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Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi is the winner of the Michael A Printz Award (the teen Newbwery) and a National Book Award finalist, published in 2010. Like Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games, Ship Breaker is as fast paced, action (and violence) filled book that makes a strong social statement. And, while I love the Hunger Games trilogy and was thrilled to get to read it before it was even published, I think I might actually go so far as to say that Bacigalupi's book is even more potent when it comes to the topic of the vast disparity between the lives of the rich and the poor or, as we have come to say in the years since this book was published, the 99% and the 1%, becuase it is more reality based and less fantastical than Collins work.

Main character Nailer Lopez is a ship breaker on Bright Sands Beach. The world he lives in is one that has been changed dramatically, mostly by the depletion of natural resources that has left oil a scarce and valued commodity and the land constantly threatened by "City Killers," storms that make Katrina look meek and drown cities. In fact, New Orleans is one of the locations in Ship Breaker, a city that has been rebuilt a number of times, only to be destroyed again and again by the violent storms. It is one of these City Killers and a young girl trying to escape the underhanded dealings of her family, the Patels, part of the 1% that now owns the world, that starts this story moving. But first, we are treated to an intimate look into the brutal, tenuous, exhausting life of a ship breaker. When we first meet Nailer, a wiry teen, he is working with his crew, crawling through the air ducts of a beached freighter ship, looking for copper and maybe a cache of undetected oil that will be his lucky break and pull him out of poverty. Nailer is almost too big for this job on the light crew, but he is desperate to keep since Sloth, a smaller, wiry girl, is just waiting for him to make a slip, and he is still to small to work heavy crew. After pulling out more copper wire than he had expected, Nailer is sent back in for more because a storm is headed their way and there will be no work for days until it passes. What follows is a harrowing scene in which Nailer falls through a duct and into a pool of oil and begins to drown. When Sloth finally comes along, instead of rescuing him, she leaves him, tossing a packet of food and a water bottle just out of his reach, and breaking the blood oath of the light crew never to leave a man behind. Through determination, conviction and a spectacular explosion, Nailer rescues himself and Sloth is kicked off the crew and down the beach, an outcast. Nailer earns himself the nickname Lucky Boy.

He also earns offerings, gifts to the Fates, rice, roasted pigeon meat and liquor, rarities and extravagances he rarely experiences. One fantastic thing that Bacigalupi does in Ship Breaker is toy with the idea of fate and luck and how extreme poverty can make a person feel like there is no other way out of desolation besides luck. There are other religions and beliefs that emerge throughout the novel, but the idea of fate and luck is one that keeps coming up again and again. No matter how lucky Nailer is, he still has to live with his unpredictable, viciously violent, drug addicted father, the infamous Richard Lopez who, when he is "sliding" on meth is capable of killing three men bigger than him in a fight, despite his wiry build. Despite this, when the storm destroys their home and threatens death, Nailer gets help to move his wasted, unresponsive father to higher ground even though he knows his death would bring relief to him and others. While surviving a near drowning in oil earns him the luck of the fates and a new name, Nailer finds a different kind of luck when, after the storm, he and his best friend and crew boss Pima discover a wrecked clipper, out of view of the rest of the inhabitants of Bright Sands Beach - for the time being. Nailer has dreamed of sailing on a clipper - a ship that uses solar power, the wind and a special sail that allows it to lift above the waves to propel it across the seas at a furious speed. As he and Pima climb aboard and begin to scavenge, they are stunned by the luxuries they find. Refrigerators hold pounds and pounds of meat, now rotting with the loss of power, fine china and silver services are stored in cupboards and bags and bags of rice line the storerooms. Nailer and Pima also come upon a girl, pinned under piles of furniture, but clearly alive. Pima wants to cut off her fingers and steal her rings, then slit her throat, but Nailer can't bring himself to do this.

