LOOKING FOR MOM IN MANY STRANGE PLACES

Julia lives with her grandmother and aunt in an old house called Windy Ridge. Her mom has been gone quite some time, and Julia has pretty much settled into a life with her friend Belfry, taking pictures with her Brownie camera of things she finds interesting. Well, her grandmother decides to die one day, so Aunt Constance and Julia pack up the house and head out on the road to find Julia's mother. Without any idea of where they are going, quite a quirky, entertaining adventure unfolds. With a bit of humor and a whole lot of weird, this historical fiction just may capture the attention of even the most reluctant reader. JULIA AND THE ART OF PRACTICAL TRAVEL by Lesley M. M. Blume is an entertaining read for 5th - 8th grades.

NOV 2015

SURE BEATS BOILING OIL

If you read Harry Potter or the Hunger Games, and you like stories where society is out to destroy the lives of children, then THE UNWANTEDS by Lisa McMann is a good book to read along the same lines. In the dark, dreary land of Quill, some kids become "wanteds" and some are relegated to "unwanted" status, which means they are sent to die in a giant pit of boiling oil. Only the unwanteds actually end up in a magical world of creativity and free thought, something completely frowned upon in the land of Quill. Kids learn magical fighting techniques, in preparation to fight for their beliefs in a battle that comes when not everyone is prepared to fight. It's not to difficult to read, it is action-packed, and reflects positively on those that are more creative than calculating. For grades 4 and up.

ZOMBIES REVISTED

Do you fear the "walking dead"? Maybe they're a little too creepy for you, but in James Ponti's second zombie-related book, DEAD CITY: BLUE MOON, Molly Bigelow is back to defeat the worst of them. But with less disgusting stuff and more action and adventure, with a little mystery thrown in. Molly and her zombie fighting Omega Team are tracking down the original 13 zombies all over New York, and along the way Molly comes across some information about her mother that has her wondering - is her mother still alive? 

A lively story for any zombie fan. For 5th - 8th grades.

OCT 2015

HEAR HERE or TO TWO TOO

When two words sound the same but are spelled differently, we call those words homonyms. Rose will tell you all about her list of homonyms, including one for her dog Rain (reign). Life is challenging for Rose because of her Asperger's. This just means she sees the world a little differently than other kids, and certain things can really upset her. She lives with her Dad because her mom left, but her Dad doesn't really understand Rose sometimes and gets mad. Thank goodness Rose has Uncle Weldon. 

RAIN REIGN by Ann Martin might be a little quirky, but once you start reading, it will be hard to put down. There's always something exciting every few pages. For 5th - 8th grades.

SEPT 2015

THE FANCIEST CAR IN THE UNIVERSE

LOWRIDERS IN SPACE by Cathy Camper is a unique graphic novel because the illustrator Raul the Third did all the art work with three colors of ball point pen! He does a fantastic job of helping to tell the story of Lupe Impala, a female mechanic, El Chavo Flapjack, a car detailing octopus, and Elirio Malario, a Zoot Suit wearing mosquito who does amazing car paint jobs! Why do they do all of this? Because they love cars. All they need to do now is win the Universal Car Competition so they can open their very own garage instead of working for "el jefe". Their lowrider turns out being out of this world! Many car lovers and those that appreciate great drawing will be drawn to this book, but it's especially good for 4th - 8th grades.

GOBLINS, GHOULS, ROYALTY AND CHEFS OF THE UINDERWORLD

Yup, apparently there are chefs in the underworld, in the form of vampires that like to bake. At least that is what Andi Watson implies in her graphic novel called PRINCESS DECOMPOSIA AND COUNT SPATULA. Decomposia, or Dee for short, is a little overwhelmed with the duties of her father the king. He is much too unwell to handle his normal duties, which might be because all he eats are kippers and carrot water! You will have to read it for yourself and tell me what you think because I think this book is just SILLY!!! Definitely for 4th-8th grades.


JUNE 2015

A TRULY FABULOUS STORY

I'm not going to lie, Heather Vogel Frederick is one of my favorite authors of all time. She is the writer of the "Mother-Daughter Book Club" series (which you should read if you haven't already), so I was so excited to see she'd written something new! Her latest book ABSOLUTELY TRULY is true to Frederick's style. It takes place with a large family in New England, and there's a little bit of mystery, a little bit of romance, a little comedy, a little tragedy. This book has it all! The nice thing about all of Frederick's books, but especially this one, is that it paints a picture of how different families can be, and how similar people can be to one another. 

For grades 5 and up.

