How to Dodge a Cannonball by Dennard Dayle
I requested this book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program because it was listed as historical fiction and was published by a well-known house (Henry Holt). Instead, it is really "Civil War satire about American racism" as described in the blurb, and I was probably not the best audience for that. Parts of the book were quite funny, but I found the story hard to follow (and unbelievable) in places. White teenager Anders joins the Union Army as a flag twirler to escape his abusive mother, defects to the Confederates, then back to the Union after Gettysburg - but to an African American regiment, where he claims to be an octoroon. By the end of the book (also quoting the blurb), "Anders begins to see the war through the eyes of his newfound brothers, comprehending it not so much as a fight for Black liberation but as a negotiation among white people over which kinds of oppression will be acceptable in the re-United States." I did finish the book, I didn't hate it, and I'm sure there's an audience who will love it - just not me. (My ex-brother-in-law, who tries too hard to be funny in his annual holiday newsletter, would probably love this.)
The Irish Goodbye by Heather Aimee O'Neal
Three sisters come home for Thanksgiving after many years apart, due to a fatal accident on their older brother's boat and his later suicide. Cait, the oldest, is recently divorced with bratty twins, home from England where she recently quit her attorney job when she didn't make partner. She wants to get together with her high school crush - the brother of the boy who died on her brother's boat - and invites him to the holiday dinner. Maggie, the youngest, is nervous about bringing home her new lover, knowing her mother won't approve. Alice, the middle child who stayed near home and takes care of their aging parents as well as her own family, has a secret that could wreck her marriage. These women are somewhat unlikeable (at least to me) at the beginning of the book, but as their backstories come out, I grew to empathize with and even like them. This is author Heather Aimee O'Neill's first novel, and I have to wonder if she modeled Maggie on herself and Cait and Alice on her own sisters. Write what you know, right?
Drawing Is ...: Your Guide to Scribbled Adventures by Elizabeth Haidle
A beautiful book for ages eight and up about drawing, with a number of exercises to practice the tips and skills discussed. Author and illustrator Elizabeth Haidle used pencil, ink, gouache, graphite powder, digital collage, and a lot of hand-lettering. I especially love the endpapers, the first with tools of the trade neatly lined up, the last with them more scattered, many clearly used, and interspersed with sketches. A great gift for a budding artist or anyone interested in learning more about drawing.
This Book Is Dangerous! by Ben Clanton
This picture book features Jelly, the jellyfish character from cartoonist Ben Clanton's Narwhal and Jelly series of easy readers / comic books / graphic novels. (I reviewed the first book in that series back in 2016.) The story is silly, and not particularly interactive, in my opinion, but the illustrations are fun, and the glow-in-the-dark dust jacket is awesome.
I also re-read Moloka'i by Alan Brennert, since I'd forgotten some aspects of the story (which I first read in 2008) when I read its sequel, Daughter of Moloka'i, earlier this year.
