Tuesday, January 10, 2017

My Lady Jane REVIEW



22840421

Written by: Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodu Meadows

Publisher: HarperTeen

Date Published: June 7, 2016

Description (from goodreads.com) :

The comical, fantastical, romantical, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey. In My Lady Jane, coauthors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows have created a one-of-a-kind fantasy in the tradition of The Princess Bride, featuring a reluctant king, an even more reluctant queen, a noble steed, and only a passing resemblance to actual history—because sometimes history needs a little help.

At sixteen, Lady Jane Grey is about to be married off to a stranger and caught up in a conspiracy to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But those trifling problems aren’t for Jane to worry about. Jane is about to become the Queen of England.
 
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22840421-my-lady-jane

I finally finished this gem of a book. It was wonderful. I started this book at an inconvenient time. Right around the holidays and honestly I didn't finish a single book for the month of December. Not a huge deal for me but also not how I wanted to round out my year.

This book can be described in a single word. Clever. The jokes are spot on, the writing is fresh, and although it is written by 3 different authors it flows seamlessly.

It seems like this team of writers plan to take all the downtrodden Jane's throughout history in order to retell their story and they start their series with Jane the Grey also know as the nine day queen. They take a real historical figure and create a fantastical version of events that is told with wit and charm.

Something I appreciated, and might not have been noticed by some, is the bits of pop culture spread throughout. There are specific references to things like Monty Python and many more. Even if you know subscribe to the same fandoms as the writers you will still experience laugh out loud moments and root for the romance throughout.

Definitely read. However, I gave it a 4 stars because it was awesome but if it was over the top amazing I think I would have made more time for it.

Friday, January 6, 2017

FOREVAH

It has literally been forever since I have been able to post on this blog. Not because I didn't care about it, although lets be honest no one reads it but my husband I am pretty sure... But because I got a new job!

This new job affords me a lot less free time which means that in 2016 I read about HALF as many books as I read in 2015. Not a huge deal. I still managed to complete 84 books but compared to the 160+ I read the year before it was definitely a bit disappointing in my eyes.

That being said, I am now officially an elementary school teacher. That comes with less money, (blah) less free time, and more overall job satisfaction. I love it. I definitely do, although I wasn't sure at first.

I started out working like 65-70 hours a week and I am down to like 55. I have already finished a book this year, The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher after her untimely passing and was very impressed by how poetic and insightful her actual diary entries were. The rest of the book was just okay but over all I enjoyed it. I also have read Volume 6 Miss Marvel Civil War II. I was a little disappointed by this latest installment. I will however be continuing with this for the entirety of the run because I really like Kamala and her story line.

Overall, I am excited about 2017. I have set a goodreads goal of 80 books. I have a ton of awesome netgalley.com review copies I am very excited to dive into and I am just looking forward to having my ENTIRE summer off to read.

Currently Reading:

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Next Up On My TBR:

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Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Review: Presidential Pets by Julia Moberg


Title: Presidential Pets
Author: Julia Moberg
Publisher: Charlesbridge; Imagine
Publication: August 2, 2016

Summary: 

America’s First Pets.

It’s been said that if you want a friend at the White House, get a dog. Or, we might add, perhaps a cat, bird, bear, or maybe an alligator! Throughout America’s history, the presidential menagerie has included an array of creatures both big and small, ordinary and absurd.

This inside look at the White House’s animal residents features a rollicking, rhyming verse for each commander-in-chief’s pets, accompanied by cool facts, presidential stats, and laugh-out-loud cartoon art. John Quincy Adams kept an alligator in the bathtub, while Thomas Jefferson’s pride and joy was his pair of bear cubs. Andrew Jackson had a potty-mouthed parrot, and Martin Van Buren got into a fight with Congress over his two baby tigers. First daughter Caroline Kennedy’s pony Macaroni had free reign over the White House. But the pet-owning winner of all the presidents was Theodore Roosevelt, who had a hyena, lion, zebra, badger, snake, rats, a nippy dog that bit the French ambassador, and more!
Perfect for this election year! While the race heats up, everyone will be wondering who the next first pet will be.

