Sometimes I wonder if I loved [b:Catherine, Called Birdy|24137|Catherine, Called Birdy|Karen Cushman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1167520363s/24137.jpg|25037] too much, because almost all of Cushman's books have paled in comparison to that one for me. Honestly, I wanted to shake many of the characters in this book almost all the time. Grayling was too timid, too often looking for a way not to lead. Pansy was useless and selfish. Auld Nancy was sometimes too stubborn. Desdemona was too interested in her own welfare. In not really enjoying any of the characters, it made it hard to like the book overall.

Silly me, thinking I would read this quickly in one sitting. No, I needed to examine each poem and picture, figuring out who each figure was. Now, admittedly, I like jazz and I like poetry, so this book isn't a hard sell for me. I think it would be an excellent addition to a music unit, especially if you tied it in with a poetry unit at the same time.

It was fun to revisit this world and get a sneak peek at Heartless. Fun!

It moves along quickly and is easy to read. However, I wasn't afraid of going to the dentist before, but I am now! So apparently we can add "teeth stuff" to "eye stuff" on the list of things that very much squick me out.

I personally did not find this book to be all that funny. Scary, madcap, yes, but I felt I had been told to expect a lot of fart jokes and I just didn't find that many. I do think that if I were younger and reading this, I would like it a lot more. And also never go to the dentist.

In this year of the fox (or at least, since [b:Pax|22098550|Pax|Sara Pennypacker|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1434493048s/22098550.jpg|41443759] got so much attention it feels like a year of the fox, this one might be my favorite. I am one of those who did not like the ending of Pax, but I did like the ending of this one.

Jules and Sylvie live in Vermont with their father. One day, after making a snow family complete with fox, Sylvie runs off to the Slip to make a wish and never comes back. Jules is heartbroken, convinced that she could have stopped her sister somehow. Not long after this, a fox named Senna is born who can sense Jules' sadness. Can the two connect somehow? What is the meaning of their connection?

I found this book to be dream-like, which I enjoyed. It helped mediate the sadness for me, for it is a sad book. There is a lot of loss. It also discusses moving on, and I think the gentle dream-like quality helps in that instance as well. I also find the cover to be gorgeous and would love to see it without the dust-jacket (my copy being graciously provided by a local library.)

I'm not sure why, but I tried really hard to be skeptical of this one. Maybe it's because it was recommended to me by friends who didn't enjoy [b:George|24612624|George|Alex Gino|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1423358952s/24612624.jpg|44165520] as much as I did. Maybe it was because I've been surrounded by discussions about authors who didn't come from the community that they are writing about, and I was skeptical about Gephart. Whatever the reason, I went into reading this with the expectation that I would find some flaw. The only diversity-related one I can think of is that the book has mainly white characters, and the only one with a last name that I would assume went with a non-white name was the bully. At this point, however, I'm not 100% sold on that as a flaw so much as a comment on the book--can I really expect it to be everything?

I appreciated the way Gephart interwove the narrative of Lily and Dunkin. Dunkin felt especially real to me, in that his desire to be friends with Lily interfered with his ability to finally be at the top of the social sphere. In middle school, that is so important. I did like that he stood with Lily at times, and I loved the end where they basically talked about all their secrets together. That felt true to me.

There was one scene I didn't like because the character didn't end up getting any consequences for a bad thing he or she did. (Trying to avoid spoilers here). I get why the characters around him or her had sympathy, but I wanted punishment! This is the second book I've written that about this year, so maybe in my old age I'm getting more punitive. I don't know. It wouldn't stop me from recommending the book.

This would be an excellent book for middle school, high school and public libraries nationwide.

Love the illustrations, love learning about a scientist I knew nothing about before.

I wonder if my review of this book is really fair, because my main complaints about it are structural things more than issues with the actual story. One of the things I never remember until I encounter a book with it is how much I dislike footnotes in the back that aren't indicated on the pages within the text. There were so many good notes and further explanations in the back matter, but I was constantly flipping back and forth, wondering when the next great explanation would come in. This led my reading to feel disjointed.

The story of Yoshitsune is fascinating, with its feats of daring and the origins of seppuku. I found myself having a hard time keeping everyone straight, but I think that's more from my own personal unfamiliarity with Japanese names and terms than Turner's writing. There's a great list of names in the front, which does help. Turner does an excellent job of explaining traditions that are likely foreign to most students in the United States. My issues with footnotes aside, the bibliography and additional notes in the back of the book are also good. I haven't read any of the starred reviews yet, so I'll have to go do that and see what they saw that I am missing.

Diverting enough. I'm not going to rush out and read "The Glass Sword," but I'll give it a try eventually. I see why people love it and also don't get it. I'm neutral on it.