Letting Nita, who earns the nickname Lucky Girl, live plunges Nailer and Pima into an increasingly dangerous and violent situation. Nita assures them that they should let her live because her people will find her and reward them, and Nailer begins to hope for a better life. Until his father finds the wreck and the kids and, after battle with his captors, Nailer and Nita go on the run. Tool, a genetically engineered man who is part human, part hyena and part dog, bred to be loyal to his master and kill himself if his master dies, goes with them at the insistence of Sadna, Pima's mother, who is the moral compass of the story. Tool is an interesting character, especially because he has managed to survive without a master and it is never entirely clear where his loyalties lie. The three head to the drowned city of New Orleans with the hopes of finding a ship belonging to Nita's family. The plot deepens as Nailer learns that Nita's uncle by marriage has discovered an illegal way to acquire oil and transport it to the black market, but her father and owner of the company, will go along with his plans. The uncle, Pyce, decides to kidnap Nita and use her as leverage against her father, which is why she was fleeing and sailed into the storm. The introduction of the Dauntless and its crew, all loyal to Nita's father and determined to find her, allow Nailer on board the clipper he has always dreamed of but also bring up issues of class, wealth and treatment of the poor. In fact, Nailer, Nita and Tool find themselves in many arguments about this as well. Bacigalupi does not miss a chance to illustrate this in a world where the gulf between the rich and the poor is as vast as the oceans that now cover more of the earth than ever before. Nor does he shy away from putting Nailer in situations where he has to make very difficult, starkly life-or-death decisions over and over. But, he also balances this with his fantastic storytelling skills. Ship Breaker is filled with more twists and turns and breathtaking moments than anything I have read since I cracked the spine of Hunger Games in the fall of 2008.

The sequel, The Drowned Cities, follows two new characters, Mouse and Mahlia, as they flee the war-torn city for the jungle outskirts where they come across a wounded half-man... Yes! It's Tool! My favorite character from Ship Breaker!

Image from Bookshelf Porn

After seventeen years and three months as a bookseller, I have hung up my name tag. Since the beginning of September, I have happily been working as an assistant to a literary agent! Even the most mundane part of my job is interesting to me and there are other parts that are just plain exhilarating and very intellectually stimulating. The agent I am assisting has an incredible list of clients, most of whom I have been enthusiastically reviewing here for the last four years, and I have to keep myself from squealing when I answer the phone and one of them is on the other line. I am getting to see the manuscripts and illustration for books one to two years before they hit the shelves and I am also getting to read manuscripts and make notes on them, from clients and authors hoping to become clients.

What will this mean for wellness-geniar.com? Probably less time to blog. So far, I have been keeping up pretty well, but I have also been spending almost all of my weekends (I have weekends now!! For the first time in 17 years I have Saturday AND Sunday off!!) reading and reviewing. It also means that I will no longer be reviewing books by clients of the agent I work for in the interest of remaining as impartial as possible. Of course I love every book published by clients, but reviewing them on my blog feels a bit too promotional. The upside of my new job is that I can feel my critical abilities getting stronger every day and hopefully my reviews will become more streamlined, specific and shorter. I don't have time to ramble and reminisce like I have in the past. And, while I often feel overwhelmed by the stacks of review copies I receive and compelled to read and write about all of them, I have already noticed that my new job skills are helping me to sort through the piles and glean the best of the best to share with you. 

