The Celebrants by Steven Rowley

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In April, the Library hosted bestselling author Shelby Van Pelt.  Following her presentation, during the Q&A, an audience member asked what she was currently reading.  She shared that she had just finished a new book by Steven Rowley called The Celebrants. She loved it and thought that it was a powerful, thought-provoking read. 

I am a Rowley fan, so I knew I had to read his latest and immediately added myself to the Library’s hold list.  Several weeks later, the book was ready for me and I could hardly wait to start reading it.  

It is the story of five long-time friends – Jordan, Jordy, Craig, Marielle, and Naomi.  A pack that used to be six, but a few weeks before the group’s graduation from Berkeley, their friend Alec died. His death, right on the cusp of their group entering the adult world, without each other, left them shaken and questioning what their lives and connections would look like after graduation.  

After Alec’s funeral, the friends gather at Naomi’s parent’s house in Big Sur, and spend the time comforting each other and rehashing Alec’s death. During the visit, Marielle suggests the remaining friends make a pact. The rules of the pact being, they will drop everything and get together when one of them calls and requests it. They will throw the requestor a living “funeral.” A group celebration to stop and remind themselves that life can be hard, but worth it, especially with one’s friends in their corner. During times of need these gatherings will be pockets of time where they share their love for one another.  

During the next 28 years, the five friends meet up for “funerals” on three occasions, but the newest call to action is different. Jordan has something he has been keeping from the group and it will not be an easy secret to share, and for the group, not something easy to process.  

Rowley has crafted a beautiful composition to the power and beauty of friendship and what lifelong support looks like. This is not a sappy story, more of the matter-of-fact, read between the lines, style that Rowley is known for, but the elements combined to make an emotional (grab the tissues) and heartfelt offering that reminds readers to not leave anything unsaid. 

Full disclosure, I did not love this book when I first started reading it.  Some, if not all, of the characters are not very likable, at least not from the beginning of the book. They are flawed, and Rowley’s writing style and the way the book jumps between points of time, make this more challenging. But I am so glad I stuck with and finished it. 

At one point, it all just clicked and I was able to realize why he had written it to move from present day to past events in the uneven manner that he did.  The story and the friendships really resonated with me. Friends are there to provide hope, encouragement, and to remind you why this life is worth living. Kudos, Steven Rowley, you have crafted another winner. 

Find the book in the catalog. 

Review written by: Jeana Gockley, Joplin Public Library Director

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

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As a reader I generally gravitate toward novels. From time to time, however, I enjoy reading memoirs. I’ve never written a memoir, but I can imagine it sometimes proves difficult to say what one wants to say while worrying about hurting feelings of family or other personal relationships. Or, deciding if the memoir should even be written in the first place. A solution of celebrity actress Jennette McCurdy: wait until that someone dies. McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died chronicles her career as a child actress rising to stardom and her heartbreaking relationship with her abusive mother. While this topic could easily become an angry tirade, McCurdy’s memoir is darkly humorous, earnest, and a quick read, albeit gut-wrenching. 

No doubt one of the most striking aspects of the book is its title and cover art. Don’t hate me here, but I’m going to use a familiar idiom: don’t judge a book by its cover. The bright, pastel colors of the cover art combined with McCurdy smiling as she holds a pink urn, along with the obvious title, does very much give the impression that McCurdy is happy her mom has died, and in some ways, she is. The cover serves as a shock to the system; I don’t know about you, but it’s not everyday that I see a book title announcing blatant cheer over the death of a parent. This is one of the aspects about McCurdy’s memoir that, for me, hits the nail on the head (surprise, another idiom!) as it immediately pulled me in and I wanted to know more. Within the memoir McCurdy details some of the physical, emotional, and mental abuse she received from her mother, and what I think pushes McCurdy’s memoir past the initial impression the title provides is that it examines how to process abuse from the hands of a loved one. I think McCurdy’s memoir may be judged too quickly or harshly because of the title, but what the memoir does is navigate the very complex relationship between abuse and love. 

McCurdy makes this possible with the way she sets up her memoir. The memoir’s opening chapter finds McCurdy and her two brothers at the side of their mother’s hospital bed, taking turns attempting to tell their unconscious mother something so shocking that it will rouse her from her coma. When McCurdy gets her turn she believes she has the perfect thing to wake her mother: she has reached a total weight of 89 pounds, her mother’s goal weight for her. McCurdy is in her early twenties at this point. 

