Year in Review, 2021

Through sheer force of will, I managed to review one more book this year than last year, pushing myself through the difficulty of reading while snowed in an AirBnB with a variety of small children and noise making toys. It's not ideal, but nothing about 2021 has been ideal for most people. 

For the record, when I count these books, I put all big kids stuff in the YA/middle grade novels category even if it's a graphic novel or nonfiction.  Of course I read a lot of in that area because I volunteer at an elementary school library, so I wasn't constrained by the COVID restrictions at the public library and I didn't have to make special trips to get kids book.

So, here's the tally:

Dragon's 2021 Year in Review

Picture books:                     10

YA/middle grade novels:    27

Nonfiction:                          7    

Graphic novels:                   5

Memoir:                              1

Novel:                                 12

Poetry:                                1

Short story collections:      4

Total books read:               67  

Food Heroes: 16 Culinary Artisans Preserving Traditions

Author: Georgia Pellegrini

First line: I can still picture her standing in her gardens, permanently hunched over, with shovel and trowel, her white hair puffing out from below the brim of her baseball hat, her floral shirt falling just above her muddy oversized sneakers.

Why you should read this book: It's a celebration of the dreamers and lovers who set aside the culture of convenience, commercialism, and fast food to focus on producing ingredients in the slow, careful, old ways, or sometimes in new ways that combine old and new knowledge. The author travels America and Europe in search of the artisans, farmers, ranchers, and brewers slow-crafting food and drink that must be savored and celebrated. Each of the sixteen vignettes mixes science, culture, human interest, and food lore, and concludes with a few relevant recipes.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You can't tell the difference. 

Rubyfruit Jungle

Written by: Rita Mae Brown

First line: No one remembers her beginnings.

Why you should read this book: Irrepressible Molly Bolt knows from an early age who she is—an independent, sexually liberated girl destined to follow her own path in a time when women simply aren't given space to be different—and what she wants—to make love to beautiful women without guilt or commitment or people freaking out about the L word. Unapologetically queer and nonmonogamous, her troubles always involve being betrayed by the people to whom she makes herself vulnerable, as if love in inextricably bound up in disappointment. But through it all, Molly remains true to her own values and follows her own compass, with the knowledge that as hard as her path is, it would be infinitely harder to walk any other. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You don't like to think about that time in college.

The Crossroads at Midnight

Written by: Abby Howard

First line: What's it like with the old farmer?

Why you should read this book: As a huge fan of the author's Junior Scientist Power Hour and The Last Halloween webcomics, I was thrilled to discover that Abby Howard has published a devilishly inventive 350-page book comprising five freaky horror comics. With artwork that transcends the more cartoonish images of some of her earlier work, these legitimately spooky comics pull no punches—even children aren't safe from the various monsters that inhabit these detailed black-and-white worlds—and deliver true terror, often from unexpected directions, and occasionally, a drop of compassion. There's no telling what the outcome might be when you befriend a fiend, but if scary stories and dark comics get you going, this collection is highly recommended. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You are easily disturbed and all alone.

Living Ghosts & Mischievous Monsters: Chilling American Indian Stories

Written by: Dan SaSuWeh Jones

First line: Ghost stories were a big part of my life growing up as an American Indian.

Why you should read this book: It sets itself apart from most collections of creepy stories and folktales in two ways: first that, many of the stories were personally collected by the author, and second, that many of the stories really happened. It sets itself apart from most collections of indigenous legends in that the author and illustrator, as well as all their sources, are indigenous themselves. This is a kids' book, but the spooky factor is turned up fairly high on some of them—readers will meet all kind of terrifying spirits, monsters, ghosts, and other fairy tale creatures, none of whom have the best wishes of humanity in mind. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: Probably too scary for very young readers.

The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love

Written by: Sonya Renee Taylor 

First line: Long before there was a digital media and education company or a radical self-love movement with hundreds of thousands of followers on our website and social media pages, before anyone cared to write about us in newsprint or interview me on television, before people began to send me photos of their bodies with my words etched in ink on their backs, forearms, and shoulders (which never stops being awesome and weird), there was a word...well, words. 

Why you should read this book: Radical self-love asks us to embrace our bodies, with all their unique diversities and divergences, for their remarkable abilities to contain our spirits and allow us to live our lives, and to take this love to the extreme and extend to all bodies the same joyful and shameless celebration. Taylor categorizes the cultural shame and narrow boundaries of acceptable forms as body terrorism and assures us that whoever we are, however we look, and whatever our abilities, we are enough, and worthy of kindness, first from ourselves, but also from the world. Full of provocative inquiries and reflections, this remarkable and important book provides a road map for active and healthy change that every reader can use to improve the world, to increase their own comfort in their own skin.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You lack a corporeal form and don't interact with anyone who lives in a body. (This book should be required reading for being human.)

The Cabinet of Wonders

Written by: Marie Rutkoski

First line: The yellow hills rose and fell in sunny tops and valleys. 

