Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with Big Nate: Prank You Very Much (Big Nate TV Series Graphic Novel Book 2) by Lincoln Peirce

Big Nate: Prank You Very Much by Lincoln Peirce 
Format:  E-ARC
Publisher:  Andrews McMeel Publishing
Number of pages:  224
Publishing:  November 29th, 2022
Source:  Publisher in exchange for an honest review 

Big Nate first debuted as a comic strip on January 6th, 1991, and in 2010 the graphic novel titled Big Nate: In a Class by Himself was published.  Lincoln Pierce went on to publish eight books in the series and his stories have now been adapted into an animated series on Paramount+ and Nickelodeon.  Each book includes storylines from the animated episodes and illustrations of characters like Nate, Francis, Dee Dee, and Teddy.

Big Nate Prank You Very Much is a tie-in to the animated series and includes stories from two shorts and two complete episodes.    The first story is called "How to Pull a Proper Prank" and involves seven of Nate's infamous pranks including atomic sit-ups, some leaping frogs and even one where he switches out his sister's toothpaste for one that is glow-in the dark florescent green.  While I'm not a fan of pulling pranks on people, I think this story will appeal to readers who enjoy the Nate series.  I am glad that the message of "if you dish it out, you've got to be ready to take it" was included. 

In "The Pimple," Nate wakes up with a honker of a zit smack dab in the center of his forehead.  Concerned that popping it will make it ten times worse, Nate tries to camouflage himself and goes to school.  Instead of being grossed out by his zit, everyone wants to touch it and soon Nate is seen as the cool mature kid whose zit grants everyone their wish.  However, in an unfortunate twist, Nate's lucky pimple has unforeseen consequences for those wish seekers and soon everyone is out to pop that zit.  Okay, having a pimple as a kid was pretty traumatic and stressful, but there is no way anyone would want to touch it, that's just gross.  I get the not wanting everyone to see it and feeling like it's this huge blemish on your face, but this story just went into a whole weird new direction for me.             

In "Picture Day," Nate hashes a plan to break into the yearbook office and correct everyone's pictures, hoping to make this year's picture day a success with some clever touchups.  I quite enjoyed Nate's remakes and found this story to be such fun.  "Time Disrupters" involves a costume ball celebrating a school year with no students lost to homeschooling.  The theme, "The Legend of the Homeschool Corn Girl." Nate and his friends begin working on designing their costumes while Francis is sent by the principal to tutor a girl from their rival school, Jefferson Middle School.  With Francis acting squirrely and trying to evade talks about the dance, Nate vows to discover what his friend is hiding.  Again, this is a fun story that sees Francis singing a song about charter schoolgirl and has an appearance from the legendary Corn Girl that has everyone spooked.  

These Tv series graphic novels will surely appeal to middle graders who enjoy the Paramount + animated television series or readers who get the humor of the original graphic novels or are fans of Nate's hilarious escapades and his tendency to land himself in trouble.  Each of the stories features the full color CG artwork from the animated television series with a sprinkling of Nate's original black and white comic book illustrations.   Surely a hit for reluctant readers who are looking for a humorous story or for fans of the original Big Nate comics.    

 Please don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.

Release Day Blitz for THE YEAR OF THE BEAR by Douglas J. Lanzo

I am so excited to share the news about THE YEAR OF THE BEAR by Douglas J. Lanzo & Ambassador International is available now!

If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful book, be sure to check out all the details below.

This blitz also includes a giveaway for a finished copy of the book courtesy of Ambassador International & Rockstar Book Tours. So if you’d like a chance to win, check out the giveaway info below.

                                                                        About The Book:

Title: THE YEAR OF THE BEAR
Author: Douglas J. Lanzo
Pub. Date: November 1, 2022
Publisher: Ambassador International
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook
Pages: 316

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

A remarkable story of a bear and the coming-of-age journey of a teenage boy.

