21. Last Bus to Everland by Sophie Cameron

listened to Audio/borrowed from Bosler Library
narrated by Joshua Manning in a thick Scottish brogue
Unabridged audio (8:19)
2019 Macmillan Children's Books
288 pgs.
YA Fantasy
Finished 1/30/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.93 - 437 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting: Contemporary Scotland

First line/s:  "This never would have happened if I hadn't named the bloody cat Tinker Bell."

My comments:  This was a quiet, lovely story:  loads of reality gently sprinkled with some wonderful fantasy.  The protagonist, Brody, is a quiet, gay 16-year old with a genius brother, an overworked mother, and a dad who has agoraphobia and hasn't left the house in years.  Brody is constantly teased and ridiculed by a pair of girls in his apartment complex and at school, he's afraid he's going to fail all his exams, and he never gets a chance to play the beloved drums that he only get to access at school.  Then he meets Nico and is introduced to Everland, a land of fantasy and happiness.....Narrated in a thick Scottish brogue, I found the story absolutely delightful.

Goodreads synopsis:  Brody Fair feels like nobody gets him: not his overworked parents, not his genius older brother, and definitely not the girls in the projects set on making his life miserable. Then he meets Nico, an art student who takes Brody to Everland, a “knock-off Narnia" that opens its door at 11:21pm each Thursday for Nico and his band of present-day misfits and miscreants.

          Here Brody finds his tribe and a weekly respite from a world where he feels out of place. But when the doors to Everland begin to disappear, Brody is forced to make a decision: He can say goodbye to Everland and to Nico, or stay there and risk never seeing his family again.

14. The Precipice by Paul Doiron

#6 Mike Bowditch, Maine Game Warden
listened to Audio (9:23)  borrowed from TPPL
read by Henry Levya
2015 Minotaur Books
322 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished 1/28/2019
Goodreads rating: 4.01- 1998 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting: Appalachian Trail area in Northern Maine, September

First line/s:  "There is a sign at the southern entrance to the Hundred Mile Wilderness.  It is made of rust brown wood and painted with white letters, and it sends a stern and unmistakable warning to all who enter:"

My comments:  Excellent mystery, wonderful setting, with all sorts of well-written description. The Appalachian Trail has always fascinated me, and Steve and I used to take many Sunday or weekend drives to the areas near the setting - Monson, Greenville, Dover-Foxcroft.  Love the area.
           I'd forgotten how disconcerted I was last time I listened to one of these, because of the many mispronunciations the reader had.  I can't believe that these aren't corrected/edited - either by a thoughtful editor doing their job, or even the author.  Perhaps he's never listened to his works read aloud?  I think he'd be really annoyed!   Piscataquis, coyote, Bangor, Augusta, and even BOWDITCH are said wrong over and over and over again.  So frustrating for a Mainer to hear, yuck!  But, alas, not the author's fault, so I won't take ratings points off.
          My only criticism about the story itself is that Stacy Stevens is so unlikable to me.  Ordinarily it wouldn't be a problem, but Mike seems to be head over heals in love with her.  Not my favorite part of the story.  She's pushy, egotistical, moody, and not nice enough not only to others, but to Mike, too.  He'll never see it, though.

Goodreads synopsis:  In this riveting new novel from Edgar finalist Paul Doiron, Bowditch joins a desperate search for two missing hikers as Maine wildlife officials deal with a frightening rash of coyote attacks.
          When two young female hikers disappear in the Hundred Mile Wilderness—the most remote stretch along the entire two-thousand mile Appalachian Trail—Maine game warden Mike Bowditch joins the search to find them. The police interview everyone they can find who came in contact with the college students and learn that the women were lovers who had been keeping their relationship secret from their Evangelical parents in Georgia.
          When two corpses are discovered—the bones picked clean by coyotes—rumors spread that the women were stalked and killed by the increasingly aggressive canines. Faced with a statewide panic, Maine’s governor places an emergency bounty on every dead coyote, and wildlife officials are tasked with collecting the carcasses.
          Despite some misgivings, Bowditch does his grisly job. But he finds his complacency challenged by his new girlfriend, the brilliant but volatile biologist Stacey Stevens, who insists coyotes merely scavenged the bodies after the women were murdered. When Stacey herself disappears on the outskirts of the Hundred Mile Wilderness, Bowditch realizes that locating her means he must also discover the truth behind what happened to the two hikers. Were the young women really killed by coyotes or, as Stacey insisted, were they murdered by the most dangerous animal in the North Woods?

