Mentions: Frozen II: Forest of Shadows, Rocketman, Almost Adulting, Tuck Everlasting, From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Every Day, Part of Your World and Sea Witch Rising

Taken from my newsletter, on Feb. 9, 2022

Eileen: Baby! Come here! *Eileen is seated in a chair, facing her audience. A stack of books sits next to her.*

Baby: *Crawls into the room until she’s at Eileen’s feet. She raises her stubby arms to Eileen.* Uppy. 

Eileen picks her up and sits her on her lap. 

Baby: What’s going today? 

Eileen: Wanna go over the books I read last year that I loved? With our audience? Baby: I mean if you say so. I could be taking a bubble bath. 

Eileen: *Rolls her eyes and bends to the side to pick up a book from the stack.* Remember this one? 

Baby: Holy jeepers! That took you an infininity to finish! 

Eileen: Yeah, okay. Forest of Shadows, the sequel to Frozen– 

Baby: No it’s NOT! It’s an inbetweener to Fwozy I and II! 

Eileen: You’re right. In Forest of Shadows, Princess Anna wants nothing more than to be at her sister Elsa’s side. However, queenly duties always come first. For Queen Elsa, she is at the ready to sail around the world. In the meantime, a mysterious blight affects the animals of Arendelle, forcing Elsa to delay her trip. Anna then comes across a secret room in their castle, along with a magic spell that she sets off. It’s adventure after adventure in this novel. 

Baby: *Shaking head* Whoa, man. 

Eileen: I know. I’d definitely reread it. It was a perfect read for mid-winter. I took that opportunity. 

Baby: ‘Kay, how about a drink now? 

Eileen: No, we need to move on to the next book. 

Baby: Sooo greedy.

Eileen: Next up, we have a behind-the-scenes book of Rocketman.

Baby: Jiminy cricket!

Eileen: What’s wrong?

Baby: I remember you’d wead that book when you couldn’t sleep. You were like, “Baby, I need my Wocketman book, or I can’t sleep!”

Eileen: You done? As I introduced it, it’s a behind-the-scenes account of the filming of Rocketman, a musical fantasy of how Elton John became Elton John. The book is rife with photos of the costumes seen in the film, pictures of cast and crew, interviews, and quotes.

Baby: Tell us WHY you like it so much.

Eileen: I rather not.

Baby: I can tell them.

Eileen: It’s best you didn’t.

Baby: Eileen–

Eileen: *Stuffs a pacifier into Baby’s mouth* Baby taken care of. 

Here we are. *Sets another book on her lap*–Almost Adulting. It reads more like a chapter book, like a memoir, than a DIY/reference book. If you’re a young adult female starting to get out on her own, consider this one. The author writes her own adulting experiences, such as why getting in bed early and waking up early is rewarding to traveling by yourself for the first time.

Baby: *Rips pacifier out of her mouth* How am I supposed to talk with this nippy in my mouth?! 

Eileen stares into space. 

Baby: *Pointing at book* So funny you’re trying to adult when you write about babies!

*Eileen sighs as she takes another book from the book pile*: I have a nostalgic one here. 

Baby: I LOVE NOSTALGIA!!!

Eileen: Tuck Everlasting–a book that I was introduced to in grade school. The story follows a family who has the gift, or curse, of living forever. A young girl stumbles upon them and learns their secret. The young girl befriends the outliers. However, it’s not just their secret that’s then in jeopardy, but a stranger who has followed this girl, whose goal is to unveil how the family came to live forever. 

Baby: Have you ever played Jeopardy? I haven’t. It doesn’t interest me. If all the questions were related to babies and mommies, I’d get them right! All their questions are for peepies that like, went to school. I’m in preschool. Does that count as school? I wish I knew. Then there’s kindergarten. That’s tough. Compare that to preschool, and that’s like, first grade to ninth grade.

Eileen takes Baby and sits her on the floor in front of her.

Eileen: Enough out of you. Let’s finish.

Baby: *Arms crossed* Aren’t you being a teacher’s pet.

Eileen: *Raises an eyebrow at her* Here’s another from childhood: From The Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler–Young Claudia plans to run away from home. To have enough money in tow, she has her little brother Jamie come along. Together they run off to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Happening to be in the right place at the right time, the children discover a statue that may have been an artist’s work from the Renaissance period. For the siblings to uncover the truth of this statue, their quest leads them on a trail to an elderly woman who might have the answers to the work of art.

Eileen: *Moves on since Baby has not interrupted* Okay.

Every Day. It’s one for young adults. Well, teenagers, too. A spirit that goes by the initial “A” transports from body to body every single day, without control over it, without ever knowing where it will end up next. A has never attached to anyone, except one day when it wakes up in the body of a high school boy named Justin. Justin has a beautiful, kind girlfriend named Rhiannon. It’s from there, A finds a sense of belonging. Not just a sense of belonging, but the challenges of struggling to stay with Rhiannon, no matter what A looks like every day. 

Eileen: *With another book in hand*: This has got to be one of my favorites.

Disney Twisted Tales: Part of Your World–Imagine if Ariel, the little mermaid, hadn’t gotten to kiss Prince Eric? That’s what this book covers. In my own words (as I’ve been doing this whole time), Ariel has returned to the sea as queen. Ursula rules Eric’s kingdom from the top. A striking piece of evidence is brought back to Ariel as proof her species can still reign supreme. With this in mind, Ariel has a second chance to bring down Ursula once and for all.

Eileen: Lastly . . .I have here Sea Witch Rising, the sequel to Sea Witch. If you aren’t familiar with the Sea Witch series, it is a darker, foreign take on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid. In the sequel, Runa and Alia are mermaids–twin sister mermaids. Alia has traded her voice to the Sea Witch for another life with a human prince. Without his love for the newly transformed human, Alia will die. It’s up to Runa to save her.

Meanwhile, the Sea Witch longs for a life other than the life she currently lives. It feels impossible when she has duties to fulfill. Altogether, Runa comes to terms with powers of her own. Excitingly exchanged in alternating POVs, if you’re into epic fantasy, you might find this on your “favorite books” shelf. 

Eileen: *Looks down and is startled to see four more babies sitting at her feet. There’s Fashion Baby, Funny Baby, Nature Baby, and Sleepy Baby.*

Baby: I could have invited more.

Eileen: Tha-that’s alright.

Fashion Baby: Anyone up for pedicures?

Sleepy Baby: Nada. *Falls asleep before falling face-first on the floor.*