An Inuit Folk Tale, Fish-Boy As told by Vanita Oelschlager with art by Mike Blanc is a charming children's story written for grades one to four. It also covers multi-cultural information. I gave it four stars.

"Soon we will go to the two island the white trader calls 'Diomedes.' They lie between our land and the big land where the fathers of our fathers' fathers' fathers came from."

I received a complimentary copy from Vanita Books and NetGalley. That did not change my opinion for this review.

Link to purchase: https://www.amazon.com/Fish-Boy-Inuit-Folk-Mike-Blanc/dp/1938164210

This is a tough one to quantify my feeling about.  On the one hand, I found the main character problematic and the story a bit rambling, but on the other hand, it was the first story I've been able to lose myself in for any length of time in recent memory, and I found the plotting very well done.

Kincheloe adeptly captures the lack of agency women in the US had in the early 1900's; indeed it's the first time I've read anything historical that made me feel a modicum of the frustration independent minded women of the age must have felt.  Though if I'm being objective, I do gravitate towards stories I know are about women who plowed their way through the obstacles that stood between them and their goals, so my claim may not sit on the broadest of foundations.

But while Anna certainly plowed through the obstacles in her path, and was certainly intelligent enough to accomplish her goals and be an investigator. she was also terribly bubble headed and naive.  I found it a little hard to swallow, and a little irritating. I also balked at her desecration of books - I don't care how big an ass her father was, she should have found a better way of hiding her reading.  

There were a few throwaway lines about animal death and cruelty that I found gratuitous too, although they were truly only throwaway lines; no details (which makes them even more unnecessary, but better than entire scenes).  The book's focus is on crimes against women (trigger warning btw), so if the author was going for 'atmosphere' with the animal lines, I'd argue she went overboard; the scenes in the brothels and the back alleys and stables lend plenty of gritty atmosphere already.

And finally, while I found the 'romance' completely unbelievable, I still found it entertaining.  Go figure.  I also enjoyed most of the characterisations a lot - especially the rogues.  Kincheloe is very talented at bringing life to all her characters, even the secondary ones.

All in all, I think it's a first that is not without a lot of promise.  There's a lot of talent evident in this book, but I think I'd have enjoyed it even more if the story had been a little tighter, the main character not quite so naive.  She's definitely an author I'll keep an eye out for, even if I don't rush madly out and pre-order.

This fits the category for my current space on Snakes and Ladders.

A tale of two Daddies is a conversation between two classmates. 
An inquisitive boy asking a girl about her parents which happen to 
be two men. There is no judgment but curiosity that is stemming from
 the little boy's curiosity. The little girl patiently answers 
questions regarding different situations and which father takes the 
lead. The questions range from fashion to athletics to culinary 
topics, which all are done in a speech children can understand. 
This is a great book to introduce to children so they can understand
 there are different types of parents and families. Even though 
the parents do not look the same, each parent loves their child. 
The illustrations are vibrant and will capture the children's 
interest. All the activities are what a child would encounter 
in a normal day. Displaying that families can be arranged in 
different ways but do similar activities. 

This is a great book to introduce the topic of same sex relationships
and illistate that they are not any different then their own family.
Answering general questions that a child may have when they approach
this family dynamic.