Review:

This was very cute. Each president is represented and discussed. Not only is there a short but fun poem about the pets the presidents had but also a small section about what the presidents were known for, their wives, and some additional interesting facts and information.

I do feel like this would be appropriate for children in a little bit of older elementary or beginning of middle school age because some of the facts about the presidents talk about acts they passed or important events of the time which might be a little advanced for lower elementary. 

Overall, this was a lot of fun. I actually read a few sections to my husband and he went on to look up additional facts that were of interest to him. Definitely worth checking out if you enjoy learning about presidential pets. Personally, we have an English Springer Spaniel and decided on him because his breed served as such a strong and wonderful family pet to G.W. Bush.

Star Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Thursday, May 12, 2016

8 Children's Books To Look Forward To In 2016: Mini-Reviews

***I received all of the following books from netgalley.com and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.***



Title: Bedtime For Batman
Author: Michael Dahl 
Illustrator: Ethen Beavers 
Publisher: Capstone Young Readers 
Publication Date: August 1, 2016

Description:
When a dark night comes to the big city, one little super hero prepares for a great adventure . . . bedtime! He dons his pajama uniform, speeds upstairs, cleans up the nightly grime, and keeps watch from his towering bunk bed. Written by award-winning author Michael Dahl (Goodnight Baseball, Goodnight Football, and Goodnight Hockey) and illustrated by Ethen Beavers (DC Super Friends), this bedtime tale will have Batman fans, young and old, delighting in their nightly routines. Bedtime for Batman is the perfect way to say goodnight to your little Dark Knight.
For ages 4-7.
About the Author: Michael Dahl is the prolific author of the bestselling Goodnight Baseball picture book and more than 200 other books for children and young adults. He has won the AEP Distinguished Achievement Award three times for his nonfiction, a Teacher’s Choice award from Learning magazine, and a Seal of Excellence from the Creative Child Awards. Dahl currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
About the Illustrator: Ethen Beavers is a professional comic book artist from Modesto, California. His best-known works for DC Comics include Justice League Unlimited and Legion of Superheroes in the 31st Century. He has also illustrated for other top publishers, including Marvel, Dark Horse, and Abrams.


Review:
I think this was fabulous. It is a great introduction to the Batman universe for young readers. I think this would appeal to both parents and children alike as Batman is such a popular movie, tv, and comic book franchise that this will be something for everyone to read and enjoy. It also helps that the illustrations are absolutely adorable and the story line it great. Definitely suggest picking this up for the future Batman fan.




Title: Do Not Bring Your Dragon To The Library
Author:Julie Gassman
Illustrator: Andy Elkerton
Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
Publication Date: August 1, 2016

Description:
Have you ever thought about bringing your dragon to the library? Don't do it! You might have the best intentions, but that dragon will cause nothing but trouble. Using rhyming text and a diverse cast of characters, this charming picture book will provide some important — and some not so important — library etiquette in a very entertaining way.
For ages 3-7. 


Review:

So much fun. If you plan to take your kids to the library or are maybe a school teacher who has kids that frequent the school library and you want to talk about what is and what is not appropriate in the library this is such a fun way to do it. There are a bunch of fun illustrations and a variety of characters and dragons in the story and it just flowed seamlessly. I appreciated the rhyming text and thought this was a great introduction to library behavior.



Title: What Would It Be Life?
Author: McAuthor Krishna
Illustrator: Ayesbe & Ishaan
Publisher: Amberjack Publishing: Little Adventures
Publication Date: June 28, 2016

Description:
Follow one young girl on her adventure to the library where she learns about an array of real-life women who made history with their bold ambitions – finding out that girls can do anything!
Would you like to sail the seas as a pirate like Jacquotte Delahaye? Swing, flip and sparkle as a trapeze artist like Antoinette Concello? Work toward making the world a better place as the president of a country, or touch one special life as a mother? Readers will learn about amazing women who followed their dreams and believed anything was possible, while also learning that often the best thing to be is yourself!

