Friday, January 17, 2025

Guy Friday- Super Sub

Please remember that while I am somewhat of an expert on sport books, I have never actually seen a soccer game and know nothing about the sport! 

Gibbons, Alan. Super Sub
January 14, 2025 by Union Square Kids 
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Paul "Smithy" Smith plays soccer with the Jags team, although their nickname is the Lemons, since they haven't had a great season. When a new player, Bengo, shows up, Smithy is surprised that such a good player hasn't been around. Bengo is super fast and very talented. When Smithy has a bad game and has a problem with a player he refers to as "Grumpy", Bengo is put in to sub for him. Bengo does a great job, and after the game tells Smithy his story; he was on the team, but broke his ankle in a tackle gone wrong and had to be in a cast for six weeks. He plays well... unless there's a tackle. He's very skittish, and blows a couple of plays because he doesn't want to get hurt. Smithy and Bengo practice together, and help each other out a lot. Smithy learns not to let interpersonal problems with other players get to him, and Bengo learns how to fight through his fear so that he can continue to play, and possible be scouted for a higher level team. Information between the chapters covers the historical use of substitutes in soccer games, which was not a widespread practice until the later twentieth century. 
Strengths: This had lots and lots of soccer plays for readers who are into the sport, but I liked Bengo's story, and the fact that he and Smithy struck up a mutually beneficial friendship. The history was good as well, and will appeal to fans of Fred Bowen's fantastic titles like Soccer Trophy Mystery, Out of Bounds, and Go for the Goal. There are a LOT of students who get injured playing soccer, and it can be hard to come back from an injury. Preller's new Shaken deals with a concussion, but a broken ankle is serious as well! I was glad to see that Bengon was able to work through his fear. 
Weaknesses: Astute readers will pick up that this is a UK title, but there's no tea being served! They will also probably be aware of the history, which is heavier on UK teams, but does include world soccer as well. 
What I really think: This book, with a fantastic cover and short length, will be a HUGE hit with my students, and goes well with Gibbons' Keeper as well as Fabbri and Brown's Back of the Net series as the Jake Maddox sports books. 

