Dragon Dancer by Joyce Chng

This is a great book for the Chinese New Year collection of picture books! It is the story of a dragon dancer named Yao who finds his dragon costume, Shen Long, in storage and wakes him up for the Chinese New Year dance at the the shopping mall. Shen Long is an ancient dragon with his own voice that only his dancer can hear. The dance is noisy with drum beats, cymbals, and fire crackers. The note in the back tells us the noise is to remind us how a monstrous creature once ravaged a village for food and only loud noises by the villagers would frighten him away.  Today, the dragon dancer is dramatically dancing to chase bad luck away and invite in the good luck. The dragon dancer,Yao, hopes his grandfather will be proud of his dance.

The illustrations are done in deep tone watercolors with lots of blue, green, red, and golds. There are lots of white spaces on the page to highlight the images which are in irregular shapes throughout the book and across the two page spreads. It feels like you are dealing with an old dragon and old traditions.

Chinese New Year is celebrated for two weeks and ends with the Lantern Festival.  The festival welcomes spring and celebrates family reunions. Children receive red envelopes of money and wear new clothes to welcome the new year. Spring cleaning is also a tradition which removes junk and unused items which are thrown away or given to charity.  Cleaning up brings positive energy and good luck and prosperity.  Lion and dragon dancers will dance at shopping malls, restaurants, and homes to invite more good luck.

If I was reading this book to a class, I would give students some of the background information found in the author's notes at the back of the book to help kids understand the reason for the dragon dancing at the Chinese New Year.  This book will be a good addition to the holiday collection. 

I rate this book 4 out of 4.

Grade Level:  K-3
Reading Level:  3.9
Publisher: Lantana Pub (January 1, 2018)
Pages:  32
ISBN: 978-1911373261 

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 (1/25/19) is in its 6th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators.

MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Medallion Sponsors on board!

*View our 2019 Medallion Sponsors here: https://wp.me/P5tVud-

*View our 2019 MCBD Author Sponsors here: https://wp.me/P5tVud-2eN

Medallion Level Sponsors

Honorary: Children’s Book Council, The Junior Library Guild, TheConsciousKid.org.

Super Platinum: Make A Way Media

GOLD: Bharat Babies, Candlewick Press, Chickasaw Press, Juan Guerra and The Little Doctor / El doctorcito, KidLitTV,  Lerner Publishing Group, Plum Street Press,

SILVER: Capstone Publishing, Carole P. Roman, Author Charlotte Riggle, Huda Essa, The Pack-n-Go Girls,

BRONZE: Charlesbridge Publishing, Judy Dodge Cummings, Author Gwen Jackson, Kitaab World, Language Lizard – Bilingual & Multicultural Resources in 50+ Languages, Lee & Low Books, Miranda Paul and Baptiste Paul, Redfin, Author Gayle H. Swift,  T.A. Debonis-Monkey King’s Daughter, TimTimTom Books, Lin Thomas, Sleeping Bear Press/Dow Phumiruk, Vivian Kirkfield

MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Author Sponsors on board

Honorary: Julie Flett, Mehrdokht Amini,

Author Janet Balletta, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw, Author Josh Funk, Chitra Soundar, One Globe Kids – Friendship Stories, Sociosights Press and Almost a Minyan, Karen Leggett, Author Eugenia Chu, CultureGroove Books, Phelicia Lang and Me On The Page, L.L. Walters, Author Sarah Stevenson, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Hayley Barrett, Sonia Panigrah, Author Carolyn Wilhelm, Alva Sachs and Dancing Dreidels, Author Susan Bernardo, Milind Makwana and A Day in the Life of a Hindu Kid, Tara Williams, Veronica Appleton, Author Crystal Bowe, Dr. Claudia May, Author/Illustrator Aram Kim, Author Sandra L. Richards, Erin Dealey, Author Sanya Whittaker Gragg, Author Elsa Takaoka, Evelyn Sanchez-Toledo, Anita Badhwar, Author Sylvia Liu, Feyi Fay Adventures, Author Ann Morris, Author Jacqueline Jules, CeCe & Roxy Books, Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace, LEUYEN PHAM, Padma Venkatraman, Patricia Newman and Lightswitch Learning, Shoumi Sen, Valerie Williams-Sanchez and Valorena Publishing, Traci Sorell, Shereen Rahming, Blythe Stanfel, Christina Matula, Julie Rubini, Paula Chase, Erin Twamley, Afsaneh Moradian, Lori DeMonia, Claudia Schwam, Terri Birnbaum/ RealGirls Revolution, Soulful Sydney, Queen Girls Publications, LLC

