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Marshmallow reviews Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead

A couple years ago Marshmallow read and reviewed When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. Today she reviews another book from the same author published in 2015: Goodbye Stranger.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about family, friendship, and mystery, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Bridge is an accident survivor. She has missed all of third grade, and had to learn how to live normally again. When she returned to school, her friend Tabitha (Tab) introduced her to Emily (Em), and the three of them became best friends, the set of fourth graders who drew animals in the corner of their homework. (Bridge draws a Martian, Tab draws a funny bird, and Em draws a spotted snake.)

They are now starting seventh grade and are in middle school. They are still best friends, but some things have changed. Em turned out to be really good at sports, and her body has started to change, which has attracted some attention. Tab is now a “know-it-all” and has become very interested in social action/change and feminism.

The three girls are best friends and they all follow one rule: no fighting. But they have encountered some difficulty with this rule since they started middle school. Bridge has become very good friends with a boy named Sherm. She has joined the Tech Crew with him. But she finds herself confused about how she feels about him. But the worst problem of all is Em’s. She has made a critical mistake, regarding a boy, and the repercussions threaten to tear the trio apart.

Different chapters of the book are told in different voices. In some chapters we read the letters Sherm writes to his grandfather. He never sends them though. Sherm’s grandfather left his family and ran off with some woman that is not Sherm’s grandmother. Sherm doesn’t think that he can forgive his grandfather for leaving them, ever. Sherm also has trouble identifying his feelings toward Bridge. Sherm writes down the events of the book in these letters, from his point of view, ending each letter with the amount of time left before his grandfather’s birthday, something they used to do before he left.

The third set of chapters is written in the voice of an unknown highschooler (who knows the previous characters mentioned). This particular person is having big problems with her friends, specifically Vinny. Vinny is pretty, smart, and popular, and the unknown highschooler used to be best friends with her, until she (the anonymous highschooler) finally realized how cruel she was. Vinny likes to play a “tasting game” where she blindfolds a person and feeds them something. If she likes you, she gives you a banana or something. If she doesn’t like you, she gives you a spoon of black pepper. The unknown student brings another girl, named Gina, to meet Vinny, and Vinny feeds her pepper during the game. The unknown teenager struggles to understand whether the Vinny she knew when she was younger is still there, under the cruelty.

Marshmallow is reading Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead. — Marshmallow is reading *Goodbye Stranger* by Rebecca Stead.

Marshmallow’s Review: Goodbye Stranger is a good book. I found it interesting that the name of the anonymous highschooler is unknown until the end, and that it turns out to be someone who has been there since the beginning. I didn’t guess who it was at all. As I said before, the book is told from multiple perspectives: Bridge, Sherm, and the unknown girl. I think that this made it more interesting. And the three voices are quite different from one another. All of Sherm’s chapters are in the form of letters written to a grandfather, while Bridge’s chapters are narrated in the third person. The unknown highschooler chapters, on the other hand, keep using “you”, which leaves a totally different flavor in the end.

I think that Goodbye Stranger is probably better for middle schoolers and up. There are some things that might be confusing for younger children. For example, I think Caramel might not understand all of the plot.

One minor thing I felt was not perhaps ideal was the way the most idealistic of the three girls, Tab, was treated, both by others in the book and by the author, too, in the end. I think Tab was perhaps a bit too naive and perhaps a bit too strong with her passion for an equitable and just world, but I think those are valuable things to hope and work for, and I did not appreciate that she was too often dismissed and not taken seriously.

Overall though, I think that the author, Rebecca Stead, did a great job with this book. The characters are unique and realistic, and also very understandable. Rebecca Stead also wrote When You Reach Me, which I reviewed before. I did like that book a lot, too, but I think that Goodbye Stranger is even better.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead 100%. — Marshmallow rates *Goodbye Stranger* by Rebecca Stead 100%.

Marshmallow reviews Paint the Wind by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Today Marshmallow reviews Paint the Wind, a 2007 novel by Pam Muñoz Ryan.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about horses and family, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with spoilers): Maya has been living in Southern California with her paternal grandmother Agnes Menetti since her parents’ death. Maya doesn’t remember too much about her parents, especially her mother Ellie. But she does know that her grandmother hated her mother and that she blamed her for the death of Maya’s dad. Agnes has destroyed everything about Ellie, cutting her out of pictures and throwing away her belongings. The only thing in the house remaining which belonged to Ellie are her toy horses, and only because Maya has kept them a secret.

