The Magic Callaloo by Trish Cooke
The book, The Magic Callaloo by Trish Cooke and illustrated by Sophie Bass is one of those books where I picked it apart to make my overall score. First, I looked at the big picture which is almost a 5. The only reason it wasn’t a full 5 (and a 4.75) is because the text was crowded on the page and it was a smidgen on the longer side. The details included made me wonder if it would have been better as a novel, or […]
The Children of the Sun: An Inca Legend by Micaela Chirif
The Children of the Sun: An Inca Legend is based on the original mythology of the Incan people. Author Micaela Chirif created this book so it is able to be adapted to allow multiple ages to relate to it, but it does lean towards an older reader or listener as its audience. It can be intense in the way it talks about the god-like children (who are fully grown) who wander to find the first home (or make the first city) for the humans. It […]
Choose Your Own Adventure: The Ghost on the Mountain (Dragonlarks) by Kyandreia Jones
I don’t know about you, but I used to enjoy the Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid/pre-teen. They were easy and even back then I liked that quick read. That mystery of where your choice would take you. Now they were not my main genre for reading and I moved onto other books, but I always held a small space in my heart for them. And as a bookseller I found them again, but again, I don’t need to read. But I found […]
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
In five words: secrets, Caribbean, sprawling, water, heritage This was a library book club pic that I had heard of (due to the Hulu adaptation) and found it to be intriguing and unique, if also a bit uneven. It’s a story of the gnarled knots and hidden corners of a family tree, and the lengths people will go to protect those they love. After a Thanksgiving Day family blowout, the Bennett family was on rocky ground. Benny, upset at her parents reception to a big […]
Memories from Limon by Edo Brenes
I can understand why people find this graphic novel slow, uninteresting, and only a one or two-rating. However, I can support my five-rating thinking the above as well. Memories from Limon is not an easy read. Not that it is a difficult subject or has something “rough” to it (such as violence, sex, or such), but the personal nature of the tone, the pacing and the illustrations are meant to be taken slowly. There is mention/showing of the grandfathers drinking, and mention of his infidelity, […]
Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin
On the Caribbean island of Saint X, a wealthy family from upstate New York vacations: a father, a mother, and their two daughters, eighteen year old Alison and seven year old Claire. They are nice enough, if oblivious. The father asks the waiter for good local restaurants so he can sample a ‘real’ dish. They tip well, give friendly smiles, try to make awkward conversation. Claire, an awkward, gangly child, quietly builds sandcastles and hopes her sister will help her. Alison, meanwhile, sneaks off behind […]
