Trees and Blather

Debbink, Andrea. Trees (Field Guides for Kids)

December 15th 2020 by Abdo Publishing 

Library Copy

This is a very lovely, well formatted beginners guide to trees. The photographs are clear and colorful, and the text an easy to read sans serif font.Each tree is given a page with a brief description, a fun fact, and a "How to spot" run down. Broken down in to confiers, Cycads, Gingophyte and Gnetophyte and Angiosperms, there is information about 100 trees. There's a table of contents and a glossary, as well as a very brief bibliography. 

It's just not the book I wanted. It would have been nice to have an index, better pictures of individual leaves, and more organization. 

When I was a freshman in high school, my biology teacher, Mr. George Bryan, assigned us a leaf project. We had to collect a certain number of leaves (I believe that 100 was an A, etc.), mount them on paper, label them, and turn the project in by early October. For whatever reason, this captured my imagination immediately. I had my mother drive me to the Walden Books in the mall, where I used my babysitting money to buy two leaf identification book. I not only searched the neighborhood but forced my best friend deep into the woods and tried to get her to chew on twigs to see if they were sassafrass. My parents liked to go on fall picnics, so armed with my Aunt Ruthanna's thirty year old leaf project from college, we drove to Slippery Rock, PA to see if we could find different trees than we had in North Eastern Ohio. I had just over 100 leaves, and Mr. Bryan was so impressed that he asked if I would like to display my project in the science wing showcase. Man. This was the best project ever. 

The leaf books I had broke leaves down into different types, so it was easier to identify a tree by the process of elimination. There was also more organization according to where the trees were more commonly found. Sadly, forty years on, the pages all fell out of both books, and I got rid of them. I still am rather fascinated by trees, but I suppose now there is an app where you can take a picture of a leaf and the internet will tell you everything you need to know. Sic transit gloria mundi. 

On the bright side, I can find out what every tree in my town (on public property) is on this fun map!

https://westerville.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=0e35738ef7664716889d3367fa3f6391

Fifth Graders

Fifth grade is just so different from 6th grade, especially if fifth grade is in elementary school and 6th grade is in middle school. These are both fine books, but I don't see them being of interest to my students. 

Finnegan, Margaret. Susie B. Won't Back Down

October 5th 2021 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

E ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central

Susie B. doesn't think it's fair that the OTHER Susan in class gets to be Soozee and she has to be Susie B., just because the other girl is a "usual genius" and she herself is not. When her class is assigned a hero for a project and instructed to write letters to this person describing not only the famous person, but their own life, Susie is happy to get Susan B. Anthony. We learn a bit about the famous women's rights activist, but also a lot about Susie. Even though she struggles a bit in school, and has a lot of impulse control issues, she is determined to run for student council president. Her main motivation is that she would then get to use the big microphone at assemblies, and she also decides on various occasions that she could use her office to abolish the five paragraph essay and to get people to help the polar bears. Not surprisingly, her campaign does not go smoothly, and it is further complicated when she finds out that Anthony had a lot of racist beliefs that Susie cannot support. 

Readers who enjoy flawed but outspoken characters like Parks' Junie B. Jones or Giff's Hollis Woods will appreciate Susie's misguided exuberance. She has very decided opinions about her classmates, thinking that some are "fake" and others get lots of advantages just because they turn in work on time and behave in class. Susie also struggles with her older brother, Lock, who is very bright at school and doesn't irritate their parents. Her parents are rather long suffering, but try their best to understand her. 

Like many stories aimed at elementary readers, this includes lots of details about classroom activities and projects, and the dynamics between students as well as with various teachers. Susie starts the book with very clear ideas about what her classmates are like, but does change her opinions once she learns more about them. 

Information about Susan B. Anthony, including discussions of her beliefs that are now problematic, will interest readers who like biographies and histories. Steve Jobs gets his share of information included as well. My school has certainly done biography projects before, and I haven't seen anything in middle grade fiction that addresses the idea that "heroes" might not automatically be perfect. This is a great concept to introduce. 

Fifth grade is a pivotal time, as shown in books from DeClements' Nothing's Fair in the Fifth Grade (1981) to Winston's President of the Whole Fifth Grade (2010) to Shovan's The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary (2018). Friendships realign, identities emerge, and boundaries are pushed. Young readers who are trying to navigate this difficult terrain will find it interesting to go along with Susie B. on her fifth grade ride.

McGovern, Kate. Welcome Back, Maple Mehta-Cohen

1 October 2021, Candlewick

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Maple, who father is Indian and whose mother is Jewish, making her "Hin-Jew", harbors a secret. She really can't read. She's a good student, and she loves books and making up stories, but she cannot decode text. Her parents have opted her out of standardized testing, so her learning disability has gone undiagnosed. Her teacher, Mrs. Littleton-Chan (whom Maple really likes, in part because she is also bicultural), recommends having Maple repeat 5th grade so that her reading issues can be addressed and she can start middle school on a stronger footing. Maple doesn't tell her best friends, Aislinn and Marigold, until right before school starts. They don't quite understand, and have trouble processing the fact that she is going to be in fifth grade again. They don't wait for her the first day of school, so she ends up walking alone. There is a new boy, Jack Wells, whom Maple is to show around, and she lies to him and tells him that she is repeating 5th grade because the teachers need help. He goes along with this, and Maple has to keep up this charade in order to save face. Maple's parents are both artists, and while they love their work, it doesn't create a lot of income, and while Maple says she doesn't care, she still feels a bit odd about some facets of their lives. There's also her baby brother, who is making life difficult for everyone with his constant crying. Maple feels that she has let her mother down with her lack of reading skills, and tries to make things better around the house to make up for it. Maple likes to create stories, and an ongoing one is about Mira Epstein-Patel, who solves mysteries. She loves words, but struggles to find a historic figure to study for a class biography project, since she wants to find someone who has a background similar to hers. There are a lot of stressors in her life, but can Maple use her second year of fifth grade to work through these?
Strengths: I really like the idea of having a book about a child who has to repeat a grade, and Maple's dilemma makes her a perfect candidate for this. It also seemed completely realistic that she would make up a story about why she had to repeat the grade and tell it to Jack. It was not surprising that her friends stopped talking to her; Aislinn's parents divorcing wouldn't make any difference, although that is used as an excuse for why she is mean to Maple. This is elementary friend drama at its finest. 
Weaknesses: I wish that there had been more positive help surrounding her reading difficulties. She is tested and given a diagnosis, but doesn't seem to find any of her teacher's interventions to be helpful. While this would certainly work in some cases, it seemed odd since Maple is also depicted as loving words and stories. It just seemed like she would be more interested in working on her reading. 
What I really think: The way the class is set up, the interaction with peers, and the family difficulties all make this more of an elementary school book. I'd love to see one where a middle school student has friends who are in accelerated classes while she is not, and how that placement affects their friendship, because my students experience that on a daily basis. 

