Category: Cream of the Crop Nominees

We Are The Ghosts

We Are The GhostsWe Are The Ghosts by Vicky Skinner
Published by Swoon Reads on August 13th 2019
ISBN: 1250195357
Pages: 272
Goodreads
five-stars

Ellie’s older brother Luke ran away a year ago. Things at home weren’t the best between Luke and his mother, but then comes a phone call from the Michigan State Police informing them that Luke’s car went off the road and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Luke was Ellie’s best friend and she thought she knew everything about him. The day of the funeral, Ellie returns home to find an envelope addressed to her with no name just the city of origin on the return address. Inside is a road map that Ellie, Luke, and Luke’s best friend Wes had marked with all of the places they wanted to visit. But who sent this to Ellie? When Luke left, he and Wes weren’t speaking to each other and to top things off, Ellie’s love interest Cade was put on the back burner without any explanation to him. Ellie, Wes, Gwen (Wes’s girlfriend, who at one time had dated Luke), and Cade decide to follow the map to find out what happened to Luke after he left and, hopefully, have their many unsolved questions answered.

Recommended for grades 9 and up.

Reviewed by Kristin Taylor, Biddeford High School, Biddeford.

five-stars

Wintercake

WintercakeWintercake by Lynne Rae Perkins
Published by Greenwillow Books on October 15th 2019
ISBN: 0062894870
Pages: 48
Goodreads
five-stars

Thomas, a furry animal (perhaps a groundhog?), has misplaced the bowl of dried fruit he needs to make his holiday cake. His bird friend, Lucy (perhaps a cardinal), flies off in a snowstorm to help him, and mistakenly identifies a thief. All comes round right in the end. I enjoyed how the tension ebbs and flows throughout the story with much depth. The illustrations are glorious and some of the ones with speech bubbles are my favorite. This is a delightful story of friendship, community, stories, and cake. A wonderful addition to holiday books that focuses more on a solstice celebration rather than Christmas. Good readaloud for primary age.

Reviewed by Barb Rehmeyer, Liberty Library, Liberty

Reviews: Perkins’ art, with its warm yellows, opulent blues, and soft browns of wintry forest and cozy dens, nicely complements the fine narrative arc. This could simply be a splendid holiday tale: There is cake, after all, and there are both connection and community. But the different colorings of the animals’ coats combine with light-feathered Lucy’s false, if unspoken, accusation of innocent, dark-brown Tobin to offer an allegorical storyline for readers who care to pursue it.

Cozy—and potentially provocative. (Picture book. 4-8) Kirkus, July 2019

Starred Review: A first-rate example of a longer picture book for elementary-age readers and listeners. School Library Journal, October, 2019

 

five-stars

The Scarecrow

The ScarecrowThe Scarecrow by Beth Ferry, Eric Fan, Terry Fan
Published by HarperCollins on September 3rd 2019
ISBN: 0062475762
Pages: 40
Goodreads
five-stars

“The Scarecrow” is a beautiful and tenderhearted  story  about friendship and needing a friend.

A scarecrow in a farmer’s field stands lonely and forlorn.  Some of the smaller creatures are even afraid of  Scarecrow as he stands alone, through the seasons,  in the snow covered field.  One day a small crow drops to the ground right in front of Scarecrow. Is it  injured, does it  have a broken wing, wonders Scarecrow?  Scarecrow  bends low to save the tiny crow, scooping him up and tucking him into a pocket near his heart of hay.  He then sings him the sweetest lullaby.  When the day comes that his friend takes flight again,  Scarecrow is again sad and  wishes that he didn’t have to stay tethered to his post.  But when spring finally returns, after a long, lonely  winter, Crow reappears  followed by another crow!   Soon a nest of eggs appear in Scarecrow’s pocket. When  the new baby crows are old enough to fly away,  Scarecrow  finds himself lonely  once again – until the  day that  one of the fledglings returns to build  a new nest!

