Bea dies in a car accident and wakes up in “purgatory,” an airport called Layoverland. To move on to Heaven, she must help 5000 people move on themselves! However, her first real assignment is the one who killed her. Can she help her killer? You should read this book because: It’s moving and thought-provoking while being funny and real. Bea is a fun, relatable character that you can hang out with. Genre: Realistic Fiction/ Fantasy
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Review by OSD Sub. Angela
Riz the main character experiences dissociative experiences, memories of her father who passed away years ago. We watch as she holds on to the grief of her father’s death- almost a metaphor for keeping going and holding on to life and love.
If you enjoy books that are filled with emotion this book is perfect for you! I loved this book and could not stop
Reading it because it’s so easy to connect your own emotions with the characters.
The genre is Realistic Fiction.
Reviewed by OSD Sub: Maxine
Between Shades of Gray, is the heart-wrenching YA novel about the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1941. The author, Ruth Sepetys, tells of the forced removal of “undesirables” by the Soviet army to the frozen regions of Siberia, a hostile, forbidding place.
The graphic novel of this acclaimed novel is stunning. With the author’s approval and guidance, the story of Lina, and her incredible courage comes alive. Sketches and drawings tell of her pain, shock, and resilience even better than words. The desolation and isolation of the frozen North is haunting in the “shades of gray” as well as the glimmer of golden hope to survive.
The sun is only a tiny sliver of gold between the gray of the sky and the gray of the frozen land. Love of life and the possibility of a better future is the tiny sliver of hope in a world of starvation, cruelty, and unimaginable suffering. To survive and remain human in the direst of situations, Lina, a 16-year-old teenager, tells about her experiences through her drawings. She draws to send messages to her father and then she draws to remember the faces of those lost and then she draws to document the horror she experiences, in hope that it will become known to the rest of the world.
This novel is a documentation of a horrible historical event. The graphic novel makes the story come alive with painful beauty and tenderness. Hopefully, it will be accessible to even more readers.
A beautifully written YA novel of historical fiction, Freedom Swimmer, by Wai Chim is based on the actual experiences of the author’s father. Between 1950 and 1974 over a half million people fled persecution, famine, and political turmoil in Communist China. Swimming to freedom in Hong Kong was one gateway to escape.
First-person accounts of enduring the tumultuous time of the Cultural Revolution are illuminated in the stories of Ming, an 11-year-old orphan from a small rural village, and Li, one of the citified, “educated youth”, sent to the villages to be re-educated through labor in the fields.
Both young teenagers are struggling for a sense of purpose. Disillusioned and rudderless, their friendship grows and they decide to make a pact to attempt the impossible.
Situations of birth, country of origin and political climate are all factors that affect one’s life. The tender true story of teenagers caught up in situations they cannot control will resonate across years and diverse cultures. The novel is a sensitive insight into a heartbreakingly difficult time.
A celebration of storytelling, this collection of poetry is part of a twenty-year tradition of Chicago’s Oak Park and River Forest’s Spoken Word Club, started in 1999 with the mission: “… a call of pride and history and tradition and hope.” It is a call to the power of The Word!
Explaining that RAP stands for Rhythm And Poetry, the collection is open to all forms of expression, aims to have the words resonate on the page as well as the stage, and to give each writer a place to call their own, a place to belong.
“Respect the Mic” is a phrase that reigns supreme. It is an order if anyone dares to talk when someone is reading a poem; it is a challenge to respect the tradition of the spoken word; it is security in knowing your voice will be heard; it is finding a home in the camaraderie of storytellers.
Each writer is introduced by what year they were in the Spoken Word Club, or which college they attend, or their hobby/job or family status. This gives an insight into each poem making for a deeper connection to the writer and their story. These are new voices writing in new ways. The collection is definitely worth exploring, reading, and enjoying, each and every diverse and honest entry.
