Tag: YA

More Legend – Raising the Horseman

As you all know from reading here, I love when my world and the world inside the books I’m reading overlaps. I love walking through the spaces that appear on the pages. It’s a special vortex where I can almost step into the book and the story jumps off the page and surrounds me.

I love local stories and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is one of my favorites. Of course, autumn calls for a trip down to Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow to walk through the pages and visit that tiny space where the book comes to life and I’m standing in the story looking around. While I love this trip any time of year, autumn is extra special there because the location and season match. My previous reviews of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and related stories can be found here: The Legend, The Hollow Trilogy, and The Horseman.

I saw the site of the Van Tassel house, visited the Old Dutch Church and wandered through the cemetery, of course stopping at Washington Irving’s headstone. I read each signpost that indicated the ties the legend has to that very spot. As I wandered through Tarrytown, I visited a wonderful bookshop and picked up a copy of Serena Valentino’s “Raising the Horseman.”

In “Raising the Horseman” we met the many times great granddaughter of Katrina Van Tassel, who continues her legacy by also being a Katrina (goes by Kat) whose family is preparing for the 200th anniversary of the Horseman’s legendary haunting of Sleepy Hollow. Kat doesn’t believe in ghosts and finds it frustrating that her entire town seems to be obsessed with them. She wants to explore the world and feels frustrated that her parents keep talking about her family obligation to continue the family’s legacy in Sleepy Hollow. Kat meets a new friend, Isabella Crowe, who unbeknown to Kat also has ties to the legend. Kat is given the 1st Katrina’s diary to read and as she does, the legend seems to come to life around her.

I wish I could tell you more, but I don’t want to give away any of the surprises in this book. The story involves surprises, ghosts, and even the Headless Horseman himself. I loved how a 200-year-old Legend could still be believable in a modern-day story. My only complaint is that this book wasn’t longer. Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down. The story moves back and forth between Katrina’s diary and Kat’s story 200 years later. While this might sound confusing, it isn’t. Katrina’s story brings a new perspective to the Legend, and we see a new side of Katrina along with Kat (who previously knew the same Legend story as the reader).

This is an incredible YA book for both YA and adult readers. I highly recommend this story. I also highly recommend visiting Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow before/after (or even during) your read to walk through the book. While there, stop by Transom Books and get a coffee at Coffee Labs (I can provide restaurant recommendations too for anyone looking to make an entire day of it).

Bookish Halloween Costumes

Edited with Afterlight

(*note – this originally was published in October 2022 but always a good reminder to look to books for fun costume ideas).

This week, several friends sent me a photo of a little girl dressed up as a book fairy. Her wings were made from an open hard-cover book. Her skirt was made from loose book pages. The costume was brilliant, and I wish I was going to a Halloween party just to be a book fairy. The fact that multiple friends sent me the same image made me happy…they know me well!

This got me thinking about other bookish Halloween costumes. I know I originally said I would write about ways to bring books alive, and I will cover that more soon, although I think Halloween costumes are a perfect way to make a book come alive for a child (or teen, adult, pet, anyone). Dress up as your favorite character whether they are from a movie, cartoon, book, or comic book.

If a child likes a book series, what better way to get them even more excited about reading more in the series than for them to dress up as that character? We often see Harry Potter and Hermione, and I love that children love the characters so much that they choose to dress up like them. In our house, costumes have been some very popular book characters and some more obscure. Some of my favorite book character costumes from our Halloweens past include Gerald from the Mo Willems “Elephant & Piggie” books, a borrowed Sophie Foster costume from Shannon Messenger’s “Keeper of the Lost Cities” series (and yes, we had a friend who happened to have that costume), Katniss Everdeen from Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games,” and a group costume consisting of Hermione, Harry’s Owl (carrying a copy of the Daily Prophet), and Doby.

Some characters are challenging because their costumes look like regular clothes, so how do you identify it as a costume? Fear not, it is still possible. For many of our book costumes, I made a trick-or-treat bag. I picked up a package of plain white cloth bags and printer transfer paper. Print a full-sheet book cover onto your transfer paper and iron it onto the bag. It’s simple (although read the instructions to see if you need to flip the image before printing so you don’t have a backward book cover). The easiest way to immediately identify that the child is dressed up as their favorite book character, and that bag will likely become a favorite little book tote bag.

I can’t wait to see all the costumes, especially the book-inspired ones this Halloween. If you dressed up as a book character, be sure to share a picture. I’d love to see it!