Thirteen-year-old Jason is on the cusp of manhood, striving to fi nd his place at school and at home—especially after his mother has abandoned them and his father is left to deal with his own anger. When Jason and his father encounter a bear while out hunting, they shoot and kill it, not realizing that they have left a cub without its mother. When Sasquot of the Penobscot Tribe, a part of the Bear Family, discovers what they have done, he decides that Jason needs a lesson in caring for God’s creatures. Thus begins a year that Jason will never forget as he begins to care and train the cub in order for it to survive. As Jason forms a bond with the bear, he, in turn, learns valuable lessons for life. 

“Fans of classic, enthralling adventure (and I’m one) are in for a rare treat.”-Josh Lieb New York Times best-selling and Emmy Award-winning author of I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President

 

                                    Excerpt from THE YEAR OF THE BEAR

The bright sunlight of a late August morning filtered through the windows and slanted into Jason’s eyes, disturbing a deep sleep that had passed into an agitated one. Jason’s dream had mirrored the reality of the previous night, except that he had found himself transformed from the hunter into the hunted. In his dream, Jason had stood alone in the center of a slowly but steadily constricting circle of bears stalking their prey, not for hunger but for revenge. He had killed one of their own, and Jason could discern from the intense fire that burned in their eyes that they had sentenced him to death. Jason shuddered for an instant in the nether world between sleep and consciousness and then gratefully found himself in the waking world.

Jason’s first thought was for the welfare of his loyal dog, who had nearly sacrificed his own life in defense of his threatened master. Max lay fast asleep, wrapped in his blanket with a half-eaten bowl of dog food beside him. Jason took this as an auspicious sign, recognizing that, beyond the sustenance it brought, feeding evidenced a psychological will to live. For Sasquot had ingrained in Jason an appreciation of the power of a being’s spirit to overcome adversity and even death, telling Jason from childhood, “Spirit inside is the fire of man. So long as the fire burns, death will have no power to steal the body away.”

Jason smiled with appreciation as he prepared a breakfast of cereal covered with slices of freshly picked apples. Max had weathered four Maine winters, a scrap with a Great Dane, and two raccoon bites. Max had not cowered from the bear in fear, but rather had pounced on it to protect his young master.

What a spirit! Jason beamed with admiration. If only I could act so bravely in the heat of such danger.

Engrossed in thought, Jason made his way from the main house to the sheep pasture where Sasquot would be grazing the sheep, absent one unfortunate lamb. Jason’s reflections centered on his family stock and whether he could ever measure up to their bravery.

 

 

About Douglas J. Lanzo:

An award-winning and featured inspirational author published in Vita Brevis Press’ bestselling 2021 poetry anthology and Café Haiku’s upcoming 2021 Fifth Poetry Anthology and featured in WestWard Quarterly’s Winter 2021 issue, since 2020 Douglas’ poetry has found homes in thirty-eight literary publications across the U.S., Canada, England, Wales, Austria, Mauritius, India, Australia, and The Caribbean. A graduate of Harvard College and Law School, where Douglas enjoyed writing editorials for The Harvard Crimson and articles for various other Harvard publications, he has published professional legal articles throughout his career. A General Counsel by day and writer by night, Douglas resides in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with his wife and twelve-year old identical twin boys, fellow published poets, enjoying nature, traveling, biking, tennis, and chess. 

Website | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

 

Giveaway Details:

1 Winner will receive a finished copy of THE YEAR OF THE BEAR, US Only.

Ends November 8th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday and a Duo review of Leo's Map of Monsters: The Frightmare and The Shrieking Serpent by Kris Humphrey, illustrations by Pete Williamson

Leo's Map of Monsters: The Frightmare by Kris Humphrey, illustrations by Pete Williamson
Format:  E-book
Publisher:  Kane Miller Publishing 
Number of pages:  160
Published:  In the US via Kane Miller 2022
Source:  Publisher in exchange for an honest review  

Opening Line: "It was early evening and the walls of my bedroom were striped with shadows." 

