This is the second book in the Impossible Creatures series. I actually liked this one even better than the first! Don't get me wrong, I like the first, but it was really heavy. This second one deals with heavy subjects as well, but it never feels too heavy. I felt more hopeful about the ending for the entire story. My favorite characters from the first book were present and accounted for, and then we meet Anya, a reluctant princess whose grandfather is mysteriously murdered, and her father is imprisoned for the crime. As she works to escape from her evil uncle, who wants to take over their kingdom, she meets Christopher (a guardian of the waybetween) who is called back to the magical land he guards to help figure out what is killing the dragons. They soon find out their stories are intertwined, and although each thinks their problem is the greater problem, they work together to help each other.

This book has vivid world-building, heart-pounding adventure, and characters who warm your heart. It's all you can ask for in a good fantasy, and I will be recommending the series to all my dragon-crazy students.

Another great offering from Britannica Books, Epic Factopia follows a trail of facts where one fact (sometimes loosely) relates to the next on a dotted line path through the books. There are opportunities to follow side paths to multiple related facts, but I personally wouldn't deviate or I might miss one of the fun facts inside. With lots of engaging illustrations, and plenty of white space this book is never overwhelming or too dense for earlier readers, but has plenty of facts for the voracious fact hound.

What an awesome collaboration between two great authors. This book has all the feelings of Ruta Sepetys's novels, with all the detail of Steve Sheinkin's nonfiction titles. I like that they each took the lead on one of the main characters, as it makes each character's viewpoint more novel. It was interesting to hear more about this aspect of World War II. I enjoy that historical period, and it was a fresh look at a lesser known front. I also liked that it is written for middle grades, and does not include any scenes that would make it inappropriate for elementary students. This is great for my more advanced readers, where it can be a challenge to find interesting, yet age-appropriate reads. This one knocks it out of the park!

This story is about Elena, a middle school girl that plays baseball on a boy's team (the only one available). She enjoys baseball, but that seems secondary to her mother's reasons for Elena playing baseball, namely that Elena has the chance to achieve what her mother and grandmother could not. When a non-baseball related knee injury sidelines Elena, she doesn't know what to do with herself, but finds she is relieved to not be playing baseball. With the encouragement of her grandfather, she "plays" with her brother and his band of LARPers, but finds that imaginary worlds are hard for her, she is so use to the rules and absolutes of baseball. During her struggles to fit in with the LARP group she meets Toni, a girl who now lives with her grandmother after the death of her parents. She and Toni are able to talk to each other, and help each other be brave in telling the adults in their lives that they need to be able to make their own choices about the things they care about .

This graphic novel moves quickly, with lots of action in the panels. With problems such as over-bearing parents, and pressure to perform, I think that many kids will find something to relate to. In addition, role-playing games are becoming more popular again, and the LARP group is a large part of this story, so that will also draw readers. The cast is diverse, with Elena's family (Cuban) reverting to Spanish, especially when overwhelmed or talking to grandfather, but it is easily understood as the show more listener often repeats the meaning of the words in English. Definitely a graphic novel that has a strong story behind it. show less

This is the second book in this series, and while I enjoyed the first one, this one moved much slower. This one is about the second sister, Louisa, and her return to Sweetwater Crossing. Although she left in a huff in the first book, she is convinced to return by Doc Sheridan's widow for his burial. She meets Josh on the road - thrown my his horse with a broken leg. When she decides to stay until he is healed, Widow Sheridan gives her Doc's practice, lock, stock and barrel. While Josh is stuck in a cast, he has time to figure out what he wants from life, and Louisa works to gain the townspeople's trust to let her work as their healer. The mystery comes in as someone actively works to keep Louisa from achieving her dreams. All in all, it was a nicely written story, just a little slow and repetitive until the end, when it moved very quickly.

This edition of Narwhal and Jelly is one of my favorites, I think. Narwhal teaches a school of fish when their teacher gets a cold. I love how the school of fish uses synonyms when they all want to say the same thing - this would be a great book to use when discussing the thesaurus, and how a writer might use it. I also liked when Narwhal changed the game of tag from tagging someone as "it" to tagging someone as "awesome". Such a small change, but so positive in today's divided society. It is nice to have an uplifting example of how a small change can make a difference. As usual, Narwhal and Jelly are awesome!

