Chanticleer Book Reviews

Category: Reviews

RUNEBINDER By Alex R. Kahler – YA Post-Apocalyptic Thriller

Runebinder is a dark post-apocalyptic young adult thriller that follows eighteen-year-old water and earth user Tenn, as he is torn between two opposition sides of a deadly fight for survival.

The discovery of magic caused the old world to disappear forever, leaving a reality where to live is a daily struggle of simply surviving another day. Monsters named Howls roam the world searching for survivors to feast on, but they are nothing compared to the powerful Kin that are waging a violent war against what remains of humanity.

During a food scouting mission, Tenn and his companions become surrounded by Howls. Under orders to not use magic to keep the location of their army secret from the approaching army of necromancers, Tenn’s Water sphere unexpectedly unleashes an unprecedented amount of power, destroying every Howl in the surrounded area instantly. Tenn is confused by how his magic could act on his own, and Tenn is soon sought by the opposing sides in the endless war for survival who both believe Tenn is the key to their success.

The opening installment to The Runebinder Chronicles, Runebinder is a fast-paced action-packed novel that will keep readers wanting to know what happens next.

The world-building descriptions are reminiscent of the quick and drastically changed world of a zombie apocalypse. It has only been a few years since magic reached the point of no return after the creation of the Howls. The decay seems too advanced for the few short years since everything changed, but is believable when considering the power magic has.

Runebinder makes use of the “Chosen One” literary trope, which is arguably an overused plot structure, especially in young adult literature. Perhaps, as the series progresses, Kahler will create a unique take on the “Chosen One” storyline, but in Runebinder alone, it is not. The characters are developed well and quite complex once far enough into the story. The style and tone flow easily, which makes for a quick page-turning experience.

It’s hard not to view Runebinder, which was first published in 2018, differently after living through a global pandemic, but reading it now makes it more accessible and engrossing.

Tenn’s world changed forever in an instant. Magic emerged and grew slowly, but the world Tenn knew died suddenly once it reached a critical point. There’s a theme in Runebinder of the feeling of never feeling safe after losing normalcy. How does one keep going when everything seems hopeless and there is nothing left to fight for? Yet, Tenn keeps fighting to survive and life another day in the smallest hope that a better world will one day be possible.

Runebinder by Alex R. Kahler is a post-apocalyptic young adult story about the power of hope in a world where no hope should exist, yet does despite all odds.

May 2, 2022
The SATISFIED INTROVERT by Benjamin Plumb – Memoirs, Vocational Guidance, Family & Relationship Advice

From his earliest days, author Benjamin Plumb understood he was an introvert, someone who, described in a classic definition, feels more comfortable with their inner thoughts and ideas rather than what is happening externally.

In his well-written memoir, The Satisfied Introvert, he tells us his life story through the lens of his introversion. He explains how he coped, often poorly, with his solitary nature in both his personal and business life, applying a variety of processing mechanisms that he describes as “recipes.” He explains that those processes didn’t apply to every life situation and sometimes kept him from seeing the possibility of making better decisions that would have made much of his life more gratifying.

The purpose of his book, he explains, is to help fellow introverts find safety in an extroverted world and gain more satisfaction in life. “The recipe,” he explains, “is a coping mechanism that works in some situations, but you can’t stay dependent on it. To feel truly safe, you must move beyond your winning recipe and take off on your own.”

The book takes the reader on his journey, from being the introvert in a show business family through his early romances, his education at Stanford and Harvard Business School and various entrepreneurial attempts around the world.

He describes in detail how he found both success and failure in the business world, due, in his view, to applying and mistakenly depending on the defensive processes he acquired to protect himself as an introvert in an extroverted world.

How he finally found peace and the success he hoped for in his professional and personal life is one of the achievements of this detailed personal memoir.

People who identify as introverts will find this an excellent read because the writer is unafraid to expose the details of his life focusing on how he coped with his introverted nature.

It is more of a cautionary tale, not a how-to manual. Whether it’s setting up businesses in South American jungles or revealing the dynamics of a marriage gone sour, The Satisfied Introvert is a series of life lessons learned along the way.

For non-introverts, it’s a cogent description of a personality bent that may be misinterpreted or misunderstood in friends, colleagues or even family members. It may help you to see someone in a different light you may have thought to be stand-offish. unlikeable. Rather than a tell-all confession, it’s written by someone who hopes the sharing of his life will be of help to others.