Why you should read this book: Delightful and unpredictable, this story, set in Bohemia in (I think) the sixteenth century, begins with an aesthetic similar to steampunk, but based on magic and powered by brassica oil. Petra's father, a great magical metalworker who has invented a menagerie of mechanical pets, has been summoned to the capital to construct an astrological clock for the prince, who thanks him by stealing his eyes and sending him home completely blind and unable to work. Incensed by the unfairness of this theft, Petra runs away to Prague with her pet tin spider, Astrophil; she has no plan, only the intention of repossessing her father's eyes, and she's about to get all kinds of education in subjects she didn't even know existed before she left home. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You despise the mixing of history and fantasy.

Words by Heart

Written by: Ouida Sebestyen

First line: Old Bullet had guessed they were going somewhere—Lena's folks—before they came out the door.

Why you should read this book: Lena is probably the smartest kid in school, but she's keenly aware that being the only Black family in town means that some people are going to have a problem with her success, even though her papa moved them from the deep south specifically for the better opportunities he thinks await the family out west. Papa is a "turn the other cheek" sort of guy, but Lena doesn't understand why she has to be the one to suffer and sacrifice for the pleasure of wealthy white people or the pettiness of poor ones. The world isn't fair, but Lena has her father's beliefs to guide her as she makes choices about how to live and what kind of person to be.

Why you shouldn't read this book: To be frank, while I get that the author is intent on making a point about Christian forgiveness, I think this is a pretty rough way to get there, and the fact that the author appears to be a white woman whose thesis is that young Black girls need to forgive unforgivably racist horror (literally by protecting criminal white people from the consequences of their actions) doesn't exactly sit well with me.  

Mine

Written by: Delilah S. Dawson

First line: Lily Horne was dying.

Why you should read this book: A delightfully creepy ghost story that takes the spooky factor about as high as you can go and still get your book into the hands of a young audience, this novel sees budding actress Lily Horne dragged across the country to start a new life in Florida. She's got a horrible secret she can barely admit to herself, but her immediate problem is that her new house is a hoarded disaster, and the previous (deceased) inhabitants seem displeased with the Hornes' home improvements even though Lily's parents don't notice anything out of the ordinary and also are at the end of their rope with Lily's histrionics. Who is messing with Lily, and will they succeed in keeping their stranglehold on the past, or can Lily find a way to put these ghosts to rest and come to terms with her own mistakes?

Why you shouldn't read this book: I can imagine it would be difficult for anyone currently living in a hoarded home that they had no part in hoarding. Also, for a kids' book, it's pretty scary. 

Act

Written by: Kayla Miller

First line: Late for my bus.

Why you should read this book: This is a sequel to Click but not, I think, the sequel—I seemed to have missed an installment of the story about Olive Branche, the girl who is friends with everyone but doesn't seem to be part of any group—which finds our hero becoming aware of inequality within her school system and pursuing resolution through government. Incensed by the realization that some kids can't afford to go on field trips, and disappointed in the response to her petitions and protests, Olive runs for student council with the intention of helping other students achieve financial parity, circumvent inexplicable dress code violations, and end the public shaming of learning disabled kids. With a good handle on the issues and a strong base of supporters across the cliques, Olive has a fighting chance of enacting change, but her primary competition is running on the platform of "more pudding for everyone," and it's going to be an uphill battle to win hearts and minds in middle school.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You enjoy seeing children suffer for no reason.

Decelerate Blue

Written by: Adam Rapp and Mike Cavallaro

First line: So that's where is happened.

Why you should read this book: Angela lives in a dystopian nightmare where speed and capitalism merge to form a horrific reality for people who want to relax and enjoy themselves from time to time doing things besides running in place, shopping at the Megamall, and watching time-saving fourteen-minute movies. When she learns that her grandfather is being sent to a reduction colony for being too slow, she ends up being drawn into the Underground, a secret society of people who use as many adjectives as they like, play slow music, and stare at the world's most relaxing cow for fun. Angela finds love and hope for the future, but becoming a member of this new society and ending the reign of terror in the rest of the world entails more than simply running away. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You think brevity is the soul of everything. 

Allergic

Written by: Megan Wagner Lloyd

First line: It was my tenth birthday

Why you should read this book: The only thing Maggie wants for her birthday is a puppy, and she's found the perfect one in the shelter—until it turns out that this puppy isn't perfect after all, because Maggie breaks out in itchy hives when she touches it. Worse still, the doctor says she's allergic to every animal with fur or feathers, and now she's not allowed to have any cuddly companion, even the tiniest mouse. Her parents have each other and a new baby on the way, and her twin brothers don't seem to need anyone but each other, but who's going to be Maggie's match in her family now?

Why you shouldn't read this book: You think a spider is a great companion.

The Magic Fish

Written by: Trung Le Nguyen 

First line: They say we’re meant to go from here to there, but so much happens between those two places.

 Why you should read this book: Tien enjoys a close relationship with his mother but is having trouble coming out to her, primarily because they are Vietnamese refugees, and her English isn’t great, and he can’t find anyone who can tell him how to say, “I’m gay,” in Vietnamese. Reading fairy tales to each other in English is helping his mother improve her language skills and helping Tien find the words to talk to his mother about love, but it just seems like there’s always another obstacle to the one conversation he really wants to have. Much needed queer content for kids, a book that demonstrates the importance to of listening to and accepting a children's truths. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: You'd rather have a dead child than a gay one, which is also an argument for why you shouldn't be allowed to have any child at all.