The Book Search

The new Sunshine State Young Reader Award list was released last week, YAY!  There are some terrific titles on the list and I know the kids are going to love them.  Several of them were new to me, so I've been busy reading! The first one is called "Sled Dog School" by Terri Lynn Johnson.  Her book "Overboard!" was on the list last year.  Her writing style is terrific - fast paced with characters that are easy to connect with.  This one has a main character named Matt.  His family lives off the grid in Michigan and some of the other kids have been teasing him about it.  He really loves the sled dogs that they have and is a really good musher.  He's also been struggling with math and when his teacher offers an extra credit project to create their own business, Matt jumps at the chance.  He decides to create a sled dog school.  He's meant to get at least three clients and show the math he uses to decide if the business is making money. ...

I'm reading all the Sunshine State Young Reader award nominees before we go back to school (I hope!).    It's always so awesome to see the books the committee chose-they're mindful of lots of different things but I love the variety of the kinds of books they choose.  The one I read last night is a good example of that-it's called "Overboard!" and it's part of the Survivor Diaries series by Terry Lynn Johnson.  This one is the first in the series, I know I'm going to need to order the whole series, because it's great.  It's about a boy named Travis who's struggling a bit.  He was injured last year in an accident (ok, a dare) at his gym.  In the past year of recovery, he's gained weight and feels a bit traumatized.  His parents take his family on a whale watching tour near the San Juan Islands and he's learning a lot about whales and wild life when he's plunged into the water.  Luckily, the captain's daughter Martina is close ...