Review:

Everything you would expect to get out of this book you did plus so much more. It is amazing. What a great and powerful look at famous, diverse, and influential women throughout history in an accessible and interesting way. I would say this is a good read for upper elementary students who will relate to these women with goals and ambitions and be able to take away from a story that they can do anything and be anything they want to be no matter the gender. I also like how this didn't just show doctors or scientists it showed famous artists and athletes also saying that the possibilities really are endless. 



Title: Rowdy; The Pirate Who Would Not Sleep
Author: Darcy Pattison
Illustrator: Ewa O'Neill
Publisher: Mimshouse
Publication Date: June 1, 2016

Description:
A Rowdy Heart Doesn’t Always Know What it Wants or Needs
Captain Whitney Black McKee is a rowdy pirate! After traveling the seven seas and fighting sea monsters, it’s time to come back to home port for a rest. But the Captain’s sleep has gone all awry.
Sleepless. What’s a rowdy captain to do? She sends her crew a’thievin’ for a simple lullaby. But the rowdy heart doesn’t always know what it wants or needs. She won’t find rest, until her own dear Pappy arrives.
This charming children’s picture book is perfect for fathers to read with their 4-8-year-old daughters. And follow it with a lullaby or two. Great Father’s Day gift or for anytime you want to encourage a father-daughter relationship. Come and celebrate rowdy girls and their fathers.

Review:

My brother just had a little girl so this is a little outside of the age range but I think I am going to pick up a physical copy and hoard it away until it is time. What a great story about a bond between a father and a daughter. I also loved that their were lullaby's included. I think that is a great thing for a book marketed to dads to have ways to sing and be involved that are often considered things that moms would do. This is just a step in the right direction. Rowdy is a great female character and it doesn't follow any traditional gender roles just like a dad can sing to his kids too. Loved it. 



Title: I Wanna Be A Great Big Dinosaur
Author: Heath McKenzie
Publisher: SourceBooks Jabberwocky
Publication Date: May 17, 2016

Description:
More than anything in the world, one little boy wants to be a great big dinosaur. And he's in luck! A great big T. Rex shows up to teach him how to stomp and roar just like a dinosaur. But dinosaurs aren't so great at soccer or video games... Maybe being a little boy isn't all bad?

A story about being whoever (or whatever) you want!


Review:

This little read was so great. It is about a little boy who wants to be something he is not but eventually decides being himself isn't a bad thing. This story comes full circle and teaches a great lesson about how special a child is and how they are unique already without having to be something they are not and helping them figure that out on their own. So cute. A great picture book for young boys and girls but I think the boy main characters and the dinosaurs will appeal to young boys. The illustrations aren't anything too out of the ordinary but they fit the story and I really enjoyed this and would recommend it. 




Title: As Time Went By
Author: Jose Sanabria
Publisher: North South Books Inc
Publication Date: May 1, 2016

Description:
Once upon a time there was a ship that sailed beside the sun with very important people on board. The spirit of reinvention – and the importance we place on things – is beautifully expressed in José Sanabria’s visually evocative story. A steamship makes a journey across time from luxury and exclusivity, industry and abandonment, to stewardship and inclusion as we see the evolving functions of the ship and the changing faces of the people who cherish it most of all.

Review:

This was absolutely stunning in terms of art and presentation. I loved it and it was so lovely to read through. I will say that it doesn't feel like a children's story. It is told simply and could be easily read to a child but the themes are a little mature for a child who might still enjoy picture books. I think they would get something out of this but it wouldn't be something the reached for to read and re-read. However, I would suggest giving it a chance because it was stunning. 



Title: Babak The Beetle
Author: Fred Paranuzzi
Illustrator: Andree Prigent
Publisher: North South Books Inc. 
Publication Date: May 1, 2016

Description:
One beetle’s trash is another beetle’s treasure! When Babak the little dung beetle finds an egg, he’s determined to find the owner. But he soon finds that this mysterious egg doesn’t belong to the ostrich, frog, or snake. What kind of egg is it?! Originally published in France, Fred Paronuzzi’s humorous tale paired with Andrée Prigent bright, graphic art is sure to bring on a good case of the giggles!

