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carriagelamp · 1 year

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Well, if nothing else I read a shocking number of B books this month. I felt very fortunate this month -- I've been listening to a lot of audiobooks lately because of general stress and a lack of free time, but I managed to settle into quite a few physical books over February. It's honestly been a bit of a relief to have the time and headspace to curl up with a book.

A Boy Called Bat / Bat and the Waiting Game / Bat and the End of Everything

I read this trilogy because I had heard some pretty positive reviews for it. The story is about an autistic boy called Bixby Alexander Tam, nicknamed Bat. He has the nickname for a few reasons besides for the acronym — Bat feels it’s appropriate because he also: loves animals, has very sensitive hearing like a bat, and will flap his hands like wings when he’s excited. The story starts when his mom, a vet, brings home an orphaned skunk kit that needs caring for and Bat falls in love with it. The trilogy extends over the rest of Bat’s school year, a budding new friendship, and how he helps raise the kit and tries to convince his mom that he doesn’t need to be released into the wild but instead would make a perfect pet.

I felt… lukewarm to it, honestly. I think my problem is I went into it with the wrong expectations. The way it had been described to me, I thought it would be one of those more “artsy” ““highbrow”” children’s novels but it really reads more like a pretty standard fare Child Animal Story. Which is fine! A standard animal story is appealing to kids, and having some autistic rep in a basic book instead of exclusively in more artsy stuff is great. It was just a bit of a disappointment after I heard it so hyped.

It did have some interesting parallels/symbolism, but over all the plot was rather meandering without any real upticks, and the language was fairly plain and uninteresting. And the ending fell completely flat. It felt like the few themes the book was clinging were just completely dropped in the final yard. I would totally recommend them to an elementary kid that wants a cute animal/school story, but that’s about it.

Ballet Shoes

This book I had a great time with. I’m reading a completely different novel that referenced back to this classic children’s novel and I ended up needing to detour to read this first so I could get the references. I’m glad I did! Normally I’d be put off by the title/aesthetic, because I’ve never been a kid into “ballerina stories” but I ended up really loving it. It made me think of similar books from the earlier 20th century, like A Little Princess or The Secret Garden or Anne of Green Gables, all of which I love.

Ballet Shoes is about a trio of adopted sister: Pauline, Petrova and Posy. Their guardian does their best to make ends meet and ensure the girls get an education, but the household funds are gradually dwindling and they’re soon struggling. Luck strikes though when they decided to let out rooms of their home for borders, and one ended up suggesting all three girls join a local ballet school — there they can train in dance, but can also start earning money at the age of twelve if they get cast in productions. The girls take to this training with varying degrees of enthusiasm, each one being a very unique, enjoyable character, and the book follows the different misadventures they have as they grow and enter the entertainment industry and continue to fight to make ends meet.

Despite how heavy that might sound, it was ultimately quite a charming, feel-good novel. It was perfect for a cosy blanket and a cup of tea.

Bedknob and Broomstick

I had watched the movie a number of times growing up but never once read the novel, so I finally remedied that. Did you realize that what we know as Bed-Knob and Broomstick is actually a compilation of two separate books, The Magic Bed-Knob and Bonfires and Broomsticks? I hadn’t! And I have to say, I think I enjoyed the second story more than the first.

For those who haven’t heard of the story at all, it’s about three children who are sent to the country to stay with their aunt, and during their summer they end up meeting a neighbour called Miss Price. Miss Price is a rather regular, proper young woman, with the added detail that she’s learning to become a witch through correspondence classes. When the children promise not to reveal her secret, Miss Price gifts them an enchanted bed-knob, one that will take them anywhere in place or time they would like to travel. The first story is about the places they adventure too. The second is some time later, when they are able to visit Miss Price once again, and are horrified to discover that she has given up witchcraft for good. The kids however are determined to use the bed-knob once more, this time to venture back into the past.

In all honesty, I was rather neutral to the book, especially given how racist the first half is. I was happy to have read the classic but I wouldn’t go out of my way to read it again.

The Boy in the Dress

Now, caveat right at the top: this book isn’t explicitly queer. At no point does anyone come out as gay or trans. But I do consider it queer in that the entire narrative is an ongoing conversation about what the gender binary means, and how one’s own identity, passions, and presentation can challenge that, and how people respond to those challenges.

The story follows 12 year old Dennis who lives in a very ordinary, plain household with his older brother and father, who attends a very ordinary, plain school, in a very ordinary, plain town. He loves playing football (soccer), hanging out with his friend, and he also loves dresses. He loves how bright and colourful and joyful they can be, when his life feels very bland. Dennis struggles with figuring out how to explore the interest while contending with the other people in his life who clearly disapprove.

It’s a really earnest, heartwarming story.

Dogsbody

Ah, I love Diana Wynne Jones’ books, they’re always completely buckwild. This book was a ton of fun; as always with her books it really felt like I was reading something different and quirky and attention grabbing.

