Format: Chapter Book Fiction

Captain Rosalie

Captain RosalieCaptain Rosalie by Timothée de Fombelle, Isabelle Arsenault, Sam Gordon
Published by Candlewick Press on June 11th 2019
ISBN: 1536205206
Pages: 60
Goodreads
four-stars

The illustrations are the first thing that will draw readers into this quaint novel set in France during WWI. Rosalie is at home with her mother and her father is a soldier fighting in the war. Five-year-old Rosalie creates her own secret mission; she is a Captain protecting her village from the enemy. She spends her days at the local schoolhouse being looked after by the school teacher so that her mother can work in the factory. In the evenings she sits with her mother and listens as her mother reads letters from her father. When Rosalie begins to read on her own, she finds out there are more letters that her mother has hidden from her. The illustrations are done with pen and neutral backgrounds, while the splash of color on the characters makes them alive on the page. Translated from French by Sam Gordon, this quiet tale of loss is powerful. Recommended for grades 5-7. 

 

Elizabeth Andersen, Librarian, Westbrook High School

 

four-stars

The Race to Kangaroo Cliff

The Race to Kangaroo CliffThe Race to Kangaroo Cliff by Alexander McCall Smith, Iain Mcintosh
Published by Delacorte Press on April 9th 2019
ISBN: 039955405X
Pages: 240
Goodreads
four-stars

The Race to Kangaroo Cliff is a book in the School Ship Tobermorny series but it can be read independently. Some themes of the story are using individuality to solve problems and standing up to peer pressure. This tells the adventures that the students of School Ship Tobermorny have on their way to Australia and during a sailing race. They go on adventures through the outback and make friends while there. Students encounter a lot of difficulties along the way and a lot of learning opportunities about safety, ocean life, global warming, sailing and boats are provided throughout the book. One of the weaknesses of the story is that it shifts between the school of characters so you don’t get to know the students in the story.

Graphic novel style illustrations with panels are provided every few pages to complement the text and explain scenarios. The illustrations also help to introduce the characters.

This book would be appropriate for upper elementary through middle school students. The captivating adventures and explained vocabulary make for the story appropriate for a wide array of audiences. The Race to Kangaroo Cliff and the School Ship Tobermorny series would be great to get students interested in science and geography as it provides a fun environment to introduce these topics. There is some non-fiction information in the back of the book including a glossary that could be used to prompt discussion.

Reviewed by Kathleen Powers, Winslow Public Library, Winslow, ME

four-stars

Honor Bound

Honor BoundHonor Bound by Rachel Caine, Ann Aguirre
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on February 19th 2019
ISBN: 0062571028
Pages: 467
Goodreads
three-stars

Savvy criminal turned skilled Leviathan pilot Zara Cole finds new friends and clashes with bitter enemies in the second book of this action-packed series from New York Times bestselling authors Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre that’s perfect for fans of The 100 and The Fifth Wave.

Zara Cole was a thief back on Earth, but she’s been recently upgraded to intergalactic fugitive. On the run after a bloody battle in a covert war that she never expected to be fighting, Zara, her co-pilot Beatriz, and their Leviathan ship Nadim barely escaped the carnage with their lives.

Now Zara and her crew of Honors need a safe haven, far from the creatures who want to annihilate them. But they’ll have to settle for the Sliver: a wild, dangerous warren of alien criminals. The secrets of the Sliver may have the power to turn the tide of the war they left behind—but in the wrong direction.

Soon Zara will have to make a choice: run from the ultimate evil—or stand and fight.

Science Fiction can be amazing especially when the characters take various forms.   Many fascinating aliens make appearance within this second book of the Honors series but there is not a tie that binds the first to this second title.   Readers will find the action exciting as they view the hostile behavior and wonder what preceded the urgent need to fight.  Silver is a captivating setting for a science fiction,  there appears to be a trap behind every door.   What is confusing for anyone who did not read the first novel in this new series is the ship/pilot relationship that almost approaches a sexual level.  Although relationships do become clear the first chapter could have provided more hints to newly introduced readers.