Overall, it offers a clear insight to a personality trait that is often misunderstood and little discussed. A read we are happy to recommend.

April 27, 2022
WESTERN SKIES By Darden Smith – Song Writing, Photography, Natural Beauty, Texas

Sometimes, when the world feels like it’s closing in and life doesn’t make sense, the best thing to do is take a road trip.

Just get in the car and drive, letting the scenery pass by, allowing thoughts, memories and reflections to flow freely. In Western Skies by singer and writer Darden Smith, he invites us on just such a trip through his home state of Texas, and treats us to a glimpse of his time on the road in prose. Western Skies is a companion book for Smith’s album of the same name and features Polaroids (taken with an old Polaroid from Smith’s garage and tossed in a box on the front seat of his car while driving), along with his original prose and lyrics from that album.

The pictures seem like glimpses of a time past, captured in sepia tones, and are haunting, dusty, and sometimes blurry-like the view out the window of a car. Collectively, they show us a different side of Texas: the wide-open skies, stands of oaks and yuccas, and long stretches of road dotted by radio towers, stucco houses, abandoned Quonset huts and diesel fuel pumps. They complement the descriptions, from the vast expanses of Texas highways: “The road rises steady from the Pecos Past the truck stop visions of Fort Stockton, The northern reaches of the Davis Mountains And the gatherings of Van Horn” (Sierra Blanca), to the uniqueness of its cities: “Juárez is the girl your instinct tells you to walk, no, run from But whose memory wakes you in the night” (Juarez) and the challenges of its climate. Anyone who has ever been in a monsoon will understand the warning in “Rain” when he starts out with “The smell of cloud catches the heart of the most jaded. For even they know the promise of what may follow” and contains the warning that “Torrents are longed for and dreaded in equal measure. Their quantity dreamed of, Speed and destruction often remembered too late as the flood runs wild over road and arroyo.”

Western Skies is an intimate and personal book.

Listening to Darden Smith’s album while reading it, one might wonder who caused the heartbreak and hope in his lyrics (and possibly sent him on his road trip) when he says, “Well I keep holding on even though it’s wrong ’Cause your memory makes me smile”(Perfect for a Little While) and “No matter how far you run, how fast you’ve sinned I’d forgive what you done, where you’ve been” (The High Road).

For those just finding Darden Smith, Western Skies is the opportunity to get to know this artist on a much deeper level than through only his songs. For fans who already have found Darden Smith, this companion book will be a joy to share his vision of Texas and get a more personal glimpse of this talented singer-songwriter/photographer and writer.

We definitely recommend listening to the accompanying music for this story. You can find that on Darden’s bandcamp here.

April 25, 2022
BUTTERFLY AWAKENS: A Memoir of Transformation Through Grief by Meg Nocero – Non-Fiction, Mother Daughter Relationship, Death of a Parent, Healing

In this beautiful and transforming memoir, a loving daughter navigates a journey to move beyond the heart-wrenching boundaries of grief to ultimately discover her own sense of purpose. Here the quest brings about a miraculous metamorphosis as she uncovers life’s true joys.

In the opening segment of her three-part journey in Butterfly Awakens, wife, mother, and federal immigration lawyer Meg Nocero, quietly draws readers into the close relationship she had with her mother. Soon she intimately shares her mother’s unexpected breast cancer diagnosis. Here she meets the challenges of both traditional and alternative treatments, but ultimately her mother succumbs to the disease.

After losing a parent who was also her best friend, part two explores the downward spiral of Nocero’s mental health. Plagued by dreams and nightmares, and dealing with severe bouts of depression, anxiety, and the stress of a law career stifled by superiors, Nocero seeks help in the form of therapeutic and spiritual outlets. Here the core suggestions all pointed Nocero in the direction of being her own guide and learning to follow her own bliss.

Before long, a life-changing decision sets her on a path to publish an inspiring work entitled The Magical Guide to Bliss, which allows her to forge ahead and share her message with others. Whether hunkered down in her closet during the tears of depression, attempting to expand her creative soul by following the course from The Artist’s Way, battling the severity of stress-induced tinnitus, or experiencing joyous meetings with the likes of the iconic Oprah Winfrey and well-known author Liz Gilbert of Eat, Pray, Love fame, Nocero displays a roller coaster of emotions. Slowly she steps outside her comfort zone to reap the rewards that life has to offer.

