By Kate Jenks Landry, Illustrated by Vivian Mineker
More than anything, Beatrice wants a pet to cuddle, snuggle and take care of. After a long negotiation with her mom, they agree upon a plant. While Barb is not the most affectionate pet a girl can have, Beatrice does everything she can to take care of her plant. She begins to notice that Barb is not doing well and is beginning to look sick. What can Beatrice do to save her beloved pet?
I would highly recommend this well illustrated book that shows determination, dedication and love.
This is the biography of billy barr (he chooses not to capitalize his name), a man who chose to live in the Rocky Mountains alone in the early 1970’s and continues to live there to this day. The author’s note at the end explains that billy become bored and thus started measuring and noting information about the first snowfall, snowpack and when certain animals and flowers returned to the mountains or came out of hibernation. His notebooks are still used when researching climate change and global warming.
I would highly recommend this book for elementary school. It is a wonderfully written and illustrated book that can be used extensively when recognizing climate change as well as a great example of the scientific method in action.
Bobert lives in the evil kingdom of Nefaria where everyone does what they can to keep evil “in check”. He lives a life where he feels that he is invisible. He is forgotten by all around him, even his parents. When he follows his classmates to a cursed gumball machine, he is sucked into an evil scheme created by Matt the evil wizard. Will Bobert finally be remembered by his classmates and found before the kingdom is taken over by Matt? Will Nefaria once again become a kingdom that is impervious to these evil schemes?
I found this book to be somewhat difficult to get in to as the storyline seemed difficult to understand at the beginning. The main character, Bobert, was difficult to get behind. If a reader enjoys quirky fantasy with underdog protagonists then they may enjoy this book.
Shea Ernshaw’s A Wilderness of Stars brings multiple genres of adventure, romance, and sci-fi together as it starts off strong but finishes disjointed and rushed. Vega is from a line of “Astronomers”. When the stars are in alignment, she begins a journey to find the “Architect” and save the world. She meets a girl named Cricket who saves her from danger and brings her to the “Architect”. After the “Architect”‘s sudden death, the apprentice Noah replaces him and brings Vega to her final goal. This follows a traditional plotline that incorporates more serious topics of disease, poverty, and harsh environments that the author executes beautifully. However, the story falls flat with the climax and ending. The timing was inconsistent and the added science-fiction element created a disjointed flow—like a car jerking as it runs out of gas. And additional purchase for most libraries.
Miss Hildy and Miss Hattie, two friendly witches, leave Styx (a purple cat) and Scones (a ginger colored dog) alone in their cottage when they go off to gather some fenfruit. They instruct their pets to leave various magical items alone, including a crystal ball, potions and herbs and the flying brooms. They don’t say anything about the stick on the mantel. So, Scones figures it’s ok to play with, right? Well, mayhem ensues as the two animals scuffle over the magical stick, turning Styx into a variety of purple animals and adding a ship, pirates and many other magical things to the mix. Upon the return of the witches, they learn that the stick is just that, not a magic wand. Yet, they turn Miss Hattie into a jar of peanut butter. So, what is that about?
This hilarious beginning graphic novel is perfect for new readers, who are introduced to the format by Styx and Scones on the first few pages. Cartoon-like illustrations are bright and the text is very accessible. This book will not be on the library shelves for long! Highly recommended.
A young boy wakes up to a snowy landscape and decides to build “THE BEST SNOWMAN EVER!” He mulls over the steps to the perfect snowman and about daydreams about the result, so perfect that it will be a dream come true! Well, sometimes the outcome isn’t as perfect as planned. But, this little boy is undaunted. He creates his “BEST SNOWMAN YET!” And, it is.
Bright, bold colors in simple illustrations help tell a story that is full of fun, exuberance and heart. Text is spare, yet moves the story along and readers will enjoy the onomatopoeia along the way. Add this to your collection. It will become a classic!