And finally, in a bout of survivor's guilt, I want to use this space to ask all of you to please be as kind as possible to those who work retail and food service. In fact there was an eyeopening article on the front page of the NY Times Sunday, October 28 titled, A Part-Time Life, as Hours Shrink and Shift by Steve Greenhouse, who did a great job detailing the stressful and tenuous work experience for retail workers, most of whom are part-time because that's all the company will offer. Retail and food service workers rarely get two days off in a row, rarely know their work schedule more than two weeks in advance, often work shifts that make many aspects of life difficult and are compensated very poorly and rarely rewarded for knowledge and experience. And, if the worker is not full time, s/he is subject to shift cuts when sales are low, leaving a skeleton crew of full time managers to keep the business running. I received a 25 cent an hour annual raise which I eventually lost when I hit the "pay ceiling," meaning I was earning the highest amount possible compared to other retail workers in my region. While a 25 cent an hour raise was insulting, losing that was demoralizing. I feel utterly grateful and fortunate to have this new job and know that my experience as a bookseller and blogger helped me to obtain it. But, honestly, I was so done being a bookseller. I did my 10,000 hours and I mastered my job. The most rewarding part of book selling was always helping customers find books, talking to customers about books and learning about books from customers. However, as people started shopping online and reading eBooks, the customers stopped coming in and the face of the bookstore changed to accommodate this. Step into any Barnes & Noble today and you'll find just as many toys (for kids and adults) as books. While I think they actually do a really good job offering a selection of quality toys, I grew increasingly weary (and frustrated) by having to clean those toys up over the course of any eight hour shift. In part, Barnes & Noble cultivated a community environment and positioned themselves as a cool place to hang out, so it's hard now to get too upset with the people who schedule play-dates with friends at the store and sit and drink coffee while their kids dismantle the displays and smash snacks into the train table or people who pull a pile of magazines off the rack and spend hours reading them, leaving them on the floor for a bookseller to clean up. I seriously doubt that anyone reading my blog is guilty of any of these acts, but hopefully next time you enter any store you might look at your surroundings differently and remember that someone is getting paid very little money to stock the shelves you are shopping, maintain a knowledge of the products so they can help you and, ultimately, clean up after you.

And finally, I want to ask all of my readers to please, please, please seriously consider your choice to purchase books, or anything, from amazon.com. Of course, as an employee of Barnes & Noble, they were our competition and for that reason alone I did not have good feelings about them. However, as a book lover and lover of bookstores, I think that amazon.com is singlehandedly responsible for undermining the publishing industry and bullying anyone who doesn't want to do business their way. Rather than listen to me ramble on, read this article from The Nation written by Colin Robinson in 2010. Since then, Amazon has begun their own publishing house, which can only mean more bad news. I know, I know, they sell books at an amazing, unreasonable discount and you can get free shipping most of the time. But did you know that most online booksellers are very competitive with Amazon's pricing and shipping. Support an independent bookstore! Visit IndieBound to find one near you OR one that can ship you books at a price that is competitive. Or, try Powell's City of Books! Based in Portland, OR, Powell's has a place in my heart as I spent a lot of my college years there. And they are very competitive online! And SO SO knowledgeable!

But, best of all, a reader of wellness-geniar.com created this super cool new BUTTON that I will be adding to all reviews from now on! When you click the button a window will pop up where you can click through to GoodReads, Indie Bound and the Seattle Public Library for more information about the book OR to purchase it... This button was created by Ian Gilman and I just want to give him a HUGE THANKS for sharing this with me! I had been meaning to do something like this for so long but was ambivalent about my options - until Ian presented me with this fantastic button that gives YOU options (and he kindly removed amazon.com from the pop up window at my request...) Hope you all appreciate this and please be sure to leave feedback in case there is room for improvement - on my blog or the button!

Silver: Return to Treasure Island by Andrew Motion is a magnificent, adventure, beautifully written (Motion was Britain's poet laureate from 1999 to 2009) and rich with adventure. It is also not a book to read out loud to you kids at bedtime the way you should Treasure Island. To use Schillinger's words, the marooners, members of Silver's crew left behind in Treasure Island, have spent their captivity on the island creating a busy settlement where "vile goings-on, events to rival Conrad's Congo for sadistic depravity" are routine. In Treasure Island the fighting and murdering was in the name of treasure, in Silver: Return to Treasure Island, the violence is a result of bigotry, boredom and drunkenness on power and moonshine, elevating the tale in tone and meaning to a more adult level. But, I am getting ahead of the story.

Silver: Return to Treasure Island begins in July of 1802, some 35 years after the crew of the Hispaniola have returned to England, Long John Silver having escaped somewhere in South America to meet up with his shrewd and trustworthy wife, referred to only as a "woman of color" in Stevenson's book. Both Hawkins and Silver have set up inns, the Hispaniola and the Spyglass, respectively. Both are fathers, Hawkins' wife having died in childbirth, Silver's consumed her own intense brand of religion and prayer. Young Jim, who says of himself, "I was never a wicked child, but a disappointment to my father all the same," the spends his days wandering the marshy estuaries of the eastern reaches of the Thames, running errands for his father and listening to stories in the taproom. Natalie Silver, or Natty as she prefers, is roughly the same age as Jim and has had a similar upbringing in Wapping. However, her father is some twenty years older than Jim's and at death's door and needs his daughter to carry out his dying wish. Natty, along with her a pet mynah bird named Spot, arrives, shrouded and mysterious, having rowed her way to the Hispaniola to summon the disbelieving Jim. When he finally realizes the dark figure wants to speak to him, he steps into her boat and his life changes forever. Natty has come to ask Jim to steal his father's map and return to Treasure Island for the silver that was left behind.

