Firefly Hollow by Alison McGee

• Genre: Animal Story/Fantasy
• Grade Level: 3rd - 5th 
• Reading Level: 4.7
• Length: 304 pages (6 hours)
• Publisher: Atheneum (August 18, 2015)
• My Rating: 3 out of 4
• Division: 1

This book has such a winsome and attractive cover as well as illustrations inside. It reminded me of the book Apple Blossom the Possum.  It is a sweet story about some animals who get involved with people. In this case, firefly, cricket and vole  all have dreams. Firefly dreams of flying to the moon and outer space captivates her. She goes past the boundaries of the firefly tree and meets the cricket who sings "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" every night. His dream is to be able to catch a baseball. The vole wants to set sail on the river again. 

Both Firefly and Cricket leave their nations (homes) and  meet a boy named Peter (young giant as they call him) who is lonely without his best friend Charlie. Peter helps them with in making their dreams come true. Vole takes the Cricket and Firefly into his home at night since they have left their homes. 

Firefly's beloved elder dies. Peter has lost his friend, perhaps in death? It isn't exactly clear. And cricket has a cricket friend who was wounded and lamed by a falling lollipop stick. He believes if they learned to catch it would help them.  They are all very afraid of the "giants' because one false step and they can be hurt.  Lots of realistic life angst to discuss. 

This book is a book appropriate for reading to younger elementary children. Or, if younger students are strong readers, this may be a good chapter book suggestion for them. I did get a little bored with the story. It didn't hold my interest like Apple Blossom did. However, it is a good story and so I give it a 3 out of 4 rating. I kept thinking that I would love to see this book animated with the illustrations from the book. 

Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head by Lauren Oliver & H. C. Chester

• Genre: Mystery/Fantasy
• Grade Level: 4th - 6th 
• Reading Level: 5.2
• Length: 384 pages (10 hours)
• Publisher: Harper Collins (September 29, 2015)
• My Rating: 3 out of 4
• Division: 2

The Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head is a first book in a series of orphan/mystery stories. The setting is in the early 1900's in New York City in a curiosity and wonders museum.  There are all kinds of unusual things to look at as well as a performance show with lots of entertainment. There are four orphan children who live at the home who also perform: a strong boy, a girl who can see what is in pockets, a boy who can bend his body like a contortionist, and a girl who can throw knives.  A fat lady, a dwarf, a magician, and a few others round out the show.  

One day a new shrunken head is unveiled at a show.  A woman faints when she sees it and later dies at the hospital. The newspaper reporter writes a dramatic article about this cursed head and business flourishes.  But then the head is stolen and murders start to happen until the mystery is solved by the four orphan characters. 

This book is like a combination of  A Series of Unfortunate Events and Sherlock Holmes mysteries. I was surprised that there was so much murder and mayhem in a grade 4th - 6th grade book.  I wasn't sure I wanted to finish this one since I had a stack to read that seemed more appealing.  (That is always a bad sign!) However, it turned out that it was worth finishing and I did enjoy it. It doesn't make me want to read the next book though.  Perhaps the characters were not developed in a way that made me pull for them.  There were quite a few of them and I did need to sort them out from time to time.  The illustrations were good.  I wish they went along with the story line better. Some of them seemed to be randomly placed in the book. It was a good read but not my favorite. 

Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eagar

Genre: Realistic-Fantasy (Mystical Realism)

Grade Level: 4th - 6th 

Reading Level: 4.9

Length: 368 pages (9 hours)

Publisher: Candlewick (March 8, 2016)

My Rating: 3 out of 4

Division: 1 or crossover

Carol is twelve years old and is moving into her grandfather's ranch home along with her father, mother, sister and baby brother. The setting is in the middle of a New Mexico desert on a sheep farm. The grandfather  has beginning dementia and the family is getting his ranch ready for sale and planning on moving him into a home for seniors with this condition. The grandfather's relationship with his son is estranged and so Carol doesn't know Grandpa Serge very well.

 As the summer continues, Carol gets to listen to her Grandfather's stories about a tree that used to live in their village by a lake and how it gave the gift of immortality.  He tells this story as though it has happened to him. The realistic story starts to collide with this mystical story and you are drawn into a story of fantasy and magic about a beautiful tree that once was a tree of everlasting life for all who lived near it. Of course you also wonder if his dementia has just progressed and the stories are just creations.

I like mystical realism but this book was a tough one for me. I was too vested in the realistic portion of the story to let the mystical/fantastic part be possible.  I think I would have liked this story better without having the magic. I loved the family story and dealing with dementia in and older person. I think it was a good book but not my favorite.

