Lila and the Crow
This book is beautifully illustrated, and the story it tells is heartwarming and lovely as well.
Lila is new in town and is so excited to start school and make many new friends. Once she gets to school, though, she quickly becomes the victim of bullying, and her dream has been shattered.
This ebook was given to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Knives Boone
Gabrielle Grimard
Small Great Things
Ruth Jefferson is an African American labor and delivery nurse with twenty years of experience under her belt, raising her teenage son, Edison, alone after her husband was killed while fighting in Afghanistan.
One fateful day, she meets Turk and Brittany Bauer, and begins performing a routine examination of their newborn son, Davis. As she hands the baby back to Brittany to try to help get Davis to nurse, Turk gets angry and asks her to leave and wants to talk to her supervisor, whom he expresses his wish that no African American staff be allowed to touch his son while brandishing his White Supremacist Confederate Flag on his forearm.
A few days later, when an unrelated medical crisis occurs shortly after Davis’s circumcision, Ruth is the only one left to attend to the baby, and he crashes while in her care. Although a team of doctors and nurses rush in to try to save him, Davis dies. Turk immediately blames Ruth for the death of his son, and soon Ruth finds herself on trial for murder. Will Ruth end up in prison for the murder of an innocent baby, or will she be acquitted?
This book was “traditional” Jodi Picoult. She returned to her formulaic courtroom novel format. Usually when an author follows a formula, after one or two novels, it becomes boring and even monotonous – not so in the case of Jodi Picoult. She always manages to bring such fresh new situations into each of her books. Her courtroom novels never come across as “same old, same old”, or worn out. Small Great Things is no different, it is exactly what one would expect from this author – twists and turns, and events that are never expected.
**SPOILER ALERT**
The one thing that could have made this book better for me, would be if the change in Turk had not been so immediate and complete. Although I think this is the appropriate ending and what ultimately needed to happen in order to solidify his character growth, sadly, in the real world people usually don’t change that much that quickly.
**END SPOILER**
Race is most definitely at the core of this novel. At times it is raw and uncomfortable. Words and phrases are used that will make the reader squirm in their seats now and then. Situations develop that make the reader really question his/her own prejudices. As I was reading this book, I stopped numerous times to Google things mentioned, and learn more about real life people referenced. I learned a great deal about how real White Supremacy still is in this country, unfortunately, as well as how although we like to THINK we don’t see color, in reality we do. We all do.
Potentially Offensive Content:
Sex – I do not recall any overtly sexual situations
Violence – infant death is discussed, including a short description of the autopsy, hate crimes abound – numerous attacks on innocents by white supremacists, brutal physical attacks on people of color, verbal abuse, verbal assault
Language – Nearly every racial slur imaginable, there were many swear words and other potentially offensive language sprinkled throughout the entire book. The “F” word is used multiple times.
I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who has ever thought about race, anyone who thinks they are not prejudiced in any way, and anyone who thinks they don’t “see color”.
“It just goes to show you, every baby is born beautiful. It’s what we project on them that makes them ugly”. (Jodi Picoult)
This ebook was given to me for free by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Keppy Boone
Jodi Picoult
Baby Bear’s Not Hibernating
So first of all, I must tell you about my hatred of black bears. Once, years ago while hiking in the Great Smokey Mountains outside Gatlinburg, Tennessee, my husband and I encountered a black bear and her two cubs about 100 yards away from us. This was a beautiful sight, seeing bears in nature, just being bears.
But then… and there is always a but then, isn’t there?? On the way back down the mountain, we again came across this momma bear, but her cubs were not anywhere we could see them, and she was standing up against a tree scratching the tree and grunting at us about 20 feet away. Needless to say, I was terrified. I was so afraid I couldn’t even pee my pants! I merely melted onto the ground in a pile of fear.
It’s become a family joke to make fun of my fear of bears, so when I saw this book, I knew I had to read it. And what a great treat it was! This little baby bear is pretty much exactly like every toddler I’ve ever known, he doesn’t want to go to bed. More specifically, he doesn’t want to hibernate, and he tells his family as well as all his forest friends that he’s choosing not to hibernate.
He comes up with a plan, and although he tries very hard, the plan doesn’t go as he’d hoped. His parents and his forest friends are wonderfully sweet and attentive to him, and keep him free from harm during his shenanigans.
Lynn Plourde has won many awards for her books through the years, and it’s easy to see why, and Teri Weidner is a fantastic artist, the illustrations are beautiful!
This book was given to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Knives Boone
Lynn Plourde
Teri Weidner
Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea
This book was amazing. Not only will I be purchasing a few of these for Christmas gifts this year, I will probably have to buy myself a copy to read to my future grandchildren.
First and foremost, the fact that there was a reference to The Beatles’s song Octopus’s Garden sealed the deal for me. But honestly, I both chuckled to myself and laughed out loud at both the wonderful writing, which was amazingly witty and snarky for a kid’s book, and the illustrations, which were just perfect. And there are quite a few interesting narwhal facts included, so you’ll learn something, too!
This little book would most definitely be enjoyed by kids of any age, as well as adults. Sometimes reading the same style children’s books to your little ones gets a bit boring, but adding this in the mix will induce giggles from everyone.
This book was given to me for free by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Knives Boone
Ben Clanton
Shelves of Knives 