 

Guy Friday- Stuck

Swender, Jennifer. Stuck

November 9th 2021 by Crown Books for Young Readers

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Austin is used to moving, and he knows the routine. Students who aren't kind and make fun of his size, teachers who don't need yet another body in the classroom, and a resource room teacher who needs to test him but can't get his mom to keep meetings. Instead, he finds that Ms. G. is glad to see him, her class has set and predictable routines, and he is quickly befriended by the very talkative Bertie (Beatrice). Bertie keeps him company, shows him the ropes, and protects him from classmates who might be unkind. It's still lonely to walk home to his apartment near the school and talk to his mother only long enough to tell her that life is fine, but school seems reasonable. He copies down the assignments in his planner and pretends to read a book the teacher let him borrow, secretly watching the video for Bridge to Terebithia at night on his mother's old phone in case anyone asks him the plot. Austin can't read. He can make out a few words, but generally just pretends, staying on each page long enough so as to not arouse suspicion. Austin is content to fly under the radar and wait things out until the end of the school year, but when he shows an interest in the safety patrol, Bertie gets him a registration packet and helps him fill it out. This brings him to the attention of the teacher, who notices that his work on the packet seems very different from his class work, and refers him to the resource room, where he can actually get some help and learns that other students are working there as well. 

Strengths: There are many students who struggle in school for various reasons, and having characters in books who have various difficulties allows readers to be seen or to build empathy. It's nice to see a teacher with good classroom practices (and one who isn't new and enthusiastic or old and bitter), as well as helpful classmates. It's also interesting to see how long Austin manages to play the system and get by. Teachers will love the fact that Bridge to Terebithia is mentioned a lot.
Weaknesses: There are many questions about Austin's life that are never answered. Why does his mother move so often? What have his past struggles been that he has gotten to this point? Why does he have such an interest in colors? What is going on with Bertie and her extreme enthusiasm? 
What I really think: Austin is in 4th grade, and since many of the scenes are set in school, it might appeal more to elementary readers than middle school ones. Older readers will be interested in Austin's "labels" and curious as to the nature of his difficulties.
 

Just Beyond: Monstrosity

Stine, R.L. Just Beyond: Monstrosity
October 26th 2021 by KaBOOM!

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Ruthie and Ezra Dillon’s dad has bought an old movie studio where horror films were produced in the twentieth century. Their dad and uncle have a lot of fights about the best way to approach the finances and production of films, and the studio itself needs lots of work. They have asked the director of some of the old films to work on a new one, but many things go wrong. Ruthie and Ezra spend lots of time on the lots, after being shown around by the mysterious caretaker, Poe. There are a lot of creepy buildings, and remnants of the films, so when the children uncover the inert body of the animatronic Wolfenscreem, they aren't too concerned. However, we see historic flashbacks to the original designer of the monster, and see the amulet that controls him show up in the movie offices. Don't push those buttons! Of course, several people do, waking the monster and his minions and causing panic. Not only are the new owners fighting, but deep secrets from the past surface in surprising ways. Will Ruthis and Ezra find themselves in danger? And will the movie studio every get up and running?

Strengths: R. L. Stine writes decent horror, but what he really writes best is history. This is a nice homage to cheesy horror movies, and I love that the kids know them and are excited about being at the studio, rather than thinking the movies are cheesy! There's just enough drama, and the villain emerges from an unlikely background, so I enjoyed that. 
Weaknesses: I would have liked this a lot more if it had been a novel rather than a graphic novel, and if we could have seen a lot more of the events that when on in the past. 
What I really think: I'll probably purchase this. It will definitely be a popular title. It was a little cheesy, though, with Woolfenscreem. I just feel like a novel could have made this a lot scarier. Seeing the pictures didn't have the same impact. 

When I first started reading this, it made me think that there was a similar story line in the 2006 Creepy Creatures series of graphic novels by Graphix, but I flipped through them and didn't see anything exactly like this. There has actually been a resurgence of students reading Fear Street books even though the 30 year old prebinds are little more than yellowed piles of paper loosely held together by the bindings, so I should probably purchase the whole Just Beyond series. 

Ecton, Emily. The Great Ghost Hoax (The Great Pet Heist #2)

September 7th 2021 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central

Butterbean and her friends have recuperated from The Great Pet Heist, and Mrs. Food is back home. Walt, Marco, and Polo are all bored, and even their girl Madison is finding life slow. Not for long! Mrs. Third Floor has seen a ghost in the fifth floor apartment she is cleaning up to rent. The ghost has eaten some aquarium fish, licked icing from cupcakes, and created a mess. It turns out that Wallace the rat did some of the damage, but there is still somethign a bit creepy going on. The pets start to investigate, but no one, not even the octopus Chad, knows anything. Mrs. Third Floor panics and calls the police, who are not all that interested in the crime but are a bit interested in the apartment. Upon further investigation, a creature from the past is discovered, but even he is not responsible for all of the mischief. Will Madison and her animals be able to solve this new mystery?

Once again, the animals take center stage, and the mystery is not about what happens to them, but about what they DO. This sense of agency is especially fun when the creature from the past who is causing most of the problems is discussed. Since this is a mystery, I don't want to spoil the surprise, but it was interesting to see the animals having to contend more with each other than the humans. The humans are panicking and are affected by the ghost hoax, but the underlying cause is created and solved by the animals. I would have liked to see more of Madison, however, since she was an interesting foil to the animal protagonists. 

The adults are a bit clueless, and don't seem to know half of what goes on in the apartment right under their noses. To be fair, there is a lot going on. The pets were a bit hard to keep straight at first, since it's been a while since I read the first book, but it's easy to catch up. The delightful illustrations by David Mottram help to clarify these characters. 

