Month: January 2020

Cog

five-stars

COG is an android. He was developed on the sly by Gina, a programmer that wanted to make a robot that could learn and grow with the experiences it had. The company that hired Gina,  uniMIND, has other ideas and want the android for themselves. COG is going to have use all of his experiences to out smart uniMIND and escape them. This is a great sci-fi book for a younger reader. It has a few pictures, (wish it had more), that add to the book. COG’s dilemma  about what to do and how to go about doing it were action filled at times, other times creative and sometimes funny. Each of the robots/androids had a quirk and unique personality that made the story. Grades 4 and up

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

 

five-stars

The Year We Fell From Space

The Year We Fell From SpaceThe Year We Fell From Space by A.S. King
Published by Arthur A. Levine Books on October 15th 2019
ISBN: 1338236369
Pages: 272
Goodreads
four-stars

Liberty loves everything about constellations and she knows so much about them. She often goes out at night to look at them. One night when she is outside she sees a meteorite crash into the forest behind their cabin. She is super excited about it, but on that same night, something awful happens, her dad moves out and her parents end up getting divorced. This book deals with depression in a parent and the impact it can have on their children. Liberty tries to shoulder a lot of the taking care of people in her family because of this, but it affects her and her life in ways she can’t see until she gets help. The story also explores the fears a child might have in a family with depression that they too might have depression. There is a list of resources at the back of the book on where to get help and learn about depression. Grades 5 and up

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

 

four-stars

Cassandra Animal Psychic, Cassandra Steps Out

Cassandra Animal Psychic, Cassandra Steps OutCassandra Steps Out by Isabelle Bottier, Haelaene Canac, Norwyn Mactyre
Published by Graphic Universe (TM) on September 3rd 2019
ISBN: 1541543971
Pages: 56
Goodreads
two-stars

Translation of: Cassandra prend son envol.

Cassandra can understand animals. She decides to use her ability to find lost pets but doesn’t want anyone to know. She gets very upset with her friend when she suggests she shouldn’t hide her talent. To make Cassandra even more upset,  her friend might go England and Cassandra will be left behind. Cool graphics in here but Cassandra is just on ok character. It’s hard to really get behind her frustration with her friend, the boy reporter and her mom because it is kind of muddled and the story needs more information on all 3 of these to help with that. Grades 4 and up.

Mary Lehmer, Youth Services Librarian, Freeport Community Library.

two-stars

Glitch

GlitchGlitch by Sarah Graley
Published by Graphix on May 14th 2019
ISBN: 1338174517
Pages: 192
Goodreads
five-stars

Izzy can’t wait to play the new Dungeon City video game that she and her friend Eric have been waiting forever to come out. They are supposed to wait to play it together but Izzy just can’t and tries the game out. When she does, she actually enters the game. In the game she encounters a robot that tells her she is the hero they have been waiting for to save the Dungeon City, but the robot isn’t telling her everything. Great illustrations, terrific use of pronouns, and a sweet video game that the character actually becomes part of. So much fun as well as relatable for many gamers and non-gamers. Cream

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

five-stars

Pippa by Design

Pippa by DesignPippa by Design: A Story of Ballet and Costumes by Claudia Logan, Chesley McLaren
on September 24th 2019
ISBN: 0374359563
Pages: 192
Goodreads
five-stars

This is a book about ballet, fashions and sisters. The story is about 2 sisters, both want to be the best at something- one a ballerina, the other a fashion designer. Sometimes they get along and other times the don’t, a sibling relationship many readers will identify with. It is filled with facts about ballets and costumes from the past as well as how the costume department in a ballet company works. Loads of illustrations are sprinkled throughout the book. At our library there are so many young readers that are looking for books about fashion and fashion designers that this one would be a fantastic book for them to try. It offers some history, a solid story and an area of fashion design that many may not have thought of. It also describes all the work that goes into designing a costume. Grades 4 and up. Cream

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

five-stars

All the Impossible Things

All the Impossible ThingsPublished by Roaring Brook Press on September 3rd 2019
ISBN: 1250202868
Pages: 384
Genres: Biography/Autobiography, Fantasy
Format: Board Book, Chapter Book Fiction
five-stars