Silver: Return to Treasure Island is narrated by Jim, who tells his story with the benefit of hindsight which helps foreshadow and build tension in the story. It is clear from the start that Jim is captivated by Natty and, as the story progresses and their time together on the Silver Nightingale stretches out before them, Jim falls in love with Silver's daughter who, for her own safety, is passing as a boy on this voyage. Her true identity - both as a girl and the daughter of Long John Silver - and Jim's is known only to Captain Beamish. I strongly suggest reading Silver: Return to Treasure Island with Treasure Island fresh in your mind, as the references to Stevenson's book will be all the more enjoyable. Israel Hands, the pirate Jim Hawkins the elder fought to the death in Treasure Island, is represented in Silver: Return to Treasure Island by Jordan Hands, nephew to Israel. Jordan Hands cuts an intriguing, if dangerous figure in the book. And, of course, crew member of the Silver Nightingale named Stevenson who spends his time in the crow's-nest. When the Silver Nightingale makes it to Treasure Island in the dark of night, the fires on shore let them know immediately that the marooners are alive and they dock on the other side of the island where the encounter a man in a pit, whimpering. The man is Scotland is part of the cargo of a slaving ship that wrecked on Treasure Island some five years earlier and he is fleeing from his captors, the marooners and surviving crew who have established their own plantation of sorts on the Island. As with Treasure Island, the reversals of fortune and turn of events are breathtaking. What elevates Silver: Return to Treasure Island beyond a children's book is the moral aspects of the story and the brutality of the marooners. Nevertheless, Motion manages to keep the excitement and danger high and the reader guessing until the end of the book who, if anyone, will return home with the silver.

Here is a glimpse or two into some of Motion's beautiful writing.

Chapter 8 : Reading the Map

My father advised me never to pick over the reasons for a decision once it has been taken. As a young boy I thought this meant he always knew his own mind. By the time I left for Treasure Island, I had come to believe he preferred not to look at past mistakes.

Perhaps this change of opinion proved nothing except the doubt I felt about my own behaviour. Certainly, when I woke head-to-to with Natty in the Spyglass, and lifted my head to inspect the marshes warming in the early sun, I imagined that each mist-wraith I saw wandering across them had come to accuse me. The whole shimmering panorama spoke directly to my moral sense - and I clutched nervously at the satchel inside my shirt, where I found the map safe enough.

When a fuller consciousness returned, I realised not even a whole army of accusers could now force me to return my prize to the sea-chest from which I had stolen it. Accepting this, I also understood that henceforth I would do better to keep looking forward, contemplating my future, rather than sneaking guilty glances over my shoulder. 

Source: 

Book: Gift from my wonderful friend in London!

Audio Book: Purchased

Source: Review Copy

Auggie Pullman is the star of Wonder by RJ Palacio, although not the only narrator of this layered, deeply moving, incredible book. Auggie is a ten-year-old boy who lost in the genetic lottery and was born with a number of facial deformities and related complexities, but no other handicaps beyond the way that peoples' reactions and responses to his physical appearance make his life difficult. Several year's worth of operations have improved Auggie's quality of life, if not his appearance, and he is a healthy boy with a sharp mind, a great sense of humor, a passion for all things Star Wars and a loving, thoughtful, protective family. After years of homeschooling, Auggie's parents decide it's time to think about sending him to school and go through the application process to enter him in the prestigious Beecher Prep school just down the street from their New York City home. When Principal Tushman handpicks three students to act as ambassadors (and hopefully friends once the school year starts) and give Auggie a tour of the campus a few weeks before the start of classes, he sets in motion a story of prejudice, lies, bullying, bravery, apologies and forgiveness that initially circles around Auggie but, as the story unfolds, comes to encompass everyone in his orbit. On the surface, Wonder is an uncommon story about a unique boy, on the whole, Wonder is a universal story about how it's not always easy to love another person, for any number of reasons, but when you do, the rewards are so much greater than sadness, pain, loneliness, and hard work that it sometimes takes to connect with someone else in this world.