10. The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir

read on my iPhone (borrowed from TPPL)
2018, Knopf
336 pgs.
Adult CRF (could also be YA)
Finished 1/21/19
Goodreads rating:  3.97 - 13,462 ratings
My rating:  4

First line/s:  "On the day I turn seventeen, there is a meeting to decide whether I should have the baby or if sneaking me to a clinic for an abortion is worth the PR risk."

My comments:  This story switched back and forth between three narrators, and it wasn't until I was reflecting back on the story that I realized how important the third pov, that of Liberty Bell, the reporter, was.  Once I started this book I pretty much read right through, it was hard to put down.  There wasn't a whole lot of religious zeal for me to make fun of, and although it was THERE it wasn't highlighted, which added to its appeal for me.  Very interesting story!

Goodreads synopsis:  A debut novel of family, fame, and religion that tells the emotionally stirring, wildly captivating story of the seventeen-year-old daughter of an evangelical preacher, star of the family's hit reality show, and the secret pregnancy that threatens to blow their entire world apart.
          Esther Ann Hicks--Essie--is the youngest child on Six for Hicks,a reality television phenomenon. She's grown up in the spotlight, both idolized and despised for her family's fire-and-brimstone brand of faith. When Essie's mother, Celia, discovers that Essie is pregnant, she arranges an emergency meeting with the show's producers: Do they sneak Essie out of the country for an abortion? Do they pass the child off as Celia's? Or do they try to arrange a marriage--and a ratings-blockbuster wedding? Meanwhile, Essie is quietly pairing herself up with Roarke Richards, a senior at her school with a secret of his own to protect. As the newly formed couple attempt to sell their fabricated love story to the media--through exclusive interviews with an infamously conservative reporter named Liberty Bell--Essie finds she has questions of her own: What was the real reason for her older sister leaving home? Who can she trust with the truth about her family? And how much is she willing to sacrifice to win her own freedom?

82. The Dime by Kathleen Kent

#1 in Betty Rhyzyk, Dallas narcotics cop - #2, The Kiln, will be published in the spring of 2019
listened to Audio - borrowed from Pima Library
2017 Mulholland Books
352 pgs.
Adult Murder Mystery/Police Procedural
Finished 8/19/18
Goodreads rating: 3.81 - 1051 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting:  Contemporary Dallas, Texas

First line/s:  "From my position in the hallway - on my ass, head pressed against the door frame, legs drawn up with my gun two-handed against my sternum - I try to recall the layout of the room: three sets of bunk beds, four corpses sprawled across bloody sheets, my partner, shot three times, lying motionless by the nearest bunk, and, somewhere in there, one lunatic, a screaming infant in one hand and a semiautomatic pistol in the other."

My comments:  This looks like the beginning of another decent murder mystery/police procedural series!  Female protagonist who is also a lesbian.  5 foot 11, strong, red-haired, and smart.  Although she's from Brooklyn, which the author uses as a bit of the setting in reminisces, her new home in Dallas is a large part of the story.  Killing off the good guys doesn't phase this author, and much of the action is pretty violent.  That said, I still look forward to a second installment!

Goodreads synopsis:  Brooklyn's toughest female detective takes on Dallas-and neither is ready for the fight.
          Dallas, Texas is not for the faint of heart. Good thing for Betty Rhyzyk she's from a family of take-no-prisoners Brooklyn police detectives. But her Big Apple wisdom will only get her so far when she relocates to The Big D, where Mexican drug cartels and cult leaders, deadbeat skells and society wives all battle for sunbaked turf.
          Betty is as tough as the best of them, but she's deeply shaken when her first investigation goes sideways. Battling a group of unruly subordinates, a persistent stalker, a formidable criminal organization, and an unsupportive girlfriend, the unbreakable Detective Betty Rhyzyk may be reaching her limit.  NOTE:  I do not agree that Betty's girlfriend is unsupported, this simply isn't true!

MOVIE - Disobedience

R (1:54)

Limited release 4/27/2018

Viewed Thursday, June 21, 2018 at Majestic in Gettysburg
IMBd:  6.8/10

T Critic:  84  Audience: 80
Critic's Consensus:  Disobedience explores a variety of thought-provoking themes, bolstered by gripping work from leads Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams, and Alessandro Nivola.

