Marshmallow’s reviews – Page 24

Marshmallow reviews All’s Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson

The book bunnies are quite fond of Renaissance fairs and have been to a few in the last few years. So when Caramel brought home a library book about a young person growing up around these festivals, Marshmallow had to devour it, too. And today she is talking to Sprinkles about All’s Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson, first published in 2017.

Sprinkles: So Marshmallow, you just had to read this book!

Marshmallow: Yes! But I did wait until Caramel finished it first. You know, he was the one who brought it home, so it is only fair.

S: Agreed. So tell me a bit about the book.

M: It’s about a girl named Imogene whose parents work at a Renaissance Fair. She occasionally works there, too. The book starts with her being nervous about starting middle school. She has always been home-schooled before, so she is not sure what to expect.

S: I see. So why is she going to middle school then? Why is she not continuing with home-schooling?

M: I am not sure. I think she wants to go because she thinks it is a brave thing to do.

S: I see. So how does it go?

M: She is not sure how school works, so she has difficulty understanding what the rules are.

S: Can you be more specific? What kinds of rules?

M: There are some unsaid social rules about who hangs out with whom, and she does not know how to read any of the social cues.

S: Okay.

M: Then she makes friends with a group of girls who seem nice at first, but then they are actually kind of toxic.

S: This is reminding me of the movie Mean Girls. There is a new version of the movie too, but we only saw the original one from 2004.

M: Yes, actually it is kind of similar. The main character there was also home-schooled and had some trouble fitting in with the kids in her high school. And just like the main character there, Imogene also makes a huge mistake.

S: She is unkind to some people so she can fit in with the “cool” kids?

M: Kind of. But of course this is middle school, so it is a bit different than the movie.

Marshmallow is reading All's Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson. — Marshmallow is reading *All’s Faire in Middle School* by Victoria Jamieson.

S: Okay, so tell me a bit about the graphics. Did you like the drawing of the main character?

M: Yes.

S: The color scheme kind of reminded me of some of the books you reviewed from Raina Telgemeier.

M: There are some similarities I think. But I do not think one artist was necessarily influenced by the other. I think they are both neat illustrators. They both manage to draw very expressive faces and bodies with only a few strokes of their pen.

S: Sounds like you liked the book!

M: Yes. I’d rate it 100%.

S: Wow! That is great! I am glad Caramel found this in his school library.

M: Me too.

S: Okay, let us wrap this up then. It is getting late. What would you like to tell our readers as we finish this up?

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

Marshmallow rates All's Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson 100%. — Marshmallow rates *All’s Faire in Middle School* by Victoria Jamieson 100%.

Marshmallow reviews National Parks of the U.S.A. by Kate Siber and Chris Turnham

Marshmallow loves everything beautiful, and today she picked a beautiful book to talk about: National Parks of the U.S.A., written by Kate Siber, illustrated by Chris Turnham, and first published in 2018. Sprinkles was intrigued by the book and therefore is asking questions and taking notes along the way.

Marshmallow reviews National Parks of the U.S.A., written by Kate Siber and illustrated by Chris Turnham. — Marshmallow reviews *National Parks of the U.S.A.*, written by Kate Siber and illustrated by Chris Turnham.

Sprinkles: So Marshmallow, you picked a really beautiful book for today’s review. Can you tell us a bit about it?

Marshmallow: If you like the wilderness or at least you enjoy being outdoors, and especially if you are in the U.S.A. and want to know more about its many national parks, then this might be the book for you.

S: It also seems to be a great book for folks who might just want to look at a pretty book.

M: Yes, I agree. It is really a pretty book. Every page is beautifully illustrated. Even though the illustrations seem to be using a limited color palette, focusing mainly on oranges, browns, and greens, each page is distinct and well designed. The limited color scheme actually works really well.

S: Okay, so we both agree that this is a beautiful book to look at. So let us get to the content of the book next.

M: As you can tell from the title, the book is about the national parks in the U.S.A. They are organized more or less geographically. It goes from the east, to the central U.S., then to the Southwest, then to the Rocky Mountains, then to the West. And finally there is a section on Alaska and then the tropics. For each of the regions there is an introductory page or two, and then they focus on some specific parks from the region and talk about the geographic formations, and the flora and fauna found in there.

Marshmallow is reading National Parks of the U.S.A., written by Kate Siber and illustrated by Chris Turnham. — Marshmallow is reading *National Parks of the U.S.A.*, written by Kate Siber and illustrated by Chris Turnham.

