In her second review for 2024, Marshmallow talks about Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, first published in 2017, and awarded the Newberry Honor in 2018.
Marshmallow reviews Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds.
Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you are interested in reading books about family, gang violence, growing up against significant challenges, and morality, then this might be the book for you.
Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Will’s brother, Shawn, was just shot in front of him. They live only a couple blocks away from the territory of the Dark Suns, a dangerous local gang, and Shawn had gone into their territory to get a special soap for their mother’s eczema. Will is sure that he knows who is responsible for his brother’s death: Riggs. And he is going to make sure that Riggs pays for it.
See, Will lives in a hard, tough neighborhood. There are gangs, shootings, murders, and violence regularly. And everyone follows the Rules. Shawn, in fact, was the one who taught them to Will:
Number 1: No crying,
Number 2: No snitching,
Number 3: Get revenge if someone hurts your loved ones.
Will is determined to follow the Rules. He sure is not going to cry or “snitch” to the police, but he is going to try to get revenge on Riggs. He takes his brother’s old gun (which is fully loaded except for missing only one bullet) and heads out of his apartment on the eighth floor, to get to where he thinks Riggs is as soon as possible. He gets on the elevator and presses “L”, for lobby.
Unfortunately for Will, it is a long way down and the elevator stops at each level, a person getting on at each. What is more, these are not normal people. These are dead people who Will knew. First, it’s a friend of Shawn. Next, it’s Will’s old friend who was shot at a playground with him. And so on.
Each person Will meets in this short elevator ride that takes the whole book is important to him in some way. His mindset, originally so focused on revenge, starts to loosen. Once the elevator reaches the last floor, will Will continue with his plan or will he make a different choice?
Marshmallow is reading Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds.
Marshmallow’s Review: I think that Long Way Down is a very successfully written book, in more ways than one.
I, personally, do not always love books written in verse; I sometimes find it hard to discern the plot and I feel like it limits character growth. Before this book, Starfish by Lisa Fipps was the only such book I really appreciated. So when I started reading this book and realized it was in verse, I was a little disheartened. However, I feel like this book was very successful in all the categories most good novels excel in. The narration through Will’s eyes and voice worked well, the characters introduced came across quite clearly, and the events unfolded effectively. The free-style though structured poetry added to the feeling of confinement in an elevator.
Both the plot and the premise of Long Way Down are most intriguing; the whole book takes place in the course of one fateful elevator ride as conversations unfold in front of Will. I do want to warn readers that there is a cliffhanger at the end of the book, and this is not part of a series. However, the journey to that point is worth it. The author did not leave things hanging just for the sake of it of course; the end makes the reader think hard about what will happen next and process the message of the book even more carefully. I can see this book successfully paired with The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton in important discussions young people can have about gangs and violence.
If it is not clear already, let me say explicitly that I think Long Way Down is important for bunnies of all ages to read. There is some slang used, and of course the weight of gang violence might make the book a bit inappropriate for the youngest bunnies. But for bunnies reading middle grades books, it is an important (and quick, breathless) read. Will’s story makes you realize the harsh reality of gang violence if it is not your own actual reality. Many people, pop culture, and the media glorify gangster culture, but this book shows what happens to the people who are affected.
Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.
Marshmallow rates Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds 100%.
The book bunnies are back from their winter break and it is time for Marshmallow’s first review for 2024! For this review she chose to write about Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun by Tọlá Okogwu, the first in Okogwu’s Onyeka series, first published in 2022.
Marshmallow reviews Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun by Tọlá Okogwu.
Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about Nigerian culture and mythology, embracing yourself, exploring your abilities, friends, and family, then this might be the book for you.
Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Onyeka’s most striking feature is her hair, of which she has a lot. Her hair is not very agreeable and is extremely hard to maintain and style, frustrating Onyeka and her overprotective mother to no end. While her best friend (Cheyenne) couldn’t care less about what people think, Onyeka would be perfectly happy to be more normal, more like everyone else. It doesn’t help that Onyeka’s mother is always reminding her that she has to be extra careful because she’s not like everyone else.
Onyeka’s mother has her wear a swimming cap to Cheyenne’s birthday pool party, which makes her feel even more different. But at the party, Cheyenne almost drowns until Onyeka’s hair becomes somehow animated and saves the two girls. Soon, the meaning of her mother’s warnings become clear to her: Onyeka really isn’t like other people because she is a Solari. The Solari are people who each have a superhuman or supernatural power (called an Ike) and who originate from Nigeria. (There are exceptions; some Solari have two powers.) These powers, Onyeka is told, come from an accident, from exposure to a leaked material.