In the third book of Leo's Map of Monsters series, Leo's village is set to celebrate their yearly Spring festival, a night of festivities filled with food, games, dancing and singing.  Leo is especially excited because Henrik gave him the night off so he could attend with his best friend Jacob.  That is until the village chief, Gilda arrives and tells him he is desperately needed once again to save their village from an encroaching monster.  Swiftly Leo tells a little white lie to Jacob and heads out for the Guardians cabin in the woods, unbeknown to him he is being followed.  Leo is given his next assignment to capture the Grass Gulper, who is making its way toward their village.  Unfortunately, he will only have one chance to capture it, as he only has one Shrinking Stone left, so he will need to make sure that his shot counts.  Assisting Leo once again is Starla, a leatherwing who has the unique ability of communicating her thoughts directly into Leo's head.  And as a new surprise, Leo discovers that he was followed by none other than Jacob, who is injured when the Grass Gulper attacks.   Seeing this as an opportunity to work with his friend hunting monsters, Leo hopes that Henrik will train Jacob too, but can they trust him with this secret?  Or must he resort to taking a hair from the legendary Frightmare's tail in order to take away Jacob's memories of being in the forest for good?  

Seeing this as his only option, Leo agrees to hunt down the Frightmare, but getting a hair from the Frightmare's tail is more difficult than you would think.  They can disappear at will, making it challenging to get a shot off in time.  They're also enveloped in blue flames and fog which makes it difficult to approach them.  They're aggressive and vehemently protective of their territory.  Plus, their mighty hoofbeats are frightening, especially when they come charging at you during an attack.  Hoping to escape just those attacks, Leo ventures into the ruins surrounding the Frightmare's domain only to find himself in a very dark space, which truthfully was unnerving.  Leo certainly had his hands full in this story.  I'd say this was his most dangerous mission yet and exemplifies just how brave Leo is.        

Leo's Map of Monsters: The Shrieking Serpent by Kris Humphrey, illustrations by Pete Williamson
Format:  E-book
Publisher:  Kane Miller Publishing 
Number of pages:  176
Published:  In the US via Kane Miller February 10th, 2022
Source:  Publisher in exchange for an honest review  

Opening Line: "I lay in bed, staring at the wedge of daylight that had forced its way into my room."

Leo is up early to help out his mom, who injured her knee from a fall.  While making her tea, Leo finds out that she needs him to take the Grimwood family's account papers to their home, which Leo had hoped to avoid because their son, Carl has been such a bully to him.  But first, Leo needs to meet up with Henrik to get filled in on his next monster fighting assignment.  Sadly, Leo learns that he used up all of their magical stones, his only protection against the monster's attacks, and now will need to enter the Endless Mines in order to stock up and increase their reserve of magical stones.  This new task appears to be a daunting one, for the mines are housed within Mammoth Peak, in a pitch-dark labyrinth, filled with miles of tunnels crossed by underground rivers and lurking somewhere deep within the Peak is the legendary Shrieking Serpent.   Armed only with his map of monsters, one rusty lantern, a plan of the mines highlighting a route around the serpent, his skills from training, and one vile of Henrik's silvery flash powder Leo heads out through the forest.  Assisting him along the way is his trusty companion, Starla the leatherwing.  

At first everything seems to be going as planned, but then one moment of distraction lands Leo face to face with a Goretusk and in an attempt to avoid being gorged, he steps further into the sinking mud of the swamp.  Luckily, Leo has a history with this monster and is partially pulled out by his great tusks, where he faces a new danger when he encounters forest people, who after helping him get unstuck, take him to their camp.  The forest people do not trust Leo and defiantly don't believe that he is capable of surviving the Endless Mines.  Hoping to convince them of his ability, Leo describes how he is on a quest to retrieve the magical stones found within the mines of Mammoth Peak, despite Willow and Eve vouching for him, the forest people will not agree to allow him to pass.  After a daring rescue, Leo is set free and with Eve's help he begins on his task once again.  Eventually, Leo and Eve make it into the mines and do encounter the Shrieking Serpent, with a little trust and help from his friends, Leo is able to retrieve his magical stones and make his way back home. 