From here McCurdy jumps back in time, starting when she is a child prior to her acting career, and proceeds through the rest of the memoir in timeline order. McCurdy relates entire happenings and conversations from her childhood and teenage years, often with her overbearing mother, as well as the thoughts and feelings her younger self had at the time. This provides insight into the evolution of McCurdy’s acting career, the abuse she suffers, and her love for and relationship with her mother during various points of her life. McCurdy describes what it was like growing up acting (which she did to please her mother), the ups and downs of being a Nickelodeon star, her relationships with fellow actors (this reaffirmed my belief that Miranda Cosgrove is a kind human), and how being a child actor has shaped her life today. McCurdy also describes her struggles with addiction and eating disorders, which her mother introduces her to as “calorie counting” during adolescence. 

I’m glad I read McCurdy’s memoir. It is well written and has a good deal of wit and sarcasm akin to what fans of McCurdy’s iCarly character Sam Puckett might expect. I listened to the audio version that is read by McCurdy herself, making the experience of the memoir even more personal. McCurdy candidly shares quite a lot of herself in this memoir, and while her story is raw and difficult at times, she demonstrates an openness that deserves to be recognized. 

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Review by Sarah Turner-Hill, Adult Programming Coordinator

Cryptid Club by Sarah Andersen

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It’s that time of year again–the 2023 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards (better known as the Eisner Awards) will be held on July 21, 2023, in conjunction with Comic-Con International: San Diego. The pinnacle of comics accolades, they are named for Will Eisner who was a cartoonist, as well as a pioneer of the comic book industry and of graphic novels. Eisner valued high-quality work within his field and championed both works and creators to the public at large. The annual awards honor excellence in more than two dozen categories over the previous year. 

Even though I never quite make it through the entire list of nominees, I enjoy delving into the current nominee list and reflecting on some old favorites. This year, I find myself loving the 2023 “Best Humor Publication” nominee Cryptid Club by Sarah Andersen.  

Andersen is the author and illustrator of the popular “Sarah’s Scribbles” comic strip which uncovers the life of “an adulting introvert” which is full of delightful, awkward weirdness.  In Cryptid Club, she turns her lens to an imaginary social club composed of creatures whose existence is unproven.  Bigfoot, Slenderman, the Loch Ness Monster, Mothman, ghosts, space aliens, and a host of other characters gather to share stories of human encounters, to hassle each other and humans, and to carve out a place for themselves in the world.

Arranged primarily in single-page spreads, Cryptid Club offers a full-color mini-story on each page.  The text is tight and concise as are the jokes.  A four-panel page shows two space aliens complimenting their art skills, “Omg, you DREW that?…You are so talented…I can’t even draw a stick figure” then pulls back to a long shot of mysterious shapes carved into a hillside of chalk.  One of my favorite pages offers two vertical panels–the top a closeup shot of a famous creature of the deep shouting in a scary font, “RELEASE THE KRAKEN!” and the bottom one a wide shot showing a fenced-in baby kraken next to its mother who is reading a newspaper while deadpanning, “You’re staying in time-out, Benjamin.”  In the two-panel page “The Call of Cthulhu”, the title character stares down at a cell phone while steeling itself to answer, “Come on, Cthulhu. Pick up the phone. Your anxiety does not control you. You can do it.”  Andersen’s quirky humor shines in a spread introducing Mothman to the audience. Bigfoot describes Mothman to a ghost saying, “Have you heard the legend of Mothman? He only appears to humans before a disaster.” Then, we see a woman preparing to cut her hair exclaim, “These bangs are gonna be so cute!”

Sarah Andersen offers a delightful, funny take on the anxious moments of adulthood in a title that’s fantastic for adults and many teens.  Whether you’re into comic strips or the weird unknown, Cryptid Club is a hoot and well worth investigating.  You can find it through our e-resources Hoopla and ComicsPlus. Happy reading!

