Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman

This book was so gripping. And while I loved and sympathize with Kiko and exalt with her every victory, it is her awful, horrible, narcissistic mother that caught my imagination so much. She is just SO HORRID. Really. Like no redeeming qualities at all. There is something so fresh and freeing about a character you can hate with no reservations. You don't have to feel conflicted and try to see their good points. Nope. Nada. 

Kiko is a Japanese-American teen dealing with rejection from her only college application--Prism, the prestigious art school she had set her heart on. A chance encounter with her childhood best friend  after a particularly painful episode with her mother leads to a cross the country road trip, romance, (I mean, a cross country road trip and romance is already pretty fabulous, but there is MORE) an incredible mentor and a second chance at dreams. 

I really, super-le-douper loved this book. I mean, obviously her mother is painfully despicable, but that means your emotions aren't pulled out of whack. You are 100% for Kiko and you can follow her story with no reservations or side interests. 

A great quick read! 

The Sleepy Songbird by Suzanne Barton

This book is... average. It is sweet, with cute illustrations and a good message, but it doesn't stand out as being exceptional. But it is a solid book. One kids will enjoy and parents won't mind reading. 

Peep woke up one morning to a beautiful song. 

He asks various animals if that is them singing. 

Poppies and wheat stalks.... Cute!

This is one of my favorite pictures! 

Peep finds the song--it is the dawn chorus. 

Peep is eager to join. The conductor tells him to come to the next day's practice. 

Notice the little birds blowing each other away with their song? I do love the delight these birds get out of singing at the top of their voice.

Peep goes home and gets a good rest before heading to join the dawn chorus.

Oopsie! He overslept.

Peep goes home to practice some more.

That night he forced himself to stay awake.  

But then he was so tired he could hardly sing. 

"Oh dear, Peep," the conductor sighed. "Perhaps you are just not meant to sing with us."

Sadness and sorrow. Peep goes home to contemplate the unfairness of life on his little tree branch.

That evening, as he is softly singing in the evening, he hears another little bird just like him.

"Why can I sing in the evening," asked Peep, "but not in the morning with the Dawn Chorus?"   

"Because you're a nightingale, just like me," said the bird. "Nightingales don't sing at dawn, they sing at night."

So the nightingales sang their hearts out while the Dawn Chorus slept. 

This is a book that will appeal to kids. Failure, and finally success is always appealing. I like the idea of difference too. Success does not always look the same for every person.