It’s a special day in Ember City! Young dragons will learn what their “Spark” (special power) is at the Spark Day Ceremony. Among them are Li, Runa and Drake, who are three best friends. At the Ceremony, they see the beautiful disco ball that was created by dragons on the very first Spark Day. During the party after receiving their Sparks, Drake and another dragon, Fizz, get into a bit of tussle and break the special disco ball, ending the Spark Day festivities. Each of the young dragons tries to fix the broken disco ball with disastrous results. Suddenly, Drake remembers something that the mayor said, “Our Sparks shine their brightest when we use them to help one another”. They follow this advice and not only fix the broken disco ball but make it more special, alight with rainbow colors. They had learned a valuable lesson and saved Spark Day!
Brightly colored cartoon-like illustrations in a graphic novel/early chapter book style make this a nice introduction to the genre for young readers. It is not text-heavy and there is a lot of white space on the pages, which makes it even more accessible. The story moves along and the dragons are fun and a little silly. Kids will love it!
While on a trip to the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., Forsythe Fitzgerald, known to his family and friends as Fort, watches as his father is snatched and pulled underground by a long clawed monster hand. Desperate to rescue his father, he is stopped by a voice in his head telling him to run. Six months later, a depressed Fort is invited to attend a special school to help him overcome the mysterious loss of his father. The school is out in the middle of no where, looks like an army camp and is heavily guarded by armed soldiers. Fort meets other students and instructors and learns that the school is not an ordinary one but one in which to learn magic to defend against the beings that control the monster hands that took his father. He also learns that several different types of magic books have been unearthed and only people no older than Fort can learn and work magic. Fort wants to learn “destructive” magic to get revenge for the taking of his father. Instead he is assigned to learn “healing” magic and has only three days to learn three spells to catch up with the other students or be sent home! The other students took months to learn just one spell and adults can’t learn any, so how can he possibly learn three in three days? He gets help from an unexpected source…the voice he heard in his head so many months before. This mysterious voice enables Fort not only to learn his three spells but also to master several advanced ones as well. His sudden possession of arcane spells earns him the begrudging respect and the animosity of some of the more accomplished students as somehow their skills are transferred into Fort. With the help of his new allies, he begins to search for the source of this strange voice despite foot dragging by some of them. Eventually his friends and he uncover the source not only of his mysterious voice but also to whom the books of magic originally belonged and why they want them back. Without revealing any spoilers, Fort discovers the true magic power of healing and that cooperation with others is the real strength of leadership. Does he rescue his father and thwart the aliens controlling the monster hands? Well, those answers and other adventures are in the sequels to The Revenge Of Magic. You’ll just have to read those to find out.
All Lia wants is make it into the International Magic School with her friend, Joon. Her overprotective parents, who work mundane desk jobs for the magical organization, won’t let her do anything and she can’t figure out why. In an act of rebellion, Lia attends the party of the popular girl from school and ends up revealing her family’s location (by breaking an ancient protection spell) to the evil diviner spirit, Gaya, who kidnaps her parents and demands a ransom. Lia’s parents manage to get a message to her during the kidnapping and she and Joon are magically transported to Korea. There, they discover Lia’s true lineage as they and Lia’s grandmother desperately fight to save her parents and destroy Gaya before she returns Korea to a vastly different time hundreds of years before.
This book brings together Korean mythology, magic, modern day technology and typical tween feelings in a wonderfully rich, exciting story. Lia is a twelve year old that is feeling a little (ok, a lot) hemmed in by her parents and sets off a chain of events that will change her life (and possibly the world) when she sneaks out to a swim party at the popular girl’s house. This act of rebellion leads to a fast-paced fantasy adventure that will cause you some sleepless nights, because you just can’t put it down. Hand this book to those students that love Rick Riordan’s books. They will thank you!
Mascot is a lively set of conversations around the topic of racism/discrimination which spreads middle school-wide from an eighth-grade Honors English class outward and into the entire community.
Abraham Lincoln made a statement that can apply to the having of indigenous mascots for sports teams- ” You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” Or DeShanne Stoke’s statement- “Discrimination is discrimination even when people claim it’s ‘tradition’.”