The main character of Dogsbody is Sirius — yes, the star. The story opens with him being put on trial, accused of killing another luminary and losing a powerful instrument called a Zoi. His sentence for this crime is to be stripped of his powers and cast down to earth, to spend one lifetime living in a humble, mortal form. If he can survive and find the Zoi within that lifetime, he will be welcomed back to the cosmos.

Sirius is reborn a regular puppy, one with no memories of his previous life or powers or mission. The novel follows him gradually growing up under the care of a young girl and her cruel family as he attempts to regain his memories and figure out how to find his lost Zoi.

Dragon Rider

I haven’t read Dragon Rider since I was a kid, but I realized they had done a film of it… and man, that adaptation was not great. I remembered the book being better so I had to investigate. And I was right, the book is a really cute, enjoyable adventure with some charming characters.

The adventure starts when the hidden valley that Firedrake lives in is threatened by humans. The dragons have lived in small, hidden pockets for years, and now that it seems that the constant tide of humanity is pushing towards them they have no idea what to do. Only Firedrake takes up the challenge of venturing out of the valley in the search of a legendary place called the Rim of Heaven where dragons allegedly live in safety. Along with his dear friend the brownie Sorrel, and a young human they run into, they must plot of course that will take them across the globe, while avoiding an ancient, fearsome, dragon-hunting monster which has been without its preferred prey for centuries.

Grandpa’s Great Escape

I’ve been meaning to read David Walliams books for ages, ever since I saw them beginning to pop up in our local bookstore. I finally bought one on a whim, and wow, I was not disappointed. It reads exactly like a Roald Dahl novel, which is about the highest praise I can offer — I don’t think I’ve ever read anything that satisfies in the same way as Dahl before.

This novel follows Jack and his grandfather, a retired RAF pilot from WWII. His grandfather has become increasingly confused as the years progress, and often finds himself mixing up the present and his past glory days as a pilot; Jack is one of the few people who still finds it easy to talk to his grandfather because he is completely willing to meet him at his level, talk to him as if he really is still the Wing Commander. When his parents can no longer handle it though, they’re duped into send Jack’s grandpa to the wicked Twilight Towers. As the only one who can see how sinister the place really is, Jack is determined to save his grandfather.

It’s a truly hilarious story, since it’s written very much to read like a RAF pilot trying to escape from a Nazi concentration camp… except set in a nursing home! I can’t recommend this book enough, between the silly, heartfelt story, the occasional tragedy, and the fun illustrations, it’s such an addictive read.

I Think Our Son Is Gay v3

I read the first book of this series last month (whoops, I skipped 2… my library just happened to have the third in) and decided to try another. It’s a cute little series about a teenage boy experiencing his first crush. Though he hasn’t come out to his family yet, he’s a boy who seems incapable of lying, who has a face that gives him away easily, so his mother (the main POV character) is quite certain he’s gay and that he has a crush on his best friend. She is determined to be quietly supportive of her son until he’s ready to come out. The series is predominantly sweet and supportive little episodic stories, but it also layers in some of the everyday homophobia and microaggressions a gay teenager might experience in a homophobic society, even when people around him don’t know he’s gay. It’s a very worthwhile read.

Socks

This was a book that I read over and over in grade 2 and I had forgotten its name until just recently. I never read many Beverly Clearly books as a kid, since I preferred genre fiction over stories based around the real world / school, but I loved the silly story told from the pet cat's point of view.

The story is about Socks and the perfect family he’s adopted into… perfect until a new baby comes around and suddenly Socks is competing for attention.

The Squirrel, the Hare and the Little Grey Rabbit/ Hare Joins the Home Guard

I mentioned in my review about Ballet Shoes that I read it because another novel I’m reading referenced it: same for this book! The Squirrel, the Hare, and the Little Grey Rabbit is one of the picture books the main character of the other book often alludes to so I decided I needed to read it as well. This book was a cute, standard fare little picture book from that era. It’s about the very gentle, virtuous Grey Rabbit, and her rather bossier, lazier housemates, the Hare and the Squirrel. It was cute and the art was lovely, though I can’t say much beyond that.

I also read Hare Joins the Home Guard mostly because I was stunned and baffled by a Cute Animal Story explicitly jumping into WWII… though I suppose it makes sense! It came out in 1942 and it’s a pretty gentle way of holding a mirror up to some of the things children were certainly hearing about and experiencing in their real lives. In this, the various animals join the “home guard” in different roles (such as taking up arms, becoming a Red Cross nurse, digging shelters to protect children, or knitting for the “troops”) in order to fight off invading weasels. I would say it was also fairly “basic” were it not for the fact that it was hilarious to see this next to titles like Little Grey Rabbit Makes Lace. How often do you see Cute Lil Animals preparing gas masks for their chemical warfare plans?

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