Palacio makes her story of an outsider trying to fit in a universal story by examining the lives of Auggie's classmates, his sister and her friends and former friends. Palacio divides the book into eight parts, three of which are narrated by Auggie. Every few chapters a different character takes turns narrating the story, sometimes overlapping with Auggie's narrative, often providing insight that deepens and expands the story. Via, short for Olivia, is Auggie's older sister, and she takes up the narrative after Auggie. At fourteen, Via barely remembers life before Auggie but she also has a profound understanding of how his existence has shaped hers. In a way, her narrative is almost shocking after the sweet, knowing narrative of Auggie. While she loves her brother completely and would do anything for him, Via also, heartbreakingly, understands the he needs and even deserves the lion's share of attention, effort and exertion on the part of her parents and she has learned to live accordingly. She never asks for help with her homework but teaches herself. She understands when her parents can't attend her sporting events or school recitals. She is reading War and Peace and enjoying it. She is excited to be starting ninth grade at a new high school across town where no one knows she is the sister of the deformed boy. But, as the first day of school approaches and she finds herself abandoned by her two oldest, closest friends, the pressure of her life begins to get to her. As Via struggles with social situations, old friends, and new friends at her new school, Auggie goes through parallel, although sometimes more harrowing, situations. Palacio inhabits the narrative voices of her characters, teen and tween, boy and girl, wonderfully and they ring true, a major accomplishment in a middle grade novel.

Like Maria Russo, who reviewed Wonder for the New York Times in April of this year, I sobbed often as I read this book, and not just during Auggie's narrative. But, like her nine-year-old daughter who loved the book and pressed it on her friends, I think most kids will remain dry eyed. What adults may respond to is the wonder of the love and ability of the Pullman family to endure the struggles that Auggie's facial disfigurations have put all of them through with warmth, humor, graciousness and gratitude. This is one (rare) book where the main characters (although not all of the other characters) do not endure hardships because of neglectful or absent parents but instead have parents who create an environment in which they believe and trust that they can surmount their problems because they are supported and loved.

While I think the cover for the US edition of Wonder is FANTASTIC I also really like the UK cover, which references some really nice aspects of the book. Each of the eight parts of the book begin with pertinent, thought-provoking, often lovely quotes from sources as varied as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Shakespeare to song lyrics from Eurythmics, Christina Aguilera and David Bowie, who's song "Space Oddity" and the character from the song, Major Tom, are a major thread in Wonder. Another interesting fact, RJ Palacio worked most of her life as an art director and graphic designer, designing book jackets for other people! While she did not design the jacket for her debut novel, she does love it. 

One final thread of Wonder that I really, really loved is Mr Browne, Auggie's fifth grade English teacher, and his use of precepts in his classroom. He tells his kids that, "learning who you are is what you're here to do." Through a series of class discussions and writings, they are going to figure out who they are by the end of the school year and, over the summer, they are even going to make up their own precepts and send them to Mr Browne on a postcard. On her website, RJ Palacio is kind enough to share Mr Browne's (and Auggie's) precepts. Click here to read them! Auggie's precept, especially the way that he comes to it, is my favorite part of this amazing book.

