The Book Search

 OOOOOO, it feels SO good to have some time to read!  I found some really great science fiction this week in my Netgalley pile!  And guess what?  These two are on the SSYRA 3-5 list for 2022-2023! This one is called "The Lion of Mars" by Jennifer Holm.  I'm a big fan of Jennifer Holm-I love Turtle in Paradise and Babymouse and the Fourteenth Goldfish and Sunny.  The list is long and I'm so happy to see there's a new addition to the list!  The Lion of Mars is set on Mars.  The American government has sent a group of people to set up a colony there.  There are adults and children who grow their own food (with occasional resupplies from Earth) and make do with what they have.  There are strict rules about living in the colony and one is that there is no contact with the other colonies.  (Wait, what?  I hear you asking!) Yep, there is a French colony, a Finnish colony, a Chinese colony, and a Russian colony.  The Americans don't have contact with the other colonie

Sometimes it feels like realistic fiction is just a little too real for me, especially, given the world in the last few months.  Luckily, there are some wildly talented writers how are giving us a lovely opportunity to walk in someone else's shoes just for a little while and see that might feel like. The first one is called On a Good Horse by Darby Karchut.  It's about Alex, who is going to New Mexico to live with his dad.  His dad has been largely absent from his life when his parents divorced when Alex was about three.  His mom had died suddenly and unexpectedly and Alex had been living with his aunt and uncle but they were going to NY to pursue a business prospect and were not allowed to take him with them.  So he goes to spend the summer with his dad, grudgingly, and unwillingly.   His dad is a farrier and is hoping that Alex will come with him and learn about his job.  Dad is also hoping that Alex will love horses as much as he does.  So he buys a horse for Alex for the su

 I love historical fiction.  Of all the genres, that's probably my favorite and these two new ones might show you why. The first one is called Ming's Christmas Wishes by Susan Gong.  It's about Ming, who has three Christmas wishes.  She wants to sing in the Christmas Choir, she wants to have a Christmas tree, and she wants to feel like she belongs.  But as the child of Chinese immigrants in 1930's California, discrimination was common and traditional Chinese families didn't really have Christmas trees.  Ming's dad takes her to into the mountains to visit an old friend and helps Ming accept who she is and who her family is.  The art work in this one is warm and luminous and really helps the connect the holiday feeling around the cold hard facts of discrimination and racism that many families feel.  This a good story to talk about our own family traditions and how we might be more accepting of others.   The second one is called Just Like That by Gary D. Schmidt.  

 Wow, so I guess it's been a busy fall.  There was this little projec t  that kept me busy for awhile. Oh and school ... in the middle of a pandemic... and being available for a relentless amount of tech support to teachers trying to teach a hybrid model of both in person and online classes to 3, 4, and 5 year olds.  BUT this week, I actually had time to read some books!  YAY!!!  Here were two terrific ghost stories with great cultural connections.   The first one is called The Ghost in Apartment 2R by Denis Markell.  Danny is the storyteller.  He lives with his parents and his older brother in an apartment in Brooklyn.  It's a small apartment and his bedroom has always been in a closet.  That was all supposed to change when Danny's older brother, Jake, went to college.  Except that now, his parents decided, in an effort to make some extra money to help pay for Jake's college expenses, they are going to rent out the bedroom on one of those rental websites.  Danny is und

  This is always such a fun time of year.  The CYBILS awards are in their first round and there are SOOOO many books to be read.  This year I'm a second round judge so I'll have a shorter list to read, but I'm keeping my eye on things, just so I can keep up.  Two great books caught my eye this fall and they are great! The first one is a sequel to the CYBILS middle grade speculative fiction award winner last year-Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia.  I devoured that one last year during Thanksgiving weekend when people were giving me long looks when I would bust out laughing and then try to explain the entire story line without giving too much away.  I started reading it aloud to my fifth graders this year and they are only annoyed because I only get to see them once a week.  It's great being able to slow down a bit and talk about some of the amazing symbolism and cultural connections.  SO NOW, I just finished reading the second one, which is called

 I've been looking for titles for my library that will help drive a conversation about racial justice in our community.  These two titles will help with that! The first one is a young adult book.  It's called "Dear Justyce" by Nic Stone.  Nic won acclaim with her novel "Dear Martin" a couple of years back, which is about a young black man attending a prestigious high school in Atlanta while living in an impoverished neighborhood.  That one was great and this one might be even better.  It connects some of the characters from the first book to this one.  This one is told mostly from the point of view of Quan, who is writing letters to Justyce because he is in jail, awaiting trial for the murder of a police officer.  The story unfolds in flashbacks to different times and circumstances, which allows the reader to see how Quan came to be in such a position.  There are parts of the story that are hard to read-passages about abuse and neglect, about disrespect and

 Social issues and building empathy have been hot button topics in middle grade fiction. The current way of thinking about this is windows and mirrors.  Some books show us people who are like us and some show us people we never really thought about before.  Reading some of both kinds of books is important for kids, so I'm happy to share some new ones with you! The first one is called A Fish Out of Water by Joanne Levy.  It's about 12 year old Fishel who is living with his mom, his stepdad and his baby sister.  Fish is getting ready to celebrate is bar mitzvah and he needs to do a  kind of community service project.  His friends have ideas and would like Fish to do the project with them, but Fish really wants to think up his own project.  He gets a great idea from his grandmother.  He wants to knit socks and give them to people who need them.  His grandmother says that boys don't knit.  His stepdad agrees and encourages him to take water polo lessons at the community center.