Both of these stories are super quick reads and would make for a nice Halloween read along.  The Frightmare and Shrieking Serpent are formidable foes and challenged Leo in new ways.  This also felt like a switch up from the repetitive theme of the first two books which had Leo going out on a mission to save his village and I'm happy that he had new obstacles to overcome.  Like Jacob following him and Leo needing to be saved from being tied up by the forest people.  Before I would've said that Leo used trial and error to get out of trouble, but this time around I believe the stories highlighted his training with the slingshot and his knowledge for using the right magical stone against the correct monster.  Overall, this is a fun series of books for elementary age kid, 7+ who likes stories involving fighting monsters.   I really enjoyed the black and white illustrations by Pete Williamson and how they showed the menacing side of these two new monsters.  Included at the back of each book are details about each of the monster's strength, size, intelligence etc. which I could see appealing to a Pokémon trading card enthusiast.           

**A huge thank you to Lynn Kelley from Kane Miller Publishing for the E-books of the first four books in the series. **    

BLOG TOUR for Piece by Piece: How I Built My Life (No Instructions Required) by David Aguilar & Ferran Aguilar, translated by Lawrence Schimel

Piece by Piece:  How I Built My Life (No Instructions Required) by David Aguilar & Ferran Aguilar, translated by Lawrence Schimel

Format:  E-ARC
Publisher:  Amazon Crossing Kids
Number of pages:  304
Published:  October 25th, 2022
Source:  E-ARC via Blue Slip Media  

Opening Line:  "I've often been asked what it feels like when you're missing half an arm."

David and Ferran Aguilar are from Andorra, a microstate on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees, bordered by France to the north and Spain to the South.  David was born with Poland syndrome, a rare disease that left him without a forearm.  Piece by Piece is a memoir that details David's life from the moment he is born, to around the age of eighteen or nineteen.  The story is written in conjunction with David's father and includes both their fears, anxieties and hopes for his future as well as reflections on the authors own experiences, and feelings growing up.

The story is told with a lot of humor and is a very engrossing read.  There is a wonderful balance between explaining David's struggles growing up, the ignorance of adults, stares, and insults at school, with the publicity he received from having designed a prosthesis from LEGO bricks at the age of nine.  Sharing both the highs and lows in his life.   I found the chronology of events to be occasionally hard to follow, as David would start to tell a story, only to say he was getting ahead of himself, and then jump back to a different event, making it hard to interpret his age for when certain things happened.  But overall, it's an amazing story, an inspiring story of resilience and perseverance.  

David's family was so loving and supportive, especially his grandmother who refused to think of David's loss of a limb as a tragedy.  Both David and his father have a wonderful relationship, they constantly redefined and adjusted to changes in David's life and the things he needed to accomplish on a daily basis.  His father even learned to adapt both his initial thoughts of the things that David wouldn't be able to do, into modifying a bicycle to allow him to live "without limits." His father's adaptive devices were remarkably inventive.  Included within the book are color photographs of David with his family, images of the numerous awards and recognitions that he received for his LEGO prothesis constructions.  His trip to NASA, feature in National Geographic and the movie Mr. Hand Solo that also details his life were nicely depicted.   David is a remarkable individual and I thoroughly enjoyed reading his story, it's a compelling story with the message of not being limited by other people's thinking, to strive toward accomplishing your dreams and overcoming any obstacles in your way.  **A huge thank you to Barbara Finch at Blue Slip Media for the E-ARC.**               

David Aguilar and his father, Ferran Aguilar, are from Andorra, in Europe. David was born missing part of one arm. At the age of nine, he designed his first prosthesis with LEGO bricks, and in high school he built the next generation, which he named the MK-1. David’s father encouraged him to make a video about his prosthesis and the huge role that LEGOs played in his life, and posted it on social media, where it went viral and changed both of their lives. In addition to telling his story in this book, David is also the protagonist of the Spanish documentary Mr. Hand Solo, which won the award for best documentary at the Boston Science Fiction Film festival. David is currently developing his own brand, Hand Solo, which will aim to benefit various organizations for the disabled and fight against the stigma of “diff-ability,” as he calls it. Follow David and Ferran on Twitter @Handsolooficial and @AguilarFerran.

