Ever Faithful: A Vintage National Parks Novel by Karen Barnett

4 Stars | Karen Barnett | 2019 | Christian Historical Fiction | 352 pages | 10 1/2 Hours Audio 

Ever Faithful is a story about the workers in Yellowstone National Park in the 1930's. This is a romantic mystery and the main characters are Nate and Elsie.  Nate has enlisted in the Civilian Conservation Corp after getting into some trouble in New York City.  Elsie is looking forward to going to college in the fall but in order to make more money for tuition, she is recruited to conduct classes for the CCC boys.  Meanwhile, the park is dealing with suspicious fires that may be purposely set. 

This is the third book in the Vintage National Parks series.  They can each stand alone since the characters are completely different.  If you have visited any of the parks then you may be as fascinated as I was by experiencing the past through these books.  She has also written about Yosemite and Mount Rainier National Parks. 

 

Raising Lumie by Joan Bauer

2020 | 288 pages | Grades 4-7 

This is an uplifting book despite the fact it is about an orphan named Olive, a sixth-grader, who has to go and live with her step-sister after her father dies. She has deep grief to deal with and she also has to move away from her school. Her sister, Maddie, is a young adult who is a great example of someone who has been able to survive despite a difficult childhood. Because she wants to save money, Maddie moves Olive and herself into a house share. They share a large house with several adults and these people become a found family. 

Maddie also had a new graphic artist job which has a boss who loves dogs. In fact, he is involved in a program to help raise puppies to be seeing-eye dogs. He invites Olive to come to work with Maddie and she meets the puppies and learns all about puppy raisers. She also meets 8th grader, Jordon who is a puppy raiser. He has an eye disease and may find himself blind in the future. 

Olive gets the chance to be a puppy raiser and the reader gets to follow the journey of raising a puppy to the point where the dog can go to school to be a seeing-eye dog. This is a dream job for Olive because she has wanted a dog for a long time. She is determined to be very successful. Of course, it isn't always so perfect.

I loved all of the characters and who couldn't resist the puppy called Lumie. The cover of the book shows how stinkingly cute this puppy is. Animal lovers will adore this book. It is a quick read and packs a lot of story into a short book. I loved it and will be promoting this book to all animal lovers. 

Pony by R. J. Palacio

 

2021 | 304 pages | Grades 5-8

This book is such a great read! It is set in 1860 and is about a father and son...and a ghost. 12-year-old Silas has had a ghost friend called Mittenwool since his mother died shortly after Silas was born. One day, a gang comes and takes the father away. Shortly after he leaves, a pony from the gang comes back to the ranch. Silas takes it as a sign that He needs to go and look for his father. Mittenwool goes along as well. As he gets to the woods he is very afraid but meets a sheriff who helps him track the gang to a cave. A situation happens and so he goes for help and lots of action ensues. Lots of action!

This is a book that features photography technology of the time. The father is a brilliant man who has invented a clever way of creating photography which is a front runner in our current photo development. Money counterfeiting is the criminal activity that the gang is operating. 

There are some creepy parts to this story, some violence and death as well. But it is also heartwarming and uplifting. The writing is incredible and you will want to savor this book. I would class this book as upper elementary up to young adult. I think many adults will love this book as well.

The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong

1955 | 320 pages | Grades 3-6 

This book won the Newbery Award back in 1955. I thought it would be interesting to see what the best literature was at that time. This is a story set in a small fishing village in Holland. I am not sure what the time period was but people are wearing wooden clogs and traditional clothing including the "Dutch" hats. The men in the village spend most of their time away from home fishing and there are only 6 children in the school. One day one of the students writes a report about the fact that storks don't come to their village. It is considered lucky to have a pair of storks on your housetop. The teacher challenges them to figure out how to remedy this problem. They decide that having a wheel on top of their roof will help the storks to want to build a nest on top of their roof. So they go out into their village and try to find wheels. They meet different people in their village as they try and get them to give them a wheel for the school. Lots of situations happen as they spread out and look for wheels. The quirky people of the village get invested in this project. 

This book made me so sleepy. I think it moves a little slowly and is repetitive. A few times I thought I was actually rereading a paragraph but it was just so similar. There were some parts of the book that I did laugh out loud. When the fathers were home because of a big storm, they were really funny. This book has such an unusual setting and I have never read anything like it. I looked for an audio version of this book and didn't find anything. I was hoping that it would help me in my reading. I did make it through the book with some skimming. I thought it was a good story but I just had a hard time staying awake. 

A Duet For Home by Karina Yan Glaser

 

2022 | 368 pages | Grades 3-7

June and Maybelle and their mother used to live in New York City's Chinatown until they were evicted one day. It happened because her father was killed in a car accident and her mother just shut down and stopped talking and existing. June has been trying to keep everything together until she couldn't. The family is sent to a homeless center called The Huey House. She is told right away that. musical instruments are not allowed and June is a viola player who needs her music. Fortunately, someone helps her out and sneaks her instrument into the center. She finds lots of friends in her new home.

The center has all kinds of interesting characters including a grumpy director, a loving social worker, a couple of trickster boys, and lots of families trying to figure out to get back on their feet. Not all parents in the center have the means or ability to get out of the center and so some kids have been there for a while including a boy named Tyrell who has been part of Huey House for over three years. 

Tyrell has a daily appointment to listen to a neighbor play her violin each evening. He sits in a window and soaks in the beautiful music. When He discovers that June plays, he helps her find a safe place to practice. Music plays a big part in this story. The author has given you a list of music mentioned in the book at the end. Make sure you listen to some of the music. 

The city has decided that they need to get people out of the center and into other housing more quickly. However, the new housing is in dangerous neighborhoods, too far from transportation, or in terrible condition. Some leaders are ready to make this happen while others are concerned but no one is listening. Of course, in any great middle-grade book, the kids get involved in getting changes to happen. 

This is a very hopeful and perhaps even joyful "homeless" story. I know that all homeless situations are different but this story is about music, grief, found family, and hope. I think this is a great story.

Cleo Porter and the Body Electric by Jake Burt

2020 | 273 pages | Grades 4-6

Jake Burt wrote a book about a pandemic and a pandemic started. That is pretty wild. This is a science fiction story about a family who lives in an apartment building and they never can leave. This is a result of a pandemic of Influenza D which caused many people to die. Society decided to use technology to become a new society where everyone stays in their apartments all of the time. People socialize, work, and live through virtual reality. For example, when they go to the park, it is a simulation and they are really in their own home. All supplies come through a tube. No one has any need to leave. 

12-year-old Cleo is studying for a test to become a doctor but is distracted by a package that is delivered to their home. It has life-saving medicine addressed to someone else. Her parents tell her that this is impossible to have a mistake in the order and to not worry about it. It could be reordered. Cleo is convinced someone is in medical danger and plots a way to leave and find this address. 

When Cleo leaves through the tube she discovers a very different world than what she has ever known and she is not sure she can ever make her way back home. She encounters giant robots who provide for the sequestered community and some people who may have not gone along with the quarantine at all. She may not be able to save herself let alone the mysterious person at the address. 

Lots of action will make this a great read for kids. I can imagine this being a really good graphic novel or animated video. This is a very different kind of science fiction and a great introduction for middle-grade readers.  When I read the summary, I just couldn't resist reading about the aftermath of a futuristic pandemic.