The Icarus Show, by Sally Christie, is a tender and insightful examination of strategies used to cope with uncomfortable situations and how they can interfere with living a full life.  Alex has devised the perfect coping strategy for his first year in secondary school: no matter what happens, do not react in any way.  David, the boy who lives next door, does react when Alan, the class bully, trips him on the first day of school.  This reaction earns him a very insulting nickname.  Then a mysterious note appears in Alex’s bag.  Alex is amazed to find that the note announces a coming event where a boy will fly.  Is Alex the only one to receive such a note, or did others receive one also, and is it only a hoax?  Subsequent notes and objects make it clear that there is such an event planned and the planner is known only as Icarus.  Alex is frantic to solve the mystery so he enlists the assistance of Maisie, who once lived in the house where Alex lives and her son Donald.  Alex also begins to make friends with David and his perfect coping strategy slips enough to make him very uncomfortable.  Alex, Maisie, and Donald  must unravel the mystery before the event occurs because a boy cannot fly, or can he?  The situation appears farfetched, but as the story unfolds, the reader learns that what is really happening is not at all unusual, and learns how coping strategies can restrict our lives.  With constantly mounting tension, clever plot twists, believable characters, and a real cliff hanger ending, The Icarus Show is a very enjoyable read.  Highly recommended.

Set on an island off the South Carolina coast, Illusion is the third book in the Heirs of Watson Island series.  Southern Gothic fiction steeped in mysticism and spirits with strange disappearances and characters who live for centuries, readers who pick up this book without having read the first two will have a difficult time keeping track of the characters even with the family tree that is presented in the first pages. The story revolves around three families with adjoining plantations including waterfront property who have existed on the island for centuries. Barrie Watson is trying to heal the wounds of these families who have grown to distrust each other while still keeping the essence of all that is Waston’s Landing.  The writing is descriptive with easy visualization and moves along at a good pace.  This will force our library to attain the 1st two books as well.  

Author Jenn Bennett immediately builds curiosity and tension in the summer adventure that Bailey “Mink” Rydell is embarking on as she descends a central California airport escalator.  Choosing to come live with her father on the California coast, readers soon put together that this is the same town her online crush “Alex” lives in.  Alex and Bailey have chatted online for some time now as they watch old classic movies together.  Bailey, also nicknamed the “Artful Dodger” because of her desire to avoid conflict, plans to scope out who Alex is before she tries to meet up with him.  So begins the 1st plot line.  All great stories have multiple plot lines and Bennett does a nice job weaving together three of them.  Bailey is soon accosted by two surfer boys, Davy and Porter.  Both argumentative and rude, she later realizes that Porter is a security guard at the quirky museum where she is hired to sell tickets.  Porter and Bailey’s instinct to quarrel with each other over petty things also ironically develops their friendship and soon to be passion.  But wait, there’s more.  Readers will get to learn the other traumatic reason why Bailey is needing to leave her past behind in a 3rd storyline that will allow Bailey to grow in strength as well as trust.  But if Bailey likes Porter, what happened to her interest in “Alex”?  2/3 of the way most readers will see where the story will resolve itself, but it will not be a smooth ride.  All in all, Bennett’s premise is unique, slightly far-fetched, yet fun enough to keep readers going.  While the cover will probably draw in readers, it is a horrible representation of the story — they never hung out in a pool and Bailey’s not comfortable with her body yet to be in public in a bikini. Still this novel is recommended for high school age students.

In the hip-hop spirit of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical, Hamilton, David Elliot has crafted a reimagining of the myth of the Minotaur voiced in poetic forms by those that influenced the tragic life of Asterion, a gentle intelligent boy born with the head of a bull and the body of a man, whom his mother calls Ruler of the Stars.

He is destroyed by Poseidon, King of the Sea, whose fury at Minos, King of Crete leads him to manipulate Daedalus, The Royal Engineer; Pasiphae, Asterion’s mother the Queen of Crete; and Ariadne, Asterion’s half-sister, into the cruelty and abandonment that drives Asterion into final madness as he becomes the beast of myth, ultimately destroyed by Theseus.

