The Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar

THE MAP OF SALT AND STARS by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar has a beautiful cover and contains a rich blending of two stories.  One is set in the twelfth century and relates the adventures of Rawiya, a young girl who runs away from home and pretends to be a boy as she travels through the Middle East and Northern Africa with a famous medieval mapmaker. The other action concerns a preteen named Nour who is a present day refugee from Syria fleeing that war torn country with her family, covering much of the same geographical territory.  Joukhadar’s debut novel is extremely ambitious in that it relates two coming of age adventures, tackles contemporary issues and even explores the idea of synesthesia, or seeing and thinking in colors. 

Some favorite quotes include:

Every place you go becomes a part of you. But none more so than home.

… stories ease the pain of living, not dying. People always think dying is going to hurt. But it does not. It’s living that hurts us.

You are the stories you tell yourself.

A red hard knot glues itself to my ribs like indigestion, the tangled-up knot of all the things I’ve loved that will be buried one day, all the things I know I am bound to forget.

THE MAP OF SALT AND STARS by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar received starred reviews from both Booklist and Kirkus. I certainly appreciate the skill exhibited in playing these two stories off of each other and frankly, I liked Rawiya’s mythical tale and eagerly read those portions, but found it surprisingly difficult to develop a deep empathy for the contemporary characters, including young Nour. Coincidentally, I have just been talking with other teachers about looking for an updated version of books like Enrique’s Journey. Exposing our students to the plight of today’s refugees and the crises they face is critical; perhaps exploring those events separately would have resulted in a shorter novel and one that could have been used with classes? I have found suggestions to make for Senior classes like the essays in The Displaced or a more challenging novel like Go, Went, Gone, but welcome more ideas, especially for our younger students.  

Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone by Phaedra Patrick

RISE AND SHINE, BENEDICT STONE by Phaedra Patrick is set in a small UK village near the moors and is a cross between A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman and The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. Picture the title character as a “set-in-his-ways” 40-something man whose life has taken a negative spiral and is turned around by a totally unexpected visit from his sixteen year old niece, Gemma. Together, they begin to design jewelry after learning more about the meaning of gem stones from his father’s journal.  Peridot, for example, was used in ancient times to ward off evil spirits and helps with emotional balance.  Lapis Lazuli is actually a rock described as contributing to increased mental clarity, intuition, and courage. In a note, Patrick explains that the meanings for each gem stone and associated attributes vary by source and she carefully weaves roughly three dozen into the story.

RISE AND SHINE, BENEDICT STONE was a fun read and it was heartwarming to see the transformation that a teenaged girl makes amongst a variety of village characters (florist, pub owner, farmer, etc.). Secrets and miscommunication are frequent occurrences as reconciliation with other family members is a central theme for both Gemma and Benedict. This book will appeal to teen readers and older adults looking for a touching and uplifting story. RISE AND SHINE, BENEDICT STONE received a starred review from Library Journal.

Julia Defiant by Catherine Egan

JULIA DEFIANT by Catherine Egan is the exciting sequel to Julia Vanishes and readers of that adventure will be quickly engrossed in this latest tale.  Its setting, while still infused with magic and witchcraft, is somewhat less European – there’s more of an Asian flair, with a large monastery and, once again, plenty of spies, danger and betrayal.

In order to better appreciate the relationships and world building, this series does need to be read in order.  Mrs. Och, Wyn, and Frederick are all still seeking Ko Dan with Julia’s help in order to help keep baby Theo safe.  The characters are many (but there is a helpful guide at the book’s beginning) and the action is complex and violent at times.  Julia’s power of vanishing seems to be increasing and she struggles valiantly to understand what is happening in the more-fiery other-world, called Kahge, that she can now enter. Booklist gave JULIA DEFIANT a starred review, calling it “beautifully imagined.”     

March 2017 ... YA titles ...

Other commitments have been swallowing up available reading and reviewing time this month but I wanted to be sure to comment on several new YA titles. 

THE HEARTBEATS OF WING JONES by Katherine Webber (March 14, Delacorte) is set in Atlanta and tells the story of Wing Jones and her older brother, Marcus. The local public library placed this title in their Junior High section and it does have a younger feel, beginning with a gentle, lovely swing ride for Wing and Marcus as children. Once high school age, he is a popular football star while she feels like a misfit, too obviously different due in part to their mixed racial heritage (half black, half Chinese). Circumstances change dramatically when Marcus has a car accident and kills two people while driving drunk.  He goes into a coma, the family faces financial concerns and Wing copes by beginning to run:  “I’m sure somehow my running is keeping Marcus alive, that my footsteps are making his heart beat, way more than the machines that he’s hooked up to.”  School Library Journal recommends THE HEARTBEATS OF WING JONES for Stephanie Perkins’ fans; please see the author’s website for more review comments about this promising and affirming debut.  

THE SHADOWS WE KNOW BY HEART by Jennifer Park (March 14, Simon Pulse) appealed to me because of its beautiful cover and the mystery element it contains. Independent-minded protagonist Leah is not supposed to go into the woods, but she sneaks away anyway and is fascinated by the Bigfoot Sasquatch she sees. There is even a Tarzan-like element due to the “wild boy” who accompanies them. It is a bit difficult to believe that these creatures could exist so close to a residential area, but the suspense will pull readers in and, of course, human contact eventually produces a crisis.  THE SHADOWS WE KNOW BY HEART is also shelved locally with Junior High materials and will be an engaging, quick read for middle school and freshmen students looking for a story filled with romance and some mythical elements.  

JUST FLY AWAY by Andrew McCarthy (coming March 28, Algonquin) explores family secrets in a different way and is a very quick read.  15 year-old Lucy and her younger sister, Julie, discover that their Dad has another child: their half-brother, 8 year-old Thomas. Lucy deals with this revelation by being angry with both parents – for her Dad’s involvement with another woman and her Mom’s acceptance of it. Lucy is a very immature and certainly self-involved character who want to “just fly away” and eventually she ends up in Maine, spending time with her grandfather.  JUST FLY AWAY is a debut novel from a bestselling memoirist, actor and director recommended by Booklist and School Library Journal for students in grades 7-10.