Picture Book Sunday- Food

Lucido, Aimee and Demirağ, Mavisu (Illustrator)

Pasta Pasta Lotsa Pasta 

July 2, 2024 by Beach Lane Books
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

A little girl and her mother are cooking a meal for their famiglia, and as they are cooking, more and more relatives show up with their favorite dishes to prepare. Nonna wants lasagna, Zio Tony wants ravioli, and Zia Trini even brings her cat, Houdini and her parrot, Pokey, who want rotini and gnocchi! The kitchen becomes more and more chaotic, especially when Zio Renz and his five children show up, wanting a variety of different pasta! When all the cooking is done, the mother tries to take all of the plates to the table at once... and drops them. Nothing is salvageable, so the family ends up ordering pizza!

I imagine that young readers who don't have a lot of family around will love seeing all of the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins gathering around in the way that earlier generations loved to watch the big family in The Brady Bunch. It's a little chaotic, but everyone pitches in and helps out.

My favorite part of the whole book was the endpaper illustrations, which show different types of pasta, and I think the lasagna might be made out of a brown paper grocery bag! I would definitely have a couple of different types of pasta on hand before reading this one, because it just begs to be accompanied by a meal of macaroni and cheese made with fusilli or gemelli! (A little fancier than elbows, but not impossible to find!)

The pages are filled to the brim with characters, food, and background details like the pets and ingredients, so young readers will love to pick out objects from the pages, making this a perfect book for learning new words. Where are the zucchini? Where's the olive oil? What color is the cat?

The text is fast paced and exuberant, and rendered in half rhymes. The scansion is good, but I'm very picky about rhyme schemes so struggled with some of the pairings.

Add this book to the pantry with other titles that celebrate cooking with family and showcase a lot of diverse cultures, such as Gilmore and Valiant's Cora Cooks Pancit, Russell's Seoul Food, Kramer's Empanadas for Everyone, Reynoso-Morris Plátanos Are Love, Saaed and Syad's Bilal Cooks Daal, Tanumihardj's Ramen For Everyone, and Tamaki's Our Little Kitchen.

Lee, Laura G. Soy Sauce!

January 7, 2025 by Algonquin Young Readers

E ARC provided by Netgalley

In this rhyming picture book, young readers learn a lot about that savory condiment, soy sauce. I did, too, since I had no idea that you could make it at home! There are many different recipes, but the essential steps include boiling soy beans, adding ingredients to help the mixture ferment, and letting the mixture age. There's even a tradition in some cultures of brewing soy sauce when children are born to give as a present for their weddings! There are regional differences in soy sauce ingredients and tastes; Japanese soy sauce often includes toasted wheat, while the Korean version has Chiles and fruits called jujubes. Indonesian soy sauce is thicker and flavored with star anise; I'll have to search for that when I'm at the international grocery store some day! Of course, there are also exuberant tableus of children cooking with soy sauce and enjoying the resultant dishes with relish. 

The artwork has lots of detail, and I was most impressed with how some of the exclamatory words on the pages looked like they were painted in soy sauce! I'm imagining there was some kind of computer software involved, but it added a little bit of umami to the page design! There are some pages where the words are placed on top of the pictures in a way that makes them hard to read, but perhaps this will be shifted a bit in the final copy. 

The one thought that kept occurring to me as I read this was that if my mother had been Asian, she would definitely have made her own soy sauce. I had my own apartment before I realized that in order to have pickle relish, you didn't have to grow cucumbers, pickle them, and then process them in the aluminum sausage grinder that clamped onto the counter! It's great to see books that teach the history of food and the process of making it. Soy Sauce! is a great addition to a buffet of picture books that includes Wu's Tofu Takes Time, Zhuang's Rainbow Shopping, Lam's Dim Sum, Here We Come, and the very complete Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods by Grace Lin. 

Lowe, Hayley. The Pie Reports
May 14, 2024 by Orca Book Publishers
Copy checked out through Hoopla Digital 

Noor goes to visit her grandparents for the summer, and she and her grandfather bond over making pies. The grandfather has a condition that causes his arm to shake, so he does have a few "blue" days, but making pies and hanging out with Noor makes him happy. When she goes back home, she chats on the computer with her grandfather, and they enjoy their weekly "pie report", and make seasonal pies to eat while they chat. One week, the grandfather doesn't show up, and Noor's mother explains that he has been having a lot more blue days. When school is out, Noor is able to go back and visit, and she and her grandfather make pies when they can, and just sit and visit when he is having bad days.

I liked that the issue of a grandparent in fragile health was approached in a realistic, frank, and upbeat way. The grandfather lives, which was also good; there are plenty of books about grandparents dying, but I'm not sure how many there are with grandparents who are just slowing down and having issues. It's also nice to see the two connect on the computer over distances.

Oh, this hit hard! My mother died of Parkinsons, and was the BEST pie maker. Her last cogent words to me were "This crust isn't very good"! (It was a perfectly good cherry pie, I thought!) Not only that, but the illustrations showed a variety of plates and pie dishes, including both the Butterfly Gold and Crazy Daisy patterns, which my mother used.

I may have to purchase this, but since I have no tiny people to read it to, I will try to restrain myself!

Ludwig, Sigura and Guy, Sophia Vincent (Illustrator). Rising
May 14, 2024 by Candlewick Press

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

A child and mother start the long and interesting process of making challah in their sun filled kitchen. The bring out their favorite bowl, mix the ingredients, wait for the dough to rise, braid it, and smell the delicious aromas as it bakes. After the bread has cooled, they make their preparations for the Shabbat summer, and welcome friends. The group say their prayers and have a meal together. The child is carried to bed, and is reassured that Jewish people celebrate this way all over the world, and that the same preparations will be carried out in the future, even with a brand new sibling to join in. There is a challah recipe at the end of the book, along with the author's note about Shabbat.

From the end papers, showing chalk like outlines of kitchen equipment on a dark blue surface, to the floral details of the family's dishware and decor, this is a lovely book, with soft colors of teal, blue, and a peachy beige. There are lots of details in the pictures that are fun to look at, and astute young readers will notice that the mother is heavily pregnant as she works closely with her child.

There are a lot of good details about the Shabbat celebration that will be informative to Gentile readers, and affirming to Jewish ones. Family rituals and everyday celebrations vary from family to family, and it's always good to have a window into the lives of others or a mirror reflecting a child's own experiences.

In the ten years since the We Need Diverse Books movement, we've seen such a great selection of books that show young readers so many different experiences of joy and celebration. This is a great addition to a list of books specifically about Shabbat like Lights Out Shabbat by Shulimson or Koala Challah by Gehl or Jewish celebrations in general like Here Is the World: A Year of Jewish Holidays by Newman. Elementary school libraries will want to make sure to include books about a wide range of culturally connected events!

