LIS 721: Child at Heart

 City Spies- James Ponti  Ponti, James. City Spies. Aladdin Paperbacks, 2020. 400 pages. Tr $8.99 ISBN 9781534414921 City Spies is a midle grade Mystery Spy Adventure filled with puzzles, ciphers, and hackers and the ups and downs of a found family. Sara Martinez finds herself in some hot water when she's sent to juvenile detention for hacking. But lucky for her the mysterious "Mother" a british spy, offers her a way out by giving her a spot on the the children division of MI6 agency.  I found this book to be particularly engaging. There are many unexplained events that help push tension and maintain interest. Mother remains to be somewhat of an ambiguous figure, Sara spends most of the novel not knowing if she can trust him, therefore leading the reader to feel the same. Additonally, the inclusion of many mstery elements like hacking, red herrings, and POV shifts create a story that keeps the reader guessing and trying to solve the mysteries along with the characters. My...

 Aru Shah and the End of Time- Roshani Chokshi Chokshi, Roshani. Aru Shah and the End of Time. Rick Riordan Presents, 2018. 355 pages. Tr $16.99 ISBN 9781368012355 Aru Shah and the End of Time is a fantastic example of a middle grade fantasy done exceptionally well. Aru lives in the Mueum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture with her mom. One day aru lights a lamp awakening "the sleeper" a powerful being who is prophesied to awaken the Lord of Destruction and bring about the end of time.  It's clear from the trajectory of Aru and this story that Chokshi is no stranger to the fantasy genre. Some could argue that the amount of Hindu Mythology could be alot for readers unfamiliar with the legends but I don't personally subscribe to this opinion. I actually like that we are, sort of, thrown into the deep end of the fantasy genre when it comes to the Hindu Mythology. I don't think it's any different that the way the Percy Jackson books introduce young readers to Greek...

 Moonwalking- Zetta Elliott & Lyn Miller-Lachman Elliott, Zetta. Moonwalking. Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2022. 224 pages. Tr $16.99 ISBN 9780374314378 Moonwalking is a novel in verse told through the perspective of two boys who, despite their outward differences, become friends over their love of art. This book tackles many themes such as mental illness, racial tension and prejudice, neurodivergence, and cultural identity.  I found both characters to be pretty well rounded in terms of how they are potrayed. J.J, a Polish American who has to move from long island to brooklyn after his father is blacklisted after the air traffick controller strike of 1981, is obsessed with music particularly The Clash. Though he is described and potrayed as atypical/neurodivergent, I appreciated that Elliott didn't go the stereotypical route of making the autistic kid obsessed with math or science. I feel that this is a more modern stereotype that has developed from the po...

 My Heart is on the Ground- Ann Rinaldi Rinaldi, Ann. My Heart is on the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl. Scholastic Inc., 1999. 206 pages. Tr $10.95 ISBN 0590149226 Picture me cracking my knuckles when I say, let's get into it.  My Heart on the Ground is a Historical fiction novel told through diary entries of a Sioux girl during the late 19th century and takes place in an Indian School. It is a novel in author Ann Rinaldi's Dear America series, that features diaries from the perspective of other young girls throughout American History.  However, Rinaldi has greatly missed the mark on this one. From her author's note and historical note that includes photographs from this era and of the Native people, it appears as though Rinaldi is aware of how awful these "Indian Schools" were. So, I don't quite understand why, knowing the horrific nature, she chose to depict the Carlisle Indian school as nothing more than a really strict boarding sc...