The Art of Racing in the Rain / Garth Stein / 321 pages

I wasn't sure what to make of this book at first. After having read A Dog's Purpose and loving it, and knowing this book also is from the POV of a dog, it's hard to not draw comparisons. So, while in the former book the dog lives multiple lives, always striving to be a good dog and love its master, the dog in this book, Enzo, lives only one life and is striving to be more human. This makes Enzo into some sort of sage and philosopher, extremely self-aware, and not nearly as lovable as the dog in the former book.

In fact, the book really didn't take off for me until halfway through when the story of the family that Enzo lives with took one bad turn after another. Enzo's master is a race car driver, one who is really good at driving in the rain, and his young wife becomes sick. What happens after is something you need to discover on your own as you read about the human family that is at the center of Enzo's world. By the end, I was very happy with the book and how it ended, but it took a while to get there.

Binti / Nnedi Okorafor / 90 pgs

I really enjoyed Binti so much. It was a quick read, more of a novella than a novel, but the story was tight and not at all wasteful in the telling. I definitely want to read the two sequels that have come out now that I've read the first book in the series.

Binti is a human living in Africa sometime far in the future where interstellar travel is possible and many different alien races have been encountered. Binti is the first of her people to travel to Oomza University, on a distant planet, to study mathematics, and leaving home is both thrilling and difficult. However, her trip becomes a race for survival when an alien race known for its brutality boards the ship she is traveling on with other soon-to-be students. Binti has to call upon her strengths and the knowledge of her people in order to make it out alive.

Echo / Pam Munoz Ryan / 587 pgs

This book was beautiful. This book may end up being the best book I read all year. I don't know if anything can top the greatness that is this book. It's equal parts fantasy and historical fiction and it didn't read too young for me, more like one of the later Harry Potter books.

The story of a magical harmonica and three sisters tasked with finding someone to save is gorgeous and haunting and I can't even come up with enough words to describe it. The harmonica in question goes from person to person. First it shows up in the hands of a boy living in Germany in the early 1930s, as Hitler is rising in power and those who don't agree with Nazism are carted away to work in prison camps. Second, it finds its way to an orphan boy living in Philadelphia just a couple of years later. Lastly, it finds its way to a Hispanic girl living in California in 1942, after the U.S. has entered World War II. The way the story ties up in the end is perfect.

I can't recommend this book enough. I read it to fulfill the 2019 Read Harder Challenge category "A children’s or middle grade book (not YA) that has won a diversity award since 2009." If you're doing the Read Harder challenge, you should definitely read the book.

I both read and listened to the book. The parts of the audio book I listened to were wonderful because the harmonica music is incorporated into the story. It was really neat to hear the harmonica played so beautifully and emotionally.

Percy Jackson's Greek Gods / Rick Riordan / 320 pgs

I read Percy Jackson's Greek Gods to fulfill the #ReadHarder requirement to read a book for middle schoolers. This book makes me want to read the whole Percy Jackson series all over again. I love the way Riordan writes and was very pleased with the narrator of the audio book. He did a great job with the voices. In this book, Percy narrates tales from the Greek myths of the creation of the universe, down through the Titans, and all the way to the 12 Olympians. Each Olympian is detailed and Percy tells a few stories of each's deeds and misdeeds to give a feel on how each Olympian operates. Lots of humor throughout. If you're taking classical mythology, this book is a must, and I wish it was around when I took mythology in college. Obviously, this book is geared towards middle schoolers, so Percy tries to leave out as much of the naughty bits as possible, which is virtually impossible to do, so be careful if you're letting your kid read this.