Fruits Basket Vol. 10 by Natsuki Takaya

Book Jacket

The world's number one shojo manga continues, as Tohru and the Sohmas spend time at the Sohma's summerhouse.  Alas, it's not all fun in the sun on this little trip.  Akito pays a surprise visit, causing a commotion for the rest of the family.  Shigure takes a stroll down memory lane with an old friend, remembering the days when Hatori wasn't so aloof.  Meanwhile, Tohru begins to wonder: What must life be like for the loved ones of a cursed member of the Sohma family?  Can life with this family truly be happy while bearing such a burden?

Review

The Sohma family only gets funnier, more ridiculous, and more dramatic when they are taken out of their home and sent to the beach.  Momiji and Tohru's boundless enthusiasm is kind of fantastic--if I could choose any of them to be my friend in real life, they would be at the top of the list.  If they can make hunting for beetles into an awesome adventure, well.  That's what I want in my life.

The side story about Mayu was interesting.  I'm not in love with her character yet, but I'm definitely willing to read more about her connections with Shigure and Hatori.  It could be really great, I think.

Oh my gosh, and the news that Hiro's mom is pregnant, and everyone's reaction to the news (to bust up watermelons!?  That's so disturbing hahaha) was hilarious.  I want these people to be real!

And of course, that ending.  I get so caught up in Kyo's relationship with Tohru that I frequently ignore Yuki's storyline.  No more, apparently!  It was even kind of sweet.  I mean, I don't support it or anything, because I'm a fierce Kyo/Tohru shipper, but I have to give props to Yuki for owning up to and admitting his feelings.  What will happen next!?

Four out of five watermelon punches.

Release Date:  July 2005
Reading Level:  Grade 7+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection: Not currently part of Dunlap's collection.

The Secret Zoo by Bryan Chick

Book Jacket

Something strange is happening at the Clarksville City Zoo.  Late at night, monkeys are scaling the walls and searching the neighborhood--but what are they looking for?

Noah, his sister Megan, and their best friends, Richie and Ella, live next door to the zoo.  Megan is the first to notice the puzzling behavior of some of the animals.  One day Megan disappears, and her brother and their friends realize it's up to them to find her.  Their only choice is to follow a series of clues and sneak into the zoo.  But once inside, will they discover there's much more to the Clarksville City Zoo than they could ever have guessed?

Review

Animals, secrets, and siblings?  I should have loved this book.  Alas, I did not.

The problem, I think, is that it takes so long for anything to happen.  There are too many secret notes passed by animals.  The chapters are often too short, and instead of making the end of each into a cliffhanger, it simply feels like the end of a paragraph.  End of chapter cliffhangers only work in moderation!

Once the backstory was revealed and the adventure really began, I was slightly more interested.  The City of Species seems like a genuinely awesome place.  But the real problem is this:  The so-called Action Scouts take little action.  Mostly the animals or the muscley men do the fighting and the explaining.  Noah, Megan, Ella, and Richie just kind of tag along and wait for someone else to save them.  I couldn't understand in the slightest why they were supposed to be special.

The mythology was introduced too late to really be gripping, and regardless, it doesn't seem to be well-thought out.  To explain away Megan's absense, we are told the kids have a plan, if only they can make it work....and then we jump to a future point when everything is okay, so....I guess it worked?  I want to see it! 

Poor show.  I was disappointed.

Two out of five flying penguins.

Release Date:  June 2010
Reading Level:  Grade 3+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection:  J CHI

Ouran High School Host Club Vol. 11 by Bisco Hatori

Book Jacket

In this screwball romantic, Haruhi, a poor girl at a rich kids' school, is forced to repay an $80,000 debt by working for the school's swankiest, all-male club--as a boy!  There she discovers just how wealthy the six members are and how different the rich are from everybody else...

With the Host Club members on opposite sides, the sports festival at Ouran High School has become an all-out war!  Can the bonds of friendship withstand the strain of competition?

Review

The conclusion to the sports festival was a little eh to me.  Tamaki's weird ways of helping his friends are, well, weird to me.  But I did love the festival itself--a bread tasting compeition?  Fabulous.  And the cheering competition using Shakespeare to inspire the team, and succeeding?  Also brilliant.

And then we got to the romance.  Win!  Haruhi is unwittingly coming between the twins!  I am both horrified (because they are so awesome together) and delighted (because the drama is so awesome!)  However, I really have no idea how I want this to end up.  Kaoru is my favorite, but Hikaru is so charmingly obtuse.  If one of them can like Haruhi while still maintaining best friendship with his twin, then I will be satisfied.

Four out of five valuable bean bags.

Release Date:  November 2008
Reading Level:  Grade 6+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection:  Not yet owned by Dunlap.

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Book Jacket

Before Liz Lemon, before "Weekend Update," before "Sarah Palin," Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher.  She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV.

She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey's story can be told.  From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon--from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.

Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we've all suspected: you're no one until someone calls you bossy.

Review

I love Tina Fey as an actress, and I can now say that I love her as a person (and as a writer, of course).  Everyone who has seen her perform knows that she has a sense of humor, but Bossypants proves that she extends that sense of humor to the mundane, or even painful, parts of life.  Since I think that look at the world through funny glasses is the safest way to keep your sanity, I loved this book.

I was a casual watcher of Saturday Night Live during high school, and I only got into 30 Rock recently.  Her focus in the last half of the book on these two big parts of her life was entertaining, but what I loved most were her chapters on the bits of life we can all relate to (or at least, women can).  She talks about beauty standards and romance fails, hilariously horrific travel stories, and surviving less than ideal jobs.  Her willingness to mercilessly mock herself makes for great reading.