So who is correct about allowing sports/school teams to continue to use (often derogatory) Indigenous-themed mascots – the team who has been using the mascot for generations or the Indigenous group who claims the mascot is disrespectful and hurtful to their people? Mascot gives a well-rounded set of views, both pro and con, to this very question. Six students, in pairs, are assigned this topic to debate in their Eighth Grade Honors English Class. They are not necessarily assigned the side of this question they favor. Will they be able to sympathize with the other side, at all? Will any of the students change their current position on the topic once their research is completed? Can middle schoolers make a change in their community? The school mascot in question won’t even be their mascot until next year when they graduate from the local high school. HIGH FIVE to authors Charles Waters and Traci Sorell for a job well done! Submitted by Mary Pong for Washington Middle School
Hiding her love for Nora was hard enough in her conservative, small town. After graduating high school, Stevie and Nora had big dreams of moving to a more accepting world. But Stevie’s accident has left her with amnesia — she can’t remember anything from the last two years and she barely feels connected with her own family anymore.
Confusion, frustration, and loneliness are part of the struggles both Nora and Stevie face as they learn about each other again, all while wondering if their love will be rekindled. Alyson Derrick gave enough backstory so one could feel how deep their passion for each other. This reader was cheering them on as Stevie and Nora fell back in love. The only flaw– how easily her parents accepted her sexuality given the community they lived in — is concerning in that not all students reading this would be so lucky. But a theme of the book has to be hope in true love and where one sees a flaw another can argue that it is evidence of the theme. What could have been a tragic love loss story is instead one where each page had a purpose in explaining the intimate details of their connection. A highly recommended love story for high school students.
Ghost by Jason Reynolds is a very impressive piece of writing with an excellent plot Castle Cranshaw lives a life with many hardships but finds his passion in running. The descriptive language and mood of the book were what made it engaging. The amazing literary devices in this book make it a captivating novel. A reader who likes to be motivated would love to read this novel, it could also interest people of diverse backgrounds. This book reviewed was the version translated into Spanish. Reviewed by a Washington Middle School student.
This sweet (pun intended) read is perfect for fans of the Great British Baking show. Shireen, the protagonist, is trying her best to save her family’s donut shop and navigate a love triangle between her ex girlfriend and her new crush. Shireen is Bangledeshi and living in Ireland, which adds an interesting perspective and point of view for young American readers.
Like Jiagirdar’s previous work, it involves queer relationships but is much more lighthearted and moves past acceptance to just pure love and fun; homophobia or intolerance does not have a central place in the story which is refreshingly hopeful.
This is light on romance, more heavily focused on teen drama, and would therefore might be more suitable for middle grade than high school readers who might find the wholesome narration a little childish. But, overall, a light and happy read with a unique perspective and a fun premise!
Marvin Monster writes in his diary about his life and living with ADHD and how that can affect his self-esteem. Through Marvin’s daily life of going to school, he runs into lots of great things but then he becomes overwhelmed with the details of how to follow through with his commitments. Marvin spends time with his Grandmomster (Grammasaurus) and from her learns that she has some of the same troubles he has. Grammasaurus helps Marvin learn strategies for how to cope and manage his life.
The author, Dr. Melmed has included a section in the back of this book for parents and teachers. This resource is full of strategies so children can learn how to use them to help manage their feelings. Dr. Melmed explains what self-esteem is and how that can take a toll on young children.
This book would be great as a read-aloud for a child who is dealing with ADHD and/or self-esteem issues. This would help adults working with their own children, or students, to focus on strategies to help manage ADHA and self-esteem.
Lippincott is known for writing sweet, sometimes heartbreaking stories involving challenges like illness and loss, such as Five Feet Apart. Her characters’ experiences are relatable and are always refreshingly reflective, which is a perk for adult readers, as seen in The Lucky List. Her first venture into sweet, queer ya romance with She Gets the Girl was one of my favorite and most recommended reads of 2022.
