GEORGE by ALEX GINO - A Review

 
TITLE: GEORGE

AUTHOR: ALEX GINO

RELEASE DATE: August 25th, 2015

FORMAT/PAGE COUNT: Kindle/240 pages

PUBLISHER: SCHOLASTIC PRESS

PURCHASED: AMAZON

SYNOPSIS: 

BE WHO YOU ARE.

When people look at George, they think they see a boy. But she knows she's not a boy. She knows she's a girl.

George thinks she'll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte's Web. George really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte. But the teacher says she can't even try out for the part . . . because she's a boy.

With the help of her best friend, Kelly, George comes up with a plan. Not just so she can be Charlotte -- but so everyone can know who she is, once and for all.(GOODREADS)
 
EXPECTATION: From the moment I first heard about this book, I knew I had to read it. It was one of those books I counted down to the release date.

REVIEW: 

Right at the onset of George, I recognized something in the secrecy of the main character, George. In the opening sentences, there’s a passage that reads, ‘George needed to be certain the house was empty’. After elaborately casing the house for others, George fishes beneath the pile of teddy bears and fluffy bunnies in her closet for a flat denim bag that contained a treasure…her fashion magazines. George loved to get lost in the glossy pages of these magazines, dreaming about the day she could one day be a woman like the ones on its pages, dreaming of the glamour and the beauty products and the outfits and the everything.

One thing you need to know about George is that George is Melissa. You see, the world still sees her as a boy named George. But George is Melissa and Melissa is a girl.

Keeping her glamour magazines a secret are the least of George’s problems. This year’s featured book at school is Charlotte’s Web. Different grades do different things with the book. George’s grade is charged with putting on a play. And George knows she would be the best Charlotte ever. Her best friend Kelly sees nothing wrong with this…so the two go about rehearsing their lines together. But come audition day, George’s teacher, Ms. Udell, is slightly less than amused by George’s audition. But can she stop the girl who would shine the most as the beloved spider?

Alex Gino’s George is raw, honest, and perfectly rendered for the age group of the target Middle Grade audience. It’s a heart-warming story of a girl coming to terms with herself. And it is beautiful. For me, some of the noteworthy moments in this lovely tale include George’s comeuppance of the bully, Jeff. It was so delicious and perfect, and so George. As well, the preparation for the trip to the zoo was stellar…beautiful scene where two best girlfriends, Melissa and Kelly, get dressed up for a day trip. Possibly one of my favourite scenes was the interaction George had with her older brother when she revealed her 'secret' to him. You will love so many scenes in this book. As it's a quick read, I don't really want to give too much more away.

I’d recommend this quick read to anyone…it certainly transcends the Middle Grade market, even as it fits perfectly within it.

I look forward to more from Alex Gino. They have an excellent way of opening eyes without being preachy or lesson-y while doing so. Their ability to tackle the important transgender issue, while telling a wonderful and engaging story was flawless. I can’t wait to see what Alex does next!

EXPECTATION MET?: I waited quite a while for this one. Couldn't wait to read it, actually. It exceeded my expectations nicely. Such a satisfying read. And I'm so glad it exists in the lower reading category of Middle Grade. It will find its audience...books like this always do. Books like this are salvation to those who need them.

SIZE: 5

Want to learn more about the author? Visit Alex at their website (click on the pic below):

WILL IN SCARLET - A Wild-Ride of a Novel by MATTHEW CODY

TITLE: WILL IN SCARLET

AUTHOR: MATTHEW CODY

RELEASE DATE: October 8, 2013

FORMAT/PAGE COUNT: ebook/272 pages

PUBLISHER: Knopf Books for Young Readers

PURCHASED: NOT PURCHASED - Net Galley

SYNOPSIS: 
Will Scarlet is on the run.

Once the sheltered son of nobility, Will has become an exile. While his father, Lord Shackley, has been on the Crusades with King Richard, a treacherous plot to unseat Richard has swept across England, and Shackley House has fallen.