Maya’s grandmother Agnes likes to control everything: people, things, lives. For example she has never had a housekeeper for very long because she’s always been dissatisfied; she believes everything in the house must be kept a certain way and it is hard for people to live up to her expectations. Of course it’s not always the housekeepers’ fault. Maya seems to have a habit of sabotaging the housekeepers’ jobs. For example one time Maya put a blue sweater in the white laundry to get one of the housekeepers fired.

Maya also has a habit of lying. When the new housekeeper discovers her playing with the toy horses, she lies about how her parents died and why she’s hiding the horses. But the housekeeper tells the grandmother anyways. So Maya sabotages her job, too. After that housekeeper is fired and a new one is hired, Agnes starts acting differently and showing signs of memory loss. Eventually, one morning, she collapses into her breakfast, and soon we learn that she has passed away from a stroke.

Afterwards, Maya is sent off to live with her mother’s family. Her mother‘s family lives in the open fields in Wyoming and rides horses. Maya has never met these people before except for when she was a baby and so she’s very nervous. Living with her new family will lead to some changes. She will have to adapt to survive.

A second thread of the book develops around a wild horse named Artemisia. Several chapters, including the first one, have the reader follow Artemisia and the other mustangs as they go through their lives in the wilderness of Wyoming.

As you can expect, the two storylines eventually do merge together and we see Maya and Artemisia forge a strong bond. But not all is fun and games. There is serious trouble ahead.

Marshmallow is reading Paint the Wind by Pam Muñoz Ryan. — Marshmallow is reading *Paint the Wind* by Pam Muñoz Ryan.

Marshmallow’s Review: I think that Paint the Wind is a neat book. The plot line is very intriguing and the whole book is overall very informative. I learned a lot of new things about horses which I didn’t know before. I can see how this would be a great book for bunnies who love horses. I am not especially interested in horses, not more than any other four-legged creature, but I too found the book compelling.

I also found the characters interesting and unique. Though Maya starts out as a lying and inconsiderate person, the book does show us how she transforms into a person who cares about people and living creatures other than herself.

I found the repeated theme about ghost horses interesting: Maya remembers a story about them told by her mom Ellie, and this comes up a few times throughout the book. However I was a little confused about the ending. I wanted to know more about the ghost horses.

The author Pam Muñoz Ryan also wrote Esperanza Rising, which I recently reviewed. The two books have a similar writing style, and they both involve a young girl being forced to leave the life she was used to, though the plots and the characters are very different. I do have to admit that I found Esperanza Rising a lot more touching.

Marshmallow’s rating: 90%.

Marshmallow rates Paint the Wind by Pam Muñoz Ryan 90%. — Marshmallow rates *Paint the Wind* by Pam Muñoz Ryan 90%.

Marshmallow reviews Marley Dias Gets It Done And So Can You! by Marley Dias

Today Marshmallow reviews Marley Dias Gets It Done And So Can You, the 2018 book by Marley Dias. Sprinkles is asking questions and taking notes.

Sprinkles: So Marshmallow, tell us about this book.

Marshmallow: Marley Dias Gets It Done And So Can You! is an inspirational book that encourages the readers to be active and to make a difference in the world. The author is a teenager who was 14 when this book came out. She started a campaign called #1000BlackGirlBooks when she was a sixth grader because she noticed that not many books had protagonists who were black girls like herself. Maybe we can put the publisher’s video here for our readers?

S: Sure. Here it is:

Marley Dias Gets It Done – And So Can You! by Marley Dias – YouTube video by publisher.

M: I think readers might find it interesting to see the author and it gives a sneak peek into the book.

S: It seems like a pretty colorful book.

M: Yes it is. There are many pictures, a lot of photos of Marley Dias herself, and her family, and a lot of other people doing good things to improve the world. The pictures make the book a lot more engaging and much easier to read.

S: So does she talk about how she started her campaign?

M: Yes. She talks about that in the first couple chapters. The first chapter is called Herstory: Who I Am, How This All Began. The first few chapters of the book are about what she has done with the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign. Then she talks about how to properly use social media and other internet resources to make a difference in the world. The last few chapters are about how to make a difference more generally. She talks about how important it is to read a lot and learn about the world. She uses the phrase “woke” in the sense of “politically aware”, and writes about how the readers can become that way.

S: That term has been used and abused a lot in a lot of different ways in the intervening years (Wikipedia tells a bit about the evolution of the word.) But you are right, she uses it in the meaning you point out, and it would be a good thing for young bunnies to be politically aware and think about what is happening in the world.

Marshmallow is reading Marley Dias Gets It Done And So Can You! by Marley Dias. — Marshmallow is reading *Marley Dias Gets It Done And So Can You!* by Marley Dias.

S: You said this was an inspiring book. Can you open that up a bit?