Ms. Yingling

Thursday, January 16, 2025

Spy School Goes Wild #12

Gibbs, Stuart. Spy School Goes Wild (#12)
September 24, 2024 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Ben Ripley just can't get a break. Now that the spy school has been blown up, he and a small group are studying extreme survival techniques at the Kenai Fjords National Park satellite facility in Alaska. Along with Erica, Mike, Zoe, and the defected Russian spy, Svetlana, the students are taking a rainy trek under the direction of Cyrus Hale when their principal shows up. He has a mission, but only for Ben, and he has to leave right away. Ben's not happy being away from his girlfriend, Erica, but prepares hastily to leave, making sure he has his tool belt and not one but TWO knives hidden on his person, one in his boxer shorts! The principal had said that the mission had to do with Murray Hill, Ben's nemesis, contacting Ashley Sparks, initiating the need for Operation Blazing Furry (sic). On the plane, however, things take a bad turn when Ben wakes up and notices his tool belt is missing and Murray Hill is there. The principal has double crossed them both and is selling them to Rufus Shang for five million dollars. To make matters worse, the bodyguard making sure that the boys do hard labor is Soren, the cousin of evil bodyguards Dane and Bjorn! There's a huge construction site with a number of Chinese prisoners being forced to work, and Rufus is very proud of himself for getting both of these thorns in his side. Of course, Ben uses his skills to take a look at plans on Rufus' desk and to stall him and get information, but eventually he and Murray make a break for it. It turns out that they are in Africa, and have quite the trek, starting in a cement truck, dealing with elephants, lions, and hippos. They have no supplies, just the knife in Ben's boxers, and at one point a very thirsty Murray tries to squeeze water out of animal poop! Ben doesn't want Murray's demise on his conscious, so stays with him until they run into Banda, his son Tshiamo, and other park Ranger's who are working against poachers. They think that Rufus is building a diamond mine, which could be very detrimental to the ecology of the area. When the boys are left in civilization, Murray shows his true colors and hits Ben, knocking him into the water that is headed over Victoria Falls! Ben narrowly escapes being swept over, and when he climbs out of the river, ends up at a hotel where he sees Trixie Hale, Erica's sister, and their grandmother Mary! In their last moments together, Erica planted a tracking device on Ben, and Mary and Trixie headed out to help. Soon, the whole group is back together, and it's a good thing. Rufus' plans are diabolical and could cause widespread harm, so the Spy School team go rogue to try to stop Rufus. There are hungry hyenas, narrow escapes, and a few sweet moments between Ben and Erica as they apologize for the way they left things in Alaska. At the end, Murray is on his way to prison in Botswana, but we know he won't be held there for long! 
Strengths: I know, I know. I always complain about long series, but every book in the SPY SCHOOL one is exquisite. Read this one if only for the random phrase "a dearth of larcenous porcupines"! The writing is sharp, the action well paced, and the details about traveling are fantastic. Might skip seeing Victoria Falls, though, since falling in does NOT sound like fun. Ben uses his spy skills quite well, and I love that the older Hale's are so involved. I sort of would like Ben's parents to get involved in a mission at some point... maybe they are secretly spies as well. The Hales left Trixie in the dark, didn't they? Erica is such a great character, and she has both her rivalry with Svetlana as well as her relationship with Ben to navigate. Plus, she gets to eat a lot of sugar! Ben's relationship with Murray always intrigues me. I, personally, would probably have left him to be savaged by hippos, but Ben has a lot more human kindness in him than I do. On top of all of the great spy antics, Gibbs makes sure to put in an important environmental message about the effects that humans have on the world. Perfect. 
Weaknesses: I was a little fuzzy on what the Shangs' role in the books were, but if I were in middle school, would no doubt reread the entire series every time a new books came out, which would solve that problem! 
What I really think: Gibbs has such a good feel for what middle grade readers like, and includes plenty of elements like romance, action, and humor that make these a huge hit for this age group. I would like some stand alone novels, because some of my students visibly blanch when faced with a series, but I'll just be glad to read whatever Mr. Gibbs writes! 

Still want a button from SimonKids proclaiming that I have read all of these books! 