Will flees the only home he’s ever known into neighboring Sherwood Forest, where he joins the elusive gang of bandits known as the Merry Men. Among them are Gilbert, their cruel leader; a giant named John Little; a drunkard named Rob; and Much, an orphan girl disguised as a bandit boy.

This is the story of how a band of misfit outlaws become heroes of legend - thanks to one brave 13-year-old boy. - (From GOODREADS)


REVIEW:

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Having said that, there was a thread or two I would have liked to have seen the end of. But I'm sure that's just me. I do know one certainty about Will In Scarlet...young boys will LOVE this book. It would have been just the book I'd look for when I was a young teen. The hero is 13...he's fortunate, being a Lord's son...but he's not fortunate enough to be royalty. It's as his house falls around him that the story really sparks for me. He sees the other side of life and his first reaction is to try to make things better for those less fortunate than he had been in his previous station.

I found this to be very much like Siddhartha, in this respect. Will had the luxury of living in a castle and having servants. But when he sees outside the castle for the first time, when he escapes its overthrow, he sees poverty. Like Siddhartha, who took to the streets and witnessed poverty the first time he was paraded around his kingdom, Will has his eyes opened.

This novel is filled with rich characters and a lot of action. And the intensity of the peril was palpable, too. There's a great attack scene when Will and "Much" (a girl who lost her parents and joined the Merry Men disguised as a boy!) return to Will's lost castle to help the other Merry Men escape hangings. Look for it. The story really explodes there.

I loved the way Cody made Rob a fallible character...the reader sees him overcome himself just as Will sees it. His transformation from Rob to Robin Hood is not only timely and quite awesome...but fully believable. I also very much loved the POV switches between WILL's and MUCH's characters. I liked knowing what each was thinking about the other. There's a great push-me-pull-ya play with them. They go from almost hatred, with a touch of compassion, to admiration and...yes...maybe even BIG CRUSH TERRITORY. That's all I'm saying.

As I said, just a few loose threads that got to me. BUT...I am not aware of one thing! It COULD be a series. And if it is, I forgive the 4 1/2 rating. I would certainly be in line for a book two if this turns out to be a series. It seems pregnant with potential...and with such an exhilarating pace that keeps you reading until you've devoured the entire book in one sitting, I'd love to keep going!

I would highly recommend this title for boys of 10-14. But I wouldn't stop there. It appeals to the inner child big-time. Memorable characters and great action! It fully fulfills its promise to show us the boy behind the Robin Hood legend.


Size: 4 1/2

TWERP - MARK GOLDBLATT

TITLE: TWERP

AUTHOR: MARK GOLDBLATT

RELEASE DATE: May 28, 2013

FORMAT/PAGE COUNT: ebook (net galley)/288 pages

PUBLISHER: Random House Books for Young Readers

PURCHASED: Did not purchase (Net Galley)

SYNOPSIS: 

  It's not like I meant for Danley to get hurt. . . .

   Julian Twerski isn't a bully. He's just made a big mistake. So when he returns to school after a weeklong suspension, his English teacher offers him a deal: if he keeps a journal and writes about the incident that got him and his friends suspended, he can get out of writing a report on Shakespeare. Julian jumps at the chance. And so begins his account of life in sixth grade--blowing up homemade fireworks, writing a love letter for his best friend (with disastrous results), and worrying whether he's still the fastest kid in school. Lurking in the background, though, is the one story he can't bring himself to tell, the one story his teacher most wants to hear.

   Inspired by Mark Goldblatt's own childhood growing up in 1960s Queens, Twerp shines with powerful writing that will have readers laughing and crying right along with these flawed but unforgettable characters. (FROM GOODREADS)

REVIEW: 

I love this book so much! It’s one of those books you want to take with you onto the rooftops, hold high in the air and proclaim, “Ladies and gentlemen of Earth…read this book!” It’s also one of those books you want to hold close to your breast and say, “There, there…it will be okay!” Because you’re terrified it’s going to miss its audience. This is a splendid story, well told. By all accounts, it should fly off the shelves. I’m just worried that the time period may put some off. It is for young readers and I know young readers will love it. If they give it a chance. What I also know is that adults would LOVE Twerp too!