Review:

One morning an adorable little dung beetle comes across what appears to be an egg. He abandons his ball of poop and decides to be a good beetle and help the egg get home. He runs across a variety of birds on his journey and eventually finds where the egg belongs, with a little twist. The art style was interesting. Lots of neon turquoise and blacks and I really like that contrast for a children's book. I would definitely recommend this. 



Title: Sock Monster
Author: Stacey R. Campbell
Illustrator: Elizabeth Thieme
Publisher: Gemelli Press: Green Darner Press
Publication Date: March 23, 2016

Description:
Coming out in Spring of 2016. This children's illustrated book written by Stacey R. Campbell and illustrated by Elizabeth Thieme is sure to inspire a tidy bedroom.

When Billy refuses to pick up his clothes the sock monster comes to teach him a lesson.


Review:

A very cute story about the importance of a clean bedroom told in a creative and fun way. This book is not only illustrated with lively drawings and colors it teaches a lesson about taking care of your own things and why tidiness and organization are important. If you have a young child struggling with cleaning up their own rooms or messes this would be a great read!

Friday, May 6, 2016

Wild Swans by Jessica Spotswood Review and Giveaway

Wild Swans
By Jessica Spotswood
Sourcebooks Fire
Fiction 
Pub date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 9781492622161
10.99 Trade Paperback 

About the book:
Will Ivy fulfill her destiny as a dazzling Milbourn woman? Or will the pressure from her family cause her to crumble?
The summer before Ivy’s senior year is going to be golden—all bonfires, barbeques, and spending time with her best friends. For once, she will just get to be. No summer classes, none of Granddad’s intense expectations to live up to the family name. For generations, the Milbourn women have lead extraordinary lives—and died young and tragically. Granddad calls it a legacy, but Ivy considers it a curse. Why else would her mother have run off and abandoned her as a child?

But when her mother unexpectedly returns home with two young daughters in tow, all of the stories Ivy wove to protect her heart start to unravel. The very people she once trusted now speak in lies. And all of Ivy’s ambition and determination cannot defend her against the secrets of the Milbourn past…
Purchase Here: 
Wild Swans
Amazon | B&N | BAM | IndieBound  

About the Author
Jessica Spotswood is the author of the Cahill Witch Chronicles. She lives in Washington, DC, with her husband, and works as a children’s library associate, with her husband. Visit jessicaspotswood.com.

Connect with Jessica Spotswood 

Praise for Wild Swans 
 Ivy’s journey is handled perfectly, and it’s her story at heart. For anyone who suffers from too-heavy expectations, Ivy will ring true in this engaging, nearly flawless coming-of-age novel. — Kirkus Reviews, Starred

“A thoughtful, relatable story about a young woman attempting to figure out her own worth against the ghosts of her past.” — Booklist

“A strong coming-of-age story.” — School Library Journal
WILD SWANS is the kind of thoughtful, summery book you’ll want to savor under starry skies or read on a porch swing with a glass of lemonade nearby. This compelling story of a girl trying to figure out who she is and who she wants to be vs. who everyone else expects her to be manages to feel both fresh and like a timeless classic. Highly recommended for Sarah Dessen fans.  —  Paula Stokes, author of Girl Against the Universe and The Art of Lainey

A beautiful novel about the complexity of family and the magic of first love.  I couldn’t stop turning the pages. — Lauren Barnholdt, author of Two Way Street and Heat of the Moment

A story of first love and self-discovery as sweet as it is compelling. — Jennifer Salvato Doktorski, author of The Summer After You and Me