1000 Design Classics by Phaidon

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Phaidon’s revised and updated 1000 Design Classics (2022) is as entertaining as it is educational, bringing together the visual depictions of 1000 designs and their brief histories. For those of you familiar with social media, you might imagine a well-curated, expertly-researched feed of objects, from everyday wares, such as cutlery or various types of chairs, to more obscure items, like the Mercedes-Benz Type 300 SL and other vehicles, and everything in between, complete with wonderful, full-color photographs published into a book. Although I don’t make a habit of likening books to social media, flipping through this title was not unlike scrolling through a well-organized Instagram feed, with each entry being its own tidy standalone post. But the comparison stops there because this book is tangible, and, like many nonfiction art and design books, bulky and heavy–a coffee table book that perhaps one day will become a classic in and of itself!

1000 Design Classics is organized chronologically, beginning in 1663 with the Zhang Xiaoquan Household Scissors and ending in 2019 with the Bata Stool. Each entry falls within one of 20 categories, including: accessories; cameras; clocks and watches; electronics; furniture; glassware; household items/homeware; kitchenware; lighting; luggage; music/audio; packaging; sport; stationery and office accessories; tableware; telephones; tools; toys and games; transport; and utilities. An entry’s category is signified by colorful tabs on the edges of the pages for quick reference, with the legend at the beginning of the book.

In keeping in spirit with the way the book is organized, I’ll discuss selective contents in chronological order, except for a few things that, to this day, their designers remain unknown. I chose the following objects either because I like the way they look, their histories are interesting, or simply because they are familiar to most people, thus hopefully familiar to you.

Jigsaw puzzles, which date back to 1766, have a somewhat surprising history, especially because they are so widely available today (even through the library’s “Library of Things” collection, which contains a wide variety of things that may be checked out). They were first introduced by a London-based mapmaker as a tool to teach geography to children. The term “puzzle” was coined in 1908. The 1900s also saw the introduction of jigsaw puzzles for adults. Expensive to make, they were at first accessible by only the “well-heeled” members of society, with mass-production not making them available to everyone until the Great Depression.

The Pocket Measuring Tape came about in 1842. It was patented by James Chesterman (1795-1867) when he was only 25 years old. He founded the Chesterman Steel Company, which fashioned “high-quality measuring instruments, especially tapes, calipers and squares, exporting its products to the US.” It’s interesting to think of the design of tools that, in turn, help us to further the field of design, whether it be the precision designing of our built environment or commonplace everyday objects. The 1800s saw numerous other useful designs, such as the safety pin (1849), drinking straws (1888), and the Swiss Army Knife (1891), as well as some that are more for entertainment, such as the Bolz Musical Spinning Top (1880) and the dartboard (1898).

The 1900s ushered in a plethora of designs. From Dixie Cups (1908), which ended the era of communal drinking vessels, and the Ford Model T (1908), to the Apple Macintosh (1984) and a wall-mounted CD player (1999), it is the most expansive century of those covered in the book. One of my favorites is the US Tunnel Mailbox, which was engineered by Roy J. Joroleman. Prior to this design, rural mailboxes were made of whatever empty thing people had that could be attached to a pole. When the design was approved (1915), it was not patented “in order to encourage competition between manufacturers.” Other favorites from the 1900s include the Ticonderoga Pencil (1913), the pint glass (1914), the Chemex coffee brewer (1941), the pendant lamp (1947), and numerous styles of furniture, especially that of midcentury.

Phaidon doesn’t let us forget that the 2000s brought some classic designs, too! The iPod (2001) and the iPhone (2007) made their debuts, as did the Spun Chair (2007), which, I can attest, is as fun as it is spun. Although we do not have one at the library, you’ll find them downtown at the Harry M. Cornell Arts & Entertainment Complex. No doubt more designs from the 2000s will be added to future editions of this book as well.

Scissors, jacks, and Moleskin notebooks, all designed in the 1800s, as well as the whisks and disco balls of the 1900s have unknown designers. Some designs were hilarious, such as the Snurfer, a sort of snowboard, that came out in 1965, and others, such as egg cartons (1966) are particularly useful.

A library-related design that I’m fond of is the Kickstool. Designed by the Wedo Design Team in 1975, it’s a stool that can be kicked along by foot yet provides a stable platform when weight, such as a standing person, is placed on top of the stool. As stated in the book, the Kickstool is “an emblem of the librarian’s and archivist’s trades.” In fact, I keep one in my office!