A beautifully written  story about kindness  and the enduring  bonds of friendship.  This lovely story  exemplifies  the appreciation and the love that is fostered when  helping  a friend in need,

All ages will benefit from this story of kindness, love and friendship. For use anytime!

 

Reviewed by Connie M. Smith

 

five-stars

Ghost Cat

Ghost CatGhost Cat by Kevan Atteberry
Published by Neal Porter Books on June 11th 2019
ISBN: 0823442837
Pages: 32
Goodreads
five-stars

“Ghost Cat”  is a quietly, haunting picture  book about “moving on.” A boy once had a cat that has now passed away.  But,  still, on occasion,  the boy catches glimpses of his cat following him around the house.

“I’ve only seen it out of the corner of my eye, but I think it’s a cat.  I know because I used to have one.”

In fact, at times, beyond catching glimpses of his former pet, the boy can also feel the weight of the cat on his bed,  and even hear  him playing with cat toys  in the house. One day the boy sees the cat sitting by the door, and after a few minutes,  “. . . it (the ghost cat)  ” . . . turned and leapt right through the door.”  Much to the boys’ surprise, when he opens  the door, there is a kitten sitting on his doorstep – just waiting to be claimed.

Soft colors, with boldly delineated characters and expressions.  This book serves as  wonderful metaphor for letting things go of  things one cannot change (the ghost cat leaving) and being ready and willing  to open  the door to  new possibilities.

Could be used to share after loss.   A lesson for folks of any age,

Reviewed by Connie M. Smith 

five-stars

Secret Soldiers

Secret SoldiersSecret Soldiers by Keely Hutton
on June 11th 2019
ISBN: 0374309035
Pages: 320
Goodreads
five-stars

This historical fiction novel takes place during WW1. Thomas lies about his age because he is desperate to find his older brother who is missing in the war. Thomas and other underage boys end up working in the tunnels beneath the battlefield on a dangerous secret mission on the Western Front. These young soldiers form a lasting bond in spite of their different social classes and reasons for enlisting. The character development of the four main characters is excellent. It is a gripping story that vividly describes the horrors of life and death in the tunnels and trenches. The author’s note reveals that more than a quarter of a million underage British boys served in this war. I highly recommend this novel for readers age 12 and up. Kris Zuidema, retired school librarian, Standish

five-stars

The Survival List

The Survival ListThe Survival List by Courtney Sheinmel
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on September 17th 2019
ISBN: 0062655000
Pages: 320
Goodreads
five-stars

The Survival List

 

Sloane is still alive, but her sister Talley is dead by suicide.  The guilt Sloane feels is almost unbearable, since on Talley’s last day of life she had begged Sloane to stay home from school with her, but Sloane had left because she had a test and orchestra practice and her best friend’s boyfriend had just broken up with her.  Talley had been depressed at home for weeks, not leaving her bed or showering.  But neither Sloane nor her father had realized how bad things had become.  After Talley’s death Sloane finds a note in Talley’s jeans pocket with a seemingly unrelated list of words.  Sloane knew how Talley had loved puzzles so she begins to follow the clues, traveling to California from Minnesota, reconnecting with an aunt she hadn’t seen in years, meeting Adam who joined in her search on a trip to the Big Sur area, and finally finding out the truth of her mother’s death, also by suicide.

This book gives a realistic picture of depression and the guilt of those relatives and friends who are left behind after a suicide.  The descriptions of California were awesome, and the closeness of Sloane and her best friend Juno was great to see. This book was hard to put down as Sloane discovers how the pieces of the puzzle fit together in Talley’s last gift to her.  This book is recommended for grades 9-12 and for the Cream of the Crop list.

