29. My Evil Mother, a Short Story by Margaret Atwood

listened on 3/30/24
32 pgs.

2022
Adult Short Story CRF/Magical Realism
Finished 3/30/2024
Goodreads rating:  3.90
My rating: 5
Setting: Contemporary Canada

My comments: Love the cover.  A crazy, witchy, magical mother?  A savvy, slightly crazy, fun-loving mom? Who knows....who cares....In my opinion this is just a plain fun and funny cool story.  Loved it.  

Goodreads synopsis:  Life is hard enough for a teenage girl in 1950s suburbia without having a mother who may—or may not—be a witch. A single mother at that. Sure, she fits in with her starched dresses, string of pearls, and floral aprons. Then there are the hushed and mystical consultations with neighborhood women in distress. The unsavory, mysterious plants in the flower beds. The divined warning to steer clear of a boyfriend whose fate is certainly doomed. But as the daughter of this bewitching homemaker comes of age and her mother’s claims become more and more outlandish, she begins to question everything she once took for granted.

1. The Bear Trap - Paul Doiron

#4.5 Mike Bowditch
read on my iPhone
2014, criminalelement.com
20 pgs.
Adult Mystery (and in this case, short story)
Finished 1-1-2019
Goodreads rating:  3.92 - 411 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting: Middle-of-nowhere, Maine, contemporary, though the actual story told within the story takes place in the early 1970s.

First line/s:  "The wind moved across the surface of the lake like breath upon a mirror."

My comments:  Short and sweet, a story told by old-time game warden Charley Stevens to his good friend, new game warden Mike Bowditch, when they were out fishing.  The story that Charley tells takes place when he was a new game warden over 35 years previously and had captured a notorious hermit nicknamed "Sweet Tooth" who had been 19 years living and stealing in the Maine woods.

Goodreads synopsis:  Legendary Maine woodsman and bush pilot Charley Stevens tries to convince young Mike Bowditch of the dangers awaiting rookie game wardens.

72. The Poet's Dog by Patricia MacLachlan

Library Book
2016, Katherine Tegen Books
96 pgs.
Middle Grades CRF w/a touch of magical fantasy
Finished 12/22/16
Goodreads rating: 4/03 - 740 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting:   Contemporary winter, somewhere in the USA where it snows

First line/s:  "I found the boy at dusk.  The blizzard was fierce, and it would soon be dark."

My comments:  A very sweet, gentle story, told as though a dog could really and truly converse with humans; humans who love poetry and dogs.

Goodreads synopsis:  From Newbery Medal winner Patricia MacLachlan comes a poignant story about two children, a poet, and a dog and how they help one another survive loss and recapture love. "Just what I needed," raves Brightly.com. "It's a heart-warming story of loss and love that filled me with hope for a better future and renewed my belief in good."
          Teddy is a gifted dog. Raised in a cabin by a poet named Sylvan, he grew up listening to sonnets read aloud and the comforting clicking of a keyboard. Although Teddy understands words, Sylvan always told him there are only two kinds of people in the world who can hear Teddy speak: poets and children.
          Then one day Teddy learns that Sylvan was right. When Teddy finds Nickel and Flora trapped in a snowstorm, he tells them that he will bring them home—and they understand him. The children are afraid of the howling wind, but not of Teddy’s words. They follow him to a cabin in the woods, where the dog used to live with Sylvan . . . only now his owner is gone.
          As they hole up in the cabin for shelter, Teddy is flooded with memories of Sylvan. What will Teddy do when his new friends go home? Can they help one another find what they have lost?

29. Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy - Cassandra Clare & Sandra Rees Brennan

Tales from Shadowhunter Academy #1

Listened to on my iPhone via Audible

Audio read by Devon Bostick

(1:40)

2015 Simon & Schuster

78 pgs.

Genre/Audience: YA Dystopia

Finished 4/25/2015

Goodreads rating: 4.19

My rating:    4

Setting: Sometime in the future at Shadowhunter Academy

My comments:  This short(ish) story about Simon was a blast.  I've only read the first two Shadowhunters books and this takes place after many of the sequels, but it was totally enjoyable all the same.  It was actually really, really funny and I had no trouble following it, especially knowing many of the characters, even if I didn't know some of the changes in their relationships that took place in the books I haven't read.  Yes, it's very Harry Potterish, but as a Harry Potter fan I welcome reminders and extensions of that "lovely" world!

Goodreads book summary: After living as a Mundane and a Vampire, Simon never thought he would become a Shadowhunter, but today he begins his training at Shadowhunter Academy.

27. The Dream Stealer - Sid Fleischman

Illustrated by Peter Sis
Greenwillow, 2009
$16.99
For: Grades 2-4 with a wide vocabulary
90 pages
The first half was quite delightful, the second half didn't catch me quite as well.

Susana lives in Mexico and discovers that a big spotted, crazy-looking bird has stolen her dream before she could find out what happened. The Dream Stealer was only supposed to steal bad dreams, so she is a little perturbed at him. She figures out a clever way to catch him, and convinces him to take her to the place where he keeps all the dreams he's stolen. Once they get there some of the creatures from his stolen bad dreams escape, and Susana has to help put things right.

Sid Fleischman uses great language, interesting similes, and fantastic vocabulary to spin this fantasy/fairy tale. It's quite clever and would make a great read aloud. Play with the words thief/bandit/burglar before reading so that kids understand they are synonyms.