Saturday Morning Cartoons- Mixed-Up

Garcia, Kami and Williams, Brittany (illus.) Mixed-Up
January 21, 2025 by First Second

E ARC provided by Netgalley

Stella is a fifth grader who is very invested in the television show Witchlins and watches it with her friends. Emiko is a skateboarder, and Latasha is an avid reader whose mother is the school librarian. The three are very excited that there is an online Witchlins game, but when Stella starts playing it, she realizes that it's necessary to consult the gaming manual, which is tremendously dense. She's having enough problems doing all of the reading for her classes, and often finds that she is finishing last, or not finishing at all. Her teacher, Mrs. Marin, is very nice, and does support her. Stella is also wary of the Young Authors project for which Mrs. Marin has assigned all of the students a story to write. Stella can't think of any ideas, although she is constantly doodling and drawing comics. Eventually, there's a meeting with Ms. Lopez, who assesses Stella and determines that she has dyslexia. Stella now works with Mrs. Wukitch, a reading specialist, to get extra help. Mrs. Marin has suggested that Stella do a graphic novel for her story, and Stella spends her lunch time in the library working on this because she is trying to avoid her friends. Without reading the manual, she's not as far in the game, and is behind her friends. She thinks that reading has ruined to show and fandom for her, but she won't tell Emiko and Latasha what's wrong. After Stella wins the Young Authors competition with her graphic novel loosely based on Witchlins and starring her friends, she comes clean and tells Emiko and Latasha about her struggles and dyslexia diagnosis. There are resource lists at the end of the book, and a note from Ms. Garcia about her own daughter's struggles with this condition. 

Strengths: Like Gerber's Focused (which deals with ADHD), Mixed-Up offers a realistic look at how a students might struggle with dyslexia, be diagnosed through school, and find helpful techniques from working with support staff. This is important not only for readers who have similar experiences, but for readers who might have friends who are struggling. The importance that Witchlins plays in Stella's friendship is interesting to see; friends struggle for many different reasons, and changing interests are certainly at the top of the list. This is also on trend with the idea that one's friends should  be kept in the loop about one's struggles. I definitely liked that the teachers and staff at school, as well as the parents, were very supportive, as this offers comforting reassurance to students. I have always kept a pack of yellow guide strips for students who need them, and appreciated that the book was lettered in a dyslexia friendly font, just like the Barrington Stoke books! 

Weaknesses: Mrs. Burk, the "mean" old lady librarian in her glasses and cardigan should not have said that graphic novels are not "real" books, but Stella's problems with reading are why I am often concerned when students won't pick up anything BUT graphic novels. This is often an indication that they need more practice and support, and I do gently suggest that in addition to graphic novels, students might want to try different types of books and work on building their reading stamina. Also, while it is nice that Mrs. Jackson lets Stella work in the library during lunch, this is another red flag. If a student wants to avoid the lunch room for more than a day or two, I ask if there is an issue that they need the school counselors' help with. I am not trained to deal with friend drama once it has escalated to the level of avoiding the lunch room. 
What I really think:  I will forever get this confused with Fantaskey's Wires Crossed , since both are graphic novels written by authors who have done paranormal YA titles! This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed Cooke's Puzzled, Sattin's Buzzing, or Todd's Timid. Interestingly, around the time I read this, Bondia's comic strip, Crabgrass, has one of the main characters, Kevin, also diagnosed with dyslexia! 

 https://www.gocomics.com/crabgrass/2024/09/04

The Color of a Lie

Johnson, Kim. The Color of a Lie

June 11, 2024 by Random House BFYR

Public library copy

Calvin and his family move from Chicago to Levittown, Long Island, New York in 1955. There have been issues in their neighborhood which have resulted in a family tragedy, and the father is determined to start fresh in their new home. In order to do this, however, the three have to all pass as white, and the mother even goes by Ann instead of Agnes. The father works with a real estate company, but have bought their home from Mr. Vernon, who is very concerned that the neighborhood stay "nice". Calvin feels very uncomfortable hiding his true identity, but has been grilled by his father to limit his interests in music, food, and TV to only "white" topics. Jazz and music by any Black musicians mustn't be mentioned. He gets along decently with the two neighborhood teems his age, Mary and Ben, and starts high school. There, he sees Lily Baker, who is Black. There is a neighborhood some distance from his where properties are sold at prices over market value to Black families, and a portion of these properties are districted to Calvin's high school. Students give Lily a hard time, but Calvin thinks she is very brave, and follows her one day on his cicyle to make sure she is safe. He gets a job helping out Mr. Vernon at his real estate office to make his father happy, but also sneaks across town to meet with Robert, his older brother who has been disowned for being gay and vaguely "Red". Robert is working at a school that takes last chance students, and teaches them music. Calvin would rather live with Robert, but knows that he has to stick it out with his parents so that he can go to college. When he finds out that Emmett Till, a cousin of his best friend Ray, was killed, he begins to doubt whether he can keep up the pretense of being white. He starts to work with two brothers at Roberts, Eugene and Harry, to gather information from the real estate agent about discriminatory practices in Leavittown. There's a lot; higher prices, redlining, and the forcing out of a Black family. After traveling to Virginia to a conference and meeting Thurgood Marshall, Calvin is appalled at the treatment that he and his friends receive when their car breaks down after dark near a "sundown town", and tells his friends Ben and Alex that he is Black. Alex's family is very sympathetic to the plight of Blacks in the area, and promises not to tell anyone, but Ben has a troubled family and is a concern. When Lily is forced out of school, Calvin goes to her neighborhood to talk to her, and finds himself in the middle of violence. He takes Lily, along with her mother and sister, back to his house for safety, and heads to Robert's to get help. There is an altercation that ends in tragedy, and after getting real estate files to Thurgood Marshall, Calvin's family decides to head back to Chicago. Two years later, he is attending Morehouse University, and Eugene and Lily are in college as well. There is a nice list of historical resources in the back. 

Strengths: This was one of those books that put me directly into the main character's shoes and made me feel everything that he was feeling. The post war era doesn't get enough attention, and the fathers who came back were traumatized on many different levels, even though we now think of the 1950s suburbs as some kind of ideal, nostalgic place. Seeing how his neighborhood and school treated Black people from Calvin's point of view as he was passing as white was very intriguing. He tries very hard to keep up the facade, but is deeply unhappy. His brother's views would definitely have been a sore point with a more traditional father at this point in time. Lily's desire to integrate into the white school is spurred by many of the civil rights events of the time, and it's an interesting inclusion to have Calvin and his friends meet Thurgood Marshall. Their trip to Virginia, and references to the Green Book, and thought provoking as well. It's harder to find civil rights era books from a male perspective, so I enjoyed this one. 
Weaknesses: I always think that small, everyday details really make historical fiction, and I could have used a few more of these. There was one instance where a female teacher is described as wearing slacks to school, and I do not think this would have been acceptable anywhere at this time. My mother was not allowed to wear slacks until the 1970s (when skirts were so short!), and they could only be worn as part of a coordinated pant suit with a jacket covering the derriere. Even when I taught in the 1980s, women wore skirts a large percentage of the time. 
What I really think: This was a really interesting look at a specific place and time, and covered a lot of historical issues that I haven't seen covered in a lot of middle grade and young adult books. It's more of a high school book, but would work for an older middle school readers who enjoyed Frazier's Mighty Inside or Bradley's Call Me By My Name.