 Summer is drawing to a close and we're getting ready to start school again.  Things seem a little scary here because of the virus and the uncertainty of what's going to happen next.  These books are scary in a completely different and wonderful way!   The first one is called Scritch Scratch by Lindsay Currie.  She writes terrific spooky middle grade books and that's exactly what this one is.  Scritch Scratch is narrated by Claire, an 8th grade science fair aficionado.  She lives with her parents and her older brother Sam.  Her dad has kind of an unusual job-he's a ghost hunter.  He writes book and runs a tour company that gives ghost tours of Chicago.  Claire finds this all very embarrassing.  The book opens with Claire being being asked to help her dad on the ghost tour.  The driver has unexpectedly called in sick and her dad doesn't want to cancel the tour.  So Claire is along to make sure her dad stays on time, that the bus doesn't get towed, and that everyo

It's so much fun to have time to read over the summer.  Here are some brand new ones you might want to look for! The first one is called The Book of Fatal Errors.  It's targeted at middle graders and it's a really fun, exciting read.  It's about Rufus, who is just starting summer vacation after a tough year in 6th grade. He's a little worried about summer vacation because his mom is going to be gone, but he's hoping that means he'll get to spend all summer with his grandfather at his house, which is Rufus's happy place.  Except that his grandfather has an accident on the first day of vacation and his dad thinks Feylawn (which is what Grandpa's place is called) is not safe for anyone.  He wants Rufus to spend his summer learning new things, like his cousin Abigail, who has attended a number of different camps each summer, knows several languages and seems to spend all her time making sure the adults like her.  But it turns out Grandpa's accident w

One of the great things about modern middle grade literature is its unflinching look at some of the social issues kids deal with on a daily basis.  As an adult, I often think I'd like to shield my students from some of the harsher realities, but what if this IS their reality?  What if they are waiting to tell someone a terrible secret?  Stories like these might make it easier for kids to talk about some of the things that they are going through. The first one is called "Fighting Words" by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.  I'm a big fan of her writing.  I adored "The War that Saved My Life" and the sequel "The War I Finally Won".  Her latest book is just as good, maybe better.  "Fighting words" is about Della, who is 10 and has been living with her big sister, Suki, who has been taking care of her.  They have been living with Clifton, a truck driver, who was their mother's boyfriend, until their mother was arrested.  They've ended up in

It's sometimes hard to find a book that will get kids to think deeply about anything.  We seem to be firmly entrenched in a sound bite, 140 character limit, emoji laden world, so having something to consider thoughtfully is a real treat.  Here are two books that might make you go "hmmmm". The first one is a picture book.  It's called "Crocodile's Crossing: A Search for Home" by Yoeri Slegers.  The book opens with Crocodile already on his way somewhere new.  He's scared and hopeful because at home where he used to be happy, it's no longer safe.  He finds new places that are very different and not very welcoming to crocodiles.  He is about to give up, when he finds a community of mice who welcome him.  Things are not like they were at home, the food is different, but Crocodile tries and eventually makes a place for himself and is able to bring his family with him.  This is a marvelous story about immigration.  The art work surrounding the parts abo

Boy, does it feel good to read some fantasy fiction.  I like realistic fiction, but things have been very real around here for awhile, so it was good to dig into some books where problem solving is based on magic rather than the hard work that requires here in the real world! The first one is a graphic novel.  I'm going to confess right now that graphic novels are not my favorite.  I think I create pretty good mental images and the images of a graphic novel sometimes slow me down.  But this one was SO GOOD. It's called Doodleville by Chad Sells.  You might have read Chad's earlier book called Cardboard Kingdom, which was really fun.  In my opinion, Doodleville is even better.  It's about a group of kids who are in an art club.  They typically draw super heroes and each of them has their own character that is their most well developed.  Drew, the main character, has a friendly group of characters that can escape their pages and end up in some pretty funny places.  They a

These last few days have felt pretty realistic to me, so more realistic fiction may or may not have been what I was looking for.  Except that's what was in the TBR pile from Netgalley, so ok.  The good news is that they were really different from the kind of realism I've been living, so it was nice to get into someone else's head for change. The first one is called "The Brave" by James Bird.  The cover of the e-book I got had it spelled like this "Th3 Brav5", which should be an indicator that this character doesn't think like most people.  The main character is Collin, who has grown up with his dad.  He doesn't know his mother at all, expect that she's a Native American.  It says in the description of the book that Collin struggles with OCD.  His OCD manifests itself in counting, which doesn't seem that unusual to me.  Except that Collin counts letters.  He counts the letters as people speak to him and when he responds to them, the first