None of the apartment buildings I've lived in were hotbeds of mystery and intrigue, but I lived in them when I was an adult. For children, there is a lot of scope for the imagination and a lot of people with whom to easily interact. This would explain why books such as Marks's A Soft Place to Land, White's Nightbooks, Papademetriou's Apartment 1986, Ford's The Mysterious Messenger, Markell's The Ghost in Apartment 2R, Markell's Click Here to Start and Stead's classic Liar and Spy have so much mystery. The addition of animals makes this great for younger readers who like to think about pets having rich intellectual lives. 

This seemed a bit too young for my middle school students, who want their mysteries to involve murder, ghosts, or murderous ghosts!. I don't know quite why they are such a bloodthirsty lot, but clue oriented mysteries with animals don't interest them as much. 

Birdie's Billions

Cohn, Edith. Birdie's Billions

December 14th 2021 by Bloomsbury Children's Books

ARC provided by Follett First Look

Birdie and her mom are struggling. Her father has been in prison for as long as she can remember, and her mother takes odd jobs, most recently, cleaning houses. When Birdie tags along and causes some damage with her skateboard, her mother loses her job and must find a new one. Birdie's best friend, Hailey, has stopped hanging out with her because the two girls mader a bad decision to cross the lake to look into houses being built and get very wet, and Hailey's mother thinks that Birdie is a bad influence. Birdie's attempts at trespassiing continue, however, and when she and her cousin Kellog are exploring an abandoned house, she finds a lot of money hidden in a wall that has been smashed in. A LOT of money-- $500,000! She fills her back pack, goes back to get more, and plots how she will get the money to her mother. SHe decides that mailing it from the store of a classmate will work, and her mother, while sceptical, thinks that perhaps the money has come from her elderly father, and is willing to spend it on things to make life easier. Birdie gets some new clothes, is able to pay for a field trip, and gets Hailey an expensive present to try to win her back. When she mails even more money, her mother is a bit warier. Will Birdie ever find the source of the money and come clean to her mother, even if it means making do?

Strengths: There's a certain wish fulfilment in reading about children who come into a lot of money. Most of the ones I have read (Miklowitz's 1989 Suddenly Super Rich, Haworth's 2012 A Whole Lot of Lucky, Smith's 2017 Windfall, West's 2017 Lucky in Love, and McAnulty's 2020 Millionaires for a Month) concern winning lotteries, which lacks the drama of found money that has a mystyer attached. The money doesn't really make that much of a difference in Birdie's life, and the stress accompanying hiding the secret is intense. Clearly, other things in Birdie's life need to be worked out, and when she finally comes clean, circumstances start to improve even though the money isn't there. 
Weaknesses: This seemed a bit young for my students, but I think elementary students would love it. 
What I really think:Keeping a grasp on what my students like is an ongoing process; a couple have even wanted to read novels in verse lately, which has not happened in the 20 years I have been at my library! A lot of the middle grade books have seemed young lately, but then, so do my students. There's been a lot of behavior that I can't see flying at elementary schools (pushing in the hallway, running, and the handwriting is beyond horrible!), so maybe students will be wanting books that skew a bit younger. I'm going to wait on this title for now, but might end up purchasing it. 
 

Minecraft: The Haven Trials

Davies, Suyi. Minecraft: The Haven Trials

December 7th 2021 by Del Rey Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Cece lives in the Gemstone Estate in Lagos, Nigeria with her mother and father, and is just about to start secondary school when she gets a text from her best friend Reesa that her family is moving! Cece rushes down the block to her house only to find that she is already gone. Her father is able to contact the family and find that they are on their way to live in Scottsdale, Arizona. Cece and Reesa were big fans of the videogame Minecraft, and had a subscription to a separate realm/server where they created Silver Oaks Park. This wasn't filled with as much adventure as the rest of the Minecraft world, but the two friends spent a lot of time there building their own universe. Cece is angry that her friend has left and destroys the sign to Silver Oaks Park, and then is worried that her action has ruined the game. Instead, she finds that the subscription has run out. However, Reesa has made new friends in the US who have invited her into a new game which ends at the Haven. In order for Cece to be able to talk to her friend (since the family's Nigerian phone number no longer works), she must pass three trials in the game to get to the Haven. At first, it seems impossible, and it's even harder since she is also trying to fit in to her new school. It's hard without her best friend, and she notices that most of the new students sit alone. There are some girls who are mean, but mostly Cece is just ignored. She does finally make a friend in Joachim, who talks to her about Reesa and the Minecraft game. Joachim lives with his grandmother and isn't as well off as Cece, so she tries not to make him feel bad when he doesn't have a game console. He eventually joins the game from his phone. Cece has a lot to learn in this particular game, but does manage to make steady progress through the levels, befriending a character named the WereDragon. Will she be able to complete the Haven Trials in order to contact Reesa again, and will their friendship manage to survive their separation?
Strengths: The best part of this book was how Cece's experiences in school and  in the game were very parallel, and lessons she learned in one aspect of her life carried over into the other. It made for some interesting connections, and underscored the importance of friends for middle school aged readers. The information about Cece's school, neighborhood, and family were interesting to me, and the Minecraft adventures will be interesting to my readers. There was plenty of Minecraft detail; I know this because there were huge swaths of the book I didn't really understand. There was more world building and supply laying in than in other books I have read, and fewer villagers and mobs running about attacking people, which I enjoyed. Cece was a sympathetic character, and I think I will remember more of the plot of this book than of the others in the series. I'd love to see more books by this author. 
Weaknesses: I felt that the character of Joachim could have been fleshed out a bit more. He ends up being a good friend to Cece both in real life and in the game, but still remains a bit one dimensional. I feel there were hidden depths to him that would have been interesting to explore. 
What I really think: There are so many  Nigerian authors who write adult novels, but relatively few in the middle grade arena: Okorafor's Ikenga and Nwaubani's somewhat more Young Adult Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree being the only two I can think of, although there are a few other African writers whose work has made it to the US, like Baitie's Crossing the Stream (Ghana) and Ochieng's Playing a Dangerous Game (Kenya). There have been several studentsin my school from Nigeria, and many others who have family connections there, so I would love to see more realistic fiction books set in African countries.  I've read Baptiste's The Crash, Fry's The Voyage, Lee's The Shipwreck, Drayden's The Dragon, as well as Brook's The Island and Lafferty's The Lost Journals, and Valente's The End. I need to read Brooks' The Mountain when my Follett order arrives. None of these have written to my hard drive, so it's good that my students want to read these just because they are Minecraft related. I will remember a little more about this one thanks to the intriguing glimpse into school life in Lagos, but would have been happier if the whole book had been about Cece's experiences there rather than in the video game world. 