There is a school named the Academy of the Sun, for Solari children so they can learn to control their powers. Onyeka and her mother travel to Nigeria so she can attend this school. They used to live there originally but left after Onyeka’s father disappeared when she was small. She and her mother fled after receiving a letter telling them to.
Now upon their return, Onyeka’s mother plans on finding answers. Meanwhile, Onyeka starts to attend the Academy. She receives instruction from teachers and pupils, making new friends and enemies. Unfortunately, every time she uses her Ike, she feels extremely unwell. Join Onyeka as she discovers the magic and danger of the new world of the Solari.
Marshmallow is reading Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun by Tọlá Okogwu.
Marshmallow’s Review: I really liked reading Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun. Onyeka is a very relatable character. She is not as rash as Harry Potter or as carefree as Percy Jackson, and she is definitely not perfect. Even though she is emotional, she is just as brave as those other famous heroes, and in the end, she manages to use her emotions in productive ways.
The magical world the author builds is fascinating in itself. Even though a lot of the story happens in Nigeria, just like in Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor that I reviewed earlier, this world was quite unique. The trope of a young person finding out they have superpowers is also well developed in a whole lot of books, but somehow the Solari add a totally new flavor to the genre.
There is a neat plot twist at the end of the book, which caught me by surprise. I enjoyed Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun very much and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.
Marshmallow rates Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun by Tọlá Okogwu 100%.
At the end of last year, we decided to try something new and New-Year-ish and talk about all the books we had read through 2022. This year, we continue this new tradition and take a look at our reviews for 2023.
[2023 saw the bunnies read and review many books, both new and classic. You can find a full list here.]
The book bunnies review the books of 2023.
Sprinkles: Again, it is probably easiest for me to go over my reviews first, because as usual, I reviewed much fewer books than the two of you. I did enjoy all the books I reviewed though.
First, in October, I reviewed two children’s books about the mathematician Emmy Noether. This was right after the time I saw the one-woman play about her life, so I was very excited to talk about Noether and her life. I think my favorite among the two was Emmy Noether: The Most Important Mathematician You’ve Never Heard Of, written by Helaine Becker and illustrated by Kari Rust, and published in 2020. Rust’s illustrations are cute and sharp at the same time, and the cartoonish detractors of Noether are shown humorously while the severity of Noether’s challenges is not minimized. The math and physics connections of her work are explained with precise terms in what is still a totally comprehensible language, and the illustrations support these descriptions. All in all, I thought this was a neat book to introduce young people to Noether and her life.
Sprinkles is posing with Emmy Noether: The Most Important Mathematician You’ve Never Heard Of, written by Helaine Becker and illustrated by Kari Rust.
Sprinkles is posing with Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, written by Robert Frost and illustrated by Susan Jeffers.
By the way I’d love to review more poetry books for young bunnies, so if any of our readers know of any, please send us your suggestions.
Finally in late 2023, I also reviewed a book called My Unfurling by Lisa May Bennett. This was a different kind of book, engaging with rather adult themes, so I felt it would not necessarily fit our blog, but Nicole Pyles was kind enough to have me write a guest post for her blog, World of My Imagination.
Marshmallow: I also reviewed a book with some mature content this year. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel is a graphic novel, a growing-up story of sorts, but it deals with a lot of challenging issues, more so than your average growing-up story.
S: True. I also just finished reading this book, and you are right, I agree, the book has a lot of mature content. You also read a handful of books directed at students older than yourself.
S: Makes sense to me. Caramel, you also read about school this year.
Caramel: Well, but mine is all fiction. I began to read the Spy School books.
M: Those are great books!
C: Yes, they are.
S: You have gone through the series rather fast, haven’t you?
C: Yep.
S: I know there are two more books in the series that you need to review, but so far, you reviewed all of the first nine books. Which one is your favorite?
C: It is hard to say. They are all so good!
S: Say you were traveling and needed to take only one with you. Which one would you take?
Some of Caramel’s favorite Spy School books. Some of Caramel’s favorite Spy School books. Some of Caramel’s favorite Spy School books. Some of Caramel’s favorite Spy School books.
S: So was Spy School the most fun series you read this year?
C: Well, I did not really read a lot of other series this year. But I did read the Wayside School books, and those were fun too. Still Spy School books might be more fun.
S: I see. What else did you read this year that you liked?
Two of Caramel’s favorites this year were Wild Robot Protects and The One and Only Bob.Two of Caramel’s favorites this year were Wild Robot Protects and The One and Only Bob.
