The Book Search

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 princ...

I belong to a group on Goodreads called Mock Newbery and they try to choose books that they think will be Newbery contenders. They aren't always right about who wins, but they always have great new book suggestions. For September, they are reading "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds.  I read his book last year called "The Boy in the Black Suit" and liked it a lot too.  This one has that same fresh voice.   It's about 12 year Castle who is having a hard time.  His mom works a lot AND is trying to go to school so she can get a better job.  They live in a small apartment in a bad neighborhood.  Castle has trouble in school because he gets really angry and either strikes out or runs away.  He's very good at running.  One day when he's hanging out, he comes across a running team with a coach.  He hears some of the kids trash talking so he goes to prove that they aren't all that.  He runs as well as one of them and earns himself a spot on the team. ...