A Work in Progress

Another heart-wrenching book, similar to Starfish, which documents the damage of body shaming.  Jarrett Lerner, like Lisa Fipps, shares his personal experience in this beautiful novel in verse.  One comment in fourth grade sent him on a journey of self-loathing until he finds his people and he can learn to accept and love himself again.    (FIC LER)

Opinions and Opossums

This latest short novel by Ann Braden (Flight of the Puffin) was a lovely story about a girl named Agnes who realizes that the opossum she and her neighbor save in the road needs to evolve from its usual behavior of freezing and hiding.  She sees the parallels in her own life, especially in her confirmation class.  Should she continue with it?  Does she even believe in the God they teach?  She and her best friend Mo write stories and her new stories about opossums help her sort out her feelings about her complacency and give her the courage to stand up and stand out.  This is a must-have for middle school shelves, but I think I will pass on this one for my K-5 collections as I think very few students at this age will relate.  (FIC BRA)

Skunk and Badger

When Skunk shows up on Badger's front step and says he is his new roommate, Badger is shocked.  Who is this Skunk?  He can't possibly live here.  Badger has important work to do.  And a SKUNK?  Who can live with a skunk?  But even opposites can become best friends. (FIC TIM)

Ways to Make Sunshine

Renee Watson introduces us to Ryan, a strong, confident fourth-grader who is trying to live up to the meaning of her name:  LEADER.  The reviews compare her to Ramona Quimby.  In this first of a series, Ryan faces some challenges:  a talent show, her dad losing his job, and a new house.  All the while, she tries to make sunshine out of the bad and live up to her name.  (FIC WAT)

A Nest For Celeste

I had heard some buzz about this one, so I was excited to read it.  I have to say I was not a fan.  A mouse gets expelled from her nest, makes a human friend, gets lost and finds her way back home again.  I was was left wanting more.  The human friend named Joseph is the apprentice to Audubon, the wildlife illustrator, so that was interesting to see how he may have conducted his research.  I felt like the author/illustrator, Henry Cole, wanted to draw the illustrations, and so he wrapped a boring and uninspired story around those instead of the other way around.  (FIC COL)

Wishing Season

Lily is facing the worst tragedy in her life - the death of her twin brother, Anders.  She finds comfort in the fact that behind their house, there is a place where she can still visit and be with him.  But as the summer progresses, she slowly realizes that their place is shrinking and that magic will not allow them to visit much longer.  This is a beautiful story about love and grief and finding your place.  (FIC RIC)

The Probability of Everything

I read this book on a recommendation of another teacher.  For the first half of the novel, I was a little confused as to why he would love it so much.  It was an interesting premise but still.... not what I would call memorable or special.  Then, it happened.  The twist.  Read this book about Kemi, a girl who loves math and probabilities, who is preparing for the end-of-the-world asteroid strike of the Earth and who is compelled to create a time-capsule so they will not be forgotten.  (FIC EVE)

The Labors of Hercules Beal

I loved this story of a boy coming to terms with the death of his parents.  His teacher, an ex-military man, gives his class projects for their mythology class.  Hercules gets a project in which he has to complete the feats that his mythical namesake completed and reflect on them.  In his reflections, he slowly starts to heal, forgive, and move forward.  I ADORED his teacher and the role he played in Hercules' education and healing.  (FIC SCH)

Sort of Super

This graphic novel is on the 23-24 Great Stone Face reading list for the state of NH.  It is the first in the series where the reader meets Wyatt, a middle school boy who accidentally (or was it?) gets super powers.  The problem is his dad, the police officer, has told him he can not use them yet.  He and his brilliant sister, with the help of their grandma, refuse to sit by and do nothing when a mysterious crime spree starts to affect their town.  I like that the disappearance of their mother will be a thread tying the books together.  However, I found the Principal's storyline toward the end to be quite ludicrous and wished the author had gone a different route there.  My student readers will probably love it, though!  (GN GAP)

The Friendship War

Written by Andrew Clements, the master of the school story, this is a realistic fiction story about a girl named Grace who starts a button collecting trend in her school.  But when her best friend Ellie isn't the one getting all the attention, she turns on Grace.  How Grace responds to Ellie's betrayal is so raw and real, students will relate immediately.  However, Grace's choice in solving the problem is admirable and heals their friendship.  (FIC CLE)

The One and Only Ruby

Who doesn't love this series???  Katherine Applegate hit a homerun with Ivan, followed it up beautifully with Bob's story, and now tells Ruby's, the baby elephant's, story.  They live in their new home and are missing Stella.  Ruby's new elephant family can not wait to celebrate her tusking day.  But Ruby is scared and confused and doesn't want to celebrate the things that got her mother and other elephants in Africa killed.  Her origin story is beautifully told.  When Ruby is told what the ceremony means - an acceptance of your place in the herd and an acknowledgement of some rules to live by, she is relieved and eager to mark this stage of her life.  I think this would be a perfect One School -One Book read aloud.  (FIC APP)

