This book focuses on understanding social interactions between very young children.  It promotes positive social engagement and is divided into sections based upon age – infants, toddlers and older toddlers.  The book attempts to explain different types of “communication” in young children such as hitting or vocalizations. It also provides strategies for supporting peer relationships in how you step up the environment or what role the adult takes on during the play.  This book primarily contains theory and a few basic ideas about how to think about setting up positive interactions. Lots of good things to think about, but not a lot of day to day ideas to use with an individual child. (Written by Michele Neely, SpEd preschool teacher for the Olympia School District)

This book is an activity list of fun and simple things to do with little kids.  It is organized by a child’s age and has “lessons” that incorporate cognitive, motor, social-emotional, language and self-esteem elements of development.  The book stresses interaction with parents and hands-on learning rather than using devices or technology. Each activity is fully described, background information given as well as why it is important to development.  Each age range section also includes a list of basic developmental milestones for caregivers to reference and work toward. Most of the activities need only a few common materials found around the house. There are lots of good, engaging activities to keep little ones happy and learning. (Written by Michele Neely, SpEd preschool teacher for the Olympia School District)

This book provides a 30-item checklist that describes seven essential features of high-quality behavior-guidance policies for programs serving children birth to 8 years old (gleaned from many different research sources).  The book presents their philosophical approach to behavior guidance; how having a high-quality policy can support classroom activities; the research field on which the policy is based; 5-step process for putting the policies into action.  A big part of the book is the TAGPEC (which is a tool for rating the current behavior policies in a program and guides those that don’t yet have policies). The audience for this book appears to be for those interested in the theory of discipline policies and evaluating policies of a large site or school district program, rather than an individual teacher looking to make changes in her classroom (although, there are some applicable tidbits).  (Written by Michele Neely, SpEd preschool teacher for the Olympia School District)

This book views venturing out into the world as the purest form of hands-on learning for young children (3 years and younger) as it provides so many opportunities for language, reasoning and exploration.  The book is divided into 4 main sections: Home & Community, Vehicles, Animals, and Our World. There are over 50 different “adventures” included, and each has a 1-3 activities to do afterwards that might be art, math, pretend play, sensory play, science observations or songs.  The “adventures” listed are all toddler fun; most are free and easily accessible in everyday life. The activities listed have a clear description of supplies needed and are fun and engaging. Simple book, with lots of fun activities to get the toddler out of the house. (written by Michele Neely, SpEd Preschool teacher in the Olympia School District)

The aim of this book is to provide fun, interactive lesson plan ideas for early childhood classrooms (Kindergarten or younger) that help to embed the different art content (Music, Drama and Visual arts) into rich STEM learning.  It focuses on learning through exploration, observations, questioning and simple investigations. 4-5 lessons for each section include open-ended tasks, opportunities for social interaction and opportunities for reflection and elaboration.  The activities and descriptions are fairly simple and traditional (no new earth-shattering ideas) but it does make clear how it connects to the learning standards for each section. The pictures are in black and white, small and not very helpful.   (Written by Michele Neely, SpEd Pre school teacher, Olympia School District)

Fred Rogers (1928–2003) had a tremendous influential on generations of children through his television program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, a program which he created and played the title role. Rogers was on the ground floor of teaching compassion, equality, and kindness. He advocated for inclusion and against bullying. Rogers devoted his lief to children and he took their fears, concerns, and questions about the world seriously.

The Good Neighbor is the first full-length biography of Fred Rogers, tells the life story of this American icon. Drawing on original interviews, oral histories, and archival documents, the author, Maxwell King looks at Rogers’s personal, professional, and artistic life through decades of work, including his years as a Presbyterian minister. What the viewing public may not have known was that in the 1980’s on Rogers’ increasingly sophisticated episodes were written in collaboration with experts on childhood development. The book takes the reader through Rogers’ delayed retirement, at a point by which he was already ill with stomach cancer. The reader follows Rogers’ and his wife as they face is final days. This is a wonderful book that provides great detail into an amazing man.

This 75th Anniversary Edition is jammed with historical information, original illustrations and comments about the book over the years of its publication. It is perfect for fans of this inspirational little book.

Vampire movies, friends who feel uneasy around your other friends, parents who want to meet your friends’ parents, a wolf howling in the night, and a middle-school sleepover to celebrate the end of the school year. This book has it all.

