J.C. Buchanan

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Title: Beyond the Laughing Sky

Author: Michelle Cuevas

Published By: Dial Books (2014)

Synopsis: Ten-year-old Nashville doesn’t feel like he belongs with his family, in his town, or even in this world. He was hatched from an egg his father found on the sidewalk and has grown into something not quite boy and not quite bird. Despite the support of his loving parents and his adoring sister, Junebug, Nashville wishes more than anything that he could join his fellow birds up in the sky. After all, what’s the point of being part bird if you can’t even touch the clouds?

With an ear for language and a gift for storytelling, Michelle Cuevas will remind fans of Stuart Little and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon that anything is possible. Even flying. (Taken from Goodreads)

Review:

This book was simple. Simple plotline, simple set, simple characters. Usually when I rate a book two stars it means I disliked it, but in this case, there just simply wasn’t enough that I did like. I didn’t hate it, but there was nothing I really liked either.

The story looked interesting—about a boy who is part-bird and is trying to learn to fly. There were some nice morals of being different and such, but for me, it was too cliche and predictable to feel real.

This book was very abrupt; there’s really no other word to describe it. There was no real storyline, but rather a bunch of random chapters illustrating random parts of Nashville’s life. Each chapter jumped to a whole different scene and set unrelated to the last; it didn’t really flow at all. Towards the end it was better, but not till the very end. This book was very, very short, too. I read it in one sitting and it maybe took forty minutes.

So, to sum it up, there was nothing I directly disliked. I just didn’t like it at all. I found it poorly written and dull at times. It was a cute story, but nothing beyond a cute story.

Negative Content:

None.

Rating: 2.0

Recommended to: Not recommended.

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Title: Graceful (Willow Falls, #5)

Author: Wendy Mass

Published By: Scholastic Press (2015)

Synopsis:

Angelina D’Angelo has left town to see the world. It’s now Grace’s turn to use her magic to protect the people of Willow Falls, and she is up to the challenge. This is her destiny, after all. But destiny is a funny thing—it doesn’t always behave the way you’d expect it to.

Mysterious postcards from Angelina begin showing up in the mail, Grace’s parents are freaking out with worry, and something BIG is coming to town that will affect everybody who lives there. But all Grace is powerful enough to do is turn leftover meat loaf into pizza.

Fortunately, she’s not alone. She has Team Grace on her side! Amanda, Leo, Rory, Tara, David, and Connor know a thing or two about magic and how it works. But none of them are prepared for what’s coming, and none of them know how to stop it. Life in Willow Falls is about to change forever. (Taken from Goodreads)

Review:

Remind me again why I decided to read this book? Maybe because I had nothing else to read.

Simply put, it was a silly book. (Unrelated to the story, but seriously, who dedicates their book to their fictional characters???)

First of all, let’s address the love and romance. THESE CHARACTERS ARE THIRTEEN YEARS OLD. Are you trying to encourage relationships that young? There is no 13-year-old in the world who acts like that. Are there 13-year-olds who say they have a boyfriend or girlfriend? Sure. But that’s besides the point. There is simply no 13-year-old who acts like this. I mean, seriously? Things like “My heart does kinda ache” “I’ll stand by her to the end” “I just want her to be happy”  Are you kidding? Unrealistic romance that would never be seen from 13-year-olds!

If the end of the book came and I found out Amanda and Leo and the others are sixteen, the book would make a lot more sense. Never mind, I take that back, because all the characters act and speak no more maturely than a fourth or fifth grader. There is no noticeable age difference between Grace and the others, despite the fact there’s three years between them. If anything, Grace acts older!

Anyway, back to the point, it was ridiculous. And over-the-top. Unintentionally over the top. The love was supposed to look natural—not a chance.

Secondly. Most of the story made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Oh, they’re going here now—wait, why? She has powers—wait, didn’t she just say she didn’t have powers yet? Who’s that character again? Wait, how is that exactly important to the story? Here, Grace is going to go unfreeze time—waaaait a second, wasn’t the whole last scene written to help Grace figure out how to unfreeze time because she didn’t know how? And I don’t recall her learning how to!!
Lots of scenarios like these made it very hard to keep track of things. Everything was just so confusing! Maybe if I’d devoted every ounce of my attention to this book, I would know. Unfortunately, this wasn’t interesting enough to be worthy of every ounce of my attention.

