Tag: Book Reviews

IMWAYR

IMWAYR: PREview – The Shape of Thunder

I don’t read many books in one day, but The Shape of Thunder was such a gripping story, I had to finish before bedtime. Cora and Quinn used to be best friends, before Quinn’s brother did the most awful thing one can imagine to Cora’s sister, Mabel and others at the local high school. The girls cannot be friends now. It’s impossible.

It’s been almost a year since that terrible day. Can the two girls ever come to terms with what happened and be friends again? Maybe not. Maybe. Only time will tell.

Jasmine Warga weaves such intricate stories — readers are lost in the woods with Cora and Quinn, looking for answers that may save their friendship once and for all. Can Cora and Quinn turn back the clock? Using the scientific method, is it possible to travel back in time and change the story of that fateful day?

Family dynamics are at the heart of this novel. There is trauma and grief, but also love, wrapped with feelings that no one can share. Parents are imperfect and siblings prove that difficult relationships can tear a family apart, and the consequences are far-reaching.

Thank you, @NetGalley and @BalzerandBray for the early read. Thank you @JasmineWarga for another wonderful title, which I’ve added to my list of 2021 books to purchase. (May 2021)

Recommended for upper middle and high school. Trigger warning: death/school shootings

My rating: ****

Book Reviews IMWAYR

IMWAYR: Graphic Novels COUNT as Reading!

I pulled a little collection of graphic novels out this week because we have three of them in our Battle of the Books stack this year and because Junior Library Guild delivered more with our school subscription last week. They will keep me busy, trying to keep up with the students and promoting the message, “Graphic novels are real reading!” Try some of these in your own reading life.

Snapdragon by Kat Leyh – Snapdragon lives in a town with her mom…and a witch neighbor. Jacks is scary, lives alone in a dark house, and sells skeletons from roadkill on the internet. When Snapdragon needs a favor, Jacks is the only one left to ask for help, so the two become companions, whether Jacks likes it or not. There are mysterious happenings and surprising relationships, and Snap wants to know what it all means, and how she is involved with the bigger picture of this little town.

This graphic novel comes complete with suspense and awe, and a cute little dog pal, to boot. Readers will take Snap in as a friend, and feel a family connection in the end.

Recommended for middle schoolers and up.

Beetle and the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne – Middle school students are going to love Beetle and her cute ghost-BFF, Blob Ghost. This graphic novel is perfect for independent reading time and focuses on friendships (new and old), family, and finding a way to stand up for yourself in times of trouble.

Beetle is a 12-year-old goblin-witch who is homeschooled by Gran, the Town Witch. She’s not very good at her lessons: she can’t fly a broom well and doesn’t know how to make potions. Beetle would rather dream about becoming a sorceress and hang out at the mall with Blob Ghost. But the mall is being sold, and will be demolished in one week under the control of the new owner, Marla Hollowbone, a former resident and Gran’s nemesis.

Can Beetle and her old friend Kat (Ms. Hollowbone’s niece) find a way to help Blob Ghost escape the mall and be free? Will Kat find a way to stand up to her power-hungry aunt? Will the town ever be the same?

Next up…Superman Smashes the Clan by Gene Luen Yang, with art by Gurihiru.

Doodleville by Chad Sell. Cardboard Kingdom by Mr. Sell was such a hit, we had to get this one into the library! I haven’t read it yet, but I will this week.

The Oracle Code by Marieke Nijkamp and illustrated by Manuel Preitano (DC Comics, 2020)

It’s MONDAY! What are YOU reading?

IMWAYR is a weekly blog hop with kid lit co-hosts Jennifer from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers. The original IMWAYR, with an adult literature focus, was started by Sheila at Book Journeys and is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. It’s a great way to share what you’re reading and get recommendations from others. We encourage you to write your own post sharing what you’re reading, link up, leave a comment, and support other IMWAYR bloggers by visiting and commenting on at least three of the other linked blogs each week.

Book Reviews

“Picture Books are Perfect” – Review of I Am Every Good Thing

I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes and Gordon C. James is the newest must-read picture book for middle school, and everyone else! This is a joyful celebration of all good things: gravity, moonbeams, cinnamon rolls, skateboarding, using a microscope, being polite, paper airplanes, swimming…and being human! I love the language — “I am a lightning round of questions…” reminds me of my former 6th grade students and my current grandchildren. The references to family, creativity, respect, worth, and love make this the feel-good book of the year.

Book Reviews

Happy Book Birthday, Dusti Bowling!

The Canyon’s Edge by Dusti Bowling

Nora’s therapist asks, “What do you fear?” (Dying.) and “Are you likely to die in this situation?” (Yes.)