I love a picture book where the story starts before the title page, and hello! hello! does just that. In the prologue, we see a little girl working her way through a series of devices, from a handheld gaming device to a laptop to a cell phone to a flat screen television. For one reason or another, each one fails to hold her attention. (That still happens, right? I know it does because I watch my eight year old make his way through the various devices in our house on a Saturday, eventually heading off to play Legos or something outside.) After the title page, we watch the little redhead make her way through the house, greeting her mother, father and brother Bob, getting only a halfhearted "hello" in return (if at all, as Bob has headphones on) as everyone else is plugged into their devices. "Sigh." is her response. However, a slightly opened door and a gust of wind blows in a colorful leaf that catches her attention. She follows the call of the leaves and, at this point, the text that looks like what you see in a digital readout shifts to a flowing, hand lettered font that is and organic and cheerful. At this moment, the world begins to say "hello" to the little girl. In fact, the world says, "Hello Lydia." I think it is so interesting, significant and meaningful that, while in her own home where everyone is plugged into electronic worlds, she is nameless. Revealing her name once she is in nature is the kind of subtle storytelling that is the mark of a true master of the craft.

 Lydia explores her world and, happily, we find that her imagination has not been dimmed by the uses of gadgets (thank you, Mr Cordell, for cutting us parents a little break here.) Cordell's illustrations of these pages are GLORIOUS (see tiny image below...) but short lived. Lydia's phone rings. Her frantic parents have discovered her missing and are calling her home.

I could not have said it better. And, in one final quote, I must share with you what this award winning picture book illustrator said of his fellow illustrator. Small writes that Cordell's "art is gloriously old-style, hand-drawn in ink with a bamboo pen. The color is applied with old-fashioned watercolor (harder to learn than Photoshop!) while the type is quite obviously computer made, in that rigid fractured font you see on digital clocks everywhere. The contrast of hand-drawn and machine-issued is cleverly sustained through the first half of the book, where the little girl lives in a dull, indoor world." And, almost finally, as with many of Cordell's books, remove the dust jacket for an extra treat!

In fact, Cordell has a fascinating blog post about how he came to hand letter this book, his inspirations and his sources. Cordell also shares the moment that led him to write this book in the post Hello! Hello! Origins. Which brings me back to what I said at the start of this review: hello! hello! is a reminder to us parents and kids - not a reprimand. The picture Cordell shares on his blog of his then-two-year-old daughter playing with a laptop she spilled coffee on, with Dad in the background on another laptop, is his honest admission that he needs this reminder as much as any of us do. His story about how his daughter delivered this reminder (and the idea for the book) is really worth reading!

Earlier this year, I wrote an article about gender equality in picture books titled, Him, Her, Hen? Gender Equality in Picture Books. It really got me thinking, but also feeling mostly helpless to effect a change, short of writing the books myself. Because of this, I was THRILLED when I was contacted by a representative of Inclusive Works, an international organization actively invested in the creation of more inclusive societies. Inclusive Works achieves this by advising organizations on how to include and embed diversity in their every day work through the development and execution of projects that help build sustainable connections between individuals and groups in society. They also carry out research that helps us better understand the rationale and process behind decisions and actions that help and hinder inclusiveness. Right now, Inclusive Works is hosting a story competition - Children's Stories with a Twist and we all have the opportunity to change the face of picture books! 

You can email your submissions BEFORE 12/31/12 to:

Good Luck!

When Invisible Inkling by Emily Jenkins with illustrations by Harry Bliss came out in April of 2011 it caught my eye. Harry Bliss is a fantastic illustrator and Emily Jenkins is the author of some of my favorite picture books and chapter books (scroll down for details on her other works, including one of the best YA books EVER written under a pseudonym.) And, as a long time fan of lemurs as well as invisible friends, Invisible Inkling looked to be a surefire win-win situation. A year later, the publication of Dangerous Pumpkins, (and the fact that my son can now read these books on his own) has inspired me to delve into the world of Inkling, the bandapat native to the Peruvian Woods of Mystery, or maybe the Ukrainian Glaciers, or possible the redwood forests of Cameroon. The star of our story (and Inkling will probably disagree with this) is the newly friendless Hank Wolowitz, fourth grader at New York's PS 166. Hank's parents run the shop the Big Round Pumpkin: Ice Cream for a Happy World, which is a few doors down from the apartment where they live. Mom and Hank's teenage sister Nadia run the counter, Dad makes the ice cream and Hank, grudgingly, takes out the trash and recycling. A particular sore spot is the fact that Hank's dad has used two of Nadia's flavor creations (espresso double shot and cinnamon mocha) and never even tried any of Hank's (Cheddar Bunnies and green Jell-O pineapple, to name a few.) One day while at the shop, Hank reaches under the sink and feels something furry. Later, he notice a waffle cone being nibbled away by an unseen something. Later, Hank rescues the invisible (NOT imaginary) creature from Rootbeer, the neighbor dog, and, due to the bandapat code of honor, Inkling must stay with Hank until he can return the favor. In book one, Inkling does his best to help Hank deal with a bully and get over the lonely hole left by Wainscoting, his best friend who moved away. (Illustrations below are from Invisible Inkling as no artwork from  Dangerous Pumpkins was available on line at the time of this review.)