We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also works tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.

Co-Hosts and Global Co-Hosts

A Crafty Arab, Agatha Rodi Books, All Done Monkey, Barefoot Mommy, Biracial Bookworms, Books My Kids Read, Crafty Moms Share, Colours of Us, Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes, Descendant of Poseidon Reads, Educators Spin on it,  Growing Book by Book, Here Wee Read, Joy Sun Bear/ Shearin Lee, Jump Into a Book, Imagination Soup,Jenny Ward’s Class, Kid World Citizen, Kristi’s Book Nook, The Logonauts, Mama Smiles, Miss Panda Chinese, Multicultural Kid Blogs, Raising Race Conscious Children, Shoumi Sen, Spanish Playground

TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Make A Way Media: MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual @McChildsBookDay Twitter Party will be held 1/25/19 at 9:00pm.E.S.T. TONS of prizes and book bundles will be given away during the party ( a prize every 5 minutes!). GO HERE for more details.

FREE RESOURCES From MCBD

Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta

Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/teacher-classroom-empathy-kit/

Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.

Freddie Ramos Hears It All by Jacqueline Jules

Freddie Ramos has special shoes that he operates from a wristband and it gives him super powers! How fun would that be!  His shoes allow him to get super speedy and have a super bounce. In this book he now has the ability to have super hearing.  It comes in handy when his school goes on a field trip to a science museum where he is able to find a missing boy using his special powers.  He also gets a chance to use his super hearing powers when he hears strange sounds in his apartment building. He figures it out what is making the noise and saves the day!

This is a beginning chapter book for readers from grades 1-4. I can see my 2nd graders loving this series.  Since this is the 7th book in the series, I did not have the background for how Freddie got his powers, so I had to look up some of the earlier books to get some insight.  It appears that Freddie came home from school one day and there was a box for him and inside were ZAPATO POWER shoes that gives him super speed. Mr. Vaslov, who is an inventor and building maintenance person, is the person who created the shoes for Freddie. 

The book has lots of pictures and is a very fun, fast and easy read.  It includes some Spanish phrases and words that you can figure out from the context of the sentences. ZOOM ZOOM ZAPATO is illustrated in a variety of typography for the instances when Freddie is using his super powers. 

I plan on ordering this series for my Junior Fiction section in my elementary library.  I think it should be a hit. I give it a 3 out of 4 rating. You need to read some of the earlier books to understand Freddie's abilities. 

Name of Series:  Zapato Power
Grade Level:  1-4
Reading Level:  3.0  (2R)
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company (September 1, 2018)

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2019 (1/25/19) is in its 6th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators. 


MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Medallion Sponsors on board!

*View our 2019 Medallion Sponsors here: https://wp.me/P5tVud-

*View our 2019 MCBD Author Sponsors here: https://wp.me/P5tVud-2eN


Medallion Level Sponsors


Honorary: Children’s Book Council, The Junior Library Guild, TheConsciousKid.org.