On the positive side (there isn’t much), the plot was action-filled. It was interesting enough for me to keep reading, if anything. The author did do a good job of tying in everything and everyone and connecting it all to the magic. I did like the way each character got their own sections and you could see a bit into their minds, even it was mostly Grace.

Overall: There isn’t really much else to say except for more things I didn’t like, so I’ll end it here. I suppose that if you like unrealistic romance (did I mention every single character besides Grace and Bailey are involved in some sort of relationship?!) then you will like this book, but otherwise…don’t waste your time.

Negative Content:

None.

Rating: 2.0

Recommended to: Not recommended.

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Title: Dreamer, Wisher, Liar

Author: Charise Mericle Harper

Published By: Balzer & Bray (2014)

Synopsis:

Dreamer, Wisher, Liar follows the story of Ash, who is convinced her summer is ruined when (1) she finds out her best friend is moving away, and (2) her mom tells her a seven-year-old girl is coming to stay with them. Ash is dismayed. Babysitting for a seven-year-old? No best friend? Nothing could seem worse! But then she discovers a magical jar in her basement, one that sends her back in time. At first it’s simply an adventure. But actually, these past times may teach her a valuable lesson.

 

Review:

This book was awesome! Full of mystery and adventure, but still with a tangible feeling of a realistic fiction novel, this was a true treasure to find. There were a couple setbacks that held me back from a 5.0 rating, but it wasn’t enough to keep me from liking it!

This book, as a whole, was well done. I’ll start with my positives—

The characters were real and relatable; they were easy to love. Claire was hysterical and adorable.

The “past times” she visits were extremely well written; the characters there, in fact, were almost better written than the real life, present time characters. By watching through Ash’s eyes, you come to truly love Ashley and Shue and you relate to what they are feeling. The friendship scenario was a great addition onto the plot, adding more mystery, intrigue, and teaching Ash about friendship. Along with Ash, you come to love them, and you want them to be real, to exist, to still be alive in today’s world and not just something imaginary.

The other thing I really appreciated about this book was that, despite its length, every single scene contributed to the plot. Usually, books like these have mountains of pointless scenes that do nothing to advance the plot, but rather add unnecessary drama or romance. However, in Dreamer, Wisher, Liar, every scene had some sort of importance. Every time I started to think to myself that the scene was pointless, something important occurred. It’s very hard to find these kind of books…but this one was one of them.

There were so many other little amazing things about this book: Ash’s face blindness was an interesting add-on; her favorite author and books, which play into her learning about friendship; Peter and the postal office; all her cards to Lucy; her commication with Lucy; playing and helping with Claire; and so much more—and that it all ties together in the end. Just amazing!

On the downside—

Ash’s mom seemed incredibly fictional. I mean, seriously?

‘THAT’S IT! NO MORE BASEMENT! For a week! Do you hear me?…you’re hiding out again!’  

What kind of normal mom says that? Banning their kid from the basement? For no legimate reason? Also, how she could be so oblivious to anything Ash was doing down there (which, she was going back in time) was beyond me. And that she just yells down the stairs loudly rather than actually going down there. And how she managed to interrupt Ash’s back-in-time segments at the perfectly wrong time. It was just very unrealistic.

Secondly, Ash’s lying. So, I get that’s it part of Ash and part of the title. And I really liked the way Ash realized she was wrong in the end. But honestly, it was really this negative element that lowered my rating. I don’t get how Ash would be okay doing that. much. lying just for wishes; I understand how she loved going back in time, and honestly, I loved it just as much as her—but to lie so much?  Also, even though Ash realizes her mistake in the end and acknowledges her wrongness, she still doesn’t apologize or anything. All she does is decide to stop lying. Nothing else. No apology, nothing. That was really disappointing. I appreciate that she realized her fault, but she could have at least apologized. A negative element to her character that I really disliked.

Overall: As a whole, this was a good book. The things I disliked were enough to bring it down a whole rating, but not enough to ruin the book for me. I look forward to reading it again and spotting things I missed—I’m sure there’s more details that flew over my head the first reading!

Negative Content:

None.

Rating: 4.0

Recommended to: All Ages!