Excerpt from Wild Swans
Chapter One
Granddad says all the Milbourn women are extraordinary.
Amelia, the Shakespeare professor up at the college, says cursed.
Judy, the bookseller down at the Book Addict, says crazy.
Here in Cecil, girls are still expected to be nice. Quiet. All sugar. Maybe a little spice.
But not us. We Milbourn women are a complicated lot.
The Milbourn legacy goes back four generations. Folks were just starting to drive over from Baltimore and Washington, DC, to buy my great-great-grandmother's portraits when she tried outracing a train in her new roadster. It stalled on the tracks and she and her two youngest were killed instantly. My great-grandmother Dorothea survived and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for her love poems-but she was murdered by the woman whose husband she'd been sleeping with for inspiration. Grandmother painted famous, haunting landscapes of the Bay, but the year before I was born, she walked out the back door and down to the water and drowned herself. My mother had a voice like a siren, but she ran away from home the second time she got knocked up, and we haven't seen her since.
And me? I don't feel crazy or cursed. But I've grown up in this house, haven't I? So I don't know. Maybe there's no escaping it.
I'm home alone tonight, and a storm is sweeping up the Bay. Through the open french doors I can hear the waves crashing against the shore. They make a frantic shh-shh, like a desperate mama rocking a colicky baby.
I hear mothers do things like that, anyhow. I wouldn't know.
I've been reading Jane Eyre for about the twelfth time, but I set it down on the coffee table and leave the warm lamplight to go stand in the doorway. The wind catches at my hair and flings it back in my face. I push it away and squint down at the beach.
Lightning hasn't split the sky yet, but I can taste it coming. The air's so thick I could swim through it.
Jesus, but a swim right now would be delicious. I imagine tearing off my blue sundress, running down the sandy path, and diving right into the cool waves of the Chesapeake. I could swim almost before I could walk. Part fish, Granddad says. But he doesn't like me to swim by myself. Says it isn't safe, especially for a girl, alone and at night. That's one of his rules. He's got about a million. Some of them I fight; some I just let be. Given how his wife killed herself, it seems reasonable enough to humor him on this.
Behind me, something rattles in the wind and I startle. Goose bumps prickle my shoulders in spite of the heat. Lately it feels like a storm's coming even when the sky's blue. Like spiders crawling through my veins.
My friend Abby tells me I need to quit worrying and relax. It's going to be golden, this summer before our senior year. There will be barbecues and bonfires and lazy days volunteering at the town library. She doesn't believe in family curses or premonitions of doom. Her family has its own troubles, but they're not town lore.
My friend Claire says "fuck the family curse; you're your own woman." Claire's all rebellion and razor-sharp edges-especially since her dad had an affair with his secretary and moved out (such a cliché). Claire doesn't believe in fate; she believes in making choices and owning them.
But she's not a Milbourn girl.
The rain starts with a fury. It pelts the windowpanes and drums against the flagstones out on the patio. The wind picks up too, sending the gray curtains spinning into the room like ghosts. I pad back toward the sofa, trailing my fingers across bookshelves stacked with Great-Grandmother Dorothea's prize-winning poetry. All along the walls hang Grandmother's landscapes-our pretty Eastern Shore transformed by twisting rain clouds. She only painted hurricane weather.
They were all so talented. Troubled, sure. But look at their legacy.
What will mine be?
Granddad's had me in all kinds of classes: piano, flute, ballet, gymnastics, oil painting, watercolors, landscapes, portraits, creative writing... I threw myself into every new subject, only to be crushed when I didn't show a natural aptitude for any of it.
I'm on the swim team, but I'm never going to be an Olympic athlete. I'm an honors student, but I won't be valedictorian. Sometimes I write poems, but that's just to get the restless thoughts out of my head; my poems have never won any awards. I am completely, utterly ordinary.
Granddad won't give up; he thinks there's some bit of genius hiding in me somewhere. But over the last couple months... Well, I'm getting tired of trying so hard only to end up a disappointment. Maybe that's not how this works. Maybe whatever spark blessed or cursed the other Milbourn girls skipped a generation.