Super Platinum: Make A Way Media

GOLD: Bharat Babies, Candlewick Press, Chickasaw Press, Juan Guerra and The Little Doctor / El doctorcito, KidLitTV,  Lerner Publishing Group, Plum Street Press,

SILVER: Capstone Publishing, Carole P. Roman, Author Charlotte Riggle, Huda Essa, The Pack-n-Go Girls,

BRONZE: Charlesbridge Publishing, Judy Dodge Cummings, Author Gwen Jackson, Kitaab World, Language Lizard – Bilingual & Multicultural Resources in 50+ Languages, Lee & Low Books, Miranda Paul and Baptiste Paul, Redfin, Author Gayle H. Swift,  T.A. Debonis-Monkey King’s Daughter, TimTimTom Books, Lin Thomas, Sleeping Bear Press/Dow Phumiruk, Vivian Kirkfield,

MCBD 2019 is honored to have the following Author Sponsors on board


Honorary: Julie Flett, Mehrdokht Amini,

Author Janet Balletta, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw, Author Josh Funk, Chitra Soundar, One Globe Kids – Friendship Stories, Sociosights Press and Almost a Minyan, Karen Leggett, Author Eugenia Chu, CultureGroove Books, Phelicia Lang and Me On The Page, L.L. Walters, Author Sarah Stevenson, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Hayley Barrett, Sonia Panigrah, Author Carolyn Wilhelm, Alva Sachs and Dancing Dreidels, Author Susan Bernardo, Milind Makwana and A Day in the Life of a Hindu Kid, Tara Williams, Veronica Appleton, Author Crystal Bowe, Dr. Claudia May, Author/Illustrator Aram Kim, Author Sandra L. Richards, Erin Dealey, Author Sanya Whittaker Gragg, Author Elsa Takaoka, Evelyn Sanchez-Toledo, Anita Badhwar, Author Sylvia Liu, Feyi Fay Adventures, Author Ann Morris, Author Jacqueline Jules, CeCe & Roxy Books, Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace, LEUYEN PHAM, Padma Venkatraman, Patricia Newman and Lightswitch Learning, Shoumi Sen, Valerie Williams-Sanchez and Valorena Publishing, Traci Sorell, Shereen Rahming, Blythe Stanfel, Christina Matula, Julie Rubini, Paula Chase, Erin Twamley, Afsaneh Moradian, Lori DeMonia, Claudia Schwam, Terri Birnbaum/ RealGirls Revolution, Soulful Sydney, Queen Girls Publications, LLC

We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also works tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.


Co-Hosts and Global Co-Hosts


A Crafty Arab, Agatha Rodi Books, All Done Monkey, Barefoot Mommy, Biracial Bookworms, Books My Kids Read, Crafty Moms Share, Colours of Us, Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes, Descendant of Poseidon Reads, Educators Spin on it,  Growing Book by Book, Here Wee Read, Joy Sun Bear/ Shearin Lee, Jump Into a Book, Imagination Soup,Jenny Ward’s Class, Kid World Citizen, Kristi’s Book Nook, The Logonauts, Mama Smiles, Miss Panda Chinese, Multicultural Kid Blogs, Raising Race Conscious Children, Shoumi Sen, Spanish Playground


TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Make A Way Media: MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual @McChildsBookDay Twitter Party will be held 1/25/19 at 9:00pm.E.S.T. TONS of prizes and book bundles will be given away during the party ( a prize every 5 minutes!). GO HERE for more details.


FREE RESOURCES From MCBD


Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta


Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/teacher-classroom-empathy-kit/



Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.

Attack of the Alien Horde by Robert Vendetti

I wasn't sure if I would like this book but once I started reading it I could not stop.  The story is about a 12 year old named Miles Taylor who gets involved in an attack by an alien against the crime crusader named "The Gilded" who always wears a gold cape. The Gilded superhero passes on his cape to Miles and now he has to figure out how to follow in the superhero's footsteps.  He needs help and meets a boy in his class who is an expert on everything about Gilded and they become a team. They have to sneak around school and home schedules in order to save their town, Atlanta, Georgia, from all the trouble and crime happening and get Miles to the scenes on time. 

