Otis Dooda: Strange but True by Ellen Potter

Otis Dooda: Strange but True

Ellen Potter

Illustrated by David Heatley

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Publication: June 2013 from Feiwel and Friends
Pages: 240
Format: ARC
Acquisition: I received this book from the publisher for free in exchange for my review

Synopsis:

HARDY-HAR-HAR!

Meet Otis Dooda. Yes, that’s his name. Go on and have a good laugh. He’s heard it all before. He’s been called things like Otis Poopy Stink and Otis Toilet Twinkie. That’s right, yuck it up and get it out of your system. We’ll wait.

All right then. This is the story of Otis and the Dooda family (including their rat named Smoochie) moving to New York City, and the incredibly strange, but true, things that happened to them. It all started with Otis getting cursed by a guy in a potted plant in their apartment building lobby, and then meeting a bunch of their neighbors, including a farting pony named Peaches who was disguised as a dog. And that was just the first day.

(from Goodreads)

I love illustrated chapter books! I really wish there were more books like Otis Dooda when I was a kid. Now, I can't wait to share this one with my daughter.

Otis is a pretty typical kid - or a "sort of" kid in his own words. Sort of short, short of good at some things, sort of bad at others. He was a very believable and like able character.

Otis and his family, made even more 'sort of'' normal by the inclusion of an older bully brother, have just moved to New York City. Living on the 35th floor of a huge apartment building he soon makes friends. I love that Otis's family is a little odd but that the friends he makes are also a little odd. Everyone fit together really well.

Lots of laughs - lots of fart jokes - which even I found funny so you can imagine how kids will react :) Lots of love too in this one - Otis understanding his brother a bit better, learning not to judge people because they're a little weird, making new friends, working together to solve problems - there is a lot to like in this book!

If you have a young reader in your life, I highly recommend picking them up a copy of Otis Dooda Strange But True!

AND I just saw that there is going to be a book 2 - I can totally see this becoming a best selling series!

Rating

5 / 5 Stars

I've also read The Humming Room by Ellen Potter and loved it!

Book Review: Blood Moon by Alyxandra Harvey

Blood Moon (Drake Chronicles #5)

Alyxandra Harvey

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publication: June 2012 from Walker Childrens
Pages: 320
Format: paperback
Acquisition: bought

Synopsis:

When the vampire tribes convene for the rare Blood Moon ceremonies, Solange Drake is plunged into a battle with her feral nature. The Drake brothers have been raised knowing they had to protect their younger sister at all cost. But forbidden magic and a mysterious stranger have put all of them in terrible danger.

Nicholas is going to have to make a difficult choice: between his girlfriend, Lucy, and his little sister, Solange - blood or love?

Goodreads

My Thoughts
With only 1 more book in the series to go, Alyxandra didn't pull any punches with Blood Moon!

The Drake Chronicles have always been a character driven series and book 5 is no exception. Unlike previous books in this series, Blood Moon isn't focused on a new set of potential romantic partners within the Drake family. Instead we get the point of view of 3 central characters - Lucy, Nicholas and Solange. Since these 3 have always been my favorite, I was very happy :)

If you know this series you know that the Drake's are always getting themselves in trouble one way or another. Although this is central theme to each book, it doesn't get old. The Drake's and their world are both a uniquely wonderful and grounded in enough traditional vampire lore to make for a hell of a story line - no matter what the specific focus is.

Without giving too much away -- if you're gotten this far with the series book 5 is a must read! (after the mini cliff hanger of book 4). The last tale in the chronicles is already on shelves and I recommend gobbling up books 5 and 6 in quick succession!

Will I continue the series?
Yes! With only 1 more book to go I'm really curious how things turn out for the Drakes.

Rating

4 / 5 Stars

The Drake Chronicles
#0.1 Corsets and Crossbows
#0.5 Lost Girls
#1.0 Hearts at Stake
#2.0 Blood Feud
#3.0 Out For Blood
#3.5 A Killer First Date
#4.0 Bleeding Hearts
#4.5 A Field Guide To Vampires
#5.0 Blood Moon
#6.0 Blood Prophecy

Book Review: Stolen Away by Alyxandra Harvey

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publication Date: January 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury / Walker
Pages: 288
Series: ?
Acquisition: NetGalley

Summary:

For seventeen years, Eloise Hart had no idea the world of Faery even existed. Now she has been abducted and trapped in the Rath of Lord Strahan, King of Faery. Strahan was only meant to rule for seven years, as Faery tradition dictates, and then give up his crown to another. But he won't comply, and now chaos threatens both worlds.

