The Only Game by Mike Lupica

  

    

• Genre:  Sports - Baseball
• Grade Level: 4th - 6th
• Reading Level: 5.0 (9 points)
• Length: 320 pages
• Publisher:  Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (February 17, 2015)
• My Rating: 3 out of 4
• Readability: If you love baseball talk... this book is great.  I skimmed most of the book when they started describing the games.
• Division: Crossover 
• Summary:  Sixth grade is supposed to be the year that Jack would lead his team to the Little League World Series, but after the death of his brother, he loses interest in baseball, and only Cassie, star of the girls' softball team, seems to understand. Book #1 in Home Team Series

I buy all of the the Mike Lupica books. He is a sure bet for a sports book that boys will like. This series should be another winner.  Since I am not a sport person, the play by plays of the games just bore me and I let myself skim through them. This book gave me a lot of skimming! If you are a sports announcer, as the author is, I imagine this is his wheelhouse. 

I found the first hundred pages very interesting as the characters were being developed.  I loved Cassie, the star of the softball team.  She is feisty and a strong leader. The other character, Teddy, who was being teased and lacked confidence in sports was also interesting. These characters, along with Jack's best friend Gus, appear in all of four of the series. 

I gave this book a 3 because I would recommend it as a good read to kids who loved sports. I really like the characters but would have liked to have more story about them instead of the baseball games. If I was reading this for myself, I would have quit! Just too much baseball talk. 

Waiting for Unicorns by Beth Hautala

• Genre:  Realistic - MN Author
• Grade Level: 4th - 7th
• Reading Level: 5.3 (8 points)
• Length: 256 pages
• Publisher:  Philomel Books (January 22, 2015)
• My Rating: 4 out of 4
• Readability: Great setting, characters, and story!
• Division: Crossover (not on the list yet)
• Summary:  After her mother dies, 12-year-old Talia McQuinn goes to the Arctic with her father, a whale researcher. Over the course of one summer and several unlikely friendships, Talia learns that stories have the power to connect us and pull us out of darkness.

Talia is dealing with the grief and heartache of losing her mother to cancer.  Her father, a researcher, who has spent many summers in Churchill, Manitoba studying beluga whales takes her with him but has to leave her behind with a friend while he goes on his weeks long expedition.  Talia feels alone but discovers friendship with others who are also in Churchill for the summer.  She  begins to open her heart again to relationships including Sura, the local Inuit woman they are staying with.  

This book is so good!  I loved learning about village life in Churchill, Manitoba. Talia and her father arrive early summer and temperatures are still between 0 and 30 degrees! The characters in this story are so interesting, I was also fascinated by the culture of the contemporary Inuit village. There is a little natural science in this book as you find out a little bit about whales and even the elusive narwhal whale.  

This is a story of dealing with grief and loss and healing and new friendships.  I highly recommend this book.  The author is from Minnesota - I think around Brainerd. I don't see this book out in paperback yet.  Kind of disappointing since it would make a great Maud Hart Lovelace selection.  The author has a second book coming out next spring (2018).  I look forward to reading it. 

The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis

·         2017 Copyright – Amazon Best Book of the Month – June – Grades 4-6
·         Genre: Fantasy
·         Grade Level: 3rd - 7th 
·         Reading Level: 4th
·         Length: 256 pages
·         Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens (May 30, 2017)
·         My Rating: 4 out of 4
·         Readability: Fun dragon story and enjoyable to read.
·         Not eligible for MHL or Newbery because the author lives in Wales.

Summary:  After drinking enchanted hot chocolate, a brave young dragon is transformed into a twelve-year-old human girl with a passion for chocolate.