This Book is Banned is a great introduction to the concept of banning books for silly reasons. I think it makes a good introduction to the subject, giving examples where kids can understand that there are subjects that some people like and some people won't. I do not think it makes the connection that banning books on specific subjects hurts certain people-groups. I like how at the end it it talks about how a book isn't for you, it could still be perfect for someone else. I will definitely be purchasing a copy for my school library, and I do expect that some people will be offended by that. C'est la vie!

The Big Book of Mysteries is just what its title promises. This book is chock-full of the unexplained (Lost Colony of Roanoke), the mysterious (Stonehenge), and unbelievable (alien abductions). There were the usual suspects (Bigfoot) and some items I'd never heard of before (The Mapimi Silent Zone). While not exhaustive or in depth on any one subject, I think this will be a great addition to my school library, where cryptids and mythical beasts are always in demand.

Deb Preston chronicles her journey as a parent in this book, which reads more like journal entries and does not have a story arc, per se. While I enjoyed the anecdotes and quotes from her experiences, the idea works much better as the blog that it was created from, I think. Although, I do think the quotes about things she finds herself saying now as a parent would make a great page-a-day calendar. The book is divided into sections, meant to represent stages that she has gone through as a parent, but the items are presented in chronological order, so the stories themselves don't have anything to do with the section title. Also, many of the stories have the same mantra/theme/ending of be present... exercise self-care, which if you are sitting down to read it in one go, can be preachy. That said, I think that if this were repurposed as a devotional or daily reading, is something that moms in the throes of young parenting need reminding of!

All in all, I liked the content, not so much the way it was packaged. Moms in need of a chuckle, or a reminder that we are all just doing our best will find a welcome reminder in this book.

In this book Mary Louise Kelly talks about the year her oldest child turned eighteen, and all the choices she has made to this point, and what the cost of those choices has been. Having already been down this road, I can say that her experiences are not limited to women, who like her, have chosen to work in demanding and dangerous fields, but are common to most women I know going through the same life change. While this book is not a road map on how to get through this time, it will certainly make you feel like you are not alone on the journey. An excellent read.

This is a follow-up to Anne Hunter's Where's Baby picture book. As in that book, the baby is the only spot of color in the pictures, although this time it is a baby squirrel whose enthusiasm for life gets a little long in the tooth for some of the other woodland creatures. When one of them finally snaps at baby, he disappears, and then everyone realizes the joy he brings each day. They go looking for him, and we hope that they come to some type of understanding.

I loved the pictures, the story is timeless, but I thought the pacing between the words and pictures didn't flow as smoothly as it could have. The reader might have to adjust their speed a bit to make it work if reading aloud.

This is the first book I have read by Amanda Cabot, and I thought it was well written. This is the first book in a planned trilogy, one for each daughter in the Vaughn family. This one looks at Emily, the oldest. She returns to town a widow after the death of her husband, and while she says she is resolute in her determination never to marry again, you know she will - it's a historical romance novel after all. Upon her arrival, she finds that her father has killed himself - or at least it appears so - but Emily is not so sure.

Circumstances contrive to have Emily open her family home up to boarders, which she is mostly happy to have, including the new school teacher, Craig, a widower with a young son who Emily helps to care for while taking care not to get too close to Craig, at least until she realizes that he isn't a horrible person like her first husband was. Once they begin talking, she confides in him the reason she doesn't believe that her father killed himself, and he helps her to unravel the mystery, earning her love as he goes.

This story was nicely paced, with surprises and plot twists showing up at regular intervals to keep the reader interested. While it is christian fiction, it wasn't preachy, and I appreciated the distinction between those who were christian in name only, and those who showed it by their actions. I enjoyed it enough to look forward to the remaining books in the series.

