Teen Tuesday and Audio Review: The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera

Image: Blackstone Library

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera. Unabridged downloadable e-audiobook, ~8.5 hours. Read by Frankie Cross. Recorded Books, November, 2021. 9781705044308. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from the public library.)

Teen Tuesday features The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera. It is the first-person narration of twelve-year-old Petra Peńa, who is evacuating Earth with her little brother and scientist parents. A solar flairs have knocked Haley's Comet off course and it's hurtling straight to Earth. Three space ships will transport a select few to colonize Planet Sagan, but they will have to sleep for 380 years. During that time, Petra and her brother will continue their education via programming. Petra is expected to become a botanist, but her passion lies in storytelling. Her abuela was a storyteller and she wishes to become a cuentista as well. 

However, a dissident group, know as The Collective, boards the ship and re-programs all on board, wiping away all memories of Earth. Petra learns that her brain has resisted re-programming but hides this when she sees what happens to another girl when she remembers her mother-back for reprogramming. And if that doesn't work?

All Petra knows is that her parents and brother are nowhere to be found. 

While fast-paced and suspenseful, the language is lovely. The incorporation of her beloved Mexican folk tales was seamless. Listening to this added to my enjoyment thanks to the fluent pronunciation of Spanish words. 

This sci/fi/ dystopian won the 2022 Newbery Medal as well as the Pure Bel Pré Author Award. 

#tbt: Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

Image: Penguin Random House

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. 256 p. Delcorte Books/ Random House Childrens Books, September, 1999. 9780385323062. (Own.)

In anticipation of the announcement of the Youth Media Awards in Philadelphia on Monday, #tbt features Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. Bud, Not Buddy was Curtis' second book. It was published in 1999 and won both the 2000 Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Award. You may remember, that his debut novel, The Watson's Go to Birmingham, 1963 won a 1996 Newbery Honor. 

Ten-year-old Bud Caldwell is tired of being tortured by his new foster brother. When he fights back, he's punished by being locked in a shed. He escapes, takes his revenge on Todd and hits the road with his suitcase and his rules for having a "funner" life. He's going to look for his father using a few clues in the suitcase his mother left him. Humorous and heartbreaking, this historical fiction paints a realistic picture of life during the Great Depression.

Middle Grade Monday: The One and Only Ivan Full-Color Collector's Edition by Katherine Applegate

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

The One and Only Ivan  Full-Color Collector's Edition by Katherine Applegate. 352 p. HrperCollins Publishers, October, 2015. 9780062425249. (Review of finished purchased copy.)

Middle Grade Monday features The One and Only Ivan  Full-Color Collector's Edition by Katherine Applegate. You may already know or have read this Newbery Medal winner. It is the first-person narration of Ivan, an ape in captivity in a shopping mall who became an artist. I didn't look it up, but I may have featured it in a "Daily Book Talk" on the morning announcements already. Forgive me. Indulge me. When TMS' copy of the book was lost last year, I reordered it. I must not have read the caption carefully, because when I opened the box, I found an over-sized, hefty beauty. If the black and white illustrations of the original were gorgeous, these full-color babies go beyond. If I thought the white space played an important role in the original, the white space here cannot be ignored. The paper is thick and luscious. Hopefully, it will stand up to much reading. 

This collector's edition is one to treasure. I am buying a copy for my home library. I was afraid the size would intimidate readers, but it doesn't. Display the book prominently and it won't sit. 

#tbt: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Image: Penguin Random House

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. 200 p. Wendy Lamb Books/ Random House Children's Books, July, 2009. 9780385737425. (Own.)

#tbt celebrates the tenth anniversary of When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. This time travel novel is set in New York City in the late 1970s. It published in the summer of 2009 and won the 2010 Newbery Medal as well as hitting the NYT Bestseller list and many "Best Books" lists. She drew from memories of her own childhood growing up in New York City to write this novel. Stead was also influenced by her favorite book, A Wrinkle in Time. The story follows Miranda through her sixth grade year and explores themes of independence and friendship.

