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READING STYLE GUIDE

It’s Cake Time

6/18/2019

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Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai

If cakes truly are magic, where did I go wrong?
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Jingwen, his younger brother Yanghao, and mother venture into the unknown, immigrating to Australia,  Mom works the night shift at a local bakery and Jingwen cares for his outgoing, impulsive younger sibling while she is away.
​It's hard. School is strange. He doesn’t understand what people are saying. Kids at school ignore him.  It’s like moving to Mars.
Relocation is exponentially difficult because his father is not with the family. Dad was killed in a car accident fourteen days before Jingwen’s birthday. This ten-year-old carries a heavy pocketful of resentment, guilt, and loneliness.
Jingwen decides that he will make all the cakes on his father’s list of dream cakes. He hopes recreation of all his father's desserts will bring ease his pain and "make everything better." This task requires money, numerous trips to the grocery store, purchasing ingredients with labels he cannot read, late nights of secretly baking and then consuming all the cake. To make all these confections without his mother's knowledge means some serious subterfuge as well as outright lies.
Lai ingeniously blends text and images. Both are essential essential story elements. Panels capture heart-wrenching moments as well as comical scenes. ​Encountering an unfamiliar culture and foreign language is brilliantly illustrated. A boy stands alone while those around him talk in words that resemble bizarre symbols couched inside speech balloons. At times some characters’ faces transform into monsters, revealing interior panic and fear.
Anyone with a sibling will relate to episodes where the brothers fight, appeal to mom to take sides, are jealous of the other. Like most relationships, there are moments when the boys plot and plan together and even forgive. It's easy to relate to these boys.
​There is a bonus: a recipe for Rainbow Cake can be found at the back of the book. This dessert is much more than a box cake mix. We're talking 14 eggs, separated and prepared individually before combining in a final step. It gave me added respect for Jingwen's ambitious plan to secretly create all the cakes. That's quite a feat.
And the cakes. O my, such cakes! Huge slices of almond chiffon cake with caramel sauce, chocolate raspberry torte, and pear tarte tatin with absolutely no tummy ache are the stuff dreams are made of. But it’s not all sweetness. Pie in the Sky tackles difficult subjects: immigration, grief, sibling rivalry, and language barriers as seen through the eyes of a ten-year-old. While pastry creation and relocating to Australia may be unfamiliar to readers, the emotions are universal. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll definitely want a slice of cake.

Strange Territory

More books where images forming an integral part of the stories of kids coping with strange new environments
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Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.
Pub date: May 14, 2019  Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)  ISBN: 978-1250314093
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...with great power

8/1/2017

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Miles Morales by Jason Reynolds

If only life weren't such a strangely complicated pattern,
every person in the world, a single fly stuck to the web,
​And fear is the spider waiting for the right moment to feast."
"Yeah, well let me ask you something, Super Hero...Who's gonna save you?"
...and in today's "strange but true" turn of events: Yesterday I set Miles Morales down on the table. When I returned to retrieve the book, a case for a new keypad was beside it. The shock of seeing these two items together creeped me out. Seriously. I spent the entire day looking over my shoulder.
Read Reynolds's book and you will understand just how freaky this is. I won't give away an important plot point. However, if anyone has an unexplained encounter relating to this book, please share your experience in the comments section.
Maybe it's just me. 
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Full disclosure: I knew nothing about Miles Morales prior to reading this book.  After picking up the novel, I stopped after the first couple of chapters and did some research, learning more about this Super Hero. I found his back story fascinating. Biracial, his mother is from the Puerto Rico and his father is African American, Miles inherits the burden of a family history of crime.

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​​"Because no matter what you say, you're just like me."
​Reynolds takes this character and adds complexity and depth to the thirteen-year-old who is wrestling to find the balance between his teen life and his super powers (in addition to wall- crawling and unlike Peter Parker, he has the ability to camouflage himself). He's a Brooklyn boy attending an upscale academy where he is besieged by racial harassment. Miles also struggles with  issues such as deciding whether or not to pursue the poetry-loving girl in class. He also grapples with the constant pressure to succeed in school.
"How am I supposed to work to keep some of the weight off my folks, and do stuff like extra credit? It's hard to do extra anything,  y'know?"
​In addition to vividly portaying Miles' inner struggles, Reynolds does a brilliant job of capturing the flavor and charm of the Brooklyn community. I especially enjoyed the dialog overheard when stopping by the barbershop, visiting the bodega, and hanging around the card table.
Reynolds shows his writing chops not only with character development but with a knockout action scene near the book's conclusion. He delivers the goods with heart-pounding intensity. That action left me breathless.
You've done it again, Mr. Reynolds. Another stellar novel to add to your expanding constellation of Middle Grade and YA hits.

Companion Interviews with Jason Reynolds

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Recrafting a Legend with Jason Reynolds
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Author Jason Reynolds Drops by Marvel LIVE! 
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Jason Reynolds: Why Books are Time Capsules
"Do we have a choice?" Alicia asked, snarky.
​"You always have a choice." Ms. Blaufuss winked.
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Tales of Two Princesses

2/11/2015

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Several years ago I had the opportunity to chat with Jane Yolen. Among other things, she mentioned Not All Princesses Dress in Pink, co-authored by Jane and her daughter Heidi E. Y. Semple.
Since then, I have often reflected on the term "princess." Exactly what is a princess?  Aside from being  the daughter of royalty or wearing a sparkly crown, what constitutes a true princess? 
Princess Decomposa and Princess X are two very different princesses. 

Princess Decomposa and Count Spatula by Andi Watson

Princess Decomposia is a sovereign in the underworld.  Overworked and under appreciated, she eventually learns to take control, not only of the kingdom, but of her own life. Andi Watson's delightful comic reveals some of the qualities that make Dee (as she is known to her friends) a true royal. 
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I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest


Meet a princess who is unconventional, fearless, and loyal. Meet Princess X.

Cherie Priest's first foray into the world of YA literature is a heart-stopping story of friendship and intrigue.  Best friends Libby and May invented Princess X, a sword-wielding blue-haired girl wearing a gold crown and red sneakers. Libby's mother fell asleep while driving across a bridge. The car tumbled into the icy water with Libby and her mother. "Libby was dead. Princess X disappeared." 
Three years later, May discovers a Princess X sticker.  She sets off on a dangerous mission to uncover the mystery surrounding the death of her best friend and the reappearance of Princess X.
This is a can't-put-it-down combination comic and prose thriller. 
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    Barbara Moon

    I like talking about books and  interesting ideas. I like thinking about how books affect my life. Not particularly interested in giving out stars or in rating books. 

    Audio Publishers Association
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    ​2017 YALSA Award Nominating Committee
    2016 Excellence in Nonfiction 
    2014 Margaret Edwards Award
    2012 Odyssey Awards.  
    2009, 2010, 2011 Great Graphic Novels for Teens.

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