This is How it Always is by Laurie Frankel

Published: December 2018
Genres: Literary Fiction, Woman's Fiction

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Description:

This is how a family keeps a secret…and how that secret ends up keeping them.

This is how a family lives happily ever after…until happily ever after becomes complicated.

This is how children change…and then change the world.

This is Claude. He’s five years old, the youngest of five brothers, and loves peanut butter sandwiches. He also loves wearing a dress, and dreams of being a princess.

When he grows up, Claude says, he wants to be a girl.

Rosie and Penn want Claude to be whoever Claude wants to be. They’re just not sure they’re ready to share that with the world. Soon the entire family is keeping Claude’s secret. Until one day it explodes.

Laurie Frankel's This Is How It Always Is is a novel about revelations, transformations, fairy tales, and family. And it’s about the ways this is how it always is: Change is always hard and miraculous and hard again, parenting is always a leap into the unknown with crossed fingers and full hearts, children grow but not always according to plan. And families with secrets don’t get to keep them forever.

Review:

This was my Bookclub's pick for September. This one definitely gave me all the feels. If you have not read this one I highly recommend dropping whatever you are doing and getting right on it! I was a bit skeptical about reading a book that encouraged a child at 5years of age to make a HUGE life changing desicion and switch genders. As a mom and daycare provider, I know 3 and 4 year olds have a hard time remembering the difference if they or their friend is a boy or a girl. As a 5 year old I don't find the mental development that much further.

With that said, I feel like there was a lot of the book that came about "to easily". The parents for one. They seemed to always "have the right answers" knew exactly how to navigate this journey without any questioning of themselves or each other. I have no idea what I would do in their shoes but I found their journey through this a little to story book like. As a parent who is trying to figure out how to navigate this new world and teach my children to do the same, it would have been a lot more relatable had the parents' struggle been more believable. I think the author should have stepped back and separated her situation a bit more from how she wants people to react to how they really will react.

Furthermore, regarding the parents, they really just bugged the crap out of me. As a working adult she couldn't get her butt to work on time, no adult is going to get away from that. The dad was supposed to be a writer but let's take 10 years to figure out what we're going to write about. Insert large eye rolling. Claude/Poppy, I did feel for the child. The laughs and tears all came at the right spot. I completely fell in love with this child and wanted to protect him/her.

Overall I did enjoy the book. It was something way outside the circle of things that I have read and really shed the light about how I would react and handle this situation.

Princess Arebeena and the Crystal Fairies by Fiona Boyd

Published: May 21, 2019
Genres: Children's Fiction

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Description:

“This book is a joy from cover to cover … children are sure to love it.” - Janey Louise Jones, author of the Princess Poppy series and Superfairies series 
Welcome to the magical Kingdom of Treenesta, governed by King David and Queen Trixie!  
This is the first book in the Crystal Fairy series, which features seven feisty sisters with a touch of attitude. This story is set around the day of Princess Arebeena’s birthday where Princess Arebeena is tasked with a treasure hunt. Accompanied by her best friend Isabella, Princess Arebeena sets out on an exciting adventure looking for her missing tiara… but what else will she find along the way? As you travel through the land of Treenesta, you will meet some interesting animal characters, including Fern the frog, Saffi the barn owl and Dreeva the dragon. Find out how Princess Arebeena makes friends with the seven crystal fairies: Ruby, Amber, Citrine, Emerald, Sapphire, Amethyst and Rose.

Will the Princess find her tiara? And after such a tiring quest, how will she get back to the Royal Palace in time for her birthday celebrations? The storyline encourages a positive attitude, bravery and emphasises the power of friendship, and is beautifully illustrated at each step with detailed, full-colour paintings. It will be enjoyed by children aged 5-7 years.


Review:

Thank you to NetGalley for a Copy of this book. I received this in exchange for my honest review. As a mother of two young girls, I am always looking for books for them. This could be a fun book that I read to them since they are only 4 and 2 yo. This would also make a great book for new readers expanding their vocabulary. There are enough words that they would feel confident reading on their own as a first or second grader and there are fun words with the names and the fairies for young readers to expand upon. 

I found the main character a little too timid. I'm all about my girls finding other women who they can look to for a strong female example, Princess Arebeena didn't really fill that rold. However, she was kind to everyone she came across so I guess that would be a positive example in that sense. 

This book includes a Princess on a fun journey and comes across fairies and dragons. Girls would definitely be motivated to read this as this would be a great story to step into.

After the Fire by Will Hill

Amazon

Published: October 2, 2018 by Sourcebooks Fire
Genres: Fiction, YA, Contemporary

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Description:
Moonbeam lived in a cult.  She was not allowed to leave the property, nor allowed to talk to Outsiders, or to speak her mind. Father John controlled everything. He uses the Bible and twists its words to fit his own needs. Father John likes rules. Disobeying him came with terrible consequences. Then there is an outsider that comes in and stirs things up. Getting Moonbeam to see her life may not be as "true" as she has been lead to believe. She seeks courage to protect herself and the other children of the Lord's Legion. 

Review:
Thank you to NetGalley and to Sourcebooks Fire for the Advanced Reader's Copy of this book. I received this in exchange for my honest review. 

The cover I feel would be more fitting for a novel about a monstrous child starting a house fire. Or a father trailing his family and leaving the child orphaned. These are just thoughts that had popped into my mind when I first saw the cover. I love the cover, and I guess after reading the whole novel I can see how it fits with so many of the children becoming orphaned. 

I loved the story! Power, Corruption. Father John does such a grand job of twisting the minds and fears of the people whom he "loves" ignorer to get them to obey. I am so shocked at how many people would move to a place like this and absorb so many lies into believe the as their new truth. 

I loved watching Moombeam develop. She goes from nightmares and not really understanding who she can trust or how much she can trust to really trusting and counting on Doctor Hernandez and Agent Carlyle. She turned out to be a very strong character. You can tell as she subdues Father John's voice in her head telling her to keep her mouth shot and calling her a heretic. Eventually those voices are gone and to me this speaks to how strong of a woman she is turning into. 

The story bounces between a "before" and "after" theme. The after being the conversations she is having with those around her in the therapy and before being her recollections of what had happen. I enjoy stories that have this type of set up. It really shows how the character is able to overcome and grow after such a tragic event. 

I have never known anyone who has been in a cult. I can completely see how easy how these things could really get out of hand. Hill really brought the setting to life and made me feel like I was really there and able to picture easily. I will be excited to see if this is made into a movie.

So much of this book was great. Why only 4 Stars? For me, it was a slow read. I was fully enjoying everything about it and I really wanted to know more but it was a bit of a chore to read this through. I am glad I did. I will definitely be recommending this book!