This book cannot stand alone.   Libraries who have Honor Among Thieves will want to purchase this sequel for their YA collection.   Science Fiction readers should be directed to the first title.   Followers will anxiously await for the third title in the series.

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

three-stars

Ruby in the Sky

Ruby in the SkyRuby in the Sky by Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo
on February 5th 2019
ISBN: 0374309051
Pages: 304
Goodreads
five-stars

Two stories of grief entwine throughout this emotionally-charged story of finding the courage to once again have faith in people and hope in the future.  Ruby Moon Hayes has recently lost her father from a tragic and senseless shooting. Ruby’s mother, in a desperate attempt to cope with their loss, has been moving Ruby around the country searching for their “forever home.”  Ruby has had enough and this most recent move to a small town in Vermont has only worsened Ruby and her mother’s relationship. Against her mother’s expectation to stay away from the old woman down the street, Ruby and her dog Bob are drawn to The Bird Lady, the townspeople’s cruel name for this strange woman who lives in the shed on her property.  Slowly and tentatively, Ruby and Abigail form a sweet and powerful bond that pulls Ruby out of her tightly wound isolation while Ruby offers Abigail a chance to finally share the terrible loss she harbors which prevents her from stepping foot back in her home. While Ruby is an angry and withdrawn teenager, her friendships with Abigail and her ever-forbearing classmate Ahmed, a recent Syrian refugee, keep her from fully shutting down and she proves to be an immensely compelling survivor.  Told through Ruby’s perceptive and intelligent perspective, this is a story that will stay with readers long after they finish. Pair with I love you, Michael Collins and Hidden Figures.  Highly recommended for all middle school collections.

Reviewed by Suzanne Dix, Westbrook School, Westbrook

five-stars

No One Here is Lonely

No One Here is LonelyNo One Here Is Lonely by Sarah Everett
Published by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers on February 5th 2019
ISBN: 0553538683
Pages: 352
Goodreads
four-stars

No One Here is Lonely

 

Eden is in a pit of sadness.  Her potential, possible boyfriend, Will, has died in a car accident and her best friend, Lacey, wants her own space and not to always be doing everything together with Eden.  But, when Eden talks to Will’s mom, she learns that she has found a website to which Will has uploaded his emails, texts, and his voice just in case something were to happen to him.  Eden feels like she has Will back.  She calls Will all the time and leaves the phone on for hours to feel like they are together. Finally, Eden gets a job as a grocery cashier and meets new people, as well as reuniting with Lacey’s twin, Oliver, who has always had a crush on Eden.  She finally learns that Will’s real girlfriend was Lacey, Eden’s mother had an affair, and that Eden can go on by herself.

This book seemed odd with what appeared to be a realistic fiction plot with a science fiction element plopped down in the middle with the words from those who have died.  Why, also, was not everyone else using the site?  The intended audience is grades 9-12.

 

Reviewed by Ellen Spring, Oceanside High School, Rockland

four-stars

Ivy and the Goblins

Pages: 160
three-stars

Book 2 in the Ivy series. Recommended for grade 3 -6 for reading, the content is young.

The fairy tale village of Broomsweep is the setting. Ivy lives with her grandmother, a dragon, pixies, and a griffin. Grandmother is the town healer, a farmer brings her a sick goat when grandmother heals the goat he gives her an egg for payment. This is where the trouble begins. The egg hatches and a baby goblin is born. Ivy tries to return the egg, but goblins want nothing to do with humans.