The Copycat Conundrum and Welcome to Fear City

Yee, Lisa and Santat, Dan. The Copycat Conundrum (The Misfits #2)

January 7, 2025 by Random House Books for Young Readers

E ARC provided by Netgalley

After their amazing adventures in The Royal Conundrum, Olive and her band of Misfits are back at the Reforming Arts School near San Francisco. Olive's made her peace with the fact that her entire family has been secret agents and not told her, and she's enjoying her training. When Zeke, a rather cute classmate, confides in her that he has been receiving threatening notes, she tries to help him without bringing in her other friends, but when a very localized earthquake leads to a bank robbery, some of the information about Zeke's family's past ties in with the present threats to local safety. Researching the history of Zeke's great great uncle leads to finding a secret space under Foggy Manor and the history of golden and ships in California. A trip to Blight Beach to look into odd happenings at the Karbon art museum uncovers some interesting facts about local artist Birdie, who is an expert in replicating antique artifacts. In between investigations, which do involve the Misfits, there's lots of training, interesting adults helping the kids out (Rance Reed, the actor the children hire, comes into play), antique coins, a machine that causes earthquakes, and yummy treats from the Butter Bakery!

Strengths: This was a fun, upbeat romp, with plenty of goofiness and adventure. Santat's illustrations (which aren't shown in their full glory in the ARC) will make this even more appealing to younger readers. Yee, who frequently posts pictures of her walks on social media, gives us a good look at the area around Foggy Island, and I love that the students at the school are encouraged to travel around on their own to sharpen their spy skills. It also puts them in a better position to save runaway cable cars, visit museums, find hidden locations, and eat baked goods (and even heave internships!) at the Butter Bakery. There are bits of intriguing named spy gear, like the ComChomp retainer like device, Foggy Gogs, and the BoBu (boat bus, necessary from getting from the island to the mainland). I'm hoping to see some development with the relationship with Zeke, which reminds me a bit of the one that Ben and Erica have in Spy School. I am also looking forward to seeing a bit more of Olive's grandmother, Mouse!  
Weaknesses: While I love that Olive is a fan of Agatha Christie, I can't say that I've been able to get a student to read any of her books in fifteen years. Of course, the reason to include older titles is probably to encourage students to pick them up, which I can't fault. 
What I really think: a

Dvojac, Sarah. Welcome to Fear City
September 3, 2024 by Union Square & Co.

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Sylvie Stroud lives in an old industrial building in Soho in New York City in 1977. Her parents have created a loft to live in, as well as a studio, in an old button factory, even though the surrounding neighborhood isn't great. Her older brother Gray is at college, and Sylvie spends a lot of time at an Irish step dancing studio with her friends Marz and Mary Beth. The unusual things about Sylvie is that ever since she was young, she has seen visions of the past when she touches things. She's seen an analyst about it, but after she is besieged by visions of a young girl who has been shot, she tries to research this particularly invasive vision. She finds a name, and uncovers a lot of information about a particular house that has been derelict and rumored to be haunted. Sylvie starts to wonder if perhaps her psychic abilities were genetic, and asks her birth mother, Marilyn, about them. Marilyn has no clue, but does offer some interesting information; the girl that Sylvie is seeing, Rynn, used to babysit Marilyn. Things get stranger and stranger as the hot summer wears on. Gary comes home from college, as does his best friend, Ilan. Sylvie has long has a crush on Ilan, even though that's kind of awkward, and as he helps Sylvie with her research, the two become close. Before long, though, Ilan and Gary start to freak out. They don't want to be anywhere near Ilan's apartment, and the Stroud's dog barks and whines at both of them. Since New York City of the time has lots of issues like drugs and crime, Sylvie's parents don't want her out alone at night. After Sylvie and Ilan kiss on the rooftop, she's happy with their budding romance, but when he wants to have a romantic interlude at the creepy haunted house, she declines. When she returns home, her parents are worried, and ask why she put handprints all over the studio. She didn't, and know that this has something to do with the visions she has had of Rynn, as well as a black dog, and knows that this is also why Gary and Ilan seem to be having mental breakdowns. Gary eventually is hospitalized. After seeing a lot of horrible visions at the house, Sylvie consults a psychic, Delilah Marie, who tells her that early Dutch settlers had a violent history at the site, and in 1965, the city tried to tear the house down but were not able to. Since this is the year that Sylvie got her powers, she feels that this is all connected. When Sylvie tries to take the subway and finally deal with the house, a blackout descends on the city. Both Gary and Ilan are at the house, but a horrific battle with the forces of evil ensues and ends in tragedy. Sylvie manages to burn down the tree, and in 1978, the city bulldozes the house. Luckily, Sylvie's visions stop, and she and Gary are able to try to get on with their lives. 

The feeling of being in 1977 New York City was so palpable and gritty that I started to wonder if the author spent a lot of time watching video footage after binging on repeat showings of The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby. This dark brown, hazy, smoke filled setting is a perfect background for a girl with psychic powers who is seeing a girl bleeding on the pavement, and is being followed by a black dog. The historical tie ins are great, and I loved that she went to the library to research local papers on microfilm. How else would you have found information? 

There are a fair number of creepy, full page illustrations that accompany the text, which adds another level of creepiness to the book! 

The inclusion of Irish step dancing is intriguing, even though there's not a lot of information. Clearly, this is an interest of the author's, and perhaps she could write a whole book about a character involved in this! 

The historical details were really great, and Dvojack weaves them in perfectly. Short descriptions of what people are wearing, a mention of Barney Miller being on TV, current events in NYC at the time, and even the attitudes of the characters all rang true. Of course, since I was around in 1977, and I'm not picky about details, I have to say that Sylvie would not have pulled a water bottle out of her rucksack (but bonus points for knowing back packs weren't carried around) to throw under a fence as an excuse to go over it. Also, there is a mention of something turning in the microwave; I don't remember turntables in household microwaves until the 1990s, although they did exist. I'll give the historical research on this a solid A, thanks to the mention of knock-off Gunne Sax dresses! 

This is a longer book, and has some colorful language, so a better choice for high schoolers than middle school students. The horror elements are fantastic, so this is a great choice for readers who enjoyed Wallach's Hatchet Girls, Stine's You May Now Kill the Bride, Otis's At the Speed of Lies, Johnson's Death at Morning House, or Worley's The Debutantes. 

Safe Harbor

Venkatraman, Padma. Safe Harbor
January 21, 2025 by Nancy Paulsen Books
E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus

In this novel in verse, we meet Geeta, who moves from Chennai, India to Rhode Island with her Amma (mother) who is getting a PhD in psychology and attending college in the US. Geeta misses her grandparents and cousin in India, and while her mother likes their new apartment, Geeta isn't a fan of the small space, and definitely doesn't like the new US food. Her aunt and uncle are helpful, but Geeta had to leave behind not only her family, but her books and dog Dhurrie as well. Her mother made the move because the parents had a bitter divorce, and she wanted a change. Since Geeta's father has not been in contact with her at all, being away from him isn't that big a deal. She does take comfort in her bamboo flute, and she still takes lessons virtually with her teacher in Chennai. School is also a bit tough; Geeta likes her teacher, Mrs. Nizinski, but a girl with a "shiny smile" gives Geeta a hard time for her clothes, her food, and her accent, and the girl's friends don't make her stop. Luckily, Geeta meets Miguel, who lives in the same building, and discovers the library because of him. He is also there when she finds an injured seal pup on the shore. Since his mother (who is also divorced) is a marine biologist, he knows to call the Marine Animal Rehab Center, and the seal is soon rescued. Dr. Coba-Cetina (Miguel's mom) knows the people at the center, so Geeta and Miguel are able to visit and check on the progress of the pup, whom they call Santo. Eventually, Geeta gets involved in a beach clean up with Miguel, and manages to get up in front of her class and invite everyone. This leads to her making some new friends, and one of the friends of the "shiny smile girl" even apologizes to Geeta. Even though the rehab center is trying to keep Santo wild, Geeta plays music for him that seems to help both him and Geeta with the transitions in their lives. 