I recommend this book to anyone interested in design and/or the histories of the objects therein. If you’re looking for a book to keep atop your coffee table for a few weeks, then I’d recommend it for that, too. Whether your eye is caught by the wares of centuries ago or by a more present-day design, I encourage you to check out Phaidon’s 1000 Design Classics.

As always, happy reading.

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“The Night Before Freedom” by Glenda Armand and “Nic Blake and the Remarkables” by Angie Thomas

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Summer is here! At the Joplin Public Library, that means the all-ages summer reading challenge has started. Along with that, we have a whole range of events including concerts, magic shows, art programs, STEM workshops, and much more. Our summer reading theme this year is “All Together Now” and we are celebrating kindness, unity, friendship, and community. 

One of the best books I’ve read this year on friendship and community is Angie Thomas’ middle grade debut Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy. I don’t typically go for fantasy or speculative fiction but Thomas’ young adult books are some of my favorites. Her first foray into books for the younger set did not disappoint. This novel follows the aforementioned Nic Blake, a newly-minted twelve year old girl living as a Remarkable (a person with powerful abilities, also known as the Gift) living undercover in an unremarkable Atlanta, Georgia. It’s always just been Nic and her dad; her mom left without a trace when she was little and they have no other family. Anytime someone discovers her family’s abilities, Nic and her dad move off to a new city. Needless to say, it’s hard to make friends. Things finally feel like they are coming together in Atlanta. Nic and her best friend, JP, are immersed in the fandom of a popular book series and her dad is finally going to teach her how to use her abilities on her birthday. But when she turns 12 and her dad stops her from going to the book signing and backs out on teaching her to use her skills, she has to take matters into her own hands. When Nic’s dad is charged with a crime she is sure he didn’t commit, she sets out to clear his name. 

Nic Blake and the Remarkables is fantasy, yes, but it’s also a story about friendship and relationships and the things we do to protect the people we care about. Thomas has created a story that’s both exciting and filled with heart. The action– from the werewolf to the devil’s daughter to the skyscraper-sized dragon– legitimately surprised me and the connections between Nic and her dad, as well as other important characters (no spoilers!) kept me emotionally invested. I think the latter is what I enjoyed most about this book, as I tend to gravitate towards books about family and friendship. I also loved the age-appropriate discussion of civil rights and Thomas’ weaving of African American mythology and fantasy into the fantastical world of the Remarkables. I highly recommend Nic Blake and can’t wait for a sequel. 

I also want to share a new title related to our newest federal holiday, Juneteenth. Gloria Armand and Corey Barksdale’s The Night Before Freedom: A Juneteenth Story is a joyous retelling of the story of Juneteenth or Emancipation Day. Modeled after The Night Before Christmas, this historical picture book instead tells of the freedom won by the last enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas. The Night Before Freedom begins with a multigenerational family gathering around their matriarch to hear her retelling of her own grandmother’s account of Emancipation Day. 

The story begins with, “‘Twas the night before freedom and all through the South long-whispered rumors had spread, word of mouth.” This is one of the few lines that directly follows the verbiage of the original holiday story, though the cadence matches it throughout. Author Glenda Armand’s story feels digestible for a preschooler or early elementary-aged student, though more could be gleaned from this book with older readers. Many historical picture books tend to be more text-heavy and more appropriate for one-on-one reading with older children. The rhythmic nature of The Night Before Freedom, however, will keep even the youngest listener’s attention. This format does simplify some of the more complex or difficult parts of the history of slavery, but the Library has many other books about Juneteenth and the emancipation of individuals who were enslaved to answer questions for older readers. This book is mostly about joy, and you can feel it in the buzzy excitement of the family gathering around to hear the story as well as the narrator’s exclamations and descriptions of dancing, hugging, and dreams of flying away. 

Illustrator Corey Barksdale’s oil pastel paintings illuminate that joy through the grins of the newly and “forever free” individuals with arms outstretched in praise, joy, and dancing, as well as in the way the family members look at each other with love and care. Barksdale’s illustrations are reminiscent of late 19th-century African American folk art, particularly through the use of bright colors and joyous movement. One of my favorite illustrations comes halfway through the book and features several Black men and women with wings on their back flying toward what appears to be a type of paradise. This page calls to mind the cover of the award-winning collection of folk tales, The People Could Fly, by Virginia Hamilton (to whom Nic Blake’s Angie Thomas dedicates her book). Armand and Barksdale’s The Night Before Freedom is a celebration of freedom, family, love, and community. Although Juneteenth has passed, this would be a worthwhile and enjoyable read year round.

