Books I Read in August

Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den by Aimee Carter - 4.5 stars (finished 8/3)
BOOK 1 IN THE SIMON THORN SERIES
I really enjoyed this novel. It tells the story of 12 year old Simon Thorn, the boy who speaks with pigeons, squirrels, and mice, the boy who lives with his uncle, the boy who only sees him mom once or twice a year. After a mysterious eagle shows up telling Simon he is in trouble, his mom, uncle, and Simon have to escape from a hoard of rats that are hellbent on harming them. Simon is separated from his mom and uncle and taken to his grandfather, Orion, where he discovers there is more to him than just being able to talk to animals.

The story was very fast-paced and action-packed. I could see this being such an easy read for any voracious middle grade-level reader. I don't think it was too info-dumpy, but it was still pretty well explained. Simon makes some idiotic choices and trusts far too easily and definitely does not have any basis for trusting the people he does. But I think that is to be expected from a 12 year old child. I really loved the L.A.I.R. parts and cannot wait to read the sequel, especially after the twist at the end, which I did NOT see coming.

One of the only things that really threw me off was the use of "seaweed brain" without referencing PJ.

Simon Thorn and the Viper's Pit by Aimee Carter - 4 stars (finished 8/9)
BOOK 2 IN THE SIMON THORN SERIES
I was gifted an ebook via Netgalley.
Review: here.

A Fabrication of the Truth by Katie Kaleski - 2.5 stars (finished 8/12)
I was gifted an ebook via Netgalley.
Review: here.

Drama by Raina Telgemeier - 3.5 stars (finished 8/13)
I haven't read any of Raina Telgemeier's books before. This one I chose for #TheReadingQuest as a banned book. It was challenged for being sexually explicit and having LGBT characters. While yes, it does have LGBT characters, it is not sexually explicit whatsoever. It has a few kisses in there, but nothing that I would be concerned about my children seeing. My big kids (9 and 10) love Raina Telgemeier and when they asked why the book was banned, I told them about the LGBT character and they look so confused. I said some parents were unhappy that there was a gay character in the book and my kids responded "So?" which makes me so proud. I don't think, as a kid, I ever read anything with any characters that weren't hetereosexual.

Anyways, I liked this graphic novel alright. I'm settling at a 3.5 stars because I wasn't the biggest fan of Callie or some of the secondary characters. I wish there would have been more of a healthy approach to things, [highlight for spoiler]like when Bonnie is upset about her breakup and it shows everyone yelling at her afterwards. From my perspective, they would be mad she didn't finish the play, not that she tried to cheat on her test, etc. and I think that's harsh. The comic itself is very cute and very well drawn. It wasn't bad or meh at all. It was a good read and I see why my kids love it. I think it was a little superficial for my tastes and that is A-okay. It wasn't meant for an almost 30 year old ;)

Found by Stacey Wallace Benefiel - 2.5 stars (finished 8/19)
While I really wanted to like this book, it disappointed me. I didn't realize it was a spinoff series, but I feel like things should have still been explained even a teeny bit in this first book. I felt that instead of info dumps, there were character dumps. Too many names were introduced too quickly with little-to-no other details about them and it ended up confusing me far too much to enjoy the story. I was not a fan of the random two Spanish words with no explanation (chido/cool, bueno/good). Why is it just two words? Why is it Spanish and not another language? Where is the world building here? It is definitely set in the future as we are on iPhone 23 and pop culture references are mentioned and called old. All the dialogue got on my nerves and most of the characters were also really annoying and strange. I think this story has a lot of potential but it really missed the mark. There just wasn't enough explanation.

Lumberjanes Vol. 1 Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson - 4 stars (finished 8/25) 
I need to get my hands on more Lumberjanes comics. It reminds me so much of Adventure Time and The Mighty B and I love it! 

Lumberjanes: Unicorn Power! by Mariko Tamaki - 3 stars (finished 8/25)
I was gifted an ebook via Netgalley.
Review to come. 

The Secret of the Sphinx by Samuel Bavli - 3 stars (finished 8/27)
I was gifted an ebook via NetGalley.Review: here.