Silver Alert is set in Key West, Florida, and is the story of Herb, an aging man doing his best to care for his wife, Susan, who suffers from dementia, and a young woman, Renee, who comes into their home as a service provider - a manicurist who is a calming presence for Susan. As Herb struggles with Susan and his own declining health, Renee is struggling to figure out who she is and what she wants after a tragic childhood and youth. The two become friends and soon set off on a short road trip to get away from their problems, triggering the Silver Alert referenced in the title.

This was a quick read, and while it was a little jumpy at first, trying to figure out which character was speaking in each chapter, it soon gelled and became clear. I feel like the two main characters were realistically flawed, and touched on themes that most people could relate to in one way or another. I did feel like the narrative was a bit choppy, and that there wasn't really a story arc until you were well into the book, but it was so short overall that it didn't take too long to get there. There were a few things that didn't really get resolved in the end, so an open ending that some will enjoy filling in on their own, and others might find ambiguous. All in all, an amiable look into another's lives.

Narwhalicorn and Jelly is the seventh installment of the Narwhal and Jelly Series. As usual, it is a cute tale involving two very different friends. This book finds Narwhal very excited to have an adventure, but Jelly is a bit apprehensive. Like a good friend, he goes along with Narwhal until he reaches his limit, and then gets upset. Narwhal realizes in hindsight that he wasn't listening to Jelly, and could have been a better friend. It all works out in the end, and both animals learn about being a good friend.

The first Narwhal and Jelly book was full of separate short stories and fact blurbs, but while this book has chapters, it is more one continuous story throughout the whole book, with just one fact sheet about unicorns. I think it makes a nice progression for beginning readers.

In this installment of How to Cat books, we are going to teach our cat a trick. The cat, being a cat, is uncooperative. This time there is a dog in the background, obeying every command. Of course, in the end, the cat learns a trick.... or maybe the human does. The humor in this book is in the illustrations, which are digitally created, with little details to make you smile. Cat lovers will like this book, dog lovers, not so much.

This is a new series for me, and I am always looking for new mysteries on the elementary level, so I was glad to receive it from Early Reviewers. That said, I was not nearly as pleased as I hoped to be upon receiving it. The premise of the mystery is believable, but the complexity of the solution was not something that I, as an adult, found easy to follow. I can't imagine a third grade class coordinating a heist to that level of complexity, or a third-grader investigating it to figure it out. What I did like was that the main characters talked about investigative vocabulary, and worked through the rift in their own relationship to solve the alleged crime. Maybe I would have liked it better if I had more backstory on Smashie and Dontel.

This book took me a couple of chapters to get into, but once I was in, it was a laugh a minute. I liked it so much, I checked out the three previous books in the series to keep the fun going. Laurie Gelman has written a book that I can relate to in so many ways. She has all the witty comebacks that I (as a teacher) only wish I could say out loud, but in this one she also tackled the sobering reality of caring for aging parents. For any mom who needs to relax and have a laugh, this is a great light-hearted read that will make you smile.

I received this book through the Early Reviewers program. Most unusually, the book was sent by the author himself, with a letter explaining the genesis of the story; it started as a collaborative bedtime story between him and his daughters, which I find fun. The three main characters are named after his daughters.

This is a richly imagined, highly detailed story. The amount of detail was sometimes overwhelming, but other times there seemed to be a lack of details on an element of the story that made you feel like you were missing important information, such as the history of the family, and the conflict that this story was built on. It almost reminded me of some of J.R.R. Tolkien's work, in that the amount of detail to keep track of was a little staggering.

I am certain that there are kids who will enjoy this story, but I fear that the denseness of text and detail may be off-putting for all but the most dedicated readers. I do think it is a story with potential, maybe with the right editing to both flesh it out and slim it down so that the right details emerge without getting bogged down, it could be a really popular series.

The class is getting ready for the 100th day of school. As they learn about the number 100, class pets Fergus and Zeke figure out that sometimes 100 is a big number, like when you are jumping rope, and sometimes it's too short, like when you take a 100 second nap! Will they find the perfect project to showcase the number 100 by the time the 100th day party rolls around? Lots of ideas here for the 100th day of school, with fun bright drawings that add greatly to the story.

