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.

 

New Book From Kandi J. Wyatt

 Coming  Soon!  The Next Awesome Book From Author Kandi J. Wyatt

Blurb

If only the voices would shut up! 

Eighteen-year-old Kristjan has grown up under the weight of this clan's expectations. Living in the shadow of his father's mighty leadership, he has spent years trying to measure up to the office he'll one day hold. Everyone says he'll be an excellent chief, but he doesn't see it that way, and then, as if to prove his point, a hunting expedition to the icy wastes of Toppur goes awry, and Kristjan's party returns one member short. 

As if the guilt wasn't enough to grapple with, the community is struggling to locate a fresh vein of ore--the only way to revive the trade they rely on for survival. When his future father-in-law is trapped in a cave-in, a desperate Kristjan sees an opportunity to redeem himself, but the success he'd yearned for does nothing to ease his growing doubts. 

Meanwhile the incessant whispers in his head are growing louder--a repeating chorus of condemnation and inadequacy that echoes, telling him that the people in his life would be better off without him. When his best efforts to redeem himself go awry, devastating the woman he's bound to marry, it seals the conviction--how can his betrothed even look at him after what he's done? And how ca a person dogged by such darkness dream of anything but further failure? Burdened by his shortcomings, Kristjan must confront the void growing in his spirit--or else it might well consume his future. 

This coming of-age fantasy is the first of a duology that follows two different young men and the women who love them, as they try to find their place in the world and discover where their worth lies.