Wish by Barbara O'Connor

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Grade Level: 4th - 6th 

Reading Level: 5.0

Length: 227 pages (6 hours)

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux (August 30, 2016)

My Rating: 4 out of 4

Division: 1

Eleven year old Charlie Reese has to move in with an Aunt and Uncle she doesn't know and live in the Blue Ridge Mountains with the "hillbillies". It is because her mother is unable to get out of bed and her father is in jail...again. Despite her reservations, Aunt Bertha and Uncle Gus are wonderful and loving and exactly what she needs. 

Charlie has been collecting ways for wishing and she wishes at least once if not many times a day.  One thing she wishes for is the stray dog that she finds at her Aunt and Uncle's home. Other wishes are left to our imagination until the end of the book.  Charlie becomes friends with an unlikely friend from school. Howard and Charlie's relationship is delightful. He may not be the average kid but he is a perfect buddy for Charlie. 

Overall, this book was a southern, quirky character story about people who love life despite difficulties.I enjoyed it a great deal.  It is easy to read and a wonderful book for grades 3-6. 

Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan

Genre: Realistic Fiction/Multicultural (India)

Grade Level: 3rd - 6th 

Reading Level: 4.8

Length: 216 pages (5 hours)

Publisher: Scholastic  Books  (May 10, 2016)

My Rating: 4 out of 4

Division: 1

Authors Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan team up to deliver a delightful addition to the school story genre for upper elementary kids.  Ravi has moved from India with his family and has to learn to fit into an American school. Joe is a kid whose best friend has moved and he feels out of sorts. Neither of them realize that they have more in common than they realize. The bully of the class, Dillon,  is an Indian but American born. Ravi assumes they will become friends but ends up being harrassed by him. 

The story is told in five days by each character's point of view.  The chapters are named after the lunch of the day. Food plays some part in this story as the main characters eat entirely different things and it is described.  I did look up some of the foods mentioned as well as Indian descriptions for my own background knowledge. If I was reading this to a class, I would do the same. 

This is such a great addition to the school story genre because it helps kids see how difficult learning a new culture can be.  It is funny and totally readable for most kids grades 3 -6.  

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk

Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery  - 2017 Newbery Honor

Grade Level: 5th and up

Reading Level: 4.9

Length: 304 pages (9 hours)

Publisher: Dutton Books  (May 3, 2016)

My Rating: 4 out of 4

Division: 2  (5th grade and up) 

Another beautiful cover! Perhaps as appealing  for an elementary student, but I am drawn to calligraphy and the new writing fonts. I took this book home this past weekend because it was getting such good reviews as the potential winner of the Newbery Award. Well, it did win this morning...it is an Honor book. I loved it as well. I would have voted it as the winner!

This is a story set in rural  Pennsylvania during World War II.  A new student comes to the one room school where 12 year old Annabelle goes to school. The new student is named Betty and she is a mean bully who torments Annabelle and her younger brothers as well as others in the school. You are also introduced to a reclusive World War I veteran who roams the countryside, lives in an old shack, and makes little contact with people. Annabelle's mother gives Toby food and clothing and is kind to him, but they know little about him.

Eventually, the pranks that Betty the bully comes up with prove disastrous and violent. Of course, no one believes that Betty is responsible. Toby ends up being the scapegoat for the community as they hunt for perpetrator of the crimes that have happened to and hurt children.

Annebelle is such a feisty, smart, and lovable character. You will love her bravery, compassion, and problem solving. She is a changing the world at her young age and seeing to it that the justice served is correct. This book reads like a mystery as well, and there are clues and red herrings that are encountered along the way. Even though you have a pretty good idea who might be guilty, you see how others can look just as guilty in the mind of someone with a biased opinion.

I recommend this book highly. It is one of my favorites!  

Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story by Nora Raleigh Baskin

Genre: Historical Fiction

Grade Level: 4th - 6th 

Reading Level: 4.8

Length: 208 pages (5 hours)

Publisher: Atheneum   (June 28, 2016)

My Rating: 4 out of 4

This is a story of four different middle school students and their lives before, during, and one year after the historic September 11 terrorism attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the crash of the hijacked plane in Pennsylvania.  The characters are a boy who lives in New York, a boy who lives in Pennsylvania, a Muslim girl who lives in Ohio and another girl who has just moved to California.  The novel lets us get to know them in just a few days before September 11th.  You also experience how they found out about the tragedy on that day and then what happened a year later at the Memorial ceremony in New York City.  You will see how their stories interconnect. A reminder of how all of us are connected and how much we need to care for each other.

This is a very easy to read book and would be a great read aloud for older elementary students who are interested in September 11th events.  It does not get graphic or detailed about the tragedy but no doubt will raise lots of questions.  