Emily enjoys her nightly visits with the two home schooled teens across the street. Neither Emily, nor her parents have ever met Drew and Vicky’s parents. When Emily begins planning the end of the school year party with her school friends, Emily thinks it would be the perfect time to invite Drew and Vicky to meet her school friends. Problems arise, when Drew and Vicky’s parents are never available to meet Emily’s parents.

Oh, why is there a wolf howling in Drew and Vicky’s back yard? “The howling drifted through her window, as if somehow the creature knew that she was coming after it, and calling her to join in. Emily found it strange that this sound didn’t scare her. In fact, it didn’t even surprise her. She felt as though she had an appointment with the beast to settle their score. To end this.” (69)

Time is getting short before the party and Emily still has no word from Drew and Vicky’s parents as to whether they can come or not. Emily takes it upon herself to go to their house and talk to them during the day, but no one is home. Drew and Vicky are home schooled? Emily enters their house. She discovers coffins in a back room. Emily feels “duped, taken, lied to…” (99). Drew and Vicky will not be coming to her party. She wants nothing to do with them. Now, of course, Drew and Vicky want to come to the party.

On the night of the party, Ethan’s cousin Declan comes to the party, too. Declan shares a vampire story. Finally, Emily begins to connect the dots and assumes Drew and Vicky are in fact vampires. But it is too late for Emily. The real Declan was never at the party. The Declan at her party was Drew shape shifted to look like Declan.

In the Epilogue, “Years had passed since the night of the sleepover, and much had changed. Drew and Vicky no longer lived in the same town. As the two had done many times before, they moved to an abandoned house in a new town where no one knew them. Where they would be safe. And where they could make new friends.” (133)

P. J. Night writes this new series- Creepover. The top and bottom of each page is dripping in black ‘blood’ (it is printed only in black and white, after all) or perhaps paint.

It all begins with Abby and Leah grocery shopping for their sleepover. The sleepover is in the basement with scary DVDs and a game of “Truth or Dare”. Abby reluctantly reveals she like Jake, the boy who lives a cross the street. Then the other girls coax Abby to text Jake. Later that night, Abby is awakened when her cell phone receives a message saying, “LEAVE HIM ALONE. HE’S MINE!!! DON’T MAKE ME TELL YOU TWICE!” (32) All the girls are creeped out by the text. It sounds like it was sent by Jake’s former girl friend Sara, who was killed in a fatal crash. The text must be a mistake or a prank.

Back at school, the first dance of the school year is announced. It will be a benefit for the Sara James Memorial Scholarship Fund. Jake and Abby walk home from school and he asks if she’d like a ride to the dance. “Yes.” Awhile later, Abby sees a girl with long red hair running, could it be Sara’s ghost? Later the new blouse Abby plans on wearing to the dance is ripped and stuffed under her suitcase, but how? Abby Googles* “proof of ghosts” (76). She find an article on-line entitled- “When the Paranormal Gets Personal” (76). Though Abby does not want to believe in ghosts it is hard not to with all the creepy things happening to her lately. Plus, her best friend is not supporting her in this.

Abby and Jake do go to the dance, but leave almost immediately when Abby can’t handle the huge photo of Sara displayed at the dance. Jake follows her out of the gym. Abby shows Jake the texts. Jake has Abby text, “IS THIS REALLY SARA? PROVE IT!” The text comes back, “I’M @ ST. RAYMOND’S CEMETERY. COME SEE ME IF YOU DARE!” (122)

Spoiler alert: it is not Sara, but Sara’s cousin, Samantha, who is staying with her aunt and uncle while Samantha’s mother is working in Africa. Samantha’s and Sara’s resemblance is so great Aunt Stacy is having a hard time dealing with it. Samantha spends most time of her time in Sara’s old bedroom out of Aunt Stacy’s sight. Samantha is miserable. Eventually Samantha goes through all of Sara’s things including her diaries.

In the end, all of the creepy things resolve themselves, except one. Is it from Sara?

• Abby does attempt a seance in chapter 8.

Seven students trapped in their school after a bomb goes off must fight to survive while also discovering who among them is the bomber in this provocative new thriller from the author of the New York Times bestselling Testing Trilogy.

