Month: January 2020

Michigan vs. the Boys

Michigan vs. the BoysMichigan vs. the Boys by Carrie S. Allen
Published by Kids Can Press on October 1st 2019
ISBN: 1525301489
Pages: 304
Goodreads
four-stars

This book faces many issues associated with team sports in the high school environment.   Although not subtle Allen outlines some of the more frightening aspects of competition.  Michigan is a skilled ice hockey player on her girl’s hockey team but the high school just cut that team.  In spite of harassment and taunting she joins the boy’s team where the situation gets more difficult.  This book goes beyond a typical sports book, it delves into serious issues of bullying and sexual intimidation.

Michigan vs. the Boys is well written as it depicts situations that no athletic director wants to see in their school.   Coaches should be made aware of this title and librarians will want to included it on the shelves of high school media centers.  Gift to both female and male athletics.

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

four-stars

My Jasper June

My Jasper JuneMy Jasper June by Laurel Snyder
Published by Walden Pond Press on September 3rd 2019
ISBN: 0062836625
Pages: 304
Goodreads
four-stars

Summer arrives but Leah is bored and lonely since she is not going to camp this year.  Enter a refreshing new girl to the community who emits self-confidence and exhibits a sense of personal freedom.   This book is powerful as it goes beyond typical teen friendship to reveal some serious situations.  Readers will be surprised twice by twist that are not expected even as they are enchanted by the quality of real friendship.  The only weakness is the under development of Leah’s parents.

My Jasper June does have a magical quality and will appeal to mostly7th and 8th grade girls.  Public and middle school librarians will want to add this book to their collection.  School social workers may find the runaway and family loss themes helpful for their students.

Submitted by Jan Hamilton, retired librarian in Scarborough, ME

four-stars

It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

ISBN: 0525582169

Set against the backdrop of Apartheid, It’s Trevor Noah is the young reader’s adaptation of Noah’s bestselling adult memoir, Born a Crime.  Born to a South African mother and a European father, Noah explains how he is “born a crime” because he is proof of a mixed-race relationship.  Each chapter holds vignettes from Noah’s childhood in South Africa, often leaning heavily on humor to tell his tales of mischief, scheming, and tragedy.  This book, which delicately adapts the often very mature adult memoir,  will have readers laughing out loud, thinking deeply, and crying by the end.  The book features excellent information in the back matter with a historical essay about Apartheid.  Recommended for grades 6 and above.

Reviewed by Noelle Gallant, Saco Middle School 

A Slip Of A Girl

four-stars

Patricia Reilly Giff never disappoints. This verse is a tale of around the time of the potato famine. The story isn’t about the famine, but the time during the Drumlish Land War, the Irish were very poor, life was hard and the English could know down your home for a place to raise their sheep.  Anna takes her baby sister to go live with an old aunt she has never met. Their Da is working and no one knows when he will be back,  This is a time when hundreds of people came together to make the English back off from claiming people’s homes. Their voices were heard.

Throughout the verse, are many photographs taken during this time frame. There is a glossary to help with some vocabulary that may not be familiar to the reader.

Reviewed by Jeri Fitzpatrick, GNG Middle School, Gray

four-stars

Stargazing

StargazingStargazing by Jen Wang
Published by First Second on September 10th 2019
ISBN: 125018388X
Pages: 224
Goodreads
five-stars

This graphic novel about friendship is based on an experience in Wang’s childhood. The main character, Christine, is struggling with living up to the expectations of her parents and many of these include stereotypical behavior in the Chinese American community: do well at math, play violin, always obey your parents and strive to be the best. But Christine is not great at math and she is just okay at violin. When she meets Moon, another Chinese American girl, she realizes that not all Chinese Americans are the same, nor do they have to be. Moon is relaxed and fun, she is a Buddhist, and she loves to draw and dance to K-pop music. Christine really likes Moon, but she is also jealous at the ease in which Moon seems to move through life. When her jealousy leads her to do something unkind, she must come to terms with her behavior. Adding to this is the fact that Moon is sick. Did Christine contribute to the illness with her unkindness? Will there be time to make it up to Moon? Wang layers in her message about the difficulty of being a good friend and the consequences of decisions we make with a gentle touch. Gorgeously drawn and colored, this graphic novel will be a hit with fans of Jenny Holms, Raina Telgemeier, and Shannon Hale.

