The Book Search

 Did you think I forgot how to write a blog post?  I did not.  Well, maybe I did, but COVID seemed to have scrambled my brain a little...  or maybe a lot and between trying to go to work, to go to our state librarians convention, to spend 10 days  with my parents here and suddenly it was today!  I'd like to tell you that I've done something heroic, but it would be a lie or at least a really big stretch.  Anyway, I HAVE been reading and here are two new ones that you should definitely look for. The first one is called Sardines.  It's written by Sashi Kaufman and it is wonderful.  It's about Lucas who is in middle school and struggling.  His older brother, Charlie died after he'd left to go away to college and he left a big hole in the community as well as in Lucas' family.  In fact, Lucas' mother has left the family without any big discussion with Lucas, so he doesn't really know why she left or where she went or why.  Lucas fee...

 I always feel so lucky to get to read for the CYBILS award.  I love being a first round panelist where we read EVERYTHING.  I'm not going to tell you that all the nominees are wonderful because that would be a straight up lie, but there are SO many terrific surprises as we read.  Here are two of my new favorites. The first one is called Roll for Initiative by Jaime Formato.  This is her first novel and I really hope it's not the last, because this one was terrific!  The main character in this one is Riley, who lives with her mom and her older brother, except that her older brother, Devin, has left to go to college and Riley misses him terribly.  Riley's mom works A LOT and Devin really held the family together.  Riley is unhappy with having to ride the bus, fix her own meals, do the laundry and her homework all on her own but as luck would have it, a friendly girl named Lucy has moved into her apartment complex and she's looking for some new frie...

 So my colleagues and I are busily reading the books on our CYBILS list.  It's a little daunting at this point-there are 107 books on our list (that's the usual thing) and they all have to read by at least 2 people by the end of December.  Trying to get everyone copies of each book is a completely different issue, one luckily I don't have to deal with!  That's the job of the amazing Sheila Ruth .  Anyway, I've had a little extra time on my hands this week - I managed to catch some icky bug from one of those rotten PreK kids (who sat on my lap for an hour weeping copiously).  So I've put my time to good use.  Here are two of my new favorites and these are both mysteries! Maizy Chen's Last Chance by Lisa Yee is such a wonderful, heartfelt story.  It's about Maizy, who lives in Los Angeles with her mom, a food stylist.  They have driven across country to Last Chance, Minnesota to come and spend time with her grandparents.  Her grandfather i...

 I'm so excited that I was chosen to be a first round panelist for CYBILS again!  This year, I'm doing middle grade fiction (instead of speculative fiction like last year).  It's so awesome to get to read realistic fiction with all the cultural issues that are typically a part of middle grade fiction.  I've read a few so far, and these are two of my new favorites.   The first one is by Amy Sarig King, you might know her work- The Year We Fell from Space and Me and Marvin Gardens.  She has a terrific voice, but wait until you read this one-It's called Attack of the Black Rectangles.  It's about Mac who is navigating his final year of elementary school with his two best friends, Marci and Denis.  He lives with his mom and his grandfather.  His dad does not live at their house, but he comes over every week for dinner and to work on an old car in the garage.  His new teacher writes a column for the newspaper that supports conservative values...

 I LOVE reading for the CYBILS award.  The list of books we read is virtually the entire catalog of everything that's been printed in the year of the award so I end up digging deep into one category of books, this year, it's middle grade fiction.  A lot of social issues appear in middle grade fiction-these are books written for kids in upper elementary and middle school and those kids are trying to figure out a lot.  Often times books like these end up offering pathways for kids they didn't even know they wanted.  So imagine my surprise today (literally, I read these two books today) that two of the books are centered around kids who want to see themselves or people like themselves in the Civil War.  Yep, the American Civil War, the one that was fought over states rights or slavery?  That ended in 1865?  That one.   I KNOW.  And they're BOTH terrific. The first one is called The Secret Battle of Evan Pao.  It's written by Wendy Wan-...