JANUARY 2015

GOLDFISH ARE BARELY MENTIONED

Every once in a while, a book comes along that is like a perfectly wrapped present. THE FOURTEENTH GOLDFISH by Jennifer L. Holm is the big box wrapped in shiny paper with a fancy bow placed right in the center - full of anticipation of good things! Ellie is going through the usual middle school changes, with her best friend being super busy with volleyball, a cute, mysterious boy in a few of her classes, oh and of course her grandfather coming to live with her as a teenage boy! Ellie learns quite a lot about love, family, friends, and the intricate web that weaves it all together. It's a quick read that will appeal to boys and girls in the 4th-8th grades, especially those readers that like a lot of dialog.

OCTOBER 2014

THE END OF THE WORLD...AGAIN...

It seems like more and more authors are writing about how they think the world will come to an end. Piers Torday, author of THE LAST WILD is yet another author to do this. His main character Kester Jaynes has been taken from his father and sent to what may be a boarding school, but seems more like an asylum for all the delinquent children no one knows how to deal with. A disease has devastated the world, killing all the animals and destroying the food supply, and now everyone is forced to eat flavored paste. Kester can't speak out loud, but somehow he can communicate with a cockroach. Turns out, everything they've been telling humans is a LIE!!! The cockroach helps Kester escape and the first of the lies becomes apparent when Kester sees living animals that have yet to be infected by the dreaded "red-eye" disease. Now it is up to Kester to save the remaining animals! 

For grades 5 and up. 


AUGUST 2014

VENETIAN MYSTERIES

Jared, Shireen and Miranda are three kids forced to live in Venice, Italy for their Dad's job. At first, Miranda is the only one enjoying herself. But an accidental visit to a strange bookstore shines a whole new light on the city on the water. Talking animal statues and creatures jumping out of paintings are just some of the mysterious things that happen to them, and it all seems to parallel a story their Dad is reading to them in a book that is centuries old. How is it possible? 

THROUGH THE SKYLIGHT by Ian Baucom, is a very detailed mystery that has lots of danger and impossibility at every turn. You never know what is going to happen next! 

For grades 5 and up.

July 2014

INTERGALACTIC CLONES?

THE TWINNING PROJECT by Robert Lipsyte has a little bit of something for every Tween. There's bullies getting beat up, football and band practice, families that don't get along, meddling teachers. Tom and Eddie are twins, living on different Earths, 50 years apart. Sound confusing? On Earth 1, Tom spends his time moving from school to school after he avenges the many underdogs being picked on by school bullies. Tom just hasn't been very happy since his Dad allegedly died, and he is surprised to hear his intergalactic twin is having the same kinds of feelings. Eddie isn't quite the rebellious type, though. He is more of a goodie two-shoes, even if it means it goes against his own beliefs to follow authority. 

If you can get past the chapters switching back and forth between characters, you are really going to enjoy this mysterious science fiction story! 

For grades 6 and up.

July 2014 

MAGICIANS AVAILABLE WHILE SUPPLIES LAST

Jennifer Strange - eh, what's in a name - is responsible for finding jobs for all the magicians and wizards of the world. Oh, and she's also the last dragonslayer in the history of the world. Also, there is only one more dragon and he's going to die. Rumor has it that once this dragon dies, "BIG MAGIC" will return. Because magic lately has been pretty hard to come by. So it is up to Jennifer to determine the fate of magic whether she wants to or not. Luckily, this story is very funny because if it wasn't it would be very sad. But you will laugh a lot. Especially if you liked Adam Rex's True Meaning of Smek Day or anything in Brian Sanderson's Alcatraz series. 

THE LAST DRAGONSLAYER by Jasper Fforde is sure to delight the fantasy/science fiction fan who like a little comedy here and there to lighten things up. For grades 5 and up.

AUGUST 2013

WOULD YOU LIE FOR SOMETHING YOU LOVE?

Ditty loves dancing. She loves her parents. She does not love lying. But she does not want to study Jewish tradition and get married to another Orthodox Jewish boy. Her parents act like their beliefs must rule everything about their lives. But Ditty isn't quite so sure if she believes these things any more. I mean, her parents have a secret television! So Ditty decides to take ballet, and has to come up with some elaborate stories to do what she loves the most - dancing! 

DANCING IN THE DARK by Robyn Bavati is about a girl who is transitioning from obedient child to daring teen, one who questions everything her parents ever taught her. How can dancing feel so right when her family thinks it is so wrong?! For grades 6 and up.

AUGUST 2013

WHEN THE WALLS TALK?

When forced to move, what better than to find a house that has a history, a mysterious past, one might even say a "haunted" house. This is exactly how the Walker children feel when their parents buy a creepy Victorian home in San Francisco, which used to belong to a famous scary author. Turns out this author's daughter, Dahlia, who's pretty creepy herself, lives right next door and leads the Walkers on some very strange adventures - almost as if they are reliving some of her father's stories! HOUSE OF SECRETS by Christopher Columbus and Ned Vizzini is a long book, but well worth the read for anyone interested in adventure, mystery, and the ever popular family dynamics that crop up in lots of books nowadays. For grades 6 and up.

