Boys Apparently DO Knit

Expected Publication:  March 24th, 2015 (Originally January 1st, 2014)

Boys Don't Knit (Boys Don't Knit #1)

By: T.S. Easton

Feiwel & Friends

ISBN-13:  9781250053312

Knitting is a man's game.

After an incident regarding a crossing guard and a bottle of Martini & Rossi (and his bonehead friends), 17-year-old worrier Ben Fletchermust develop his sense of social alignment, take up a hobby, and do some community service to avoid any further probation.

He takes a knitting class (it was that or his father's mechanic class) under the impression that it's taught by the hot teacher all the boys like.  Turns out, it's not.  Perfect.

Regardless, he sticks with it and comes to find he's a natural knitter, maybe even great.  It even helps ease his anxiety and worrying.  The only challenge now is to keep it hidden from his friends, his crush, and his soccer-obsessed father.  What a tangled web Ben has weaved...or knitted.

Review

       Let's just lay it all out on the line: I know absolutely NOTHING about knitting!  I have a couple friends who know how, and I've always thought it would be cool to learn, but I know nothing about it.  Also, I don't read a lot of YA books with male protagonists.  Mainly because I feel like a lot of the ones I've picked up have protags that are either complete assholes or so unrealistic that they might as well be the next Disney Prince!  Yes, nice guys exist and so do awful ones.  Most REAL guys (adult, teenage and child) are some combination of the two though, rather than one extreme or another.  T.S. Easton really captures that fact with Ben Fletcher.  Not perfect by any means, 17 year old Ben allows himself to get into sticky situations by going along with his harebrained friends.  After an incident with some stolen liquor, a lollipop lady and a damaged vehicle, Ben is on probation.  He has to keep a diary to hand in to his caseworker and complete community service to show his reform.  Part of this is a college class.  Not wanting to be in his dad's mechanic class, Microsoft Office (too easy/boring), or pottery, he goes with knitting (the teacher is supposed to be a hot, younger woman).  Turns out the teachers listed were wrong and it's his crush's Mom and now Ben's stuck.  But guess what, he's a natural knitter - and he really enjoys it!

       Basically, this book is set over the course of eight months and told through Ben's diary entries.  We get to meet his soccer/car obsessed Dad, his often on tour magician Mom and his crazy little sister Molly.  Also in supporting roles are his very memorable friends (one of whom he's editing an erotic book called "Fifty Shades of Graham" for!) who get him into plenty of trouble, Mrs. Frensham i.e. the lollipop lady he practically ran over, Megan (the girl he likes), the hot teacher Miss Swallow, and the women from his knitting class.  Everyone is well characterized, and we see Ben grow from someone unsure of himself and more of a follower, to a young man who has found something he loves to do and refuses to apologize for it.  Along the way he makes friends with some unlikely people and we get to see his big heart and hilarious turn of phrase.  I laughed out loud mutliple times while reading this, especially at Ben's mounting lies and the box of "shame" he hides under the bed with his knitting stuff.  The knitting competition at the end is the stuff comedies should be made of!  All in all, I super enjoyed it.  I am beyond the high school angst and Facebook obsessing over a crush, so I did roll my eyes a little.  But I highly recommend this book, because it's so much more than that.  Can't wait to read the next one!

VERDICT:  4/5 Stars

**I reviewed this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book's expected publication date is March 24th, 2015.**

Magic In Your Eyes

Published: August 1st, 2012

Hocus Pocus Hotel

Written by: Micahel Dahl, Illustrated by: Lisa K. Weber

Stone Arch Books

ISBN-13: 9781434242532



Ever since it was built by the great magician Abracadabra, the hotel Tyler Yu lives in has had its share of mysterious events. Ghosts wandering the halls, a magician who vanishes into thin air – Ty can’t figure these things out on his own. But Charlie Hitchcock, with his photographic memory, might just be the partner the school bully needs. Together, they’ll solve magical mysteries beyond your wildest imagination.

