Book Review - Hot Dog! Eleanor Roosevelt Throws a Picnic

Hot Dog! Eleanor Roosevelt Throws a Picnic

By: Leslie Kimmelman
Illustrated by: Victor Juhasz
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Publication Date: April 2014
ISBN: 978-1585368303
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: April 2014

No two ways about it, Eleanor loved dogs. Hot dogs that is. Things got rather busy after she married Franklin and there “wasn’t much time for hot dog roasts.” Franklin may have been president, but he didn’t travel well and that part of the job belonged to Eleanor. Off to Ohio, off to Idaho, and lest anyone forget there was California. She kept the president up on all the news and needs of the states. Times were tough in the 1930s and there were problems all around the world, not just in the states. Eleanor was mighty worried about that war that was just around the corner and there wasn’t time to think about hot dogs.

There was a lot of company showing up at home in the White House. Dreams of dogs were dancing in Eleanor's head, but no dogs on that table. Eleanor couldn’t ask anyone to pass the mustard because it simply didn’t go with the roast. The butlers smiled as they served up a banquet fit for a king, but while Franklin smiled, Eleanor ... well, she didn’t. Soon thoughts moved to real royalty when “the king and queen of England announced they were coming” in 1939. “To celebrate the first royal visit,” Eleanor told Franklin, “we need an all-American picnic.” Of course there had to be hot dogs on the menu, but soon the indignant mail began to come in. No dogs on the table! Would America nix the idea of Eleanor’s hot dog picnic?

This is the fun and funny tale of Eleanor and her hot dog picnic that children will love. Of course everyone loves hot dogs, but when the mail came in, most people didn’t figure they were fit for a king. Certainly not for a queen. This tale is very lively and when those letters arrive saying things like “Must you feed the queen hot dogs?,” the tension and fun begins. The colorful, animated caricature artwork brings the tale to life, just begging the reader to try and keep a straight face. I loved the way Eleanor’s charming personality exuded from the pages. Young students will learn several interesting vignettes about wartime history and American ties to the British monarchy. In the back of the book is a short, but interesting historical sketch of the Roosevelts and their illustrious visitors to Hyde Park.

Quill says: If you like a dollop of mustard on that hot dog, try reading about Eleanor and learn a dollop of American history!

Book Review - Frog's Lucky Day

Frog and Friends: Frog's Lucky Day

By: Eve Bunting
Illustrated by: Josee Masse
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Publication Date: April 2014
ISBN: 978-1585368938
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: April 11, 2014

Frog was all excited as he jumped from one foot to the other as he looked out over the rolling hills. "Look! I see a rainbow." It was a very exciting thing to see and all frog's friends gathered around to see the beautiful colors as they sparkled in the sky. Possum looked over at Chameleon and declared that the rainbow had all kinds of colors just like him. Everyone began to count the colors and after they were done Jumping Mouse announced the colors: “Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.” Yes, they were very beautiful, but she also knew all about a magic story. And then Jumping Mouse began, “There is a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, but no one ever found where the rainbow ends.”

Mmmmm, that was a very interesting story indeed and Frog and friends just might have to search for the end of the rainbow. Squirrel was very interested and immediately raced up into the branches of a tree to look into the distance. He pointed off toward the rainbow, convinced that he saw the end. “The end,” he claimed, “is in that field-that-nobody-owns.” Now that would be the perfect place to look for that mysterious pot of gold! Rabbit wasn’t so sure about that, but Frog was thinking it was behind a cloud. All at once everyone spotted something gold in that field-that-nobody-owns. Had Frog and friends really found that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?

Once again Frog and his friends get together in a couple of very humorous stories young readers will love. Of course that mysterious pot of gold was none other than a field of “golden dandelions,” something infinitely more valuable to everyone. In the second tale in this beginning chapter book, Frog is in a big dilemma when a fisherman disturbs his peace and quiet by fishing in his pond. Newly independent and confident readers can tackle this book alone or with a minimum of assistance with more difficult words such as “Chameleon.” The artwork, combined with the exciting, humorous tales with Frog and his friends, has high appeal that young readers are definitely drawn to.

Grades 1 -2

Quill says: If you have a young reader who loves a little humor and adventure, the Frog and Friends series has just the recipe for fun!

Book Review - Scary Story: An Anthology

Scary Story: An Anthology

By: Various Authors
Publisher: CreateSpace
Publication Date: August 2013
ISBN: 978-1492285434
Reviewed by: Ellen Feld
Review Date: April 2014

Six different authors, six very different plots, six short stories that will make you go ‘eek!’ as you quickly turn that last page. If you’re a fan of horror, then you should definitely check out Scary Story.