Cag: 5 It was really wonderful

Directed by Sebastian Lelio

Bleecker Street

Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams, Alessandro Nivola

My comments:  Another powerful movie with exceptional performances.  Whoa, being gay in an Orthodox Jewish community!  Totally impossible, "Disobedience" showed a depth of humanity and love in the Orthodox Jewish community which, as much as I'd love to believe might happen, truly can't imagine that it would.  For most of the movie you get "typical" reactions from people.  Yes, my heart broke for a young woman of faith who was definitely not heterosexual, choosing to follow the beliefs she was raised with and marry a man she did care about but was not attracted to.  My heart broke even more for her husband, who ended up being an incredibly honest, loving, spiritual man.  The kind of spiritual leader that I could definitely believe in myself, and would help to heal our world.  Oh yes, I shed some tears, and I walked out of the theater thinking, "what could possible be the next step in a story like this one?"  Well done, well done.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  From Sebastián Lelio, the director of the Academy Award-winning A Fantastic Woman, the film follows a woman as she returns to the community that shunned her decades earlier for an attraction to a childhood friend. Once back, their passions reignite as they explore the boundaries of faith and sexuality. Written by Lelio and Rebecca Lenkiewicz and based on Naomi Alderman's book, the film stars Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams and Alessandro Nivola.

MOVIE - Love, Simon

PG-13 (1:49)

Wide releale 3/16/18

Viewed 3/19/18
IMBd: 7.9/10

RT Critic: 91   Audience:  89
Critic's Consensus:  Love, Simon hits its coming-of-age beats more deftly than many entries in this well-traveled genre -- and represents an overdue, if not entirely successful, milestone of inclusion

Cag:  4/Liked it a lot

Directed by Greg Berlanti

20th Century Fox

Based on the book Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

My comments:  I've heard people reflect that this is a sweet movie, and it is.  The actor that played Simon did a really good job and portrayed the character well.  His car full of friends seemed a little bit too unreal, however.  As did his picture-perfect loving family.  Just a little too picture perfect, I think.  I did like the way that as he kept sleuthing out his unknown pen pal he envisioned the possibilities typing his return messages.  The assistant principal was a real hoot.  Very enjoyable movie, recommended.  

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Everyone deserves a great love story. But for seventeen-year old Simon Spier it's a little more complicated: he's yet to tell his family or friends he's gay and he doesn't actually know the identity of the anonymous classmate he's fallen for online. Resolving both issues proves hilarious, terrifying and life-changing. Directed by Greg Berlanti (Riverdale, The Flash, Supergirl), written by Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger (This is Us), and based on Becky Albertalli's acclaimed novel, LOVE, SIMON is a funny and heartfelt coming-of-age story about the thrilling ride of finding yourself and falling in love.

MOVIE - Call Me By Your Name

R (2:10)

Wide release 1/19/18

Viewed February 24, 2018 somewhere in PA
IMBd:   8.0

RT Critic:  95  Audience: 85
Critic's Consensus:  Call Me by Your Name offers a melancholy, powerfully affecting portrait of first love, empathetically acted by Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer.

Cag:  5/Loved it

Directed by Luca Guadagnino
Written by James Ivory, and based on the book of the same title

Sony Pictures Classics

Armie Hammer, Timothee Chalamet

My comments:  How can you go wrong with a lush set and setting in northern Italy; two wonderful, likable protagonists - one adorable and one gorgeous - and a lovely love story?  Then throw in some particularly cool music, a thundering powerful waterfall, a few different romantic languages and you have this great indie movie.  I liked it a lot.  It was so weird that when the movie ended, the entire very-full movie theater was totally silent for quite a few minutes, even as they collected their belongings and got up to leave.  (I wish I could have the script to the father's soliloquy to the son near the very end of the movie.  It was pretty cool.)