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane

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There’s a refrain that spans time and distance. When circumstances are what they are, someone will shrug and say, “It is what it is.” In Dennis Lehane’s gritty new novel, Small Mercies, the residents of 1970s South Boston say this, along with such things as “Whatta ya gonna do.” It’s not a question, of course, because it’s a given that, with some things, there’s nothing you can do. The Irish American inhabitants of South Boston embrace both pride and defeat. They proudly call their neighborhood Southie, yet they know that no matter how hard they work, being poor is a lifelong reality. It is what it is.

Mary Pat Fennessy’s first husband died and her second husband walked out on her. After her son returned from the Vietnam War, he became hooked on heroin and overdosed. So that leaves just her and her teenage daughter, Julia (or Jules), sharing an apartment in Southie’s Commonwealth housing project.

Mary Pat “looks like she came off a conveyor belt for tough Irish broads.” She’s small, but—as with so many other Southie kids who grew up in “Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots” households—she’s ready to fight. Her mother once told her, “You’re either a fighter or a runner. And runners always run out of road.” Not that Mary Pat needed to be told that, really. It’s not as though there was anywhere to run within the cramped household.

Jules is different. There’s a softness to her that Mary Pat has never known but nevertheless tries to foster. Once, when walking with Mary Pat, Jules explodes into tears on a Southie sidewalk, prompting stares from others. Mary Pat, in turn, holds her daughter, proud “of this weak child she’s borne.”

Still, it’s Southie after all, where “most kids come out of the womb clutching a Schlitz and a pack of Luckies.” Here, Jules is no different, which Mary Pat accepts. And if Jules can stay away from some harsher influences (such as the heroin that killed her brother), she might be okay, Mary Pat thinks.

There’s something else raising May Pat’s ire. It’s 1974 and a court-ordered mandate to desegregate public schools is galvanizing Southie. Some white students from South Boston High School are to be bused to Roxbury High School, a predominately African American school. Jules is going into her senior year assigned to Roxbury. Mary Pat is having none of this. Nor are Southie residents accepting that some Roxbury students will attend South Boston High.

It’s in this charged environment that a young black man is found murdered in Southie. On the same night, Jules goes missing. A homicide detective, Bobby Coyne, investigates the murder as Mary Pat desperately tries to find her daughter. Are the murder and disappearance related? Bobby knows that he has a tall order in trying to solve a murder in Southie, its residents an “unknowable tribe.” Mary Pat, part of that tribe, must cross boundaries within her own neighborhood, which takes her into the world of Marty Butler, a neighborhood mobster who’s clearly a stand-in for real-life mobster Whitey Bulger.

Lehane not only keeps the plot rolling, his characters have depth. And throughout, there are nuances that place you right in the scene. When Mary Pat’s niece, for example, is described as “a girl who’s always managed to be twitchy and listless at the same time,” we see her, know her a little already. And, trust, Mary Pat certainly doesn’t stand apart from her neighbors when it comes to prejudices.

The Southie in this novel is not unlike other enclave neighborhoods. It possesses both benevolence and hate. It has a mobster who claims to protect his neighborhood, his people. But in reality, it’s “his people” he hurts the most. It, like neighboring Roxbury, has parents willing to do anything to protect their children from harm. But they know that, in the end, they can’t.

“It is what it is” may seem like a throwaway line. Frequently it is, to be sure. But it also embodies the heartbreaking reality that we, at times, live in an unjust world that metes out punishment for the simple audacity of being alive. The poet Charles Bukowski said there’s often “pain without reason.” Sure, you can unpack the events. But as Bobby says to Mary Pat: “This life. You know? Try and make sense of it.” Well, she does see how it is. And she’s done with anything resembling “Whatta ya gonna do.” She’s rendering judgments. And those on the receiving end had better watch out.

Reviewed by Jason Sullivan

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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

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Addie LaRue was born in the wrong time. Her world is too small; she feels trapped by the village she lives in and trapped by the expectations that society has for her. She dreads the inevitability of marriage which will take away the bit of freedom she has managed to create.

When she finds herself on that final threshold – promised to a widower looking for a mother for his children – she cries out, begging to be given a path out of the future her parents and neighbors have planned for her. And someone answers.