The Art of Sushi by Frankie Alacron is a delightful mixture of travel journal, cookbook, history lesson, and an introduction to sustainable fishing. In a black and white, graphic novel format, with minimal color used for emphasis, the art as well as the history of sushi is celebrated. With awe and whimsy, French chef Alacron’s enthusiasm for Japanese cuisine, especially sushi, and his respect for the skill and precision needed to achieve such perfection, guide his travels across Japan. Curiosity and appreciation lead to visits to a three-star Michelin chef, a Master knife maker, a nori farm, a sake factory, and an open ocean fishing trip. The underlying message is respect: respect for the art and skill needed to create beautiful and delicious food and respect for the ingredients in the sushi and how it is obtained. Sustainable fishing and the humane treatment of the fish reflect the superior quality of the sushi ingredients. This is book is excellent: informative, entertaining, and thoroughly enjoyable.
This story follow Fi and Shane, two strong young adult female characters, on their trip to break a curse that was placed on Briar Rose, a sleeping prince, place one hundred years before. This story has very good world building, characters, and engaging plot.
The main character, Grey, moves back down to Louisiana to solve the mystery of her missing best friend, Elora. Even in a town full of psychics, no one seems to have the answer, and everyone is holding on to secrets.
Moon and Star Fuentes are twin sisters who are loving opposites of each other. Star literally is a social media star, an influencer among the Christian circles who gets freebies and travels the country promoting herself using products. Moon is her photographer, framing Star for the perfect pics while staying in the shadows. When Star gets an offer travel to multiple locations with multiple influencers over the course of the summer, Moon’s summer plan get derailed as her mother insists she follow Star. Over the course of the two months, Moon will meet people who not only make her feel like the center of attention, but allow her to question her role in her family and what her future could hold. Moon begins as a teen who does not like her body, just accepts her fate as flawed, but she will emerge a confident mariposa, out of her cocoon and ready to fly away from her home life that is not nearly as supportive as it should be. Interlaced with magical realism and traditional hispanic lore, Rachel Vasquez Gilliland’s story is lovely and highly recommended for school libraries.
This is not Black joy. This is Black frustration, Black grit, Black abuse, and Black redemption. Char, the bully from Draper’s The Skin I’m In, is being sent to her grandparents after both parents had been murdered and her older sister found it difficult to provide any sense of normalcy. Char boards the Greyhound to Alabama but only makes it about 1/2 the way before disembarking with a baby in tow. Trying to be the adulting mother she so desperately needs herself, Char gets groomed into human trafficking.
This story is raw. This story made me mad. Why did Sharon Flake even need to tell Char’s next chapter after her award-winning book from two decades ago? The question of why Char was such a bully to Maleeka is not answered per se but readers see the weakness of Char and she is allowed to be redeemed in Maleeka’s eyes. Maleeka and Char are both stronger characters by the close of this text. Char does survive, but not without scaring readers along the way.
Sharon Flake wrote this book to get under the skin that you’re in – no matter what color. And it will.
Book 2 of the Truly Devious series, The Vanishing Stair continues the story of Stevie, a person who is taken out of her private boarding school for her own good by her parents as she got sucked into trying to solve a mystery that put her in danger in the process. Stevie also happened to fall for David in book 1. Early in book 2, Stevie is manipulated by said boy’s dad, Edward King, who will get her back into the school if she keeps an eye on his son. Boy plus mystery still unsolved = Stevie’s perfect day. In a parallel plot, readers navigate their way back to old school Elligham, where 3 other characters slowly build the mystery of this academy. I agree with many reviewers that this old-school setting and characters could have been its own book. Who doesn’t love a good murder mystery with cliffhangers? This reviewer didn’t. I didn’t feel compelled to follow characters into the tunnels, I didn’t like how dumb Stevie acted around David and I knew there would be a book 3 so I felt like I was wading through quicksand of switchbacks between the then and now time periods. I was disappointed that this book didn’t click for me but as a freebie for my library, I can’t complain too loudly.
It tells of a small unspecified animal who was the only one of her kind, who didn’t know what she was called or where she came from, so when other animals in her community ask, “wutaryoo,” she simply repeats it back at them, and listen as all her animal friends tell their origin stories. Eventually, tired of not having her own story to tell, she sets off to search for it. Along the way, she meets several creatures she’s never seen before, but eventually finds herself back where she started. At first sad and disappointed, she now finds herself facing new questions: Are you all right? Where did you go? What did you see? What did you hear? And this time she has her own story to tell, not about where she came from, but about where she went and what she did.
