Once again, I read another large number of books over a 48 hour time period. Since I have so many books to review, I will not write as much as normal, hopefully.
As is my usual MO for these weekend readathons, I read several of these comic collections back to back. Some worked better (sometimes much better) than others and I discovered yet another accidental duplicate in my collection. Oops. I continue to enjoy this collections and will likely add more to my home library in the future.
This graphic novel had far too much text crammed into fairly small panels due to the shorter height of the physical book. Even so, since I have a physical copy from the book room at my school, I will keep it on my classroom shelves, primarily to add some variety, some nonfiction and potentially something that would interest more of my male students.
Shannon Hale know show to craft a middle grade story. She and her husband do an excellent job in this work telling a story that could have occurred during Diana’s childhood. I will put this on my classroom shelves for sure.
I realized while browsing my Libby app and stumbling across this first entry in the highly regarded series that I have technically lied when I told my students that I have read every book on my classroom shelves because I have not read this series. I plan to rectify that this summer, starting with this first installment. I really enjoyed the story thus far even though the plot line was a lot darker than I expected. The artwork is beautiful as well. I am eager to continue.
I continue to enjoy this slice of life comic series following this group of British uni students as they attempt to navigate these years. The series does not have that much of a plot but that’s okay. That’s what makes it a great choice to have on hand for readathons.
I have enjoyed every single book that I have read from Cuevas and this one is no exception. I absolutely loved how Cuevas took the science fiction aspect and wove it into her typical historical fiction. She continues to include Latine (specifically Cuban) representation in her works while, in this book, expanding that representation to include African American in post-integration troops as well as literal aliens all of which to
challenge the idea of people disliking/hating someone just because that person looks different than them. I really liked how she used the idea of a war exercise which many people during the Red Scare years might have easily gone along with until it started affecting them as most of the town does in this story until things start affecting them in ways that they did not expect. I highly recommend this book.
I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would based on the vibes of just the cover. In this story, the main character lives and works at a truck stop owned and operated by her parents. Due to the breakfast theme of this particular truck stop, she longs to make supper and dreams of one day owning and operating her dinner/supper only food truck. Finally given permission by her parents, she wakes up hoping that today’s the day but her
dad who struggles with severe depression is having a bad day which means she might not get the first step in her dream. The story evolves into an attempt – with a new friend – to recover something special for her dad to help him, potentially, out of his funk. I think the author did a fairly good job balancing the lighthearted “caper” with the weight of caring for her dad. I would recommend this!
Arango continues to be an auto-buy author for me. Even though I would rank this third out of the three books I have read by her, I still thoroughly appreciate everything she writes. In this story, Vale has to deal with chronic pain that threatens to take away something that prior to the car accident that caused the injury, defined her life. She wants so desperately to regain her fencing status but the pain keeps holding her back. Arango
does an incredible job guiding Vale, and the reader, through this. I obviously recommend this book.
In this book and the subsequent books, I have found yet another manga series to dive into. I love the historical mystery angle and definitely plan on continuing.
What can I say? These characters continue to delight in so many ways. I love having so much reading material ahead.
After reading this short essay collection – only 3 essays – I understand why many may rate this book lower. Nothing on the cover indicates that the book lacks consistent through-line. It also does not indicate that the sole international focus would be the two countries on the island of Hispaniola: Haiti and the Dominican Republic. As both a historian and educator, I was engaged with both aspects – education and history – discussed in these three essays.
This book was fine but lacked some depth and a little bit of believability that would have endeared this book to me more. The synopsis compares the book to a mix of Home Alone and Night at the Museum which I agree with. The main character’s friend overhears something about a potential break-in at the bug museum where the main character lives and her dad owns/runs. The museum has had some difficult times recently so the main
character desperately wants to prevent this from happening. It’s a fun romp that does not go too deep.
Maggie O’Farrell writes beautifully which gives me hope that some of her more popular works like Hamnet will work better for me than this one did. This is a really short book and even backing up a couple times, I struggled to make connections between the main character who struggles with an unexpected and unwanted move and the
fantastical element, a creature that lives in a dormant volcano in the town. I will hold out making any opinions on whether O’Farrell is the author for me.
Once again, I have found a middle grade novel with excellent ASD (autism spectrum disorder) representation. Additionally, this book has Latine representation which I appreciate, thinking specifically about the demographics of my students. I also appreciate the fact that both parents want the best for their son who loves science and wants to leave his self-contained class to go to the “regular” class. While this book did not
make me nearly as emotional as The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn, I still really enjoyed my reading experience.
In this time of the rise of Christian Nationalism, this book is needed more now than ever. Randall Balmer succinctly and thoroughly describes the origin of the well-documented separation of church and state in the nascent United States as well as many of the challenges to this idea that have arisen throughout the country’s history. I highly recommend this book.
So many recently published middle grade books talk through the processing of grief. I find this so necessary yet acknowledge that it can be a lot. In this book, the main character is dealing with the recent, tragic loss of her best friend in a car on pedestrian accident. Not only that but the best friend was on her way over to the main character’s house to celebrate the main character’s birthday.
Watson treats the story with care, creating an empathetic character who makes mistakes, grieves and learns. I highly recommend this book.
I continue to love this adorable series. Although these 2 did not delve as much into the human characters, I still really enjoyed them and look forward to future entries.
