The Book Search

 I've allowed myself a little latitude over the last few weeks, to read some grown up books for a change.  They were lots of fun and I hope you'll like these as well! The first one is called 'What Happened to the Bennetts?" by Lisa Scottoline.  I've read several of Lisa's other books and they are always well thought out and surprising mysteries.  This one was no different.  The book opens with a family returning from field hockey game.  Jason Bennett, the dad is driving, his wife is giving advice, his daughter, the field hockey player is making snarky comments while on her phone and his son is whining.  Typical family outing.  Until they notice a car in the rearview mirror that doesn't seem to want to let them go.  After a completely horrific act of violence, the family is whisked away to the witness protection program, in spite of their protests.  I could keep telling you the plot line but it would be mean to reveal any more of this tig...

 It's so exciting to find new books to read!  This week had some terrific ones-check these out! The first one is called The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill.  I love Kelly Barnhill's work.  I loved Iron Hearted Violet and I loved The Girl Who Drank the Moon.  I might love this one even more.  The narrator in this story at first appears to be an omniscient third person and tells the story of very different characters.  A group of orphans living with kind but poor and elderly caretakers.  An ogress who has been chased from her home by an evil dragon.  A murder of crows.  The mayor of a small village called Stone-in-the-Glen.  The story unfolds a little at a time-the orphans are very different from each other but each one has a strength that supports the family.  The Ogress is just trying to live her best life, in spite of the prejudice of the humans around her.  The mayor is trying to gather as much treasure as he po...

 New books are blooming!  Check out this new bumper crop! Falling Short by Ernesto Cisneros is a terrific new book told from two points of view-Marco and Isaac.  They've been best friends since kindergarten, but are really different kinds of people.  They each live with their mothers, Marco's dad has been out of the picture for awhile.  He has a new family and often posts pictures on social media of the new family but is highly critical of Marco.  Isaac's dad has only recently left the family home and is struggling with a drinking problem.  Issac is an excellent athlete and Marco is more studious.  Marco is also very short, which makes him a target for bullies.  As they start middle school, they are each wondering if they will remain friends.  On the first day, they each people they identify with strongly-Isaac finds the basketball team and Marco finds a group of coders but they also find allies in the other's group-Marco is rescued from...

 I've been trying desperately to get caught up on some of my reading.  It sounds ridiculous to feel pressured to read but there it is.  I've been having trouble sleeping so it's a good time to dig around in Netgalley and see what is on the to-do list!  Here are two amazing ones! The first one is called Those Kids of Fawn Creek by Erin Entrada Kelly.  Erin has written some AWESOME books-I'm not the only one who thinks so, her book "Hello Universe" won a Newbery award and before that "Blackbird Fly" won a CYBILS award.  I think this new one is going to be a big hit too.   It's about a small community in Louisiana where people don't come and go very often.  The kids there have known each other their entire lives and will likely be friends forever.  That constancy can be a comfort but it can also be difficult if you are a kid who doesn't feel like he or she belongs.  Greyson is one of the main characters.  He is relentlessly bullied by ...

 In digging into the children's literature buffet, I found two very different, but equally wonderful stories!  Check these out! The first is called "To the Front" written by Claudia Fridell and illustrated by Christopher Cyr.  It's a picture book biography about Clara Barton at the Battle of Antietam.  I thought I was pretty well versed in Clara Barton, having read dozens of books about her in my youth, but this book was such an interesting take on her life.  The story is told in two ways-one is poetic text  and the other is quotes from Clara Barton's papers, so you have this amazing juxtaposition of information about Clara right next to her own words.  For elementary students.  Genius!  The information is immediate and so clearly written, you almost feel like you're right next to her.  And then there's the art work.  Luminous, clearly rendered art work with the most amazing light sources.  It gives you the feeling that you're ...

 Who doesn't love being able to escape the current state of affairs by diving into a magical world?  Especially magical worlds as compelling as these... The first magical world you should visit is in Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A. F. Steadman.  It's about Skandar, who lives with his big sister and his dad in a world where unicorns are not the colorful, gentle, cupcake pooping, glitter spewing creatures that we often see in current literature,  but terrifying beasts that can only be tamed by a single person who is meant to bond with the unicorn at their hatching.  Without that bond, the unicorns run wild, endangering people, property and other unicorns.  The unicorn riders control their unicorns using elemental magic and help to protect people from the wild rampaging unicorns.  Skandar's family struggles-his mother died when he was small, his dad isn't coping well, and his sister failed the unicorn rider test, and so even though she wanted to be a ...

 GAH!  I can't believe it's been almost four months since I last posted.  I'd like to tell you that I was busy doing something really amazing but it's really just living life!  Anyway, let me tell you about some of the amazing nonfiction I did manage to read. The first one is called Honey Bee Rescue by Loree Griffin Burns.  I'm a big fan of Burns other works like Tracking Trash or Hive Detectives.  She writes nonfiction books about things lots of people are interested in and tells them with lots of photographs and details that really brings her research into clear focus.  This one is no different. It's about two men, one a bee keeper and one a bee relocater.  Mr. Connery finds that some of his bees have set up housekeeping in his garage, which is not a safe place for the bees.  So he calls Mr. Nelson to come and relocate the bees.  Griffin and photographer Ellen Marasimowicz carefully document how Mr. Nelson gets the bees out of the gara...