It’s a celebration of the ways music can uplift our lives. The text is simple, about a father and son’s day out, and the son sharing all his dad has shared with him about all the different things a song can do for us. The slightly vintage-looking illustrations do a good job of enhancing the text: when the text says that a song can remind us of the past, we see an older couple gathered at a piano, surrounded by memories upon their walls; when it says a song can reveal our feelings, we see a sad young boy laying on his bed and listening to his earphones while surrounded by fliers for his missing dog… In the back of the book, the author/illustrator offers commentary on some of the illustrations that offer context to young readers who might not notice some of the historical and musical references they include.
It’s got a really good message about not making judgments without all the facts. It tells about a little gorilla who’s been sent by his grandfather to pick up some eggs that crane offered to leave for them. But unfortunately a mischievous monkey decides to follow along and watch him from afar, and all along the journey that monkey misinterprets what he sees. Worse yet, the monkey shares his accusations with other jungle dwellers who accept them at face value. By the time the little gorilla is about to arrive home with his precious cargo, the others are ready punish him for a list of crimes he didn’t commit. Luckily he is rescued when a giant hippo emerges from the river with his little bird who corrects the accusatory monkeys by announcing he’d been up close and personal to all the gorilla’s transactions, and scolds them for making accusations based on things they have not seen with their own eyes and heard with their own ears. Though I like the message, I thought both the telling of it and the illustrations were a bit flat.
I highly recommend this book. I learned stuff I didn’t know. It takes something we’re all so very familiar with and yet most of us really don’t understand, sending a text to the other side of the planet, and explains it. And when I say it explains how it happens, I mean it starts with the microscopic hairs inside your ears that detect a disturbance in the air that your brain interprets as a ringtone that causes you to look at the incoming text you’re about to reply to. It almost draws parallels between the human parts that talk to each other to send messages from eyes to brain to fingers along your nervous system and the hardware parts on the global communications infrastructure to send the message along wires and fiberoptic cables. The whole thing is so complex and yet all happens in a matter of seconds a bazillion times a day, and we all take it for granted without really thinking about it. This book makes you think about it. Even as it explains things really quite clearly (despite great big vocabulary words), it makes the mind boggle at the same time. The illustrations really do a great job of communicating the process and supporting all those great big vocabulary words (like radiating electromagnetic photons). It’s a marvel!
As someone who grew up in a large family I totally appreciate this story about a young girl spending Valentine’s Day at home alone with her mom, while her six siblings are out for the day with their dad. Together they get the household chores done before breaking out the Valentine’s Day decorations setting their creativity loose to make the day special for the rest of their family. The main character’s name is Mia Valentina (i.e. my valentine), so she revels in her favorite day while making valentines and baking cupcakes, but then the day is tarnished when she notices that no one made a valentine for her, until at bedtime she finds the one her mom made for her tucked under her pillow. Throughout the story the old house is almost another character, with cracked windows and peeling wallpaper making it clear that the family maybe didn’t have a lot that was shiny and new, but overflowing with love that finds joy in simple delights. The story is warm and cozy and sentimental, and the illustrations capture and add to that tone beautifully.
This book starts with something everyone sees all the time and doesn’t think much about (a crosswalk signal), and asks the reader to stop and think about it, to imagine that the little man inside the sign might have some ambitions and adventures. It brings the man inside the walk signal to life, imagining what he’s thinking as he looks out on the world, and what he would do if he could climb out of his box and explore the world on his own. After exploring the world for a bit, jumping to the rescue when he sees a small child alone in the middle of the street, he finds himself missing his own corner and recognizing the value he serves in keeping people safe, so he returns home (but still needs a vacation occasionally). I think it would be a great launching off spot for discussion and/or writing prompts getting kids to imagine stories for other common items in our world.
It’s essentially an illustrated list of different kinds of cats, and when I say kinds, I’m not talking breed, I’m talking about color and attitude and pose, etc. Yet it works in opposites and rhyming and adjectives in a way that makes it a great support for emergent literacy. The illustrations are full of personality and act as a support for the text, all while capturing some classic cat moments that will be very recognizable to cat families.