To hear people in town talk, the women in my family weren't just gifted; they were obsessed. And those obsessions killed them, three generations in a row. Maybe four. For all I know, my mother could be dead now too. Do I really want to continue that tradition?
Outside, thunder growls. Inside, something rattles. I stare up at the portrait of Dorothea as it twitches against the exposed brick wall. Just the wind, I reassure myself. There's no such thing as ghosts.
Dorothea was fifteen when her mother painted her. She wears a royal-blue shirtdress and matching gloves, and her hair falls in short brown curls around her face. She wasn't what you'd call pretty-too sharp featured for that-but there's something captivating about her. She stands tall in the portrait, shoulders back, lips quirked. It's not quite a smile. More like a smirk. A year later, she'd survive the collision that killed her mother and sisters. Her broken leg never healed quite right, Granddad says; she walked with a limp the rest of her life.
Lightning flashes. The lamp flickers. Rain is puddling on the wooden floor. I should close the doors, but Dorothea's eyes catch mine and somehow I don't want to turn my back on her portrait.
There's no such thing as ghosts, I remind myself.
Then the room plunges into darkness.
I run for the french doors, but before I can get there, I slam into something. Someone.
My heart stutter-stops and I shriek, scrambling away, slipping on the wet wooden floor.
"Ivy!" Alex grabs my arm. His fingers are warm against my skin. "It's just me. Chill."
"Jesus! I thought you were a ghost!" I take a deep breath, inhaling the salty breeze off the Bay. My pulse is racing.
"Nope, just me." He waves a flashlight. "Soon as the lights started flickering, Ma told me to bring you this. She knows how you get about the dark."
I fold my arms across my chest. "Shut up. I'm not scared of the dark anymore."
"Uh-huh. Sure." Alex shines the flashlight up over his face like a movie monster. I should have known better than to mention ghosts. He'll tease me about it forever. Remind me how he used to sneak over and scare Claire and me during sleepovers, how I used to sleep in my closet during thunderstorms, how I had a night-light till I turned thirteen.
"Gimme that." I reach for the flashlight.
"If you're not scared, why do you need it?" He holds it above his head. I'm tall-five ten-but the summer we were fourteen, Alex got taller, and he still hasn't stopped lording it over me. As he stretches, his shirt lifts to reveal taut, tanned abs.
I drag my eyes back to his face, but sort of leisurely like. He got soaked on his sprint from the carriage house, and his red T-shirt is molded to his muscled shoulders. The summer we were fifteen, he started lifting for baseball, and the girls at school went all swoony over him. I am not immune to a nice set of abs myself-but Alex is my best friend. Has been since we were babies, since my mother ran off and Granddad hired Alex's mom, Luisa, to be our housekeeper. There's nothing romantic between Alex and me.
That's what we decided after prom. What I decided. Alex and Luisa and Granddad are the only family I've got. What would happen if Alex and I started dating and it didn't work out? It would be awkward and awful, and I don't want to risk that. And if it did work? The baseball coach up at the college has already scouted Alex, all but promised him a scholarship if he keeps his grades up this year. If we were dating, Alex would be one more thing tying me to Cecil.
"I hate you," I mutter.
"No you don't." He gives me a cocky grin. Sometimes I think he's waiting for me to change my mind about us, but I'm not going to. Once I make a decision, I stick with it.
But the house presses around us, cold and quiet and more than a little spooky, and I fight the urge to snuggle up against him.
The front door slams. "Ivy!" Granddad hollers.
Just in time to save me from myself.
Alex relinquishes the flashlight. "I better go." Granddad gets a little skittish about Alex being here when I'm home alone. Alex and I have never given him any reason not to trust us, but when your only daughter goes and gets herself pregnant twice before the age of twenty, you maybe have reason to be a little overprotective.
Like I said, I pick my battles.
"You going to be okay now that the Professor's home? No more ghosts?" Alex licks a raindrop from his upper lip and smiles. It's his placating-Ivy smile, the one that says I let my imagination run away with me. The one he uses when I get all dreamy over a boy in a book or want to watch an old black-and-white movie or point out shapes in the clouds. The one that makes me feel like maybe I am a Milbourn girl after all-sensitive and selfish and bound for a bad end.
