REVIEW: Josie Bloom and the Emergency of Life by Susan Hill Long

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Simon and Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books  in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary


Josie has been living with her grandfather since her mom died. But lately things have gotten… odd. Her grandfather has been stashing wads of cash in weird places around the house. And Josie’s found a bunch of past due notices on their bills. And her grandfather often blurts out nonsense words. She hopes others aren’t noticing.

Her teacher at school IS noticing some other things. Josie’s grades aren’t great. Neither is her hygiene. Her teacher is getting suspicious.

Worst of all is the overdue mortgage bill. Once Josie figures out what a mortgage is, she realizes if she can’t come up with the money, they could lose their house. What would happen to her and her grandfather then?

Review


There’s a LOT going on in this book. Josie is trying to be the responsible grown up in her home, but she doesn’t understand mortgages and checking accounts. She doesn’t know where her grandfather’s cash is coming from. And the two of them end up at cross purposes at times while each is following his/her own plan. Then Josie’s best friend, Winky, is a baseball fanatic who is going blind, so he can’t play the game he loves. His favorite player, Joe Viola, becomes a regular character in Josie’s life. And finally, Josie’s teachers are trying to help out where they can see there’s need, although none of them know the whole story.

It took me awhile to connect to the heart of this one. The different threads felt willy nilly, and I couldn’t lock in to the characters or where the story was going. The timing of the story wasn’t well anchored for me either; I thought this was a contemporary story until it suddenly wasn’t.

But when everything fell apart, and Josie acknowledges the relief of not having to shoulder these burdens on her own any more, I found my connection point. I enjoyed the satisfying conclusion to the story.

Rating: ♥♥♥½

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: Fun Sports Books for Kids

 

You can’t go wrong with books for kids that focus on the sports they love – or even sports in general. Here are some of my favorite sports books to share with kids.

innings-and-outs-of-baseballThe Innings and Outs of Baseball (Science of Fun Stuff) – I love this early reader series – Science of Fun Stuff and History of Fun Stuff. This particular book focuses on the history of baseball. After the epic World Series victory by the Chicago Cubs this year, baseball is as popular as ever.

 

 

babymouse-goes-for-the-gold

Babymouse 20: Babymouse Goes for the Gold – If you haven’t read a Babymouse graphic novel before, you’re missing out. They are FUN, with great pop culture references throughout each story. This particular one focuses on the Olympics.

 

 

jump-shot

Jump Shot (Barber Game Time Books) – I have enjoyed this series about twin brothers, based on the real-life athletes, Tiki and Ronde Barber. They have books about baseball, football and basketball, but this one is my favorite.

 

 

fantasy-league left-out

Two of the most prolific writers of sports books for kids are Mike Lupica and Tim Green.  Fantasy League – Our family has played fantasy football for years. That made this book extra fun to read. Even though it is written for kids, my husband and I both enjoyed it. It’s about a kid who is amazing at fantasy football. Then he gets to try his skills with an actual football team. Left Out – I haven’t read this one yet, but I have it on my TBR pile. It focuses on a deaf kid who wants to play football and the challenges he faces. I’m really looking forward to reading this one.

athlete-vs-mathlete double-dribble time-out

This series is my favorite of all the sports books! This series is about a set of fraternal twins. One is a basketball star and the other is a star student. When the “smart one” gets recruited for the basketball team in book one, Athlete vs. Mathlete, it starts a series of identity struggles for the boys. “Who am I if I’m not the ‘athletic one’ any more?” In book two, Athlete vs. Mathlete: Double Dribble, the question becomes, “Who are we if we aren’t the best twins in basketball?” And book three, Athlete vs. Mathlete: Time-Out, puts the focus back on the original twins as they try to find their place at a competitive summer sports camp. These would be great for a classroom read aloud where students could talk about the identity struggles of the boys.

what-is-the-world-series what-is-the-super-bowl what-are-the-summer-olympics

Finally, there’s the Who Was series of books. The original series focused on biographies, but they have expanded into Where Is, which looks at amazing places around the world, and What Is which looks at different periods in history and other things. The What Is series includes these sports titles: What Is the World Series? (What Was…?),What Is the Super Bowl? (What Was…?), What Are the Summer Olympics? (What Was…?).

 

Do you have any sports lovers in your life?