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Monday, February 25, 2019

Apple In The Middle by Dawn Quigley


Apple is a high school student who lives in MInnetonka, Minnesota. Her father is wealthy doctor and they live in a gated community. Her mother, who was Native American, died at childbirth.  Apple has never met her grandparents from the Turtle Mountain Ojibwe reservation. However, her father wants her to spend the summer with them for the first time. It will be a summer that helps Apple come of age and understand her heritage and Native American culture. 

When Apple's mother was dying, she named her baby Apple because she was the "apple of her eye."  It is also the slang name for a native person who lives in the "white world" where they are "red on the outside but white in the middle". Facing racial slurs from classmates and never feeling like she fits in plague Apple. She is quirky, blurts out crazy thoughts, and doesn't feel content in her life.  Her summer in North Dakota is a turning point for her. 

This book is funny and heartwarming. It deals with death, disappointment and mystical situations. I felt like I was discovering Apple's heritage along with her.  It is about a high school student but could also be read by upper elementary and middle school students. I also loved this book because of the connections I have with Minnesota and especially the Turtle Mountain area since I taught for two years in a town near that area. The town in this story appears to be fiction but it is near the town of Belcourt. 

We don't have many books like this and so I hope that it can be promoted and read in Minnesota and North Dakota schools.  NDSU press published this book. I hope they encourage Dawn Quigley to write a sequel or more books!
I rate it a 5 out of 4!  I couldn't put it down. 

Hardcover: 264 pages
Publisher: North Dakota State University Press; (August 2, 2018)
ISBN-13: 978-1946163073

Thursday, February 14, 2019

Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina


I just finished reading this 2019 Newbery Award winning book on a snow day in Minnesota! I appreciated the talk of heat and sweat and Florida weather. The book reads like it could be situational comedy with lots of heart. I would watch! Merci is a 6th grader navigating life at school and with her Cuban extended family with humor, angst and love. Great for 4th-6th grade readers.

This book is a fun choice for the Newbery award. It will be very accessible for its intended audience and I predict that it will be become a well loved Newbery.  It also checks the box for getting more diversity into books for kids. I will be waiting for the first Newbery sitcom based on this book!  I rate it a 4 out of 4!

Age Range: 9 - 12 years
Grade Level: 4 - 7
Reading Level:  4.6
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Candlewick; (September 11, 2018)
ISBN-10: 076369049X

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Saving Winslow by Sharon Creech


I timed myself when I read Saving Winslow.  It took me one hour to read this book!  It was truly fun, fast and easy!  Louie, the main character, agrees to take care of a sickly newborn mini donkey and is optimistic in the donkey's survival despite his previous track record with pet survival.  His determination, love and care is admirable. A friend named Nora knows it is risky to love because of her own losses but connects in her friendship with Louie. 

I posted a picture of Winslow Homer's "Weaning a Calf" painting in the above graphic because this picture plays a part in the name of the mini donkey and connections to Louie. This book would be a great read aloud, book club, or just a quick read for busy kids and teachers. It is heartwarming, funny, inspirational and winning animal story.  I rate it a 4 out of 4!

Grade Level: 3-7
Reading Level:  4.2
Pages:  176 pages
Publisher:  HarperCollins (September 11, 2018)

ISBN: 978-0062570703