The book is funny, dramatic, and exciting.  When Miles becomes Gilded and is being a superhero, the book changes to a comic book format (black and white). Miles has to figure out good and evil, right and wrong, and selflessness.   This book is a fun read for grades 3rd - 6th grade. I rate it a 4 out of 4. 

Grade Level:  4-7
Hardcover: 304 pages
Reading Level:  5.1
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster
Copyright Date:  June 16, 2015

My Book Club Reads

After more than a decade of not belonging to an adult book club, I was finally able to join a group of readers the fall of 2017.  It is great fun and because of the club, I have read so many more books outside of my comfort genres. I like a good plot but do enjoy quirky characters. I don't like too much violence or language. I am not a fan of steamy books either; I like it pretty clean.  Here is a tour of the books we read last school year, starting September 2017. Maybe you will find a good read in this bunch!

Funny In Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas

This was a great memoir about a woman describing her childhood growing up in America in the 1980's as an Immigrant from Iran. She writes with much humor and nostalgia.  This was a great read for our first book and most readers really enjoyed the book.  I read it quickly and really liked the book.  I rate it a 4 out of 4.  Highly recommend!

 

The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum

Our October selection was also a non fiction choice and perfect for the season. It really was a fascinating account of the start of forensic medicine and how many times poisons were choices of murder in the early 20th century. I found descriptions of how much prohibition contributed to murder and mayhem very interesting.  Although not my typical genre, I read the book easily and have thought of it many times over the course of the year.  I have read that New York was an especially dark time period at the beginning of the 1900's. This narrative has that feeling of darkness and gloom. I recommend this book as well.  I might have had to put it down a few times in my reading process because it wasn't lighthearted. I give it a 3.5 out of 4 rating. I recommend this book. 

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

In November we read a book on the Amazon best seller list. It has been on a lot of best read lists and is going to be made into a mini-series at Hulu. Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon are playing leading roles!  

It is a story set in the carefully planned community of Shaker Heights in a Cleveland suburb. The author actually lived there as a child and teen, so it is a real community where even the small details of where the garbage cans are located in homes was thought out.  The story is about several families. One is the Richardson family who play by the rules and the other is a single mother and her daughter who live a artistic gypsy-like lifestyle. Their lives become entwined and the daughter becomes friends with the four Richardson children. There are a lot of secrets carried by different characters which all collide to form a custody battle  of an an Asian child which divides the town. 

I have discovered that I don't like reading about contemporary teenage angst and this book has episodes of this when the teenage characters are involved. I don't know why but it always feels whiny.  So I had to plow through some of the scenes to get to the better parts. I rate this book a 3.5 and recommend it. 

 

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

This book was on Amazon's Charts most of last year and was also voted by Good Reads as best book of 2017.  Lisa Wingate writes in a style that is easy to read and hard to put down. She writes this historical fiction book about a real life scandal from the 1930's that involved George Tann and a Memphis adoption agency.  Ms Tann made adoption so popular that children were stolen in or support the buying and selling of children. This book has suspense and some romance.  We loved it.  I rated it a 4 out of 4 and recommend it often. 

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

We wanted to read a classic and Jane Eyre was our choice. It is a tough read because of the vocabulary and length of text.  I read it on my Kindle, looking up words, and then followed along much of the time with Audible. I have done this before with tough reads.  It is very enjoyable way to "read" a book.  We recommend this for kids and it translates to my reading as well.  I am so glad we chose this book.  References to Jane Eyre come up all the time and now I know what they are actually referring to.  I  give this a 3 out of 4 rating.  

Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life 

by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

This is not a novel but a book of lists and anecdotes from the author's life. Lots of funny and quirky musings about life done in a encyclopedia type of writing format.  It is short and a quick read.  I found myself thinking about things and this format while I was reading this book. One of our book club members did some writing in a journal in this format as well.  This author has written many children's books that are always heartfelt and quirky. It was fun to read an adult book of her. I give it a 3 out of 4 rating. 

