I can't stand it.

It's not often that I actually give up on a book. I actually just went through and made a shelf on Goodreads of books I've given up on. It numbers 3: Angels & Demons by Dan Brown, Street Gang by Michael Davis (a huge disappointment, considering how obsessed I am with Sesame Street) and now:

Crescendo (Hush, Hush #2) by Becca Fitzpatrick
(Simon & Schuster Children's, 14+)
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I'll start by saying the reason I gave up on Angels & Demons and Street Gang was because of the writing, which is not the case here. Angels & Demons is the worst drivel I've ever read ("Robert Langdon went here", "Robert Langdon said this", "Robert Langdon got on a plane", etc.) and Street Gang was so obsessed with the intricate details of everyone's life that was involved in the creation of Sesame Street that it was impossible to enjoy. Crescendo and I, on the other hand, had a content problem.

I read Hush, Hush about a year ago, and it was... okay. At the time, I gave it three stars, but I'm knocking it down to two now, because frankly I can hardly remember jack about that book. So it couldn't have been that good. It must've just run right in and out of my brain. So I remember wanting to read the sequel, but at this point I couldn't tell you why. But we finally got it in at work, so I decided to pick it up, regardless. I mean, I wasn't going to go back and reread Hush, Hush.

I quite literally got maybe a 100 pages into Crescendo before dropping it. I don't know what sort of hormonal imbalance Nora Grey is rocking, but it's not appealing or attractive. The book starts with her and Patch (her fallen angel boyfriend, the "Edward" of the piece, if you will) at some fireworks display or something (I'm not entirely sure, I don't think it was all that important). Nora goes off to get snacks or something and runs into her arch-nemesis Marcie, who, after Nora picks a fight with her, uncouthly reminds her that her dad is dead. Except you can tell that Marcie just lacks some social etiquette and in her mind is just speaking the truth. It's like Cordelia (from Buffy/Angel), only not funny. So Nora runs off to cry for twenty minutes.

Once she brings herself to reunite with Patch, they spend a good long time macking on each other and promising to be together always. They seal this promise with the exchange of meaningful jewelery. Then Nora busts out with the l-word, but Patch is distracted by some perceived evil off in the woods and leaves. The next day at school, Marcie reveals that Patch was outside her house during the night. Well, Nora is pissed. She demands an explanation from Patch, who basically says it's none of her business. And now she's in danger, so he won't say he loves her, or something. So she breaks up with him. Even thought she was just promising to spend eternity with him, blahblahblah.

That's it. I'm sorry, I can't take anymore. I put it down in favor of some comic book reading, fully intending to pick it up again, but I got Libba Bray's Beauty Queens last night (signed!) and frankly, I have better things to do with my time.

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
(Simon & Schuster Children's, 14+)
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

What I will say for this book though? When it first came out, it had the coolest dump I think I'd ever seen, which the falling angel all popping out and stuff. (For the non-booksellers out there, a dump is a cardboard display the publishers send with new books. You've all seen them. They're horrible to put together and often really ugly, but this one was nice.)

A Pink Birthday Party Storytime, 3/12/11.

The first party we had this morning was a pink/princess-themed party for a sweet little three-year-old girl named Austen (PS how cute and literary is that?). Actually my favorite part of the party was at the end when I got her to help me hand out the goody bags to all her friends. She was so cute and shy, totally willing to discuss with me which friends hadn't gotten a bag yet, but then would go up at stand behind them, holding the bag out until they noticed her. If I said, "Austen, can you say 'excuse me, Olivia'?" she'd say it so quietly they couldn't possibly hear her. But then, "Austen, who still needs a goody bag?" and it's all, "Sienna didn't get one!"

Anyway, my second favorite part of the party was storytime, cause it was a good one today.

Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann & Elizabeth Kann
(HarperCollins, 5-8)
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I won't lie, today was the first time I ever read Pinkalicious. And truthfully, I'm a little torn about it, I honestly would like to give it three and a half stars.

On the one hand, I'm not really sure what the message is here. Pinkalicious is kind of a horrible child who just wants cupcakes and only realizes the consequences of her actions when they turn her red instead of pink. Oh, spoiler alert. But being pink was just fine by her and in the end her brother ends up pink. Vegetables, and all green foods for that matter, are regarded as gross and she's demanding and kind of a brat.

On the other hand, it's a great read-aloud. And the kids were quick to pick up that her behavior is not the way to act. And the page about the green foods prompted a lively discussion about which green foods we like and isn't Pinkalicious silly for not liking them.

HarperCollins for whatever reason puts this in the 5-8 range, but it was great for reading to the threes. They called out, "Pink!" when prompted and were engaged and interested.

Princess Penelope by Todd Mack & Julia Gran (illustrator)
(Scholastic, 5-8)
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Princess Penelope is one we've been reading at princess parties for a while now, and I think I'm gonna have to make a change. While the story has a good rhythm and some nice repetition, the kids aren't as engaged by it and not very interactive at all. I did eventually get them to fill in the word "princess", but it took a good long while. Also Penelope is a bit spoiled and bratty at times, although this does generally end in a time out (on her "throne").

Furthermore, Scholastic has labeled it ages 5-8 on the website, but it's DEFINITELY skewed younger than that. In fact, I would say that the oldest for this book would be the threes I read it to. Penelope is apparently a toddler, as evidenced by her car seat, potty and "chariot". But on the other hand, I'm not sure the kids get the nuances of the illustrations, half based in reality and half in Penelope's fantasy kingdom.

I do like the dog, cat and teddy bear doing her bidding, however. Also the dog reminds me of Boodle My Dog (a book which I can find no record of on the internet, oddly enough. It's a good one.) and I actually restrained myself from referring to it as Boodle at one point. Edited to add: thanks to the lovely people at Goodreads, I've realized it's Boodil, My Dog by Pija Lindenbaum.

