Review: The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Sarah

The Name of the Star, Maureen Johnson
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2011 (Currently Available)

Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Ghost Story

Face Value: Well, unfortunately, it’s the worst, which is particularly disappointing given the high quality of the writing between the covers. But really, there is no apologizing for this cover. We have a fragile and glamorous looking, probably dead or at least unconscious girl being shadowed by a mysterious old fashioned gentleman. The texture of the book jacket is some kind of fancy sparkly material that makes it look even sillier. I’m not fond of the the glammed up model on the British cover (right) but at least it seems like some attempt was made to make the girl look like the physical description of Rory. Although why is there a butterfly? I don’t know. But the American one screams to me “THIS BOOK WILL BE FETISHIZING VIRGINAL MURDER VICTIMS, ALSO LOOK AT THIS DASHING OLD TIMEY GENTLEMAN” which is super unfortunate because that’s not what the book was about at all. If you didn’t already know & trust Maureen Johnson as an author, I can’t imagine being in a bookstore, and purchasing this book on the cover alone. So trust me, buy the book, remove the book jacket, commence reading. It’s worth it.

Does it Break the Slate? Totally. I’m so glad I’m done with the cover section of this review, because now I can just say good things. Because, you guys, this book is really good, and really Slatebreaking in a whole lot of ways. There are many interesting female characters, and Rory, our hero, is totally likable and really brave in a believable way. I feel completely confident that if Rory and I would be really good friends, if, you know, she was real and I was also a teenager at a British Boarding School. She hates sports, she likes to read, she’s funny and a good friend. And when the crazy ghost-related events take their turn about halfway through the book, she also kind of becomes an action hero, without letting go of the personality quirks that made us like her so much in the first half.

Who would we give it to? Both fans of Maureen Johnson’s sharp, witty contemporary novels and people who like reading about mysterious London ghosts will be totally delighted with this book. So basically, ME. I am the target audience for this book.

Review: It’s Halloween! Happy Halloween! And what better way to celebrate than with a review of a sincerely creepy and delightfully satisfying ghost story/mystery set in contemporary London surrounding the mythology of Jack the Ripper? When you add to that list that it’s by the always funny and immensely readable Maureen Johnson, I probably don’t even have to tell you that this book is a must-read.

Continue reading →

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Slatebreaking Halloween: Success!

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Sarah

It’s not quite Halloween yet, but a friends party offered us the perfect opportunity to test out our Slatebreaking Halloween costumes IRL.

First, Brianna took her own advice and dressed as Jessica Darling. Not only was this costume comfortable, it offered her the perfect opportunity to spread the word about Sloppy Firsts and quality YA literature.


I dressed as another Slatebreaker, albeit not a literary one. But Leslie Knope certainly fits the mold. Here we are, with our friend Leslie, who dressed as Rosie the Riveter. We’re pretty sure the real Leslie Knope would have been thrilled to be in this company.

Did you dress up? Post your own Slatebreaking costumes in the comments!

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Review: Small Persons With Wings by Ellen Booream

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Brianna

Small Persons With Wings by Ellen Booream. Dial Books for Young Readers (2011). Currently available.

Genre: Middle grade fantasy/fiction

Face Value: My initial impression of this cover was very positive. I liked that we don’t see any actual fairy bodies or faces, because I’d rather leave those up to my imagination. The glitter and sparkles cued me into the fantastical nature of the text. And I was glad that the sparkly letters were blue, not pink. Pink would have been too much too handle. This cover looks just “fantasy” enough without being a stereotypical genre cover.

Then I started reading the book, and I got angry. Mellie is an overweight girl. Why are there spindly little legs on the cover? Would it have been so hard to get a slightly bigger girl to model for the cover photo? I’m irritated at the blatant ignorance of the character’s physical traits. Those legs do not belong to Mellie Turpin.