It’s been a year since Nora and her dad lost her mother in a violent, unprovoked event. Dad has been grieving by taking Nora out of school and avoiding people; Nora doesn’t want to deal with the questions, either, and has pushed away her best friend in the process. After a year, it’s time to start healing. Dad and Nora take the Jeep to the canyon, where the family spent their lives climbing and hiking — a favorite bonding activity. To move forward, Nora and Dad must come to understand “why,” avoiding the “what-ifs” of this new life. Nora writes in her notebook to capture what was, what is, and what might be in the future.

As the father/daughter team climb through the canyon, terrible things happen. When a flash flood smashes them against a wall and sweeps her father away, Nora is left alone to face the scorpions, snakes, and The Beast. Can she use what her therapist taught her (breathe, move, hope) to find her father again, or will the canyon take what is left of her family?

Dusti Bowling is a master of words in this gripping and suspenseful new middle-grade Southwest story. Students should study the character development, writing engaging scenes, figurative language, and poetry (I love haiku, too!). Any reader who loves outdoor adventures will love this book.

Happy Book Birthday, Dusti Bowling! I’m so happy to see this book out in the world!

Book Reviews

Book PREView – Becoming Muhammad Ali by Kwame Alexander and James Patterson

Becoming Muhammad Ali is a long-awaited look at a legend, written by legends James Patterson and Kwame Alexander. Cassius Clay was young, charming, and funny, and his friends loved him. His family loved him. He loved himself! Full of swagger, Cassius seemed to succeed at anything he tried. Backing him up with words of wisdom and enough discipline to keep him humble, Momma Bird, Mr “Cash” Clay, and Granddaddy Herman made sure that Cassius was an upstanding citizen and at least a “B” student. As he grew stronger, Cassius became more sure of himself — walking into the path of famous boxers and trainers who would eventually lead him to “the greatest” career he could ever hope for.

“Lucky” (Lucius), Cassius’ best friend, tells the story to the reader, adding his own flair to the fire that was Chicago’s Golden Gloves championship boxing in the late 1950s and early 60s. Alternating with poems signaling Cassius’ voice, the story is also a series of flashbacks to those early days of the boy who would become “The Greatest” and most loved boxer of all time.

Patterson and Alexander are a perfect pair for this book, inspiring all sports fans – especially kids who believe in their own destinies. With historical notes and a bibliography, the life of young Muhammed Ali is here for a new generation of dreamers to read. This book is for middle grade readers up to adult. The publishing date for Becoming Muhammad Ali is set for October 5, 2020 by Hachette Book Group. Preorder this one now!

Book Reviews

Book Preview: The Canyon’s Edge by Dusti Bowling

The Canyon’s Edge by Dusti Bowling

Nora’s therapist asks, “What do you fear?” (Dying.) and “Are you likely to die in this situation?” (Yes.)

It’s been a year since Nora and her dad lost her mother in a violent, unprovoked event. Dad has been grieving by taking Nora out of school and avoiding people; Nora doesn’t want to deal with the questions, either, and has pushed away her best friend in the process. After a year, it’s time to start healing. Dad and Nora take the Jeep to the canyon, where the family spent their lives climbing and hiking — a favorite bonding activity. To move forward, Nora and Dad must come to understand “why,” avoiding the “what-ifs” of this new life. Nora writes in her notebook to capture what was, what is, and what might be in the future.

As the father/daughter team climb through the canyon, terrible things happen. When a flash flood smashes them against a wall and sweeps her father away, Nora is left alone to face the scorpions, snakes, and The Beast. Can she use what her therapist taught her (breathe, move, hope) to find her father again, or will the canyon take what is left of her family?

Dusti Bowling is a master of words in this gripping and suspenseful new middle-grade Southwest story. Students should study the character development, writing engaging scenes, figurative language, and poetry (I love haiku, too!). Any reader who loves outdoor adventures will love this book. Coming September 2020 from Little, Brown and Company.

Thank you to NetGalley for early access to this must-read for fall.

Book Reviews

Seven Clues to Home – Happy Book Birthday!

It’s finally here! Happy Book Birthday to Seven Clues to Home by Gae Polisner and Nora Raleigh Baskin!

Joy and Lukas had been friends ever since second grade, when Mr. Carter told each student with a summer birthday to stand up and be recognized before the end of the school year. “August…How weird is that? What are the chances?” (p.15) Lukas loved math, so he tried to figure out the chances. Joy played along. As time moved along, the two became closer, literally living in next-door apartment buildings. They studied math together, solved puzzles and riddles, and Lukas set up an elaborate scavenger hunt for Joy to figure out each year on her birthday. Even though Lukas had a troubled older brother, Joy hung out with him while her parents cautiously watched. Her own family was a little difficult, with a sort-of-snobby-but-caring older sister and two younger siblings who needed lots of attention. So Joy and Lukas were the perfect pair — together for all time. Until Lukas died on Joy’s twelfth birthday.