MMGM-- Escape from Chernobyl

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Unleashing Readers

Marino, Andy. Escape from Chernobyl
December 7th 2021 by Scholastic Inc.
E ARC provided by Edelweiss

It's April of 1986 in Pripyat, USSR. Yuri, a young intern at the Chernobyl nuclear facility, is getting ready to work and talking to his uncle, who is a radio announcer. Yuri desperately wants to move up in the ranks of the atomschiki, the nuclear engineers who control the power plant, but doesn't understand the Soviet political structure enough to "play the game" the way his uncle suggests. It's especially confusing since his uncle spouts the party line on the radio, but lets Yuri's young cousins, Alina and Lev, listen to illegal radio programming with US music. Alina's friend, Sofiya, is the daugher of one of the engineers at the plant, and is also interested in Yuri. When a test of the facility goes wrong, her father is called into work. Since her mother recently passed away, Sofiya is left alone. The official announcements are that everything at the plant is okay, but there is something odd in the air. Things are even moe suspicious when Yakiv Kushnir, the deputy chairman of the Communist Party of Pripyat, shows up at Yuri's home with his son Fedir after Yuri has gone to the plant, and tells the family that they are to come with him immediately to Moscow or they will all die. The family hesitates, but give in, and are soon racing across the country in a state van. Yuri is trying to help contain the problem at the plant, but is repeatedly injured, and things look very, very bleak. When Alina and Lev realize that things have gone very badly back in their town, they decide to try to get back and rescue Sofiya and Yuri. This is, of course, an awful plan, but they manage to hail a driver who is willing to take them toward the nuclear explosion. Will they be able to save the people they love?
Strengths: This is a very much needed book about a horrific occurrence that many people don't know about. It's a fascinating topic, and Marino does an excellent job of portraying not only the survival aspects of the explosion, but manages to give a brief but riveting look into Soviet sociopolitical outlooks at the time, and plenty of details about the power plant and what exactly went wrong. I did enjoy the fact that there was a brief bibliography, and I will definitely let my readers know about the pictures of Chernobyl over the last 35 years that are available online, because that was a fascinating rabbit hole to enter. Definitely buying a copy, and if you are having a Scholastic book fair, see if you can get a carton of this title!
Weaknesses: I understand why, for the plot's sake, Alina decides to go back, but it seemed like a very bad idea and the ending was a bit too coincidental for my taste. Younger readers won't care. 
What I really think: Definitely purchasing, although I am completely kerflummoxed as to why this well researched and well written title is only available in paperback and prebind. I would love to have a hardcover title of this! 

The Bookshop of Dust and Dreams

Thompson, Mindy. The Bookshop of Dust and Dreams
October 26th 2021 by Viking Books For Young Readers

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Poppy loves working at Rhyme and Reason, her family's magical bookstore, and is a bit irritated that her older brother, Al, will be the one to run it when their parents retire. While it's 1944 in Sutton, New York, customers can visit from any place and time if they need the bookstores healing properties. There are other bookshops in a variety of places, and they all operate under the same codes, and have an apprentice courier, Ollie, who carries mail between the shops, using pins from the stores to travel. When Al's childhood friend Carl is killed in the fighting, he is determined to use the bookstore's magic to go back and save him, even though the rules clearly state that the bookstore owners should never do this. There are a lot of things going wrong in the shop, and Poppy, who is there more often than Al, is not able to fix them, especially when her father becomes very ill and ends up in the hospital in New York City. Other stores are having trouble, too, and Poppy gets a letter from Theo Devlin, whose grandfather has passed away and left the store to his mother, who is struggling to run it. These two, along with Ollie, try to figure out what is going on with the shops, figure out how to work around the rules, and attempt to keep Al safe from the darker forces involved in the shops' magic. Will they be able to keep their world from imploding?

Strengths: I would have absolutely adored this when I was in middle school and probably would have needed my own copy. The cover is fantastic, and I would probably have tried to set my room up as Rhyme and Reason! The fact that Poppy was the one responsible for the shop even though she had both parents and an older brother around was done very well. She used her resources well, and managed to get help from a variety of people. There were a number of classic books mentioned. There was a well done, but very sad, twist to this one.
Weaknesses: While it was certainly very sad that so many people died, Al's reaction to Carl's death seemed a bit extreme for this time period. Instead of so much about his grief (which, granted, drives the whole story), I would have preferred a few more details about homefront life, and a tiny bit more about how people find the bookstores.
What I really think: As much as I adore time travel books, my students are not fans, so I may wait to purchase. I really enjoyed this, but just don't have the readers for it. I would definitely purchase this for a public library, or for any collection where time travel books are popular. 

Cartoon Saturday- Just Roll With It

Durfey-Lavoie, Lee and Agarwal, Veronica. Just Roll with It 
October 5th 2021 by Random House Graphic 

E ARC provided by Netgalley.com

Maggie is anxious about starting middle school, especially since her older sister Jamie did so well. Maggie has some manifestations of OCD-- she must greet the house when she gets home, gets stuck in downward thought spirals, and uses a gaming die to help her make decisions (ala Multiple Choice by Janet Tashjian, 1999). She actually makes a decent start to the year, telling classmate Clara that she likes the pin on her backpack and finding out that the two love the same book series. This gives her someone to help navigate her day, sit with at lunch, and investigate the different after school activity groups to join. The school is surrounded by a lawn, and there seems to be a snake or other low slung, rapidly moving creature hanging out in the grass. Other students joke that it's a snake, but Maggie's worries turn this into a deadly creature that she much develop rituals to fight against, and manifests itself in the pictures as a dragon. Her parents are concerned about her moods and her rituals, and suggest seeing a therapist, but Maggie throws a fit and they don't follow up. Her school year continues to go well; she enjoys her classes, makes friends with others in the role playing game activity group she and Clara join, and her family is solid, although one member might move away for a job. Still, her anxiety increases despite the solid advice from those around her about how her fears, and her ways of dealing with them, are not constructive. Maggie gathers her courage to finally discover what is hiding in the grass around school, and agrees to counseling. 

