Flume by Bigfoot

 

Genre:  Middle Grade, Mystery

Source:  I purchased a copy

This is a book with a very interesting premise.  We meet Shanks a young boy who lives with "the Captain".  It is his birthday and Captain has purchased him a ticket for the worlds tallest Flume.  There is one problem. Shanks hates water and can't swim.  When he reaches the top and starts his trip down he reaches his two friends  Flo and Yam. Each of these characters is very unique.  Flo is the tech guru. Yam keeps going into trances and proclaims someone will die.  The flume was designed and built by a former explorer who just happened to die when he took the first trip down. His body was never found.  For Shank, not only is he terrified of water, he's terrified of heights. Now that the fear level is at its highest, let's throw in a sudden thunderstorm that is the worst in a long time. As Shank zooms down the thirty-three minute ride he has hallucinations. The visions involve his parents who are long dead.  As we take this ride we find Yam telling the story of the explorer and the different places he travelled and the worlds he wrote about. What is the connection between his vision, the explorer and this flume?  I definitely need to check out this author's other books.  I enjoyed this even with the twist at the end. It is the only thing I didn't find satisfying.

Giant Island by Jane Yolen

Genre:  Children's Picture Book

Source: I purchased a copy.

A delightful book in many ways. A grandfather takes his grandchildren to Giant Island. While he fishes the children explore the island with their dog. They explore inside and out, above and below the water. By the end of the book they learn what their grandfather has known all along.  Beautiful storyline and the illustrations are fantastic.  I felt like a kid again as I read this book. It made me long for the days when my imagination ran wild.  Then again, with a book this wonderful, maybe the author has never let her imagination grow up.  Definitely a book to purchase for my great grandson.

 

All The Silent Bones by Gregory Fun

This book will be published on June 9th.

Genre:  Adult, Suspense, Thriller

Source:  I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I must admit that I was only familiar with this author’s middle-grade books because I teach middle grades.  However, I have discovered how excellent his adult books are.  I am a very eclectic reader.  My mother used to say if it stood still long enough, I would read it. She wasn’t wrong. I love reading works with a dark side, like this book, which is full of darkness. What is there to love about All the Silent Bones?

The opening of the book introduces two of the characters.  Both characters have very dark sides. Although the book begins with the characters as adults, it then flashes back to their childhood.  When Bobby moves into their neighborhood, Ray’s father forbids him from ever going into their house.  We all know what happens when you tell a kid they can’t do something. I immediately wondered whether his father knew something or just felt something was off with the family.

The trauma that happens at Blackamore Pond is handled differently by each boy. Regardless, we can see that each character is still affected by that trauma years after it occurred. We can see how childhood violence affects the characters as adults.  Trauma stood out the most because I had several students this year who struggled with family violence in their homes. When I have students like this, I often wonder how they will handle it as adults.  For me, seeing the makeup of the characters and the way their past created their present made them feel more realistic.  I liked that.

This book was a bit of a slower read for me, as I am accustomed to reading middle-grade and young-adult books to recommend to my students.  It took a while to get into the adult frame of mind and expectations. It had all the things I love and crave in adult books.  We have characters who have been hiding secrets.  The characters are fleshed out so that we see all their sides, including the good, the bad, and the ugly.  I loved the pacing and the twist.  The only negative for me is a personal thing. I am a grown woman, but not a fan of the “F” word. I hear enough of it from my students.  Overall, I would recommend this book and check out his other adult books.