The only one who can break his stranglehold on the Faery court is his wife. . . Eloise's aunt Antonia. Using Eloise to lure Antonia, Strahan captures his wife, desperate to end the only threat to his reign. Now Eloise must become the rescuer. Together with her best friends Jo and Devin, she must forge alliances with other Fae, including a gorgeous protector named Lucas, and Strahan's mysterious son, Eldric-who may or may not betray them.  (from Goodreads)

I was: caught up in the pace of the story but felt like a lot was missing.

My thoughts:
I don't know if this will make any sense but reading Stolen Away, for me, was like reading a really long short story. All the pieces where there - beginning, middle, end - but after reading the last page I felt like the story itself wasn't complete.

I don’t want to give the impression that I didn't enjoy this book, because I very much did. I'm a huge fan of Alyxandra Harvey's writing and I can't say I've ever really been disappointed with her books. But maybe I was just a little disappointed with this one.

I think the main reason this was a lukewarm read for me was the fact that I never really felt connected to the characters. Everything happens rather quickly - the entire book is only a few days worth of time - so I never really felt like I got to know any particular character very well. Jo, Eloise's best friend, made an impact, but only because she got on my nerves a little. Her British slang just for the heck of it and her insta-love infatuation didn't win her any points with me.

Eloise was a pretty interesting character - or at least her family was pretty interesting. Eloise herself I didn't feel very invested in. Her insta-love relationship got to me as well. It wasn't the relationship itself it was how very fast these characters were thrown together, fought together, saved the world, had time to make dinner and became the bestest omg I can't live without you friends forever - in about 3 days.

Now, the story itself. The fairy lore and the interplay between the different 'families' of fae - this I really loved. There were a lot of characters and a lot of information but I loved it all! I would love to read another book about this world. There were some common fairy themes going on but a lot was new (at leas to me) and there seems to be a lot more to this story that can be told.

Final verdict:
Not my favorite Harvey book but still one that I'm glad I read. If you like faery stories with some suspense and action thrown in, you'll enjoy Stolen Away. I read an e-galley but this is one that I intend to purchase.

Overall Rating:

4 / 5 Stars

Linkage Love:
Author's webstie
Goodreads
IndieBound

Book Review: Flyaway by Helen Landalf

***2011 Debut Author***
Reading Level: Young Adult
Publication Date: December 2012
Pages: 182
Series: no
Acquisition: NetGalley

Summary:

Fifteen-year-old Stevie Calhoun is used to taking care of herself. But one night, her mom, who works as an exotic dancer in a downtown Seattle nightclub, never comes home.

That’s the night Stevie’s life turns upside down.

It’s the night that kicks off an extraordinary summer: the summer Stevie has to stay with her annoyingly perfect Aunt Mindy; the summer she learns to care for injured and abandoned birds; the summer she gets to know Alan, the meanest guy in high school.

But most of all, it’s the summer she finds out the truth about Mom.

FLYAWAY is the story of a teen girl’s struggle to hold on to what she’s always believed, even as her world spins out of control.(from Goodreads)

My thoughts:
Flyway is a dramatic contemporary story that I pretty much read in one sitting. It was very easy to get sucked into Stevie's life and story and it was very hard to push her to the side, even for a short time. She's a pretty demanding character. Full of issues and really not sure of herself at all, I found myself liking her, even though I really didn't want to.

Stevie has a life that nobody would want. Her mother is a drug addict and Stevie worships her. She would do anything for her mother and at times this was frustrating. She made excuses and she covered things up because all she wanted was to have her mother home. I wanted her to get mad, but she never did. I wanted her mother to have to pay for actions but that doesn't really happen either.

When it comes down to it, Flyway is about a young girl's struggle with addiction - even though it isn't her own. There is no real redemption for Stevie's mother but this isn't her story - it's Stevie's. We view everything through her eyes and even thought she fillers a lot of her life, it's hard not to feel for her in the end. I wanted to scream at her for her tolerance of her mother's behavior but at the same time, I wanted someone to be there to take care of her.

A really good read for me. I can't say I loved every character (Stevie's aunt got on my nerves) but I very much enjoyed the story as a whole. I'm not at all familiar with drug addiction and how it affects families so I can't speak to the accuracy of the scenarios but I can say that the depth of feeling that these characters experiences felt real to me.

Overall Rating:

4 / 5 Stars

Linkage Love:
Houghton Mifflin / Harcourt Children's
Author's Website
Goodreads
IndieBound