JULY 2013

SEPTEMBER, A GIRL, AND SATURDAY, AN "ALMOST HUMAN" BOY

I like adventure. I like traveling to new and exciting places I've never been before. I do not, however, want to solve all the problems when I get somewhere. Maybe one or two small problems, like giving some first aid cream to a kid with diaper rash, or food for a homeless person. This is how September felt when she ended up in Fairyland, hoping for a nice, calm, relaxing adventure. Instead she is faced with evil creatures and a bunch of Fairyland problems that she is asked to help with. She meets a dragon who loves books more than she does (reading them, not eating them), and a boy named Saturday who is blue. Like blue as in color, not as in he's sad. Together they defeat evil and triumph over Fairyland. 

If you like Alice in Wonderland or The Chronicles of Narnia, you will definitely love THE GIRL WHO CIRCUMNAVIGATED FAIRYLAND IN A SHIP OF HER OWN MAKING by Catherynne Valente. For grades 5 and up.

JULY 2013

CAN'T GO WRONG WITH TALKING ANIMALS

An odd cast of characters takes the stage in this book, including a Black Bear named Walden (he's very philosophical), a gruff and tough Badger named Banderdock, and a mean, scrappy cat called McTavish the Monster.  These are the animals that expert boy scout Max "the wolf" encounters when he awakens from a strange sleep and cannot remember anything that happened.  Max and his friends quickly become THE HUNTED as they simultaneously run for their lives while trying to figure out who Max is and how he got to this strange world.  Max's adventures are woven with other side stories that all tie together in a nice pretty bow, but take some quirky turns getting there.  DOWN THE MYSTERLY RIVER by Bill Willingham is an exciting book for grades 5 and up.

May 2013

WHO DOESN'T LOVE A PRINCESS FAIRY TALE?

Diane Stanley is a beautiful storyteller who can magically capture readers only to be released at the end of the book, rubbing their eyes and wondering where the time went. She continues this captivating legacy in her latest book THE CUP AND THE CROWN. Slightly clairvoyant Molly is assigned the task of finding a "loving cup" for King Alaric, which binds two people together when they both sip from it. Despite Molly's grandfather once being a creator of these loving cups, Molly and her friends Winifred and Tobias must search far and wide to locate this coveted chalice for the king. They encounter mysterious friends and foes, and discover something very unexpected! An intriguing sequel to The Silver Bowl, and good for 5th-8th grades.

JUNE 2013

DEAR JOURNAL... UGH!

13 year old Henry never wanted to start writing in a journal. But then again, he never wanted any of the things that have happened to him in the past year. In fact, everything would have been fine if his brother Jesse had never…

But, Henry doesn't want to talk about that. He wants to start over at a new school, in a new town where no one has ever heard of his family. He wants to have a normal life- watching his favorite wrestlers on “Saturday Night Smash Up” and not getting noticed by the bullies who roam the halls of his new school. And he definitely doesn't want to join “Reach For The Top” – the nerdy trivia team at his new school. But, life for Henry is far from normal. Especially after “IT” happened.

The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen by Susin Nielsen is a powerfully moving story of  a young teen trying to make sense of tragedy and rebuild the walls that are crumbling around him. This is an important story. It touches on the devastating consequences of bullying and how much it can mean to stand up for someone else.

Grades 6 and up

MAGIC AND MYSTERY

Remember Stuart Horten? Tiny Stuart from Lissa Evans' first book Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms: Magic, Mystery & a Very Strange Adventure? Well, now that he's located his Uncle's miraculous mechanisms, he's back in a new book called HORTEN'S INCREDIBLE ILLUSIONS: MAGIC, MYSTERY & ANOTHER VERY STRANGE ADVENTURE to see what those mechanisms do. As usual, his friend and neighbor April is by his side helping him unravel the mysteries that lie waiting for discovery. But danger is around every turn with these kids, and you never know what's going to happen next! This is a great continuation of an intriguing, quick-paced series. 

For 4th-8th grades.

MAY 2013

HOMELESSNESS IS THE NEW VAMPIRE

Lately, I've read three or four books featuring families that fall on hard times and find themselves homeless, struggling on the streets, and ending up in shelters.  So I was curious when the great author Blue Balliett decided to cover this topic in her new book Hold Fast.  

Early and her family live in a small apartment collecting words and poetry when her father isn't off working as a library page (someone who shelves the books).  His love of language is his great connection to his daughter Early and they all fantasize about the day when they will have their own house to fill with their favorite words.  All Early's dreams are shattered one day when her father mysteriously disappears, mean men come and ransack their apartment, and her mother carts Early and her brother off to the homeless shelter.  While her mother does her own detective work, Early tries to unravel the threads cloaking her father's disappearance and keeping a cool head. 

Balliett achieves another poetic masterpiece, and is a great read for grades 5 and up. 

JUNE 2013