Revisiting New Orleans…

Back in October, I read Paula Morris’ “Ruined” and I was immediately hooked. It had all the makings of the a great “spooky season” read….ghosts, New Orleans, history, a family curse, and New Orleans cemeteries. As I told a friend about the book, I looked it up online to check the author’s name and discovered there was a second book. It continued!

I’m always excited when the story continues and quickly ordered a copy of “Unbroken.” Rebecca returns to New Orleans with a friend from home to visit family and one friend, Anton. New Orleans without a ghost and a family curse should hopefully be less stressful until a mysterious boy shows up in New York asking for help in New Orleans.

While Rebecca tries to keep the ghost hidden, it isn’t as easy as it sounds. Talking to an invisible person draws attention to you. Rebecca has to share the news with her friend from home….she sees ghosts and one needs her help. Helping a ghost is never easy and other ghosts become angry and try to stop her.

Sometimes second books don’t live up to the first. It feels like a desperate attempt to continue a completed story. That was not the case here. The story continued. It flowed. It made sense. Rebecca and her dad visiting family in New Orleans was logical. The ghost that found her didn’t feel forced. The story took different turns than the first and while the characters and location were the same, it was definitely a new story that continued from the last book.

I would definitely recommend both “Ruined” and “Unbroken.” I could see the streets of New Orleans as I turned the pages and I really enjoyed both books. If you are looking for a ghost story that isn’t scary, but rather friends and enemies that span centuries, be sure to check these books out.

When your secrets go viral…

How do you keep things private in a digital age? When things can easily be shared online? When hackers can access devices and cloud storage, is anything ever really safe?

In “In Case You Missed It” by Sarah Darer Littman we see what happens when your safe protected cloud storage is hacked and shared online. Sammy, a high school junior is busy with the APs and getting her driver’s license. She keeps a personal diary on her computer so her little brother can’t find it and read it.

Sammy’s dad is the CEO of a major bank. He is under enormous stress because there are protesters outside the bank protesting bank actions. Sammy is aware of his stress, but she’s a teenager busy with her own school stress. While it might seem like there is no overlap, their whole world is turned upside down when hackers hack into bank documents then turn their attack on her father, personally. They hack into the family’s cloud storage and start sharing everything they find online…including Sammy’s personal diary.

Every thought, every frustration, the time she lied to her parents…all out there for her classmates and parents to read. Things at the bank are worse than ever and her dad stays at work for days on end because he is dealing with the issues there. Her entire school has read her diary, her friends are furious and refuse to speak to her. The ultimate irony in Sammy’s mind is that her mom tells her not to read any of their emails or texts shared online but Sammy’s mom reads her diary. On top of losing her friends, Sammy is caught lying to her parents through her diary and is now grounded. While Sammy’s secrets are on the internet being read, so are her parents’ secrets and Sammy learns the biggest secret they’ve been keeping from her. Definitely check out this book to see what happens when all those private thoughts and email exchanges are now available for the whole world to read.

This YA book is well written and readers of all age can identify with the question – how safe is anything online? The story flows well, is captivating and took turns I didn’t expect (which I really enjoy in a book). Friendships end, family dynamics change, Sammy learns a lot about herself, her real friends, and if you have to choose who is going to snoop through your diary….she’d rather it was just her little brother. I highly recommend this book.

I’m back with a Halloween read

It’s been a while and I’ve missed sharing children’s books with all of you. For those new here, I write about favorite children’s and YA books (and why I think adults should read them too!). You may wonder why children’s and YA books. I have so many good memories of being read to as a child, reading books myself, and visiting my favorite characters in books. I love revisiting favorite childhood books and finding new amazing books to share.

Now that we are close to Halloween (my favorite holiday), I’m enjoying Halloween books. One book I love to reread this time of year is Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” It’s just scary enough without bringing on nightmares for a chicken like me.

I especially love that the story is local. I always enjoy when we can share books with children and bring them to life. The legend takes place in Sleepy Hollow, NY, a short drive from here. After reading the book with your child, visit Washington Irving’s home, Sunnyside or stop by the Old Dutch Church (yes, it is still standing) and while there you can visit Washington Irving’s grave out back. While there, cross the headless horseman’s bridge. To walk the steps of the story brings it to life in a whole new way. I have such great memories of my mom taking me to Sleepy Hollow and walking the same path Ichabod Crane walked in the legend.

I found an old copy of the legend on vinyl which is equally amazing. If you want more ways to bring it to life after reading, the old Disney cartoon is available on Disney+. For older readers, also check out Tim Burton’s “Sleepy Hollow.”

Check back in next week when I share my favorite YA book that builds off of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”