I grit my teeth, but the worry in his brown eyes is genuine. "Yep. I'll be fine."
"Okay. See you." He jogs off through the rainy backyard.
"Ivy?" Granddad cusses as he knocks into something out in the hall.
"In here!" I pull the french doors shut.
He limps into the room, tossing his battered briefcase onto the sofa. He nods at me and the flashlight. "How long has the power been off?"
"Not long. Couple minutes." I smile as he heads right for Dorothea's crooked portrait and straightens it. He might be a professor, but he's only absentminded when he wants to be.
"What've you been up to?" he asks.
"Nothing. Reading." I wave my copy of Jane Eyre at him.
"Reading isn't nothing, young lady. Not in this house." He gives me a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes and plops down into his brown leather recliner. "Have a seat. There's something I want to talk to you about."
That feeling slams into me again-impending doom-and I shiver. My skin feels like it's coated in cobwebs. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing we can't handle." Granddad stares up at Dorothea. "You know that student of mine? The one who's working in my office this summer?"
"Connor Clarke." As if I could forget. He's a rising sophomore who's somehow made himself indispensable. He aced Granddad's upper-level Twentieth Century American Poets course last semester.
Granddad nods. "I invited him over for lunch tomorrow. Remind me to leave a note for Luisa."
I raise my eyebrows. "Tomorrow's Wednesday."
He runs a hand over his bristly gray beard. "And?"
"Wednesday is Luisa's day off. Has been for years."
"Ah, I forgot." He steeples his fingers together. "You work the late shift tomorrow, don't you? Maybe you could join us."
Like I said-he's only forgetful when it suits him. "And make you lunch?"
He shrugs. "You might enjoy yourself. Connor's a good kid. Smart. Driven. He wrote an excellent paper on Dorothea. Most students are too intimidated to write a critical essay about my mother-in-law. It earned him an A on the paper and in the class."
"So you've mentioned." He hardly ever gives As in that class. Connor's probably an insufferable suck-up. "Impressive for a freshman."
"Would've been impressive for a senior." Granddad grins. He gets a kick out of my "competitive spirit," as he calls it. But he's the one who raised me to be ambitious, to think I could do anything I put my mind to. "I offer that class every spring. You could take it yourself."
We've had this conversation a million times. "If I stay here"-which I might, because I'd get free tuition and the college has a good swim team and a strong English program, and I worry about leaving Granddad all alone-"I'm not taking your classes. It would be too weird."
"It wouldn't be weird unless you made it weird," he insists. "You'd have to earn your B like everybody else."
"Except Connor," I grumble, bristling that he thinks this boy is smarter than me.
"Connor's an exceptional young man." Granddad casts a dubious look at Jane Eyre. "Really, Ivy. You'd rather study the nineteenth-century English novel than twentieth-century American poetry?"
I stick out my tongue at him. "I am dying to take Amelia's class on the nineteenth-century English novel, and you know it. Her Women in Shakespeare too."
Granddad sighs. "No accounting for taste, I suppose."
I grin, flopping back against the worn leather sofa. "You're the one who raised me to be a feminist. And you're perfectly capable of using the stove yourself, but I suppose I can make you and Connor some lunch. He's not a vegetarian, is he?"
"Oh, I hope not." Granddad shudders. "He seems so promising."
I smile, tucking my feet beneath me. "Is that all you wanted to talk about? The way you looked, I thought it was something dire."
"Actually..." He clears his throat. Drums his fingers on the armrest. The back of my neck prickles; it isn't like him to hem and haw. "I heard from your mother today."
"My-mother?" The word feels foreign on my tongue, like one you read in books and know how to spell but never learn to pronounce.
I must have misheard. Granddad hasn't talked to my mother in years. She signed away her rights to me when I was four, and he hasn't been in touch with her since.
Has he?
The lamp flickers back on. It illuminates the tired slump of his shoulders, the crow's feet perching next to his blue eyes. "Erica called me at the office. She... Well, the gist of it is that she's being evicted from her apartment and needs a place to stay. She asked to come home. I told her that I had to talk to you first, but I don't see how we can say no."