#tbt: Crispin: the cross of lead by Avi

Crispin: the cross of lead by Avi. 272 p. Disney Press. 9780786808281.

#tbt features Crispin: cross of lead by Avi. This was Avi's 50th book, was published in 2002, and won the 2003 Newbery Medal. It is book one of a trilogy set in Medieval England. It is the story of a fatherless, thirteen-year-old boy known only as Asta's son. When his mother dies, Asta's son has no one to turn to. His village priest tells him his name is Crispin and gives him a cross of lead with some writing on it. Before he can tell Crispin anymore, he is murdered by men sent by the steward of the village's feudal lord. Mystery and action make this a page-turner.

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (audio reread)

Unabridged audiobook on 3 compact discs, 3.75 hours. Read by Adam Grupper. Recorded Books, April, 2013. 9781470351236. (Borrowed from the library.)

Ivan, a silverback gorilla, contemplates life as "the ape at exit 8." He has a few friends in Stella, the elephant and Bob, the stray dog who likes to sleep on his stomach. He has little regard for humans and almost no memory of life before living in his painted cement "domain."

I read The One and Only Ivan with my eyes back in July but never got around to reviewing it. Not because I didn't love it, I adored it and had some Newbery hopes for it. I just fell behind  in my reviewing. I mentioned it in a post at the end of the year when I looked back on all the books I read in 2012 and noticed all the books I loved but didn't review.

So when I saw that SLJ gave the audiobook a starred review last month, I put it on my list to revisit, but with some trepidation. You see, among this novel's many strengths is Ivan's voice. He is an ape of few emotions and even fewer words. The voice in my head was rumbly and gravelly with lots of pausing as the short sentences and couplets reflect in the book. 

     "Humans waste words. They toss them like banana peels 
      and leave them to rot."

     "Humans speak too much. They chatter like chimps, 
     crowding the world with their noise even when they
     have nothing to say."

     "Gorillas are as patient as stones. Humans, not so much."

Perhaps it is for this reason that I rarely reread books that I've read with my eyes with my ears. My audio reading consists mostly of fantasy, YA, or books I tried with my eyes and didn't get into but got lots of great reviews. 

But what with the starred review in SLJ and the fact that I attended the Newbery banquet a couple of weeks ago, I felt the need to reread the book after listening to the author's acceptance speech. I can't begin to describe my disappointment when I realized that Adam Grupper's voice for Ivan was not gravelly and rumbly and that, while his pace was rather slow, did not reflect the poetic rhythm of the writing.

I almost stopped reading within the first few minutes of the audiobook. But then, I was ironing and the cd player was in my pocket. I decided to give it to the end of the first cd and just concentrate on Applegate's lovely writing. (Plus, I rarely abandon a book because I'm stubborn like that.) 

I'm glad I soldiered on because then came Bob's voice. It matched the one in my head. So I committed. I got teary when <spoiler alert!> Stella died. I finished my ironing and sat and sat, totally immersed, and listened to the story in one sitting. And, while I didn't fall completely in love with Grupper's reading, I did fall in like and came to appreciate his performance and interpretation of the book. I'm not sure I would've given it a star had I been the SLJ reviewer though.

I don't wish to dissuade you from reading The One and Only Ivan with your ears. I just want to say that to read it with your ears means that you're missing out on the white space. Yes, the white space. Sure there are lots of lovely bits of spot art that endearingly portray characters but the white space speaks volumes. There aren't many long paragraphs in this book. Most are two sentences, many are one. Ivan doesn't waste any words, after all. The white space represents Ivan's thoughtful processing, his gradual awakening. It's Important.

There are many moments of lovely writing to stop to appreciate along the way here as well. Sometimes, it's nice to stop to marvel over a turn of phrase or an observation. This is rather difficult to do when reading with my ears, especially since I'm usually doing it while walking my dog, gardening, driving, folding clothes or vacuuming. But perhaps I'm listening wrong.

My apologies for this non-review. I suppose this post is more musing than analysis, perhaps it's fodder for an essay post on expectations or some such. 

How do you read with your ears?