Featuring multiple perspectives, this riveting thriller explores the power of prejudice and assumptions through the lens of school violence. It’s revealed early on that one of the survivors is also involved in the bombing. From the school’s perfect Queen Bee to the tough-as-nails delinquent, each of the students has a different motive for being at school that day. Charbonneau builds suspense by subtly planting red herrings about the accomplice’s identity while also raising questions about others. The frequent shifts in perspective allow readers to see beyond each character’s stock exterior. While each one has a distinct voice, some narratives are more compelling than others. The most complex and developed character is Rashid, a Muslim teenager who feels he must compromise his family’s ideals in order to make his school life easier. Other students are immediately suspicious of Rashid after the initial bomb. While the book confronts this racism head-on and another character is ultimately responsible, the narrative feels stereotypical and exploitative in its casting of Rashid as a would-be terrorist based on his race and religion alone.

Time Bomb is a fast paced quick read, perfect for fans of This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp.

Storm-Wake is loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Moss has grown up on the strangest and most magical of islands; the story moves from her childhood to her teenaged years. The island is covered with brilliantly colored flowers which seem to have some hallucinogenic qualities. Her father has a plan to control the tempestuous weather that wracks the shores. Pa uses the hallucinogenic flowers to conjure up storms and to create spiritual beings from the sea (first a white horse, and then a fish-boy).  But the island seems to have a plan of its own once Callan — a wild boy her age — appears on its beaches. Her complex feelings for Callan shift with every tide, while her love for the island, and her father, are thrown into doubt.

And when one fateful day, when teenaged boys from the outside world wash up on the beach, speaking of the Old World, nothing will ever be the same.

This novel is unlike Lucy Christopher’s other novels. I am not sure that it is actually a YA book.  The writing is very lyrical and mystical. I found it hard to concentrate and had to re-read pages to try to understand. It’s an interesting fantasy tale, but not one I would highly recommend.

Monster Nanny by Tuutikki Tolonen

School has just let out for the school , when Mother wins a two week free trip to Lapland. The contest will send a nanny to take care of her three children. Mother is thrilled to be going to Lapland, but worries because the children’s father is still off on business in America. The nanny turns out to be a half-human, aka monster, aka troll. “Strange things were happening. Mom, who never went anywhere, was going away. Dad, who was never at home, was coming back. The children, who had never been left alone, were about to spend the night on their own. And in the hall closet slept a trained monster, though everybody had always been told that monsters didn’t exist.” (20)

The monster takes good care of the children. The children learn more about monster by checking out a very old book from the public library. From the book, which they read in bits and pieces, they learn to let the monster go into the woods at night to eat, it is a vegetarian. Between the book and the youngest child’s ‘talking bathrobe’ ( the siblings think it is an imaginary friend, but it isn’t) they decided they should go camping outside by their back fence next to the woods. Soon the children learn their mother was not the only one who won the contest. Fourteen other children’s parents are now on vacation in Lapland, too. Each child has its own monster nanny. Little by little, it is discovered the monsters are connected to each other and the monsters can not go back home to their own world until a missing monster in this world has been found.

Dad returns home by the first morning of the camp out. He seems fine with the monster situation (this is Finland) and at one point states, ” so what we have here is a monsters’ liberation camp”. (249) Dad is enjoying his role as camp director. He helps ward off the three strange ladies, perhaps witches, when they show up looking for the monsters. As the monster puzzle’s pieces continue to fit into place the missing monster is found, allowing them all to go back home to their own world, the last monster through the hole removing the key to the doorway.

Rory Tiger and Sheldon Turtle are getting ready for Christmas, when they change into their super hero gear to help out the woodland animals from Grumpus Bear. Grumpus Bear has been taking bees’ honey, rabbit’s carrots and squirrel’s nuts. Rory and Sheldon start by doing research on the internet and in books and discover, “I think I know the reason Grumpus didn’t hibernate. His red coat is so big and warm and puffy…”, says Rory. Sheldon finishes, ” …he doesn’t REALIZE that it’s wintertime!”

Rory and Sheldon decide to trick Grumpus into hibernating by offering a free show in a heated tent with free candy.  Once inside the tent, the usher (AKA Rory) takes Grumpus’ coat, as “Operation Bear-in-Underwear is about to get underway.” First comes the dancing squirrels, then the magic show with a disappearing tent and heater, followed by, “You are getting very sleepy… Hush, little baby… Time to take a beary long nap!” Mission accomplished. 

The graphic science novel ends with a “Super-Duper Animal Fact” about bears hibernating.