I'll definitely read aloud Pinkalicious again. (Truthfully I like Fancy Nancy better, but especially for this age group, Pinkalicious was a real find.) Princess Penelope I think is going to be shelved in exchange for a new princess book. I'm taking suggestions.

Storytime 2/22/11

Storytime at Scholastic tends to attract mostly babies, considering it runs at 11am on weekday mornings. However this week the NYC kids are off from school, so we had some older kids, which is so much nicer. Unfortunately I didn't realize this while picking the books, but it still went okay.

Olivia Forms a Band by Ian Falconer
(Simon & Schuster, 3-7)
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I love Olivia, but this one is just not as solid as the original. Olivia's mother is taking them to the fireworks and Olivia wants to know if there will be a band, because there has to be a fireworks band. When her mother assumes not, Olivia decides that she'll be the band. While cute, the plot sort of meanders then when Olivia finishes being a band and focuses on other things like her make-up. The images, however, are always worth the price of admission and the crash-bang-twink-ploink noises of Olivia's band make for a fun read-aloud.

Break for "Itsy-Bitsy Spider." Had to shy away from the normal baby-ness of songs like "ABC" or "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Maybe next time I'll go with "The People in Your Neighborhood."

Tony Baloney by Pam Muñoz Ryan & Edwin Fotheringham
(Scholastic, 4-8)
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Cute with bright illustrations, but it's only just an okay read. Far and away the best part of the whole book is Dandelion the stuffed ostrich, who helps Tony Baloney with his problems by sitting and taking notes like a psychiatrist, and is clearly the source of any trouble going on. The dynamics between Tony Baloney and his siblings (one older and bossy and twin babies) doesn't ring quite as true, and I found the plot more annoying than Tony did his siblings. Also, I had to stop and explain the word "exasperated" to the kids, and while new vocabulary is always good, they wouldn't have figured it out on their own from the context. There's a cute gimmick in the writing, where Tony says things like, "for twenty years, or maybe just an hour", but it doesn't flow in the narrative very well, although that could've just been from reading it for the first time.

Cat the Cat, Who Is That? by Mo Willems
(Balzer + Bray, newborn-5)
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The simplest Willems for the youngest use, but really perhaps too simple. I agree with a reviewer on Goodreads who stated this might be better suited as a board book than in picture book form. However, it's saved by the alien/monster at the end ("Blarggie Blarggie!") and a sweet message.

Break for the "Hokey Pokey," my very favorite and a good one with the older kids. Also, later in the day a lady came in with a "The Hokey Pokey really is what's it's all about" t-shirt, so that made me happy.

Ivy Loves To Give by Freya Blackwood
(Arthur A. Levine, 4-8)
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Beautifully drawn Ivy loves to give presents to the people (and animals) in her life, but she doesn't always get it right (glasses for the dog, tea for the chicken). Cute and silly at times, Ivy's story is very sweet when she does give the right gifts and her sister gives her a gift in return. A nice story in the vein of "it's better to give than receive" and about sharing. A nice short read-aloud with lovely illustrations and fun for the kids to point out Ivy's mistakes.

Cat Secrets by Jef Czekaj
(Balzer + Bray, 3-6)
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Originally I gave this book four stars because it's super adorable and I anticipated some awesomeness with storytime. I still think it's really cute, but it doesn't translate to storytime quite like I hoped. The interactive bits are great, my kids were fabulous meowers, but there's a LOT of pages where the cats are just staring at you listening. Almost like the pauses in Dora the Explorer, only you don't actually need that in the a storybook. Still, very cute and interactive.

All in all, a successful storytime, although I think the only one I'd pick again would be Ivy Loves to Give, especially for the two to five range. Maybe on another baby day, I'd bust out Cat the Cat and Cat Secrets. Sorry, Dandelion, but Tony Baloney misses out. And I'd pick a different Olivia book, cause there are far superior ones.

Catching up with some American Girls.

I absolutely adored the American Girl books growing up, so with some time to kill in Barnes & Noble yesterday, I decided to pick up one of the ones that had come out in the time since I was the target audience.

Meet Rebecca by Jacqueline Dembar Greene
(Pleasant Company Publications, 9-12)
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Rebecca Rubin is a Russian-Jewish girl in New York City in 1914. And while I'm pleased they've tackled this era of immigrant families in turn of the century New York and also Jewish families, there was just too much exposition on the culture and traditions. I felt like instead of telling the story, everything needed to stop and be explained. Furthermore, there isn't a whole lot of story besides. Rebecca wants to be an actor like her cousin, but mostly she just wants people to stop thinking of her as little. Most of the book was focused on Rebecca's whining about one thing or another. Even when she sold her linens to pay for her (starving) cousin's way to America, she whinged about how angry her family would be with her. She's just not as likable a character as I come to expect from these books, and the storytelling lagged.

I did want to check to make sure this wasn't just my adult self rejecting something I would have enjoyed when I was nine. So I picked up Meet Kirsten: An American Girl, which was my favorite growing up for lots of reasons, least of all the fact that she had my last name and so that was the doll I ended up with. But Meet Kirsten held up to my standards. Without being explicit or as dark as things probably really were, it still gave a solid feeling of immigrating to the United States, with both real tragedy and joy. It's a story, and teaches you about another culture without being a Social Studies lesson.

For the Jewish aspect, some books I would recommend instead would include All-of-a-Kind Family, about a large Jewish family in turn-of-the-century New York City, that includes a lot about Jewish culture and holidays without beating you over the head with it. Or a great book about Russian-Jewish immigrants at the time would be Letters from Rifka, although it would be more for the young adult set.