I really enjoyed this one in which the author draws on her own lived experience as an overweight but fit and horse-obsessed pre-teen. This character deals with teasing from others at the barn where she rides as well as from her older brother’s friend, the latter of which often becomes inappropriate. Both she and her brother learn important lessons on dealing with those bullies/friends showing that even though everyone has flaws they still
also have valve. I will definitely add this one to my classroom shelves.
I really enjoyed this one. In this story, the main character travels with her parents, both doctors, and her twin brother to Key West for vacation at a conference where her mom will receive a prestigious award. While the main conflict of the story lies between her and her twin brother who face the prospect of a week without their phones because they cannot get along, the author also shows the racist micro-aggressions this Muslim American family
faces in their travels and in their stay at the resort. I appreciate how the author wove all these aspects together. This book definitely has a place on my classroom shelves.
As I mentioned in my review of Salt Magic, this book and its sequel which I will review in the next episode showed me that Hope Larson is, unfortunately, not the author for me. This book had an interesting premise opening with a man being given custody of twins, recently born to his long lost love, as well as two seemingly innocuous items, a compass and a knife. When the narrative moves to the primary timeline, twelves years
later, the twins are in the midst of a heist gone wrong as members of a gang of street kids, making it clear that something has gone wrong. The twins then spend most of this narrative attempting to make their way to San Francisco and then pose as the long-lost red-haired sons of a wealthy man who posted an advertisement in the paper searching for them. Along the way they encounter another set of red-haired twins attempting to pull the same con, a dastardly pirate bent on capturing them and a handful of other things befitting an adventure caper. While most of this worked, I can’t quite put my finger on what didn’t. I just never jived with the narrative. That being said, this duology will go on my classroom shelves since I happened to find copies in the school’s book room.
I almost started this review by saying how much I enjoyed the narrative but I’ve already done that twice recently. This book tells the story of a girl accustomed to moving around due to her parents’ jobs as corrections officers in Washington State. She hopes that they can finally settle down but a promotion for her dad means a transfer for her mom because they can no longer work at the same prison. The family tries to make things work
with the mom and little sister moving temporarily while the main character stays with her dad. Meanwhile, the main character attempted to do something new with her hair but it turns into a disaster with her mom gone and her dad working a lot more. Frakes does an excellent job portraying these realistic struggles and attempted solutions. I will definitely add this one to my classroom library.
I finally got around to reading this BookTube darling and can definitely see why it is so beloved. The graphic novel covers the last shift of the main characters at a highly interactive pumpkin farm where they have worked every fall through their high school years. These two good friends attempt to engineer a way for one to finally speak to his crush while also reminiscing on the memories they have created over the past
four fall seasons. The narrative is heartwarming and nostalgic. Even though the main characters are seniors in high school I think that some older middle grade readers would enjoy the story so I will likely add this to my classroom shelves.
This book features the all too common yet highly relatable problem, especially for middle schoolers, or growing up and potentially growing out of what at the moment feel like life long friendships. Ormsbee tackles this from a slightly different angle than I have seen before by placing the main character in homeschool with a homeschool co-op. As she enters the summer
before sixth grade she finds herself at camp with her best friend but also making a new friend which makes her best friend jealous. Now when the summer camp ends, the main character has to deal with that along with getting braces, meeting new people at co-op and what she wants as she gets older. I definitely recommend this book and will add it to my classroom shelves.