RT/ IMDb Summary:  CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, the new film by Luca Guadagnino, is a sensual and transcendent tale of first love, based on the acclaimed novel by André Aciman. It's the summer of 1983 in the north of Italy, and Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet), a precocious 17- year-old American-Italian, spends his days in his family's 17th century villa transcribing and playing classical music, reading, and flirting with his friend Marzia (Esther Garrel). Elio enjoys a close relationship with his father (Michael Stuhlbarg), an eminent professor specializing in Greco-Roman culture, and his mother Annella (Amira Casar), a translator, who favor him with the fruits of high culture in a setting that overflows with natural delights. While Elio's sophistication and intellectual gifts suggest he is already a fully-fledged adult, there is much that yet remains innocent and unformed about him, particularly about matters of the heart. One day, Oliver (Armie Hammer), a charming American scholar working on his doctorate, arrives as the annual summer intern tasked with helping Elio's father. Amid the sun-drenched splendor of the setting, Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a summer that will alter their lives forever.

29. The Sins of the Fathers - Lawrence Block

#1 Matthew Scudder

Audio read by Alan Sklar (I didn't like the way he read this - he did okay with the protagonist, but none of the other voices.)

4 unabridged discs: 5:03)

1976 Text, Audio 2000

186 pgs.

Adult Murder Mystery

Finished 5/19/2014

Goodreads Rating: 3.91

My Rating:

2.5/It was okay - I think I might have enjoyed it more if I'd read it myself or if there was a different audio reader

TPPL

1970's New York City

My comments:   This was #1 in the series, written almost 40 years ago. Other than paying 10-cents to use the pay phone, the attitude toward gays, and unmarried men and women living together, I didn't feel that there was much going on that seemed particularly dated. It was interesting, but somewhat slow. I'll try another, but I think I'll get closer to the most recent in the series (#17 I believe)to see if they liven up a bit.  And.....I'm not sure that I like the protagonist very much.  But it truly could have been the way that Sklar "read" him....so I'll have to try READING the next one, I guess.....

Goodreads Summary:  (Note:  the last sentence in this summary from Goodreads is incredibly misleading and...not what I'd consider true.....)  The pretty young prostitute is dead. Her alleged murderer—a minister's son—hanged himself in his jail cell. The case is closed. But the dead girl's father has come to Matthew Scudder for answers, sending the unlicensed private investigator in search of terrible truths about a life that was lived and lost in a sordid world of perversion and pleasures.

46. Rough Country - John Sandford

Virgil Flowers #3

Audio read by Eric Conger

2009, Penguin Audio

388 pgs.

Adult murder Mystery

Finished 9/23/2013

Goodreads Rating: 4.05

My Rating:

Loved it (4)

Acquired: PBS

Setting:  Rural Minnesota

My comments:  I adore Virgil Flowers.  He's taken over first place: I'm having to move Harry Bosch to second (Cork O'Connor stays in third). I'm discovering that after reading the first in this series, it doesn't matter the order your read them in.  This foray is full of lesbians..... interesting..... and even if this particular story didn't grab me quite as much as the others I've read, it's still Virgil Flowers, and the way he acts and thinks and dresses help me still like the book a LOT.

Goodreads Review:  Virgil's always been known for having a somewhat active, er, social life, but he's probably not going to be getting too many opportunities for that during his new case. While competing in a fishing tournament in a remote area of northern Minnesota, he gets a call from Lucas Davenport to investigate a murder at a nearby resort, where a woman has been shot while kayaking. The resort is for women only, a place to relax, get fit, recover from plastic surgery, commune with nature, and while it didn't start out to be a place mostly for those with Sapphic inclinations, that's pretty much what it is today.

Which makes things all the more complicated for Virgil, because as he begins investigating, he finds a web of connections between the people at the resort, the victim, and some local women, notably a talented country singer. The more he digs, the more he discovers the arrows of suspicion that point in many directions, encompassing a multitude of motivations: jealousy, blackmail, greed, anger, fear. Then he finds that this is not the first murder, that there was a second, seemingly unrelated one, the year before. And that there's about to be a third, definitely related one, any time now. And as for the fourth . . . well, Virgil better hope he can catch the killer before that happens. Because it could be his own.

15. The Widower's Tale - Julia Glass

Audio read by Mark Bramhall

Ebook through the library (also read the hard copy, back and forth...)

Publishing Info: Pantheon Books, 2010

Pgs.402 pages

Written for adults

Finished: April 21, 2013

Genre: CRF

Goodreads Rating:  3.63 

My Rating: 5 (I ended up loving it)

Setting: Contemporary just-outside-Boston/ suburbs (Cambridge, Boston, just out Rt. 2 from the city, up the coast a little toward Ipswich & Gloucester...)

