Finding the edge: my life on the ice

Reviewed by: Deirdre Dupree - Scarborough High School, Scarborough, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: March 11, 2018

Review

US National champion Figure Skater Karen Chen shares her story and the world of competitive figure skating. YA readers passionate about figure skating and fascinated by competitive skating will find this book informative. Chen’s themes of focus, determination, and perseverance are repeated through the many demands of the sport.

This upbeat informational narrative tells a linear story of Karen Chen’s introduction to skating, her family’s necessary contribution to her success and the eventual complete focus of her family and Karen’s life to achieve her competitive skating goals. The difficult aspects of her story are glossed over as they are conveyed without emotion or detail.

The book includes addendums covering Competitive Season timeline, Glossary of Skating terms, International Skating Union Technical rules, and a listing of Figure Skating Single Ladies Champions. The center of the book holds two dozen color photos of Karen and the Chen Family.

Middle School librarians looking to create a robust Figure Skating collection might consider this title.

Overall Book Score: good

About the Book

Author:

Chen, Karen

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Harper

Book Type: chapter book nonfiction

Genre: biography / autobiography

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: library binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780062822680

Price: 17.99

The Grave Keepers

The Grave Keepers

Reviewed by: Deirdre Dupree - Scarborough High School, Scarborough, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 8, 2018

Review

Sisters Laurel and Athena Windham tell their story of family, friendships, and community in this first novel by Elizabeth Byrne. Parents, Claudia and Walt Windham, are keepers of a cemetery in a society in which coming of age rituals are focused upon an individual’s final resting place; their grave. Grave Openings are celebrated with family and friends when an individual has reached the age of responsibility in the care and personalization of their own grave.

Laurel is the youngest Windham, born after the accidental death of Lucy, an older sister. Laurel is homeschooled and spends her days working for the family cemetery and wandering the property alone. Athena had been the youngest family member behind George and Lucy, before Lucy’s death. Athena too was homeschooled but insisted her parents allow her to attend the local school as George and Lucy had. Having succeeded, Athena now wondered why she bothered as high school was not exactly what she had hoped.

Both girls struggle with friendship; Laurel for the lack of friends and Athena in the search for true friends. A runaway boy, an eventual discovery, a ghost, a recluse and a life threatening mishap add dimension to the many storylines that take away from the interesting idea of Grave Keeping.

Overall Book Score: fair