Each story in this anthology is fairly brief and at 93 pages for the whole book, you can probably read it all in one sitting. The time will pass quickly as you try to guess what is about to happen and it was all the more fun because not one author gave away the ending before that last page. What exactly was hiding in the house up on the hill, the house that nobody dare visit? Were those really zombies from down the street? Are they coming after her?

The only thing these tales share with each other is the horror genre; otherwise they are completely different in writing styles, plots, and the way the reader reacts to the conclusion. In brief, here are the stories:

Last Dawn – The street has gone quiet, the phone is dead, and something (or someone) is scratching at the door. A mother tries to protect her sleeping children from whatever is coming...


Paradise – A group of people are two miles below the ground, in a cavern with black coal dust. They are about to have a séance to find out what happened to so many of the townsfolk. The answer is not what they were expecting.


Fire of Faith – A new bride agrees to help her husband with an experiment that might help mankind survive the all-encompassing fire that he thinks will strike. Her absolute trust in him is not a good idea...


The Path of Dead Roses – A young girl doesn’t think her house is haunted, but when things start happening to her beloved rose bushes, she starts thinking that perhaps ‘something’ is outside the house every night.


Christmas Story: Silent Night – Emma can’t wait for the school Christmas pageant and when her excitement gets the best of her and she’s punished by her mother, the punishment is definitely worse than the crime!


The Wrinkled Duplex Halfway Up the Hill – All sorts of rumors are floating around about Mr. Rumple, who lives in a dilapidated house that is overgrown with weeds. Does he have a wife? What does he do all day? Only Eldon, a utility worker, is brave enough to explore the house, but he really should have stayed away!


Some of these stories are truly scary, others are more thought-provoking. I did not predict the ending to “Paradise” and it still haunts me. “Christmas Story” while not frightening in the traditional sense, will undoubtedly make you gasp or cringe, and following Eldon up the hill to the “Wrinkled Duplex” will find you shouting “No! Don’t do it!” With six different authors, the writing varied greatly. Some of the writers are truly talented, a few are still rough around the edges but all showed a talent for thinking up short stories that will grab the reader.

Quill says: Whether you prefer zombies or old houses with something hiding behind the creaky door, if you like to be scared, check out Scary Story. Just don’t turn off the lights!

Book Review - Beauty

Beauty

By: Frederick Dillen
Illustrated By: Christopher Lin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: March 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4767-1692-3
Reviewed By: Kristi Benedict
Review Date: April 9, 2014

The corporate world is ruled for the most part by men but Carol MacLean was convinced that if she worked hard enough for long enough she would be given her own company to run. In fact that is exactly what she had been promised by her boss for many years now and finally after this last job of closing down a fish plant in New England, she would be given her own company. Carol had come from the working class and the idea of being able to build up a business instead of burying it was a thrilling thought. However, when Carol is just beginning to believe that her dream will be coming true her boss informs her that she will be fired with no hope of ever getting her own company. Completely crushed by this news Carol breaks down, realizing that all her years of hard work have been for nothing.

Picking herself back up, Carol makes a drastic choice and decides to buy the plant that she was sent to put out of business. Throwing everything she has into this project, Carol quickly surrounds herself with people of the community that want to keep the traditions and way of life for the harbor alive. The team she assembles includes local families, finance experts, blue-collar workers, and local fisherman who are not sure if this plan will work but are willing to do whatever they can to give it a shot. One fisherman in particular, Easy Parsons, is catching Carol’s eye but she does not want her feelings to overshadow the business decisions she is going to make.

With each passing day Carol continues to wow her team by finding ways to bring this fish processing plant back to life and bring revenue into the harbor. For the first time in a long time Carol finally feels as if she belongs and wants to make a life that she can be proud of. Unfortunately with the risks involved in owning a business Carol is soon faced with heart wrenching decisions that will have her seriously thinking about the worth of owning her own company.

Frederick Dillen brings to life a character in Beauty who was hard for me to first imagine because Carol is far from the norm. After the first few pages, however, I realized that what he created was quite amazing and wonderfully original. From the first chapter I found myself instantly becoming caught up in the story as Carol puts so much honest work into her job and then transfers that hard work into saving a fish processing plant that she was sent to shut down. Through his writing Dillen combines the business world with an entertaining underdog story that also contains a touch of romance and does it beautifully. There is fun and excitement about the twists, turns, and ideas from the business side, and then at the same time the heartstrings are pulled by the story of how a woman comes to fall in love not only with a hard working fisherman but the people of the town as well.