S: Did you find some parks that you want to visit some day?

M: Yes, several actually. We have not been to most of these yet. And I think it would be great if we could go to at least some of them.

S: True. Our country has so many beautiful national parks to visit. We have been to a few state parks but not to any of the national ones yet.

M: Maybe we can go on a rabbit-road trip and see some of them.

S: That would be lovely Marshmallow! Did you know that the idea of national parks is relatively new? The first one in the U.S. is the Yellowstone National Park, which only became a national park in 1872. And today many countries around the world have reserved land in similar ways.

M: I did not know that before we found that Wikipedia article; it is very informative. But my book is also very informative. For example did you know that glaciers are not “massive stationary blocks of ice”, but instead are “rivers of frozen water that flow down mountains”? I learned that when I was reading about the Glacier National Park.

S: That is cool!

M: And apparently rangers in the Badlands National Park say that “you have only 500,000 years to visit before the spires and the hills [of the park] wash away from rain and wind”.

S: Sounds like the author has a playful voice.

M: Yes. I really liked her voice. She is playful and friendly and makes the reader want to see all these places.

S: I’d say that is a successful book! How would you rate it?

M: I’d rate it 100%.

S: I knew it! Okay, this is a good time to wrap this up. What would you like to tell our readers?

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

Marshmallow rates National Parks of the U.S.A., written by Kate Siber and illustrated by Chris Turnham, 100%. — Marshmallow rates *National Parks of the U.S.A.*, written by Kate Siber and illustrated by Chris Turnham, 100%.

Marshmallow reviews Amari and the Great Game by B.B. Alston

Last year, Marshmallow reviewed Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston. Today she reviews the second book in the series: Amari and the Great Game, first published in 2022. Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Marshmallow, you have just finished this second book in the series. Was it what you were expecting?

Marshmallow: Well, yes and no. I liked the book very much, and I thought the plot was really good, but I was not expecting a cliffhanger for the end!

S: Hmm, so maybe that means we will have to get a hold of the third book when it comes out.

M: Yes.

S: Okay, let us go back to the beginning. Tell us a bit about this book.

M: Well, this is the second book of the Supernatural Investigations series, so readers need to have read the first book or at least my review of it. But the main character is still Amari Peters, but in this book she has some new enemies.

S: Okay, so maybe tell us a bit about the plot.

M: Amari is excited to continue her summer program in the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, which specializes in hiding and protecting the supernatural world from the rest of the human world. Kind of like the Ministry of Magic from the world of Harry Potter.

S: What you are saying reminds me a bit of The Menagerie, too.

M: Yes, a bit.

S: Alright. Tell me more.

M: So Amari is training to become an agent for the Department of Supernatural Investigations. And she is a junior in her second year, in this book. The book starts with her cracking open a fortune cookie which tells her to look out for unseen dangers. Then there is a time freeze, all of Georgia is frozen in time for a short period of time, everyone except Amari is affected. But then most but not all of Georgia unfreeze, and of course that is a problem.

S: Is that the main problem of the book?

M: Yes, the congress is stuck and the prime minister and the major leaders are all stuck in time. So of course in this power vacuum, some bad people take the lead. And then Amari gets kicked out of the Bureau.

S: So a lot happens all at once.

M: Yes. And so Amari and her friends will have to solve the mystery of who froze the congress in time and also try to avoid getting punished by the evil people who take over.

Marshmallow is reading Amari and the Great Game by B.B. Alston. — Marshmallow is reading *Amari and the Great Game* by B.B. Alston.

S: Sounds like a lot.

M: Yes, but Amari is smart and she is also a magician. She is the most magical person known in the history of the Bureau, so she has all that going for her.

S: So again, kind of like Harry Potter again, no?

M: Yes, but here being a magician is bad, and everyone blames the magicians for the time freeze.

S: So she has to hide her magic a bit?

M: Yes, and that is not the only issue. Her brother is still under a curse and is in a coma. And Amari wants to save him especially because his condition is worsening.

S: So tell me what the great game is in the title.

M: There is a hidden organization of magicians called the League of Magicians, and they are trying to use their powers for good despite the animosity that they face from others. The League wants Amari to be their leader and she declines because she is young and she does not want power of that sort, but then when the League makes the same proposal to a bad magician, Amari has to compete against him to make sure he does not get that power. That is the Great Game. The two magicians competing.

S: Kind of like the games in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire?

