61. Just A Girl

Just a Girl: A True Story of World War II. Lia Levi. Illustrated by Jess Mason. Translated by Sylvia Notini. 2022. 144 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: My name is Lia (if you look at the cover of this book, you'll find my name on it!) and I want to tell you the story of when I was a little girl. Mama, Papa, my two younger sisters, Gabriella and Vera, and I lived in a city in Italy called Turin.

Premise/plot: Just A Girl is a memoir for young readers. The memoir chronicles her time as a Jewish girl growing up in Italy during the Second World War. It spans the second world war. Childhood is full of plenty of changes, but, during this time in history especially so. Some of the changes happen subtly, some abruptly. 

Throughout the book, Lia sees herself as a "Jewish girl." It is her Jewishness that marks her. Her life is turned upside down and inside out because she is Jewish. Every single change--all of them damaging and devastating--is because she (and her family) were/are Jewish. But by the end of the book, by the end of the war, she can be JUST A GIRL. She no longer has to be labeled and defined. She can just be herself. 

My thoughts: I definitely enjoyed this one. I do think books about the second world war, and specifically books about Jewish experiences during the second world war, should be written for ALL age audiences. There are plenty that are appropriate (you could even argue necessary and important) for middle school audiences on up. There are fewer books written for elementary audiences, in particular for third to fourth graders. 

I thought the book had a good, strong narrative. I felt it was gentle at times. But it was definitely straightforward as well. It didn't paint it as a lovely-lovely glorious time. It didn't shy away from the harshness of the times.

© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers

60. Zia Erases the World

Zia Erases the World. Bree Barton. 2022. 256 pages. [Source: Library] 

First sentence: Every dictionary has secrets. That's to be expected, seeing as how a secret is made of words.

Premise/plot: Zia, our young heroine, discovers that she has the power (with a little help from a magical eraser and a magical dictionary) to change the world. But are her changes for the better or for the worse? Does erasing a word and all its meanings (definitions) ultimately helpful and healing to her anxiety? Or are words themselves part of the solution to what troubles her?

Zia struggles with 'the Shadoom.' It is her word for the shadow-y doom-y haunting weightiness of the anxiety that she's dealt with (mostly on her own, but sometimes with a little bit of reaching out for support) for the past year. 

Quite a bit is going on in her life--at school and at home--and the Shadoom seems to be a little out of control. Will finding this magical dictionary be the solution she so desperately craves?

My thoughts: I wanted to love, love, love this one. I didn't quite love it. But I did really enjoy aspects of it. I'm not sure that magic realism is my cup of tea. I want to be clear that it isn't so much a problem with the book itself as I don't happen to enjoy magic realism. I like realistic fiction. I like fantasy. I don't necessarily like them together.

My absolute favorite quote:

Maybe it’s weird that an old dusty book of words gives me comfort. But words aren’t mean. They don’t make you feel small or broken. And if someone else does, you can look up small and broken in the dictionary and find them in permanent ink, proving someone else felt those things, too. Probably lots of someones. Who wouldn’t be comforted by that?

© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers

59. Blips on a Screen

Blips on a Screen: How Ralph Baer Invented TV Video Gaming and Launched a Worldwide Obsession. 2022. [March] Kate Hannigan. Illustrated by Zachariah OHora. 48 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Rudolf "Rolf" Baer loved games. Money and food had grown scarce everywhere after the Great Depression began in 1929. 

Premise/plot: Blips on a Screen is a picture book biography of Ralph Baer. (ETA: Perhaps this isn't quite true. It is limited in its scope. What we have is a focused biography on Baer as an inventor of video games.) As a child, he along with his family, were Jewish refugees to the United States in 1938. It is the biography of the inventor of television video gaming. Much of the book has a setting of mid to late 1960s to early 1970s. 

My thoughts: The book offers young readers a brief introduction to the pioneer 'early days' of video games. The narrative is fairly straightforward and reads like a story. The back matter is much more detailed--and in some ways even more fascinating. I enjoyed seeing the detailed timeline!  

(ETA: His wikipedia article.)

© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers

58. DJ Funkyfoot: The Show Must Go Oink

DJ Funkyfoot: The Show Must Go Oink (DJ Funkyfoot #3) Tom Angleberger. Illustrated by Heather Fox. 2022. [March] 112 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: My phone rang. "Greetings," I said. "I am DJ Funkyfoot and I am at your service."

Premise/plot: DJ Funkyfoot is in between jobs when his third adventure opens. After a few false starts, DJ Funkyfoot finds himself a new employer. Great Wolfgoose Pigwig is in great need of a butler; a butler who will do anything and everything to make sure everything is done EXACTLY to his orders. Readers pick up on--or at least older adult readers will pick up on--the fact that Pigwig may not be the best boss!!! 

Many misadventures follow his first day on the job...

My thoughts: I really have enjoyed this early chapter book series. DJ Funkyfoot is a great narrator. I've found the books fun, charming, enjoyable. This third book is no exception. I have not done any research, but it almost sounded like the author was concluding the series. Everything was wrapped up nicely with a bow. If so, I'm disappointed. 

I do recommend the series. It's just so much fun. Ridiculous, whimsical, but super fun.

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers

57. Crab and Snail: The Invisible Whale

Crab and Snail: The Invisible Whale (Crab & Snail #1) Beth Ferry. Illustrated by Jared Chapman. 2022. [March] 64 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Huff. Huff. Huff. Hello! We'd introduce ourselves but we have a Code Red.

Premise/plot: Crab and Snail are best beach friends. These two friends are the narrators in a new graphic novel early reader series by Beth Ferry. 

My thoughts: I found this very meh. Unfortunately. It's not like I started this one wanting it to be dull as dirt. I am always on the look out for new early reader and early chapter book series to recommend. It's important to me to seek out books in these categories because they can be so important in growing young readers. 

The setting is the beach/ocean. The action is non-existent. Mostly. Two friends chatter back and forth about nothing. Until somehow or other they decide to make friends with an invisible whale. Then they go to chattering about that instead. Nothing much happens in terms of plot. As far as characters, well, very minimal depth to development. The humor is bare minimum. I think an attempt was made to be funny. 

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers