Rutabaga's Reads 2023: Part 7

Welcome to this year’s “Hodgepodge” compilation post. Do you, too, read a variety of books? If so, what have you read this year and what’s on your TBR shelf?

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore - The Complete Screenplay (July 19, 2022) by J.K. Rowling & Steve Kloves.

Screenplay

Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald is activating his plan to seize control of the wizarding world, and Professor Albus Dumbledore knows this. Because of a blood troth, he cannot stop him by his own hand, which is where Newt Scamander comes in. “So this is the team that’s going to stop the most dangerous wizard we’ve faced in over a century? A Magizoologist, his indispensable assistant, a schoolteacher, a wizard descended from a very old French family ... and a Muggle, a baker, with his fake wand” (--Theseus, p. 74). Sure is! An eclectic group, but an intrepid one. They’ll encounter fantastical beasts both familiar and new (including a rare Qilin, a legendary creature from Chinese mythology) and clash with Grindelwald’s increasing legion of followers. Can Newt, Dumbledore and the rest of the team put a stop to Grindelwald? Is it too late for Queenie? For Credence?

            Because I’m terrible at watching movies in a timely manner, I read the screenplay before watching the film (even though I’ve had it since the week it was released on Blu-Ray). Reading the screenplay gives readers insight into what a screenplay looks like and is a prompt for readers to more fully immerse themselves in every scene. The commentary from actors like Eddie Redmayne and Jude Law, Oscar-award-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood, Director David Yates and more provide an illuminating layer of behind-the-scenes information not readily available otherwise. For fans of J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world, it’s an excellent companion to the film, though I continue to wish she’d return to the wizarding world by writing more full-length novels.

Hard-Boiled Bugs for Breakfast (Jan. 19, 2021) by Jack Prelutsky.

   Ruth Chan, illustrator.

Children’s poetry.

From the inaugural Young People’s Poet Laureate is another collection of children’s poems. The poems are all Jack Prelutsky originals. It is meant to be a silly poetry feast from the opening poem to the last.

            Prelutsky’s knack for rollicking rhymes and wily wordplay is showcased in “Hard-Boiled Bugs for Breakfast.” All of the poems read with quick wit and most, but not all, contain his signature silliness and glad goofiness, a perfectly playful book of poems for kids and kids-at-heart. The black-and-white illustrations by Chan are simple but lively. The poems trend as easy-to-read with some of the poems including a phonetic pronunciation when there’s a new creature about. The anthology is outlandish and amusing, absurd and entertaining. It’s the sort of compendium that could create idea sparks in young poets and general readers alike. I don’t know about you, but I’ll definitely be passing on eating hard-boiled bugs for any meal. Ick!

The Labyrinth of Doom (Nov. 1, 2022) by Stuart Gibbs.

   Stacy Curtis, illustrator.

Middle-grade illustrated fantasy fiction.

*This is the second novel in a series.*

The cowardly Prince Ruprecht of the Kingdom of Wyld is very upset with Tim and Belinda (a.k.a. Bull, because only Tim knows she’s a girl) after they rescued Princess Grace (she didn’t really need saving). Prince Ruprecht assumed Princess Grace would fall in love with him, which didn’t happen. Instead, she asked Tim and Belinda to become knights for her in Merryland. Ferkle opted to remain in their village and continue his role of the village idiot, even though he’s quite intelligent. Prince Ruprecht and his wizard, Nerlim, kidnap the princess, hiding her in the Labyrinth of Extravagancia, “the biggest, twistiest, most confounding, most dangerous labyrinth in the world!” They also kidnap Tim, Belinda, Ferkle and Rover, Rover being Tim’s fr-dog (a dog that was once a dog but is now a giant frog thanks to a mean witch). It’s up to them to fend off menacing beasts – like the minotaur, cave snakes and chrubble** – and rescue their friend, the princess. And if they survive all that, then all they need to do is find their way back out of the labyrinth.