Does it break the slate? It bends the slate significantly, but the slate is not broken. Small Persons With Wings is a case of a book featuring a slatebreaking character but without a slatebreaking plotline. Mellie has had a terrible time at school. She’s everyone’s favorite target. She struggles socially because she does not fit the culture’s physical ideal of a cute little girl. Although she constantly battles her physical insecurities and often finds herself wondering what other people think of her, Mellie is outstanding at handling pressure. She ends up being the only person able to solve the problems with the fairies because the adults are all indisposed.

Who would we give it to? Kids in the middle of elementary school who still secretly long for the companionship of an imaginary friend. This is the perfect book for young readers who want to believe in magic and have vivid imaginations. It would also be an excellent graduated reading opportunity for a girl reader who cut her teeth on the Rainbow Fairies series. (Maybe that’s unfair. This book is so much better than the Rainbow Fairies series that it is perhaps an unflattering comparison to even mention them in the same sentence. Small Persons With Wings is an above average fairy book.) Continue reading →

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Review: Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Sarah

Everybody Sees the Ants by A. S. King
Little, Brown & Company, 2011 (currently available)

Note: We already knew we were fans of A.S. King’s writing, based on her previous and totally Slatebreaking books Dust of 100 Dogs and Please Ignore Vera Dietz. But having heard that her latest book featured a male protagonist, we didn’t think it would be something we reviewed for the blog. BUT, when we saw A.S. King read at our local independent bookseller (Changing Hands!), we realized we couldn’t have been more wrong. Not only is this book set in Tempe, AZ (where we live!), but it features a healthy dose of feminism. By the time she finished speaking, we were at odds over who would get to review it.  So, we’re trying something new. For the first time, we present to you a joint-review. If it gets a little chaotic, bear with us. It’s only because we  really loved this book.

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Face Value: Publishers, take note. This is one of the best YA covers we have seen gracing our bookshelves in some time. The stark contrast of black, white and red is sharp, clean and appealing. It doesn’t scream YA and it doesn’t really present as gender-targeted in one way or the other. After reading the book, you can tell the cover designer read it too, since there are a lot of relevant elements contained in it. But you don’t need to have finished the book to appreciate the aesthetic appeal.

Does it Break the Slate?

Brianna: This is the first book we’ve reviewed that has a male protagonist. Is it possible that a book about a (gasp!) boy can live up to the standard set by Ms. Anne Shirley?

Sarah: Well I think what we realized is that YES IT CAN. This book is slatebreaking on a couple of levels. First, and most, typically I guess, is that it features a strikingly Slatebreaking female character. Ginny is outspoken and feminist-minded, trying to subvert the system and her own identity as best she can.

Brianna: Right, and I think it’s important to point out that Ginny contributes to the Slatebreaking factor of this book because her feminism has such an impact on Lucky. Even though she makes a fleeting appearance in Lucky’s life, she totally changes his outlook.

Sarah: And then there’s Lucky himself. Because just like guys can and should be feminists, Slatebreaking is not a female-only term. Even before he meets Ginny, Lucky is a kid who ideologically believes in everyone getting a fair chance. He doesn’t always know how to take action, but he makes real attempts to stand up for others, even when he knows it won’t end well for him. And as he grows up through the book, we see him grow into a real advocate for himself and others.

Who would we give it to?

Brianna: I think it should be required reading for all high school freshman.

Sarah: And college freshman.

Brianna: And any adult that works with adolescents.

Continue reading →

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How to Have a Slatebreaking Halloween

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Sarah

It’s Halloween season everybody! That means it’s time for the annual cringe fest that is this year’s crop of inappropriately sexy Halloween costumes! Basically, as anyone who has ever been at a bar on Halloween (or looked at the internet) can attest, there are some really horrible costumes out there, ranging from uncomfortable

Sesame Street? Really? It’s a show for toddlers. And seriously, did the creators of this costume ever actually watch Shrek? It’s not even that great, but you’d think they realize the point is something about inner beauty.

to the ridiculous

I know it’s obvious, but you should probably wear some more protective clothing if you’re going to be CUTTING DOWN TREES.

to the incredibly offensive

I can’t even find anything snarky to say about this.