She left before I was two years old. Got pregnant again, dropped out of college, ran off with her boyfriend to New York City, and hasn't looked back since. Not once. Granddad says it's impossible for me to remember her, but I do. I think I do. White-blond hair and a smoky alto.
"I could say no." I click off the flashlight. "She needs a place to stay, so suddenly she remembers we exist? That's bullshit. That's not how family works."
I've never gotten a birthday card from her. Not a single Christmas present.
Granddad sighs, pinching the bridge of his long nose. Same nose as mine. What did I inherit from my mother? Her height? Her mouth? There are so few pictures from when she was my age.
Maybe she took them with her.
Or maybe she threw them away. Maybe she didn't want the memories any more than she wanted us.
When I was little, I prayed for her to come home.
But I'm seventeen now, and this is way too little, way too late.
"I know," Granddad says. He's the one who raised me to believe that family is everything: duty and love and legacy. "But we have to think about your sisters."
"Sisters?" I clutch the flashlight, knuckles white. "More than one?"
"Came as a surprise to me too. Isobel is fifteen. Grace"-his voice wobbles. That was Grandmother's name-"is six."
I've got sisters. Two of them. I wonder if they are perfect little Milbourn girls with marvelous talents. I wonder if they know that I exist.
"I know this won't be easy for you, Ivy. It won't be easy for me either. But Erica and her husband are getting divorced, and she lost her job, and she needs a place to stay. It took a lot for her to ask. I couldn't turn her away." He avoids my eyes and fiddles with his big, silver watch.
Those are his tells. Granddad is a terrible poker player.
"You already said yes," I realize. "When are they coming?"
"Saturday."
That's four days from now. I run my fingers through my long hair, catching at the tangles. "I see." My voice is frosty.
"It's only temporary. Just till she can earn some money and get back on her feet. I'm sure she'll want to get the girls back to their schools in September."
"September? But that's the whole summer!"
And this summer was supposed to be perfect.
Every summer, Granddad signs me up for activities: writing camp up at the college or watercolors at the Arts League or a production of Oklahoma at the Sutton Theater. This year I put my foot down: no classes. I'm volunteering at the library and I'll be swimming every day. I need this, I told Granddad-a real summer. A break before senior year and all its pressures: captaining the swim team, copyediting the yearbook, taking three AP classes, and applying for college. And most of all (though I didn't say this part) I am desperate for a break from the restless, relentless search for my talent.
Granddad agreed, as long as I promised to submit some of my poems for publication.
How am I supposed to relax with my mother and newfound sisters living here all summer long.
"Can she do that?" I ask. "Take them out of New York? Their dad won't mind?"
"I don't get the sense that Isobel has a relationship with her father, and Grace's dad-" Granddad clears his throat, avoiding my gaze again. "They don't live in New York. Haven't for a while. They're over in DC now."
"Oh. I see," I say again.
And I do. Clear as day. My mother's been living two hours away, and she still couldn't be bothered to come visit. To join us for Thanksgiving dinner. To cheer me on at one of my swim meets.
I'm not even worth a tank of gas.

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My Review:

I was actually really surprised by Spotswood. I had heard of her previous series and was intrigued by some of the reviews but not enough to pick it up. I ended up requesting to review this copy and was generously provided an ebook version from netgalley.com and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I have nothing but wonderful things to say about this YA. I loved it. I was immediately taken with the characters and enjoyed the idea of the family curse falling on the amazingly gifted women of this family. It was so interesting learning about the things they were cursed with and their talents and seeing how the effects the later generations in the family.

I was a little disappointed at first as I saw a love triangle forming but enjoyed how the romantic relationships played out in the book as well as the friendships. 

Overall this is a story about family and relationships and I think it was done in such a great way. I would definitely recommend this to readers and will most likely take the plunge and pick up more of Spotswood's work in the near future. Highly recommended.