MMGM-Nothing Else But Miracles and The Mona Lisa Vanishes

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Albus, Kate. Nothing Else But Miracles
5 September 2023, Margaret Ferguson Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Dory Byrne is living on New York City's Lower East Side with her older brother, Fish, and younger brother, Pike. Their mother passed away from tuberculosis when she was younger, and their father is off fighting in World War II. They have been staying alone in their apartment, and their father has said that the neighborhood would take care of them. So far, this has worked well. They have dinner one night a week at Mr. Caputo's restaurant. Mrs. Schmidt at the bakery gives them day old items and admonishes Dory to dress in skirts. Mrs. Kopek checks in with them and  gives them meals they don't always like. Even the reclusive Mr. Kowalczyk keeps his eye on them. When they get a new landlord, Mr. Reedy, he isn't happy with their noise or the fact that their toilet overflowed, and demands to speak to their father. This, of course, isn't possible. Dory has been enthralled with the dumbwaiter at Caputo's, and sneaks off after a school dance to go up in it when she tells Fish she is spending the night at her friend Rosemary's. She finds an abandoned hotel that is only accessible by the dumbwaiter, and decides that it will be a good place to stay so they can avoid Mr. Reedy's prying eyes. When school is out for the summer, Dory brings Fish and Pike to the hotel, and they decide it will be a good idea to stay there. They clean it up, arrange the dusty furniture, and work out a plan to cook in Caputo's when no one is there. Fish has an internship at the docks, and the children are able to keep things together. After D Day, they are worried about their father; some of their friends who also have fathers away fighting must suffer losing them. Mr. Reedy has alerted the authorities to the fact that the children are without supervision, but when someone investigates, the neighborhood pulls together to keep the Byrne's secret in a surprising way. 

Strengths: Dory is a great character who is trying her best to take care of her younger brother and to keep her family together. Sometimes this doesn't make her happy, but she understands the seriousness of her plight, and doesn't want to be put into an orphanage! It was especially interesting that no one at school could tell that Dory was on her own, and I liked seeing her friendship with Rosemary (who was more well-to-do) as well as a slight romance with a boy in her class. The scene at the dance was palpably awkward but also very sweet. There are plenty of details about how the family goes about their daily lives, and also about the war. In particular, there is information about D-Day, and the coverage that it received in the US. The hidden hotel is obviously the best part, and who wouldn't make a ladder out of old sheets to get out of a window into an alley? The ending is heart warming if improbable. This is definitely one of the best WWII US homefront books I've read, mainly because of the Boxcar Children style survival. 

Weaknesses: The names of the Byrne children were overly quirky (Fisher I can buy, but Pike?), and while Gilbert Ford's artwork is nice, I wish this had had a more WWII feel to it. I was hoping for a sort of WWII propaganda poster style cover with the three children in period clothing. 
What I really think: Definitely purchasing! Albus' A Place to Hang the Moon has been very popular, and the idea of children living on their own in the city is very appealing. Of course, now I have to go find pictures of this hotel!

Day, Nicholas and Helquist, Brett (illus.)
The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity
Publication September 5, 2023 by Random House Studio

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

I'm sure my students will ask if I remember the Mona Lisa being stolen... in 1911, but I'll have to remind them that I'm not that old. This narrative nonfiction book reminded me a bit of Balis' and Levy's Bringing Down a President in its tone, use of illustrations, and deep dives into back matter about the main topic. Not only do we learn about the theft of the famous painting from the Louvre, but also about the state of forensic investigations at the time, the role of the newspaper in society, and a lot of information about Leonardo daVinci's life and times. Chapters go back and forth from what was going on with the investigation in 1911, back to the 1400s to see how da Vinci's work was evolving, and even into the present day to see how both of these occurrences influence modern thought. There are some side discussions about dowries in Renaissance Italy, da Vinci's eccentricities, and even French criminal investigation innovations. There's a lot, but its done with a light tone, and reads quickly. 

An inordinate amount of middle grade readers are interested in true crime podcasts, and nonfiction books like Sullivan's Jailbreak at Alcatraz and Denson's Kathy Puckett and the Case of the Unabomber have been popular. I even purchased some of Abdo's American Crime Stories. Those come in at 112 pages and have not been as popular as I had hoped. The Mona Lisa Vanishes is a good choice for readers who like art related mysteries like Balliett's 2004 Chasing Vermeer, Hick's The Van Gogh Deception, Dionne's Moxie and the Art of Rule Breaking, Asselin's The Art of the Swap.  or Armendariz's Julieta and the Diamond Enigma and are looking for nonfiction that has some more information about different aspects of the art in question. 

Chakrabarti, Nina. Hello Trees: A Little Guide to Nature
August 10, 2023 by Laurence King
Copy provided by the publisher

In this small format (5.4 x 0.38 x 7.85 inches), brightly colored book, we get a good introduction to the world of trees. From beautifully illustrated parts of a tree, we follow the journey of a tree from seed to sapling, with just enough text on each page to support the illustrations and to be perfect for reading aloud with a young tree enthusiast. There's simple information about leaf shapes, which I find really interesting, and the tree names are listed with each one. There's an activity to make leaf prints that seems quite doable. The book continues with different types of trees, why leaves turn colors, and further activities with bark rubbings and growing a tree. This ends with trees in folklore and how to be a friend to trees. 

Fostering a love of trees is children is a really good idea, and I can see this book being a big favorite with children whose parents want to share a love of the environment. My 9th grade leaf collection project for science class was such a pivotal experience, and even today I can identify most trees that I see because of it. This would definitely be in frequent rotation if I had a small person with whom to share books. The best place to read it, of course, would be outside under a shady tree! 

The one thing that I found confusing was the inclusion of a melon, showing its seeds, along with pictures of an apple, pomegranate, peach, avocado, and other tree fruits. Melons do not grow on trees, but I doubted myself and had to look this up.