Adventurine is a young dragon who is bored and restless and decides to leave the safety of her cave and family and seek adventure.  The first person she encounters is a magician who turns her into a girl after inviting her to drink a cup of hot chocolate.  Who could blame him, because he doesn’t want to get eaten himself!  After the transformation, Adventurine sets off to the village to figure out how to live as a girl. She has also fallen in love with chocolate and sets off to get more to satisfy her intense craving.  The village happens to have three chocolate restaurants and she figures that finding work in one of these establishments.  Of course, not understanding the culture of people gets her into all kinds of trouble.  But the real trouble is when the dragons start searching for Adventurine and as a result put fear into the village people.  

What a fun fantasy story about dragons!  I admit, it is a girly cover and the audience will probably be girls. I can picture this book being a great movie! 

Confessions of an Imaginary Friend by Michelle Cuevas

• Maud Hart Lovelace Reading List
• Genre: Fantasy
• Grade Level: 3-5
• Reading Level: 4.8 (4.0 pts)
• Length: 176 pages
• Publisher: Dial Books (September 8, 2015)
• My Rating: 3 out of 4
• Readability: Fast read, a little confusing at first, got better and better with a great ending!
• Division 1 
• Summary:  Jacques Papier thinks everyone except his sister Fleur hates him but is shocked when he finally learns the truth: He is Fleur's imaginary friend. When he convinces Fleur to free him, he begins a surprising, touching, and funny quest to find himself.

This book is a memoir of Jacques, an imaginary friend to a little girl.  Jacques narrates this story as he tells about his adventures after being a friend to Fleur and then what happens to him when he looks for a new friend.  It is a quirky story that is written with a wonderful literary style that reminded me of books written by Roald Dahl, Dr. Seuss, Neil Gaiman, and Kate DiCamillo. Since Jacques doesn't really believe he is imaginary, his point of view is of a "real'' person.  I think that threw me when I started to read this book - a little confusing for me.  I was going to quit reading but decided to give it a few more pages.  It just got better and better!  The ending was so satisfying.

So, I rated it a 3 out of 4 because of the slow beginning. I also think this book might need some coaxing for kids to read since the cover seems early elementary.  I am anxious to find out what other readers think of this book.  

Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar

• 2017 Copyright 
• Genre: Historical Fiction/Immigrants from Cuba/Coming of Age
• Grade Level: 5th and up
• Reading Level: 4th grade
• Length: 256 pages
• Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books (April 11, 2017)
• My Rating: 4 out of 4
• Readability: Couldn't put it down, lots of spanish sprinkled throughout which I didn't know what it meant but didn't affect my enjoyment of the book.
• Division 2 
• Summary:  In 1960s New York, fifth-grader Ruthie, a Cuban-Jewish immigrant, must rely on books, art, her family, and friends in her multicultural neighborhood when an accident puts her in a body cast.

This book is based on the life and experiences of the author growing up as a refugee from Cuba and living in New York City. The story starts with Ruthie being able to go to a regular classroom when her English is good enough.  Later, her father brings home a dream car and they have an accident with a drunk driver. Ruthie ends up with a broken leg and put into a body cast and bedridden for a year. Despite such a terrible situation, she finds friendship, love of literature, art, and storytelling. She struggles with forgiveness, God, boredom, fear, but overcomes despite all her struggles.  It is really an amazing story.

I hope teachers assign this as a book to read or for a book club. I think there are a lot of discussion points.  I did wonder why she struggled so much with God when her family is Jewish. Perhaps they didn't pass on their faith to her. The story does show how kids do think about such things and find comfort in prayer in difficult situations. And even though this is a book about a struggle, there is joy in the story and Ruth has a turning point in her life in this year as she looks to what she wants to do in the future which will include art and writing.

I read this book quickly and was surprised and how connected I became to this book.

