Month: November 2018

Lost Soul, Be At Peace

Lost Soul, Be At PeaceLost Soul, Be at Peace by Maggie Thrash
Published by Candlewick Press (MA) on October 9th 2018
ISBN: 0763694193
Pages: 192
Goodreads
five-stars

I am always surprised when a follow-up work is as good as the first. So I am pleased to report that Maggie Thrash’s follow up to Honor Girl is just as good. Again Trash tackles her past with brutal honesty in images and words. Set a year and a half after Honor Girl, Maggie is depressed and failing most of her classes. She wants her parents to notice her troubles, but her mother avoids the signs and her father remains distant and absorbed in his work. Maggie is haunted by a ghost, Tommy, who she is able to open up to. Coincidentally, Maggie is studying Hamlet and there are many connections between the Shakespearean tragedy and Maggie’s story. Thrash tackles the turbulence of growing up and leaving things behind, the dangers of the world, and complicated family relationships into a haunting graphic novel.
Recommended For grades 9-12
Elizabeth Andersen
Librarian
Westbrook High School

five-stars

Merci Suárez Changes Gears

Merci Suárez Changes GearsMerci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina
Published by Candlewick Press on September 11th 2018
ISBN: 076369049X
Pages: 368
Goodreads
five-stars

Eleven-year-old Merci struggles with changes both at home and at school as she begins sixth grade in this poignant and realistic novel.

Merci’s tight-knit extended Cuban-American family live in South Florida in three houses next to one another, which they affectionately refer to as Las Casitas. Merci’s particularly close to her grandfather, Lolo, who has always listened to her carefully and without judgment, leading her to favor him as her confidant. However, her second year as a full scholarship student at a prestigious private school brings many changes, including persistent needling by mean queen bee Edna, and it coincides with behavior from Lolo that worries Merci, such as a fall from his bicycle, confusing people for one another and wandering off.

Merci’s first-person narrative voice is spot on as she tells her story in short but detail-filled chapters that unfold naturally. Readers will feel the depth of love she has for her family even as she experiences realistic frustration and anger as she bumps up against their high expectations for her and the demands on her time. The juxtaposition of the privilege of most of her classmates compared to Merci’s working class family is nuanced and pervasive and the dynamics between them are true to life. Likewise, her dawning, but at first limited, understanding that there is something medically wrong with Lolo is believable for a kid her age.

Older grade school and middle school students who favor realistic fiction will be a natural audience for this moving and immersive story about Merci, which ends on a note that leaves open the possibility of a sequel.

Reviewed by Brooke Faulkner, McArthur Public Library, Biddeford

five-stars

The Jamie Drake Equation

The Jamie Drake EquationThe Jamie Drake Equation by Christopher Edge
Published by Delacorte Press on June 26th 2018
ISBN: 1524713619
Pages: 192
Goodreads
four-stars

Jamie, his Mom, and little sister are staying with his Grandfather in England while his astronaut Dad is on the International Space Station on a mission to launch a search for alien life. Back on Earth, Jamie is worrying about his Dad and trying to come to terms with the news of his parents’ upcoming divorce. He visits a nearby observatory and meets an astronomer doing her own search for alien lifeforms. He plugs his phone into her laptop and downloads a mysterious app that may or may not be of alien origin. This science fiction book features scientific and mathematical concepts, including an explanation of the Fibonacci Sequence and Fibonacci Spiral. Upper elementary/younger middle school readers will find this entertaining, if brief. The Jamie Drake Equation is a good introduction to science fiction for young people.

Reviewed by Karen Sandlin Silverman, Mt. Ararat Middle School, Topsham

four-stars

Power On!: Life-Changing Technology

Power On!: Life-Changing TechnologyPower On! Power On!: Life-Changing Technology Life-Changing Technology by Eleanor Cardell
Published by Full Tilt Press on August 1st 2017
ISBN: 1629206075
Goodreads
four-stars

Power On! focuses on four technological enhancements that made a big impact on the technology we now use. The invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 ultimately led to the formation of the telecommunications company AT&T, transcontinental telephone lines, and the 911 system. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first “fireside chats” in 1933 helped American people connect more directly with the President via radio. Now people are connected to our President via television, internet, and twitter. The video game Space Invaders was released in Japan in 1978 which launched an entirely new billion dollar industry — the video game industry. Apple released the first iPhone in 2007 and sold a million phones in just 74 days. That first iPhone has led to touchscreen technology and changed the way we communicate.

Power On! Is part of the Flash Points non-fiction “high-low” series and should appeal to upper elementary/middle school readers and includes a bibliography, index, glossary, and quiz. The design is appealing with lot of photographs and a “How and Why” and “Ripple Effects” timeline in each chapter.

Reviewed by Karen Sandlin Silverman, Mt. Ararat Middle School, Topsham

four-stars

Squirm

SquirmSquirm by Carl Hiaasen
Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on September 25th 2018
ISBN: 0385752970
Pages: 304
Goodreads
five-stars

Carl Hiaasen continues to deliver top-notch environmental thrillers. Billy lives with his mom and sister in, where else?, Florida. His father took off when he was young and his mother moves the family frequently because she wants to always live in close proximity to an active eagle nest. Billy loves eagles too and he also has an affinity for snakes. He discovers that his father is living in Montana and hatches a plan to reconnect. This funny and at times improbable tale will prove popular with middle school students who have enjoyed Hiassen’s earlier books (Hoot, Flush).