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

The Secret of Honeycake

Fusco, Kimberly Newton. The Secret of Honeycake
January 21, 2025 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Hurricane and her sister Bronte have been living by themselves ever since the death of their father during World War I, and their mother's death from tuberculosis in 1930. When Bronte is also diagnosed with this difficult disease, she is also sent to a sanitarium, and Hurricane is whisked away from her coastal home and her dog, Brody Bear, to live in the city with her great Aunt Claire and her chauffeur and cook, Mr. Keats. Aunt Claire grew up in the same community that Hurricane is from, but once she married Mr. Butterfield (who died shortly after they were married), she worked very hard to learn how to exist in cultured society. She is worried about Hurricane's brash manner, as well as her insistence in wearing overalls and worn out boots. Mr. Keats is much more understanding, bringing her delicious baked goods instead of the beef boullion with pepper and horseradish that Aunt Claire recommends for her cold. Aunt Claire is determined to do right by Hurricane, and even attends a Mother's Club. Mr. Keats suggests that perhaps schooling can wait for the moment, and spends some quality time getting to know Hurricane. The two even have plans to entice a stray cat, whom they name MoonPie, into the house, even though Aunt Claire does not approve of pets. Aunt Claire has her soft spots, although they take a while to surface. She wants to provided Hurricane with "proper" clothes, so has a seamstress in, but when they woman turns up her nose at making slacks for Hurricane, Aunt Claire remembers how much she hated being fitted for clothes, and sends the woman away. She doesn't care for a boy who sells fish door to door, accompanied by a dog and an injured sea gull, but eventually agrees to his presence as he helps with the cat. When Hurricane is angry that she has not gotten information about Bronte's recuperation, Aunt Claire calls the hospital and demands updates. The three housemates do the housework together, since the Great Depression has impacted even the Butterfields' wealth; Aunt Claire is allowed to live in the house as long as she is alive, but even selling the silver and other household items does not allow for an adequate budget. Eventually, Mr. Keats has to introduce a vast quantity of turnips into the household diet, although there seems to be enough money for luxurious ingredients like pineapple and coconut! Eventually, Aunt Claire decides that the best plan is to head back to Hurricane's house on the coast so that the girl can return to running wild along the shore. Luckily, this move coincides with Bronte's release from the sanitarium as well as the arrival of a much more sympathetic teacher at the local school. 
Strengths: Like Mrs. Scott in Elliott's Bea and the New Deal Horse, Aunt Claire is an interesting and underrepresented character in Great Depression stories; a wealthy woman who has fallen on hard times but trying to make things work. Mr. Keats is fascinating as a World War I vet with "shell shock". Hurricane is a typical tween girl who feels stifled by societal norms and is also dealing with a lot of grief. The three seem to genuinely enjoy being together, even though there are a lot of differences, and Aunt Claire eventually realizes that the way she has lived her whole life isn't necessarily making her happy. Fusco has done solid research on this era and has another books set during this time (The Wonder of Charlie Ann), so the period details are fantastic. 
Weaknesses: Aunt Claire understands that during this time period, appearances were everything, but this had a layer of modern sensibility overlaid on the time period that was a bit odd. I wouldn't have wanted to squash Hurricane's spirit completely, but she should have learned how to comport herself in polite society, and even Mr. Keats should have known that and guided her in a gentler way. She probably also wouldn't have minded wearing skirts as much as portrayed; it's just want one did at the time. Neither of my grandmothers ever wore slacks. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want to know more about the Great Depression and enjoyed books like Wendell's Light and Air. This had the feel of a classic orphan tale like Fisher's Understood Betsy, Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables, or Porter's Pollyanna

Smith, Heather. Tig
September 3, 2024 by Tundra Books
Public library copy

**Spoilers**

Tig and her older brother Peter are being cared for by their Uncle Scott and his partner, Manny after their mother left them alone with no electricity for a long time. Uncle Scott (who writes book reviews for a living) is very understanding, even when Tig smashes a brand new television. She's grateful for clean clothes and food, but misses her mother. She doesn't miss Eddy, the mother's boyfriend, who drank a lot of Captain Morgan with the mother. Tig comes up with some interesting ways to spend the time, like rolling a wheel of cheese (which she steals) down a big hill. There are ups and downs as Tig and her brother learn to trust their new guardians. The family even adopts a four year old dog from a family who can't take the dog to their new apartment, and since the dog's name is Captain Morgan, which Tig can't stand, they call the dog Guten Morgen. Tig's mother sets up a time to see her, but doesn't show up, and later drunkenly throws a lawn gnome through a window at Uncle Scott's house. Tig's cheese rolling doesn't end well, as she falls and breaks her arm. Eventually, she is comfortable enough with her new surroundings to admit to Uncle Scott that Peter is just an imaginary older brother. 

This is a finalist for the 2024 Cybils Awards. It is reminscent of Paterson's 1978 The Great Gilly Hopkins, which was a big favorite with teachers and librarians because of Gilly's outsized personality. The writing in this was very lyrical, and this is very much a heart print book. It is also a shorter book and might be more successful with the younger end of the middle grade spectrum, as I am not sure my older students will appreciate Tig's fanciful nature. It seems more like a book that would win a Newbery than a Cybils Award. It most resemebled Pennypacker's Summer of the Gypsy Moths, but without the dead body. 