In Pride, Prejudice, and Pittsburgh, she adds some time travel and destiny into the mix. Both modern day Pittsburgh and the 1812 settings are characters themselves and the miscommunications about how life works in these different eras between the two main characters, Audrey and Lucy, are amusing. In the beginning, Lucy is betrothed to marry a man and Audrey was recently dumped by her first love, so both are experiencing romantic woes before the sparks fly between them. As with most time travel stories, Audrey learns to appreciate her life and I especially liked her relationship with her dad and their convenience store that felt very Pittsburgh .
My one complaint is that the title is misleading! This is not a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, at least not that I (someone who is admittedly not a P&P stan) caught.
Adina Walker is intelligent, driven, pretty, and sociable but because she is Black and middle-class, life at her exclusive, private high school has not been easy. When Adina loses her acceptance to Yale, she has the opportunity to regain it by winning “The Finish;” however, this elite competition is not all that it seems to be. In fact, something is clearly sinister about the game.
Joelle Wellington’s Their Vicious Games is an entertaining read. The story is fast-paced, and populated with developed characters that are recognizable, not always likable, yet very interesting. Events are unpredictable and the plot is twisty while descriptions are brutal and gory. It is an anxiety-inducing, horrifying thrill-ride and the reader will not want to disembark until it is done. This novel effortlessly allows readers of all ages to engulf themselves in this YA high-action, thriller and is highly recommended!
Liz Sonneborn presents excellent information about the past and present Hopi people – the “people who live the correct way”. The Hopi live in present day northern Arizona which is a very dry arid land. The Hopi have devised unique ways to successfully live in this climate, in balance with nature, but present-day draught/climate change is making it more difficult.
The book informs about traditional and present use of the Hopi’s resources, the Hopi’s introduction to European contact, their government, and their use of both English and the Hopi languages.
The book includes: a timeline, glossary, index, and a safe internet web site- FACTSURFER.COM- for further information.
April Pulley Sayre uses poetic language to describe both the physical between, between as a description of time and motion, and between as symbol of change.
Sayre’s breathtaking photographs show change, movement, and the potential found in nature. Even for children who are not yet able to understand complexities of the at times abstract “in between” described in words, the photographs will elicit excitement and curiosity.
WOW! What a fantastic introduction to geology! What a conversation starter! BIG watercolor pictures of volcanoes, dinosaurs, coastlines, mountains and valleys, flora and fauna, past and present life all having a connection to rock is some way or other.
This book is simple and yet profound! Rocks are all around us, perhaps we should start to think more about them.
The Earth’s “ONE OCEAN” is explored by five bio-zones in this take off from the BBC television show OUR BLUE PLANET. The five bio-zones sections: The Deep, Life in the Lost City, Life in the Balance, Superhero, and Worlds Colliding are explored with the hope the reader will become so enthralled they will join in the fight to protect THE OCEAN which is so important to our existence on this planet.
The five bio-zones are described by area/location, then stories of the life from the zone are shared, followed by inhabitants of the zone beginning with the deepest zone going to the shallowest zone. The author’s use of figurative language makes this more for entertainment than for a reference piece. “In the MIDNIGHT ZONE there are creatures that wouldn’t be out of place in your nightmares…” ( 6). The text in each section goes from giant titles, to regular size 12-ish print, to size 8-ish print. The smaller the font the more specific the information.
There is no Index or Glossary to help with animal and plant names in bold set type through out the book. The world map on pages 3-4 shows seven specific locations marked with a red dot, but only six of them are mentioned by name within the book. If I were the red dot for the ‘Mariana Trench’ I would feel slighted because its name could so easily have been mentioned in the section “THE DEEP”.
Fourth grader, Sparrow, has a way of getting carried away that leads to problems. I kept thinking about a very young Maria Van Trapp from the SOUND OF MUSIC in How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria when reading this book. Like Maria, Sparrow does not go looking for trouble, she is just exuberant and ‘problems’ happens. Sparrow’s parents are trying their best using “Positive Parenting” skills and key phrases without getting too upset, but Sparrow finds this frustrating because often she is only looking for answers to life’s immediate situations.