Strengths: This is very similar to Raina Telgemeier's graphic novels (Smile, Guts) about anxiety, and somewhat similar to Wang's Stargazing or Myracle's Big Sister, so I thnk it will be popular. The colors are generally somewhat bright, but darker to showcase Maggie's thought spirals. I really enjoyed the fact that there were a variety of after school clubs, even though my school doesn't have those. The people in Maggie's life are all supportive of her, and she eventually seeks help. 
Weaknesses: It would have helped to have an explanation early on about what the numbers on the die rolls meant to Maggie. We always saw the roll, but I could never figure out what the numbers told her to do. 
What I really think: This is a well done graphic novel on an all too timely topic. This will be on the top of my list if I am able to purchase more graphic novels. Will definitely wait for a prebind, however, since I just had to replace four Follett Bound titles, all graphic novels. 

Defiant: Growing Up in the Jim Crow South

Hudson, Wade. Defiant: Growing Up in the Jim Crow South
October 12th 2021 by Crown Books for Young Readers

Public library copy

While there are not as many stories of Baby Boomers as I would like to see in memoirs, there are even fewer about people born during this era who are people of color. Hudson's experiences of being born in Alabama in 1946 and raised during a period of extreme difficulty for Black citizens is a much needed viewpoint, and one I've seen in Leon Walter Tillage's 1997 Leon's Story. Hudson's story is much more complete, and paints a complex and riveting picture of a boy who played baseball, tried hard in school, was involved in his church, and who had to bear constant aggressions because of his race. From substandard schools and fear of attack to not being allowed to try on clothes at department stores, daily life was impacted for Black citizens in ways that white histories have ignored and young Black students will find somewhat surprising. While there is still a ways to go in our society, things have changed for the better, but it's important to keep accounts of history so that it is not repeated. 

Hudson's close knit family and neighborhood seem like relics of the past in today's fragmented society, and it's good to see the role his grandmother played in his life, and to hear how many people in his town were looking out for him because they were related. His experiences in church will also be novel to many readers, who might not have seen how large a role the church played in the lives of many people in the 1940s to the 1970s. Hudson's determination to get an education, and his desire to be part of the civil rights movement is also informative. Teachers will love the emphasis on reading and writing. I've been looking for civil rights books for years, and until recently, most stories were told from the point of view of young white girls. This is far more interesting and illuminative.

Today's young readers are often unaware that the world was ever NOT the way it is right now. I appall them with stories of girls not being able to wear skirts to school, of a library with no computers, and of Gen X's freedom to raise ourselves. This is an important look at the midcentury US from an often ignored point of view. Add this to other memoirs that will help young readers understand ways of life that may be different from theirs, such as Ogle's Free Lunch (2019), Uhlberg's The Sounds of Silence: Growing Up Hearing with Deaf Parents (2019), Johnson's Reaching for the Moon: The Autobiography of NASA Mathematician Katherine Johnson (2019) and Robinson, Sharon. Child of the Dream (2019).

Shirley and Jamila's Big Fall

Goerz, Gillian. Shirley and Jamila's Big Fall (Shirley & Jamila #2) 
November 9th 2021 by Dial Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Shirley and Jamila are back, and starting school. Jamila gets involved in basketball and makes friends with Seena, whose family background is also Pakistani. Shirley gets a case to help defend Avery against Chuck, the school bully who buys and sells secrets. Knowing his own power, Chuck refuses to cooperate with Shirley and hand over whatever incriminating evidence he has against Avery. This motivates Shirley to take on a new identity and befriend Chuck's sister. She gains information about Chuck and the family home, and eventually plans to break into the house while the parents are gone and the children are occupied in other parts of the house. She and Jamila do this, and have taken incriminating papers from Chuck's safe (which they have cracked), but Chuck comes back unexpectedly. They have to hide in the curtains, and are surprised when Chuck has another visitor who is trying to get information back as well. Will Shirley and Jamila be able to stay friends and help neutralize Chuck as a threat to their school. 

Strengths: Goerz's illustrations are quite possibly the most beautiful ones I have seen in graphic novels. Her street scenes could be framed and hung over couches. Her treatment of light is spectacular. I enjoyed Shirley and Jamila's unlikely friendship, and think the way that they navigate being more than summer friends is realistically done. Judging from the number of middle grade books that have tween power brokers who wield power and have money making enterprises, this is a popular story line.
Weaknesses: Straight up breaking and entering. Criminal trespassing and theft. Wow. As an adult, this bothered me in the same way that Bard's Trespassers did. I just couldn't believe a 6th graders would have a safe and be demanding $400 from a fellow student. Will actual twelve year old readers have this reaction? Absolutely not, but it still bothers me. 
What I really think: I may wait to see what Shirley and Jamila's winter adventure brings before purchasing this one. 

Already have had students asking for this one. Had seventh grade classes in, and they are still checking out the same graphic novels again and again and not reading anything new. Might as well keep Bingo Brown if this is the way things are going. 

Just not having a good week. 
 

Stuntboy, in the Meantime

Reynolds, Jason and Raúl the Third (Illus.). Stuntboy, in the Meantime.

November 30th 2021 by Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books 

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Interestingly, the copy I have has the pages inserted upside down. No way to change it, so I'll just have to warn students!

Portico Reeves is ten and lives in an apartment building in the city. He considers this a castle, and loves that there are all manner of different people with different stories living behind all of the doors of the complex. His best friend, Zola, also lives there, as does his nemesis, the mean Herbert Singletary the Worst, who constantly verbally attacks Portico and Zola. Portico has a lot of anxiety, mainly because his parents have decided to take two new apartments, one upstairs and one downstairs, and are fighting a lot about what items each will take. Also in the mix are hid Gran Gran, who spends most of her time "resting her eyes", a cat whose names changes daily, and the different personalities in the building. Portico decides to become a superhero, Stuntboy,  to protect the other superheroes in the building, and has a range of moves that he uses to diffuse situations. This happens more and more frequently as his parents' fighting escalates, and are moderately effective in stopping "the mean times". When he and Zola find out that Herbert's step father is the "super" of the building, their relationship changes a bit, and some of Herbert's motives are made clear. Will Stuntboy be able to make Portico's life better as more and more changes occur. 