A year later, Joy strums her beautiful red birthday guitar and thinks about Lukas. She thinks about his troubled older brother – how people warned her about “that family.” She knew none of it was true. As she celebrates her birthday, she thinks about her friend who will not celebrate this year. She thinks, “If I don’t tell the stories – of cupcakes and scavenger hunts and holes in the sand – they will be lost forever.” (p.11) She must tell the story of her friend, Lukas, the story that’s true. She decides to open the envelope that held the first clue to the scavenger hunt Lukas set up for her a year earlier. Before his death. Before he could reveal the one thing that he never could during his lifetime. Now, Joy has to keep the birthday tradition alive. She has to find the next clue.

Seven Clues to Home is the story of Joy and Lukas: their friendship, their families, and their last scavenger hunt. Told in alternating chapters, Joy tells the story of the hunt in present time while Lukas tells his story of setting up the hunt the year before, and how the clues would lead to his biggest secret, finally revealed. Although it’s a story about grief and loss, it’s also a friendship story, a family story, and a town’s story of sticking together in the best and worst of times.

I love Gae Polisner and Nora Raleigh Baskin. Separately, their writing is intriguing, interesting, inspiring. When they collaborate…wow! Make sure you don’t miss Seven Clues to Home, out today from Alfred A Knopf Books. Start your summer with this 5-Star book.

Book Reviews

Book Review: Tracking Pythons by Kate Messner

I recommended Tracking Pythons: The Quest to Catch an Invasive Predator and Save an Ecosystem to a student and I found that I loved it, too. I’m not a snake person, but this research trip that turned into an informative and interesting book for (older) children made me motivated to read more, as the back matter of the book suggests.

Author Kate Messner traveled to meet and travel with the team of scientists, including Ian Bartoszek, who were charged with tracking pythons and studying the ecosystems these gigantic snakes destroy. I learned how (NOT!) to catch a python, how much one python can eat as it grows to 15 feet long (!), and even something about responsible pet ownership of snakes. Many of the stories were humorous, such as Ian’s story of weighing one of the captured pythons at a supermarket’s scale (109 lbs!). Another scene included (gross!) pictures of a python who had eaten a deer. Back matter included “Invasive Species Most Wanted List” and a timeline of the Burmese pythons’ Florida invasion.

I was left in awe: “It’s always a mistake to underestimate the power of a Burmese python.”

This is an excellent nonfiction read for older elementary children or teens who need a mentor text for their own research projects.

Book Reviews

Book Review: LIFT by Minh Lê and Dan Santat

LIFT is a fantastical picture book for any child or kid-at-heart. I don’t know a child who hasn’t wanted to push elevator buttons to see where the big silver box takes them. After her little brother beats her to the “push” one day, Iris becomes upset. She is supposed to push the button! Later, the building elevator breaks. No more buttons – Oh, no! Iris spies and swipes the old elevator button from the scrap pile (left behind by construction workers) and takes it to her bedroom. Push! Where THIS elevator button takes Iris is an alluring adventure.

Minh Lê’s simple, imaginative words and Dan Santat’s rich, wondrous illustrations make this marvelous story a must-read for 2020. (Coming May 5, 2020 from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Book Reviews

Book Review: Green Lantern: Legacy

Mihn Lê adds to the popular trend in middle grade books — comic book heroes — with Green Lantern: Legacy. (DC Comics, 2020)

Teen artist, Tai Pham, hangs out and draws in his grandmother’s (Bà’s) store, Jade Market, after school, dreaming of his future. Another brick through the front window, another attack. The family (who lives in the apartment upstairs) wants Bà to sell the store, but she refuses, saying, “We will not let fear drive us from our home. Not again.” She refers to leaving Vietnam many years ago and shows her resolve to keep what she and her family have gained from years of work in Coast City. Jade Market is not just a store. It is home.

When Bà passes, her jade ring becomes Tai’s keepsake. What he learns is that ring chose him to join in a secret — a society of space cops called Green Lanterns — who work against fear, and Yellow Lanterns, to save the earth. Can he handle the power and pressure? Tai’s friends may be able to help him, but he must find his inner strength to carry on his grandmother’s legacy.

This new graphic novel is sure to capture attention from a wide range of readers. Andie Tong’s colorful comic illustrations and Minh Lê’s captivating text make this book a must-read for middle school readers, and there are references to woo the adult crowd, as well. Add Green Lantern: Legacy to your reading list today.