M: It’s inspiring because it shows that children can make a difference. It also gives you ways to make such change, and Marley Dias herself is an example of doing this. So you see her example and she explains all that went into how she was able to make a difference, and you can think about your own context, your own community, your own resources, and your own passions. What you care about, what you wish were different, and so on.

S: That sounds really inspiring. Did you think about something you would like to work towards changing?

M: I am worried about climate change, and I would like to be able to do something about helping the world’s many species that are going extinct.

S: This reminds me of the last book Caramel reviewed: The Aquanaut.

M: Yes, I think I might need to read that one some day. I also would like to help children around the world who do not have access to fresh and clean drinking water and enough food.

S: So did reading Marley Dias’s book help you think about how you could help in either of these causes?

M: A little. It has motivated me to do more, because I have always thought you had to grow up first to make a difference, but maybe I don’t have to wait.

S: I think this is wise Marshmallow and indeed inspiring. So if you were to rate this book, what would you rate it at?

M: I rate it at 95%.

S: Okay, then what would you like to tell our readers as we wrap up this review?

M: Stay tuned for more amazing book reviews from the book bunnies!

Marshmallow rates Marley Dias Gets It Done And So Can You! by Marley Dias 95%. — Marshmallow rates *Marley Dias Gets It Done And So Can You*! by Marley Dias 95%.

Caramel reviews The Aquanaut by Dan Santat

Caramel loves graphic novels and he loves all books by Dan Santat. So when he heard about The Aquanaut, the new (2022) graphic novel by Dan Santat, he knew he had to read and review it as soon as possible for the book bunnies blog. This is that review. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: Please tell us about this book Caramel.

Caramel: The book starts with a ship sinking, and someone’s brother dies. And then four sea animals convert the man’s diving suit into a walking suit so they can move on land. They go on land with this suit to find Aqualand, the dead man’s marine reserve.

S: That is an interesting premise for a story. What are the four animals?

C: There is a dumbo octopus, who is the engineer, a hermit crab, a blanket octopus, and a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle.

S: I had never heard of these animals before, except hermit crabs, who I know take over shells abandoned by other animals. So in some sense taking over a diving suit is perfectly appropriate for a hermit crab. But I had never heard of a blanket octopus.

C: Apparently the males are as big as a walnut but the females can get as large as six feet!

S: That is very interesting!

C: But I had heard of the dumbo octopus before, too.

S: That is neat. You do know a lot about ocean animals! You have read all the Narwhal and Jelly books, and reviewed The Magnificent Book of Ocean Creatures by Val Walerczuk and Tom Jackson for the blog too.

C: Yes. But I learned from this book that Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles are the rarest and most endangered sea turtles in the world. And the others think the ocean is getting a little too dangerous so they think Aqualand should be safer.

S: How do they learn about Aqualand?

C: They find the notebook of the man who died. His name is Michael and he wrote about Aqualand in his notebook.

Caramel is reading The Aquanaut by Dan Santat. — Caramel is reading *The Aquanaut* by Dan Santat.

S: So Aqualand is a marine life reserve, right?

C: Michael and his brother Paul founded it to be a reserve, and Michael’s daughter Sophia still thinks it is one, but when the aquanaut crew, that is the four animals using the diving suit, come to Aqualand, they find out that it is now just an amusement park. And the animals there are not happy. So they set free an orca and …

S: Hmm, that reminded me a lot of the FunJungle books Marshmallow reviewed. In particular, Belly Up.

C: I can see that! Belly Up was also in an amusement park, but it was supposed to be a zoo where the animals would live their lives as naturally as possible.

S: So in The Aquanaut, the animals that steer the diving suit meet Michael’s daughter Sophia, right?

C: Yes. And both Sophia and Paul help the four animals escape and get back to the ocean.

S: That sounds like a sweet story Caramel.

C: Yes definitely. Can we put here the video that Dan Santat recorded for the book?

S: Yes, sure. Here it is.

The Aquanaut by Dan Santat – YouTube video by Scholastic, the publisher.

S: So what would your three words be to describe this book?

C: Colorful, exciting, and sweet. You said that word and I think it works for the book, too.

S: Sounds good to me. So do you think Marshmallow would like this book?

C: Yes, I think so. She loved the FunJungle books and she likes graphic novels too. I think actually that any bunny who likes the ocean and who likes the environment would like this book.

S: That is a solid endorsement Caramel. So what do you want to tell our readers as we wrap up this review?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel loved reading The Aquanaut by Dan Santat and recommends it to any bunny who loves graphic novels, the ocean, and other living creatures. — Caramel loved reading *The Aquanaut* by Dan Santat and recommends it to any bunny who loves graphic novels, the ocean, and other living creatures.