M: Yes, but this is not just a game between schoolchildren competing for a championship trophy. The winner gets more than just bragging rights. They get to lead the League of Magicians to war or to peace.

S: I see. So a lot more is at stake.

M: Yes. And Amari is not quite like Harry. Harry is impulsive and does not take advice really well. Amari does not have many adults to trust, so she does what she thinks is necessary.

S: So do you like her as a character?

M: Yes. She is smart and strong-willed. But I have to say this world is kind of limiting. I mean, your skills and your future are more or less determined from birth, and the moment you touch the crystal ball which determines your superpower. And if you have too much magic, then you are a magician, and that is viewed as bad by many people. People label the magicians the UnWanteds, along with some other people whose ancestors were on the wrong side in a long-ago war. Essentially the book world is mirroring our world, where some people are othered based on things they cannot control.

S: So even though this magical world is quite different from ours, it is also similar?

M: Yes.

S: That sounds like a good book to me.

M: Yes. I have to say though that I am disappointed that it ends in a cliffhanger. The next book is not coming out till the end of the summer!

S: Well, maybe you will just have to read other books till then.

M: Probably.

S: Okay, if you were to rate this book…

M: I’d rate it 100%.

S: Great! So let us wrap up this review then. What would you like to tell our readers?

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

Marshmallow rates Amari and the Great Game by B.B. Alston 100%. — Marshmallow rates *Amari and the Great Game* by B.B. Alston 100%.

Marshmallow reviews An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments by Ali Almossawi

Today Marshmallow reviews a little book about big ideas: An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments, written by Ali Almossawi and illustrated by Alejandro Giraldo, first published in 2013.

Marshmallow reviews An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments, written by Ali Almossawi and illustrated by Alejandro Giraldo. — Marshmallow reviews *An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments*, written by Ali Almossawi and illustrated by Alejandro Giraldo.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like nonfiction books with drawings, or if you are curious to learn more about how to make good arguments, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): This cute book covers a surprisingly serious topic in a surprisingly simple way. This is quite simply an illustrated book of different logical fallacies. (According to Wikipedia, “a fallacy is the use of invalid or otherwise faulty reasoning in the construction of an argument that may appear to be well-reasoned if unnoticed.”) Each fallacy has a couple short paragraphs of explanations and a drawing of human-like animals to demonstrate a different bad argument based on a different logical fallacy. Each description is about a page long (though keep in mind that it is with a relatively large font size on a small, square page). The drawings are big and take up another page which makes it very visually appealing to be able to see the description on the left page with the image on the right. The images are hand-drawn (I think) and are in black and white.

Marshmallow is reading An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments, written by Ali Almossawi and illustrated by Alejandro Giraldo. — Marshmallow is reading *An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments*, written by Ali Almossawi and illustrated by Alejandro Giraldo.

Marshmallow’s Review: An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments by Ali Almossawi is extremely well written and extremely easy to understand and read. Younger bunnies could comprehend practically all of the book’s content (since the examples are fairly basic). Yet, this book conveys an important message: Bad arguments are disturbingly common, in daily life and on the larger scale.

Be it political or personal, people are constantly making bad arguments based on logical fallacies to sway others. And unfortunately, this approach often works. Having a good understanding of how to evaluate arguments based on logical reasoning is a necessity in a world overwhelmed with poor arguments and fallacies meant to deceive.

I think this book is a good read for bunnies of all ages because of the simple but useful explanations and descriptions of each logical fallacy. The illustrating artist, Alejandro Giraldo, has a clear, consistent style which draws you in (forgive the pun).

Overall, this is a very neat and clean book that is entertaining and informative to read. It can help develop skills that all bunnies will likely need to use for their whole lives. I think it can also be useful if you yourself are writing arguments. It helps you recognize some of your own argumentative mistakes so that you can make better claims. As a bunny who is into Speech and Debate, I know that this is a very useful skill. But for all students in general who need to learn to write so they can defend their beliefs and ideas, this book is a great source to improve their ability to refute and strengthen arguments.

In summary, An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments is a comprehensive guide to living in a world where the truth is not always clear. But this illustrated book of bad arguments makes things clearer, and if I haven’t proven this to you yet, then I guess I must be using some sort of logical fallacy. And the only way for you to find out whether I have is to read this book!

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments, written by Ali Almossawi and illustrated by Alejandro Giraldo, 100%. — Marshmallow rates *An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments*, written by Ali Almossawi and illustrated by Alejandro Giraldo, 100%.