The Tea Dragon Festival by Katie O’Neill Fantasy Graphic Novel * * * * Stars (Great!) Rinn is out gathering herbs and vegetables one day when she comes across an ancient shrine and disturbs a sleeping dragon. The dragon, Aedhan was charged to look after the shrine and Rinn’s village, but fell into an enchanted sleep – 80 years ago – from which he has only just now been awakened. Rinn convinces Aedhan to return … Read more
Wildfire by Rodman Philbrick Adventure Realistic Fiction Review #1 * * * * * Stars (Amazing!) “Wildfire” is a wildly thrilling book of survival. Sam Castine is at his wilderness camp when a wildfire arrives. He runs back into the camp because his phone is still there. He worries about his mom, and how the news will affect her. He meets and bonds with a girl named Delphy. When they run into a group of … Read more
Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Adventure by Jeff Kinney Adventure Fantasy Funny Realistic Fiction * * * * Stars (Great!) Rowley Jefferson writes his first wholesome fantasy adventure! And then makes the mistake (?) of sharing the first few chapters with his best friend Greg Heffley, who becomes his greatest fan and his greatest critic. Incorporating some of Greg’s suggestions and his own creativity, Rowley crafts a hilarious story that’s a mishmash of popular genres, well-worn … Read more
Raising Lumie by Joan Bauer Realistic Fiction Tween * * * * Stars (Great) After 13-year-old Olive Hudson’s wonderful plumber father passes away from cancer she’s taken in by her older half-sister Maudie, who moves them both into a shared house in New Jersey, where she’s starting a new job as a graphic designer. Maudie’s boss is also involved with an organization that raises and trains puppies to be guide dogs for the blind, and … Read more
The Brave by James Bird Realistic Fiction * * * * Stars (Great!) Collin Couch was kicked out of his most recent school – for fighting. He’s unique in that he is compelled to count every letter in every word that anyone says to him, and then blurt out the number before he can respond/concentrate on anything else. This has led to all sorts of bullying because people think he’s a freak and learn that … Read more
Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid: Rowley Jefferson’s Journal spin-off of Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney Funny Illustrated Fiction Realistic Fiction * * * Stars (Pretty good) Rowley Jefferson decides to start his own diary after the success of Greg Heffley’s journaling experiment. He shares a few facts about himself, but it quickly becomes all about his friendship with Greg, so he decides to make it official – he’s writing a … Read more
Think for Yourself: The Ultimate Guide to Critical Thinking in an Age of Information Overload by Andrea Debbink and Aaron Meshon Nonfiction * * * * Stars (Great!) This is a great book that will really help kids/teens (anyone, really) learn about how to make decisions and form opinions based on facts, how to evaluate different sources of information, and how to have discussions/debates with other people about things. It uses a lot of timely … Read more
Empire of Bones Ashtown Burials #3 by N.D. Wilson Adventure Fantasy Review #1 * * * * * Stars (Amazing!) Empire of Bones by N. D. Wilson is the 3rd & last book in the Ashtown burials series. This book is excellent and will pull anyone in to read it. What I liked about this book was that Cyrus & Antigone (the main characters) are extremely loving as a brother & sister. Family is very … Read more
One Crazy Summer Gaither Sisters #1 by Rita Williams-Garcia Realistic Fiction Review #1 * * * * Stars (Great!) “One Crazy Summer” is about three girls who go to see their mother and they have to go through all this work to take care of each other. The mother doesn’t turn out to be like they thought and they strive to get to know her.
Tales from the Not-So-Smart Miss Know It All Dork Diaries #5 by Rachel Renee Russell Realistic Fiction Review #1 * * * * Stars (Great!) In order to thwart Mackenzie’s evil plans (and in order to spend more time with her secret crush), Nikki takes a job at the Lacklester school newspaper. Sometimes Nikki makes bad decisions (like sneaking out of the house on New Year’s Eve), but like a real kid she is trying to … Read more