 I don't often read YA but two showed up on my Netgalley list this week, how lucky!  They couldn't be more different, but they were both terrific! The first one is called Mere Mortals written by Erin Jade Lange.  It's about two vampires, Charlie (Charlotte) and Reg, sister and brother, who have been expelled from being vampires because of an unfortunate incident.  They are dropped off at a halfway house of sorts, where they can learn to be human again.  Charlie and Reg are very unhappy about this, particularly since the town where they've landed is a small town in Iowa that seems completely empty of culture or shopping or any of the things that Charlie and Reg think are fun.  They are staying with a man named Sal, who is meant to help them with the transition and they have been registered to attend the local high school.  They send out appeals to different groups of vampires to try to get their punishment cancelled but either get a negative response or...

I love picture books.  I think some of the most talented artists are illustrating children's books instead of creating masterpieces that hang in museums and I think that's just wonderful.  Here are two awesome new books that are going to have book birthdays tomorrow! The first one is a sequel to one of my favorite books ever-The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires.  This new one is called The Most Magnificent Idea, also written and illustrated by Ashley Spires and it's as wonderful as the first one.  This one is also about a girl who has a wonderful (dog) assistant who helps her make things.  She makes things all the time!  Until one day, she doesn't have any new ideas.  She tries some of her former idea generating strategies.  Nothing.  She tries some new idea generating strategies with some fairly large consequences.  Still nothing.  And then she is inspired.  It's a super fun book for thinking about the whole design proc...

 We started back to school three weeks ago and it's so great to be back with the kids!  We spent a lot of the first week getting organized so I hope this week we'll get to talk books because there are some great new ones coming out!  These two are both stories about animals.  What's great about them is that even though it's fiction (we can't REALLY know what's happening in animals' heads!) we can think about what their life experiences are like and further think about how our actions might impact their lives.  Pretty cool idea... The first one is called Violet and Jobie in the Wild. It's written by Lynne Rae Perkins, who wrote the 2006 Newbery award winner called CrissCross.  She's also written several other novels and picture books and this new one is a middle grade reader and I think the kids are going to love it.  It's about Violet and Jobie, a pair of mouse siblings.  They live in a house with their extended family and they have figured out a...

There have been SO many amazing speculative middle grade fiction books this summer.  Here are two of my new favorites!  If you've been reading my blog (and I KNOW you have been, thank you!), you know, I'm not a big fan of scary books.  There are so many scary things in the world, I'd really rather NOT spend my time reading about them, but this one called to me!  To let me tell you about it. The first one is called "This Appearing House" by Ally Malinenko.  Allie wrote this terrific creepy ghost story last year called "Ghost Girl" that I really enjoyed, so I was looking forward to this one.  There's an author's note at the beginning of the book from Ally that tells that the inspiration for this book was her own battle with cancer (which has been largely victorious) so right away, that sets up readers for a really different kind of experience.  The book is told from the viewpoint of Jac, a middle school girl who doesn't have many friends and is...

It's been so hot out that I've been spending a lot of time indoors reading.  Hooray for awesome new books to read!   These two realistic fiction books could not be more different, but I thought they were both terrific.  The first one is called Thirst and it's written by Varsha Bajaj.  It's about Minni, who lives with her loving family in one of the poorest parts of Mumbai, India.  Her dad runs a tea stall, her mom works as domestic worker for a rich family, her older brother works in a restaurant and Minni goes to school, but it's hard!  One of the things the family has to do each day is wait in line for water.  There is a tap not far from Minni's house, but it doesn't operate consistently or very efficiently, so sometimes they wait a long time and other times, not as long.  Sometimes the water is discolored or bad smelling and they are told to boil the water before drinking it.  One day, Minni's brother gets invited for a ride in a friend's ...

One of the best things about middle grade literature is the way that authors include social issues as part of their story lines.  These are topics that kids are typically trying to navigate in one way or another and even if they aren't, kids around them are.  These are stories are excellent opportunities to talk about how some people solve these challenges as well as how we might do things differently or maybe it's such a genius way they did it, we should copy them!    Here are two great ones you might really like!  The first one is from one of my favorite authors-Pablo Cartaya-he's from Miami, close to me and he's an amazing storyteller.  He's written books like "Marcus Vega doesn't speak Spanish" and "The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora" He has such a gift for writing characters voices.  This one is no exception.  It's science fiction with a side of dystopian future and  it's called the Last Beekeeper.  When you start reading, you'll...