It's more than just comedy, though.  She makes some really excellent points about sexism and prejudice.  Her self-flagellation never gets heavy-handed.  She just knows that she is often ridiculous, and is honest about it.  That's a lesson we could all stand to learn, I think.  If we all embraced our weirder traits, the world would be far more interesting!

Since I normally review middle grade or young adult books, I should note that Bossypants has adult language and adult humor throughout.  You've been made aware, now make your choice!

Four out of five midnight hikes up a dangerous mountain with a boy you like who doesn't like you.

Release Date:  April 2011
Reading Level:  Grade 10+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection:  B FEY


Don't believe me?   Check out these reviews of Bossypants:

Just Another New Blog
The Book Pirate

Paws to Read (Summer Reading Edition)

In January, trained therapy dogs came to the Dunlap Public Library, and kids read books to them according to the Peoria Humane Society's Paws to Read program.  Lemme just say--ADORABLE.  That is not a program you do once and forget.  I had no choice but to ask them to come back in June for our Summer Reading Program, and they did!

Pictures below the cut!

The Demon's Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan

Book Jacket

Mae always thought she was in control, but in the past few weeks, control has turned into chaos.  She's learned that her brother, Jamie, has magical powers, and that Gerald, the new leader of the Obsidian Circle, is trying to persuade Jamie to join the magicians.  The same magicians who tried to kill Mae and Jamie last month in London.  The magicians who get their power by feeding people to demons.

Mae turns to brothers Nick and Alan to help her rescue Jamie, but they are in danger themselves.  Every magician in England now knows what Nick really is--and they all want him dead.

Nick's new power has also caused a rift between the brothers.  In the weeks they were gone something terrible happened, something that haunts them both.  With Nick as unreadable as ever and Alan making secret bargains with a demon, Mae finds herself attracted to both brothers--though she knows she can't trust either of them.  The magicians are closing in on one side, and the dangerous, seductive Goblin Market is tempting her on the other, and Mae has to form her own plan to save them all.  She's going to find that the price she must pay is more than she ever imagined.

Review

This is the sequel to The Demon's Lexicon, so do not read this review if you haven't read that first! 

More Nick, Alan, Jamie, and Mae!  I love them all.  And I am pleased to report that while they have all been through more than anyone should ever endure, they are still delightfully snarky, emotionally confused, and intensely loving (in their own, sometimes unusual, ways).  They crack me up so hard.  Though granted, that is really Sarah Rees Brennan's brilliant dialogue shining through.

The Demon's Covenant has secret plans and plot twists just like the first, but I didn't think any of them were as mind-blowing as in the first novel, for the simple reason that the twists are less personal this time around.  Still, it is all very much of the good, and there was one part in particular that made me stop and flip back to see if the twist had been foreshadowed.  It totally had, but I fell for it anyway.

This book is narrated by Mae, and while I find her to be awesome as a character, I don't know what to think of her as narrator.  Nick's turn was over, granted.  Alan can't be narrator because he always has a hidden agenda, and it would be less fun to be in his head and know the end game too soon.  Jamie might be good, but probably his head is filled with random and insane thoughts. 

Mae is the only option left of the Fab Four, but the problem is that much of the action takes place without her.  Several scenes are revealed only because she stumbles across people talking or hangs back and observes a fight.  That is fine for her as a character, but not a riveting way to tell the story.

Next book is from Sin's perspective, though, and I think it will be fabulous!  I loved her in her small scenes throughout the first and second books.  I love her friendship with Mae that is completely devoid of jealousy.  Book three will be epic, I am sure.

That is too much nit-picking!  Things I loved:  Alan and Nick's relationship after the big reveal!  It is both harsher and more loving than ever before.  I love seeing characters through Mae's more observant eyes.  I loved the part when Jamie gets drunk and is absolutely hilarious.  I love Jamie and Nick's new friendship!  I love Alan being awesome.  I loved having more Liannan (and hope for more Anzu in the 3rd).

Four out of five summoning dances.

Release Date:  May 2010
Reading Level:  Grade 9+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection:  YPL BRE


Don't believe me?   Check out these reviews of The Demon's Covenant:

The Book Smugglers
The Crooked Shelf

Fruits Basket Vol. 9 by Natsuki Takaya

Book Jacket

Finally--summer has arrived!  While Tohru struggles through the bipolar days of hope and anxiety, what will happen when Yuki comes face-to-face with the new member of the student council?  Meanwhile, who is that Uo-chan's hanging out with?  Is she c-r-a-z-y in love?  In a bonus feature, Hana-chan's past is finally disclosed!  Come join the party in the 9th volume of the super-popular Fruits Basket, the world's most popular shojo manga!

Review

I normally don't like it when stories stray from their main characters to develop the supporting cast.  I watch for the stars, darnit!  But....I kind of loved this volume, even though nearly half of it was devoted to Uo and Hana.  How could I not be okay with an awkward love story that ends in a SURPRISE (okay, that happens twice this volume...so much of the good!), and also a backstory that explains Hana's strange behavior in such a heartbreaking way.  Seriously.  Her past?  So sad.  This whole created world is populated by broken characters trying to find love in their friends and self-made families.  And that is how I like it!
It bears noting that Kyo and Tohru remain adorable.  I was reading this before falling asleep last night, and there was a part that made me curl into myself and audibly squee.  And it was such a little thing!  That is what Takaya does so well--she knows that romance is not built on epic proclamations of love or over-the-top displays of affection.  It's in the little stupid things that make your heart race and your imagination soar.

Excellent all around, especially since on paper, I would have said I might not have liked the plots.  I don't usually like to be proved wrong, but this time I do!

Five out of five black lace gloves.

Release Date:  June 2005
Reading Level:  Grade 7+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection: Not currently part of Dunlap's collection.