1^st sentence/s: " 'Why Thank you.  I'm getting in shape to die.'  Those were the first words I spoke aloud on the final Thursday in August of last summer: Thursday, I recall for certain, because it was the day on which I read in our weekly town paper about the first of what I would so blithely come to call the Crusades; the end of the month  I can also say for certain, because Elves & Fairies was scheduled, that very evening, to fling open its brand-new, gloriously purple doors --- formerly the entrance to my beloved barn --- and usher in another flight of tiny perfect children, along with their preened and privileged parents."

My comments: I hated for this book to end as I had become really involved with many of the characters. And there are lots of characters, but it wasn't difficult to keep them straight. Julia Glass' gift for characterization (and beautiful writing) is just splendid. The curmudgeony protagonist is by far the most wonderful voice; humorous, wry, sarcastic, c::ever. His voice dominates the story, but there are three others that we hear; his beloved grandson Robert (a premed student at Harvard), Guatemalan immigrant Celestino (an undocumented gardener/day worker), and preschool teacher Ira (whose gay relationship with a divorce lawyer is interestingly woven into the story). I listened to much (though not all) of this, and the aristocratic lilt that the reader gave to Percy's voice put me off at first. However, as I got to know Percy, it didn't matter. The other three voices were not in this accent, and after awhile I liked the way I could tell the speaker by the way it was read. True, all sorts of socially conscious themes were introduced, but that didn't bother me at all, the story was relevant and interesting. So was the setting, so close to the places that I grew up and still love - the Boston area. I could picture the whole book clearly. Great writing, great story-telling.

Goodreads Review: In a historic farmhouse outside Boston, seventy-year-old Percy Darling is settling happily into retirement: reading novels, watching old movies, and swimming naked in his pond. His routines are disrupted, however, when he is persuaded to let a locally beloved preschool take over his barn. As Percy sees his rural refuge overrun by children, parents, and teachers, he must reexamine the solitary life he has made in the three decades since the sudden death of his wife. No longer can he remain aloof from his community, his two grown daughters, or, to his shock, the precarious joy of falling in love.

One relationship Percy treasures is the bond with his oldest grandchild, Robert, a premed student at Harvard. Robert has long assumed he will follow in the footsteps of his mother, a prominent physician, but he begins to question his ambitions when confronted by a charismatic roommate who preaches—and begins to practice—an extreme form of ecological activism, targeting Boston’s most affluent suburbs.

Meanwhile, two other men become fatefully involved with Percy and Robert: Ira, a gay teacher at the preschool, and Celestino, a Guatemalan gardener who works for Percy’s neighbor, each one striving to overcome a sense of personal exile. Choices made by all four men, as well as by the women around them, collide forcefully on one lovely spring evening, upending everyone’s lives, but none more radically than Percy’s.

With equal parts affection and satire, Julia Glass spins a captivating tale about the loyalties, rivalries, and secrets of a very particular family. Yet again, she plumbs the human heart brilliantly, dramatically, and movingly.

MOVIE: Beginners

Super story about sadness...
Limited release 6/3/11
12/23/11 on the Delta flight from Phoenix to Detroit
R (1:44)
RT:  Critics:  84% Audience: 79%
cag: Liked it a lot
Director:  Mike Mills
Focus Features

Ian McGregor, Christopher Plummer

After McGregor's mother dies, his father (Plummer) tells him that he's always been gay...and that his mother knew it.  As an elderly dude he begins to live the life that he's always dreamed of, only to find that he has stage 4 cancer.  The story is played out as the son remembers bits and pieces of things that happened, to both his dad and himself..discovering love, too...at the same time.

67. Shine - Lauren Myracle

Amulet Books/Abrams, 2011
HC $16.95 (Lib)
For:  YA
360 pgs.
Rating:  4

First line/s:  Patrick's house was a ghost.  Dust coated the windows, the petunias in the flower boxes bowed their heads, and spiderwebs clotted the eaves of the porch.  Once I would have marveled at the webs -- how delicate they were, how intricate --  but today I saw ghastly silk ropes.  Nooses for sawflies and katydids and anything guileless enough to be ensnared

Setting:  Contemporary Appalachia, Black Creek, NC near Asheville.
OSS:  16-year-old Cat comes back to life after pulling her head into her shell for the past three years when her gay best friend, Patrick, is brutalized and left for dead.