Reviewed by Jeri Fitzpatrick, GNG Middle School, Gray

 

three-stars

Maybe a Mermaid

Maybe a MermaidMaybe a Mermaid by Josephine Cameron
on March 26th 2019
ISBN: 0374306427
Pages: 288
Goodreads
three-stars

Maybe a Mermaid

 

Anthoni and her mother are always on the move, from one town to another, as her mother attempts to sell Beauty and the Bee make-up products and recruit other “worker bees”.  Now they have landed at a run-down resort in Wisconsin by a lake.  What Anthoni is always searching for is a “forever friend” and maybe Maddy will be the one.  What isn’t always evident to Anthoni is that your best friends aren’t always who you plan for them to be but, rather, are those who will attempt to be a mermaid and swim underwater or who will go in the water with an arm cast on, if that’s what is needed.  There are many lists of goals and positive thoughts throughout which, in the case of the “True Blue Friend Criteria,” change as Anthoni does, too.  There are mentions of Vaudeville which may be of interest to some.  This book is for students in grades 5-8.

 

Reviewed by Ellen Spring, Oceanside High School, Rockland

three-stars

Anything but Okay

Anything but OkayAnything But Okay by Sarah Darer Littman
Published by Scholastic Paperbacks on September 3rd 2019
ISBN: 1338177583
Pages: 352
Goodreads
five-stars

This is great for high school mature audiences. It’s also a great look into city life.

Stella and Farida are best friends  but Stella has “white girl” glasses and really doesn’t understand how hard it is for Farida to fit into American society. Farida was born here, but she is Muslim.

Stella’s brother, Rob<  came home from a tour with the US Marines in Afghanistan. He is paranoid and angry.Then his best friend from the same division killed himself. The war has the same effect as the Vietnam war, no heros and help is hard to get.

Stella thinks she can help him by getting him out of the house. She  didn’t know going to the movies and a food court would freak him out. He sees a person of color being bullied, he steps up to defend a weaker person (like he was taught in service). He breaks the bully’s nose, it was videoed and it goes viral.

Stella decides to run for class president, but everyone thinks her brother is crazy and should go to jail. They spray paint their home, and the Amvets come to help clean up the mess.

Stella’s history teacher asks, “…what do think makes a patriot?” For a school project. Both of Stella’s parents were in the Army.

Reviewed by Jeri Fitzpatrick, GNG Middle School, Gray

five-stars

Trace

ISBN: 9780062698841
four-stars

Trace Carter has gone to live with his Auntie Lea in New York after the death of his parents. She lives in a brownstone, listens to music that matches whatever she has for supper, gave Trace her artist studio, and has no clue how to be a parent. Too much wine with dinner one night, Trace doesn’t share what his parents would have thought about that.

Trace hasn’t made any real friends yet at his new high school, but he is hoping that will change when he is assigned to create a workgroup for SS the 1860’s decade of America.

Trace sees a boy lost in the basement of the Public Library. When he tries to report it, he finds out he was downstairs illegally and misses his hookup with the study group.

Tracing his own history, trace discovers the boy is a ghost. Trace was in the car when his parents went over the bridge. Someone’s arms grabbed him and pulled him clear from the car even though the windows were all closed.

Great middle school and older ghost story read.

Reviewed by Jeri Fitzpatrick, GNG Middle School, Gray

four-stars

My Weirder-est School 1 Dr. Snow Has to Go!

My Weirder-est School 1 Dr. Snow Has to Go!Dr. Snow Has Got to Go! (My Weirder-est School #1) by Dan Gutman
Published by HarperCollins on January 8th 2019
ISBN: 0062691023
Pages: 112
Goodreads
three-stars

This is book 1 of in a series of 9. Ella Mentry School is the setting for the series. A.J. is the narrator of this book. Dr. Snow is a scientist who has come to the school to help teach the kids about STEM and science fair projects.

The story is written for 3rd graders and up. I read it with my soon to be 7th-grade grandson in a day. He loved it for the figurative language that everywhere in the text. “the all-Porpose”  room = the all-purpose room, my teacher passed out…passed out pencils, the vomitorium = cafetorium, there was electricity in the air… Well not really…we would all get electrocuted.

The science fair choices beyond volcanoes, egg drop from the school roof, Galileo in the library (librarian), and a leaf blower to blow out birthday candles.

I’m planning on using this series to help teach the difference between connotative and denotative  meanings of words in middle school.

 

Reviewed by Jeri Fitzpatrick, GNG Middle School, Gray

three-stars