Recommended for Cream of the Crop.

Reviewed by Karen Sandlin Silverman, Mt. Ararat Middle School, Topsham

five-stars

Milla Takes Charge

Milla Takes ChargeMilla Takes Charge (Daring Dreamers Club #1) by Erin Soderberg
Published by Random House Disney on June 5th 2018
ISBN: 0736439242
Pages: 224
Goodreads
three-stars

Book one in the Disney Daring Dreamers Club. Milla and her friends are in 5th grade and decide to call their advisory group the Daring Dreamers Club. Their advisor loves Disney princesses and asks Milla and her friends to think about which princess inspires them and journal about it. Milla longs to travel and loves books — and owns a not-so-teacup-sized pig named Chip — so naturally she is drawn to Belle of Beauty and the Beast. Aimed at elementary-aged readers, this series might appeal to Disney princess fans but the overt message that all little girls should aspire to be a Disney princess may turn off some readers.

 

Reviewed by Karen Sandlin Silverman, Mt. Ararat Middle School, Topsham

three-stars

Kawhi Leonard

Kawhi LeonardKawhi Leonard by Jon M. Fishman
Published by Lerner Publications on January 1st 2018
ISBN: 1541500415
Pages: 32
Goodreads
three-stars

This biography of San Antonio Spurs star player Kawhi Leonard is part of the Sports All-Stars series. Leonard is known for his big hands and wide wingspan (the distance from fingertip to fingertip when your arms are spread straight out). The book covers his early career as a high school basketball star (voted best basketball player in the state of California), his college career, and his professional career with the Spurs. Along the way, he has had to overcome the tragic death of his father while still in high school and various injuries. He also gives back to his community, even donating a new car he won to an organization helping children. His latest endeavor is designing clothing. With brief chapters and photographs, the attractive design should appeal to basketball enthusiasts and is appropriate for upper elementary/middle school readers (grades 4-6). The book includes an index, glossary, bibliography, and source notes.

Reviewed by Karen Sandlin Silverman, Mt. Ararat Middle School, Topsham

three-stars

Walk and See ABC

Walk and See ABCWalk and See: ABC by Nosy Crow
Published by Nosy Crow on February 13th 2018
ISBN: 0763696234
Pages: 26
Goodreads
four-stars

Both preschool children featured in this book are adorable and inquisitive. This is one of the titles in a new series of board books for toddlers and nursery school children that will teach and delight. As a concept book, ABC pairs letters of the alphabet with animals and items that exit in nature. Even the ants and bees appear friendly toward the smiling faces of Beardshaw’s little ones. This reader appreciates the use of X in eXamine as it sums up the nature hike. The letters and words are large and printed in a readable font but it is the illustrations that push the book to the top. Even the jackets worn by the children are designed in nature prints.

We have a storyline, clear text, and adorable character within in a well-illustrated package. Add this to public library collections and gift to babies – toddlers and to those who love them.

Submitted by Jan Hamilton, retired youth services librarian from Scarborough, ME

four-stars

Zora & Me: The Cursed Ground

Zora & Me: The Cursed GroundThe Cursed Ground (Zora and Me #2) by T.R. Simon
Published by Candlewick Press (MA) on September 11th 2018
ISBN: 0763643017
Pages: 272
Goodreads
five-stars

Although a sequel to Zora & Me this second book is able to stands alone.   Simon presents readers with two spunky and inquisitive children who live in the first incorporated black township in the USA.  As a historic fiction this is a revealing book about the time following slavery in the south.   It is however the adventures of Carrie and Zora that bring the story to life.   We see their community through their eyes devoid of any rose colored glasses.  Zora & Me: The Cursed Ground will send chills up the spine of readers as he/she begins to comprehend the silence and violence touched upon by excellent characters.  Interaction between the individuals makes the book come alive, adults like Mr. Polk and Old Lady Bronson add intrigue to the adventure.

Place this book in middle school media centers and public libraries.  Any library purchasing this book should consider ordering the first book as well but it is not a necessary purchase.

Consider for Cream

Submitted by Jan Hamilton, retired children’s services librarian in Scarborough, ME

five-stars

Birds from Head to Tail

Birds from Head to TailBirds from Head to Tail by Stacey Roderick, Kwanchai Moriya
Published by Kids Can Press on October 2nd 2018
ISBN: 1771389257
Pages: 36
Goodreads
four-stars

Birds is part of the From Head to Tail series of early science picture books.  From nicely illustrated end pages to the two page spreads with informational text, this book is fun and educational.  Several pages include only a hint of the bird while others display the bird in full glory.  Alternate spreads ask the reader a question and the following illustrations and text reply with the answer.  In many cases the piece of anatomy is enough to identify but then Roderick and Moriya throw in a stumper like the Kiwi or Blue-Footed Booby.

Children who love nature and animals will want to take this from the public library over and over.  While there is not enough information for even primary class reports this book belongs in early grade media centers.  Make your favorite child happy by reading Birds but be ready for repeated request to open the cover and devour.

Reviewed by Jan Hamilton, retired children’s services librarian in Scarborough, ME

four-stars