Book Review: Echo Mountain

It's the Great Depression and times are hard, leading people to move to the mountain when they have nothing left. Then Ellie's dad has a tragic accident that leaves him in a coma and everyone in her family thinks it's her fault. 

ECHO MOUNTAIN, by Lauren Wolk, should be a sad, depressing tale, but the spirit of Ellie and what she finds on the mountain make this story more like an adventure. The reader roots for her as she finds and cares for "the hag" and tries her unusual remedies for waking her dad up. 

ECHO MOUNTAIN is beautiful, and sad, and a story like no other. I give it two thumbs up. 

Book Review: Planet Earth is Blue

 PLANET EARTH IS BLUE is a debut middle grade novel by Nicole Panteleakos set in January 1986  the week prior to the Challenger disaster. As a fan of all things 80s and especially David Bowie, there was much to love in this story. Not the least of which was the main character, Nova, who loves space and her sister Bridget. Nova also has autism and does not speak much. She writes letters to her sister that teachers call "scribbles." At every school she attended, she is labeled as "does not speak, severely retarded," which makes Nova and her sister Bridget mad. Nova is looking forward to two things, seeing the Challenger launch the first teacher into space and having Bridget come back to watch it with her. 

Knowing how the Challenger launch went in 1986, I found myself dreading living through it again in this story. Spoiler alert: the ending of this book is very, very sad in more ways than one.

The author has been an instructor at a school for autistic children and volunteered at an after school center.  This experience may have contributed to the fabulous character development of the non neurotypical Nova. Her perspective is refreshing and makes the story one of the best middle grade novels I've read in 2020.