Strengths: I love books that show my students different reasons that people may come to the US, as well as a range of different experiences. Geeta is not only dealing with a huge move, but is also trying to understand her mother, who struggles with mental health issues. The mother is portrayed as taking medication and seeing a therapist, but she also eventually realizes that not telling Geeta the details of how she is managing her health condition isn't helpful. This is definitely on trend with how mental health issues and parenting issues are being handled today. I was glad that Geeta's teacher was supportive, even if there were students who weren't reprimanded for being mean. Miguel and his mother are also very helpful to Geeta and her mother while they settle in. The portrayal of continued contact with family back in India is reassuring,  and it was interesting to see that Geeta continued her lessons with her teacher in Chennai. If you are looking for books set specifically in Rhode Island, this one takes place near the Narraganset Bay. 
Weaknesses: The verse format of this made this a bit slower paced than some of my readers like. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who like gentle immigration tales like Nye's The Turtle of Oman or Respicio's Isabel in Bloom. 

Kaya of the Ocean

Huang, Gloria. Kaya of the Ocean
January 7, 2025 by Holiday House
E ARC provided by Edelweiss

Kaya Song lives in Hawaii, but has never felt comfortable with the ocean. She has always felt like the water wanted to drown her, and she's seen a small girl in the water that no one else can see. It doesn't help that her parents, who immigrated from China and Taiwan, are very busy with their restaurant, and don't take Kaya's anxieties seriously, even though she sometimes scratches her arms raw. When her best friends Naomi and Iolana want to go surfing, she feels that she needs to tag along. There's a whole group of kids who want to go surfing at a "secret" cove, and Kaya tries her best to keep up. A boy from school, Taiyo, rides the "baby" waves with her, and she starts to have a good time... until she thinks she sees a giant tuna rise up out of the water and knock Taiyo off his board. Even though she is panicked, she helps to save him, and when she is trying to figure out how to help him, feels like she somehow forces the water out of his body without even touching him. Shaken, she tries to control water with her mind at home, but doesn't know what to make of her abilities. There's plenty else going on, and this distracts her for a while. Her Aunt Sienna and cousin Anne are visiting for Christmas from New York, but Anne has become more of a picky teenager and isn't fun to have around. Kaya tries to include her in activities with her friends, but doesn't enjoy the fact that Anne is unpleasant about Chinese food and won't respect Kaya's attempts to keep her room clean and germfree. Kaya's father does approach her about her anxiety a little-- se's also worried about the restaurant-- and shares some family history with her. This helps a little, but when she sees Anne with some of her friends at a beach party, she gets angry and accidentally causes a wave to pull Anne under. Her cousin ends up in the hospital. Aunt Sienna isn't angry, but tells Kaya that their family has always been associated with the Water Goddess; the family restaurant even goes by this name to honor a great Aunt, Shanhu, who drowned when she was young... and is the girl who Kaya sometimes sees! Her aunt is interrupted, but suggests a book that might shed some light on all of the history. Kaya finally entrusts her friends with her worries, and the three go to the library to research. Will Kaya be able to figure out her family's secret, and to finally get the help with her anxiety that she needs?

Strengths: It's interesting to see limpses of the girls in Kaya's family from different points of history; these go all the way back to 1629! My favorite was Yujin, in San Francisco in 1876. This was a good mix of friend and family problems, magic, and the ever popular topic of figuring out one's own place in the world as a tween. It's realistic that Kaya has to come home alone, and also realistic that this doesn't help her anxiety. Her aunt knows the information that Kaya needs, but doesn't quite understand at first that Kaya does need it because she is dealing with Anne, who is having friend problems of her own! The Hawaii setting will appeal to children who like to find out about life in areas of the world that might not be just like where they live; I can't imagine being able to surf anywhere near my house! The cover is bright and appealing, so readers will be eager to pick this up. 
Weaknesses: While this had some interesting, culturally related history and folklore, Kaya didn't really get to use her magic much. It was tied in to her anxiety, and felt more allegorical. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed the  mix of nascent powers and real life drama in Kelkar's The Cobra's Song or  Villanueva's  Lulu Sinagtala and the City of Noble Warriors

MMGM- Taco Tuesdays and Craft Love

It's

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
 at 

Always in the Middle 

and #IMWAYR day 

at

Unleashing Readers

Mancillas, Mónica. Taco Tuesdays: A Wish Novel
January 7, 2025 by Scholastic Inc.
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Dulce's family restaurant, Fidelia, was started by her greatgrandmother sixty years ago, and until recently was a thriving business. With the opening of the chain restaurant, Taco World, across the street, business has been down. Dulce's whole family works there, including her older sister, Flor, who wants to study business and marketing in order to help out. Fidelia herself died a few years ago, leaving the running of the restaurant to her aunt and mother. Dulce is getting a little tired of having to spend most of her free time working at the restaurant when she would rather be enrolling in a summer art camp with her friends Marnie and Mel. When she brings the art camp up to her parents, her  mother thinks it is a great idea... to open a COOKING camp at the restaurant. Flor comes up with a curriculum, and has Dulce design flyers. Meanwhile, Julian and his mother have moved from New York City to California. He's bummed, because his parents are divorcing and he's had to leave all of his friends. Because his parents had teamed up on a popular vlog that dealt with restaurants, Julian and his mother head to Fidelia to try the food. A skateboarding accident with Mel's brother Tanner and his friend Luke goes awry, and Julian bumbs into Dulce while she is wearing a taco costume and carrying dishes. We see sparks fly from both of their perspectives. Julian loves to cook, so when his mother shows an interest in filming the camp, he doesn't complain about attending. Tanner and Luke, as well as Mel and Marnie, also enroll. Before long, Dulce and Julian stop being mad at each other and start to realize that they have a lot of things in common, including liking each other. Their friends, and even their families, give them a hard time, but this doesn't stop them from having a good time hanging out together. When Julian finds out that his father is going to come to California, and learns that his parents are interested in getting back together and possibly buying Fidelia, he's not sure what to do. Dulce eventually finds out, and is a little angry that he kept the secret from her, but the two put together a plan to try to save the restaurant. Since Flor is determined to sell tacos, Dulce looks at Fidelia's recipes and gets the students in the school to use some more traditional Mexican ingredients in tacos for their final project. Will these new flavors, along with a new social media following, be enough to save the day?
Strengths: This is from both Julian and Dulce's perspective, like Heldring's The Football Girl, AND has a great cover, which makes it the perfect book for my boys who want romance books. Also, there are plenty of descriptions of food, and a boy who cooks. There's realistic drama with the family business, as well as with Julian's parents, and also has a health scare for Dulce's grandfather, which is something that many middle school students experience. There are a reasonable number of friends involved, and even a little skateboarding, which we need to see a LOT more! Dulce and Julian even manage to save the day and share a kiss along the way. A very sweet, engaging read. 
Weaknesses: At one point, Julian wonders if Dulce thinks he's "one of those Karens or something". This has to stop. Not only does it set a bad examples for young readers about using negative stereotypes, it's a phrase that hopefully will become badly dated. While I really liked the way that Julian treated Dulce, and vice versa, I wasn't a fan of the friends and family teasing them about their relationship. Again, not behavior that we need to encourage. 
What I really think: While I am not personally a fan of the enemies--to-lovers trope (if I were Anne Shirley, I would NEVER have forgiven Gilbert!), I did like the way that the story unfolded, so if I can find this in a prebind, I will definitely purchase it. Fans of Homzie's Pumpkin Spice Secrets or Nelson's many WISH titles. The trend in middle grade lit romances seems to be skewing more toward LGBTQIA+ relationships, and while I always delicately ask what kind of romances my readers want, the vast majority are still asking for boy/girl ones. The WISH novels have just the right level of accidental hand brushing and chaste kisses. 

