A Baby Rabbit Story by Jeni Wittrock First Reader/Non-fiction A Baby Rabbit Story is about a mother rabbit that gives birth to a litter of baby rabbits. The story follows the bunnies’ development from helpless, hairless babies to self-sufficient adults (at 2 months). High quality photographs are paired with simple, but engaging text on facing pages. Large text-size and white (well, green, in this case) space make it easy to read. Includes a glossary and … Read more
Realistic Fiction/JFIC/tween Lucy’s family moves to New Hampshire and she becomes friends with some of the summer resident kids who also live around the lake. They spend their days together on “Loon patrol,” reporting on the activities of the loons nesting around the lake, kayaking, and hiking. When Lucy’s father – a famous photographer – tells her he’ll be judging a photography contest when he gets back from his current assignment, Lucy – who shares … Read more
The Silversix by AJ Lieberman Artwork by Darren Rawlings Graphic Novel Science FictionTween Graphic Novel/Science Fiction/Dystopia Phoebe is able to avoid detection for a year after her parents die in a shuttle explosion orchestrated by the evil Mr. Craven of the Craven Mining Corporation (which has a monopoly on the world’s fuel source – Hydro-2), but then someone manages to track a file transfer from her parents’ ship to her apartment, and she’s taken into … Read more
Paul is a fish who spends his days swimming around and around his bowl. Then, one day, Bernadette drops in and shows him the Whole World outside their bowl. She’s very creative and Paul is very smitten. Thereafter, Paul’s new purpose is to swim around Bernadette. This is a very sweet story of friendship and the power of imagination. Paul and Bernadette and their bowl are featured prominently on every page, and rendered brightly in … Read more
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein Realistic Fiction Suspense Thriller * * * Stars (Pretty good) Just before the new public library is to open, Mr. Lemoncello – a famous game designer, whose monetary contributions helped fund the endeavor – sponsors an essay contest to choose twelve twelve-year-olds to spend the night at a special library lock-in. Kyle and his friend Akimi are among those chosen, and they team up to play games … Read more
A trio of carnivores form a support group because of hurt feelings – the animals they prey on make them feel bad. They try to become vegetarian. They try to disguise themselves and blend in. Finally, they invite the Great Horned Owl to come and speak to their group. He suggests that they accept who they are and embrace their identities as meat eaters. So they do. And then they eat the owl. And anyone … Read more
The Lemonade War By Jacqueline Davies Juvenile Fiction Realistic Fiction When we first meet Evan, he is not in a good mood. Then we are introduced to his younger sister, Jessie and we learn his bad mood has to do with her. Anyone who has a younger sibling can relate. These two have a lot of fun together, but when they learn that things are going to change in the upcoming school year, that’s when … Read more
The first thing we learn about Sam is he has leukemia and he is dying. He is only eleven years old. These are tough topics for sure, but Sam doesn’t dwell on his sickness. He has school at home a couple days a week with his friend Felix and together they create adventures. Sam loves facts, making lists and he knows what he wants to do before he dies. One thing I love about Sam … Read more
Juvenile Nonfiction/Grades 4-8 Bianca Lavies, a former photographer for National Geographic, produced both the text and photographs for this wonderful introduction to social wasps. To take the photographs, she spent a couple of summers with some paper wasps that nested in her studio window – building a glass enclosure around their nest and photographing it and the wasps’ activities from all angles. For readers familiar with the life cycle of honeybees, this will provide a … Read more
Realistic Fiction/Humor Greg Heffley’s best friend, Rowley, has a girlfriend (Abigail), with whom he is spending all of his time, and Greg desperately needs to make some new friends. The prospects are pretty bleak, though, and Greg is hoping that the happy couple breaks up before it’s too late and he becomes some kind of social pariah. Meanwhile, he has plenty of family drama to distract him – Mom’s family is getting together and … Read more