Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne, John Tiffany, and J.K. Rowling

Warning: This review contains SPOILERS for all of the original Harry Potter books, as well as for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Albus Severus Potter is headed off to Hogwarts, and he fears the possibility that he might be sorted into Slytherin.  Will he be able to live down his father's legacy?  Meanwhile, dark deeds are happening in the wizarding world, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione must face them again, this time as adults.

Meh, it was all right. There were some great moments, but also a lot of head-scratching. Here's what I liked:
-Scorpius -- what a great character!
-The Snape cameo, because Snape. *sigh*
-Delphi Diggory -- she had the right feel for a Harry Potter character, if that makes sense, and so the big reveal of her parentage had the right impact. (However, more on that in the dislikes.)
-The action at the climax -- I can see that being really fantastic on stage, lots of emotion.

Here's what I didn't like:
-It's been said elsewhere, but it's true: the writing felt like fanfic.  The characters did not always ring true, details from the original series were fudged (some of those issues are big enough that they will get their own bullet point), and the whole story was preoccupied with the events of the past, so it felt like a rehashing of Goblet of Fire.
-Polyjuice: I don't think Thorne knows how it works.  At one point, Albus suggests that they throw some together for immediate use from ingredients in Bathilda's basement.  Hasn't anybody read Hogwarts, A History Chamber of Secrets?  The concoction of Polyjuice Potion -- particularly, the fact that you cannot make it and use it in a matter of minutes or hours -- was a major plot point in that book.
-Time Turners: This was a mixed bag; I liked that the law they introduced was named after a character mentioned in the original series, but I also thought a lot of the stuff they introduced regarding Time Turners was wayyy too convenient in terms of plot.  I found myself wishing that Rowling had explained more in the original series (for instance, it would have been easy for Hermione, in exposition mode, to have explained that you can't go back more than a few hours without causing irreparable harm). But my big problem with the time turners was that they contributed in a big way to to fanfiction-y feel.  (Possibly because I think I wrote some of that fic  shortly after the release of book 7.)
-Changes to the original series: these were mostly minor.  For instance, the way Bagman announced the events in the first task, it sounded like the champions were paraded past the crowd, which didn't happen in the books.  Maybe I'm misreading, but there were a lot of little things like that.  But a lot of little things adds up into not respecting the source material, and with fans who know the source material inside and out, you have to expect that any little changes will be noticed, so they had better be intentional.  These didn't feel intentional, they felt lazy.
-Baby Bellatrix: Wait, Bellatrix had a baby?  I'm trying to fit this into the original series, and the timing is baffling me.  Wouldn't somebody have noticed that this was happening?  I can absolutely buy that she was sleeping with the Dark Lord (though, ewww) because she totally wanted him in the books, but on the other hand, why would her pregnancy have been kept secret?  How would it have been kept secret?


-Zipping through the years: No, not with the Time Turner (I've already covered that above), but in the first few minutes of the play we skim through Albus and Scorpius' first three years at Hogwarts.  This seems unnecessary (why not just set the events in, say, their second year -- or just focus the play on the events of their fourth year, not attempting to stage those brief scenes from earlier years?) and in terms of stagecraft, needlessly difficult.  I'll be interested to see it on stage (I'm hoping it comes to Broadway some day) to see how that, and many of the other tricks described in the script, are accomplished.

Bottom line: I don't regret reading it, I didn't hate it, but I don't place it on the same level as the rest of the series.

(Reviewed from my personally purchased copy.)

It's Like This, Cat by Emily Neville

It's Like This, Cat by Emily Neville -- Dave, a young teen in New York City in the early 1960's, navigates friend troubles, conflict with his father, his first girlfriend, and, of course, pet ownership when he adopts a stray tomcat.

This book evokes era in New York City in a way similar to West Side Story (which is, coincidentally, name-checked in the book). There's some nice character development in this one, as Dave learns to understand his father's point of view -- at least in some cases. It's maybe more of a '50s story than a 60's one (a ducktail haircut and Harry Belafonte records are about the extent of Dave's teenage rebellion), and seems a bit innocent and clean-cut compared to what the same story might have been if it were set 5-10 years later. Still, it's a solid story and a fairly quick read. I think I read this one as a child, though my only recollection is of the cover, so maybe I just picked it up and put it down again! I'm not really sure who I'd recommend this book to, honestly.

(Reviewed from a copy borrowed through my library system.)

Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen

Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen -- Marly's mother used to visit her grandmother on Maple Hill, where there was all the outdoors to play in, and where you might say that miracles happen. Now, Marly's mother has inherited the little house on Maple Hill, and Marly and her family are going to spend some time there -- weekends, and then the summer -- and Marly is hoping for a miracle. Her father came home from the war with deep psychological wounds, and life in their city apartment is not helping him recover. Maybe at Maple Hill, where there is work to be done in the fresh country air, their family can come together and be as they once were. Arriving in the early spring, Marly's family is introduced to the almost magical (but labor-intensive) process of collecting maple sap and converting it into syrup. They learn this, and many other useful things about country life, from their neighbor, Mr. Chris. Are there still miracles on Maple Hill? Marly is about to find out.

I enjoyed this book for a lot of reasons. It's what some people think of as a "typical" Newbery (though there are plenty that break the mold): female protagonist, rich writing and character development, not a lot of plot. I like that sort of story if the writing is truly good enough to draw you in, and it certainly is in this case. However, readers who enjoy a more action-packed narrative might get impatient with this book, which reads like a long, leisurely hike through the woods. I also appreciated the wealth of detail about maple sugaring (a process I have been involved in at my own grandparents' Pennsylvania farm, so I can attest to the accuracy of the description) and all of the nature description. The writing reminded me of Madeleine L'Engle -- perhaps not surprising, since this is a story from a similar era; only five years separate this book and A Wrinkle in Time. (L'Engle usually has a bit more in they way of plot, though, I would say.) I'm not sure how well or poorly this book handles the depiction of Marly's father's PTSD, since I don't have a great deal of knowledge on the subject. I will say, though, that any improvement he saw was not immediate, but was a slow process, aided, perhaps, by peace and work. Judging by the year of the book's publication, I'm guessing that the war her father served in was the Korean War, though I suppose it might have been WWII. My grandfather served in Korea, so that was another personal connection I made with this book. It was just the right book for me, so I would recommend it to readers who like the same sorts of contemplative, character-driven narratives that I enjoy.

(Reviewed from a copy borrowed through my library system.)

Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski

Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski -- In some ways, the piney woods of Florida is just as wild as the Wild West. Birdie Boyer's family is determined to make a go of strawberry farming, but they will have trouble not only with the hazards presented by the natural world, but also resistance from a cantankerous neighbor.

This book reminded me strongly of the Little House books, both in content and in writing style. Characters speak in the vernacular, which may present a challenge for some readers. The ending seemed rather deus ex machina to me. Still, I would probably recommend this to readers of all ages who can't get enough frontier fiction.

(Reviewed from a copy borrowed through my library system.)