Why Scholastic takes all of their best titles and releases them only in paperback is still a mystery to me. 

Smith, Irene Smit and van der Hulst, Astrid . 

The Kids' Book of Craft Love: Write. Make. Play. Share. 

October 8, 2024 by Workman Kids

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Book lovers who feel bad even highlighting passages or annotating text: this book is supposed to be torn apart, and the pages turned into projects! If you are familiar with Flow magazine (which originated in the Netherlands), you will know the format of this book and understand this. As someone who even had trouble using stickers on a calendar as a child, this would have made me a little anxious, even as I desperately wanted to do every single project, in order, until the book was completed! 

Divided into four chapters, Write, Make, Play, and Share, this book offers a wide range of projects for children who have a fair amount of manual dexterity. Write has journals, cards, and directions for a zine, and even has a nice calendar to cut out and assemble. Make has an adorable forest to assemble, a box, mandala stickers, embroidered postcards, and some origami instructions. Play has a small booklet in the shape of a bear, with different animals that all need outfits. This alone would have kept me occupied for hours! There are also bracelets, puzzle cubes, and a kaleidescope with some mirrored paper. Share includes notes, banners, place cards, flowers, some folded gift boxes, and even more stickers.

While the age range given by the publisher is 5-9, I would not have given this to my own children until about third or fourth grade, when their scissor skills were good enough to cut some of the smaller pieces neatly. While the scope of the projects would be appreciated by younger readers, I plan to give this book to a 7th grader who likes to do origami and create personalized greeting cards, and I think she will be very happy with the array of projects. While I didn't open all of the envelopes (which are firmly glued down), one review mentioned a needle for sewing cards. It's quite a nice yarn needle with a large eye, but children younger than third grade might benefit from supervision when using it. 

The directions are at the beginning of the chapter, because the pages with the materials need to be removed. There are not a lot of instructions, and this is another reason why this might be better used by an older child who has some previous experience with paper crafts. I've worked with a lot of middle schoolers, and very few of them can even thread sewing needles, so younger children might need more assistance with the projects, which would make a nice activity for them to do with an older sibling or with an adult. 

I've not seen anything quite like this; the paper is lovely, and there are a lot of the much coveted stickers that always seemed "too good" to use when I was young. This would make an exquisite gift for a crafty young person, and requires only basic additional supplies like colored pencils, scissors, tape, and glue. 

Picture Book Sunday- Words and Writing

Ohi,Debbie Ridpath. I Want to Read All the Books
September 17, 2024 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Hana has a question about the rain one day, and her mother gives her a book that might answer her questions. This opens up the floodgates, and the more Hana reads, the more questions she has. This encourages her to read more and more books! She reads all of the ones in her room, borrows some from her brother (who has the audacity to question her personal cleanliness while she is clearly ON A MISSION), and eventually reads all of the books in her house. This leads her to borrow from her two best friends, Luis and Mahtab, but even those are finished quickly. Her mother takes her to a local bookshop, but declines BUYING all the books. Instead, the two hit the local branch library, but even that doesn't take Hana long to go through the entire collection. Eventually, her mother takes her to a main branch of the library, and Hana is flabbergasted (she's also read the dictionary) by the sheer number of books. She's sad that she can't possibly read them all, but an understanding librarian gives her a couple of different ways to cope. Soon, Hana is recommending books to her mother, putting together a book discussion group, and learning that while she can't necessarily read ALL the books, she can certainly enjoy lots of them, learn from them, and create a community of readers who can share her love of the written word.

Well, Hana, it never occurred to me to read ALL the books, although I certainly do try! This reminded me of the time that my younger daughter brought home a worksheet from school where they had to count the number of windows, chairs, and other items in the house. When she came to books, she burst into tears! Young readers who love to be surrounded by books will start this book thinking that they will emulate Hana, and hopefully take away the message that it's not necessary or realistic to read all the books; enjoying the ones you do read is the best way to go.

I can't imagine how much time it took to draw all of the books in this, and there are a couple of clever shout-outs to the author's own titles. My favorite pictures were the ones of Hana's dog; the look on the little dog's face as a stuffed animal was sitting in a chair, and the depiction of the dog reading and joining in Hana's various adventures were delightful. Having small, clever things in the backgrounds to look for can be so much fun when reading along with a younger child.

The message that there is a lot to learn in the world, and that books are a great place to start is a good one that I wish my middle school students had internalized at a young age, and is a great one to deliver to early elementary school students. This would make a fantastic present to a grade school teacher, and would be great to read aloud before a visit to the school library, or if students are lucky enough, a field trip to the public library.

My only quibble is that Hana is reading through the entire branch library pretty quickly; it took me fifteen years to read just all of the fiction books in my school library. This is poetic license, of course, and seeing that Hana also reads the dictionary (raise your hands if this is you!), it's easy enough to forgive.

Bibliophiles love books about books and reading, and this should be at the top of that To Be Read pile that might also include Luna Loves Library Day by Coelho and Lumbers, Moose’s Book Bus by Moore, Miss Brooks Loves Books! (And I Don't) by Bottner and Emberley, and The Highest Mountain of Books in the World by Bonilla.

Dolan, Elys. How to Make a Picture Book
August 13, 2024 by Candlewick Press
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Elys Dolan, who writes and illustrates picture books, offers tips and a process for creating stories in this amusing story and how to guide. Depicting herself as a worm (easier and quicker to draw!) with a blue bug named Bert as her assistant, Dolan goes through all of the essentials for creating a riveting tale and putting it into book format. From coming up with an idea, to interviewing your main character, to creating a setting, and finally plotting your story, all of the main ideas are carefully laid out. I also appreciated the activities that are suggested, and think they would be very helpful to young writers. After the story is finished, there are further suggestions for how to lay it out in a book, starting at deciding on a size and creating a booklet out of paper. From there, there are suggestions for two page spreads, boxes for illustrations, and even the colors to use for different moods. I love that the book ends with a book launch for Bert's book, Dino Pizza!

There is a lot of great information in this book that would have been really helpful to me in 1971, when Miss Gordon had up create stories. Of course, back in the day, we created covers by wrapping cereal box cardboard in wallpaper samples, so my book was resplendent in turquoise flocked paper! I am absolutely convinced that encouraging very young children to tell stories is helpful to their later abilities to write, and creating actual books is very motivating. This is helpful even for older students, who seem to have a lot of trouble following the stream of consciousness technique that Bert uses to come up with his dinosaur pizza or pigeon airways stories!