Instagram: @handsoloofficial

Lawrence Schimel is a bilingual author who writes in both Spanish and English, with more than one hundred books to his credit. He is also a prolific literary translator, into English and into Spanish. His translated books include Wanda Gág’s Millions of Cats; George Takei’s graphic novel They Called Us Enemy; and Some Days, written and illustrated by María Wernicke; among many others. He lives in Madrid, Spain. Follow him on Twitter @lawrenceschimel.

David in his own words describing How he built his Prosthetic Arm with Lego Bricks 

Review of Undercover Latina by Aya de León

Undercover Latina by Aya de León 
Format:  E-ARC
Publisher:  Candlewick Press
Number of pages:  208
Published:  October 11th, 2022
Source:   Edelweiss+

Opening Line:  "A grown man is no match for a teenage girl on a skateboard."

Undercover Latina is the debut middle-grade novel from Aya de León, an established author of adult heist and espionage novels.  The story centers on fourteen-year-old Andréa Hernández-Baldoquín who only recently learned that her family works for the Factory, an international organization of spies dedicated to protecting people of color.   Andréa has been selected to go on her first solo mission to infiltrate a local high school and befriend the estranged son of a dangerous white supremacist.  She's hoping she will be able to gather information on Kyle's father's whereabouts and stop him from launching a national terrorist attack.    The only thing is Andréa will not be entering the school as herself, instead she will be undercover as Andrea Burke, a white girl, as both Andréa and her mother are light-skinned and can pass as being white.  To get closer to Kyle, Andréa learns to play Tríangulo, a card game based on anticolonialism (similar to Magic the Gathering in play style) and meets Kyle's best friend, Ramón who she unexpectedly develops a crush on.  Giving up every part of her Latino heritage and identity proves to be more challenging than Andréa expected, especially when faced with hearing xenophobic comments and not being able to respond to them because she might blow her cover.  Can she hold on in order to stop the attack or will her hidden identity be revealed to all?  

Undercover Latina explores the topics of racism, privilege, culture, and passing as white, by adapting the xenophobic comments the authors own mother received into Andrea's story to illustrate how she too was overlooked as being Latina because of her lighter skin color.  I appreciated the way the story also combats these harmful ideals. Overall, this was a very interesting read and super action packed.  From the very first pages where Andréa grabs a suitcase and jumps onto her skateboard while navigating her escape route, the reader's attention is instantly captured.  It's evident that Aya de León put a lot of effort into developing her story with the middle grade reader in mind.   She even developed the game of Tríangulo, with all its specific rules for how to play, what each character card does and strategies for winning.  Some of which I was entirely lost on, but I don't play Magic the Gathering either, however I'm sure kids would thoroughly enjoy reading about.  Readers will also enjoy reading about Comic Con and the cosplaying competition while following along with its fast-paced action sequences.  Undercover Latina will appeal to readers of action and spy stories, as well as for fans of card games.  **Thank you to Laura Rivas at Candlewick Press for drawing attention to this title to me and Edelweiss+ for the E-ARC** 

Top Ten Tuesday Halloween Freebie

 Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Each week there is a new prompt, and everyone is encouraged to share their list. 

This week's prompt is a Halloween Freebie, with the temperatures here getting cooler and the leaves changing colors it's a perfect time to reflect on the books that remind me of Halloween and reading something delightfully creepy.  

With an opening line of "There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife." I was riveted by the illustrations and the story.  

Eight stories that follow Hansel and Gretel across Grimm's fairy tales.  Not for the squeamish but also very entertaining.  

A double murder, a family that comes from a long line of psychic's and a creepy/sinister killer.  