Maple is finishing up fifth grade and looking forward to starting sixth with her friends when her life is derailed by her teacher. Even though Maple has gotten very good at hiding the truth from her friends, teachers, and parents, her fifth-grade teacher has figured it out - Maple cannot read well. She is held back and will have to repeat fifth grade.

I thought this story was spot on on several points - the tricks Maple used to try and fool her parents and teachers, how she felt to be held back, how unsupportive and mean some of her friends were, and how much that hurt Maple - but in this day and age of constant testing and interventions in school, there is no way that she would have been unidentified as having a learning issue by grade five in school, or have parents that were so loving and yet so clueless as to her struggles in school.

Still, this is a story that kids can definitely see themselves in, both those that struggle with reading, and those who may just struggle with fitting in. I think it will be a great addition to school libraries.

Another great installment in the Deckawoo Drive series. In this book Franklin is introduced as a world-class worrier. He keeps a list of his worries, and when he starts having nightmares about them he tries to get rid of them with cold, hard facts, but all he finds are new worries. He tries several other ways of getting rid of worries, but ultimately what distracts him from his worries is the power of storytelling.

I love this series. It is quick moving, but doesn't talk down to kids. It has some advanced vocabulary, but it is always used with plenty of context cues for those who are encountering it for the first time. I like that when an adult tells Franklin that his worries are not worthwhile, it doesn't help. Just telling a kid not to worry is no help at all. With a little guidance from a grownup, Franklin solves his problem on his own. A great installment for this series with a timely topic.

Jon Klassen is someone I introduce to my students a little later in the year, when they've gotten comfy with the sunny, often humorous, sometimes inspiring picture books that predominate our library. The rather non-traditional opening of "This hat is not mine, I just stole it" (from This Hat is not Mine) usually elicits a gasp and horrified looks and starts many conversations about what happens next and right vs. wrong. Like the hat trilogy, this book has the same simple drawing style, with so much of the story being conveyed by the slightest movement of the characters' eyes. This book, while written in the same sparse style; however, does not have a theme or moral that would be easily verbalized by a child, or adult for that matter. It is a bit strange, although it could definitely spark conversations as well. All in all, not my favorite.

I have mixed feelings about the book, The Dragon in the Library. I really, really wanted to like it, because it sounded like a good idea for my readers who want something like Harry Potter, but just aren't mature enough for the full series, either reading ability-wise, or maturity-wise. This book does fit that description, but I felt like it could have been so much more. The main thing that detracted for me was the lack of development of secondary characters. Kit, the main character in the book, has a family with five kids, but no one is named or developed at all. The other thing that bothered me is that Kit continues to make the same mistake throughout the book, yet never shows any sign of change.

That said, this book will be a very good step from early chapter books to more substantial fare. It moves at a steady clip and will keep readers interested. It is obviously the first book in a planned series, and I hope we seem more growth in Kit, and more development of the characters around her as we go.

Merci is back for a new school year in this follow-up to Merci Suarez Changes Gears. Merci is now well aware of how dementia is affecting her grandfather, and the absence of his reassuring nature is difficult for Merci to adjust to. What makes it harder is that her whole family seems to be distracted with other things, leaving Merci feeling like she has nowhere to turn when things start to unravel at school. After unsuccessfully trying to solve her problems on her own, she is reminded by her aunt that family takes care of each other. In that regard, even though Merci wouldn't dance for a school dance, she learns how to help her Aunt start her new dance studio. Perhaps the book should have been called Merci Suarez WON'T Dance, since she overcomes her shyness when the moment really counts.

Merci's tale weaves a lot of themes into a compact story. Need a story about friendship? It's in here. A little romance? It's in here, too. Overcoming first impressions? Yep. Merci has lots of authentic feelings about all these things, and she struggles with thinking that she's so grown up that she should take care of her problems herself. All of these feelings will be very familiar to middle grade readers, and will help them to see that these are common struggles. Merci and her friends are there for each other to the end.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley.