A stranger appears, offering exactly what she wants, as long as she is willing to pay. Addie asks for time and for freedom, to belong to no one but herself. She agrees to give up her soul to the stranger, but only when she no longer wants it.

The side effects of her deal become evident almost immediately. Addie heads back home, grateful to have avoided her fate. She is shocked when her mother does not recognize her. Worse yet, as soon as her mother leaves the room she forgets having seen Addie. She disappeared from her mother’s memory as soon as she was out of sight.

Everyone Addie used to know treats her like a stranger, she is now alone in the world. She belongs to no one and she never will.

Three hundred years later, now living in New York City, Addie has managed to build a life for herself on the fringes. She has become an expert at living on only what she can steal.

Then, everything changes. Addie finds herself in a used bookstore, looking for something to pass the time. She makes a selection and walks out the door, knowing that the clerk will forget her as soon as she is out of his view. Until he chases her down to confront her about the theft. When Addie comes back the next day, certain that their interaction was a fluke, he says three words that she thought she would never hear again: “I remember you.”

Addie is confused, delighted, and desperate to form her first real human connection in hundreds of years. She knows that this man, Henry, could be a trap set for her by the stranger, but she cannot walk away from the possibility that he presents.

She tells Henry about everything: the stranger, the deal she made, and its consequences. For three hundred years, her curse has kept people from understanding Addie’s story but Henry listens – and he believes her. Because he made a deal too.

THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE by V. E. Schwab is an unusual novel, to say the least. It jumps back and forth largely between Addie in 1700s France, struggling through the limits of her new life, and Addie in 2010s New York City. The novel is surprisingly optimistic. Despite Addie’s tragic circumstances, she is able to find joy in her invisible life. She is still delighted by the people that she meets and awed by the experiences that she has only had because her life has gone on this long.

On the other hand, Addie and Henry are both keeping secrets – and the stranger has not given up his hopes of collecting the soul of Addie LaRue.

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Book review by Alyssa Berry, Technical Services Librarian

Happy Place by Emily Henry

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With summer on the way, it is a good time to start thinking about what books to take on vacation. To me, vacation reading has become synonymous with a category of fiction called Beach Reads.  These are some of my favorite books to read while sitting at the beach enjoying the sand, surf and summer vibes or even on a staycation where I am nowhere near the beach. 

Beach Reads, according to Book Riot, are “light, fluffy, or compulsively readable novels that are perfect to take on vacation.”  One of my favorite authors, Emily Henry, has a brand new addition to the Beach Read genre, just in time for summer, and it is my pleasure to share about it. 

In Henry’s latest offering, Harriet, Sabrina and Cleo have been inseparable friends since they were assigned to room together their freshman year of college. Years later, the trio have grown up and added partners Wyn, Parth and Kimmy to their group, but they still meet yearly, at Sabrina’s family’s house in a small coastal Maine town for the annual lobster festival.  This is one of Harriet’s happy places and she is excited to see her friends again. 

Currently, Harriet is a determined surgical resident who tries to keep the peace wherever she goes. If her friends argue, she provides a distraction.  This has been one of her key life skills since childhood when her parents and her older sister would get into giant fights.  Harriet is the peacemaker and it has served her well over the years.  She is always trying to make others happy.  So much so that in her own life she is not sure what actually makes her happy.  

This, and a combination of other events, have led to Harriet and Wyn splitting up, however; her friends are unaware because neither of the pair have told anyone.  Wyn agreed he would not attend the trip, making up an excuse so their friends would not find out, so Harriet is shocked to arrive at the cottage and find Wyn in the kitchen. After a big announcement from Sabrina, the pair have to quickly figure out how to handle the situation and what they will do for a full week in the presence of their closest friends. 

Soon they are rooming in one of the primary bedrooms, which offers no privacy, all the while trying to avoid each other at all costs.  What could possibly go wrong? 

Emily Henry is one of my favorite authors.  Her books always have strong, flawed characters that are struggling to figure out life. Her writing is witty and I like how she draws the story out. The reader never gets the full story during the introductory part.  She leaves clues and hints and parcels it out a bit at a time. It keeps readers turning the pages and guessing what will happen next. While this newest title reads a little predictably, I loved the themes of connection, growth and soul searching that were included.