Quill says: This book is a jewel that shines brighter with each turn of the page!

Book Review - A Farm Dies Once a Year

A Farm Dies Once a Year: A Memoir

By: Arlo Crawford
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company, LLC
Publication Date: 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9816-7
Reviewed by: Diane Lunsford
Review Date: April 9, 2014

Arlo Crawford deserves absolute praise for his beautiful (and first-hand) account of the farming life in his memoir: A Farm Dies Once a Year.

At thirty-one, Arlo Crawford returns home to spend the summer with his mother and father on the farm where he grew up. New Morning Farm, a ninety-five acre stretch of land nestled among the comforts of the Appalachian ridges in south-central Pennsylvania is more than a place to visit. It is the home and stretch of land his parents purchased in the 70’s with a vision to transform it into a productive life not only for them, but an environment for Arlo and his sister Janie to thrive.

Crawford’s vision to leave the familiarity of his city life behind in Massachusetts and venture back to his roots was something he was passionate toward doing. After explaining to his partner, Sarah, the decision was more of a deep-rooted need rather than a whim; even though skeptical at first, she is supportive. Through the years, Crawford had gone back to the farm for holiday visits and other occasions; but they had been just that: visits. The desire to return and spend a season of rolling up his sleeves and immersing himself into the actual work—laborious at times, was something he needed to do. At the same time, he would gain a sense of appreciation toward what his parents had embraced as much as sacrificed once they had solidified their commitment to the land. When he arrives for his summer and upon his reorientation to farm life, Crawford peels the layers of the onions away one-by-one and steps into the life he knew growing up across the pages of A Farm Dies Once a Year.

Crawford guides the reader through the long hours and back breaking days in the fields picking while delivering a consistent and sublime message of the importance and, in a way, the healing he sought in order to get on with the rest of his life. He talks of the delicate balance between a profitable season and one that can easily derail given the myriad of infestations ranging from blight to bugs and droughts to flooding. On the flip side, however, Crawford provides the reader with an experience of the many market days he, the workers and his parents would spend and the constant flow of patrons all too willing to be on their receiving end. Crawford’s knowledge and first-hand experience of living the farm life exudes credibility throughout his memoir. He touches upon the business aspect of running a successful farm and complements the information with a few chapters devoted to the actual growing of vegetables. He delivers high level insights toward the technicalities involved in proper irrigation and what seems to be the constant cycle of farm equipment upkeep and maintenance.

Arlo Crawford has created an eloquent tone and sound voice to the many passages across the pages of A Farm Dies Once a Year. His writing ability demonstrates confidence and throughout his memoir there is a beautiful sense that he is a person filled with love for his parents. He has created a lasting homage of thanks and heartfelt gratitude to the people who brought him into this world. As a parent myself, this is truly a gift that any parent would welcome from their child.

Quill says: This is an intimate story filled with the importance of recognizing what truly matters most in life.

Books In For Review

Here's a quick look at some of the books that have just come in for review.  Check them out and then stop by again in a few weeks to read the reviews!



How to Survive the Worst That Can Happen: A Parent's Step by Step Guide to Healing After the Loss of a Child by Sandy Peckinpah Sandy Peckinpah's sixteen-year old son woke up with a fever and was dead the next morning of bacterial meningitis... her life changed forever. She found herself in the depths of unimaginable despair. Then, someone gave her a journal, and writing opened her journey of self-discovery in learning how to live life without her beautiful child. Words illuminated her path of discovery and she began to document the things that helped her, and others like her, to find resilience. This is a practical, inspirational guide to coping with the many facets of bereavement; learning how to talk about your loss, the aftermath of sorrow, handling fear and anger, helping your living children adjust, strengthening your marriage, experiencing miracles, and the promise that you will regain a quality of life where you'll feel joy once again. If you've lost a child or know someone who has, Sandy's story is one you'll relate to and find comfort in knowing you're not alone.  

The Artist and the King by Julie Fortenberry When a bad-tempered King punishes a little artist, he meets his match. For Daphne, the artist, turns her punishment, a dunce cap, into a fashionable and regal hat. Now every villager wants to wear one of Daphne's creations. How could she have known that her hat-making would undermine the King's authority? Then again, maybe Daphne's caring, creative spirit is just what the kingdom--and the King--has needed all along.  

