Summer reading 2015 The Kingdom of the Sun and Moon

Fans of The Tale of Despereaux will love this new story that also has elements of Watership Down. The setting is the fabulous Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna with the action taking place in the surrounding gardens and within the very walls of the palace itself. Nesbit is the youngest son of Lavendel, the leader of the garden mice in the Long Meadow. His oldest brother Blum was recruited to become an Eagle Guard to the Konig (king) and was never seen again. Now his older brother Sommer has also been recruited, even though everyone expected him to become their colony's leader after Lavendel. When Nesbit protests the news that his brother will be joining the guard in the palace and that the colony must turn over all the Essen (food) they have gathered for the winter, he is exiled to the Forest of Lost Life.

What follows is the most amazing set of adventures you could ever expect one small mouse to live through. The members of Nesbit's family must survive attacks by cats, owls, and evil mice; find the Sacred Goldessen (legendary cheese); protect the kingdom from The Army of a Hundred Thousand; and discover the truth of the Konig's plans for everyone. All in a day's work, right?

The author has done a wonderful job of showing us the palace and its gardens through the eyes of these tiny creatures. Everything from the names they give locations in the garden (The Light Path, The Dark Path, The Fountain of Certain Death), to the little habits they have (grooming their whiskers, stamping their feet to warn of danger), and even their own myths and tales, all make them come to life as both individuals with their own personalities and as a group with their own culture.

Lowell Press has joined the ranks of Kate DiCamillo, Dick King-Smith, and E.B.White as a teller of excellent animal stories.

I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley. You may check the book's webpage for more information.

Summer Reading 2015 Imelda and the Goblin King

Fans of books like Bullies Never Win and Enemy Pie will find this story an enchanting (pun intended) new way to deal with grumpy bullies who push everyone around. Imelda lives near a wood, like many children in fairy tales do. (Think of Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, etc.) Imelda loves to visit the woods and her friends the fairies. The fairy queen and all her subjects enjoy Imelda's visits and they teach her all about the woods and its secrets. Everything is going along beautifully until...the Goblin King arrives. He does not play well with others (he probably never went to preschool or kindergarten and learned how to make friends). Readers will be outraged at the king's behavior and then delighted at how Imelda and her friends ingeniously teach him a lesson. 

Briony May Smith's illustrations are fun and fanciful. The fairies come in a variety of sizes from adult human, down to almost as small as a butterfly. Some of them look like miniature humans, while others have blue skin, fox heads, or wings. The goblins are tiny versions of their king - with their green skin, pointy teeth and fingernails, horns, and cruel or angry expressions they are easy to distinguish from the fairies.

If you enjoy stories with magical creatures (of whatever size), tales where the hero outsmarts the evil villain, or strong female characters who stand up for their friends - then you should find a cop of Imelda and the Goblin King. It's perfect for a read-aloud, a bedtime story, or to complement a unit on fairy tales.

I read an e-book provided by the publisher through edelweiss.

Summer Reading 2015 Pieces of Why

Pieces of Why makes you begin asking questions immediately. You might start with, "What does the why in the title refer to?" or "Who is this girl on the cover?" As you read the story of Tia and her decision to ask some questions that she has been wondering about for most of her life, you will begin to think of other questions. Some of what Tia wants to know will probably be similar to your own thoughts. Why do people do bad things? Does doing a bad thing make you a bad person? Is it right to forgive someone who has done something really bad? But other questions are very unique to her situation, like wondering why her mother is so reluctant to go anywhere in public, or why her father is in prison.

Questions aren't the only things in the book; after all, that wouldn't make much of a story. Tia lives in New Orleans with her mother and her father is not around (although we don't know why at first). Her best friend Keisha sings with her in a children's group called the Rainbow Choir, led by Ms. Marion. Even though Tia is "a skinny white girl with brown hair, dark brown eyes, and skin about as pale as a person's could be" (her own description of herself), Keisha says that, "Tia does gospel the way it's supposed to be done."

Besides the choir, the girls also sing songs by their favorite pop stars and have a regular sleepover each week. They can talk about their families, the snotty girls in the choir who are only their because their parents make them come, and even discuss boys. Through all the drama over who will sing the lead solo, who will be kissed by the boy she likes, and worry over a shooting that happens outside the church during choir practice, Tia and Keisha have their friendship to lean on. 