This story follows four women from extremely different backgrounds as they compete in a cooking competition meant to showcase cooking tips and techniques that could turn their WWII wartime rations into tempting meals. They go from being fierce competitors at the beginning to working alongside each other, to helping one another as they all grow in their own ways over the course of the contest.

This book will appeal to a lot of readers - those who like WWII stories, cooks, romantics, all can be steered towards this title. The characters are varied enough that everyone will find someone to relate to. Definitely recommend for those who liked Downton Abbey.

Donkey and Elephant are running against each other for an election. They go through campaigning, moving into negativity and (literal) mud-slinging until they reconcile their differences and await the election results. When neither of them win, they question results and then start all over again.

I received this book a fair bit before the election, and actually read it to a group of teachers over a zoom call. While we can all see the book's relevance to our country's current situation, the general consensus was that the name-calling got a little too carried away for their age group, and they would rather not have to read a book where they then have to follow-up with a lesson on manners and not using hurtful names.

That said, I think that for a little older group, this is an excellent jump into what goes on during our elections, because, let's face it, the name calling and mud-slinging don't show any signs of lessening up. Why did the campaigning devolve into that? What were the results? What might have been a better choice? The book does have a point, and a place in election literature.

Ollie, a teddy bear, goes one night to his first teddy bear picnic. When the awards are given out, he feels less and less special until the last award, teddy bear of the year, is given to him for the caring things he does every day.

While I liked the premise of the story and the cute illustrations, I found the pace and the telling rather uninspired. I do like the message that you don't have to do something heroic to be important, just being who you are is enough, but there are other books that make it a more exciting journey to come to that conclusion.

An ant will some severe anger issues gets lost in the desert. He is all alone shouting out his anger when a fly lands by him. He doesn't appreciate the fly (naturally) but the fly figures out the ant has a pine needle in his butt and removes it. The ant is glad, but doesn't really know how to express it. He mumbles out a thanks, and then goes back to his complaining. The fly decides they are friends and is going to fly them back to safety when they run into a big ole spider. I have heard this is a planned trilogy, so I'm guessing the saga will continue in the next book. I hope so, because this one definitely didn't have a nice neat ending! I was underwhelmed by this book - it didn't really stand out in any way. It was just kinda - meh. I was surprised, since Arthur Yorinks is a respected children's author. Perhaps the wow comes in the next book. I hope so!

This book is told from the point of view of Beatrice, or Bea for short. She talks from the present, but goes back over the last couple of years, from the time her parents told her that they were getting a divorce because her father was gay, to the time of her dad's marriage a few years later. When her parents got divorced (amicably) they gave her a list of things that will not change, and she's added to it over the last couple of years.

I like that (as usual) Rebecca Stead writes her books where a kid can totally relate to the characters. She's on spot - not too mature, not too childish - in a way that a kid can think, "that's just how I feel sometimes." Bea is finding that her situation is not something that everyone is comfortable with, and that people can sometimes be mean about it. She's learning how to deal with it, and how to identify her emotions so that she can be in charge of them rather than them being in charge of her. A lot of the learning how to deal with these emotions happens with the guidance of her therapist, giving her words and ideas that are helpful. We see her grow and learn to reconcile with others, as well as learn that sometimes reconciliation is beyond reach, and that when that happens, she still has a choice as to how she will deal with that. Everything wasn't hunky-dory when the book ended (although much of it was) and that helps kids know that even when everything isn't perfect, it can still be okay. I think this is a solid middle-grade choice.

The Princess in Black is back with a new villain - one that she cannot defeat with her ninja moves! When a horrible stink invades her kingdom, the Princess in Black and the Goat Avenger work together to move the stink out of the kingdom. Unfortunately, moving the stink just makes someone else's kingdom stinky! As each princess's kingdom is invaded by stink, they join the battle to defeat it permanently. They must work together to defeat this odoriferous problem.

Each chapter adds a princess to help solve the problem, following a similar, repeating wordplay. This will help new chapter book readers gain confidence and fluency. My only critical comment is that some of the pictures (especially the first one where the Princess in Black is smelling the bad smell for the first time) make her look possessed. All in all though, a nice addition to the series.