Panthers Play for Keeps: A Pru Marlowe Pet Mystery by Clea Simon When Pru Marlowe takes a dog for a walk, she doesn’t expect to find a body. But Spot, a service dog in training, has too good a nose not to lead her to the remains of the beautiful young woman, and despite her own best instincts, Pru can’t avoid getting involved. The young woman seems to have been mauled by a wild cat – and Pru knows there have been no pumas in the Berkshire woods for years. And while Wallis, Pru's curmudgeonly tabby, seems fixated on the idea of a killer cat, Spot has been sending strange signals to Pru’s own heightened senses, suggesting that the violent death was something more than a tragic accident. As motives multiply, a cougar of a different sort sets her eyes on Pru’s sometime lover, and another woman disappears. With panther panic growing, Pru may have to put aside her own issues – and her own ideas of domesticity – to solve a savage mystery.

A Farm Dies Once a Year by Arlo Crawford The summer he was thirty-one, Arlo Crawford returned home for the summer harvest at New Morning Farm—seventy-five acres tucked in a hollow in south-central Pennsylvania where his parents had been growing organic vegetables for almost forty years. Like many summers before, Arlo returned to the family farm's familiar rhythms—rise, eat, bend, pick, sort, sweat, sleep. But this time he was also there to change his direction, like his father years ago. In the 1970s, well before the explosion of the farm-to-table and slow food movement, Arlo's father, Jim, left behind law school and Vietnam, and decided to give farming a try. Arlo's return also prompts a reexamination of a past tragedy: the murder of a neighboring farmer twenty years before. A chronicle of one full season on a farm, with all its small triumphs and inevitable setbacks, A Farm Dies Once a Year is a meditation on work—the true nature of it, and on taking pride in it—and a son's reckoning with a father's legacy. Above all, it is a striking portrait of how one man builds, sows, and harvests his way into a new understanding of the risks necessary to a life well-lived.

Book Review - Tempting Fate

Tempting Fate

By: Jane Green
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4668-4203-8
Reviewed by: Diane Lunsford
Review Date: April 6, 2014

What if an innocent night out with girlfriends changes the course of one woman’s life for the rest of her life thanks to temptation? Jane Green presents an intriguing story that dissects and answers this very question in her latest novel, Tempting Fate.

Gabby is forty-three. She has arrived at that moment in a woman’s life when she questions her desirability. Happily married to Elliott for eighteen years, they have the proof of their wonderful life together in their two teenaged daughters. Yet, Gabby wonders if her husband Elliott still sees her through the eyes of desire. Not too thrilled to be going out on a girls’ night out, she is practically forced into the excursion by her best friend Clare. The last thing Gabby has on her mind is the possibility of catching the eye of a man—any man at the trendy bar the girls settled upon for their night out.

Gabby was more than uncomfortable watching the display before her. The women—half of them ‘happily married,’ were behaving like a gaggle of college girls at their first mixer—overly flirtations in their provocatively plunging necklines. Their debauchery was more than awkward for Gabby’s conservative British background. Of course, even though she didn’t know how to flirt, the thought did cross her mind more than once that it would have been nice to be noticed perhaps by one or two of the many men in the bar. When the extremely handsome man nearly ten years her junior takes an interest in her and saddles up next to her at the bar, unbeknownst to Gabby, she has arrived at her crossroads. Matt is engaging and charismatic and for all intents and purposes, truly seems like a gentleman who is merely looking for light conversation. He is on business and fate has deposited him next to her at the bar. He is confident and polite and immediately shows interest in talking with Gabby. It would seem he is the young, powerhouse owner of a renowned social media company and Gabby can’t understand how someone so young can be so successful, let alone interested in talking with her.

Deep in conversation, when Gabby surfaces for a moment and realizes her friends have abandoned her, she has no choice but to make alternate arrangements to get a ride home. Matt is all too willing to assure her she can follow him across the street to his hotel while he checks in. It will give them a chance to continue their conversation and he can call her a cab from his hotel. Innocent enough or perhaps not. After their chance encounter, as the days ahead unfold, Gabby realizes the choices she will make as a result of that girls’ night out will not only change her life, but may very well destroy everything she held so dear and loved.

Jane Green portrays a confident comfort and familiarity in the story she has written. Tempting Fate is easy to read and the topic has appeal to many women when it comes to questioning their own desirability. While there may be some predictability to the story, I enjoyed the fact that Ms. Green quashed obvious outcomes with a consistent element of surprise. I admire an author who knows the audience she is targeting and is sensitive to delivering a solid story. Ms. Green has mastered wonderful conversation and dialogue throughout Tempting Fate which breathes credibility into this work of fiction. Overall, this book is a read that is enjoyable and manages to keep the reader engaged.
 

Quill says: Think long and hard about temptation. Tempting Fate is a testament to the old adage: “Be careful what you wish for…”