Nocero’s story ultimately culminates with a trek along the renowned El Camino de Santiago in northern Spain.

Though seemingly ill-prepared for such an arduous venture, Nocero gloriously proves she not only talks the talk, but she can literally walk the walk. The spiritual pilgrimage serves as a tribute to both her mom, and the victims of the Parkland shootings in her home state of Florida. Stops in fairytale-like hamlets and visits to churches and monasteries along a route that culminates at a Finisterre lighthouse envisioned when her mother passed, Nocero makes peace with her inner pain and realizes she is free to choose a future of happiness.

Nocero’s Italian heritage dictates that when a family member passes on, their spirit morphs into a butterfly. The use of such symbolism throughout the book, whether in the form of a keychain, the design on a child’s shirt, or the gossamer winged creature itself helps emphasize the theme of change. Each chapter also opens with an inspirational quote that helps set the tone for the next direction on Nocero’s path. A complimentary photo journal at the book’s end also provides visual highlights throughout Nocero’s personal journey.

The popular adage that dictates “without change there would be no butterflies” is undoubtedly brought to light in Nocero’s memoir.

Her message of hope and transformation is a positive beacon to help others get through difficult times and recognize their own self-worth. Exploring the power of family, friends, love, faith, and synchronicity, Nocero teaches that we are not defined by our grief, drama, tensions, or emotionally draining careers, but that we can rise above these situations and soar to new heights.

Butterfly Awakens is an inspiring revelation of self-discovery and openly serves as a tribute to a beloved mother. Through Nocero’s absorbing and authentic voice her story addresses a personal experience, it is also intended to help readers searching for light at the end of their own darkened tunnels. A thought-provoking odyssey for those on a similar whirlwind path, this life-affirming, triumphant book proves a well-crafted empowering guide for personal change and growth.

April 22, 2022
The DEVIL’S BOOKKEEPERS: The Noose Closes, Book 3 by Mark H. Newhouse – Jewish Historical Fiction, WWII Historical Fiction, Jewish Literary Fiction

In The Noose Closes, book three of the award-winning series, The Devil’s Bookkeepers, author Mark H. Newhouse continues the story of his compelling characters and their difficult predicaments in the closing months of World War II in occupied Lodz, Poland.

Newhouse is a gifted writer and educator, born in Germany to Holocaust survivors. His series is a fictionalized account of what happened in the Lodz ghetto, a barbed-wire enclosed slum in Poland during the Nazi occupation. As he deftly utilizes the first-hand accounts of those who were there, we witness the ribbon of humanity and compassion woven through each book. This raises the series to premiere status – an exceptional if sobering examination of the immutable human spirit. His series should encourage all who read it that hope is a gift and kindness is the answer.

Jewish engineer Bernard Ostrowski records the daily events for the ghetto chairperson, whom many call the Devil. Bennie and his small team find the information more terrifying with each passing hour. They compose their reports in a manner that will mollify the infamous ghetto boss, Chairman Rumkowski. Rumkowski and his embattled assistant, Neftalin, must please their Nazi handlers. Rumkowski oversees every aspect of the city and forces its residents into BECOMING factory workers for the German military. He hopes to keep the Nazis from taking control of Lodz by doing so.

Even Ostrowski and his educated co-workers struggle to comprehend the desperation and death in the place they once called home. The sight of bony children fighting in garbage heaps for anything edible is unfathomable. How can this be happening in their city? Surely Rumkowski will help them.

Ostrowski doesn’t quite know what to make of the masses of used shoes and other clothing that arrive via trucks, while Lodz Jews are shipped out of the ghetto almost daily. Are the Germans shepherding the Jews out of Lodz to safety from the war, as they and Rumkowski say?

Rumors begin to slip in. The Jews are being taken to camps where only death awaits.

The novel continues to weave in the story of Ostrowski’s love for his wife. Nearly defeated by the shocking events in book 2, Ostrowski longs for any news about his wife Miriam and his daughter Regina. The couple had become estranged when Bennie suspected Miriam of having an affair with the young and reckless Singer before the man disappeared.