Story by Henri Meunier/ Illustrations by Nathalie Choux/ Adapted by Liza Charlesworth by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt / first published in France 

A retired pigeon private detective is hired by a little canary to track down a feather thief. The feather thief turns out to be the detectives old partner. After solving the crime, the retired detective and the young canary are back in business again. This book would make a better one on one book versus a read aloud. There is some humor and play on words that adults would catch, but children probably would not. 

From the series, Just Like Us, this book compares how birds are just like humans. They make music, build and decorate homes, take care of babies, and teach their young. With color cartoon illustrations and text boxes with information, this book gives examples of how birds build nests, attract mates, and care for their young. It also gives gives examples for specific bird species. There is a glossary at the end titled “Say What?” and a Bibliography. 

Luka has smuggled himself out of a Nazi labor camp even though he had to leave his friend, Lida, behind. He makes his way towards the mountains trying to escape detection from the Nazis and the Soviets and find his way back to his father. He stumbles upon the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and decides that he needs to be with them and fight for the resistance. 

An action packed novel inspired by true events from the author of Making Bombs for Hitler. A recommended purchase for grades 5 and up. 

Here is a new book on Roanoke by Torque- ” action-packed world … [of] mystery , and adventure.” There are seven modern color photos of Roanoke Island and six historic illustrations from the time period. The timeline sums up the known events beginning in 1584 and ending six years later in 1590.

“1584- England sends men to explore the area around Roanoke,

1585- An English fleet comes to Roanoke to build a settlement,

1586- The settlement fails and its men leave,

1587-New English colonists rebuild the settlement,

1590- The colony is found empty with no explanation” (16-17)

There are conjectures dealing with sickness, starvation, and battle, but nothing has been proven in over four hundred years. So do we need a new 24 page book, for a new generation of school children, saying we do not know what happened? Maybe, maybe not.

Ends with www.factsurfer.com.

The Princess in Black is like Bruce Wayne is to Batman or Clark Kent is to Superman, for she is a girl hero in disguise.

In book number 5, the Princess in Black  (AKA Princess Magnolia) is helping Goat Avenger send a monster back to Monster Land, but they do not notice another monster emerge from the hole a short time later. The new monster is a hungry shape-shifter. The Princess in Black currently smells like goats after helping the Goat Avenger, so the hungry monster secretly follows her back to Princess Magnolia’s castle, where she changes clothes. Now Princess Magnolia, still smelling of goats, is being followed by the monster disguised as a trunk riding on the back of her carriage, as the princess heads out for a playdate in the neighboring castle of Princess Sneezewort. Princess Sneezewort shows Princess Magnolia around her castle when a villager starts calling,’  “Help! Help! A monster is trying to eat my kitty!”  ‘(30) In Clark Kent style Princess Magnolia changes into the Princess in Black to rescue the kitty. Princess Sneezewort decides she must protect her kingdom and quickly transforms herself for the first time into the Princess in Blankets. Together they help the villagers, even though they do not know each others true identities. Eventually, the two princesses catch the monster and send him back to Monster Land.

Short chapters , colorful illustrations on every page turn, and scroll work around the text filled pages add an elegant charm which adds to the appeal of this book.

Girls who love math, science, girl scouting, are Hispanic, or just love a great true success story will love this book!

The struggles in this book are real dealing with living between two cultures.

Sylvia Acevedo began life in such an ordinary way. From a small town in South Dakota near Ellsworth Air Force Base born to a Mexican mother and a college educated United States Hispanic father, the family soon moved to Las Cruces,  New Mexico. They lived in an all Mexican part of town until her younger sister contracted meningitis. This changed their lives forever. Sylvia’s mother (Mami) only had a sixth grade education but she knew how to care for her family. Mami sensed her family would do better in the Anglo part of town and set off to make this move happen, even with her limited use of the English language.

Mami realized her children would need to know English to succeed in school, so Mami arranged to have a tutor for Mario and Sylvia.  After Mario entered first grade, Sylvia continue to go to the tutor by herself. Then a new program began- Head Start. Many of the mothers did not trust Head Start, but Mami saw its advantages and enrolled Sylvia. In Head Start, Sylvia was forced to use only one last name, that of her father, leaving her mother’s last name off, a bit of her culture taken away. “I would soon understand that it wasn’t just English that I was going to learn, but also a new way of life.” (79)

Sylvia learns to live between two cultures. Neither culture is put down. She learns to take the best of both and fly with them.