It might be feeling a little like realistic fiction is the wrong way to go right now, real seems a little too real to me some days, but these are terrific stories and you don't want to miss them! The first one is actually perfect for right this minute, when racism is front and center in people's minds.  It's called "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Farqui and Laura Shovan.  It's told from two viewpoints-Sara and Elizabeth who live in small town in Maryland.  The girls have just started middle school and are struggling to find their places.  Sara is an artist and her parents want her to be a scientist or a doctor.  They are Pakastani immigrants and Sara's mom is teaching a cooking class at her school.  Elizabeth is taking the cooking class along with her best friend Maddie and a new girl named Stephanie whom Elizabeth feels is coming between her and Maddie.  Elizabeth's mom is also an immigrant-she's from England and is struggling with depression s

I'm always surprised when the SSYRA list comes out that there are so many great books that I missed reading this year!  People who know me always say I read a lot, but CLEARLY, I'm missing a big chunk of great stuff because there are always surprises on the list!  These two titles were terrific surprises. The first one is realistic fiction.  It's called Caterpillar Summer by Gillian McDunn.  It's about a girl named Cat who lives with her mom and her little brother.  Her dad died awhile back and her mom struggles to make a living as an author and illustrator.  They are planning to spend some time with some friends who have moved far away over the summer but their friends have an unexpected emergency and so Cat and her little brother end up at the their grandparents' house in NC.  Except that they've never actually met their grandparents because they had a falling out with Cat's mom before the kids were born.  To complicate matters further, Cat's little

The new SSYRA lists (and FTR) have been announced and what a great job the committees did choosing books!  I know the kids are going to be super excited to see what fun books there are to read this year!  I'd read (and reviewed) a few of them already, including Inkling , but there were a lot more that I hadn't read.  Here are two that I was able to read this weekend. The first one is called Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat #1 by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth.  It's about a cat named Klawde, who lives on a planet called Lyttyrboks and it turns out that he's a pretty terrible cat.  He's been dethroned by General Ffangg and has only one loyal minion left-Floofee-Fyr.  He has been banished to Earth, a planet known to be desolate and inhabited by ogres.  Lucky for Klawde, he ends up in an ogre's house that actually wants him to be there-Raj's family has just moved to Oregon (where Klawde lands) and Raj has always really wanted a cat.  Raj convinces his pare

Social issues for middle graders take a lot of forms.  Kids in 3rd through 8th grade are starting to consider that they are no longer the epicenter of the universe.  They look more to their friends for recognition (much to their parents' and teachers' annoyance!) and start to develop an understand of some of the bigger issues around them.  These two books are wonderful opportunities to help kids understand difference points of view through a variety of social issues. The first one is called "The Space Between Lost and Found" by Sandy Stark-Mcginnis.  It's about Cassie, who is in middle school and lives with her mom and dad.  Her mom has had to stop working and they employ a housekeeper who comes every day to help with her mom.  Her mom has dementia and is forgetting a lot of things.  Including, sometimes Cassie's name.  Sometimes she seems perfectly normal and Cassie really wants to believe she's going to get better.  But her mom's behavior is so unp

I have been hoping for some fantasy fiction, because frankly, real life is real enough for me!  However, the advanced reader copies I've been getting are realistic fiction, so realistic it is!  Luckily, both these books were awesome and so different from my life, that they were both a great get away. The first one is called Turtle Boy by M. Evan Wolkenstein.  It's about 12 year old Will who's having a hard time.  First, his dad died when he was four.  Will's dad went into the hospital to a hernia repaired and died.  Part of Will's coping mechanism has been withdrawing, which brings the reader to problem 2, Will doesn't really have any friends.  Well, he has one good friend, Shirah and one friend who annoys him, but is still his friend, Max.  Shirah and Max and Will have been friends since they were small and the rest of the kids at their school do a lot of teasing, which Will perceives as bullying.  Will is also coming up on his Bar Mitzvah and he's super

Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres.  I love hearing about how things were in the olden days (particularly from the comfort of my couch in my air conditioned house with indoor plumbing and refrigerator and dishwasher).  But in the way of taking you some place you didn't even know you wanted to go, these stories totally do that. The first one is a fairy tale.  I suppose this seems like a bit of an oxymoron-a new fairy tale, how can that be?  Aren't fairy tales old folk tales?  Kings and queens and princesses?  Well, it turns out that new ones get written all the time and this one is absolutely terrific. It's called Eight Princesses and a Magic Mirror.  It's written by Natasha Farrant and illustrated by Lydia Corry.  The story starts with an enchantress who is asked by a king and queen to be a godmother to their daughter, except that the enchantress, who really wants to do the right thing, doesn't know exactly what makes a good princess.  So she asks h