Poetry Picture Book - Clackety Track: Poems about Trains by Skila Brown

Illustrated by James Cristoph

2019 Candlewick Press

HC $16.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  3.98 - 44 ratings

My rating:  4
Endpapers:  freight train silhouettes, blue on blue



Steam Engine
Biggest beast you've ever seen
Gobbling up a coal cuisine.
One hundred tons of steel machine.
Belching out a steam smoke screen.

My comments: A book for train enthusiasts, this collections includes 13 poems and two pages of interesting train facts - all notated on a different freight car (clever)!  Gentle, easily accessible poems with a really great word thrown in here and there....delightful!

Goodreads:  Queue up for a whistle-stop tour of trains of all kinds, narrated in lively verse and featuring dynamic retro artwork.

Rows of grooves, cables, and bars.
Graffiti rockin' out the cars.
A badge of rust. A proud oil stain.
There's nothin' plain about a train.

Trains of all shapes and sizes are coming down the track -- bullet train, sleeper train, underground train, zoo train, and more. All aboard! Skila Brown's first-class poems, as varied as the trains themselves, reflect the excitement of train travel, while Jamey Christoph's vintage-style illustrations provide a wealth of authentic detail to pore over

36. Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith

Listened on Audible - in my library
read by Anthony Mark Barrow and Karissa Vacker
Unabridged audio (8:23)
2019 Delacorte Press
271 pgs.
YA CRF
Finished 4/4/2019
Goodreads rating: 4.06 - 882 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting: England & NY State, then cross country from NYC thru Chicago, Denver, to SF.

First line/s:  "Mae wakes, as she does each morning, to the sound of a train."

My comments:  When I read the synopsis for this book I was quite excited because traveling cross-country is my all-time favorite thing to do, or read about, or even think about.  The book was a lot more than that.  It was full of emotion and thoughtfulness, family and love.  Two very different families from two different parts of the world - a girl raised by two dads and her loving Nana in New York; and a boy from Surrey, England, who is the youngest in a group of famous sextuplets who has never - ever - been on his own.  Once I let go of the idea that this would be an adventurous summary of the sights and sounds across the United States, I let myself become absorbed in the thoughtful reverie of these two wonderful young people..  It was a good read, although not at all what I had anticipated.

Goodreads synopsis:  Having just been dumped by his girlfriend, British-born Hugo is still determined to take his last-hurrah-before-college train trip across the United States. One snag: the companion ticket is already booked under the name of his ex, Margaret Campbell. Nontransferable, no exceptions.
            Enter the new Margaret C. (Mae for short), an aspiring filmmaker with big dreams. After finding Hugo's spare ticket offer online, she's convinced it's the perfect opportunity to expand her horizons.
            When the two meet, the attraction is undeniable, and both find more than they bargained for. As Mae pushes Hugo to explore his dreams for his future, he'll encourage her to channel a new, vulnerable side of her art. But when life off the train threatens the bubble they've created for themselves, will they manage to keep their love on track?

23. Blood on the Tracks by Barbara Nickless

Sydney Rose Parnell #1
listened on Audible
2016, Thomas & Mercer
386 pgs.
Adult Murder Mystery - beginning of a series
Finished 4/22/27
Goodreads rating:  4.2 - 7696 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary Denver, CO

First line/s:  "His life wasn't worth spit in a hard rain."

My comments:  Mixed emotions after reading this story.  So much horror in war.  Although the setting and genre is a murder in contemporary Denver, so much is about the aftermath and memories of being in Iraq and the horrors, atrocities, and nightmares that returning military carry with them.  It was good, but emotionally hard to read.  Sydney, for me, was not the most likable protagonist, which makes her all-the-more real.  Her military dog, Clyde, was her best friend and sidekick, and their relationship wasn't too overdone for this "oh-no-not-another-animal" person. It leaves me with a big question.  Why would someone who is freaked out by death and killing and sees the ghosts of all the people she worked on during her post in Marine mortician services in Iraq take a job as a gun-slinging cop once she returns stateside?

Goodreads synopsis:  A Suspense Magazine Best of 2016 Books Selection: Debut
          A young woman is found brutally murdered, and the main suspect is the victim’s fiancé, a hideously scarred Iraq War vet known as the Burned Man. But railroad police Special Agent Sydney Rose Parnell, brought in by the Denver Major Crimes unit to help investigate, can't shake the feeling that larger forces are behind this apparent crime of passion.
          In the depths of an icy winter, Parnell and her K9 partner, Clyde―both haunted by their time in Iraq―descend into the underground world of a savage gang of rail riders. There, they uncover a wide-reaching conspiracy and a series of shocking crimes. Crimes that threaten everything Parnell holds dear.
          As the search for the truth puts her directly in the path of the killer, Parnell must struggle with a deadly question: Can she fight monsters without becoming one herself? 

An Orange for Frankie - Patricia Polacco

Illustrated by the author

2004 Philomel

HC $16.99

40 pages

Goodreads rating: 4027 (332 ratings)

My rating: 5

Endpapers: Front:  an aerial view of the house, outhouses, and landscape during a winter storm/ Back: the same storm, looking at the house from the front, in the evening, and its close surroundings

Title Page:  Double-page spread - a train stopped in the middle of a snowstorm on the middle of nowhere

Illustrations:  trademark Patricia Polacco

1^st page:  "Every time I peel an orange and inhale the scent of it and feel the mist that sprays from its skin, I think of a very special Christmas and a flaxen-haired boy who lived many years before I was even born."

My comments:  What a moving Christmas story!  I was actually a little teary at the end.  Based on a true story, as many of Ms. Polacco's are, this one was told by her grandmother and based on her grandmother's youngest brother.  It is a story from a hundred years ago, still being kept alive and honored by her entire family.  It is full of pictures of America's past. A large, hard-working family enjoys a simpler Christmas than we're used to, one steeped in traditions and hard work.  A completely lovely "short story," illuminated by Patricia Polacco's incredible art.  Loved it.

Goodreads:  The Stowell family is abuzz with holiday excitement, and Frankie, the youngest boy, is the most excited of all. But there's a cloud over the joyous season: Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and Pa hasn't returned yet from his trip to Lansing. He promised to bring back the oranges for the mantelpiece. Every year there are nine of them nestled among the evergreens, one for each of the children. But this year, heavy snows might mean no oranges . . . and, worse, no Pa!

This is a holiday story close to Patricia Polacco's heart. Frankie was her grandmother's youngest brother, and every year she and her family remember this tale of a little boy who learned--and taught--an important lesson about giving, one Christmas long ago.

Shark vs. Train - Chris Barton

Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
Little, Brown & Co., 2010
$16.99
Rating: 5
32 pages
Endpapers: Lt. blue with 2 x 3ish toybox in the center

Okay -- this one looked stupid, but wasn't. Not at all. It's fun. It's clever. It'll have kids using great higher-order thinking skills like comparing and contrasting. Their synapses will be snapping and their imaginations will be running wild.

The book begins (and ends) with two boys looking for toys to play with, rummaging around in a toybox. It turns into a competition between the two toys they choose, a shark and a train that is comprised of an engine, four cars, and a caboose. Which will do best in a hot air balloon? Which will be best at roasting marshmallows? Who's taller when it comes to shooting baskets, or who will attract more riders at a carnival? Let the competition begin!

Note: The poor shark seems to have a more....evil....look than the more laid-back, nervous train. Such facial expressions on each! There's lot to examine in every picture.

Simple, bold, clear font. Some of the pictures use "talk clouds" to add a small bit of dialogue.

Yes, this is a good one.

Here's Chris Barton's page with all sorts of reviews from his book.