Starred Books
LION OF THE SKY by Ritu Hemnani — Book Recommendation
Title: LION OF THE SKY Author: Ritu Hemnani Publisher: New York: Balzer & Bray/HarperCollins, May 7, 2024 Genre: Middle Grade Fiction Audience Age: 9 to 12 Themes/Topics: Partition of India and Pakistan, Indian Independence 1947, family, political conflict, religious intolerance It is an honor to share this amazing book with you today. Thank you, Ritu, for…
Read MoreTHE FIREFLY SUMMER by Morgan Matson (MG) — Summer Reading
Your eyes are not deceiving you. This is an actual blog post. I know, I can hardly believe it, either. I read a book this week that I wanted to share with you, and here we are. (Note, which you’ve likely figured out by now: the image is not the cover image from the book.…
Read MoreTHE LONGEST LETSGOBOY by Derick Wilder, illustrated by Catia Chien — Book Recommendation
Title: THE LONGEST LETSGOBOY Author: Derick Wilder Illustrator: Catia Chien Publisher: San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, October 2021 Genre: Picture book Audience Age: 3 to 8 years Themes/Topics: dogs, dying, love, pets, hope Opening Sentences: Mewmew wakes me, rumbledrumming my tummy. I strrrrretch my oldbones. Synopsis: This lovely, moving, heartfelt story tells of a much-loved old dog’s last day, from the…
Read MoreBECAUSE OF THAT CROW by Beverley Brenna — Book Recommendation
Title: Because of That Crow Author: Beverley Brenna Publisher: Markham, Ontario/Brighton, MA: Red Deer Press, 2020 Genre: Middle grade contemporary fiction, with a touch of magic Audience Age: 8 to 12 Themes/Topics: grief, parents’ death, healing, coping, hope Opening Sentences: Everything was different because of that crow. Harris knew it. And he was pretty sure the others knew it, too. Grampa,…
Read MoreMUCH ADO ABOUT BASEBALL by Rajani LaRocca — Book Recommendation
Title: Much Ado About Baseball Author: Rajani LaRocca Publisher: New York: Yellow Jacket, 2021 Genre: Middle Grade contemporary with a touch of magic Audience Age: 8 to 12 Themes/Topics: belonging, making new friends, magic, math, baseball, Shakespeare Opening Sentences: “Baseball is magic. Time stops between the instant the ball is released and when it makes it over the plate, between…
Read MoreBeth’s Faves — Top Middle Grade and YA Books I’ve Read This Year
As promised last week, my fave Middle Grade and Young Adult reads of the past year. (There won’t be as many MG and YA as there were picture books.) As I said last week, please note that not all these books were published this year. I chose from what appealed to me, as well as…
Read MoreBeth’s Faves — Top Picture Books I’ve Read This Year
At the beginning of 2018, I had the intention of reading one picture book every morning throughout the year. I did well for the first half of the year, then not so well the second half – but I’ve still read a LOT more picture books than I would have otherwise, and many of them…
Read MoreHEARTS UNBROKEN by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Title: Hearts Unbroken Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith Publisher: Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2018 Genre: YA Fiction, #ownvoices Audience Age: 14 to 18 years Themes/Topics: Friendship, romance, Native American history and issues, racism Synopsis: Lou (short for Louise), is a high school junior in current-day Kansas. By the time the book ends, she is a senior.…
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