The Cartographer of No Man's Land by P. S. Duffy

Angus' brother-in-law and best friend goes missing during WWI and so he signs up for duty hoping to use his artistic talents to become a cartographer for the war effort. Unfortunately, they have plenty of talent and they send Angus to the battle front. Angus is a pacifist from Nova Scotia, Canada and his entry into battle is difficult. The story line goes back and forth between the French battle front and Angus' home. 

This is not an easy read but it was interesting to read about a Canadian perspective in WWI. Our book club was fortunate to have Ms. Duffy come to our book club and talk about the book with us. She happens to live in Rochester.  She was fabulous and very interesting to talk to about her novel.  So even though this book was a tough read for me....I was so worth reading in order to meet the author. I give the book a 2 but our visit with Duffy a 4!

Killing Kennedy by Bill O'Reilly

This was a very interesting and fast read. It is part of Bill O'Reilly's "Killing" series. This is about the life and events that led up to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.  I stopped and looked at many things online as I was reading this book...particularly when they were talking about televised speeches. After I read this book I also watched the movie Jackie which gives you a different perspective.  I rated this a 4.

The One by John Marrs

I couldn't put this one down. It wouldn't have been one I would have picked out on my own, but that is why I am in a book club!  This is a psychological thriller about a British woman who has figured out how to make romantic matches using a DNA swatch. Sounds simple but gets very complicated! The plot focuses on 5 different who have been matched and how their news affects their lives.  Just a warning, this book has the blush factor in some of the scenes. This is not great literature but a entertaining story.  I give it a 3 because I can't recommend it to everyone. 

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

Bert Cousins shows up at the christening party of his co-worker's child and ends up kissing his wife, Beverly, by the end of the evening.  The marriage falls apart and Beverley weds Bert. Two families with children are now merged...forever. This book spans five decades and follows four parents and six children and their rather unhappy lives.

This was a forgettable book for me.  I just didn't connect with the story or characters and plodded through the reading.  I give it a 2 out or 4. 

The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck

Marianne von Lingenfels promises to take care of the widows of one of the resistance groups in Germany who plotted to kill Hitler during World War II. She finds them after the war and invites them to live with her in the castle that she has inherited. It isn't glamorous or easy but she is earnest in helping after the war. Sometimes she seems to be bossy and meddling, but she is determined to make restitution and do the right thing.  This was an interesting perspective of WWII as you learn how Germans get back to their lives after the devastating war.  Of course, lots of sad scenes. I didn't love it as much as The Nightingale by Hannah, but it is one I would recommend.  I give it a 3.5 out of 4. 

Yule Book Flood - Library Style - Days 1-15

Jolabokaflod: Your Favorite New Holiday Tradition

Get behind Iceland's “Yule Book Flood” this holiday season and read books on Christmas Eve or just over the school break.  What a great tradition!

Iceland has a Christmas Eve book tradition of jólabókaflóð or Yule Book Flood. Everyone in Iceland gets a catalog of all the new published books in their mailbox at the start of the holiday season and they start buying books. They exchange books on Christmas Eve and then spend the evening reading them!

The Yule Book Flood started during WWII when imports were limited but paper was cheap and available. The country was too small to support year round book publishing so they flooded the market with books at the end of the year. Books became the traditional Christmas gift.

For the next 15 school days, I will be flooding you with book recommendations. Maybe one of these titles will be your perfect Holiday read over the break.   You don’t have to buy these books...just get them from your school library!

Here is the Link to my Google Slides for the first 6 days of my Book Flood!

 Book Flood

Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess by Sheri Green

If you love books, read a great many books. 

If you love to sing, sing loudly and often.

Whatever you do, do it with all your heart. 

Deaf sixth grader Macy McMillan is facing big changes in her life as her mother gets ready to get married and put their home up for sale. Macy will be gaining a stepfather and six-year-old twins for stepsisters and she is not sure this will be so great.   In the meantime, Macy’s mother sends her to help an elderly lady in the neighborhood pack up as she plans to move to assisted living.  The relationship that blossoms between Macy and Iris is delightful. Through Iris baking cookies, telling stories, and giving much wisdom Macy begins to accept her future. 