Sparrow and her parents have just moved into a duplex style house. Their elderly neighbor Mrs. LaRose enjoys caring for Sparrow for the short hour while both of Sparrow’s parents are at work. Mrs. LaRose and Sparrow are outside watching a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis. “Unfortunately, when Sparrow got excited, things tended to go wrong.” (4)The two of them were doing a dance of the butterflies in the backyard, when they crashed into each other. Mrs. LaRose falls to the ground breaking her hip. The story begins with the sound of sirens as the ambulance arrives for Mrs. LaRose. Mrs. LaRose’s only immediate concern is for her seven cats. Sparrow promises to take care of the cats. AND the domino effect has begun. How will Sparrow care for the seven cats when the first day of school is tomorrow? What will the consequences be when Sparrow tells her new classmates the seven cats are hers? Who will watch Sparrow after school until her parent gets home now that Mrs. LaRose is in the hospital? How will Sparrow be able to keep Mrs. LaRose’s daughter from taking the cats to the animal shelter?
Life’s situations have a way of working out. Sparrow’s situations are realistically normal and readers will be able to see this, and perhaps even be able to identify with them.
The chapters range from five to eight pages in length with twenty-five pencil illustrations sprinkled throughout the story. The illustration of Sparrow and her mother in a loving embrace on page 170 will warm your heart in this heartfelt moment of connection between mother and daughter.
This vibrantly illustrated book is a love letter to books and reading. It talks about the magic of books, magic that is, “…sweeter when you share it. More powerful when you choose the book yourself.” Beyond those powerful words, it seems to me that the book misses its mark.
Sadly, the book fails to make a distinction between owned books and borrowed books. The early illustrations clearly place the action in a library. Then there is a spread about books being worn out by being chewed on, slept on, spilled on. It depicts the pages of worn books being used for art projects. Because none of these behaviors are appropriate with books borrowed from a library, I do not recommend this book for a school library.
Follow a young boy through his community as he walks the reader through his thoughts and feelings about the American flag. The flag invokes feelings pride and hope.The flag symbolizes freedom. The flag is part of the boy’s community every day. Reflecting on the flag reminds the boy of the struggles of Americans in the past and the ways we can work individually and as a group today and tomorrow to make America a better place for all people.
My Red, White, and Blue does a good job showing that the flag represents different things to different people Through images and words, the book reinforces the idea that an individual’s experience and as well as perceptions of the past influence what the flag represents to each individual.
This beautiful, haunting verse novel tells the story of the author’s journey of discovering her ancestors. The author says she asked her ancestors to speak their experiences through her which is what these poems do. The reader is taken back in time through the history of a place that housed slaves and slavers. The building speaks. The ancestors speak through the generations. Some famous people of the day speak, including Frederick Douglas. The people who owned the house and all its horrible wealth speak. The dog speaks. The key to the house speaks and the cemetery too. It is a patchwork quilt of images through time and the imagined stories of what life would have been like from all these perspectives. The drawings throughout the book are line drawings or etchings, mostly white lines on black background. The detail is beautiful even when the images are sad or harsh. Students who want a story with a basic plot line may be confused because the timeline jumps around a bit. The multiple perspectives may challenge some readers. And it is a topic that is harsh and raw and often untold. It should be read.
Things in the Basement by Ben Hatke will be a sure winner with early intermediate readers. Milo is sent on a mission to find his little sister’s sock and is taken into his basement to try and find it. Despite the multiple basement layers, Milo is determined to help his mom and find his sister’s sock.I loved how the book’s illustration details and the vivid and interesting text complement one another. The can’t Take Your Eyes Away plot makes this graphic novel a page-turner. 4-5th graders will love the illustrations that cover each page while middle school readers will how this story makes them want to never put it down. All readers will love how Ben Hatke compliments the text with illustrations. Reviewed by a Washington Middle School student.