When Singer returns, now a resistance fighter, he attempts to enlist Ostrowski into an underground Jewish resistance movement. What follows are acts of bravery and sacrifice readers will remember long after the book is put down.

Newhouse’s parents were among the 5,000 Jews of more than 200,000 trapped in the Lodz ghetto who survived the Nazi occupation. Will any of the novel’s characters survive as The Noose Closes around them?

Newhouse utilizes the shocking events described in The Chronicle of The Lodz Ghetto (Yale University Press, 1984), placing sobering quotes from the historical account at the beginning of each chapter. Readers will feel as if they are on the streets of Lodz due to the vividly depicted sights, sounds, and smells during this bleak and desolate time. The Nazis’ wanted to annihilate an entire race of human beings. The incontestable proof became all too clear only as WWII came to a close.

In The Noose Closes and the other books in The Devil’s Bookkeepers series, Newhouse interjects the ironic humor that brings the epic tale to life, gallows humor, if you like. These people are real – and readers feel it. Newhouse skillfully weaves into the story the profound depth of faith and belief that enabled desperate people to cling to hope, despite their dire circumstances.

In fact, this bold human spirit enables the residents to find courage in the face of danger that rests at the heart of the series. His characters believe that relying on faith overcomes fear, and above all else, love will always be triumphant. This powerful series reminds us that the more we learn about the Holocaust, the more we remember this time of terror, the more likely it is that we can genuinely say, “Never again – to anyone!”

The Devil’s Bookkeepers series won Grand Prize in the 2020 CIBA Fiction Series Awards and is a series that is not only timely, but one we highly recommend.

Please read our reviews of the first two books in The Devil’s Bookkeepers by clicking on their titles, The Noose and The Noose Tightens.

April 13, 2022
WISHES, SINS, and the WISSAHICKON CREEK by PJ Devlin – Contemporary Fiction, Americana, Short Stories

Wishes, Sins, and the Wissahickon Creek by PJ Devlin emulates the lives of fictional characters brimming with hope and promise yet living a truthful life of existence in the gorgeous setting of Pennsylvania’s Wissahickon Creek.

The book encompasses ten short stories making it a complete work of fiction. Devlin creates characters which are rich in both experience and struggle. Not only do they live in a real world created by Devlin, but her characters, a mix of children and adults, both struggle with daily, real-world issues most Americans deal with. The stories are all relatable in this sense, which makes the text come alive, page after page.

The first story, I Wish It Every Day, exists in the premise of a lasting, pseudo friendship between two women, Mary and Julia. The two past high school friends reminisce at a coffee shop one fine day, yet the meeting exists only because of a chance. The reader learns of the ladies’ lack of real friendship since the time regrettably passes without daily correspondence. Piece Man, the second in the group of short stories, creates a picture from an art piece in an art gallery. A child and an adult realize the importance of time and the fleeting speed of life. Devlin’s third story, Original Sin, captures the lives of a family devastated by death and the sins of a priest. The irony of this story exists in the mother’s wish for her son.

Wishes, Sins, and the Wissahickon Creek continues with beautiful settings and attention to detail in the depiction of every scene.

Devlin’s attention to detail and superb storytelling acumen invites readers to live in these ten short stories, as if they are truly part of the text. Each story represents new characters and new dilemmas. The unique tie to the ten stories is the setting of Pennsylvania and the eastern United States. The strong and determined people of Wissahickon may suffer, yet they pick themselves up and move on, much like the determination and perseverance of middle-class Americans. Devlin skillfully captures the true spirit of twenty-first century middle Americana.

Readers whose interests lie in middle America or Americana contemporary literature will enjoy this award-winning collection of short stories. Understanding the human dilemma as told by one who lives in the Wissahickon Creek area brings authenticity that readers will surely appreciate.

Wishes, Sins, and the Wissahickon River by PJ Devlin won 1st Place in the 2018 CIBA Somerset Book Awards for Contemporary, Literary, and Satire Fiction.

April 8, 2022
The BEST WEEK THAT NEVER HAPPENED by Dallas Woodburn – Teen and YA Coming of Age Fantasy, Teen and Y/A Magical Realism Fiction, Y/A Contemporary Fantasy Fiction

Dallas Woodburn’s debut novel The Best Week that Never Happened is a roller-coaster ride through Hawaii and the mysterious depths of its briny deep, sparkling with unreal magic, a poignant romance, and incessant hope.