Julian, the narrator, makes a deal with his teacher. If he writes the stories of him and his friends he can get out of writing the book report for Julius Caesar. What the teacher has in mind—one would suspect—is that Julian face the scrutiny of his own introspection. And face it he does. It’s a lovely tale Julian tells. He shares his whole world with the reader…even the darker secrets he would probably normally keep to himself. He tells the teacher how he penned a love letter to woo a girl on behalf of his best friend, he tells his teacher how that event totally backfires in his face and causes his best friend to disown him, he tells the woe-begotten tale of how he fears he is no longer the fastest kid in his school, and he shares with his teacher the story of the suave new kid from Mexico who could be his Achilles heel in this regard. In short, there are several insightful stories that Julian allows us to glimpse along the way. The one he is reluctant to tell is the motivation behind the telling. All these stories relate to power struggles and manipulations between friends in some way. But the untold story, which eventually comes out within Julian’s narration to his teacher is the story of Danley Dimmel.

Set in 1969, Twerp is an integral story of the struggles kids face to balance on that thin line of bully and bullied, cool and uncool, leader and follower. It’s a great story…you will fall in love with the way Julian gives us the raw truth of the happenings within the child community of his New York neighbourhood. It’s a universal story most readers will easily relate to. I hope kids give it a chance…there is much to be learned within Julian’s stories. And much to be enjoyed!

I will definitely be purchasing this book. It's one I will revisit several times! Suitable for adults as much as it is suited to children. ENJOY!

Size: 5

TEETH & MARCO IMPOSSIBLE - Two MORE Awesome Reads by HANNAH MOSKOWITZ!

 





TITLE: TEETH

AUTHOR: Hannah Moskowitz
 
RELEASE DATE: January, 2013

FORMAT/PAGE COUNT: Kindle/290 pages

PUBLISHER: Simon Pulse

PURCHASED: Amazon

SYNOPSIS:



A gritty, romantic modern fairy tale from the author of Break and Gone, Gone, Gone.

Be careful what you believe in.

Rudy’s life is flipped upside-down when his family moves to a remote island in a last attempt to save his sick younger brother. With nothing to do but worry, Rudy sinks deeper and deeper into loneliness and lies awake at night listening to the screams of the ocean beneath his family’s rickety house.

Then he meets Diana, who makes him wonder what he even knows about love, and Teeth, who makes him question what he knows about anything. Rudy can’t remember the last time he felt so connected to someone, but being friends with Teeth is more than a little bit complicated. He soon learns that Teeth has terrible secrets. Violent secrets. Secrets that will force Rudy to choose between his own happiness and his brother’s life. (From GOODREADS)


REVIEW:

Teeth. This is another pure Moskowitz title. A little bit of magical realism, a la Zombie Tag. We have Rudy, who is forced to live on a magical island because his brother can only survive by eating the fish that can only be harvested on said island.

Rudy feels an instant bond with the fish boy, Teeth. Moskowitz does a great job creating this truculent, jealous and envious little fish boy. With typical Moskowitz magic, the reader will actually like Teeth. I felt a lot of sympathy for him when his full story came out...as I'm sure other readers will also sympathize for him.

Rudy has a lot to deal with, living on an island away from the life he knew. In untypical Moskowitz fashion, he deals with his brother's illness in a rather dark way. The reader gets the sense that Rudy's brother is a burden...the cross he has to bare.

Some complicated and intriguing relationships here. Moskowitz fans will love this one about as much as her other offerings!

SIZE: 4


TITLE: MARCO IMPOSSIBLE

AUTHOR: Hannah Moskowitz
 
RELEASE DATE: March, 2013

FORMAT/PAGE COUNT: Kindle/256 pages

PUBLISHER: Roaring Brook Press

PURCHASED: Amazon

SYNOPSIS:
Thirteen-year-old best friends Stephen and Marco attempt a go-for-broke heist to break into the high school prom and get Marco onstage to confess his love for (and hopefully steal the heart of) Benji, the adorable exchange student and bass player of the prom band. Of course, things don't always go according to plan, and every heist comes with its fair share of hijinks. (From GOODREADS)


REVIEW:

I'm a bit reluctant to call this my FAVOURITE Hannah Moskowitz title. Not because I don't think it deserves it, but because I'd rather it share that place with Zombie Tag. Don't make me choose!