Okay, so I hate to be down on joy, and I’m not even really down on this sweet little book, I just don’t think it is meant to be a library book. It’s meant to be part of the decor in a nursery or children’s room, where it sits on display all year long and is occasionally pulled down to peruse for an idea. I almost even marked it as “reference,” but then that didn’t really seem to fit it, even though I imagine it being used kind of like a reference book for a bored kid. It’s got a page for every day of the year, with ideas for things to try, along with bits of information about that day’s topic and questions for kids to ponder. The illustrations are really sweet, but kind of keep the target audience young, even though older kids would be able to make more independent use of the information. My “additional purchase” recommendation is really kind of a compromise choice: I have a hard time recommending it for library use, but would absolutely recommend it as a gift for a baby shower.
The lyrical text describes animals that live in groups and using the collective nouns and then names an animal that lives alone. I like the use of collective nouns and the text is engaging. I was expecting to learn more information about the solitary animals, but I did learn which animals live in groups and what the group names are called. There is a page at the back that answers some questions about why some animals live alone. The artwork in the book is bright and vibrant and is eye-catching.
Margarita Engle weaves immigration with how the light from the Statue of Liberty welcomes us all. Even though we are different, come from a variety of places, and have many reasons for coming to the United States we are the same in that we have a love for the home that we have left and the place that we now call home.
While I appreciate and think it is important that Engle included that land was taken from Indigenous People and others were forced to come here on slave ships, it felt disjointed with how it was incorporated into the book. The author’s and illustrator’s notes at the end add their own personal stories to the book.
On March 2, 1955 Claudette Colvin was arrested for not giving up her bus seat to a white person. She was 15 and this occurred almost a year before Rosa Parks famed refusal. Through the lawyer, Fred Gray, Claudette met and befriended Rosa Parks and started to attend meetings with the NAACP. These events led up to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. the book does not focus solely on Claudette but mentions others who were instrumental in the changing of the bus law. Told in a cause and effect style, the author shows how small events can lead to bigger events that lead to changes.
Tonya Engel’s paintings complement the text. There is an author’s note at the end that details how the idea for this book came to be and provides suggestions for further reading with books and websites.
Frog is an artist but he needed some inspiration for his art because his swamp was dull. He went around to his friends in the forest and adds his artistic interpretations. His friends do not appreciate him beautifying everything. He realizes he got carried away and returns to his swamp to create his own art show. He invites his friends to his art show so he can apologize.
Frog is fun and his personality comes through in the illustrations. He learns that he needs to respect other’s spaces. I do wish it had shown Frog helping his friends clean up the messes that he made.
The book was originally published in London, so there is some spelling differences in the book that kids might notice (colour/color). The text changes between black and white, but sometimes the page is dark and the text is still black which makes it a challenge to read.
Pig is scared of something but she is trying to ignore it. Her friend, Horse, tries to get her mind off of her fear with bike rides, swimming, and making her laugh. Pig realizes that ignoring it does not make the problem better. They decide to talk about it and face her fear together. Pig’s fears are things that are very common for children (night, being alone, and a character from a story she read). Horse supports her friend in talking about and facing what is bothering her.
The book offers a gentle way to help children name their feelings and to realize that talking about their feelings may be better than ignoring them.
The animals are anthropomorphic in the way walk on two legs, they cook, and they use floaties in the pool. The illustrations are colorful and add to the story.
During the summer of 1965, Eden gets to hang out with her cousin from Mississippi in Los Angeles where she lives. Winter is on a secret mission to find his father who went missing many years ago. With Eden’s help, they investigate his old neighborhood in the Watts area of LA for clues. In the midst of this, the folks in the Watts neighborhood and the police clash for 6 horrible days and much of Los Angeles goes into lockdown. This verse novel is a sweet story of cousins investigating their own family history while intense history is playing out around them. It’s especially interesting for today’s young readers living in new times of racial clashes with modern day police around the country. As the mystery of Winter’s father unravels, readers come to see that all is not what was assumed. As it is often the case, there is so much more to the story.