Ms. Yingling

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Dead Girl's Diary

Alexander, K. R. Dead Girl's Diary
September 3, 2024 by Scholastic Inc.
Public library copy

Kara has long had creepy visions of memories that are not her own, and she has let her best friend Sienna know about them, since they sometimes stop her in her tracks. When she recieves a package that contains a diary, she shows it to her friend, who claims it is unreadable and written in gibberish. Kara, however, can read it, and know that the writer, Elizabeth Townsend, is the girl in her memories. She and Sienna decide to lie to their parents and travel about a hundred miles to the town where Elizabeth lived, and also where she died in a terrible drowning accident about twelve years ago. When they get to the town, they are surprised at how friendly everyone is. They even run into a boy, Mark, who offers to help them research more about Elizabeth. They lie to him and tell him that they are staying at a hotel at the edge of town with their families when they are really planning on staying in Elizabeth's family's abandoned house, and he shows up with pizza for them. The house is creepy, and Kara hears Elizabeth calling to her. Mark claims that he has visions, too, and offers to take the girls to the lake where Elizabeth drowned. Since Kara is being repeatedly warned to leave town, she thinks about it, but the girls are stuck. They go to the local library, when Mr. Hughes, the librarian, helps them get a lot of information. No one in town seems to think that Elizabeth's best friend, James, was responsible for her death, but dissuade the girls from trying to find him and talk to him, since it was a traumatic experience for him. There was a neighbor, Mr. Pierce, who was the target for increasingly unpleasant pranks that James wanted to pull, but he had been cleared of blame and had recently died. There are plenty of creepy experiences all over town, and when the girls finally try to leave, they are told that there are no busses for weeks. Going back to Elizabeth's house, they find more pages from the diary that lead them to a surprising truth about the town, Elizabeth, and even Kara's past before Kara's parents arrive to save them. 
Strengths: My students love ghost stories, but they don't want nice, gentle ghosts who befriend people and teach them about the past. Oh, no. They want KILLER ghost who follow characters around, get into their heads, and terrorize them! I enjoyed the fact that no parents had to die; the girls run away from home on the bus. That's always an adventure, although I don't want my students to try this at home. This was a bit different from the typical "we've just moved and the house is haunted" tale, which I very much appreciated. There's a more pervasive feeling that something is wrong, and that it extends beyond Elizabeth's tragic death. Alexander's titles are always a sure hit, so make sure that if you are having a Scholastic book fair, you request a whole extra box of his titles. (Which are only available in paperback, which will make an entire generation of avid readers sad.)
Weaknesses: I don't want to give away the twist at the end, but I feel like the town needed a little more explanation. Young readers, however, will be fine with this fast paced story. 
What I really think: Fans of this author's work will rush to pick this one up, and it's a good choice for readers who like killer ghosts with a history, like the ones who mean the main characters harm in Meija's It Happened to Anna, Ford's The Lonely Ghost, Duga's The Ghost in the Headlights, or Brown's The Girl in the Lakeor Priestly's Still Water. 

Monday, January 13, 2025

MMGM- No Purchase Necessary

It's
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
 at 
and #IMWAYR day 
at