House Arrest by K. A. Holt

Genre: Realistic Fiction/Free Verse

Grade Level: 6th - 10th

Reading Level: 4.0

Length: 312 pages (4 hours)

Publisher: Chronicle Books  (August 9, 2016)

My Rating: 4 out of 4
Division: 2

Timothy is facing house arrest and weekly visits by a probation officer and a counselor along with the task of writing in a journal for one year.  He stole a wallet in order to get money to pay for drugs that his baby brother needed.  It was just a few days later that he was caught. Timothy describes the difficulties he and his mother face as they try to take care of a baby who is not able to breathe and has a trach tube in his neck. The father has left, nursing help is difficult, and money is extremely tight. The diary chronicles in free verse what Timothy experiences in coping with a tough life. People come to their side and help and yet you realize that many days are very difficult and exhausting. Timothy doesn't always react with the best decisions but his love for his brother and mother trump everything in his eyes.

This book is for middle school but there isn't anything in it that would not be appropriate for a mature 5th grade student to read.  It reminded me a little of the book Counting by 7's where you saw the growth of the characters who were assisting someone in crisis.  The author's own baby had the same difficulties breathing and although not a autobiography, this book is close to some of her own experiences.

This is a great and quick read that would bring good discussions.

Casey KC by Chris Kreie

Genre: Sports Fiction

Grade Level:  3rd - 6th

Reading Level: NA

Length: 290 Pages

Publisher: Chris Kreie (December 6, 2015)

My Rating: 3 out of 4
Division: 1

Casey is a 12 year old little league baseball player in Kansas City who can see the subtle difference in how pitchers pitch different balls. Because of this, he is able to know when not to swing and has never struck out. Usually he ends up hitting foul balls or walking.  The Kansas City Royals baseball team hears of his unique talent and actually ends up hiring him as a professional player for their team.  He begins to help them climb from bottom to winning baseball games.  It comes with negative press and angry players and fans who believe that Casey is ruining the game.

This book is pure baseball talk and so those kids who adore the game and speak the language should love this book.  Thank goodness I know a little bit because I may have really been lost. I did have to ask friends about baseball rules while I was reading to fully comprehend what was going on.  You also have to believe that this kid could actually be in a professional team, complete with traveling with the team and rooming with one of the adult players. I don't really think that would really happen in real life. Someone would have to be a chaperone at the very least!

The book moved along nicely and had a satisfying conclusion. I would recommend it to any baseball fan at school.

Fires of Invention by J. Scott Savage

Genre:  Steampunk (Science Fiction/Fantasy)

Grade Level:  4th - 8th

Reading Level: 5.0

Length: 288 pages - 13 hours

Publisher: Shadow Mountain (2015)

My Rating: 4 out of 4

This is my first "Steampunk" book.  I wasn't sure what to expect but basically it is Science Fiction and Fantasy. The setting is in the future and an entire population is living in a mountain. They use coal and steam for their energy source.  They are not allowed to invent anything because they feel the advancement of society is what caused them to have to flee from a poisoned world and live in this protected environment they created.  They are not allowed to be creative or write, draw, or create new music.

Trenton, the main character loves mechanical things and engineering. He is taken into custody in the first chapter for an invention that he created that seemed to shut down part of the city. It turns out it wasn't his doing but he was called in to help fix the problem.  He begins to investigate the mystery behind the shut down.  As he explores, he meets a girl named Kallista who knows the something about the mystery and he begins to work on the problem with her. They begin to build a mechanical dragon from clues left by Kallista's missing father. This project takes them deeper into the mystery of Cove.

This is a great story!  I am going to order this for my elementary students. It is not too scary or difficult but is a good introduction to steampunk.  I discovered an excellent book trailer that makes me wish for a movie.  

Charlie Bumpers Vs. The Teacher of the Year by Bill Harley

Genre:  Realistic School Story - Humor  

Grade Level:  2nd - 5th 

Reading Level: 3.5

Length: 169 pages - 3 hours

Publisher: Peachtree (2014)

My Rating: 4 out of 4

Charlie Bumpers is entering 4th grade and discovers that he is getting the strictest teacher who also was Teacher of the Year. He isn't so sure she likes him since a shoe throwing incident from the past year. Charlie gets into all kinds of scrapes and problems but overall is a decent friendly boy.  The book is just a fun school story that I think many kids will like.  (It reminded me of a Calvin Coconut book minus the Hawaiian setting.) It has some great illustrations sprinkled throughout the book. This book is the first in a series of books and I look forward to ordering this series for my elementary students.  I think they will like it.