The book is written in free verse and is a quick read. It is amazing at how well Iris and Macy communicate even though Macy is deaf.  It is a feel-good story that I enjoyed reading. There is a recipe for Sugar and Spice cookies at the end of the book.  I actually made them, and they were delicious!

I loved the book and rate it a 4 out of 4.  

• Age Range: 8 - 12 years
• Grade Level: 4 - 6
• Reading Level:  5.2
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Pajama Press (May 15, 2017)

Mission Mumbai by Mahtab Narsimhan

The cover of this book just drew me in right away because these boys looked like they were having a great time! And boy do they have funny and dramatic adventures when they go to India for a wedding. Rohit's family is from India but they live in New York city. Dylan is an only child from a wealthy family who live in New York as well.  Dylan becomes best friends with Rohit and talks the families into letting him go with Rohit's family for a three week Indian trip. The culture sometimes confuses Dylan but he falls in love with the food, new experiences, and the loving family. 

There are a lot of slapstick humorous parts in this plot that involved gross things related to toilets, vomit, spitting, sweat, and poop. This should hook kid readers! 

As you adventure with Dylan and Rohit it is like going along on their trip. The descriptions of India are very interesting and it is definitely a character in the book. Dylan gets into plenty of cultural scrapes as he mistakenly does things that are not acceptable in the Indian culture. 

Dylan is dealing with parents with marriage troubles and feels alone with plenty of things but not enough of a loving family. He is attracted to Rohit's family who struggles with finances but has a caring and warm home life. This is one reason he wants to go to India. He also wants to win a photography contest to prove to his father that even though he isn't athletic, he can be successful at something.  I kept thinking about the poor little rich boy or The Prince and the Pauper when I thought of Dylan (rich and unhappy) and Rohit (poor and happy).

Dylan loves food and the author describes lots of Indian dishes in this book. I looked up most of them on my ipad.  It made me hungry!  This is a book where I would encourage the reader to look things up for more information about India. Dylan for the most part takes in stride the poverty and cultural differences he encounters without complaint.  I was impressed with his positive outlook.  As a reader, I was reminded of how blessed we are in the United States.  This is a terrific book and I give it a 4 out of 4 rating!

This is a book where I would encourage the reader to look things up for more information about India.

• Age Range: 9 - 12 years
• Grade Level: 4 - 7
• Reading Level:  5.0
• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Press (March 29, 2016)

Front Desk by Kelly Yang

I have been in a reading slump and I blame this book! I loved it so much and read it quickly, enjoying the experience. I can't seem to find another book as good and therefore, I have been abandoning books all over the house.  Read this book!

Front Desk is a about a girl named Mia Tang who is the 5th grade daughter of Chinese immigrants from the 1990's who manage a hotel in California. The owner of the hotel pays them poorly and has unreasonable demands. They keep the job because of few work options for them. This is how the owner keeps them working....by threatening that they can be replaced. Mia volunteers to work at the front desk so her parents can clean rooms. Although guests are surprised at her young age, she quickly shows that she is capable of tending to all their needs. 

Throughout the story, you find out that many Chinese immigrants find their way to the Tang's hotel and they give them a few days of recovery after escaping some situations of danger or hardship.  Mia helps one of the long term guests who gets into a police situation by using her writing skills and persuades others to do the right thing. The ending might be improbable but I loved it. Stranger things do happen when you are determined.  

Front Desk is loosely based on the life story of Kelly Yang.  She wrote this book for her children to let them know about her childhood experiences. 

This book reminded me of It Ain't So Awful Falafel by Dumas.   Both are about the author''s childhood immigrant experiences in California in the last part of the 20th century.  They are funny and heartwarming, featuring a strong female character.  