When Sylvia learns to read, she also learns she will be able to get her own library card. Her mother makes her save up $5.00 in a kitty bank, then deposit it in a savings account in a bank, in case a library book is damaged, before getting her library card. Sylvia does all of this, but sees at the same time her older brother not being made to do the same thing because he is a boy. Sylvia takes it all in stride. Just like her father (Papá) a chemist, whose at home time was spent reading, going to libraries, visiting his  father and mother, and with Sylvia’s older brother Mario, but not with her because she was a girl.

When Mami enrolls Sylvia and Mario in the Anglo school, she is automatically placed in the second grade remedial class by the principal because of the school from which they transferred. This does not happen to Mario because there wasn’t a remedial fourth grade. In this new school Sylvia feels alone until the day she wore her Brownie uniform to school. Now the whole new world of Girl Scouting and friendships opens up to her, Sylvia is automatically one in the sisterhood of Girl Scouts.

Girl scouting teaches Sylvia budgeting and planning through the cookie sales. Sylvia sees the value in these skills, along with the other badges, like science and cooking, that Girl Scouts allows her to experience.  Budgeting and planning ahead were skills Sylvia’s home life hadn’t taught her. Sylvia begins to start saving for college on her own, realizing this is not something her family will help her with financially. Girls get married and have families, they do not go to college.

Sylvia excels at school. Sylvia was inherently good at math, she loved reading, she won awards for her drumming (not an instrument usually played by girls in either culture), and basketball.

Domestic violence between her parents rears its head. Sylvia separates herself as much as possible from Papá and his temper. Arguments abound. Sylvia refuses to have a quinceañera, which Papá wants so much for her. “My family loved me, but they didn’t understand me, and I often felt like an outsider in my own home.” ( 263)

Eventually, Sylvia realized she wanted to be an industrial engineer. Here she had to prove to the people around her, the dean at New Mexico State University and their scholarship board, she knew what she wanted and was capable of succeeding at it. Sylvia credits much of it to skills she learned through Girl Scouts: people skills, organization, and planning.

While at New Mexico State University , Title IX came into effect. Sylvia had to prove to the  coaches, she was capable of succeeding at basketball though she had no formal training and had not played on any teams. She made the varsity team at New Mexico State University. Sylvia played one season, mostly as a benchwarmer, then gave it up to pursue her education.

While at New Mexico State University, Sylvia had a summer internship at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “The four-hour drive from Las Cruces to  Albuquerque was probably the best time I ever had with my father. He talked the entire way, but he gave me great advice about working in a laboratory, because he had worked in one too.” (284) The advice dealt with being the ‘victim of silly pranks’, never to complain, “not to get upset, even if my coworkers seemed to be taunting me… to perform flawlessly” (285) , being a woman, a woman in science and math, and being Mexican American.  Sylvia succeeded there, went on to Stanford, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

In the Epilogue on page 299 Sylvia states, ” I learned to create opportunities for myself.”

Meredith Goldstein knows the Boston area and teens’ complex anxieties and coping mechanisms. So the setting and characters work. The story is cute, a bit typical, in that love interests get tied up in the drama of guessing who will end up together while knowing it all along.

High school senior Maya works in her deceased mother’s university lab as a summer intern transcribing notes for her mother’s research partner.  Then her ideal boyfriend dumps her for another. In her grieving she stumbles on to research left her by her mother who was studying methods to keep relationships alive with love and attraction. As a way to win back her boyfriend, she becomes the subject of formulas to make another attracted to you. Three young handsome men and a summer of trials leads to the discovery that there are other factors involved in attraction than chemical compounds. A slightly different take on the the YA romantic novel, Maya is a smart young woman with college plans and an independence many will like.

On October 30. 1938 thousands of Americans panicked when the breaking news on their radios was believed to be that of an actual alien invasion when, in fact, it was a radio drama based on H.G.Well’s play, War of the World. Hysteria swept the nation, and the police and state patrol phone lines were jammed in Trenton, and throughout the state of New Jersey, as residents called for help, and made desperate pleas for authorities to check on their relatives living in the area. Few listeners realized that the dramatic reporting was that of actor H.G. Wells and his Mercury Theatre players.
In this nonfiction title author Gail Jarrow shares in gripping detail the famous War of the Worlds radio broadcast from 1938, examining the artists behind the broadcast, the broadcast itself, the aftermath, and the repercussions which remain relevant today, including the current controversial issue of “fake news”.