I enjoyed that this was also a story about writing a book, and think this is especially appealing to the younger children. I would almost like to see this reworked for older students with more of a clean cut, list format. The ideas are excellent, but older readers might not be as interested in Bert.

This reminded me a little of Kramer's Tell Me a Lion Story, another clever way to get children to think about story telling, and is a great book to add to books like Hanlon's Ralph Tells a Story, Barnett and Rex's How This Book Was Made and Pett's This is My Book. If your young writers want to know more about how professionally published books are put together, I have fond memories of Aliki's How a Book is Made (1988), especially the fact that she had the illustrator make her look older in the illustration so that if she talked about the book years after it came out, children wouldn't ask why she didn't look like the picture! Dolan won't have that problem unless she transmogrifies into a worm!

Kramer, Kara. Tell Me a Lion Story
May 10, 2022 by Candlewick Press
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

A young girl asks her father to tell her a story, but isn't pleased with the direction his narrative takes. She demands he come up with a lion story, but doesn't like the size of the lion or the named the father gives him, so the father wisely tells her that they will tell the story together. The rest of the book has Mad Lib style blanks so that the reader of the book can contribute to the story as well. The lion invents unnamed things, flies with great unspecificity, and travels to the moon before heading home to put on his pajamas. The lion then asks the girl and her father to tell HIM a story, and make it about a ________! Good Points

The illustration style instantly took me back to Edith and Clement Hurd's Johnny Lion's Book (1965), with it's bright colors and rough edged pencil over mixed media drawings. Perhaps it was the fact that the father sported a plaid dress shirt and reminded me a bit of Alvin and the Chipmunk's human adoptive father, David Seville (Check the pictures; I'll wait!), that this had such a strong 1960s vibe for me.

My own children were huge fans of telling stories, and loved writing them down and illustrating them, but many of my middle school students struggle with coming up with the most basic story ideas. A book like this is a great way to encourage young readers to take ownership of stories and create their own, starting with filling in the blanks and hopefully moving on to formulating more ideas. While having this book in a library might cause a few problems (blanks are notoriously hard to LEAVE blank!), it is a great book in an elementary classroom, and I can see a lot of great lion stories being produced by first and second graders inspired by this tale.

Hills' Rocket Writes a Story, Coyle and Taylor's The Biggest Story, Venable's Amy the Red Panda Is Writing The Best Story in The World, and Spinelli's The Best Story are all great books to pair with this book and encourage young readers to come up with their own story. Bonus points if you sew paper together, have the child illustrate the book, and bind the pages together with wallpaper samples. 

Jeffers, Oliver and Winston, Sam. The Dictionary Story
August 6, 2024 by Candlewick Press
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central 

Don't pick this book up expecting to learn much about about the history of the dictionary, along the lines of Bryant and Sweet's The Right Word: Roget and Thesaurus. There is some information here, but the real draw is the innovative book design. I ended up having to read this book in three different ways. First, I read the text, hand lettered in Jeffers' distinctive half-cursive, half-print scrawl. This told the story of the dictionary, who was having an identity crisis, since all of the other books told stories while she, who had all of the words they used, told no story at all. A story develops, but it is a messy nonsensical one involving alligators and doughnuts and rulers who run roughshod over the dictionary, and ends with soap dropping on top of a tornado and making a real mess. Luckily, once everyone sang the alphabet song, all of the words went back into the correct order, and the dictionary decided to let the other books deal with telling tales.

On my second pass, I focused on the illustrations, because there is a lot to find there. There are some full dictionary pages that start to break down and slide to the bottom, but leave those for a moment. Several animals, along with a ruler and a Viking, scamper across the grayish tan pages, sometimes in a swirl of words. This starts and ends with a row of photographed books that have hand drawn titles.

I have to admit that at first I didn't read every word on the end papers, although I did notice that the first word of each dictionary entry formed a nice introduction. The definitions there, as well as in the running dictionary column that appeared under all of the illustrations and served as a visual road, were quirky, fun, and slightly nonsensical, like this one for panda: "A bear-like black-and-white mammal that lives in Chinas and eats plants, especially bamboo. They aren't interested in pancakes, lunch boxes, or syrup slurping alligators." Then, once I started looking at the definitions at the bottom of the pages, I had to go back and start all over again, because there's a sort of stream-of-consciousness commentary going on.

The artistry involved to put all of these elements together takes quite a team, and they are thanked at the beginning of the book. I can only imagine the hours that went into putting this book together!

Younger readers will be most interested in the alligator and his exploits with the doughnut in the main text, but older readers might pick this up and find themselves getting lost in the other aspects of this text.

There's really not another book that I can think of that can be compared to this one, but fans of Winston and Jeffers will enjoy this wild fever dream of a story about a dictionary who learns the hard way to love herself for who she is.

Saturday Morning Cartoons- Operation Cover-Up

Goodwin, Tate. Operation Cover-Up (vol.1)

January 21, 2025 by Andrews McMeel Publishing

E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus

Sy and his mother (cats) have moved to a new town in the middle of the school year while his father is on the west coast  making a movie, and Nick and his father (rabbits?) have also moved to town for the father's job. They are in different 5th grade homerooms, and while Sy is trying to establish himself as a class clown, Nick wants to broadcast his intellect and cement his reputation as a brainiac. Somehow, they are perceived as just the opposite! When they find this out, they decide to hang out together secretly, and coach each other. Nick helps Sy with his math, and Sy tries to teach Nick how to tell a joke. They are also both approached to participate in the school talent show... just a week away! At first, they think they can wear an ear piece and talk each other through a routine, but their parents encourage them to embrace what they really love. They are helped by classmate Violet, who hangs out with them. Violet doesn't know what her talent is, so the three try lots of different things before Violet tells them that she loves to draw comics but is afraid to show them to others. Encouraged by the boys, as well as a neighbor, Violet even tries to overcome her own fears by showing her comics to people in the park. Meanwhile, Sy and Nick's identities have been discovered by their classmates, who are angry that they lied. This causes them both to rethink their talent show acts. Nick, who loves hip hop, decides that he will perform one of his songs. In the days leading up to the talent show, Nick and Sy also make amends with Chuck and Annabelle, and while they can't help their new friends themselves, they trade their talents to help out the other's new friend. The talent show is a success, and Sy, Nick, and Violet all make peace with their talents as well as the things they enjoy doing. 

Strengths: I really enjoyed the parents in this one; Sy's mother gardens, and Nick's father makes weird pastries like pickle doughnuts. In fifth grade, parents are a huge part of kids lives, and I don't think we see this portrayed in middle grade literature enough. The illustrations in this graphic novel are bright, and it's good to see a range of activities and interests represented. I'm not sure how many of my students do hip hop, but video games do figure largely in far too many of their lives. The message about being true to oneself is on trend. 

Weaknesses: Sy and Nick's worries about establishing themselves as a "type" and their desire to lie and embrace false identities felt very early 2000s to me. I see my students change their personae constantly, and no one accuses them of lying. Not wanting to be seen together also seemed odd, as did the reactions of the classmates. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed Chmakova's Berrybrook Middle School or Sax's Picture Day but prefer anthropomorphic animals to real life characters. The second book is  Operation Make a Splash, but I have not seen a publication date. 

