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 haven't forgotten how to write a blog post.  At least I hope not.  I know it's been a long time since I did, but I finished my term as a member of the Sunshine State Young Reader Jr. Award committee (three years and a LOT of picture books, which I was NOT supposed to blog about).  I feel a little adrift (no boxes on my front door step every day!  No stacks of books that need to read and reviewed! ) it's a little sad, but also, freeing-I can read whatever I want!  I can put books I don't like down and never pick them up again! I read GROWNUP BOOKS.  I'm trying not to let it go to my head.  But I've found my way back to some middle grade fiction that are just coming out (thanks Netgalley!) and there are some really fun ones. The first one is called The Library of Ever by Zeno Alexander.  It's about plucky little Lenora, who although she has very rich and inattentive parents and an inattentive nanny, really wants a JOB.  One day, the nanny w...

We just finished up our first book fair with Follett and I'm really happy we did it.  The set up and break down were super easy, the cash register was easy and the teachers, parents, and kids commented on the quality of the book choices.  So, in my way of thinking, it was a big win! I've also gotten to read some terrific new realistic fiction.  The first one is called "Ruby in the Sky" by Jeanne Zulik Ferruolo.  It's about Ruby who is 12.  She and her mom have just moved back to the small town in New Hampshire where her mother grew up.  They are looking for their next forever home.  They've been moving a lot since they lost Ruby's dad (and the explanation for that comes pretty late in the book, so I don't want to spoil it for you!).  They moved back to this small town to be close to family, a cousin, who has offered to help.  Ruby and her mom have been living in Florida, and so New Hampshire in the winter time is a pretty big change.  ...

So does it feel like January just streaked past?  How did it get to be February for goodness sakes?  I always heard as you get older time passes more quickly, but this is ridiculous!  Anyway, luckily, I had enough time to slow down and finish a book!  And even better, it was a really great book! It's called "The Storm Keeper's Island" and it's written by Catherine Doyle.  It came out in January and I was lucky enough to get to read it as an advanced reader's copy on Netgalley.  It's about Fionn and his sister Tara who go to spend the summer with their grandfather on the island where he lives and their parents grew up.  Fionn is especially missing his dad, who disappeared off the the coast of the island in a boating accident.  Right away things seem a little weird.  His grandfather's house is full of candles.  His sister keeps trying to sneak away to meet her boyfriend, an annoyingly smug and handsome boy from the island named Bartley. ...

I'm FINALLY getting around to reading new books again (thanks Netgalley!) and there are some terrific ones in my pile!  One of parents of a student asked me to keep an eye out for characters with challenges, so here are a couple that I found! The first one is called "One Third Nerd" and it's written by Gennifer Choldenko.  Choldenko has written a series of books about a boy growing up on Alcatraz Island in the 1930s who has a sister with a significant unnamed disability (but is probably some form of autism).  Her new book has a child with Down's Syndrome.  However, Izzy is the baby sister and not really a main character.  She has a big brother named Liam and a big sister named Dakota.  Liam is the story teller in this book.  Liam is trying to survive middle school and is profoundly embarrassed by Dakota (who is a science loving genius, just ask her) as well as the fact that they are not exactly poor, but struggle with some money issues and they live ...

I'm enjoying the winter break-we got to come and spend some time with my family in Western NC, we've eaten A LOT, laughed a lot, walked a lot...  Today it's POURING  so I had a little time to finish some books!  YAY!!! The first one is called "Skylark and Wallcreeper" by Anne O'Brien Carelli.  It's told from two different perspectives-Collette and Lily.  Collette is Lily's grandmother and lives in a nursing home in New Jersey.  When they have to evacuate because of Hurricane Sandy, Collette gives Lily a pen and tells her not to lose it, that it's important, but in the chaotic aftermath of the storm, the pen disappears.  It turns out that the pen is link to Collette's past that Lily doesn't know anything about.  Collette grew up in France in the 1930s and 1940s and was involved in the French Underground.  So the story has pieces from World War 2 (told from Collette's perspective) and the present day (told from Lily's perspective). ...

Since October, I've pretty much read nothing but middle grade realistic fiction.  I liked it a LOT but a steady diet of anything, even the good stuff, can leave you craving something different, something spicy, something sweet, something surprising.  So these books totally fill that bill! The first one is called "Inkling" by Kenneth Oppel.  It's a really interesting combination of realistic and fantasy fiction.  The main character is Ethan.  He lives with his dad and his younger sister Sarah. Sarah has Down's Syndrome and their mother died about two years ago.  Ethan's dad is struggling with depression and unresolved issues around his wife's death.  He is a successful graphic novelist, but he hasn't sold anything since his wife died.  The savior comes from an unlikely source-ink.  One day, the ink magically gathers itself into a ball and starts to gather more ink, and more and more until it's animated.  It soaks up some words and t...