With this out there, it would be easy to get so depressed, celebrating Halloween seems almost impossible. So to counteract that, we’ve created a list of fabulous literary and totally Slatebreaking Halloween costumes. Add other ideas (and post photos of your own literary & Slatebreaking Halloween endeavors) in the comments!

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Review: The Good, The Bad, and the Barbie by Tanya Lee Stone

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Brianna

The Good, The Bad, and the Barbie: A Doll’s History and Her Impact on Us by Tanya Lee Stone. Viking, 2010. Currently available.

Genre: Middle Grade Non-Fiction

Face Value: This cover is…well…weird. I have always found the sideways glance of Original Barbie to be mildly creepy, and when you blow it up and put it on a book cover, you’re not really going to win me over. I guess the close-up on coy Barbie is preferable to the possible pink and bedazzled alternative that would be associated with her current incarnation.

There is one awesome aspect of this cover: the big, bold “UNAUTHORIZED” label. There is nothing more tantalizing than a book labeled “unauthorized.”

Does it break the slate? I think that there are two levels to be analyzed when I talk about whether or not this book is slate breaking. First: Does Tanya Lee Stone’s book break the slate? And second: Does Barbie break the slate? I will talk about the book as a slatebreaker here, and then I will tackle the second question in the review. (Just one step at a time – it’s a lot to digest.)

Tanya Lee Stone’s book is truly a slatebreaking endeavor. Stone has taken an iconic symbol of US American girlhood and examined it inside, outside, and upside down. I appreciated that she not only told us the story of Barbie’s creation and first venture into the world of toy marketing, but she also emphasized the feminist tendencies of Barbie inventor Ruth Handler. By the end of the book I had developed a great admiration for Handler’s insistence to work outside of the home and hold a position of authority within Mattel – decisions that challenged traditional gender roles at the time. Stone also took on the cultural issues surrounding Barbie, including race, class, and body image. Each one of these is handled conscientiously, with Stone presenting perspectives from multiple experts as well as girls and women who had memorable experiences with Barbie as children.

Who would we give it to? Girls in middle school (the older end of middle school, maybe 8th grade) who are into dissecting and torturing the Barbie dolls that they used to love when they were younger. I think this book is quite a challenging read, so I would encourage especially precocious young ladies to pick this up if they are interested in popular culture. It would be an excellent book for those astute kids in class who are always making observations about others’ behavior and choices (the ones who will be really snarky and will question every aspect of the curriculum when they hit high school).

Review: Non-fiction for young readers is a tough sell. When I worked at a public library, I didn’t see the juvenile non-fiction getting much circulation outside of the standard elementary school required non-fiction and biography book reports. Reading Stone’s book, I wondered if a student would ever choose to do their biography book report on Barbie. This book would be perfect for that. In fact, when Stone pitched the book to her editor, she said she wanted to write a biography of Barbie. What resulted was actually a cultural history of Barbie mixed with the biography of her creator, Ruth Handler. Continue reading →

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Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Sarah

Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor
Little, Brown and Company, 2011 (Currently Available)

Genre: Fantasy

Face Value: It could be a lot worse. There’s a truly lovely element to this cover – the blue is striking against the black and white image. But the girl of the cover doesn’t exactly scream “Karou” to me either. I do love the way the back of the book looks though, with the wisps of blue feathers framing the quote. The shade of blue is just the color I imagine Karou’s hair to be.

Does it Break the Slate? YES DEFINITELY! Karou is a fantastic character, and a Slatebreaker all the way through. Her unusual upbringing has left her not only physically fierce, able to take on almost anyone in a fight, but incredibly creative and deeply loyal. She also has a terrific sense of humor – I love when she describes her realization that the easiest way to avoid lying about her unusual family and numerous magical secrets is to tell the truth, “with a certain wry smile, as if she were being absurd. Over the years she’d found it was all it took, that wry smile, and she could tell the truth without the risk of being believed. It was easier than keeping track of lies, and so it became part of who she was: Karou with her wry smile and crazy imagination.” Karou’s self awareness sets her apart – she knows exactly how strange her life is, and yet she enjoys the way she can walk the line between two worlds.