This format makes Bull a fast but deeply memorable read, forever casting new light upon the making of a monster and the culpability of gods and humans in so doing.  Elliot gives an elucidating description of the poetic forms chosen for each character and delves into the origins of Asterion’s birth, something previous tellings of the myth do not include.  It’s also noteworthy to say that there is strong language and imagery at times, thus the target audience is probably the upper grades in high school and into college.  Recommended.

Megan Atwood’s short novella, Stay in the Game, is riveting from page one. The

overriding theme is that ”Is it okay to do harm for a good motive?” and “Does not knowing the

consequences of an action, make one not responsible?” James is desperate to get medical help

for his dying grandfather. He is contacted by the Benefactor to accomplish 10 tasks with the

possibility of winning 10 million dollars. He is given no information as to the purpose of the

tasks. As he completes each task, he becomes in more aware of the damage he is doing to

innocent people. The story ends with a cliffhanger, setting up for the next book in the series.

The writing is high interest, action packed, fast moving with concise writing and easily

understood vocabulary. An enjoyable read for the reluctant reader or an ELL student. The

cover design seems to imply the book could be about a sport, which is very misleading. Stay in

the Game is a fast, good read that is very appropriate for the YA audience.

Dinosaurs and race cars! What could be better?!  Dino-Racing is a fun, action-packed book about different kinds of car races with wildly colorful dinosaurs as the drivers. Shown are drag racing, off road racing, speedway racing and stock car racing.  The rhyming verses entertain as the action moves through the scenes of different race styles.  Both boy and girl dinos drive and repair the cars. There is a lot of behind the scenes action to interest young readers of any age. A dynamic, fun book, sure to be a winner!

Max uses his “super secret” powers to overcome obstacles that appear during his adventures. The illustrations reflect the movement of Max as whooshes with his jet pack or zooms in his race car. He meets and defeats each challenge until he dead-ends at the door with a secret combination, broken with the code word, HOME!  The author/illustrator, Stephen Shaskan, does a beautiful job of combining movement, sound and story to carry a young boy on an exciting adventure using his “super-secret” imagination.   A delightful book.

The colorful  illustrations in primary colors with whimsical facial expressions on the toilet are the saving feature of the book, The Saddest Toilet in the World. In an attempt to help a child overcome his fear of potty training, the toilet is personified as having feelings and emotions.  The toilet “runs away” from the home because the boy would not sit on it.  A search ensues for where the toilet could be. In the attempt to be playful, the antics of the toilet become a bit absurd. Maybe a child would find it entertaining to make the potty topic humorous but the delivery falls short. This is not a book that would be recommended.

Extremely cute animals face off against extremely mean bullies with extremely heavy machines.  Just ‘cause you’re cute doesn’t mean you can’t defeat the big bad bullies, especially if you’re smart and you have friends.  The illustration of the pink tutu-clad girl bunny welding a steel beam shows how to overcome bullies: with strength and determination. Bullies are mean, they hurt feelings, but they can be defeated and even reformed.  The happy ending includes letting the bullies share in the fun of the grandest sand castle/amusement park built by biggest, baddest machines ever.  It is a simple story with a powerful message: facing challenges with compassion and forgiveness.  A worthwhile, fun read from David Gordon.

Another take on the quest for treasure, good vs. evil genre of children’s books.  The illustrations are in a  “video game” style with different levels to survive and unusual terrains to traverse.  The multitude of little characters and side humor jokes keeps the book interesting in spite of the rather usual story line.  Heroes such as a Unicorn and a Gnome add to its appeal for children.  A silly reason for the theft–the Old Oak stole the Mystical Crystals of Life to buy a speedboat–lessen the depth, therefore the interest in the story.  It is an okay book for a possible one or two time read, not destined to be the long-held treasured favorite, read every night book.