Fairbairn, Nathan and MSASSYK (Illustrations).

Hazel Has Her Hands Full (PAWS #4)

January 14, 2025 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus

After Gabby Gets It Together, Mindy Makes Some Space, and Priya Puts Herself First, we get to see the inner workings of the PAWS dog walking group from the point of view of Hazel. Hazel, who has spinal muscular atrophy, uses a wheelchair because standing and walking for too long is tiring, Her arms sometimes are tired, too, but she is glad to be able to move more quickly in her wheelchair, even if Nosy neighbors like Olga are condescending and pitying. She's not a fan of her mother's reactions to people like Olga, though, and wishes that her mother wouldn't get so angry. She also wishes that her mother would let her have a little more freedom as she is getting older. It's usually a good thing that the other PAWS members have to accompany her on their dog walking ventures, but when she gets a chance to cat sit for her friend Carlos in his wheelchair friendly house, she doesn't want to turn it down when none of the other PAWS members are available. The other campers have some challenges as well; Mindy has to spend time with her father and his new girlfriend, Heather, and Gabby has a housemate. Jill is from a farm in the country, and isn't impressed by anything about Vancouver, and even has horrible things to say about one of the dogs they walk, claiming a small dog is not a "real dog"! Cat sitting goes well for Hazel, but when her mother finds out that she is working on her own and goes to Carlos' house to check on her, the cats Eggs and Bobo get loose. The other members and their families scour the area, and do find both animals. Hazel comes clean to Carlos and his dad, who are understanding. Hazel makes her mother see her point of view, but also knows that it's time for her to use a motorized wheelchair on some of her longer journeys. 

The authors did a great job using sensitivity readers and getting the information surrounding Hazel's condition correct. There's a lot of good wheelchair etiquette represented; the PAWS girls always ask Hazel if she needs help rather than just grabbing her chair and pushing her. I sort of wish that there had been a conversation with the unpleasant neighbor, because that could have been informative. I had a little trouble telling the other three girls apart, because it's been some time since I read the other books. These graphic novels are popular in my library, and I think they are quick, interesting graphic novels to read. 

Under Attack (Kidnapped from Ukraine #1)

Skrypuch, Marsha Forchuk. Under Attack (Kidnapped from Ukraine #1)
January 7, 2025 by Scholastic Press

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In Mariupol in February of 2022, Dariia Popkova is awakened by bombing sanctioned by Russian president Putin, claiming that Ukraine was suffering under a "Nazi regime". She knows this is ridiculous, and points out that President Zelensky's first language was Russian, and he is Jewish as well. Dariia's father has to report for duty, since he is in the reserves. He wants Dariia, her mother, and her twin sister Rada to stay put, but Dariia and her mother run out to the grocery store to pick up a few things. While there, a bombed is dropped on the area, and the storekeeper is killed. The two run to the mother's place of work, a nail salon, to try to take shelter there, but are concerned about the flammability of the salon products. They end up in the basement of school supply store, which is very crowded. It's a particularly brutal time, and the people are there for months. Natalia is there, with her dog Mimi, as is Rustem, whose mother is dead. Sonya, and her four year old daughter Ariadna also stay close to Dariia. There is a message from Rada, to go to Zaporizhzhia and delete phone data, but it's impossible to leave because of the constant bombing. In mid-April, the shelter is bombed. Sonya and Natalia are killed, but Dariia and her mother find a car and leave with Rustem, Ariadna, and Mimi. They don't get very far before they are stopped by the Russians. They are luckier than the people who lined up at a bread truck and were all killed, but still humiliated and abused. Eventually, the children are put on a bus, and Dariia is separated from her  mother. The children are taken to Taganrog, Russia, to the Romashka Children's Camp. At least they get a shower, clean clothes, and toothpaste, and are temporarily safe, but they are also prisoners and cut off from their families. Dariia is in a dorm with Katya and Liliya. None of the children have documents, and they are forced to go to school where they are taught to speak only Russia, and are offered "true" history. The only options after the camp are to be adopted by Russian families or to go to reeducation facilities. When Dariia speaks up, a guard tries to drown her in pool, so she learns to keep her thoughts to herself. When it is clear that the children are going to be placed with Russian families, Liliya and Vadim show the other children a shared G Mail account they have, so that all of the children can put their contact details. Rustem's Russian grandmother picks him up, and Dariia is turned over to Myroslava. She has a son, Anton, and is fostering two other Ukrainian children for money. Sasha is an infant, but Genya is Dariia's age. Myroslava, whose husband is fighting, makes money commenting on social media with pro Russian sentiments, and also sells good stolen from Ukrainians. Anton helps, and believes all of the Russian propaganda until his father shares some experiences with him. This cracks his belief enough that when Dariia and Genya tell him about what happened to them, he believes them and helps them contact their families. Eventually, Dariia's mother works with journalist to get power of attorney to come to Russia and retrieve stolen children, and Dariia, Genya, and several other Ukrainian children are rescued. 

Strengths: The author's note at the end is very helpful in laying out the real historical events on which this fictional story is based. This is a heart wrenching book, and doesn't gloss over any of the horrible things that happened to Dariia in Mariupol and beyond. Skrypuch, who has written many books about Ukraine during the 1930s and WWII, not only shows Dariia's experience, but also gives a Russian perspective from Anton. It's interesting to see his reactions as he compares the information he thinks is true with Dariia's lived experience. There is a bit of hope, since Dariia and a few other children are rescued, but the note at the end estimates that as many as 700,000 Ukrainian children may have been kidnapped, and that fewer that 300 have been found. 

Weaknesses: I wouldn't have minded a little bit more about Dariia's life before the attack, like in Senzai's Escape from Aleppo. This sort of scene setting makes it easier for my students to imagine what it would be like if something similar happened to them. 
What I really think: This is a very realistic look at a horrible, useless war, and might be a little much for elementary readers who might not have the background knowledge to understand why so many people are being brutally murdered. This is the first book I have seen on this modern historic event. We can only hope that the war ends before there are others. 