Filled with primary sources, Spooked! contains archival photographs and images, a timeline, bibliography, and an index. Spooked! makes a good resource for discussions about fake news, propaganda, and the role of media.

Blacklisted! Hollywood, the Cold War, and the First Amendment chronicles a shameful period in American history when tensions between the Soviet Union and the US were at an all-time high. A “Red Scare” was sweeping America, where supposed communist threats were everywhere. Under the misguided leadership of Senator Joe McCarthy, the House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities was formed to investigate those threats. Author Larry Dane Brimner tells the story of 19 men, all from the film industry, who are summoned to appear before the committee on Un-American Activities. The men believe that the committee’s investigations into their personal associations and their political views are a violation of their First Amendment rights. As they refuse to answer the committee’s questions, they are cited for contempt of Congress and blacklisted.
Brimner uses primary sources, including numerous black and white photographs, to outline the plight of these accused men.

Blacklisted! would make an excellent supplemental reference in the study of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, and well as for US History units on McCarthyism. Blacklisted! is one of several Social Justice titles by this author. Others include Birmingham Sunday, Black & White: The Confrontation between Reverend Fred L. Shuttleworth and Eugene “Bull” Connor, Twelve Days in May: Freedom Ride 1961, and We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin.

Jeff Mack has a new series-  Mr. Monkey.  Mr. Monkey is visually appealing slap-stick. Since this is book #2 , the numeral two is replaced with the icon of two banana. The end-papers are filled with the images of two bananas.

Mr. Monkey is learning to juggle: tennis rackets, an umbrella, and a brief case. Ooh! Ooh! Mr. Monkey receives a new email. “DEAR MR. MONKEY , PLEASE VISIT OUR SCHOOL AND DO YOUR TRICK. SINCERELY, THE LIBRARIAN” Mr. Monkey packs his car, then realizes he has forgotten his pants. “OOPS.” (red face)

Mr. Monkey’s trip to school is filled with traffic, an accident with a cow, rain, snow, then a blizzard, and finally a ski jump. Once Mr. Monkey arrives at school his juggling items gets creatively used by a crossing guard, a PE teacher, and the principal until nothing is left for him to juggle once he reaches the stage. “OOH… IT’S SHOWTIME!” Quickly Mr. Monkey exits the stage. He comes back with a cow. “He lifts. He tosses. He catches the cow!” When another cow comes to see what is happening, it is tossed, too. When the librarian comes on stage to check out the act, she is juggled with the two cows. The audience loves this act.

Smiles and giggles are guaranteed with each “oh” and “oops”.

Jeff Mack has a new series-  Mr. Monkey.  Mr. Monkey is visually appealing slap-stick. Since this is book #1 , the numeral one is replaced with the icon of a single banana. The end-papers are filled with the images of single bananas.

Mr. Monkey sets out to make a banana cake. While he mixes the ingredients, he eats bananas. Oops, he forgot to peel the bananas he put into his cake. Oops, by the time the cake is finished Mr. Monkey has eaten so many bananas he is full, but slips one last banana into his pocket. Then, his email chimes  on his computer. There is a cake show where he can win a ribbon! Off Mr. Monkey goes to the cake show. As he walks to the cake show crossing the streets, escaping hungry birds (with teeth), a dog, and a gorilla at the zoo, Mr. Monkey arrives too late to enter the cake for a ribbon. Oh, No! The gorilla has followed Mr. Monkey to the cake show. The gorilla is chasing Mr. Monkey around creating a mess of the other cakes. Frosting is everywhere. Mr. Monkey is face to face with the angry gorilla. Oh! Mr. Monkey remembers he has a banana in his pocket. Gorillas like bananas, too. As Mr. Monkey leaves the cake show, he slips on the banana peel landing face first in his cake.

“Mr. Monkey Bakes a Cake” is silly, yet endearing!

Empire of Storms is the fifth book in the bestselling Throne of Glass series. It is not a stand alone novel: the reader needs the extensive character and plot background presented in the earlier books in this epic fantasy series. In Empire of Storms, Aelin continues the long path to the throne. Those who possess magic are in conflict with those who do not. Conflict rages over loyalties. Friendships are broken. Aelin and Rowan’s relationship is displayed in fairly several racy love scenes. The story is told in multiple point of view, which makes for interesting reading.
Recommended only for high school and up due to the sex scenes.