Strengths: This is a notebook novel more than a graphic novel; think Big Nate chapter books but with more color and page backgrounds, thanks to Raúl the Third illustrations. There's still a fair amount of text telling the story. Portico has a great outlook on life even though things aren't going all that well and he suffers with anxiety. It's great to see him want to take care of his parents and his friend Zola. I think this capitalizes on the way many middle grade chidlren act, but isn't shown in many middle grade books. His stunts are fairly funny, and the cast of quirky characters also add to the general upbeat tone of the book. There's certainly some serious issues that are addresses, and this is a great book to have about the difficulties and stress young people face when parents divorce. There could definitely be a lot more books on that topic. The format is the real winner here, with a great mix of Reynolds' prose and Raúl the Third's graphics. 
Weaknesses: Portico has a lot of Amelia Bedelia misundertandings that felt more like ones a six year old would have. I can understand the motivation for portraying situations that way, but it always seems a bit off, and I'm not sure how readers in the target demographic feel about this style. It does make the book seem like it would be a better fit for elementary readers than middle school ones. 
What I really think: Reynold's work is popular in my library, and it's good to see a Black male character on a notebook novel (Robinson's Jake the Fake and Craft's New Kid are the other good examples; I'm still waiting for Robb Armstrong's Jump Start to beget a notebook novel about Jojo.). I will purchase, especially since the level of maturity of my students has dropped a bit since the pandemic, as it has slowly dropped over the last twenty years. It's always good to see an author exhibit prowess across interest levels, so that readers can continue to appreciate a favorite throughout their reading careers. 

The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy

Ursu, Anne. The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy
October 12th 2021 by Walden Pond Press

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Marya Lupu lives with her family in a vaguely Medieval, Eastern European area called  Illyria that is beset by The Dread, which can be subdued by sorcerers. Her older brother Luka is to be interviewed for selection for the school where sorcerers are trained, and this could mean financial security and social betterment for the entire family. Marya is a bit hoydenish (given the setting, this seems like a good adjective, but one that has hopefully gone the way of "tomboy"), and her mother is constantly appalled at her "unladylike" behavior. Marya and Luka are often at odds, and he puts her beautiful new dress for the occasion in the hen house, where it is ruined. When the official arrives, the family goat comes into the house through a door that Marya left open, and chaos ensues. Not only does her brother NOT get into the school (although he does not seemed surprised by this), but the family gets a letter that Marya is to report to a school for "troubled" girls, Dragomir Academy. At Rose Hall, Marya and the other girls are forbidden to talk about their pasts, and everything about the school is very suspicious. After having a few epiphanies about the founder of the school and other students, Marya finds herself in the "sanitarium", and is told she has "mountain madness". She claims that she doesn't, but the teachers try to gaslight her into believing that something is wrong with her. Will she be able to determine the link between the girls and the magic of the realm, and how it might affect the approaching Dread?
Strengths: Fans of Ursu's Breadcrumbs and The Lost Girl will enjoy this boarding school story set in a more historical time period. Marya is a spunky character who is ill treated by her family, although it is nice to see that her brother regrets how he treated her. I also enjoyed her neighbor, Madame Bandu, who was a master weaver and saw how Marya's family treated her, and offered to have her babysit her two young sons so Marya could get out of the house. Madame Bandu also is looking into having Marya as an apprentice, and when she is sent to Dragomir, writes her letters. The fact that Marya knows secret weavers' symbols helps her find out more about her school. 
Weaknesses: This is similar to books like Levine's The Two Princesses of Bamarre, Hale's The Princess Academy, and Pierce's Tortall books, but with less action. It does seem like there will be more books in the series, so perhaps those will take a more interesting direction. 
What I really think: Not sure if the Illyrian setting is a shout out to Lloyd Alexander's Vesper Holly books, the first of which is The Illyrian Adventure (set in 1872). This is getting a lot of love for the girl power themes, but there was surprisingly little that the girls were able to accomplish-- it was a lot of setting the scene with society limiting the girls' chances, and not as much of them being able to show their own power. I may wait until the second book to see how the story progresses, especially since I have a lot of books similar in setting and topic. 

Six-Word Memoirs. A Terrible, Horrible, No Good Year: Hundreds of Stories on the Pandemic 

October 15th 2021 by Six-Word Memoirs

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In a recent language arts department meeting (which I attend because there is no better department meeting for me to attend), we all wrote our own six word memoirs, so I investigated this to see if it would be of any help to the teachers. This was fine-- lots of different people from various places and walks of life are included, and the memoirs also cover lots of different topics. I can see having some of these books (there are ten so far) in the classroom if this is an assignment. It might also be interesting as a historical document about the pandemic. 

Any reservations about this title are based on my own preferences and are not reflective on the quality of the book. I'm not necessarily a huge fan of the format (my own memoir is only five words: Read books. Annoyed people. Died.), and I also don't feel that the pandemic was really that unusual a circumstance. My feeling about life is that it is one long succession of various horrible things happening that we all must survive. Or not. The pandemic just spread more horrible things around to more people than usual. I'll purchase if teachers want me to. 

MMGM- Pigture Perfect

It's

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
 at 

Always in the Middle 

and #IMWAYR day 

at 

Teach Mentor Texts 

and 

Unleashing Readers

Goebel, Jenny. Pigture Perfect
December 7th 2021 by Scholastic Inc.

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Grace has lived with just her mother since her father left when she was young, but she's okay with her mother marrying Mr. Pine. He's nice enough, and since she and her mother have moved into his house with a yard, she hopes that she will finally be able to get an adorable puppy. When she sees a sticky note that Mr. Pine has left lying about that mentions a vet appointment, she hopes that the puppy will appear under the Christmas tree. Instead, she finds a 75 pound rescue pig! Teacup pigs are not common, and most pet pigs weigh at least that much! She tries to make the best of it, but when Mr. Pine's daughter Emma also moves home, it's hard to keep her new pet (whom she names Bernard) under control. He roots up the yard, destroys food on the table, and gets into Emma's room. When she has him out for a walk, Grace runs into classmate Liam, whom her best friend Sydney thinks is odd. He's hanging out near the local retirement community with an older gentelman, Francis, who seems to know a lot about pigs. He recommends training the pig, and Grace looks into certifying her pet (to whom she has become attached) as a therapy animal. The catch? She needs an adult to go with her to training, and her mother and Mr. Pine are very busy. Emma is not quite old enough, although is frequently called upon to drive Grace places, adding to her irritation. Grace comes up with a plan, but she needs help from Jana and Alejandra, who spend more time with Sydney than Grace has been. Will she be able to convince her mother and new stepfather that Bernard IS working out, and that she doesn't want to trade him in for a dog?