            The second story in the Once Upon a Tim illustrated middle-grade series, I originally read the first story as an ARC. It is zany and delightful, Gibbs’ depiction of a minotaur making me chuckle. The IQ Boosters remain, as in the first installment, perhaps providing a healthy challenge for newer middle-grade readers. It’s a story that’s a little bit wacky, but a lot a bit goofy. It’s fun reading, but may not spark interest in readers who prefer real-life fare versus unusual imaginative fare (again, thinking of the minotaur). Although I’m not a graphic novel reader, I think these stories would work well as graphic novels. They’re adventurous and humorous, the author’s prose witty and the illustrator’s pictures brilliant complements.

** “...imps, harpies, blugworts, snorklebarkers, crimson whingers, golden whizzbangs, off-white piddlebangers, grotesquerrels, gimmyjaws, stickypigs, wibblejibbles, velociraptors, chucklemucks, cave sharks, macksnatchers, smackwhackers, whackstackers, crackflackers, exploding numwraths, very large gerbils with horrible attitudes” and “assorted other things-that-go-bump-in-the-night.”

Logan’s Greenhouse (Nov. 8, 2022) by JaNay Brown-Wood.

   Samara Hardy, illustrator.

Children’s picture book.

*This is the third book in a series.*

Curly, red-headed Logan searches his family’s wheelchair-accessible greenhouse for carrots. Sweet potatoes can grow from a seed, but it isn’t a carrot. Radishes have leaves that fan outward, but they’re not carrots. He searches and searches, but isn’t finding the carrots. The pet playdate – Logan has a chameleon – won’t be ready without his carrots. Where in the greenhouse are they?

            Brown-Wood and Hardy present the third title in the Where in the Garden? picture book series. The text is simple but playful, the illustrations colorful and cheery. The author prompts young readers to seek out the carrots with Logan by providing compare and contrast clues. For example, a part of the greenhouse garden shows something with leaves on top, and a carrot has bushy leaves on top. But no, “Those are garlic bulbs. Garlic does have leaves on its top, but they are straggly and not bushy.” Her descriptions are straightforward, and the background characters at the story’s end are racially diverse. It is an engaging story to encourage a new generation of green thumbs.

Worthy of Legend (Sept. 13, 2022) by Roseanna M. White.

Adult Christian fiction.

*This is the final novel in a series.*

Betrayed by her own family, Lady Emily Scofield has always felt unloved. By her greedy father, by her vile brother (Nigel) and by her mother, who staunchly supports the men and advises that Emily maintain a “perfectly placid expression.” No frowning! It’s the summer of 1906 and Emily’s friends have discovered pirate treasure, which they’re keeping hidden from the Scofield men and the American they’re working alongside, Donald Vandermeer. With diary entries of Elizabeth Mucknell’s, they’re all in search of a secret artifact with clues pointing to King Arthur’s and Sir Tristan’s time. What it is remains anyone’s guess. Nigel has also seen the diary entries, but only because he stole Emily’s copy. Bram Sinclair, Earl of Telford, has been fascinated by tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table since he was a boy. He still is, but he is hesitant to tell even his closest friends. Bram may be the best one to piece the legends together if he’ll admit it. Circumstances and their friends find Emily and Bram in each other’s company frequently. Bram is happy to be chivalrous like in tales of yore, so it will surprise and confound him to discover that he loves Emily. She returns his feelings, but she lacks a confident voice. Can she admit it to herself? They will learn that big hero deeds like slaying dragons, vanquishing dark knights and defeating wicked sorcerers aren’t the only ones worthy of legend. Selfless love is worthy, too.

            Another graceful and charming Christian fiction tale, this last one in The Secrets of the Isles trilogy crackles with chemistry between Emily and Bram, but also Emily’s lady’s maid, Thomasina (Tommie) Briggs and Scillonian Enyon (Enny) Thorne. Tommie has a secret weighing on her very soul, and it’s a turning point for her when she lets that secret slip to some others. It’s certainly not easy, but it helps her release her unwarranted guilt. The love blooming is innocent and sweet. The search for the artifact seems to take a backseat to new love and a struggle with family relationships when it seems like it’s supposed to be a bigger part of the plot. Although it doesn’t interconnect seamlessly, it remains a lush, vivid tale and inspires me to want to visit the Isles of Scilly.

            Lines to consider: “How did mercy and justice meet? With pain and sacrifice. And beauty beyond anything he’d ever seen.” --Bram’s thoughts, p. 285

            Book One: The Nature of a Lady

            Book Two: To Treasure an Heiress