Bandapats need lots of Vitamin A, and, as the supply of squash in his native land, whatever it really is, is diminishing, Inkling ventures into Brooklyn and hits the jackpot at the Big Round Pumpkin. In book two, Dangerous Pumpkins, he also scores big as Halloween approaches and people start putting out their decorations. It takes everything Hank has to convince Inkling that he CANNOT eat the jack-o-lanterns, but it is hard work. Hank's social life has not improved much since the first book. He has no one to go trick-or-treating with and does not look forward to another year of being "looked after" by Nadia and her teenage friends who like to scare little kids while their folks keep the shop open. Add to that the fact that, once again, Hank's dad has chosen Nadia's special Halloween flavor (Candy Crunch) over all of Hank's ideas (Mummy Toenail, Black Spiderweb, Dead Scarecrow and Loose Tooth - there is a great illustration along with flavor details that actually sound yummy in the book) and the fact that Inkling devours Nadia's contest entries (four "dangerous pumpkins," pumpkins with extreme carvings) leaving Hank to take the blame, and things seem pretty bleak.


Jenkins balances this nicely with bright (but not always easy) spots like (Sasha, last names only for Hank) Chin, Hank's downstairs neighbor who, while she is in his grade and is "a really good drummer and excellent at playing alien school children" while also helping to build a matchstick replica of the Taj Mahal after school, also has a "whole ballerina side" to her that Hank just doesn't get. Also, all her other friends are girls and Hank does not want to go trick-or-treating with a bunch of tutus. But, Chin is not all she seems (two words: zombie ballerinas) and, in the end, Nadia isn't as mean as she seems either. While Hank still has to deal with embarrassment and disaster at the hands of the bandapat, Inkling is there for him at his loneliest moments and the two friends need each other more than they realize.

Harry Bliss's illustrations have the perfect balance of humor and reality, making Hank's story all the more believable and Inkling irresistible, even if the reader is the only one who can see this pumpkin-loving-troublemaker. A third Invisible Inkling book is due out next year! Don't miss this very funny interview with Emily and Inkling...

Emily Jenkins is also the author of the wonderfulToys Go Out Trilogy, with illustrations by the Caldecott award winning Paul O Zelinsky. I hate to be reductionist, but these books are sort of The Doll People for the younger crowd. With stuffed animals instead of dolls. They make for great bedtime read-out-louds as they are short, funny and not too suspenseful. And the bath towels talk. Jenkins has quite the imagination!

As I mentioned above, Emily Jenkins is also a wonderful picture book author and, as with her chapter books, she is always paired with brilliant illustrators from Sergio Ruzzier to Alexandra Boiger to Lauren Castillo. I am especially excited to see Jenkins' new book, Water in the Park, illustrated by a new favorite of mine, Stephanie Graegin. Emily's book excellent book, A Little Bit Scary People, made my Best Picture Books of 2008 list.

Finally, in 2008 using the name E Lockhart, Jenkins wrote what, for me, is the closest I think we'll every get to a version of Catcher in the Rye with a girl protagonist. And, because this book was written now and not sixty years ago, our heroine is not suffering from the onset of her nineteenth nervous break down as the bell jar descends, but she is smart, brave and unwilling to let the boys call all the shots, have all the fun and rule the school. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, National Book Award Finalist and Printz (the teen version of the Newbery) Honor winner, is a must read for smart girls. If you have anyone in your life who might enjoy this book now or later, please read my review and take note!