Strengths: Grace is having a little bit of a rocky adjustment to her new living arrangement, but she WANTS Mr. Pine to like her, and tries really hard not to give him a hard time, even feeling bad about the tone she uses with him at one point. This is fantastic, and really true to life for middle school age children who are trying to do the right thing. The interactions with Emma, whose mother suddenly decides to move away, are realistic as well. The details of training a pig and of the problems they can get into if not trained are very good. Grace was such a well meaning character, and I liked her a lot. There haven't been a whole lot of characters lately whom I have enjoyed as much! 
Weaknesses: Grace gives her full name with Pine as her last name, but there is no mention that I caught of Mr. Pine adopting her. That's a pretty big move, but this was in the ARC, so maybe it will change. 
What I really think: Goebel tried her hand with fantasy with Grave Images and Fortune Falls, but she absolutely rocks at realistic fiction! Alpaca My Bags was exquisite, and Pigture Perfect doesn't disappoint. I liked this even more than Kendall's The Unlikely Story of a Pig in the City (2017) because of the inclusion of the friend and family relationships, as well as the friendship with Liam. Also, I am a sucker for books where children befriend older people. Of course, I am more on the end of the spectrum where I am the older person!
 

Bounce BackLilico

Misako Rocks! Bounce Back

November 16th 2021 by Feiwel Friends

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Lilico plays basketball with her good friends, but when her family moves from Japan to New York City, she misses being on the team. Her parents are excited to go to a new city, but they are soon busy with their own adjustments. At her private school, Lilico runs afoul of the captain of the basketball team, Emma, and doesn't want to stand up to her and get on the team. She does manage to make two friends, Nala and Henry. Nala is interested in Japanese culture, especially Harajuku fashion-- she has a huge collection of wigs and a lot of kawaii clothing. Emma is mean to her as well. When Emma thaws a bit towards her and may let her on the team, Lilico distances herself from Nala and even goes shopping with the basketball girls on Nala's birthday. Nicco, Lilico's cat, starts to talk to her, saying that he is her spirit guide, and tries to guide her through these difficulties at school. Lilico also befriends the captain of the boys' basketball team (whose name I can't remember and couldn't find in the E ARC), and the two start a tentative romance. Once Lilico gets on the team, she has to juggle working towards the championship with her new romance and her friendship with Nala. 

Stengths: I appreciated the fact that while Lilico wasn't thrilled about moving, but was open to trying to enjoy her new life. There's plenty of friend drama, boy drama, and cat drama for young readers who enjoy that sort of thing more than those of us who are old and wizened. The illustrations are bright and colorful and very anime like. I'm not buying any manga series, but will get this in a prebind. 

Weaknesses: So. Much. Drama. It went on a bit too much for my liking, and there were lots of tears and rehashing of wrongs done. Young readers will love this, but it made the book seem very long to me. 
What I really think: This wasn't my favorite (the sparkling eyes, the emotional extremes, the constant changing of Nala's wigs, the talking cat), but my students will love this. For some reason, manga and very strange fashions became the in thing over the summer, so this will never make it back to the shelves before getting checked out again. 

 

Cartoon Saturday- Clifford the Big Red Dog: The Movie (Graphic Novel)

Ball, Georgia. Clifford the Big Red Dog: The Movie (Graphic Novel)
Clifford the Big Red Dog: The Movie

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Emily Elizabeth and her paralegal mother live in Harlem, New York City. Emily is starting at a new, elite private school, but the other students call her "food stamp" because she is there on scholarship. When her mother is called out of town to work on Emily's birthday, she's disappointed. Her father is supposed to see her, and her uncle will be staying with her, but it's still lonely. On the way to school, she and her uncle stop at a tent of adoptable pets, run by Mr. Bridwell. Emily see a tiny, adorable puppy, but isn't allowed to adopt him. After a hard day at school, she finds the puppy in her backpack when she gets home, and begs to keep him for just one day. Her uncle agrees, and the next morning, the puppy (whom she has named Clifford) is taller than Emily! This causes lots of problems, and when photos of Clifford and Emily appear on social media, the president of LyfeGrow, Inc., who has had disappointing results of his somewhat vague produuct, decides to kidnap the giant dog and pass him off as the result of his product. Emily's new friend, Owen, comes through with help when everyone is trying to keep Clifford safe, and soon the dog is heading off to Shanghai on a boat to stay at Owen's father's house on a large property. Of course, LyfeGrow goons intercept him, and it's up to Emily to find him. Can Mr. Bridwell help Emily keep her new friend safe?

Strengths: While this has obvious appeal to elementary students who might have recently finished the roughly four thousand Clifford books, this is a solidly middle grade adventure with nice themes of frienship and family. The illustrations are fun, and a nice update. There are some mean girls, but also a lot of people wanting to help Emily. I'm vaguely curious about the movie. Apparently, there was also a television show in the 1990s that I managed to miss. Bonus points for naming the magical Mr. Bridwell after Norman Bridwell, the author of the original books.
Weaknesses: Seems a bit odd that Emily and her mother are living in Harlem; weren't the original books solidly surburban? Not as much fun to have a giant dog in all that space, I suppose. Emily still wears skirts at school. Her uncle living in a truck parked on the streets of New York and not wanting to Emily's mother to know also begged an explanation. We don't really know why Clifford is so large, other than some new agey mention of being big and strong to keep Emily safe, and her love making him grow.
What I really think: I have SO. MANY. QUESTIONS. And yet, I also found this rather fun. I shouldn't buy it, but may if I have money left. It's better than some titles (Rickety Stitch and the Galatinous Goo) but not as good as others. 
 

Who Was the Voice of the People: Cesar Chavez

Blas, Terry. Who Was the Voice of the People: Cesar Chavez

December 7th 2021 by Penguin Workshop

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

The boycott of grapes in 1966, and the social activism at the time, is very interesting to see covered, and the Who Was books are something that my students ask for a lot because they've read them in elementary school. This graphic novel not only tells about Chavez's life, but about this time period. It concentrates especially on the march from Delano, California to the capitol. Chavez was injured the first day, and the group struggled along the route, sleeping outside at farms on their way. There are some explanations in straight text, which was helpful, and a good conclusion as well as a timeline at the end. A short bibliography is included. 

Strengths: I liked the illustration style, and the feel of the 1960s was captured well. The palette was tans and browns, with some dusky greens, which gave an agricultural feel to the book. I also loved the grape border on some of the text. 
Weaknesses: As with any graphic novel coverage, there's a lot of missing details. 
What I really think: I'd rather have seen a graphic novel about Dolores Huerta than Cesar Chavez, but it's good to see this topic covered. 