Marco loves Benji. And Stephen, his best friend, wants to help him get into the high school prom so Marco can profess his love to Benji. The sleuth team has been cracking cases for a very long time, but somewhere along the way on this newest case there are signs that this may be the last one. Moskowitz is brilliant in this story of two best friends and the jealousies and compromises and idiosyncrasies that go into making their relationship such a wonderful base to an awesome story!

Hannah wrote an amazing story here. The reader will follow these friends all over town as they take on this new adventure. From the tux rental store to the prom. Hijinks and gut-wrenching truths and observations will push the reader forward to an amazing and satisfying end. I don't want to say much about this...the reader will have to take my word for it. THE. BEST. MOSKOWITZ. EVER.

Size: 5.5

Spotlight/Interview with MG author Joanne Levy!

A few weeks ago I posted a review for the amazing middle grade title, SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE (I trust that you have since read and enjoyed it).

Today, I'd like to shine a little spotlight on the author of Small Medium at Large. Joanne Levy was kind enough to humour me and answer a few questions for my readers. Enjoy!

1. In relation to Small Medium at Large and writing the story...I'm just curious how the CAUSE came about for Lilah's new ability. Was there a struggle for you to discover a way to give Lilah her new ability to communicate with ghosts? Or is this something that came to you right away...the lightning idea?

I first wrote the book many years ago and I honestly can’t remember if I struggled with the how of Lilah getting her new ability. But I can tell you that when I first wrote it, the book was intended for an older, YA audience. So in the first scene, Lilah was at her mom’s wedding and had stolen away with her new step-brother and was about to kiss him when she gets hit by the lightning. I thought that was a really funny scene and set the stage for a lot of almost-but-not-really incest jokes for the rest of the book. Obviously, that all had to go when I aged the book down a bit. I hated having to cut some of my ‘for a more mature audience’ jokes that were in the book, but still managed to come up with lots of opportunities for humour throughout.



2. I really like what you did with Dolly. Bully stories very seldom turn out the way this one does. I know bullying is not the major theme of this story, but it does play an excellent role in it. I would just like to hear your thoughts on how this whole thread in the story came about. I found it so fascinating that Lilah was able to be compassionate towards a person who's go-to action was repeatedly to be mean to Lilah and her friends. Was it hard for you to construct this aspect of your story...the heroine reaching out and rescuing her bully? Was it liberating? Any thoughts you would like to share would be awesome. I think you did an amazing job with this concept...it's a lesson your target audience could really benefit from. And yet you pulled it off in the least preachy way I've ever seen.

Thank you! Bullying is so prevalent these days in so many forms and although I didn’t want to get into really deep issues with this light book, I did want to accurately portray what it’s like for kids of this age. I remember when I was in middle school, there were some girls who seemed to go out of their way to chip at my self-esteem and try to make me feel inferior. I had been very okay with who I was and truly never had self-esteem issues until other people pointed out my failings. One girl, in particular, was relentless in making me feel not cool. I distinctly remember a moment in sixth grade when she said, “I bet you don’t even like Rick James (sadly, it was the 80s)!” Truly, I didn’t even know who he was, but I went out and bought his album (which I hate to admit, I kind of liked, even though the lyrics probably weren’t appropriate for me at that age). And even though there was no physical threat, it was still very hurtful in a different way.

As for making Lilah compassionate towards her tormentor. Well, she does have a few thoughts about revenge, which is natural, but in the end, she does the right thing. And I kind of modeled her on Elle Woods from Legally Blonde. Her character faces discrimination and vitriol at every turn, but she is only ever positive and helpful, even to those who try to trip her up and ruin her. I loved that about her—in the end she is loved because she never lets anyone really change her from a good person, even though it would be very easy for her to retaliate. That’s what I wanted for Lilah.  I wanted her to be human and have thoughts about revenge, but in the end, do the right thing and show that you can be a good person and turn things around.