Happy Beach Reading this summer! 

Find the book in the catalog. 

Review written by: Jeana Gockley, Joplin Public Library Director

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

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I first stumbled upon author Sabaa Tahir when her fantasy series An Ember in the Ashes was suggested to me. While this book review does not cover that series it was fabulous and I have since suggested it to those interested in the fantasy genre. So when Tahir released a standalone book in 2022 I knew I had to read it, and I am so glad that I did. Something that has drawn me to Tahir is her prose. Tahir is an author that can invoke in readers the emotions that her characters are experiencing, possessing a talent for bringing to life emotions that typically can only be felt. That being said, Tahir’s writing might not be for every reader as she does not shy away from “negative” emotions or topics; on the contrary, she explores them, putting them right in your face, and makes you listen. All My Rage follows two Pakistani American high school students as they navigate trauma and healing, and how to do so together.

Misbah is from Lahore, Pakistan, where she married as a young woman before her and her new husband immigrated to California to experience the American Dream. Misbah’s dream comes to life when they become owners of a motel, which she names The Cloud’s Rest Motel. Misbah takes care of the motel and the finances as her husband struggles with alcoholism. Misbah’s passions are the motel and her son, Salahudin, and Salahudin’s best friend, Noor. 

Salahudin (Sal) has never entirely fit in with his fellow students until, in elementary school, a new student walks into his class: Noor. Noor is like him, a Pakistani American struggling to make friends and find a place in the world. This instantly draws the two together and they become as close as family until high school when they have The Fight. Now they aren’t talking and everything is going wrong. When tragedy strikes Sal is faced with an impossible situation that brings Noor back into his life. 

Noor moved to America when she was 6 years old following a tragedy that put her in the care of her uncle, who owns a liquor store in California. Noor finds kinship with Sal, a fellow outsider, and Misbah, who is like a mother to her. Despite this Noor struggles to both be accepted and fit into the culture around her, yearning for the culture she never got to fully experience in Pakistan. Noor’s uncle is impossibly strict, and when Sal and Noor get into The Fight, Noor is left feeling completely alone, even cutting communication with Misbah. When Sal attempts to save The Cloud’s Rest Motel Noor is caught in the backlash, forcing both of them to discover what friendship is worth.

All My Rage is narrated by these three complex characters, jumping to the past for Misbah’s narration, and the present for Sal and Noor’s. All three characters are simultaneously reeling from the tragedies of their past while facing down the tragedies of their present. Intermixed they are also finding love and friendship. Sal and Noor have a friendship that, even in the wake of The Fight, runs deep, providing moments of hope and laughter within the novel. The novel highlights, among many other things, the struggles individuals who immigrate and their children can go through, and how dark life can be. Yet within that darkness Tahir also provides light, layering devastation with a story that is truly moving.

Note: If you are considering reading All My Rage I suggest looking at the content warnings before reading. 

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Review by Sarah Turner-Hill, Adult Programming Coordinator

Star Wars Fun

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Titles Reviewed:

LEGO Star Wars in 100 Scenes by Daniel Lipkowitz

The Padawan Cookbook: Kid-Friendly Recipes From A Galaxy Far, Far Away by Jenn Fujikawa and Liz Lee Heinecke

Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary–The Ultimate Guide to Characters and Creatures from the Entire Star Wars Saga by David West Reynolds and James Luceno

Star Wars Everyday: A Year of Activities, Recipes & Crafts From A Galaxy Far, Far Away by Ashley Eckstein

Officially, Star Wars Day is observed on May 4, as in “May the Fourth be with you.” In my family, however, it’s Star Wars Day everyday–mostly because my brother is a superfan who can tie just about any day and any thing back to the world of Star Wars. Why limit yourself to one day when there is an epic space saga to explore!

While searching for resources to celebrate the ongoing holiday, I ran across several titles that go beyond the usual fiction and graphic novel rehashing of the movies. Here is a quartet of nonfiction books tied to the Star Wars universe.

