Across So Many Seas

Across So Many Seas tells four stories of 12-year-old Jewish girls in the same family line, all living in different locations and times but all experiencing oppression and religious persecution in various forms. I thought for sure one of the stories would be set in Europe in the 1930s since that's the Jewish oppression I'm most familiar with, but none of them were! The first story was set in Spain in 1492 and truth be told: I did not know that the Spanish monarchs expelled all the Jews! They all had to convert to Catholicism, leave the country, or die. 

In fourteen hundred ninety two, 

Spain expelled all of the Jews.

Oh, and Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

The next three stories were of grandma (1923, Turkey), mom (1961, Cuba) and granddaughter (2003, Florida) and were more compelling than the first only because we already knew the family and the backstory when the new story began.

My favorite story was about Alegra - a patriotic 12-year-old Cuban Jewish girl who goes to work as a brigadista during Fidel Castro's rise to power. I didn't know about brigadistas before (so much ignorance) but learned some cool stuff. For instance, as a result of Castro's "literacy campaign," the UN recognized Cuba as a fully literate nation just a year later? And Cuba currently has one of the highest literacy rates in the world - 99.8% approximately? And most of the Cuban volunteers who went to live with farming families and teach them to read in the evenings during the campaign were between the ages of 12 and 18?

Enjoyed the book, learned some stuff. Four stars.

Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All

Cute, quick read about the daughter of two very hardworking NYC laundromat owners who goes on adventures with her new friend to find the owners of lost socks left at the laundromat. It explored themes of friendship, racism, cultural differences, familial love and forgiveness but my BIG takeaway was, "I can barely find the owners of lost socks IN MY OWN HOUSE! There is no way Magnolia and Iris found the owners of those socks in ALL of NEW YORK CITY!" For that reason, I feel confident classifying this book as a fantasy. Because finding the sock owner every time after two maybe three conversations felt purely fantastical.

The Wrong Way Home

I am shook.

Another Newbery shocker: A girl escapes a cult with her mom but she's so totally brainwashed that all she wants to do is go back to the cult. Who knew you could appropriately tell the story of a cult to a child audience? 

BUT as a result of reading this very realistic fiction, of course I went down an internet cult rabbit hole. And now I just feel creeped out and disgusted by the absolutely depraved things people are capable of doing. 

While reading, I kept commenting to my husband, "She is totally drinking the Kool-Aid. Still!" and he finally said, "You know that's a reference to mass suicide, right?" and I was like, "Of course!" but then realized I didn't know the full story behind the idiom and it is GROSS and despicable and left me feeling very icky. 

Now I see cults everywhere. I saw a billboard with a reference to Adam and Eve with a UFO on it and I was like, "Wha?" so I googled the website on the billboard and found a cult and then started reading about Scientology and I was like, "Yep, another cult." But THEN I was looking up lists of cults and I found MY very large, established Christian church on a list of cults in Russia (different countries have different lists) and I realized there are people out there who think *I* am drinking the Kool-Aid which made me sad but also gave me a little more empathy for Fern. 

The Wrong Way Home was a great read. It was suspenseful and terrifying but also hopeful and heartwarming. It was interesting to have Fern, the narrator, be the one who was misguided for most of the book and it made me wonder if any young readers would be confused by that. I feel sure, however, that by the time it is necessary to do so, every reader can confidently yell, "DON'T GET IN THE VAN!"

Eagle Drums

Eagle Drums is a retelling of the origin of the Messenger Feast - a traditional Inupiat gathering.  The Inupiat people are indigenous to northern Alaska and the author is a tribally enrolled member. 

All of that is really cool. And the story was good. It was well written and descriptive and interesting. 

But did the brothers really have to die? Their deaths seemed so pointless. And my pervading question throughout (and the whole purpose of the story is for us to wonder this) was, "What is in it for the Eagles? Why are they teaching him all this? What do they get out of making him a master of dance and song and drums and building?" This, by the way, is actually supposed to be the reader's pervading question, because the big reveal at the end is . . . it makes the Eagles immortal. It's so selfish! Why do we care about the Eagles? They killed his brothers! They're jerks! They steal people from their families! Let them get old and die! Maybe that is Inupiat blasphemy, but it is how I feel.

The Many Assassinations of Samir, The Seller of Dreams

Positive: Best Newbery book title ever

Negative: Only one woman . . . and she was basically only an object of desire.

Positive: Great "twist" ending

Negative: Literally couldn't find a part to read to my second grader that I thought he would like

Positive: Samir's disguised kindness

Negative: Set in the 12th century

Elf Dog and Owl Head

I have been trying really hard to get my 8-year-old into chapter books. He loves graphic novels, but I'm never sure how much he is reading and how much he is just looking. And while I have grown to enjoy graphic novels, there is something about imagination and setting and story telling that doesn't happen with a graphic novel. The last chapter book I tried to get him excited about was actually above his reading level (which frustrated him), so I had him look at the covers of all my 2024 Newberys and decide which one he wanted to read. Elf Dog (obviously) won. So I read it once on my own and now he's reading it to me. While reading the first chapter, he reacted like this guy reading a fantasy novel. He kept looking at me confused and saying, "What?"  "What is a wyrm?" "Who are the people under the mountain?""Why are they hiding from humans?"

Not going to lie; it was kinda fun.

My review: This book was okay. Just okay. The fantastical bits were mildly entertaining. Angsty DiRossi was annoying. The consequences and explanations were incomplete. I didn't connect with any of the characters (except maybe the know-it-all little sister Juniper). Perhaps the biggest drawback: I just really don't understand people's love of dogs. 

Simon Sort of Says

 I spent the first several chapters of Simon Sort of Says eagerly awaiting the big moment where the author would reveal what tragedy caused Simon's PTSD. That didn't feel right - to be anticipating the description of a tragedy. And I couldn't figure out whether I should be ashamed of feeling that way or whether I should blame the author for structuring the story such that she didn't immediately reveal why Simon is so traumatized but alluding to a horrible event in his past ad nauseam. I did worry she was going to make me wait until the last chapter of the book to get the big reveal, but the truth - that Simon was the sole survivor of a school shooting - came out about halfway through the book. To be fair, if I had read the dust jacket before I read the book, I would have already known. Perhaps then I wouldn't have been so eager to hear a violent story. 

School shootings are completely nonsensical. They are. I can't even wrap my mind around why they happen and how senselessly tragic they are and perhaps that's why they are so completely fascinating - even fictional ones like the one depicted in this book. I can't even BEGIN to understand the trauma someone in Simon's shoes would experience and so I am totally in awe of this author for attempting to do so. I think what she did was important and relevant.

A note about the characters of this book: 

- Simon, Kevin and Agate all seem way too mature to be middle-schoolers. All their conversations are sophisticated, all their quips are clever and almost all their reactions are tempered and appropriate, even when they're in the middle of trauma episodes or panic attacks. But, while I did not think they were realistic middle-schoolers, I did find all three of them to be very likable.

-Simon's parents are so cool. Like, the most ideal pair of understanding and loving parents that someone in a traumatic situation could want. They honestly made me want to be a better parent. This is what the world needs! Better parents!