MADreads Reviews

Temple Alley Summer is full of mystery, history, and ghosts. Kazu's summer project is to learn more about his neighborhood, Temple Alley, named for the former Kimyo Temple located where Kazu's house currently stands. An old legend claims that the temple has the power to bring the dead back to life. A girl named Akari suddenly appears in the alley and Kazu starts to wonder if the legend is more than a story. 

The ALA Youth Media Awards were announced last week and Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley was honored in a number of categories (very deservedly so!).

2022 Awards and Honors:
AILA American Indian Youth Literature Award, Young Adult Honor
William C Morris YA Debut Award Winner
Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature Winner

Molly Gray doesn’t see the world like other people do. The eponymous maid in Nita Prose’s debut mystery, Molly also knows that most people don’t see her either. Not really, at least. At the luxury hotel she works at in Manhattan, her single-minded devotedness to her job mostly makes up for that deficiency, and as long as she can keep the Regency Grand in tip-top shape and maintain her A+ devotion to employee excellence, she can cope with the problems that crop up.

Watercress is this year’s winner of the Caldecott Medal for the illustrations by Jason Chin, a Newbery Honor for the writing by Andrea Wang, and the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature in the picture book category. And it deserves all the accolades. It is an outstanding book about the power of story to connect generations and to heal.

Expertly researched and timed perfectly to coincide with viewing of The Gilded Age on HBO, Vanderbilt dissects new versus old money and new versus old New York scenarios from that time period in American history. Along the way it leaves the reader baffled at how and why a family fortune was lost in just a few generations.

This is partly true. I had been planning to read this book for over a year but it moved to the top of my reading list because I was influenced by the news that Lisa Bonet and Jason Momoa had recently split. Let me start by saying that I think Lenny Kravitz is the coolest human living on planet earth today. This book covers the first 25 years of Lenny's life and I'm hoping that by the time a book about the next 25 years is published, Lenny and Lisa will be reun

The previously unimaginable grief and loss that we face today differs from person to person but collectively weighs on all of us. Critically acclaimed, bestselling author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie shares her experience losing her father in the summer of 2020 and the layers of difficulties of losing a loved one during COVID times. This book expands on a piece originally published in The New Yorker and contains as much grief, sadness, confusion and understanding as 67 pages can hold.

In this beautiful picture book, even the youngest book lovers can appreciate the simple comfort of a satisfying refreshment while on a journey. With vibrant cut-paper collage art, the reader  can be transported to a train station stop in Jaipur, India. Part recipe, part sensory experience, this story is based on the author’s remembrances of visits to India as a child. Told with familiar yet descriptive language, children can delight in re-reading this accessible adventure story, while noticing all of the colors, sounds, smells, actions and tastes of this friendly momentary encounter.

"Every year around 27 January, UNESCO pays tribute to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and reaffirms its unwavering commitment to counter antisemitism, racism, and other forms of intolerance that may lead to group-targeted violence. The date marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau by Soviet troops on 27 January 1945.

The American Library Association (ALA) announced the top books, video and audio books for children and young adults, including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery and Printz awards at LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience today.

A list of 2022 award winners follows:

Claudia Lin is living a double life. Her mother and siblings think she's still working a low-level corporate job (found for her by her brother). In reality she's quit that job and taken an entry level investigative position with Veracity; a firm that investigates dating app misbehavior (not showing up for dates, cheating, lying, ghosting, etc). The work in her new job is extremely confidential, but that's not a problem for Claudia who is used to keeping secrets.

J.D. is this librarian’s new hero. The night before his first day of 3rd grade, his wonderful, well meaning mom gives him a terrible haircut. Facing ridicule and embarrassment at school J.D.  takes the clippers into his own hands, practicing on his little brother and then giving himself his own perfect fade. An artist and comic book lover, he is soon transforming the trims of his entire peewee football team, and drawing some unwanted attention from the local barber who is losing business. But J.D. won’t give up his budding business without a fight. Let the great Barber Battle begin!

In the Young Adult book world, there are many new, fresh voices being represented as well as more titles from favorite YA authors. Here are some YA books that have left an impression on me this past year. They made me stay up way too late or were a treat to listen to as I mowed the lawn or drove around town.

A young boy loves to visit with his Abuelo, who plays accordion in a mariachi band. He also loves to listen to his Opa play accordion in his polka band, yodeling along with the music. But, when Opa and Abuelo meet, there is silence between them. They don’t share a language. Happily, the boy discovers they DO share a language, the universal language of music. Each grandfather shares music from their experience and pretty soon, everyone is singing, playing and dancing together as one big family. 

A couple of things drew me to this book immediately. One, the cover, yep, I'm shallow like that. And two, the description of the hero/heroine. He's a retired naval captain and she's the put-upon companion to a difficult woman. My favorite Jane Austen novel is Persuasion so this description hit me in my Austen sweet spot. Did it live up to my hopes based on those two enticements? Mostly, though, in ways unexpected.

This is a heist story. It's also an examination of institutional racism in the rarefied world of classical music and of hope and perseverance in a world that doesn't always reward such. Brendan Slocumb, a former principal violinist and concertmaster, manages all of this in a delicate balance of a story that held my attention from first to last pages.

"When your dad owns a pizza shop, you can have whatever kind of pizza you want." This light hearted tale of a father and son's journey to make the PERFECT pizza is sure to please. After a father asks his son what kind of pizza he wants, the young lad informs him that he would like a pizza with EVERYTHING on it. During their quest to make the most out of this world pizza, the father son duo accidentally set off a chain of events that will change the universe forever. This turn of events is sure to melt your brain like warm mozzarella. With perfectly quirky illustrations by Andy J.

If one were to check the wallets of some of 1930s New York more prominent male citizens, it’s likely one would find a business card bearing simply a sketch of a parrot and a phone number. This card might be inscrutable at first glance, but to those in the know, that card would lead to the home of one Polly Adler, New York’s most notorious and successful madam during the city’s hedonistic Jazz Era.

Three women, colleagues and the kind of sort-of work-friend you make at your job, find their darkest wishes have come true after the company Christmas party. That shocking event forces them to team up in order to avoid at the minimum, unemployment, and at a maximum, prison.

This magical book by Japanese author/illustrator Kaya Doi and translated by Yuki Kaneko is a must-read. In the third book of the series, twin sisters Chirri & Chirra are back exploring beautiful winter scenery with their animal friends. The story has foxes, bears, birds, goats, and cats. It also has hot springs, delicious food, and creative landscapes. Doi brings us a delightful, unique art style. Her winter wonderland story connects the reader to a magical miniature world with a touch that evokes the same emotions as reading a traditional Japanese children's book.