If you are a fan of adventurous mysteries filled with plucky kids and steampunk sensibilities, Cogheart, by Peter Bunzl, is a great choice. I actually first learned of this book because it was published by Usborne in the UK in 2016. As an Usborne consultant, I was yearning for it to come to the US.... Continue Reading →
Do you ever wish that you could start over with a clean slate? Or re-do a part of your life? Chase didn't realize that he needed a restart, but he got one after falling off the roof and suffering from amnesia. In Gordon Kormon's novel Restart, readers get a chance to see middle school from... Continue Reading →
There are books that just touch you as being special. This is one of those books. Thank you to the @kidlitexchange network and the wonderful world of Instagram book reviewers for introducing me to this amazing book. No Fixed Address tells the story of Felix Knutsson. Felix is just your average 7th grader who happens... Continue Reading →
Poverty and Homelessness in children's literature #ReadYourWorld
It's Wednesday which means that it is time for the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy. But it is also January, the month of Multicultural Children's Book Day. So today you get two for the price of one! There is something immensely powerful when the people realize who the true winner is... Continue Reading →
My first finished book of 2019 is You Don’t Know Everything, Jilly P.! and it is one that I would highly recommend. Alex Gino created something really special with this book and it deserves to be in all middle school libraries. Why? Because it deals with privilege and racism, important yet challenging topics that need... Continue Reading →
Football. No one would ever claim that I was a big football fan. But the story of Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football team is one that I would recommend to anyone and now I know of not one, but two marvelous books on the topic! I first heard of Jim Thorpe when... Continue Reading →
My younger daughter has recently gotten into the Wendy Mass series “Willow Falls” which starts with the book 11 Birthdays. She listens to audiobooks at night and picked this one and was quickly sucked in. I listened to snippets with her when she was going to sleep, and was intrigued enough myself that I figured... Continue Reading →
One thing that stays pretty standard when you see kids go through a school library is that they love books about animals, especially dangerous ones. It can be challenging to find books that are a good mix of bold photography as well as information that a younger child can understand. For that reason, I was... Continue Reading →