 

3. You appear to be very busy with events to promote your book Small Medium at Large. Do you want to share a bit about how that feels? Are you getting fan feedback at events from those who have already read the book? Tell us a bit about your experiences on the circuit. (-:

It feels exhausting! I’ve been doing a lot of local signings and also participate in local networking events, which, on top of the day job, has presented challenges as far as finding time for new writing and you know, sleeping. For a debut, it’s hard to drum up big crowds at events, but I have had some Twitter friends show up at my signings and that has been amazing! I made a commitment to myself very early on that I wanted to do whatever I could to help get the word out about my book; the long term goal is to write full-time, so any investment into this first book is a big stepping stone towards that. I’ve learned a lot and am getting more comfortable in my own skin when standing at a table in a bookstore (a tough, tough thing to do for an introvert) but it’s necessary to get out there and talk to people if I want to sell books to more than just my family.

One of the funniest things has been the running joke about helping people find the bathroom in bookstores. My husband and I were joking about it, but then at my last event, I actually did have to help 3 separate people find the bathroom. Hey, at least I’m useful in the down times. ;-)


4. What are you reading? Want to share some awesome reads you found over the summer?

I wish I had more reading time, but over the summer I read and adored Jennifer Nielsen’s THE FALSE PRINCE, (fellow Canadian) Jocelyn Shipley’s HOW TO TEND A GRAVE and Lynne Kelly’s CHAINED. I highly recommend all of these books. And I’m just about to get into Lisa McMann’s ISLAND OF SILENCE, the second book in THE UNWANTEDS series and am eager to start (also Canadian) Vikki VanSickle’s WORDS THAT START WITH B.



5. What are you writing now? Can your readers expect to see another book coming soon? If so, could you share a little bit about your next book--or the one you are working on now?

I have a lot of balls up in the air right now, but nothing concrete just yet. I’m hoping to continue Lilah’s adventures in a sequel to SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE and I’ve written another MG about a boy who gets lost in the woods when his family’s camping trip goes very wrong. Also, I’ve been tinkering with some other ideas, but with the first book coming out over the summer and all the marketing/events I’ve been doing, I haven’t been actively writing for a while. Things should calm down after November and then I plan to really hunker down and will hopefully have a clear idea of what I want to work on by then. Keep an eye on my website joannelevy.com and Twitter @joannelevy as I’ll post any news there.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions, Joanne! I’m sure your readers will appreciate your thoughtful responses. So interesting to hear how Small Medium at Large began, now that we can see the finished version. And I’m sure those who read Small Medium will be thrilled to learn that Lilah’s adventures will continue. Lilah is a great character for middle grade kids to sink their teeth into—thoughtful, intelligent and humourous. We’ll be sure to keep our eye on your website and twitter feed! Thank you so much!

You can find SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE ON GOODREADS

And ON AMAZON & CHAPTERS INDIGO

 

Small Medium at Large - Review

Title: Small Medium at Large

Author: Joanne Levy

Release Date: July 3, 2012

Format/Page Count: Kindle/208

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Purchased: Amazon

Synopsis:

After she’s hit by lightning at a wedding, twelve-year-old Lilah Bloom develops a new talent: she can hear dead people. Among them, there’s her overopinionated Bubby Dora; a prissy fashion designer; and an approval-seeking clown who livens up a séance. With Bubby Dora leading the way, these and other sweetly imperfect ghosts haunt Lilah through seventh grade, and help her face her one big fear: talking to—and possibly going to the seventh-grade dance with—her crush, Andrew Finkel. (From GOODREADS)

The Book Trailer for Small Medium at Large

Expectation: Levy had me at the title! This is yet another title I became aware of while on Twitter. Thank Twitter for all my finds lately! My expectation was high for this book, based solely on my love of the title. (-:

Market/Genre: Middle Grade/Contemporary with a dollop of supernatural/paranormal

Review:

It has been a while since I read a middle grade novel…at least a few months. My first thoughts on Small Medium at Large were; kid-friendly, a delight to read, fun and funny, well written in a great age-appropriate voice and, well…FUN (It bears repeating).