Cat ells her story and discovers Patrick's in bits and pieces.  Slowly events of the last three years and events of the last week are illuminated as she unrolls the mystery of Patrick's almost-killing.  It's great to see her spirit come alive again.  It's also true that not everything is ever exactly as it seems.

And big message:  meth is deadly.  And the way it can establish itself in a community - especially one in extreme poverty - is examined in this story.

Lots of good stuff to think about.  It went fast.  Good story and good storytelling.

45. Will Grayson, Will Grayson - John Green & David Levithan

Penguin, 2010
paper Speak $8.99
310 pgs.
for:  YA
Rating:  5

First line:  "When I was little, my dad used to tell me, 'Will, you can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose.'"

This is the story of two Will Graysons, written in back & forth chapters, in two  different voices.  That's because each of these two wonderful authors wrote one voice.

I have an eighth grade friend who read this book this summer.  I'm going to ask him to write a brief review of the book for me!  I'll include it soon.

39. Pink -Lili Wilkinson

Harper Teen, 2009 Australia, 2011 US
310 pgs.
HC $16.99
YA
Rating: 4

This book has a bit of a different premise than the norm - a highschooler who dresses all in black, including her dyed hair, and has a "cool" girlfriend---happily accepted by her parents---decides she wants to go to a tough school, study hard, and try to discover her real self. Her parents love it that she has "come out", and they like Ava to be as nontraditional as she possibly can be. But Ava isn't so sure...she wants to be "normal," and isn't even sure if she is, indeed, a lesbian. She's never given boys a chance. She has to fight her parents to go to this tougher school. And she can't wait.

So she somehow gets her hair back to it normal color and dresses for her first day at the new school in a pink sweater, a sweater that she loves. So begins a comedy of errors as Ava traverses the halls of popularity, geekdom, boys, and difficult schoolwork.

The majority of the book is about the musical that the school puts on. It's ultra-cool to be a singer/actor, and you're a pariah if you work on the sets and backstage. Because of a horrible audition, Ava has to balance herself between both groups of kids. And, she has told no one about Chloe, hoping she doesn't run into her when she's with her new friends.

Cute story. I enjoyed it a lot.

MOVIE - A Single Man

Colin Furth, still my favorite actor, does himself proud.
Released 12/11/09
R (1:39)
2/21/10 at Crossroads all by myself - but the theater was full of an "older" audience, I had lots of company...
Fandango: 77/100
RT: 85% cag: 90%
Director: Tom Ford

Colin Furth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode

It doesn't matter if you're straight, gay, or a rabbit, we mourn when we lose the ones we love. Professor George .......... ( darn, I forgot his last name) teaches English in a Los Angeles area college in the mmmmmm......late 50s? I don't know cars enough to tell for sure, but the costumes looked like 50s to me. He has spent the eight months since his partner died existing in a daze, and he decides he doesn't want to live anymore. We follow him through his day, through his preparations - everything must be neat and tidy and wrapped up - until something interesting and somewhat extraordinary happens - and we are treated to a surprise ending.

I love the way that the story unfolds in flashbacks. The next-door neighbor family is a nice touch and there is one scene that was quite funny - even though it really wouldn't be funny at all. Colin Furth was extraordinary. Exemplary. Wow. He ALWAYS gets my vote, but this time he's bound to get a lot more than just mine! ! ! !

In Our Mothers' House - Patricia Polacco

Published: 2009
Philomel Young Readers/Penguin
$17.99
Rating: 5
48 pages
For: K-12
Endpapers; Azure

Told in the first person by the eldest of three adopted children, we watch her (she happens to be African American), Will (Asian American) and Millie (red-haired and freckled) grow up being raised by two mothers - Meema, a short, stout, pediatrician who loves to cook and sew and Marmee, a tall, thin organized fixer-upper who is a paramedic. Through 48 pages we watch the family grow, thrive, have fun, and love each other. It handles a neighbor-woman, unhappy with their relationship, lightly and well (because, unfortunately, the world has to deal with bigots and homophobes). This is a totally delightful story of a wonderful family and two mothers that will...and DO....do anything for their children.

Outstanding storytelling, setting, and illustrations, Patricia Polacco! You never disappoint!

A more comprehensive review than mine can be found at Library Voice (a Connecticut librarian)