This book is, at its core, a fantasy, but the strength and dynamism of the characters is never sacrificed for the intricacies of the plot, and none of the girls we meet are any kind of damsel in distress. Even better – it’s never suggested that they might be.

Who would we give it to? Do you know girls who were drawn to to the bigger-than-life romance element of Twilight who deserve a more compelling and credible protagonist? Direct them straight to this book. It’s fantastical, it’s romantic, it has the whole “they shouldn’t be together” element, but the mythology goes so much deeper and the characters are far more richly, complexly realized. These characters, especially Karou, exist in a world far beyond the romance element of the story.

Continue reading →

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Use Your Gray Matter: Girls with Bad Attitudes

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Brianna

I sat down the other day to read Judith Viorst’s latest children’s book, Lulu and the Brontosaurus. It was a cute story packed with snark. But you know what? Lulu is a total brat. She throws tantrums. She feels that she is entitled to everything. It got me thinking about girls with bad attitudes.

I am particularly sensitive to reading about girls with bad attitudes, because I worry that these characters will turn out to be stuck-up, spoiled princess stereotypes. I don’t like reading about insufferable girls because our culture is so quick to label a girl or woman with a bad attitude as a cold-hearted b*tch. Yes, it’s good to see assertive girl characters who know what they want, but sometimes these girls become caricatures rather than complex, multi-dimensional heroines. Continue reading →

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Review: The Red Wolf by Margaret Shannon

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Sarah

The Red Wolf by Margaret Shannon
Houghton Mifflin, 2002 (currently available)

Genre: Fairy Tale, Picture Book

Face Value: This is an extraordinary cover. It is a particularly extraordinary cover for a princess book targeted at 4-7 year olds. To illustrate what I mean, here are some things that are NOT on this cover:

  • frilly dresses
  • a tiara
  • sparkles
  • the color pink

Instead, we have this gorgeous, perfectly fairy tale-esque landscape and the red wolf leaping across, with a trail of destruction in her wake. The thing I love best? The absolute joy evident on the wolf’s face as she bounds across the woods. It’s perfect.

Does it Break the Slate? Are you kidding me? Of course it does! The slate is left shattered into a million pieces (roughly the same state as Princess Roselupin’s tower after her transformation).

Who would we give it to? Well the real answer here is EVERYONE. This is the kind of book you want to hand out to strangers on the street, that I probably need to invest in a lending copy as well as my personal copy. But more specifically, I would give this book to girls, or parents of girls who are deeply immersed in a princess phase but are worthy of a princess with some substance.

Continue reading →

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Review: Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Brianna

Inside the Shadow City (Kiki Strike #1) by Kirsten Miller. Bloomsbury, 2006. Currently available.

Genre: YA Fiction

Face Value: The dual image of the girls and the city is very intriguing, and I can see how it would appeal to readers. This cover is mature enough to appeal to adolescent readers, but accessible to the older middle school readers that I think could really love this book. The bold and clean graphics work well together to convey an air of mystery and danger.

Does it break the slate? Thoroughly, and with style. Kiki Strike and Ananka Fishbein break the slate with their fists. The girls in this book are highly skilled, bright, business savvy, and keenly aware of the world around them. They are everything that I wanted to be as a girl and that I am still working to be as a woman.

Who would we give it to? I would give this book to the bookworm types who are kind of quiet and might struggle in gym class. Ananka is the perfect heroine for these girls, because she makes the transition from quiet girl in the background to smart and powerful leader. She also feels uncomfortable in her own body at the start of the book and has to come to terms with what it can do for her. Continue reading →

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