Review

   Charlie Hitchcock is a total geek, with a photographic memory.  Tyler Yu, the school bully, is saving up to buy a motorcycle working in his parents' hotel (called the Abracadabra).  But Mr. Madagascar, one of the tenants, has gone missing without paying his rent.  He is a retired magician and most of the hotel guests are former performers of some sort or another.  With the help of a very curious Charlie, the elevator operator Mr. Brack and the uncovering of some illusions that are too 'magical' to possibly be actual magic, can the boys find the missing magician in time to get the rent before Tyler's parents notice?  This was a fun book for me, as someone who never really read mysteries as a kid - it's something that I've gotten into a lot more now that I'm an adult.  But I loved the illustrations and Tyler's inept bullying, that isn't quite mean-spirited enough to be taken seriously.  Mr. Brack was alternately creepy and a wise old man who is still sharper than a tack.  The story was fun, even if the mirror set-ups do make it a little over complex to try any of the tricks at home.  The ending was cute and I look forward to future books in the series, just to see what places Charlie and Tyler go next.  Although, as an older reader I like a little bit more of an intricate plot to my stories nowadays.Overall I'd recommend this mostly for elementary and middle school aged readers and their teachers.

VERDICT:  3/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published August 1st, 2012.*

Wednesday's Child Is Full Of Woe

Expected Publication: August 14th, 2012
The Wednesdays
By: Julie Bourbeau
Random House Children's Books
ISBN-13: 9780375868900

Max’s village is absolutely normal in every single way and on every single day—except Wednesday.
Most of the townsfolk shutter their windows and lock their doors to hide away from the many peculiar things that happen—things like cats getting stuck in the vacuum cleaner and birthday cakes meeting fiery and horrific ends. But Max is too curious for that, and so, breaking every rule in the village, he searches out the cause of all the Wednesday weirdness.
What he uncovers is a secret so devious—so dastardly and mischievous—that life as he knows it will never be the same. Max himself is not the same. Suddenly the mysterious little accidents so common on Wednesdays are happening to him on Thursdays, Fridays—even Saturdays!
What’s come over Max? And more importantly, is there any cure for a case of the Wednesdays?
Mystery, magic, mischief and monsters abound in this slightly fantastical story of a human kid who wants to stay that way.

Review

   Max lives in a village that is completely average in just about every way - except on Wednesdays.  Everyone closes up their homes and they refuse to come outside again until it's Thursday, which means it's safe.  Bad things, strange, unexplainable things happen on Wednesdays - Max's brother getting his hair soaked in black shoe polish, the TV getting broken, Max's birthday cake meeting a fiery end.  But none of this can stop Max's curiosity, which leads him outside on a Wednesday, perilous though it might be.  This time curiosity catches up in a bad way, when Max gets a bad case of the Wednesdays that lasts throughout the week.  After an encounter with the actual, gargoyle-like creatures who cause the mischief Max begins to change physically.  Max tries to get the Wednesdays to tell him what's happening, but Two is in charge and he has plans for Max, really nasty plans...His parents send him to parapsychologist Dr. Conkle-Smoak, desperately trying to cure him before he becomes one of the Wednesdays forever.  Can Max and his friends Noah and Gemma figure out a way to block the Wednesdays from their town forever or is Max doomed to become one of them?  This book was an interesting mix of Roald Dahl-esque humor, quirky illustrations and a hero with some oddness and major heart.  I did enjoy the idea of an entire town closing up for the day because of gremlin-like mischief makers.  The Wednesdays themselves were interesting, all them once human and now varying degrees of horrible.  They all had numbers instead of names, which was little sad to me but very in keeping with the children's book M.O.  Dr. Conkle-Smoak was absolutely useless and completely hilarious so of course he was one of my favorite characters.  I liked the smooth progression of the plot and the resolution, which ended up being fairly creepy for a middle-grade fantasy book.  Overall it was a very amusing book with interesting, well written characters and a fresh story in a world where that is hard to come by.  My only complaint would really be the illustrations - they just didn't quite match what was in my head.

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is August 14th, 2012.*