Tegan Rossi, a freshly graduated eighteen-year-old, awakens in the secretive hideout she discovered with Kai Kapule as two eight-year-old children on her first trip to Hawaii Island. She needs to make amends with Kai as they had a major squabble over something very important that she now oddly forgets. When Tegan catches up with Kai in Hawaii, she enters her best week yet – the Best Week That Never Happened.

The first-person narrative is a fusion of Tegan’s past three years ago and ten years ago, as well as a mystified chronicling of her present with Kai on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Tegan and Kai run into each other for the second time in Hawaii ten years later. At Kai’s earnest request, they both meet at their childhood hideout The Lava Tubes. Reliving the nostalgia, they re-emerge as inseparable friends, sharing their lives over the phone 4,880 miles apart. Tegan’s reluctance to meet up with Kai’s graduation wish (a visit from Tegan) turns up in the two-months past narrative. With the present time leapfrog, Tegan arrives in Hawaii, fretting over her inability to remember how she turned up there.

In the medical center of Kai’s aunt, Tegan discovers an hourglass tattoo on her body she never had.

A series of incredible happenings follow. Tegan’s suitcase shows up out of nowhere with all she could ever wish for, her mom doesn’t seem to exist, at least she’s not answering her calls. Oh, yes, and the hourglass tattoo is losing sand. Most curious, Tegan discovers her Instagram photo in front of a train with a caption about her departure from Philadelphia to Washington DC. But the train crashed, killing 67 passengers.

In her quest for an explanation, Tegan receives a message, “to trust enough to take the leap.” It is Tegan’s conforming to the message which will eventuate her best week, the week of confessing love, dealing with insecurities, and reliving the déjà-vu moments from the past with Kai into a reality.

The Best Week That Never Happened ushers readers through alternating states of reflection and pessimism, until finally riding the waves of optimism and hope.

Dallas Woodburn explores the complexity of a teenage psyche. Through Kai and Tegan, she reflects on our innate insecurities and the tendency to not embrace new ideas and opportunities out of fear. With the development of the two characters, the narrative tone gradually shifts from a tragic to an optimistic perspective, referencing their development as adults. This subtle shift brings about a symbiotic relationship between pessimism and optimism in which we all live.

The aversion to change and embracing a better future is a predominant theme throughout the book.

This underlying struggle is reflected in Tegan and Ross. Tegan struggles with the decision to confess her feelings for Kai, adamant to keep the relationship unchanged. By not confessing to her feelings, she risks making the best week of her life with Kai only an illusion of reality. Kai dreams of becoming an artist and gets shortlisted to the prestigious CalArts College in Los Angeles. He adores his usual marine life with his family in Hawaii, his paradise, away from the suffocating fear of being stuck “at the bottom of the barrel” outside of Hawaii. Overcoming their fears and insecurities is what makes the debut novel, The Best Week That Never Happened, so very relatable.

With a twist of magical realism and captivating storytelling, The Best Week That Never Happened revolves around the contemporary concerns of teenagers and adults alike. It’s an exciting read with a powerful message borrowed from Martin Luther King, Jr., “Take the first step in faith. You don’t need to see everything on the staircase, just the first step.”

The Best Week That Never Happened by Dallas Woodburn won the CIBA 2020 Grand Prize in the Dante Rossetti Book Awards for Young Adult novels and is one book we highly recommend.

April 4, 2022
The LUNA MISSILE CRISIS by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle – Alternate History Sci-fi, Action & Adventure, Alien Technology

Authors Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle come together to tell the tale of alien first contact gone awry in their epic science fiction release, The Luna Missile Crisis.

The year is 1961, and cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin is set to become the first man in space. But when Yuri, snug inside the Vostok 1, is launched from the cosmodrome and into the coming night, he’s met with a collision that changes the course of history. The Vostok 1 crashes into an oncoming alien starship. Assuming the collision was actually a missile fired from Russia’s space race opponent, the United States, the soviet nation quickly launches an arsenal of nuclear warheads in response. But those warheads never make it to their target. Instead, they detonate against the hidden starship, sending a wave of nuclear destruction over eastern Europe.