Lilah Bloom is 12. She comes from a broken family (that term really needs to be refreshed—a lot of families these days are not so much broken, as they are realigned). As the story opens, we are at Lilah’s mother’s wedding. Everything is going well until the real fun is about to begin—the dancing. At the outdoor reception, Lilah is literally on the threshold of the temporary dance-floor when the skies darken and a tempest brews.

This is when Lilah is struck by lightning!

Thankfully, she makes a speedy recovery. No lasting damage, but a challenging new talent. Lilah becomes aware of disembodied voices. Levy has written these voices so tremendously well that the reader can sense she had a blast bringing this story to life. What must have been a difficult task for Levy was keeping a story like this so utterly kid-friendly. With humour, excellent characters, friendly and mischievous—but by no means dark—ghosts, and a plot that could stand on its own without the supernatural element, Levy accomplishes this in spades!

Throughout the course of the story, the reader is introduced to several ghost characters. One of the delightful things I found about these characters is that they were actually so well portrayed I could envision what each of them looked like, even though, obviously, there were no physical descriptions to speak of. We have Lilah’s Bubby Dora (her grandmother), Prissy LaFontaine (fashion icon extraordinaire), Mr. Finkel (Andrew Finkel’s father—Andrew being the boy that Lilah is head over heels for) and also watch for the young boy ghost Lilah runs into in her school.

There are some truly delightful scenes in this book, scenes that will make your middle grade reader giggle and totally relate to. Keep your eye out for the bra shopping scene and slumber party—truly authentic! Also, there are some great father/daughter scenes with Lilah and her dad—funny, poignant and powerful scenes (also funnily awkward scenes as Lilah and Dad discuss his new dating life).

A sign of a great middle grade book is its ability to resolve the issues of the main characters without coming off as too cheesy or predictable. Small Medium at Large does this. There are plenty of things going on in this story. Levy deals with bullying, divorce, death, first crushes, jealousy—you name it. Her ability to tie up all the threads in a satisfactory way is astonishing. Perhaps one of my favourite threads was the one with Lilah and her grade eight nemesis, ‘Dolly’ Madison. Of course, Dolly was going to be the bully of the story—she’s far superior to Lilah and her friends, being as she’s in grade eight and they’re mere grade sevens. Thankfully, though, Levy played this thread perfectly. Another sign of a great middle grade story is that not all bad characters are all bad and not all good characters are all good. I’m confident readers will love the way this thread plays out. I won’t go into details—as I don’t want to give away any spoilers—but sometimes help comes from the most unlikely of places.

If you have a young reader in your life, share this book with them! I’m sure it will become an instant favourite for them. Lilah’s a good kid—they’re gonna love her!

Expectation: Met and surpassed. I am not surprised that I fell in love with this wonderful book! It will be my go-to for gift-giving for years to come!

Size: 5 (1/2)

LOOK FOR A SHORT AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT/INTERVIEW with Joanne Levy in the near future!

 

Spotlight - Hannah Moskowitz - YA/MG Writer Extraordinaire!

Hannah Moskowitz - YA/MG Author - Collector of Magic Gay Fish

If you live under a rock, inside a cave, on an uncharted island...then, chances are, you know nothing of the wonder known as Hannah Moskowitz. If there are any magic gay fish swimming around that island, however, then chances are you are already a fan of Hannah's.

I first fell for Hannah with the release of her debut novel, BREAK. Released in August, 2009, by Simon Pulse, Break is a fascinating look at a boy named Jonah and his journey to becoming a stronger person. It's a beautiful story filled with broken bones and redemption.

After Break, I couldn't wait for Hannah's next book. In what seems like record time, she gave us INVINCIBLE SUMMER, ZOMBIE TAG and GONE, GONE, GONE. Coming in January, 2013, we'll also have her TEETH. Also in 2012, we'll get MARCO IMPOSSIBLE. What seems impossible is the pace of Hannah Moskowitz's book release schedule!