Music for Tigers

Kadarusman, Michelle. Music for Tigers

November 5, 2024 by Pajama Press

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Louisa isn't thrilled about going to Tasmania to spend the summer with her Unlce Rufus while her mother and father are slogging around wetlands studying endangered toads, but since her older system visited when she was Louisa's age, and the camp is going to be razed to make way for an access road and bridge for local tin and iron mines, they want Louisa to experience it. Louisa, for her part, would rather stay at home and practice her violin so that she has a successful try out for the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra. Instead, she's relegated to a musty cabin deep in the woods, where all manner of creepy creatures stare at her from the darkness, and giant spiders take up residence on her bedroom walls! Uncle Ruff isn't a great housekeeper, and his cooking leaves something to be desired, but luckily Mel, who runs the "next door" Eco Lodge, steps up to help. Of course, "next door" in this area involves a car ride, but she brings food, helps Louisa clean, and even has her son, Colin, stay with Rufus so Louisa has someone her age to talk to. Colin is on the Autism Spectrum and sometimes struggles to connect to people, but seems to get along with Louisa, and she enjoys his company as well. Rufus has a pig footed bandicoot named Piggy who is ailing, and he's very upset because the animal is the last of its kind, and the species was thought to be extinct in the 1950s. He encourages Louisa to read the journals of her great Grandmother Eleanor, who spent years trying to bring back not only the bandicoot, but also the Tasmanian tiger, also thought to be extinct. Louisa finds that there is one remaining Tasmanian tiger, a marsupial with tiger like markings, who has been close to the house, enticed, perhaps, by the music of her violin. Rufus tells her and Colin that Eleanor had relocated the animals to Convict's Rock, an island that local legend deemed to be haunted, so the animals lived in peace. With the new bridge and access road, the rock will be destroyed, so Rufus wants to relocate the animal, whom he calls Ellie. In order to do this, they need to be able to safely trap the animal. Since Ellie seems to enjoy Louisa's music, they try to lure her out, but start to realize that they need to go to the island to find the animal. Will they be able to relocate the animal in time?
Strengths: I would have loved this book as a child, since it is a virtual trip to a place that I will probably never get to visit. While Louisa isn't all that keen on going, she quickly gets over herself, and doesn't complain too much, even though the living conditions aren't that great. She throws herself into researching family history, and is willing to try to help the Tasmanian tiger that meant so much to her family. She is also kind to Colin, and there is some good information about Austism Spectrum Disorder. There are also some great notes from the author; as far as she knows, the bandicoot and Tasmanian tiger have been extinct for a long time, but there is some hope that perhaps they can be brought back. Readers who enjoyed this author's Girl of the Southern Sea will want to take a look at this title. 
Weaknesses: I found myself humming Waltzing Matilda for hours after I read this! Today's readers probably won't be familiar with this tune, and I did enjoy reading a little history of the song, but I could not get it out of my head! 
What I really think: Readers who enjoyed stories about helping endangered animals, like Haas' Rescue, Marquez' Crocodile Rescue, or Schrefer's Ape Quartet will enjoy this virtual trip to Tasmania.  

2024 Reading Statistics

As we head into 2025, and my 14th year of posting a review every single day (we'll see; I'm scheduled through May at this point), I'm not feeling terribly motivated. The extreme number of books read this year reflects the fact that I wasn't able to walk for five weeks following Achilles replacement surgery, which did not improve my mood! I'm setting my goal for 2025 at a more reasonable 700 books, and planning on spending less time reading, and perhaps more time walking and sewing!

Yes, I read 1,032 books. If you don't believe that, I wrote reviews of 856 of the books, about 83%.

I'm only buying 294 of these titles. My district budget is $6,000, and the cost of those 294 titles would be about $5,960. I donated $2,400 worth of books that I got from publishers and Young Adult Books Central  in exchange for reviewing them. I refreshed some of my nonfiction, which is expensive, so those numbers make sense. 

The graphic novels, which are about 10% of what I read, are spread across all genres. The average length of the books I read was 215 pages. Since fantasy is a harder sell in my library, and many of these books are in lengthy series, I read much more realistic fiction. 

I've seen a lot of graphics (mainly from 2018) on social media complaining that books are still not diverse, but 60% of the books I read had some significant representation of cultures. These broke down into the following categories: Asian: 122, Black: 120, Health (both mental and physical): 64, Jewish: 29, Latine: 40, LGBTQIA: 30, Muslim: 17, Native American: 12, and various (either multiple identities, or specific groups for which there were fewer than ten books): 186.

I told my students last year that I would read 1,000 books. Mission accomplished! Knowing what titles are available and being able to tell students about books when recommending them is why I read. I'd like to think that my efforts could also help other librarians and teachers who don't devote 4-5 hours a day to reading, but because I am not adept at social media, I fear that this is not the case. There are a lot of book promoters on Twitter, Instagram, and now Bluesky, but having book content does not seem to translate directly into followers or reknown. Personality leakage seems to help, which explains my misguided foray into Outfits of the Day, to no avail. 

Caring about social media also would help, but I just... don't. Need to keep in mind that I read and review mainly to be able to do my job well and get the right book to the right child at the right time. The rest is just distraction. 

Radiant

Nelson, Vaunda Micheaux. Radiant
January 7, 2025 by Dutton Books for Young Reader
E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus

In this novel in verse, Cooper Dale is in fifth grade in 1963, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She lives with her father, who is a baker, her mother, who cleans houses, and her older sibling Fred and Maxine. She has the "meanest" teacher, Mrs. Keating, and often experiences horrible treatment by classmate Wade Carter, who is very racist towards her, calling her names like "Mud Face" and "Pooper". The only black student in class (N.B. The book uses this term, and discusses that this is becoming more popular as "colored" falls out of favor. Today, we capitalize Black.), Cooper struggles a bit to find good friends; while the girls in her class are generally nice to her, they don't live near her, and the girls with whom she is friends in church also don't have many opportunities to come to her house. Cooper tries very hard to do well on her school work, and has taken her parents' message that she should shine in everything she does to heart. She is glad that the man who comes in to teach penmanship once a month thinks her handwriting is good, but is dismayed when Mrs. Keating tells her her letters are too large; to get back at her, she writes her weekly spelling test in tiny letters, only to get an F even though her spelling is fine. Cooper starts to notice that something is going on with Wade; he doesn't always walk home for lunch, and seems sadder than usual. When her mother gets a job cleaning for the Carters because the mother has cancer, Cooper is appalled. For one thing, she has told her classmates that her mother is a home decorator, and for another, she doesn't want her mother to have to deal with Carter. Cooper starts to think about what it would be like if her own mother were sick, and starts to have some sympathy for her nemesis. Cooper is very aware of being the only Black student in her class, and doesn't understand why Mrs. Keating thinks people should be "color blind". Her mother's mother is white, and Cooper sometimes wishes that she were white. When another Black student, Robert, joins the class, this is a new experience. Much of Cooper's time is spent in typical tween pursuits of the time; waiting for The Wizard of Oz to play once a year on television (a BIG deal!), listening to the exciting new musical group, The Beatles, and hanging out with family and at church. She does start to understand Mrs. Keating and Wade more as the school year comes to a close. 

Strengths: 1963 is an excellent year to have as the background of a novel, and it's a little surprising that we don't see the death of John F. Kennedy portrayed more, since it is the touchstone of several generations. I loved the thread of The Wizard of Oz woven through the story, and didn't know that it was shown around Christmas time; I was familiar with the late winter showings. Working in Pittsburgh radio station WAMO was a nice touch, and I adored how Cooper saved up her money to buy Meet the Beatles. There's some character growth as Cooper starts to understand others around her, like Wade and Mrs. Keating, but it's also good to see Wade become less racist, at least in his actions. There are plenty of good historical details of daily life that make it clear that Cooper and Ms. Nelson are contemporaries. 
Weaknesses: This was more a novel about how Cooper felt instead of what she did, so is rather more introspective and lyrical than many middle grade historical novels. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want a look at this point in history from the perspective of a Black tween. The early sixties haven't been represented all that well in middle grade fiction; there's Moses' We Were the Fire: Birmingham 1963, Curtis' The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963, Robinson's memoir Child of the Dream, Rosengren's The Cold War on Maplewood Street, or Hood's She Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, which is the only other book that really addresses the fascination with the Beatles. There are some books that are set slightly later in the 1960s, like Jackson's The Lucky Ones (1967), but there are still not quite as many as I would like to see.