Reviewed by Jill O’Connor, Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth

five-stars

The Unofficial Guide to Minecraft Mining and Farming

The Unofficial Guide to Minecraft Mining and FarmingThe Unofficial Guide to Minecraft Mining and Farming by Heather E. Schwartz
Series: My Minecraft
Published by Lerner Publications (Tm) on January 1st 2019
ISBN: 1541538854
Pages: 32
Goodreads
three-stars

As the name of the game implies, mining is a huge part of playing the game Minecraft. And in order to survive, a player must also learn to grow food. This guide avoids telling players things they might already know simply from playing the game and sticks to offering tips and tricks about mining and farming better. With plenty of screen shots and some connections to real-world applications, this is a book for those just beginning to play or who are interested in learning if they might like to play the game (and perhaps justifying it to an adult in their life). Not essential, but if it were on the shelf in a school or public library, it would certainly circulate.

Reviewed by Jill O’Connor, Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth

three-stars

Smell My Foot

Smell My FootChick and Brain: Smell My Foot! by Cece Bell
Series: Chick and Brain #1
Published by Candlewick Press on September 3rd 2019
ISBN: 0763679364
Pages: 72
Goodreads
five-stars

Riffing on the Dick & Jane books, Cece Bell has created a new early reader, graphic series introducing Chick & Brain and their hilarious dynamic. Despite having a large brain, Brain is a simple guy. He wants Chick to smell his foot, but Chick will do no such thing until Brain says, “Please.” In a series of Abbot-and-Costello-esque exchanges, the two go round and round. Enter Spot the dog. He gets caught up in the sniff-fest but turns it to his advantage, happily inviting Chick “to lunch.” Then the reader learns that Brain is not as clueless as he seems. Kids will laugh out loud and won’t care that this is a book slyly teaching them about manners. Bell’s illustrations are large and clear and limited to two or three panels per page. Recommend for classrooms and public library collections.

Reviewed by Jill O’Connor, Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth

five-stars

The American Dream?

The American Dream?The American Dream?: A Journey on Route 66 Discovering Dinosaur Statues, Muffler Men, and the Perfect Breakfast Burrito by Shing Yin Khor
Published by Zest Books (Tm) on August 6th 2019
ISBN: 154157852X
Pages: 160
Goodreads
five-stars

The title of this book includes a question mark which clues readers into the fact that it will challenge traditional notions of the “American Dream.” The author of this graphic memoir, Shing Yin Khor, is an immigrant and artist from Malaysia who after living in Los Angeles for ten years sets out in 2016 to learn about the rest of America. She sets out on Route 66, the “Mother Road” she read about in Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. This memoir is just as much about the roadside attractions and the search for the “American Dream”, as it is about the author becoming comfortable in her own skin as an immigrant and an American. The eye-catching artwork in ink and watercolor formatted in a variety of sizes often taking up whole pages. This book will have wide appeal for readers who have just left high school and are looking to set their own path and begin their own journeys. 

Elizabeth Andersen, Librarian, Westbrook High School

five-stars

The Moon Book

The Moon BookThe Moon Book by Gail Gibbons
Published by Holiday House on May 14th 2019
ISBN: 0823443248
Pages: 32
Goodreads
four-stars

This revised and updated edition of Gail Gibbon’s The Moon Book provides students with a clear introduction to how the moon was formed, its orbit, phases of the moon, solar and lunar eclipse, exploration, milestones, legends, and additional facts. Gibbon’s characteristic illustrations direct the reader’s eye to what is being explained. While the book does not include an index or glossary, there are many labeled diagrams and bold subject headings across the top of the pages. This updated version includes a map of the moon. Recommended for schools and libraries serving k-3 children. Margy Soule, Coffin elementary School, Brunswick, Maine

four-stars

The Tornado

four-stars

Bell is being bullied by Parker at school. He has devised a strategy to help stop the bullying- avoid Parker at all costs. He tried to tell the principal about it and so did his parents, but the principal is Parker’s dad and he just can’t see/believe what Parker is doing. But then a new student joins the school and Parker has a new target which Bell knows is wrong but can’t help feeling relieved. The humor in here was good and the bullying very real. Also the turning on friends or just not standing up for them to avoid being bullied is something lots of kids will relate too. Bells parents were a big plus in this book, their roll is minor but it added quite a bit. Not quite as good as Burt’s other books, as Good as Greetings from Witness Protection or The Right Hook of Devin Velma, but still good. Grades 4 and up

Mary Lehmer, Youth Services Librarian, Freeport Community Library, Freeport, ME

four-stars