost in each and every one. This is one for the reread pile-inspirational to young and old alike. I loved it.

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

Image: Scholastic

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson. Unabridged e-audiobook. ~ 7hours, 39 minutes. Read by Alaska Jackson. Scholastic Audio, 2020. 9781338637625. (Review of finished audio borrowed from public library.)

Teen Tuesday features You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson. This delightful first-person narrative is Ms. Johnson's sparkling debut. Liz Lighty is our narrator and she charms from the start with her wry, occasionally snarky observations about her prom-obsessed town in the midwest. One example I had to jot down is, "Derek's grand finale, I kid you not, is the lift...looks less like Baby and more like Simba looking over the Pridelands, but, whatever." I read this one with my ears. Had I been reading with my eyes, the entire book would've been flagged with post-its!

Not only is she too poor to be concerned about all things prom, but as one of few Black students, she has never seen anyone who looks like her on the prom court. Besides, music is her thing and she has a plan to get out of her small town - obtaining a scholarship to her dream school, playing in their orchestra and studying like mad to become a doctor. When the scholarship falls through, Liz is crushed until she realizes that the prom queen winner gets a scholarship. Hm. Should she put herself out there? While the book is often laugh-out-loud funny, thoughtful readers will contemplate timely issues like privilege, anxiety and identity. 

I just loved this one! New-to-me narrator perfectly embodied Liz and she had a nice range of voices and superb timing and pacing. I will look out for more books narrated by her as well as Ms. Johnson's sophomore offering.

Middle Grade Monday and arc review: Roll with It by Jamie Sumner

Image: Simon &  Schuster

Roll with It by Jamie Sumner. 256 p. Atheneum Books for Young Readers/ Simon & Schuster, October1, 2019. 9781534442559. (Review of arc courtesy of publisher.)

For most of her life, it has just been Ellie and her mother living in Nashville, dealing with wheelchairs, cerebral palsy and IEPs. Her mom successfully advocated for an aide for Ellie, but she occasionally finds a way to escape. Ellie is not your typical sunshine and roses kid in a wheel chair. She has an edge and a dream. She loves to cook and bake and aspires to be a celebrity chef. Life is pretty good in Nashville; but then Ellie's grandad's Alzheimer's disease begins to worsen, Ellie's mom decides to move the family to Oklahoma. This means living in a trailer where Ellie can't navigate without help. It also means attending a school that is not quite equipped to handle Ellie's special needs as well as being the new kid - in a wheelchair. 

Well, I swallowed this one whole. I loved the voice from page one. Terrific writing. Great characters. Realistic issues. Kids are going to adore this, especially if they enjoyed Out of My Mind! Impressive debut! Looking forward to Ms. Sumner's sophomore novel.

Picture Book Review: Sea Glass Summer by Michelle Houts

Image: Candlewick

Sea Glass Summer by Michelle Houts. Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. unpgd. Candlewick Press, May 14, 2019. 9780763684433. (Review of finished copy courtesy of publisher.)

"Some years ago, a young boy named Thomas spent his summer at his grandmother's island cottage." She gives him his grandfather's magnifying glass and Thomas spends countless hours beach-combing and examining things through the glass. When he finds a piece of glass ground smooth by the sea, his grandmother tells him that every piece tells a story. That night, he has a vivid dream about the origins of that piece of glass. He accidentally breaks the magnifying glass when he falls on the ferry that will return him to the mainland at summer's end, so he tosses the shards into the sea. Many years later, as evidenced by the pink crocs, a little girl named Annie finds a smooth piece of sea glass near her family's seaside cottage and runs excitedly to her "Papaw Tom" to share her discovery. He tells her that each piece of sea glass tells a story and that night...

Such a beautiful story of connection - to beloved grandparents, to nature, to history and the power of story and the imagination. The writing is quite lovely; but the gorgeous watercolor illustrations are the stars here. Each one is arresting. A few are so photorealistic, I did a double-take. The dream sequences are just as detailed but in all gray hues, which makes them all the more remarkable.

Sea Glass Summer would be a wonderful lap book for sharing and also a great read aloud to kick off summer in story time at the library or in elementary classrooms. Inspire some young beach combers. 

#tbt: Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. 288 p. HarperCollins Publishers, May, 1994. 9780060233341. (Own)

#tbt features Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. This heartbreaker was published in 1994 and won the 1995 Newbery Medal. It is the story of thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle's search for her mother, Sugar, who promised to return to her but hasn't. If you love sad stories, you will love Walk Two Moons.