We Were the Fire

Rufus lives in the 1960's in Birmingham, Alabama.  Black people like him are segregated, and not allowed to do what white people can do.  When Martin Luther King encourages blacks to protest peacefully, the adults fear losing their jobs.  So the children of Birmingham step up and speak up.  The world sees what the police are doing to kids, and people demand change.  (There is a picture book that deals with the same topic:  Let The Children March, by Monica Clark-Robinson.)  This is a short novel that is on the 23-24 Great Stone Face list.  (FIC MOS)

Thirst

Set in current-day Mumbai, India, this story centers around Minnie and her family, struggling among millions like her to make a livable wage and find water to live.  When Minnie, her friends, and her brother stumble upon water thieves, they anger a powerful group of people getting rich off selling stolen water.  She must make a decision to do what is right and out the criminals.  This is on the Great Stone Face List for 2023-24.  (FIC RAJ)

New Dragon City

Who is your enemy?  When your mind and heart are convinced of what you think is the truth, it is difficult to see otherwise.  In a post-apocalyptic world, dragons and humans are enemies.  Dragons have taken over and destroyed the human world.  Humans have to hide from and hunt their enemy to survive.  But when one human child and one baby dragon bond, the lines of hate and intolerance start to blur.  Can their bond change both their worlds? This great fantasy novel is on the 2023-24 Great Stone Face list.   (FIC MAN)

The Lucky Ones

This book is on the Great Stone Face List for 2023-24.  It is a story set in the 1960's South that centers around a young boy named Ellis Earl whose family is very poor.  As he struggles with a crowded, run- down house with no electricity, no food, and no room, he begins to read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and finds comfort in his similarities to Charlie Bucket.  His teacher encourages them to be their best selves and reach for the stars.  Ellis Earl learns of a woman from Washington D.C who is shining light on the poverty in the South and he dreams of becoming a lawyer like her so he can help families like his.  When Bobby Kennedy does his tour of the South to see the conditions the lawyer was talking about, Ellis Earl meets him and pleads his case for those like him.  (FIC JAC)

Duet

When I read the summary of this book by Elise Broach, I recognized its similarities to her Masterpiece and I thought they would be so similar that I would not like this one.  I was mistaken. This was a lovely story about a boy named Michael, his piano teacher, and a bird named Mirabelle.  Told from Mirabelle's perspective, we learn that Michael is reluctant to prepare for a big piano competition with his new teacher until she sings with him one day.  She then becomes integral to his practices.  When they find out that his teacher's sister has a house full of treasures - including a possible rare piano, they set out to ensure Michael plays on it to prepare.  But that becomes impossible when the bank takes over the house and its contents.  When Michael's teacher becomes ill, Mirabelle has to make a difficult choice to help him over Michael.  This is a great addition to the Great Stone Face list for 2023-2024.  (FIC BRO)  

A Duet for Home

Karina Yan Glaser is one of my favorite authors.  Her Vanderbeekers series is amazing, so I was thrilled to read her newest book.  It did not disappoint.  Set in a NYC homeless shelter, its themes touch on friendship, struggle and hope.  June, her mother, and sister find themselves homeless after their father died and their mother lapsed into depression.  They are placed at a shelter where a wonderful cast of characters live and work.  However, the manager of the shelter is heartless and the kids hear about a new plan to kick people out of the shelter.  June and her new friends have to get the city to listen to their needs.  (FIC GLA)

A Rover’s Story

Jasmine Warga’s latest novel is on the 23-24 NH Great Stone Face List.  Resilience, a Mars rover, narrates his story of being built, sent to Mars, and his mission there.  Constantly observing and taking in data, he learns from his humans and yearns to be like them and make them proud.  Meanwhile, the daughter of his creator keeps a diary of sorts... letters to Res, over many years.  In these, we learn of her struggles, feelings, and fears about her life and her mother, the scientist who built Res.  If you liked the Wild Robot, you will love this.  (FIC WAR)

Violet and Jobie In the Wild

If you liked her Nuts To You, you will enjoy this story by Lynne Rae Perkins.  It is on the 2023-24 Great Stone Face List.  Violet and Jobie are siblings.  They are very happy mice, living in their human house.  But when the are caught and released into the wild, they have to learn how to survive.  A wise old mouse named Zolian guides and teaches them how to eat and stay safe from predators.  I found this, like Nuts, lacking in depth.  

