MMGM- Wander Lost and How to Be a Vet

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Unleashing Readers

Martin, Laura. Wander Lost
June 25, 2024 by HarperCollins
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Nash Benson and his twin brother Rhett have never been allowed to play board games by their mother, Natalie, although Nash tries to get them from the gaming club at school. There was a brief time when the two were allowed to play video games, but Rhett got obsessed with them, and their system was taken away. When their principal, Mr. Jeffers, tells them that their mother has been in an accident and their grandfather will be picking them up, they are worried and confused. They've never met their grandfather, Ace, who shows up and takes them to his farm in Indiana with their guinea pig, Geronimo. The cabin is run down and packed with vintage board games, and the boys soon learn the strange truth; their family are Bounders, part Wanderers who have the ability to travel into board games, and their mother has been abducted by Ogden. He's a game character who has a grudge against Ace, who destroyed Ogden's board game and has caused him grief. One of the things that happens when Bounders go into games is that two characters from the game must come into the real world; this could be evil fauna, or someone like Flanny, from a Wild West game. Ace tends to take his dog Chief into games for assistance. Ace teaches the boys some of the rules after they have a somewhat less than great turn at playing "Training Wheels". They shouldn't talk to characters in the game, they should never give the characters the game manual. Wanderers are game characters who have managed to win their game and have the ability to go into other games. A Wander Lost, such as Ogden, is created if a person from the real world is killed in the game, and the game character is able to come out and replace that person. There is a sad family history that allowed this to happen with the Bensons. Ace thinks that Ogden is holding Natalie prisoner in a game, and wants the boys' help in finding her. Once they have some training in Bounding, Ace disappears, and one of the games, Lost Lore, is gone. Snow White, a character from that game, is in the cabin. The boys get help from Cress, who is another Wanderer with a tie to the Bensons, but she wants payment from them in the form of a valuable artifact from a game. She shows them how to use the game Tunnels to travel to other games, and tells them that if Ogden had destroyed the last Lost Lore game, they wouldn't be able to travel to it through the Tunnels game. The boys find out that Ogden has an evil plan involving a company he has formed, Reboot, that is turning vintage board games into video games. They think their mother is such in Pirate's Wrath, the game from which Cress came. Ogden is having a game launch an hour from the cabin, so they teach Snow White to drive and head there. Will Rhett and Nash be able to take their new skills at Bounding and save not only their mother and grandfather, but foil Ogden's plans to unleash Pirate's Wrath on the world?
Strengths: Children who like board games or video games will be enthralled with the idea of Bounding and Wandering, and spend a lot of time thinking about which game they would like to travel into, although Ace does tell us that vintage board games are more imaginative than newer ones. This was a whirlwind of activity, and lots and lots of things HAPPEN, so there is no lack of excitement. Like many board games, there were quite a number of rules, as well as details about the games. There have been several books about characters getting sucked into video games, but other than Jumanji, I can't think of any involving board games. This was all well planned; I can't imagine the wall of sticky notes that Martin must have had to make all of the threads weave together properly. Ogden's motivation was interesting, and I don't want to spoil that. Martin does such a great job of coming up with unusual plots; I adore her Hoax for Hire, and this is another great story for middle grade readers.
Weaknesses: I wanted to know more about Sam, and wouldn't have minded a bit more back story about how the Bensons became Bounders. How long has Chief been with Ace? There wasn't a lot of time for these details, because the boys were busy saving their mother and grandfather. Also, I expected Geronimo to figure into the story a bit more, but I can see the challenge of including a guinea pig character.
What I really think: Since I not only often have fantasy amnesia but also really, really don't like to play board games, this one was a bit of a struggle for me personally. My students, however, LOVE games. This will be perfect for readers who enjoyed titles like Schrieber's Game Over, Pete Watson, Mancusi's Dragon Ops, and Khoury's The Ruby Code. I will definitely purchase a copy. 

Martin has a nice note about how she was influenced by the works of Roald Dahl. I'm not sure how much this will mean to young readers, but teachers and librarians will appreciate it. Fifteen years ago, there was some interest in Matilda, but even with a new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie, no one has checked out the books in years. One of our elementary schools had a teacher who wanted to borrow copies of The BFG for a class study, and I deaccessioned it and sent it on its way because no one had checked it out in ten years. He's got an odd, British style that has gone out of fashion, and The Witches was rather problematic. Is Dahl still popular at your school?

French, Jess and Linero, Sol (illus.) How to Be a Vet and Other Animal Jobs

July 2, 2021 by Allen & Unwin

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

There is apparently a shortage of veterinarians in many parts of the US, and as a lover of dogs, I was glad to see this book, which could be used to encourage middle grade readers to pursue the profession! Starting with what a vet is, and the sorts of tools they might need to do their job, this book continues on and describes in more detail the sorts of things vets can expect to do. There is information on how to become a vet, on the different types of vets, and brief discussions about other animal related jobs that are available. In addition to jobs like small and large domestic animal doctors, positions like exotic animal vets, support service providers like groomers, and animal science researchers are mentioned. 

There is a very interesting history of veterinary medicine; I didn't know that small animal veterinary practices didn't become commonplace until the 1900s, or that Louis J. Camuti was the first vet to specialize in cats! It makes sense that, fifty years ago, most vets were men, but also isn't surprising that about half are now women! 

All of the specialized terms are explained nicely, with bold face type drawing attention to words that young readers may not have met. The illustrations do a good job of showing the different types of tools, animals, and working venues that vets might come across. I was a little surprised that there wasn't an index, but since the book is fairly short, it's easy to flip through to find infrmation. 

The pictures are done in a pleasant, simple style, and the people shown represent a variety of cultural backgrounds and ability types. The colors are bright and engaging, and the animal representations are realistic.

Whether children want to be a small animal vet, snake milker, or zoo designer, this book has plenty of information about how to train for the job and what the work would entail. This is a great book for middle grade readers, and has more information than shorter books like I Want to Be a Veterinarian by  Driscoll and Echeverri, I Can Be a Farm Vet (Barbie) by Jordan and Riley, or Martin's Vet Academy.