In the coming weeks after contact day, military troops from both sides of the cold war are sent into the ruins of eastern Europe – into an area now called the Dead Curtain – to search for useful alien technology. During a skirmish between the Russians, the Americans, and the Vulbathi (the toad-like alien race aboard the damaged starship), a combat medic name Kyle McCoy stumbles into the chaos and sparks a ceasefire. His actions create a domino effect, bringing about relative peace between all three parties. Three years pass, and in exchange for aid in repairing their damaged ship, the Vulbathi agree to offer some of their exceptional technology to mankind. And Kyle McCoy, once foot soldier turned head of the Department of Alien Relations, is given a desk job with a title that suits his place in history.

But not everything is going as planned.

Kyle’s twin brother, Conner McCoy, is a dead-beat with a past steeped in drugs and crime. His latest venture is selling knockoff alien weaponry to mob bosses and gangsters. Conner and his crew work the circuit, living under the radar as they travel from city to city, peddling their fake Vulbathi tech with enthusiasm to boot. And it’s all fun and games and a little extra cash until one of the knock offs isn’t a knock off at all and the gun in Connor’s hand turns a man into a pile of dust and goo. Kyle is called in to investigate the case, and when the two estranged brothers reunite, the stakes become higher than either of them could have ever foreseen. Stolen identity, sabotage, explosive battles, and a myriad of historical figures all spill across the pages as the story of humans and Vulbathi unravels.

Bruno and Castle have expertly crafted an alternate history 1960’s that feels real enough to touch.

The use of historical figures as supporting cast adds to the detailed world building, and even the Vulbathi tech, which is everywhere in The Luna Missile Crisis, is most believable when the reader sees it integrated into the everyday lives of working people. A prime example is Kyle’s holotube that he regards as a “faulty prototype” taking the place of his real television. All of these stunning details are brought to life by writing that is engaging, active, and perfectly descriptive. The dialogue is witty and sharp, well fitted to the cast and their gamut of personalities, and as the chapters alternate between the two McCoy brothers, the syntax shifts ever so slightly, giving the subtle notion of a true perspective change.

Not only is the writing engaging, but Bruno and Castle have taken a well-worn Sci-fi plot – the pulpy notion of the Cold War era interrupted by an alien invasion – and breathed fresh life into it.

The narrative is strong, propelling the reader forward through an increasingly wild ride. Many will recognize familiar character archetypes of the do-good FBI agent; the grifter counterfeiter; the over-the-top gangster; the misunderstood monster and will be pleasantly surprised to find themselves growing more and more entrenched in a plot that is everything but familiar.

The Luna Missile Crisis is filled with action, adventure, and enough laser blasts to satisfy any science fiction fan, but its true strength lies in the cohesive world building and rock-solid storytelling that only two authors like Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle can provide. In other words, here’s one sci-fi we can happily recommend!

The Luna Missile Crisis by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle won Grand Prize in the 2020 CIBA Cygnus Awards for Science & Speculative Fiction.

April 1, 2022
GREAT AS a BUTTON by Masoud Malekyari – Children’s Books, Children’s Self-Worth Books, Children’s Picture Books

Masoud Malekyari’s Great As a Button is a delightful children’s book that places a soulful little plastic adornment at center stage in a thought-provoking story that offers up a positive lesson about self-worth.

This tale unfolds from a first person POV as a lonely, black plastic button falls off a shirt. The button ruminates over its plight of feeling too plain to be noticed, and wishes perhaps to be a sock, a key, or a pair of glasses, i.e., a more important item that the button surmises someone would go out of their way to look for.

Amidst encounters with an inquisitive dog and some playful ants, the button has longings to reside in a big castle while adorning a king’s coat, or to sail across the ocean while attached to a boat captain’s slicker. Fate suggests that the button might be in trouble if snatched up by birds; lucky if used by a seamstress; or forlorn when not chosen like the more ornate accessories in a tailor’s shop. When given to a young boy, surprising opportunities send the button in an unexpected direction where ultimately, he discovers newfound importance on a sunny winter’s day.

Illustrations by Sebastião Peixoto prove glowingly complimentary and are a key component of the story.

The natural color shadings render quiet, yet well-defined drawings. Quirky and whimsical features lend true personality to the bevy of characters. From the intense facial details of a battling buttons army to the sad expression of the central plastic disc pondering his plainness, this simple character with its curlicued thread body is artfully brought to life.