The author lived in New Orleans for several years and you can almost feel the heat and see the streets as she describes them. Unlike many books recently written about the city, this one doesn't focus on Katrina or its aftermath. The hurricane is only mentioned briefly as an event that Tia remembers. What is does focus on is the relationships and the dynamics between the characters. It is a book that can simply be read for enjoyment of a good story, but it also opens up so many opportunities for discussion about things like guilt by association, racism, verbal intimidation, and cultural expectations.

I would recommend this as a good read for middle grades and up - but be prepared and have the tissues handy just in case you feel a few sympathetic tears along the way.

I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.  There is a very interesting and informative Author Interview available if you would like to hear K.L. Going talk about some of her inspirations and how she became a writer.

New Book Release on August 18th

Great news for fans of The Day the Crayons Quit - now there is a sequel!  (And it will be available at our fall book fair.)

Finley Flowers Giveaway

      

Our friend, Jessica Young, has two new titles in her chapter book series.  New & Improved and Art-Rageous both feature Finley Flowers, a third-grader full of creativity and initiative - two very important life skills. To celebrate the release of these latest adventures, there is a giveaway for fans to enter. Follow the link below for more information on how to enter.

Finley Flowers Giveaway

Summer Reading 2015 How to Outfox Your Friends When You Don't Have a Clue

I will have to have a serious talk with Jess Keating when/if we meet, because her book made me cry. She does an excellent job of showing the misery you can experience as a tween or teen who is having friendship drama. In this third book in the series, Ana is about to turn 13, she still hasn't had her first kiss with boyfriend Kevin (her first attempt ended up in a head butt and Kevin having a bloody nose), she survived volunteering at the zoo with Ashley the "Sneerer," and her friend Liv is in town for a short visit from New Zealand. So, not much going on, right? But wait, there's more - she gets an F on her Shakespeare quiz, begins as a volunteer at a wildlife rehabilitation shelter, and has an enormous multimedia project due in two weeks for her English teacher.

Fans of Ana's earlier books will remember her for things like having an allergic reaction to Nair, falling into the shark tank at the sea life exhibit, and other feats of incredible clumsiness and bad luck. That hasn't changed, even if Ana has officially become a teen at last. And, although her shyness and nerves about public speaking may have improved, she still gets terribly flustered when things don't go as planned. Most of us have probably had the experience of trying to fix something and having the situation get worse and worse the harder we try, so it is easy to empathize with Ana, even as we see she is not making the best choices. It makes us want to reach into the book and say, "No - that's only going to complicate things even more. Don't do it!" But have faith, our fearless author will work everything out and do it without waving a magic wand. That's part of the charm of these books; Ana and the other characters all act so human and the resolution always makes sense. It isn't a perfect ending with a rainbow and a great swell of triumphant orchestral music. It's a solution that could really happen, and it can encourage readers that whatever troubles they are having, there is a solution for them, too.

I cannot recommend Jess Keating's books highly enough. Middle grade readers (and up) will be laughing, gasping in shock or dismay, and maybe even shedding a tear or two as they enjoy this realistic fiction written with compassion and humor.

I read an advance copy provided by the publisher for review purposes.

Jess also has a series of YouTube videos for sharing writing tips at Write with Jess Keating.

Summer Reading 2015 Tough Guys (Have Feelings Too)

With a wonderful assortment of tough guys, Negley shows that each one can still have feelings - and even shed a tear. Whether it's the cowboy being thrown from his horse, the astronaut missing his family, or the superhero high above the city and feeling lonely, everyone has feelings. The pages show each of these seemingly rough and tough, invincible guys in a moment of sadness or frustration or disappointment and they are letting their feelings show without embarrassment. My favorite is the pirate standing on a beach covered with empty holes as he tries to dig up the treasure marked on his map. And then there is the illustration of the father and son, cuddled up on the bed and reading together. They are "tough guys who love each other very much." Around them you can see action figures, wooden swords, and solar system mobiles that hint at all the other tough guys already shown in the book. (It makes you wonder what sort of tough guy they are reading about.)

I especially like the end papers. At the front of the book they show all the different sorts of tough guys that will appear in the story. A knight wielding a sword. A race car driver. A brave sea captain. A ninja. But in the back of the book, we see the roles of those tough guys being played by the boy, and his father is playing right along with him. It adds more to the emotional weight of their relationship, seeing how the father isn't afraid to act a little silly and be the bucking bronco for the cowboy to ride, or lifting up his son (dressed as a superhero), so he can fly.

Parents, especially dads, need to read this book to their children and reassure them that having feelings and expressing them doesn't mean that you are not tough or cool.

I read an e-book provided by the publisher through edelweiss. I cannot wait to add this to my school's library.