Lindsay Currie always does creepy, spooky books so well.  I could've included The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street, Scritch Scratch and What Lives in the Woods.   All have wonderful settings and a story that sends little chills up your spine.  

 A very atmospheric kind of spooky, with the dark woods, mysterious enveloping fog, the cemetery and of course the dark stormy night. Not to mention the scary dogs and ghosts that appear to Zee. Yep, all the elements for spooky. 

A scary but not too scary story that hit all the right notes for me.  

I love everything that Jacqueline West writes and I'm especially fond of The Books of Elsewhere series.  The Strangers is the fourth book in the series and takes place during Halloween.  

She has such a beautiful poetic way in which she writes. "Above them, the purple sky was deepening to black. The moon, like a sliver of sharpened bone slit the trails of passing clouds..." and my favorite line "Twists of black crepe paper threaded the warm air, where the smells of popcorn and caramel mingled in a sugary fog..." Can't you just smell the popcorn in the air? If that wasn't enough, the illustrations by Poly Bernatene are gorgeous and capture the mood of the season with one of my favorites being Olive and her friends dressed up in costumes for a Halloween carnival. 

Anyone who knows my taste in books, knows I love the Lockwood and Company series.  These are the books that I savored, reading them slowly and only when the next book came out in the series.  I'd read these over days, enjoying every single word.  They're just the perfect book if you love creepy stories for Halloween.  

  

Ghosts, zombies, sorcery, necromancy and a girl who lives in a shadow world, destined to wield dark magic.  

This is a wonderful creepy book and I love love Fernie. With her red hair pulled up wearing green Werewolf pajamas and Frankenstein monster slippers, she is just so adorable. I even love Gustav who is sad, wears a black suit with a black tie and looks like he should be at a funeral. Overall, a wonderful story with beautiful black and white illustrations by Kristen Margiotta.

Feel free to leave me any suggestions on books that I should check out to add to my Halloween reading list.  

                                                        

Morning Sun in Wuhan by Ying Chang Compestine

Morning Sun in Wuhan by Ying Chang Compestine
Format:  E-ARC
Publisher:  Clarion Books
Number of pages:  208
Publishing:  November 8th, 2022
Source:   Spark Press via NetGalley 

Opening Line:  "It feels as though hours have passed since the waitress took my order."  

Mei lives with her father, the director of the respiratory care center in Wuhan, China.  She has been grieving her mother since she died a year earlier, her nearest companions are a neighbor who checks on her from time to time, playing an online computer game and cooking.  Her father has been pretty busy with his work, which makes Mei's aunt very angry with him.  The story begins just as Covid hits the town of Wuhan and follows Mei as she navigates life in her city after the virus emerges.  It takes place across a year's time span (From January 2020 to February 2021) and then jumps ahead a year to February 2021 with the celebration of the Chinese New Year. 

There are moments in time when events happen that are so clear, vivid recollections of where you were and what was happening around you.  Often, we hope for the happy memories, but too often it's the sadder moments that come to mind.  I think most people will forever recall the early onset of Covid and what the country was living through at the time.   Morning Sun in Wuhan is the authors way of reflecting on events that occurred at the onset of the pandemic in Wuhan, taken from conversations with friends, family and photos and videos made in the city, which were then pieced together to the tell the story of a young girl who provides comfort for her neighbors by preparing meals in a volunteer cooking shelter (which was an actual news story that the author also drew inspiration from).  It's a story of community and a testament to all the front-line workers who worked tirelessly to help feed, heal and provide aid during moments of distress.  Included within the chapters are recipes for the meals that Mei prepares and an author's note explaining her reasons for writing the book.  Overall, this is a very interesting story that accurately depicts the events as they unfolded at the epicenter for Covid and brings the perspective of the individuals present when the virus broke.  Hopefully the story will help combat some of the negative perceptions that were being made about Wuhan at the time and will also help develop empathy for what the city and its people had to endure.  Written by an author originally from Wuhan this is an especially valuable first-hand account.      **A huge thank you to Spark Press for the E-ARC via NetGalley**