WOW! I cannot say enough how much I LOVED With the Fire on High! Emoni Santiago is one of my new favorite characters in literature. She’s extraordinary. Her mother was Jamaican and her father is Puerto Rican. She has always lived with her paternal grandmother; her father shows up for about a month (usually July) out … Continue reading
The Bridge Home is Viji’s story. Viji is eleven and her sister, Rukku, is a year older. They live in Chennai, India with their mother and father. Viji’s father is often angry and violent. When her father’s brutality toward her mother spills over onto Viji and her sister, Viji makes the decision run away. Rukku is … Continue reading
A Good Kind of Trouble centers around Shayla, a 12-year-old girl beginning junior high with her two best friends. The main focus of the story is the fact that–as so often happens in those middle years–Shayla is seeing her friendships, her perceptions of others and the world around her change from the comfortable and familiar to … Continue reading
Jewell Parker Rhodes says very clearly in her Author’s Note for this book that she wanted to write a book that teachers could use to teach children about 9/11. Towers Falling accomplishes that goal. It offers adults a way of introducing conversations and history about something that remains an extremely emotional and terrifying–some would same … Continue reading
Song for a Whale was a happy surprise for me! I read this book because the Mock Newbery group that I belong to on Goodreads voted for it to be our June 2019 read. (I did not vote for it.) I didn’t really know what to expect but I wasn’t all that excited about reading … Continue reading
New Kid is a fabulous graphic novel about Jordan Banks. Jordan is in 7th Grade. Jordan loves to draw and wants to go to Art School. We meet Jordan as he begins attending Riverdale Academy Day School. Riverdale is a school in an upscale part of town; Jordan has to take a long city bus … Continue reading
The End of the Wild is an interesting story about Fern, an 11-year-old girl living with her 2 younger brothers and her stepfather, Toivo. In order to feed the family Toivo often hunts (poaches) game and Fern collects various nuts, mushrooms and roots from the forest near their home. Her mother and youngest brother have … Continue reading
Amina’s Voice is the story of Amina as she begins middle school. Amina has always been quiet and struggles to put herself in a position where she would need to speak up for herself–or for others. The advent of middle school brings with it confusing social changes as her best friend, Soojin, seems to be interested … Continue reading
The Lost Girl centers around two identical twin sisters, Iris and Lark. Iris tends to be more practical and Lark is the daydreamer, drawn more to fantasy than fact. The girls feel sure that “they have better outcomes when they are together.” When the book begins Iris and Lark are about to enter 5th grade. … Continue reading
I just finished Forget Me Not, read it in one sitting and couldn’t wait to share it! Forget Me Not is a brilliant debut from new author Ellie Terry. The story is written from the perspectives of Calliope (Calli), a young girl who loves astronomy, has moved to new towns (and schools)many more times than … Continue reading