There are three graphic novels on the Sunshine State Young Reader 3-5 list this year.  That might give you an idea of the popularity of graphic novels among 3-5th graders, but it also speaks to the fact that graphic novels cover a greater range of topics than ever before and more of them are being published.  I already reviewed "Measuring Up" by Lily Lamotte here .  So let me tell you about the other two, because they were also terrific. "Katie the Catsitter" written by Colleen AF Venable and illustrated by Stephanie Yue is very fun fantasy fiction story.  Katie is 12 and wants to go to summer camp with her two best friends but her mom can't afford to send her.  Katie decides to earn the money doing odd jobs around her apartment buildings, except she's terrible at it!  Until one day, her neighbor notices that Katie is really great with her cat and asks Katie to cat sit and pay her a lot of money, which seems to Katie, to be the easiest job in the world. ...

 I might not have mentioned it before, but I married a chef.  My first job as a teenager was working at a local French restaurant and I had big dreams of going to culinary school, which, my dad, who was paying for my post high school education, shot down.  So I went to a four year school and became an elementary school teacher and librarian.  WAAAY better hours, retirement plan and health care benefits.  I even teased my chef into joining me as a teacher (he's been teaching cooking now for 25 years!).  Anyway, cookbooks were some of my favorite books growing up (Betty Crocker Cookie Book anyone?) and I still love a good cookbook, as evidenced by my latest round of books from Netgalley. The first one is called Gateau: The Surprising Simplicity of  French Cakes by Aleksandra Crapanzano.  Unsurprisingly, it's about cake.  Don't you kind of love the simplicity of cookbooks?  Eponymous titles, straightforward directions, gorgeous pictures. ...

  I'm just NOW getting around to reading the new crop of SSYRA 3-5 books for the coming year.  It turns out, I'd already read a few of them.     Here's a link to two of the books I already reviewed.      The link has reviews for Amari and the Night Brothers by BB Alston as well as  The Lion of Mars by Jennifer Holm.  And I'm sure I'd already read some of the other ones but I just couldn't find...  oh well.  Anyway, here are two more that I think you're going to love.   The first one is a graphic novel and it's called Measuring Up by Lily Lamotte.  It's about Cici who moved to Seattle from Taiwan.  She desperately misses her grandmother and REALLY wants to figure out a way to get her to come and stay.  Moving anytime is hard, but moving to a new country with a different language and culture is even more difficult.  Cici worries that the kids will think she's weird (when she brings her lunch to school on the f...

 I've been a librarian now for 12 years and I was a classroom teacher for 20 years before that.  As the librarian, I've made an effort to read the latest books.  I've also been lucky enough to have the opportunity to read for two different book awards (which pushes you to read all the latest books) and it's really interesting to see some of the gigantic changes in children's literature over the last few years, in response to cultural changes.  One of the changes is the conversation about social issues and middle grade fiction is brilliant at opening those conversations.  Here are two (not brand new, but pretty new) books that you might want to read. The first one is called Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh.  It's about Junie, a middle schooler, who is struggling with some big things.  The first is bullying.  The kids in her neighborhood and at her school bully her relentlessly.  They use Asian ethnic slurs and tropes to intimidate and anger her a...

 Summer vacation is awesome!  We're back from our travels (western Canada and western NC) where we got a big dose of mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, family, and fun.  I love traveling but it's great to be home too!  Here are a couple of books I've gotten to read over the last few weeks. The first one is a Rick Riordan book, in the same vein as the Lightning Thief-but this one is based on Ghanian folklore and it was terrific.  It's called Serwa Boateng's Guide to Vampire Hunting by Roseanne A. Brown.  It's about Serwa who has been training to be a vampire fighter since she was tiny.  She's been homeschooled so that she can train intensely and her parents are two of the biggest, baddest vampire hunters ever.  So it's kind of a surprise when a obayifo (a witch) attacks her parents and destroys her family home seeking a magic drum.  Serwa's parents decide the best course of action is to send Serwa away to keep her safe.  Serwa is not o...