 

Reviewed by Ellen Spring, Oceanside High School, Rockland

five-stars

Wildfire: A Novel

Wildfire: A NovelWildfire by Rodman Philbrick
Published by The Blue Sky Press on September 3rd 2019
ISBN: 133826690X
Pages: 208
Goodreads
five-stars

Philbrick — Maine author, Lupine award winner, Maine Student Book Award nominee, and Newbery honor book writer — has done it again. A wildfire in Maine — inspired by the Great Fire of 1947 — sweeps through Sam’s summer camp.  As Sam is about to board an evacuation bus, he remembers he left his cell phone in his cabin. In an all-too-believable scene, Sam runs back to his cabin for his phone and in an instant is cut off from the buses when the fire flares up. Suddenly, he is in survival mode. Along the way, he meets up with Delphy who got separated from her summer camp and together they race to escape the fast-moving flames. This short chapter book is a fast read — chapters are short and the action never lets up. Philbrick includes brief sections on the recent increase in wildfires and survival tips at the end of the book. Talk about a page-turner!

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

Recommended for Cream of the Crop

five-stars

Flippers & Fins

five-stars

Do youngsters understand the invention process? Or that many tools we use are inspired by nature?  “Flippers & Fins” is one book in the ‘Animal Tech’ series which includes “Fur & Claws,”

“Creepy & Crawly,” and “Wings & Beaks” all by this author published in 2019.

Clear photos, insets, colorful layouts, fact boxes, labels, and activities invite the reader to read the text to find out exactly how scientists use these animal concepts. The text is detailed enough to cover how each example of biomimicry works, yet is easy to understand for middle aged elementary youngsters. Readers will also be drawn by the seemingly odd connections. For example, Otto Schmitt studied squid axons in his work to develop the ‘Schmitt trigger’ which is a critical part for electrical switches. Other examples include sharks and swimsuits, cephalopods and camouflage, and whales and wind turbines. 

This book would be a great introduction to science projects, and would make a good partner book to Dora Lee’s “Biomimicry: Inventions Inspired by Nature” (2011). 

Reviewed by Lynn Mayer, Librarian, Old Town Elementary School, Old Town

five-stars

Get Me Out of This Book!

Get Me Out of This Book!Get Me Out of This Book!: Rules & Tools for Being Brave by Kalli Dakos, Deborah Cholette, Sara Infante
Published by Holiday House on June 11th 2019
ISBN: 0823438627
Pages: 40
Goodreads
five-stars

What are the three basic rules for being brave? Ask any Navy SEAL, or any child who has read this book!

Max, a bookmark, used to be scared of images in books, like snakes. He went back to school to learn “rules and tools for looking right at scary.” After that, he used these to face down the scariest images, like sharks, cockroaches, and skeletons.

What are these rules & tools?

  1. Breathe deeply
  2. Make a plan
  3. Think good thoughts

Anyone can employ these for any situation – this book is entertaining and a great teaching tool!

Plenty of white space separates the images and text. Simple black font in several sizes emphasize emotions, like SHOOK and SCREAMED.

Author’s Note includes critical information about the influence of the Navy SEALS training methods.

Includes an actual bookmark in the image of Max attached to the back endpaper. 

Reviewed by Lynn Mayer, Librarian, Old Town Elementary School, Old Town

five-stars

Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration

Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of ImmigrationOpen Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration by Bryan Caplan, Zach Weinersmith
Published by First Second on October 29th 2019
ISBN: 1250316960
Pages: 256
Goodreads
five-stars

In this graphic non-fiction book, economics professor Bryan Caplan teams up with cartoonist Zach Weinersmith to demonstrate why open borders are the best way to handle immigration, both scientifically and ethically.  With a clear cartoon style and a wealth of graphs, Caplan walks the reader through objections to immigration, ultimately showing how open borders benefit the United States specifically and the world as a whole, while walking the line between political sides that can often be highly contentious.

Fantastic for middle school, high school, and even adult patrons, Open Borders will be in high demand wherever graphic non-fiction is popular.

Reviewed by Sarah Cropley, Scarborough Public Library.

five-stars