Moving Day!

I started taking a children's literature class and it's made me remember how much I love children's literature. I've thought of deleting this blog on and off since I have been so spotty with posting in the last year or so. But I could never let it go because I really do love it. So I'm rededicating myself to posting about the books I read on my own and with my children, and will probably share some things I learn in my class.

But even worse than my inconsistency in posting, my experience with Blogger has been difficult the last couple of years. So I also finally did something else I've meant to do for a while. I moved to Wordpress. It really wasn't hard to do--all of the old content from Tesseract Books on Blogger is now on Tesseract Books on Wordpress. And it looks prettier too.

Come make the move with me:

The New and Improved Tesseract Books Blog

Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal

Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal is a Jane Austen novel with a little bit of magic thrown in. I think it's marketed for adults, but its content is all appropriate for young adults. It's a great book for lovers of Jane Austen or to recommend to a younger reader in your life who you'd love to introduce to Jane Austen. Though Kowal follows a lot of the same conventions and style choices as Jane Austen, it's more accessible because the language is easier for modern readers.

Kowal started her career as a puppeteer and used her skills in a book trailer for Shades of Milk and Honey:

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Shades of Milk and Honey

by Mary Robinette Kowal

Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

Year: 2011

Ages/Themes: Young Adult, Magic, Romance, Relationships, Fantasy, Books for Girls

Hattie and Hudson by Chris Van Dusen

Hattie and Hudson by Chris Van Dusen is the story of a young girl and her monster friend. She knows he's gentle and kind, but she has to convince the rest of the townspeople. It's a story reminiscent of tales of the Loch Ness Monster. The illustrations are vibrant and fun.

My 5 year old daughter sat and listened to it quietly and ended it with a small grin on her face. It's a great read aloud book and is long enough that a young reader would enjoy reading it too.

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Hattie and Hudson
by Chris Van Dusen
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Year: 2017
Ages/Themes: Picture Books, Young Children, Fantasy

Happy Anniversary Harry Potter!

Today is the anniversary of the first Harry Potter book being published! Today my daughter also asked me if I had read Harry Potter when I was a kid. Nope! I was a teenager when it was first published in the UK and wasn't introduced to the series till my college roommates gave them to me to read.

It is pretty magical to know that my children will get to grow up with them. My daughter and I started reading them together this year. We're doing it the right way--read a book, watch the movie. It is so fun to see her reactions to story lines and plot shifts that are so familiar to me.

Harry Potter means a lot to a lot of people. And it's amazing to know how one person's imagination created a story and a world that has literally changed the world.

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs is the follow up to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Though it's a much easier title to pronounce, it's just as peculiar and strange and fascinating as the first one.

Sometimes I feel like book 2 is just a bridge to book 3 and didn't necessarily need to be written. This book 2, however, also has character and plot development. My only recommendation is that if it's been a while since you read the first book, review the ideas and creatures from the first book as I couldn't quite remember what they were when I started this book.

I can't wait to see the first book turned into a movie and directed by Tim Burton. I usually have to wait until movies come to Redbox, so if you see it first, let me know what you think.

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Hollow City
By Ransom Riggs
Publisher: Quirk Books
Year: 2014
Ages: Young Adult

A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel

My husband recently started working at a two-year college. While we toured the campus, there was a display outside the library advertising a class called The Graphic Novel as a Literary Form. I really want to take that class! But since, I can't do that, I did the next best thing. I got a library card (one of the perks of being a spouse of faculty member) and checked out the book that I absolutely had to read.

One of my favorite YA books of all time is A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. I haven't read very many graphic novels, and I think a book you're familiar with turned into a graphic novel is a great way to start. I already knew the story backwards and forwards (and could probably quote much of it). It was very interesting to see how the artist (Hope Larson) portrayed some non-dialogue portions of the book. The first scene in Camazotz was my favorite:

As I read the book my four-year-old sat next to me and wanted to know what was happening and what all the characters were saying. So though this book is listed for Middle Grade Readers, younger readers could certainly enjoy it too. Check out this awesome book trailer. And then check out the book. Or go buy it. It's going on my wishlist.





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A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel
By Madeleine L'Engle
Illustrations by Hope Larson
Publisher: Square Fish
Year: 2015
Ages/Themes: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Graphic Novel, Classics, Books Everyone Should Read, Newbery Books

Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo

In less than a month my husband accepted a job across the country, we prepped and staged our house, sold our house, packed all our belongings, drove from Florida to Idaho with three kids in a small car, and lived slightly homeless for a week. We've been living out of suitcases, and we finally got all of us stuff two days ago. So now I sit among boxes and stuff unpacked from boxes that I'm not sure where it should go. I've had very little time for reading and zero time for blogging.

But amidst it all, I managed to read Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo. I saw it on the Indie Bound Summer 2016 List and knew I had to read it. It's by one of my favorite authors and it's set in Florida. I was trying to focus on going local in my reading. (Anyone know of any good books set in Idaho?) Though I lived there less than four years, Florida is such a unique place that you can't help but be changed by it and I loved reading a book with those familiar elements. It had a touch of the Southern Gothic about it.

Raymie is a great character and this book is my new favorite DiCamillo book (which is hard to do because I really love her books). It's a sweet and funny coming-of-age story. Though so many of her books have had at least a touch of fantasy, DiCamillo is apparently also really good at understanding children and how they think (much like Beverly Cleary). I would have loved this book when I was younger, I loved it as an adult, and I recommend it to anyone middle grade or up.

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Raymie Nightingale
By Kate DiCamillo
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Year: 2016
Ages/Themes: Middle Grade Books, Coming-of-Age