Marianayagam, Maria. No Purchase Necessary
January 14, 2025 by HarperCollins
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Ajay (pronounced AH jay) Anthonipillai is  bound and determined to win the Student of the Year award for his 8th grade year, even if his life has some difficulties. His Amma is studying accounting at the community center but also strictly supervises him and his sister, 
Aarthi, who also attends his school. His father was an engineer in Sri Lanka, but because his degree isn't accepted in the US, worked for a time in a convenience store, and is now getting a masters degree. The family can't afford to live in the city, so are in a smaller town where there are very few students of color. He's recently gotten a bad grade (according to the family rules, anything less than a 90% is "bad") on a language arts poem project, and his teacher, Mrs. Livingston, isn't all that helpful when it comes to telling him what he needs to do to improve. On top of it all, he made an enemy of Jacob Underson over a trivial matter, and now the boy bullies him mercilessly. Even though Jacob's family is wealthy, he frequently steals chocolate bars from "Scary Al's" convenience store across from the school. Having been at work with his father when someone tried to rob the convenience store he was running, Ajay knows that some people steal because they have to, but has no sympathy for Jacob. When Jacob asks Ajay to get him a chocolate bar, Ajay thinks that if he does, it might stop the boy from giving him a hard time. He successfully lifts a bar, but when Jacob found out that Ajay put the food into his pants, he no longer wants it. Frustrated, Ajay eats the chocolate, only to find that it contains the winning ticket for the Mercury Mazoo contest. The prize? A million dollars. The problem? The prize has to be redeemed at the store where the candy was purchased. All too late, Ajay starts to worry that his theft was caught on camera, and starts to obsessively worry. This isn't unfounded; his cousin Ricky got in a fight, and the family's reaction is to send him to a boarding school back in Sri Lanka! Feeling horrible, Ajay tells the owner, Al, that he would like to work in the store. When Al tells him that he needs permission from a parent, Ajay offers to work for free. Since extracurriculars are discouraged by the Anthonipillais, Ajay makes up a debate club and claims it will be good for his college applications. He is allowed to go to karate lessons, and his parents reluctantly agree. Ajay also wants to get downtown to scope out other places where he could claim to have bought the candy, and classmate Mindy Yu is the answer to that problem. The two are working together on a project, and Mindy's brother often drives her to wait for her parents in a coffee shop across from their office. Mindy likes to read Nancy Drew books, and Ajay is a Hardy Boys fan, and the two are fond of each other. Ajay tries to deal with his guilt (the family attends the Catholic church and are very devout), attempts to find a way to erase any video footage, and keep his grades up. He comes to enjoy working with Al, and even makes some suggestions that improve the business, but can't figure out the security camera. After Jacob tries to steal Ajay's wallet, which contains the winning ticket, the two get in a fight and are made to work together on a project, which leads them both to have a better understanding of the other. When Al has a heart attack, Ajay's carefully constructed plans crumble, and he decides to come clean to his parents. Will the family find a way to figure everything out? 
Strenghths: There are a decent number of students at my school who seem to think doing homework is optional, which I just can't get my head around, so seeing Ajay want to understand and improve his 79% was a welcome change! There's a lot going on in Ajay's world, but he is trying to do the right thing in all aspects of his life, with very little help. He knows the rules, and doesn't question most of them, but does chafe under some, especially when his parents are so inflexible. At the same time, he understands what his parents are sacrificing so that he and his sister can have a better life. Lying isn't ideal, but it gives him the opportunity to try to make things right with Al, and lets him spend more time with Mindy. I loved that his sister adopted the same strategy and made up a club so that she could hang out at a friend's house. It is also good to see that in the end, the parents aren't inflexible, and Ajay is able to work things out with them. Jacob is somewhat understood and redeemed, there's a nice light romance with Mindy, and I loved Al's store as well as his story. There's definitely a feel good ending after an entire book of white knuckle tension, and that was VERY welcome. This was quite the page turner! 
Weaknesses: This made me SO anxious the whole time I was reading it, which just shows how good the writing was, but it was not a good feeling! I thought of a dozen different ways that Ajay would have been able to claim the prize, and it was frustrating when he didn't take any of my advice! 
What I really think: It's tempting to compare this with other money winning books like McAnulty's Millionaires for a MonthWest's Lucky in Love, or Haworth's A Whole Lot of Lucky, it's not really about the money. It's more a story of navigating the world in a different way that one's parents wish, like Rigaud's Simone Breaks All the Rules , Nicole Chen's It's Boba Time For Pearl Li, or Feldman's Wishing Upon the Same Stars, with a dash of Weeks and Varadarajan's Save Me a Seat. 

Sunday, January 12, 2025

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, January 11, 2025

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 Buzzingor 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

Ms. Yingling

Friday, January 10, 2025

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.
Ms. Yingling

Thursday, January 09, 2025

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

Wednesday, January 08, 2025

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. 

Tuesday, January 07, 2025

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

Ms. Yingling

Monday, January 06, 2025

MMGM- Taco Tuesdays and Craft Love

It's
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
 at 
and #IMWAYR day 
at
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. 

Sunday, January 05, 2025

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.