I’m a big fan of the heavily illustrated, informational books published by Dorling Kindersley (DK). Known for their clean layout with a focus on bright, engaging illustrations accompanied by easily digested, explanatory text, DK books offer an accessible entry to a multitude of topics. Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary–The Ultimate Guide to Characters and Creatures from the Entire Star Wars Saga by David West Reynolds and James Luceno is a prime example. It offers the standard DK presentation of a 1-2 page spread on each entry consisting of full-color photos on white background, accompanied by informative summary paragraphs along with detailed captions and sidebars. The book provides comprehensive coverage of characters, creatures, and concepts from the films accompanied by a short glossary. What I like about the DK layout is that it accommodates whatever I have time or am in the mood for which can be anything from a targeted search to random browsing to a deep dive. I can treat it like a reference book or enjoy it as light reading. This title is great for both the casual and hard core Star Wars fan.

LEGO Star Wars in 100 Scenes by Daniel Lipkowitz, also a Dorling Kindersley publication, employs the same helpful visual focus. It is exactly what it claims–100 key scenes from Star Wars films (original and prequel trilogies) enacted in LEGOs. The book’s tagline is “six movies…a lot of LEGO bricks” for a reason. Full-color photos of LEGO sets and minifigures include speech bubbles of dialogue or self-referential text. Brick icons offer insight into LEGO sets related to the scene at hand. Sidebars offer commentary from C-3PO as an ongoing comedic bit. LEGO Star Wars in 100 Scenes is a fun title for elementary ages and up. There’s something here for everyone–LEGO builds, plenty of minifigs, and humorous, sarcastic asides (think family-friendly Mystery Science Theater 3000 commentary). Lots of fun for LEGO or Star Wars buffs!

Another entertaining title for elementary age and up is The Padawan Cookbook: Kid-Friendly Recipes From A Galaxy Far, Far Away by Jenn Fujikawa and Liz Lee Heinecke. It’s full of do-able recipes for a variety of ages with differing levels of kitchen experience and adult assistance. Both the content and presentation are enticing with colorful borders and line illustrations throughout along with jauntily displayed color photos for nearly every recipe. The book is divided into eight sections labeled to mimic Jedi Trials with a helpful glossary in the back. Each recipe lists prep time, cooking time, yield, and dietary consideration codes plus sidebars imparting a range of information about ingredients, techniques, culinary terms, food science, and tidbits from the Star Wars Universe. A handy measurement conversion chart and kitchen tools list round out the helps. The recipes themselves are colorful and entertaining whether it’s the frothy blue of the Bantha Milk Slushie (butterfly pea flower powder for the win) or the adorable Butter Chewies (butter mochi topped with toasted coconut and icing to resemble Chewbacca) or the bright Ahsoka’s Jelly Cubes (orange, blue, and white gelatin bound together and sliced) or the Sarlaac Shake (chocolate milkshake with a mouth and tentacles of pie dough rising from the top). The Padawan Cookbook has a positive, can-do vibe about it that encourages fun in the kitchen.

The Star Wars Universe has its share of hard core fans, and Ashley Eckstein, author of Star Wars Everyday: A Year of Activities, Recipes & Crafts From A Galaxy Far, Far Away, is no exception. A self-proclaimed superfan from childhood, Eckstein grew up to be the voice of Ahsoka Tano in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series. When she says, “Star Wars is truly a lifestyle,” she means it. Arranged by month over the course of a year, the book offers crafts, recipes, party ideas, and mindfulness activities in each chapter. Each entry includes a brief description tying it to the Star Wars Universe. Many of the entries seem conventional approaches such as Hoth Chocolate Snowballs (white chocolate hot chocolate bombs), Bantha Suprise Burger Bites (tempura meatballs), Carbonite Clay Masks (home spa facial masks), Ewok House (decorated bird house), Cardboard Box Podracer (for kids to drive and adults to make), Planet Paper Lanterns, and a felt Boba Fett helmet stuffie. However, some activities appear to be a bit out of the ordinary including the Cloud City Dinner Party featuring the recipe Betrayal With A Side of Rice. (This is why I love nonfiction–some things you just can’t make up.) This, along with the incorporation of lifestyle activities, is certainly a new take on the Star Wars Universe for many fans although it is likely to attract the attention of a new audience. While some entries may seem a reach–budgetary or otherwise–there are also neat possibilities. Like the movies themselves, this title is interesting fun that can take itself a tad too seriously on occasion. Star Wars Everyday lends itself to an adult audience due to its approach, presentation appeal, and difficulty level of several activities.

Whether Star Wars is your jam or it’s another fandom, the Library has you covered! May the Force be with you!