Red (her real name is Ruby), is in foster care waiting for her mom, a drug addict, to get out of prison. Red is literally counting the days. Every foster home she has been in has not worked out and the anger she feels manifests it self in the wind, just like it does for her mom. She doesn’t want to get close to anyone, especially her new foster family because she wants to live with her mom, if she can just get her to change. But her new foster family seems different and she loves the animals there and begins to care for the them until things happen with her mom. Suddenly her wind begins to destroy things, and even threatens the new foster family she is beginning to love. This book is what I would describe as magic-realism. The wind piece adds so much to the story. The ending with her mom and the foster family, is so hopeful but still has many sad and real elements to it. And Tuck the tortoise on the farm, well, he is just a terrific character and readers will have him tugging at their heart strings just like he does to Red. Grades 5 and up. Cream

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

five-stars

Anya and the Dragon

Anya and the DragonAnya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
Published by Versify on September 24th 2019
ISBN: 0358006074
Pages: 416
Goodreads
four-stars

Anya lives in a village and shares the area in and around the village magical creatures live. The czar sends one of his men to capture a dragon he thinks is in her village. Anya agrees to help because it pays well and she need the money. But, as the hunt progresses ,she begins to wonder if capturing a dragon is really the right thing to do. The beginning seemed a bit slow which might cause some readers to not want to finish the story. Also, the number of unusual names of many of the characters were kind of tough to keep straight. But once Anya is part of the posse hunting the dragon, the story was quite good. A nice twist or two in here as well. For grades 4 and up.

 

Mary Lehmer, Youth Services Librarian, Freeport Community Library.

four-stars

Unicorn and Yeti Sparkly New Friends

Unicorn and Yeti Sparkly New FriendsSparkly New Friends (Unicorn and Yeti, #1) by Heather Ayris Burnell, Hazel Quintanilla
Published by Scholastic Inc. on April 30th 2019
ISBN: 1338329014
Pages: 64
Goodreads
three-stars

Unicorn and Yeti are friends. The two have 3 adventures in this early chapter book for young readers. In one they search for something sparkly, in another they find more about each other and in another they have a friendly snowball fight. Each page is filled with colorful fun drawings. The book is not a graphic novel but has the feel of one. A good book for young readers that like humor, fantasy and unicorns. For kindergarten and up.

 

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

three-stars

Breakthroughs in Mars Exploration

Breakthroughs in Mars ExplorationBreakthroughs in Mars Exploration by Karen Latchana Kenney
Published by Lerner Publications (Tm) on January 1st 2019
ISBN: 1541538692
Pages: 32
Goodreads

Mars is one of the few planets that can be seen from Earth with the naked eye. It has been a planet that people thought could be visited and even colonized. Since the 1800s when an Italian astronomer, Giovanni Schaiparelli viewed Mars and thought that the lines that criss-crossed the planet were canals built by aliens scientists have longed to know more about this planet. This slim volume gives the reader the basics of what scientists have done in their quest to reach Mars. The 1960’s when probes flew by and took photos, Mariner 9 that landed in 1971, 1975 when two Viking spacecraft discovered evidence of water, to 2020 when another Rover is due to be sent and the goal of 2030 when men will go to Mars. Photos and artists images support the text. Use this as an introduction to the planet humans might one day call home.

Submitted by Kathy George, Gray Public Library, Gray, Maine

grades 4-6

Lion of the Sky: Haiku for All Seasons

Lion of the Sky: Haiku for All SeasonsLion of the Sky: Haiku for All Seasons by Laura Purdie Salas, Mercè López
Published by Millbrook Press (Tm) on April 2nd 2019
ISBN: 1512498092
Pages: 32
Goodreads
five-stars

Haiku, a form of poetry made up of three lines : five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line and five syllables in the third line. Author Salas has taken this form as an invitation to the reader to explore the four seasons – but with a twist! These haiku poems are riddle-ku and mask poems.Something non human narrates the poem and asks the reader to guess what the narrator is- that is a mask poem  and instead of the well known haiku form that describes something, a riddle -ku invites the reader to guess what object the poem is. Each page offers a riddle with large illustrations that reflect the season where the object can be found. the illustrations may be a bright sand pail found in summer or a snow globe on a gray-blue page that feels like winter.

There are many books of poetry available but there are some that are unique, that make a  school or library collection richer- this is one of those books.

Use with any poetry unit , units on the seasons, or just a mystery read aloud. Good for grades k – 6.

Submitted by Kathy George, Gray Public Library, Gray Maine.

five-stars