Review:Astrid isn’t your ordinary twelve-year-old, interested in dance classes like her best friend, Nicole -- or even in boys, much. She wears a lot of black, reads astronomy books, and suffers through her mother’s “cultural enlightenment evenings.” This time, though, the ECE means tickets to Portland’s local female roller derby, and Astrid is instantly mesmerized. Tough girls with crazy “derby names,” controlled violence and speed -- it’s exactly the role model she didn’t know she was looking for. Sh... Read more

Review:I discovered this book on Pinterest while trying to find something fun and easy for my early reader. Little did I know our entire family would love these books! Be careful though, only 2 are in production yet and the third is to be released April of 2018! My son (5 years old) giggles and I've found him sitting around reading it on his own. My husband and I both enjoy the silly humor and we can't wait to see what the next one is about. LOVE THESE BOOKS! Read more

Review:It's the best book I've read. It made feel as if I was in the game. I now know why it got a Newbery Honor Award. I liked it sooo much I bought the sequel. I was astonished that the main character was going to die. I'm so glad I read it. I'm going to try to read it every year. Read more

Review:Rating: 4/5 (for young readers or as a read-aloud book)

When You Reach Me is, in part, an homage to A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'Engle's Newbury Medal Award winner about some kids who travel through space and time to save their dad), young protagonist Miranda’s favorite book. She carries around a worn copy with her wherever she goes. She has read it hundreds of times and knows it backwards and forwards.

Miranda is in sixth grade and has been best friends with Sal, the kid who liv... Read more

Review:This book is based on the online TV series, not modified like in Lisi Harrison's books. So for the hardcore fans who want something closer to home get this book. Not to discredit Lisi Harrison's novels as I like them too. But this is a fun read. Read more

Review:I read Becoming Naomi Leon. It's about a girl who lives with her grandmother and her brother Owen. Every time Naomi goes to school, some of the boys there make fun of her name. Naomi thinks she should switch her name even though she knows it's her grandmother's name.

Naomi's grandmother is also giving her the pep talk about how she's named after her grandmother. I think the two conflicts in this story is when kids were making fun of Naomi's name and when her grandmother was talking about ... Read more

Review:I wasn't sure what to expect from this book (except for the obvious).

It ended up being not so much a story in itself, but an introduction/summary of other, older stories. However, I think the title gives fair warning to this. It's 'Instructions' on what to do during your adventures, not the adventures themselves, which is actually quite a clever idea (leave it to Neil Gaiman to come up with something like that...if you hadn't already been able to tell, I'm a fan).

When reading wit... Read more

Review:I was super excited to read Kate DiCamillo's latest book, Raymie Nightingale, and when I finally got it from the library I read it right away. After reading, Raymie Nightingale, I can say that this book is probably my least favorite DiCamillo book. **Sadness**

Raymie Nightingale gets 3.5 out of 5 Stars in my book review. I feel this middle grade fiction book is best for 4th though 7th grade. It's a lovely coming of age story about unlikely friendships, and I think it is a valuable and ... Read more

Review:"The Diamond of Darkhold" is another entry to the Ember series. It carries on the trials and successes of the combined citizens of Ember and Sparks using many of the familiar characters, including the main protagonists, Doon and Lina and their respective families.

While I continue to enjoy the characters and the ambiance against which their activities are carried out through time, I found this book a little less impressive than the first two. There are fewer lessons taught, and I found ... Read more

Review:My first graders loved the rhyme and chime effect of this read aloud. It is part of my collection for the first week back in school. I also have several others in this series which makes it fun for the students to connect with several texts by same author. Read more