#WNDB Wednesday- Like Magic/ The Tequila Worm

Cross Country End of Season Update: Congratulations to Genoa Middle Schools, whose boys won the Three Dogs and a Cat meet last night, beating Blendon 32 to 41. They get the lovely trophy for the year.

We will fill in the empty space with the five invitational trophies that the girls' team won. They swept the race last night, beating Heritage 15 to 55! It was a fantastic race!



I will now be turning my attention full time to reading for the Cybils!



Several years ago, we were bemoaning the lack of #WNDB that were nominated for the Cybils awards. At the time, there were very few even published, which explained it. I haven't broken down the current nominations, but it's great to have a sizable pool of titles to compare when coming up with a winner. 

Besides, my students always ask if I have read the most books! I can't do that if MG Fiction does have that many nominated! 





Acampora, Paul. How to Avoid Extinction
Arnold, Elana K. Far From Fair
Bauer, Joan. Soar.
Berend, Janet Eoff. True Vert
Brown, Gavin. Josh Baxter Levels Up
Callaghan, Cindy.Lost in Hollywood
Cavanaugh, Nancy J. Just Like Me
Frazier, Sundee T. Cleo Edison Oliver: Playground Millionaire 
Gerhardt, Jake. Me and Miranda Mullaly (Reviewed for SLJ)
Grosso, Mike. I Am Drums
Hashimi, Nadia. One Half from the East
Key, Watt. Terror at Bottle Creek
Lawrence, Iain. The Skeleton Tree
Lupica, Mike. Fast Break
Narsimhan, Mahtab. Mission Mumbai
McDonough, Yona Zeldis. The Bicycle Spy
Moore, Wes with Shawn Goodman. This Way Home
Moss, Miriam. Girl on a Plane.
Osborne, William. Winter's Bullet
Reynolds, Jason. As Brave As You
Senzai, N.H. Ticket to India
Surrisi, C.M. The Maypop Kidnapping
Vaught, Susan. Things Too Huge to Fix by Saying Sorry
Volponi, Paul. Top Prospect
Woods, Brenda. Zoe in Wonderland


Vickers, Elaine. Like Magic
October 18th 2016 by HarperCollins
(This date is outside of the Cybils guidelines for 2016!)
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Jada, Malia and Grace all have issues. Grace's best friend has moved away and she has developed severe anxiety that renders her unable to speak sometimes. Her mother is a doctor and is able to help somewhat, but when both her mother and father have to go away, she is left in the care of an aunt who is not understanding at all. Malia's mother and father run a restaurant and are frequently short of money, which means that Malia is not able to take harp lessons. Things are even worse now that her mother is hospitalized with high blood pressure and a problem pregnancy. Jada has moved to town with her father, who will be teaching in town. Her mother has left them in order to pursue a film career and find herself. Each other girls goes to the library and meets Hazel, a magical sort of librarian who lets them borrow an old looking book from the lost and found. It's really a puzzle box, and the girls each look at the box, include their own items in the box, and eventually connect with each other because of the box and a new private arts school they will all be attending. 
Strengths: The characters are all well developed and diverse. No real magic happens.
Weaknesses: This was a sad, slow story. 
What I really think: This seems to be more suited to elementary students than to middle school ones. 

Canales, Viola. The Tequila Worm
August 9th 2005 by Wendy Lamb Books
Public Library Copy

Sofia lives with her family in a close knit barrio community. She has her issues with her cousin, struggles with her ethnic identity at school, and is occasionally at odds with her parents because she wants to see something of the outside world. When an opportunity presents itself for her to study at a private school several hundred miles away, she seeks advice and support from her extended family. Going away isn't easy, but she has a solid upbringing of appreciating her culture, and the other girls at her school are, for the most part, accepting. 
Strengths:Very good description of Hispanic culture and daily living. Several holidays are mentioned, as is a Quinceanera. Strong family ties, and both parents are alive for most of the story. 
Weaknesses: More episodic that plot driven; reads more like a memoir than a story. 
What I really think: I don't know how I missed this one, but it will be a good addition to my collection.