I Know Your Secret

Benedis-Grab, Daphne. I Know Your Secret

December 7th 2021 by Scholastic Press

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Four students get a mysterious text one night, saying just "I know your secret". They are each given very specific instructions to follow in order to escape being revealed. For Gemma, it's the fact that she hangs out with a high school boy, but the other secrets are more involved and have more consequences should they be found out. Ally, who was adopted but lost both of her parents in an accident, works with her grandparents at their animal sanctuary. Todd's mother works at a local grocery store and the two struggle to keep afloat, especially after the COVID shutdowns. Todd has anger management issues and has gotten in trouble for hitting others. The four meet up in a custodians' closet at school and realize they are all getting the texts. It is Explorer's Day at school, and there are all sorts of mini courses going on, and the afternoon will showcase the results of these, so it's easier for the kids to sneak around because regular classes are not going on.  They are instructed to get a bag of clothes from a dumpster, put them in a locker, phone the office about it, go into the principal's office to download a file onto a flash drive, and on and on. While doing this, they try to figure out who is blackmailing them, and also learn a bit about the others and their secrets. Will the four be able to complete their tasks and keep their secrets, or find out who is behind the plot and deal with the problem that way?
Strengths: This read a bit like a suspense movie, and there was a lot of good tension surrounding the texts, the tasks, and the mystery of who was behind this. The secrets that the students had were realistic and sufficiently serious for middle school without being too horrible. The kids worked together nicely, and were able to reason out a lot of key plot points. The cover is great, and it is more realistic that students would have the freedom to sneak around during a special event day. 
Weaknesses: The thought of not knowing where students are in school, even during Explorer's Day, makes me very worried, and I have trouble with any book where students conduct a lot of business out of custodial closets! I'm also not a huge fan of the evil adult trope, so this was just not a personal favorite of mine, even though it was well written and has a great premise. I was also a bit concerned about Gemma's relationship with the older boy, but nothing really came of that.
What I really think: YA titles where someone deals in secrets are popular, and this is an interesting middle grade twist on suspense books like Barnes' The Fixer or Elston's The Rules for Disappearing with a dash of Erlbaum's Let Me Fix That For You and even Rylander's The Fourth Stall. Definitely think that students will enjoy this one quite a lot, but I had purely adult problems getting past some of the logistics. I'll definitely purchase this one, and it will get read a lot.  

Huda F. Are You?

Fahmy, Huda. Huda F. Are You?

November 23rd 2021 by Dial Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Huda and her family move from a town where there are few Muslims to Dearborn, Michigan. Before, her identity was tied strongly to the fact that she was the only hijabi girl, but in Dearborn there are so many others that this doesn't set her apart at all. She settles into school and attending halaqa on Friday nights (religion class similar to Confirmation Class or the mysterious Catholic CCD that none of my friends could ever explain), but doesn't feel that she can pin down her own identity. She does find a new friend in Nabz, so she has a confidant, which is important when she has a crush on a nonMuslim boy who seems interested in her but who is more interested in her religion. Huda struggles with all of the "rules" of being Muslim, trying to figure out which ones to follow just to make her parents happy, and which ones make her happy because they align with her religious views. She struggles with learning more about her culture, dealing with teachers who can't pronounce her name, and coming to terms with the treatment of Muslims in the US. Will Huda be able to carve out a place for herself in her family, her school, and the community at large?
Strengths: Graphic novel publication has increased to the point where it is necessary (and possible) to diversify the collection by genre and representation. Aside from the very emotionally fraught Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrin's Hijab, I don't know that there is another middle grade novel with a hijabi main character. Personal identity is such a huge concern to middle school students, so I am always interested in stories where characters are trying to figure out who they are and where their interests lie. As someone who spent an inordinate amount of time in church and church groups in middle school, I think there should be a few more representations of children in religious settings, even though (or perhaps especially because) my middle school church experience fueled the fires of my disbelief. The illustration style is fresh and colorful. This book will never make it back to the shelves. 
Weaknesses: I, like Ms. Fahmy's mother, am not a huge fan of the title, even though it is very clever.
What I really think: I will definitely purchase this, although I would love to see some more literature about Muslims from other parts of the world. The Pakistani diaspora is well represented, but I have more students with Somalian background, and struggle to find books that represent their culture.

It's always fun when I hear an author who writes for young people on NPR! Here's a nice interview with Ms. Fahmy. 

Rules for Vampires

Foulkes, Alexandra. Rules for Vampires
November 23rd 2021 by Aladdin

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Leo is a 111-year-old vampire who was taken by her parents and raised by Lady Sieglinde and her husband along with older sister Emmeline who is unfortunately stuck forever in the body of a two year old. When her Birthnight approaches and she fails miserably at making her first kill in order to drink blood, she is afraid to tell her parents. Her plan had been to be invited in to the local orphanage, St. Frieda's Home for Unfortunate Children and take one of the children, but this ends poorly with a spectacular fire that results in the death of one of the residents, Minna, along with the terrible and cruel Orphanmaster. Minna becomes a ghost, and the two have only seven nights to dispatch the Orphanmaster before he gains power and is able to terrorize the area. Putting together a potion to release his ghost is difficult, and Leo relies partially on family retainer Marged for help, as well as a sentient spider, Rodrigo, who often accompanies Leo. Vampires and ghosts aren't supposed to hang out together, but Leo is glad to finally have a friend. Will the two be able to take care of the Orphanmaster and not get in trouble with Leo's parents?
Strengths: Leo's world is a rather dark, grim one which the cover captures perfectly. Being a vampire seems to have very few perks, and Leo is struggling with many common tween issues, like wanting friends and dealing with difficult siblings on top of everything else. She must also save her world from the dread Orphanmaster. The best part of this is the well-developed vampire lore, with the traditional rules of no garlic or silver, being invited in, avoiding the sun, etc., being expanded upon. The plot is well paced and moves quickly, and Minna and Leo work well together. A great Halloween read  A great Halloween read with a decent ook/ick factor!
Weaknesses: I've had a lot more students asking for vampire books, but they are usually looking for Twilight because their mothers read it. Need to investigate and see if this is the flavor that they want. This might be more of an elementary title. 
What I really think: Readers who enjoyed Brewer's Vladimir Tod series, Ursula Vernon's Castle Hangnail, Emerson's Oliver Nocturne, or the graphic novel Ham Helsing will enjoy this fresh look at a Halloween worthy young vampire.