Peixoto also smartly visualizes enlightening options between the little button’s desire to live in a royal palace, contrasted with an outdoor tent-like open book structure, where a smokestack chimney provides warmth on a snowy day. Likewise, the thought of adventure on the high seas is pitted against the simplicity of a paper vessel floating down a curbside stream.

Great As a Button is a charming take on learning to be happy with who you are.

Like the little button, it may take some of us a bit longer than others, but finding our particular niche is key. Our own unique traits and talents will lead us to where we belong, and satisfaction will come with contentment. Comparisons with others is unnecessary, as we come to realize we are each an individual with our special place in this world.

Like the simple button who comes to understand his self-worth, this quaint, imaginative read is an important work with a vital message for both young readers and the confident adults they aspire to be.

Great As a Button by Masoud Malekyari won Grand Prize in the 2020 CIBA Little Peeps Book Awards for Early Readers Fiction.

March 30, 2022
EUDORA SPACE KID: The Lobster Tale by David Horn – Children’s Humor Books, Children’s Action and Adventure Sci-Fi Chapter Books, Children’s Humorous Action Adventure Chapter Books

In Eudora Space Kid: The Lobster Tale, author David Horn continues the spell-binding adventures of a third-grade girl living on a massive spaceship in the year 4021. Eudora Jenkins enjoys using her very sharp mind to play tricks on the grown-ups – but her latest one may backfire and cause an interplanetary crisis.

As The Lobster Tale opens, Eudora, the narrator and mastermind of her sometimes disastrous but always hilarious gambits, is in a tunnel on the AstroLiner Athena. The plan? Just a few minor computer alterations. She is aided in this naughty but essentially harmless prank by her sometimes nervous buddy Arnold. Her changes will be revealed later when she and Arnold visit the ship’s bridge. Both are excited to watch the regularly scheduled battle training exercises they will view on the main computer.

Arnold’s stepdad is what Eudora calls a “Lootenant” (her spelling does not always keep up with her math and technical skills). He will allow them into Athena’s inner sanctum to watch war exercises staged to practice in case they are attacked by the galaxy’s worst enemies, the Qlaxons. Watching the practice is a rare treat and needs the approval of the ship’s captain, Captain Jax.

Of course, Captain Jax welcomes Arnold, but some of the staff are annoyed to find Eudora with him. You see, Eudora has a particular reputation for mischief, which is proven again when her minor computer tweaks cause the “red alert” signal to blare out as an ancient earth song, “Wiggle Your Booty.”

Eudora is sent to the “brig,” run by her mom. Her punishment? She is consigned to a holding cell to do her homework.

While there, she learns that Athena’s head chef wants to commandeer all the lobsters in the ship’s aquarium to prepare a great feast. Eudora’s stepdad oversees the aquarium and studies sea animals. He would never agree to have the lobsters boiled and eaten.

Eudora hatches a plot to save the lobsters. Arnold, his usual slightly reluctant self, agrees to help. Sneaking through the ship with two huge bags of lobsters, they are caught up in what appears to be a potential war with the Qlaxons. But things really heat up when a lobster from Eudora’s stash leaps out and attacks!

Horn’s creative skills are undeniably in sync with the younger readers (age 6 to 10). Children will be magnetized by the latest tale of Eudora’s shenanigans, supported perfectly by the energetic, illustrations by Deven Hoover.

Both author and artist have humorized their personal descriptions, transforming even those usually didactic segments into a fun read. Eudora is an exemplary narrator, referencing earlier actions she has taken (i.e. writing to the president of the galaxy “to get homework added to the list of enemies”) or simply skims over another adventure, saying, “I’ll tell you about that another time.”

This chatty, youth-centered storytelling brings out the hilarity and occasional genuine peril of Eudora’s antics far more powerfully than a third-person approach. This storytelling style serves to keep youngsters turning the pages. With a strong female protagonist accompanied by her more cautious and diplomatic companion, David Horn succeeds in fascinating all who read the book, whether the audience is young or a bit older. In short, Eudora Space Kid: The Lobster Tale is one Children’s chapter book we can highly recommend!

Read our review of the first book in the series, Eudora Space Kid: The Great Engine Room Takeover, here.

March 28, 2022