Moskowitz is one of my favourite authors. She can write brothers better than any writer I've ever read. And it seems she is quite prolific. Unless something changes, we can look forward to having many, many more Hannah Moskowitz titles to add to the collection!

If you haven't picked up Hannah's books yet, the time is nigh. You do not want to be left behind. The train is leaving the station, and it's moving at lightning speed!

I have reviewed 3 of Hannah's titles on this blog. You can read them HERE, HERE & HERE.

You can visit Hannah at her website HERE
Follow her on Twitter HERE 
Visit her blog HERE  

Just remember, when you become a follower of Hannah Moskowitz, you become a Magic Gay Fish! Buy Hannah's Books. You'll thank me after you read them.


Hannah Moskowitz books on AMAZON.CA
Hannah Moskowitz books on AMAZON.COM


And, yes, you can PRE-ORDER both Teeth & Marco Impossible.


"We are all queer fish, queerer behind our faces and voices than we want any one to know or than we know ourselves." --F. Scott Fitzgerald

Zombie Tag - Review

Title: Zombie Tag

Author: Hannah Moskowitz
Release Date: December 20, 2011
Format/Page Count: Kindle Edition, 240 pages

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Purchased: AMAZON

Synopsis: Wil is desperate for his older brother to come back from the dead. But the thing about zombies is . . they don’t exactly make the best siblings. Thirteen-year-old Wil Lowenstein copes with his brother’s death by focusing on Zombie Tag, a mafia/
capture the flag hybrid game where he and his friends fight off brain-eating zombies with their mothers’ spatulas. What Wil doesn’t tell anybody is that if he could bring his dead brother back as a zombie, he would in a heartbeat. But when Wil finds a way to summon all the dead within five miles, he’s surprised to discover that his back-from-the-dead brother is emotionless and distant.  In her first novel for younger readers, Moskowitz offers a funny and heartfelt look at how one boy deals with change, loss, and the complicated relationship between brothers. (From GOODREADS)

Expectation: Extremely high. Poor Hannah Moskowitz had a LOT to live up to--most recently, INVINCIBLE SUMMER. It's hard to live up to the expectations of a reader who loved your last work.    

Market/Genre: Middle Grade, Zombie, Hannah Moskowitz Brothers (Yes...Hannah seems to be starting her own genre. And doing frighteningly well at the dynamics between brothers) (-:

Review: 

“Graham and I spit on our hands and promised we would never, ever grow up. He’s not going to get out of that just by dying.” ~ Hannah Moskowitz, Zombie Tag

“Talking to you is like talking to myself.” ~ Hannah Moskowitz, Zombie Tag (This is a truism for ALL brothers in the throes of their child years together. It’s a shame we forget it when we grow up.)

ZOMBIE TAG has very little to do with zombies. Don’t tell Hannah Moskowitz I said that. I will deny it vehemently.

This was, quite frankly, a beautiful read. You can see by the synopsis that it really does have a lot to do with zombies. But the undercurrent of this book is not quite an undercurrent. It screams to the reader from the gate. This is a Peter Pan tale. This is a story about the complications of being a brother, and about not ever wanting to lose the bonds that brothers have in childhood. It’s about knowing when it’s okay to be intimate with your brother and knowing when it’s not okay. It’s about knowing when to wrestle and hurt each other. It’s about sleeping out in a tent under the stars and talking to each other about the wonders of life and the fear of death when it’s dark and you can no longer see each other and you know precisely what the other one looks like; the expression on his face, the way his hands are worrying into fists and stretching out into wings at his sides as he describes the way he thinks death might be. This is a story that every brother should read. And a story that everybody who was never a brother of a brother should read so they know that boys can have big hearts too, boys can be intimate and filled with dreams too.

Okay. What you see above is not quite a review. It was more about the emotional rollercoaster I went through yesterday as I read ZOMBIE TAG. I’m still relatively new at reviews. I’ll try to bring it back down to earth now.