Garvey in the Dark

 

In this sequel to her Garvey’s Choice, author Nikki Grimes follows Garvey during the COVID lockdown. Again, she tells the entire, beautiful story in verse using tanka poems.  Garvey feels scared and isolated because of the pandemic but also helpless as the George Floyd murder highlights the struggles that black people face in the community.  When his father contracts Covid, his fears heighten.  He uses his talent to help heal spirits battered by the trying times. (FIC GRI)

Swim Team

In this graphic novel by Johnnie Christmas, we meet Bree, who has just moved with her dad to a new town.  All of the electives are filled and she is forced to take a swimming class.  She avoids it as much as possible until a neighbor, Ms. Etta, helps her learn.  Ms. Etta explains that historically, because of segregation, black people did not have the opportunity to learn how to swim, so it was a skill that was not passed down in families.  Bree and her friend, Clara, face some serious competition, as well as friendship problems, until the girls realize what a team really is.  This is on the 2023-24 Great Stone Face list.      (GN CHR)

Freewater

This year's Newbery winner is a debut novel by Amina Luqman-Dawson.  It is set in the south during slavery and is based on the hidden swamp communities that escaped slaves created for themselves.  Freewater is such a community. Homer and his sister Ada are taken there when they found themselves lost and alone when their mother got caught.  Homer knows he can never be happy there knowing his mother is still enslaved, so he plans to go alone and bring her back to Freewater.  Full of adventure and a cast of terrific characters, it centers on Homer but highlights several varied and interesting characters and their stories.  (FIC LUQ)

Jeanie and Genie

When a new girl named Willow arrives in her class, Jeanie is anxious.  She likes the ways things are - nice and normal and predictable.  But she never could have predicted what Willow reveals to her.  Maybe her life needed a little magic.  (BC GRA)

The Superteacher Project

Imagine:  You have THE coolest teacher.  He knows EVERYTHING.  You can't stump the guy.  He gets as excited as you do about things.  He knows all there is to know about your sport even though he's never played.  He has made detention fun.  But when Oliver, the school prankster, and his friend find out his secret, and it gets out, the students have to save him from the parents and the school board who want him gone.  (FIC KOR)

CatStronauts

Kids will love this graphic novel series by Drew Brockington.  In this first installment, the cat astronauts are called upon to save the planet from a global energy disaster by building an energy source on the moon.  (GN BRO) 

Word Travelers and the Taj Mahal Mystery

This series by Raj Halder reminds me of Magic Treehouse.  Two kids find a magic book that transports them in time.  But MJ and Edie's magic book is a book of entymology - or the origin of words.  When they travel to India, they learn many of the words they use come from the Indian languages.  They are also helping a new friend follow clues to find a treasure left for his family.  Meanwhile, a dastardly bad guy is also trying to steal it!  (BC HAL)  

Two Degrees

Alan Gratz at his finest...Two Degrees is the page-turning novel about climate change.  Three separate catastrophies are all connected by one thing:  global warming.  Akira and her family have to escape a wildfire in California.  Owen and George are running for their lives being hunted by a polar bear in Canada.  Natalie barely survives a hurricane in Miami.  Students will devour this thrilling book, but will hopefully be called to action, as we all should be.  (FIC GRA)

The Ogress and the Orphans

Kelly Barnhill (The Girl Who Drank the Moon) has written another beautiful fantasy story about the power of kindness.  A town, once ideal in every way, has devolved into one in which people isolate and mistrust one another.  It started after the heart of their town - the library - burned down suspiciously and a mayor came to town whose presence captivated the townspeople and persuaded them to do all that he asks.  The orphange there has come upon hard times, as did their entire town, while the mayor does nothing but collect taxes.  Luckily for the town, a kind and generous orgress has been secretly giving of her talents and resources.  However, she becomes a target of anger and suspicion.  Can the orphans save the ogress and restore their town to its former glory?  The message of this story is one of generosity.  "With good, the more you give, the more you have.  It is the best sort of magic."  However it is also a warning about those who sow discord and division through falsehoods.  I saw recent political events mirrored here. In Anthea's plea to those who would harm the Ogress:  "People do stupid things when they get riled up...[and] when they believe something that is untrue. .... It isn't logical to allow falsehoods to spread."  (FIC BAR)

The Yeti Files - Meet the Bigfeet

 

Students will devour this heavily-illustrated novel series by Kevin Sherry.  In this installment, the Yetis want to have a reunion, but must do so covertly, so as not to be discovered.  But a cryptid-hunter who is dedicated to revealing their existence threatens their code of privacy that keeps them safe from the human world.  (BC SHE)