C: I liked that book a lot, too. Though it was kind of a sad book. I wish it had been happier.
S: I know Caramel. How about you Marshmallow? What were some of your favorites from this year?
M: Probably my favorite for this year was Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng. I thought it was very moving and all around a great book. I also really enjoyed reading And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. I mean, I did not find it very comfortable as I was reading it because it got very tense, but once I was done, I could see that it was extremely well constructed.
S: She is good, isn’t she?
M: Yep. She is a classic, you could say!
One of Marshmallow’s favorites this year was Agatha Christie’s And then There Were None. Another of Marshmallow’s favorites this year was Our Missing Hearts bf Celeste Ng.
S: You also read a few other classics this year, right?
S: This might be the most fiction you have ever reviewed till now!
M: It really might. And I liked all of these books.
S: That sounds like a good year to me!
Some of Marshmallow’s favorite nonfiction books this year.Some of Marshmallow’s favorite nonfiction books this year.Some of Marshmallow’s favorite nonfiction books this year.Some of Marshmallow’s favorite nonfiction books this year.Some of Marshmallow’s favorite nonfiction books this year.
S: How about you Caramel? Which nonfiction books did you like most?
Some of Caramel’s favorite nonfiction books this year.Some of Caramel’s favorite nonfiction books this year.Some of Caramel’s favorite nonfiction books this year.Some of Caramel’s favorite nonfiction books this year.Some of Caramel’s favorite nonfiction books this year.
S: I can see your pattern. Star Wars books, books about making planes and spaceships, books about animals and other facts, and books about LEGOs.
C: I don’t know Sprinkles. Maybe you are getting tired.
S: Maybe I am. We have been talking about books for a while now. And it is getting late. So shall we wrap up this wrap-up of the year?
M: Yes. I am getting really hungry!
S: Okay, let us do that then. All in all, this was a really good year with lots and lots of good books, wasn’t it?
C: Yep.
M: Definitely! And we will continue to read and review many many more in the new year!
S: But we are taking off for January, like we have been doing every year. We should definitely mention that.
C: But we will be back!
M: In February. With many more great book reviews!
S: So happy new year!
C: And stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!
The book bunnies, and new friend Red, wish all bunnies around the world a happy new year in 2024, with lots of good books and many friends, old and new!
Today Marshmallow reviews Amari and the Night Brothers, the first book in B. B. Alston’s Supernatural Investigations series, first published in 2021.
Marshmallow reviews Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston.
Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about magic, family, and friendship, then this might be the book for you.
Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Amari Peters’s brother, Quinton, disappeared six months ago, and since then, everything seems to be going downhill. People at her private school bully her. She’s Black, of low-income, and is attending private school on a scholarship. Her peers, who are mostly rich and white, view her as a good target. Eventually, after a particularly vile joke about her brother’s disappearance, Amari pushes one of the girls bullying her. She immediately loses her scholarship as a result.
Later at home, Amari receives a mysterious delivery, which according to the delivery person is supposed to appear in her brother’s closet. There, she finds a ticking briefcase, which holds a nomination for a summer tryout for the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. Amari’s brother Quinton was a genius who disappeared soon after graduating high school and finding a promising job. The family did not know what this job was, but now Amari has her suspicions, that it had something to do with this Bureau. So she figures this invitation is the best chance she might have of finding her brother.
Eventually Amari figures out that the Bureau manages the humans’ interactions with the supernatural world. There are different departments handling different types of magic, and there is apparently a whole world that regular folks like us do not know about. Now that Amari is initiated to this world, she learns that she does not quite fit in here, either. At the beginning of her training, she learns that her specific supernatural ability is deemed illegal.
Still Amari is determined, against all odds, natural and supernatural, to find out what happened to her brother. But she has many enemies, like the Night Brother and his devious assistant, who will fight to stop her.
Marshmallow is reading Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston.
Marshmallow’s Review: Amari and the Night Brothers is a great book for fans of Percy Jackson and Harry Potter. An unlikely hero, who finds her strength against all odds, in a world of magic that was unknown to her from the start, Amari is really a likeable character. What is more, the world B. B. Alston builds around her is very interesting. Even though some readers may indeed find parallels between this book and other popular series, the plot of this particular book is unique and most intriguing. I read it breathlessly and I was in the dark about the real explanations of some things until the very end. I kept having these “a-ha!” moments that kept turning out to be “oops!” moments. B. B. Alston seems to really know how to play with the reader’s mind.
I really enjoyed reading Amari and the Night Brothers, and I can’t wait to read the second book.
Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.
Marshmallow rates Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston 100%.
BookBunnies 