Dove Arising by Karen Bao

• 2019 Maud Hart Lovelace List
• Genre: Science Fiction/Dystopian
• Grade:  7th & Up
• Reading Level: 6.1 (13 points)
• Length: 336 pages
• Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (February 24, 2015)
• My Rating: 2.5 out of 4
• Readability: Felt long, made me sleepy, lots of science background 
• Division 2
• Summary:  Introvert Phaet Theta, is a model citizen whose faith, and beliefs are tested when she is forced to confront disturbing truths about her society and its government in order to save her family. Book #1

This story is set on the moon in the future.  The people who live there have escaped the earth and have colonized on the moon. They have also made their own governing system which turns out to be very restrictive with little freedom. 15 year old Phaet ends up joining the militia so she can free her mother from a life long prison sentence or death and becomes a star student who uses her intelligence and strength to help her family. 

This book is written by a very gifted teenager who knows a lot about science.  Really amazing that this is her first book. However, it was hard for me to stay awake!  There are a lot of fighting scenes and maybe that is what caused me keep dozing off. When I watch a movie with lots of action and little dialogue I also fall asleep. So, this book went on forever for me.  I did love the whole premise of the story and wanted to really love the book but I found that I just wanted to finish and it was taking forever.   

There is a little bit of a love story and a lot of fighting and action. They swear using made up words from their moon colony.  The author is driving home the point that a government that permits free speech and print is one that can be very dangerous. 

I gave it a 2.5 because I was impressed with this author's first novel, but it was a disappointing read for me..

The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle by Janet Fox

    

·        2019 Maud Hart Lovelace Reading List

·        Genre: Horror - Historical Fiction

·        Grade Level: 5th grade and up

·        Reading Level: 5.0 (12 points)

·         Length: 400 pages

·         Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers (March 15, 2016)

·         My Rating: 2 out of 4

·         Readability: Not my cup of tea...long and plodding. 

·         Division 2

·         Summary:  In 1940, during the Blitz, Katherine, Robbie, and Amelie Bateson are sent north to a private school in Rookskill Castle in Scotland, haunted by dark magic from the past. The plot contains violence.

This story starts out with a father sending his children away from London during WW II to a Scottish castle and boarding school where they should be safe from the bombing. The school is run by a woman who uses her dark magic to steal the souls of children. She wears a chatelaine which is a set of short chains attached to a woman's belt, used for carrying keys or other items. She has 13 charms to use in her quest to gain 13 souls. 

This book has many violent and very creepy scenes. It is also full of vocabulary that I had to look up since I didn't have background knowledge.  I did learn a few new words...include chatelaine which is the key element in this book.  I was determined to finish this book and not abandon it but it just wasn't for me. The plot was just too slow and complicated.  

Short by Holly Goldberg Sloan

 

Short by Holly Goldberg Sloan Interview

• 2017 Copyright
• Genre: Realistic Fiction - Musical Theater
• Grade Level: 3rd - 7th 
• Reading Level: 5.3 (10 points)
• Length: 304 pages
• Publisher: Dial Books (January 31, 2017)
• My Rating: 4 out of 4
• Readability: Easy to read....a little longer....lots of humor. 
• Division 1 or Crossover
• Summary:  Very short for her age, Julia grows into her sense of self while playing a munchkin in a summer regional theater production of THE WIZARD OF OZ.

Julia is a very short 5th grader and her mother enrolls her and her younger brother into the local summer theater where they get to play munchkins.  Since Julia is smaller than most 5th graders, she is still able to be a munchkin.  Because she is older, she is allowed to take on some leadership roles and get the chance to have the role of a flying monkey too.  She meets her neighbor and develops a wonderful relationship with a former ballerina who creates some of the best costumes for the play. The neighbor is able to take part in the production too. Julia also becomes friends with the senior director and an adult actress who is a dwarf. 

You are really in Julia's head in this book and sometimes she is thinking all over the place.  One thought leads to another thought with lots of funny insight.   I like quirky characters and Julia is fun to get to know..  Interestingly, I had just read another musical theater book (Jack & Louisa) and I think this one has more depth and more character development. 

I thought  this book was going to be about a girl who was a dwarf.  It isn't. She is just a late bloomer. :) If you watch the interview above you find out that this book is autobiographical based on the author's life as a child.