Wil. Wilson. He’s a kid who has lost his older brother. There is the story. Moskowitz sets up the world in which Zombie Tag takes place with amazing skill. The reader is brought into this contemporary setting that is almost like home. In it, children are playing a game created by young Wil (& his brother, Graham). Zombie Tag is the game. As soon as I started reading those first scenes, I was brought back to my childhood. I could perfectly envision ‘our’ group playing Zombie Tag during a sleepover—creeping through the dark house crying out for BRRRRAAAIIIINNNNSS and banging on closed ‘barricaded’ doors, searching for humans to feed off of. The whole time, our parents sleeping obliviously in their bedroom. It was so real, I could almost swear we did this!

There is, though, a little difference between the world we live in and the carefully constructed world in which Moskowitz chooses to put us in with this story. The world where Zombie Tag takes place has a past history of real live zombies. Around 30 years ago zombies walked the earth for a brief time. There is no real solid evidence, though, of what went on from the time they left their graves to the time they were discovered dead in another location. There’s just the empty graves and the bodies in a different location. Clearly, zombies HAD walked.

Wil and his friends have fun playing Zombie Tag, but Wil has ulterior motives. He LIVES zombies. He devours everything he can find out about zombies. He misses his brother SO much. If only…

Moskowitz puts the reader deep into the land of brothers with this story. Through Wil, we understand what it’s like to be both beaten and protected in the same day by one’s older brother. We see those soft moments of whispered words between brothers, and we see those moments of meanness that older brothers dole out just to see the younger brother squirm. And we understand that under all the crap, under the beatings and the name callings and the leave-me-alones there is this bond that can not be broken. Not by the span of years between you and not in death. Wil suffers terribly over Graham’s loss, over the loss of his protectiveness and the loss of his soothing and the loss of his its-gonna-be-okay talks. He might even suffer over the loss of the not so nice things that Graham put him through as his big brother. That’s what it means to have a brother. There’s good and bad and it’s very easy for this brother to imagine missing both, should they be suddenly taken.

Yeah, this is a tale of zombies. It’s a tale for children and teens and near-teens. But it is also one for everybody else. And it is also NOT a zombie tale. I’m not going to tell you a whole lot about what goes on in Zombie Tag. I’ll just say that Wil DOES discover a way to get his big brother back. And that he is faced with a dilemma bigger than that of suffering the loss of his big brother, once he does bring him back. With the friends he played Zombie Tag with, Wil will figure things out.

It’s hard to grow up. It’s one of the hardest things we’ll ever do. And when you make a pact with your big brother to skip this part of your life, you REALLY believe it. You believe it because, in the moment, it just seems right. You don’t want to lose those whispered conspiratorial moments with the boy you look up to. You want to be able to be comforted by that larger than life hero for forever. Because nobody can comfort him like he does. You want to run to him at night when you have a nightmare, no matter how old you are, and get under his sheets and feel safe. But Moskowitz knows this isn’t possible. She weaved a perfect Peter Pan tale with ZOMBIE TAG. It will pull on your heartstrings long after you finish the book. For me, it was a wickedly poignant look at brothers. I don’t know how Moskowitz is so wise and knowing when it comes to the relationship that two brothers have…but she is a master at it. Her mastery was witnessed in BREAK and in INVINCIBLE SUMMER and, now, more than ever, in ZOMBIE TAG.

Don’t let the MG market rating fool you. If you are 40 or 90, you’ll love this book. I’m going to call it a classic. Some may scoff. Some may say a classic can’t have cartoon boys on the cover. A classic’s cover wouldn’t depict one boy hitting another boy over the head with a spatula. But I defy you to prove me wrong. READ IT. You’ll understand where I’m coming from. The Peter Pan in me wants to laugh and cry, simultaneously. The brother in me wants to buy more copies. I have 3 brothers. None of them are dead and none of them are zombies. But imagining myself in Wil’s shoes kept me completely invested in the story. Thank GOD I’m not him. And thank Hannah Moskowitz for an incredible read, yet again!

 

SIZE: 5 (.5)

Expectation was blown out of the water. This should be on Young Adult shelves and Adult shelves too. It's Christmas soon. My brothers and I don't usually exchange gifts. I'm sending a print copy of ZOMBIE TAG to my older brother. I know he'll 'get' it. (-: