Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Book Review - What Goes Up
📖Recommend for Grades 6 and up📖
by Kate Kennedy
NASA’s
top-secret Interworlds Agency (IA) is looking for recruits; Teen recruits to be
exact. Rosa and Eddie are among the group of teens participating in a series of
tests to join the program. When aliens from an alternate Earth show up, well,
not in peace, Rosa and Eddie must travel to their planet along with two other
recruits and their instructor Reg, to help save their own planet.
A fun,
humorous, and entertaining science fiction novel. Rosa and Eddie differ from
one another but make quite a pair. The other characters in the story are
equally enjoyable. The dynamic between them all is done so brilliantly and
readers may find themselves wishing to be among them.
Friday, October 4, 2019
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Book Review - Love From A to Z
📖Recommend for Grades 8 and up📖
by S.K. Ali
After
getting suspended from school for confronting her racist teacher, Zayneb heads
early to visit her aunt in Doha for spring break. Adam is also flying home to
Doha, Qatar for spring break, with the secret that he was diagnosed with
multiple sclerosis in November. When Zayneb is boarding the plane, Adam notices
that she has a marvel and oddity journal just like him. The pair run into each
other again when it turns out Zayneb’s aunt is friends with Adam’s family.
Their chance encounter on the plane and seeing each other again is both a
marvel and an oddity for each of them.
Zayneb
and Adam’s perspectives are alternated to tell this tale. The format is unusual,
as it is supposed to be a transcribed version of their journals with their
marvel or oddity as the chapter heading. While both Zayneb and Adam can be
intriguing at times, Adam’s sister easily steals the scenes she appears in.
Some of the other characters are forgettable and may be confusing to keep track
of. Zayneb is Muslim and of Middle Eastern descent, which causes her to deal a
lot with various forms of racism throughout the book and her inability to stand
for it is inspiring even if her direct actions aren’t the wisest.
Friday, September 27, 2019
Book Review - A Blade So Black
📖Recommend for Grades 8 and up📖
by L.L. McKinney
Seventeen-year-old
Alice Kingston is a Dreamwalker: fighting nightmares in Wonderland before they
can cross the veil into the human world. Her mission began the night her father
died and she was saved from a Nightmare that crossed over by Addison Hatta. Addison's job is to find people like Alice and train them to fight the
Nightmares. For Alice, it isn’t so much the fighting that is challenging, but
that her mother watches her like a hawk. When a mysterious person shows up
claiming to be The Black Knight and poisons Addison, Alice finds herself on a
life or death adventure to save him.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland mixed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this book,
which is the first in a series, is one you’re likely to love or hate. Fans of
Alice and her Wonderland adventures will love the Wonderland setting and nods
to the original story. While some references may be lost on those unfamiliar
with it, the story itself will be unaffected. This Alice is a rebellious, kick-butt,
strong-willed black girl whom readers will root for.
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Book Review - Fresh Ink
📖Recommend for Grades 9 and up📖
edited by Lamer Giles
A
collection of diverse short stories written by young adult authors including Jason
Reynolds, Melissa De La Cruz, Nicola Yoon, and its editor Lamer Giles. These
stories are diverse in genre (realistic fiction, historical fiction, etc.),
protagonists (various races, ethnicities, religions, abilities, and sexual
orientations), and style (prose, graphic novel and play).
For those
who enjoy reading, but find themselves too busy with school to read a full
length novel, this collection of short stories is one to pick up. Readers can
read the entire collection or only those that interest them. Some readers may
want to skip certain stories if they are uncomfortable with the topic as well.
Every reader though is likely to find a story they find wonderful and enjoyable.
Monday, September 23, 2019
Friday, September 20, 2019
Book Review - Totally Middle School
📖Recommend for Grades 6 and up📖
edited by Betsy Groban
Lois Lowry, Katherine Paterson,
Linda Sue Park, Gary D. Schmidt, and more shares stories of middle school and
those of middle school age. Some stories are in prose, while others are in
formats such as comic panels or poems. The characters and themes are also
diverse despite the overall theme of middle school.
If
you find yourself too busy to read a full-length novel with school going on,
you may want to consider this collection of short stories. You don’t have to
read them all and only read the ones that interest you. In fact, some stories
are better off skipped over. However, Lois Lowry’s “Letters” Hena Khan's “How to Make
S’mores”, and "TBH I Need HELP!!" by Katherine Paterson and Jordan Paterson are must-reads. The book is broken down into three sections
Family, Friends and Fitting In, and Finding Yourself, so readers can get an
idea about what the stories are about.
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