The TV comedy series, Fresh Off the Boat is another comparison which features a Chinese family assimilating into a Florida community. 




I give this book a 5 out of 4 rating.  It is great for grades 4-6.  

Check out this book trailer!

• Print Length: 304 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Inc. (May 29, 2018)
• Publication Date: May 29, 2018
• Sold by: Scholastic Trade Publisher
• 
  

The Countdown Conspiracy by Katie Slivensky

It has been a while since I have posted. I have been reading lots of adult books and listening to audio books on my car trips this summer. I now have a long list of  book titles for personal reading because looking for books to read always leads you on a trail of even more titles to read.  But now that the August will start tomorrow, it is time to start reading from my pile of school library books.  

This book, The Countdown Conspiracy looked like a winner when I selected it and it turned out to be a super book.  I really liked learning about Astronaut Scott Kelly and his year adventure in outer space. Scott Kelly's Website  (I gave  the book he wrote about this experience to my brother in law.  I wonder if he is finished and is willing to let me read it!) So this title was in my wheelhouse. 

The Countdown Conspiracy is set in the future and plans are being made for six students who have been selected from around the world to go to Mars. Except they have nine years of training before it is a reality.  The trip will take 9 months to get to Mars, then they spend a year there and then come back.   There are three boys and three girls selected from a rigorous application process and all of them are geniuses on their own in engineering, technology, science, robotics and mathematics. They are just middle school kids. The world has just suffered from a devastating world war and so this Mars mission is hopefully a key to promoting peace and confidence in society again. 

Except, the main character, Miranda, from the USA, gets a warning that lives are at risk. She and other members of the six are attacked and the warnings keep coming.  Miranda and the other five team members try and figure out what is going on but, on a simulation test, the trip to Mars doesn't turn out to be practice but reality. They have to rely on their skills and intelligence when no one else is available to help them get back to Earth. 

I am not a sciencey type of person, however, this kind of book fascinates me and I don't worry if I don't understand what they are talking about all the time.  I am not sure I need to get everything.  The adventure kept me turning pages and wondering what they could possibly do to get out of the trouble they were in. The characters were interesting and fun to get to know.  I felt like a great snoop onboard a space mission!

There are a few swear words in the book and some deaths and violence. I would give this book to a fifth grader and older to read.  There is a great glossary at the end of the book and an author's note talking about how she learned about space missions in order to make this book to be more science than fantasy.  The reading level is 5th grade and it is 309 pages long. I rate it a 4 out of 4.  I look forward to reading more from this author. 

• Age Range: 8 - 12 years
• Grade Level: 3 - 7
• Lexile Measure: 700 
• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (August 1, 2017)

Nevermoor - The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

Morrigan Crow was born on the eve of eventide which is something like the turn of a new decade. If you are born on eventide you are doomed to die on your 11th birthday. You are also an unlucky child and are responsible for all of the poor luck and misery that surrounds you because you are the ultimate scapegoat. Morrigan is marked for sadness and her family, for the most part, ignores her. 

Morrigan's family solemnly prepares for her death on the eve of her birthday, but she is ultimately rescued from the Hunters of Death by a mysterious man named Jupiter North. He whisks her to the magical land of Nevermoor where he introduces her to a whole new world. She discovers friendships, family, freedom and acceptance. She is also enrolled in a series of tests for the Wundrous Society. She has to prove her talents and abilities to the society but she has no idea what they are. Her mentor, Jupiter, assures her that she has nothing to worry about. However, the trials she has to face leaves her in much doubt. Some sinister characters are sabotaging her efforts along the way. She has also been warned that she doesn't belong and will be sent back home if she can't prove herself. 

The world Morrigan lives in is fantastical but you will recognize many elements of her life which parallel a realistic world. There are lots of delightful customs and details that are fun to learn about in the Nevermoor society. From dragon flying to ever changing decor to match your mood, there are many whimsical descriptions of Nevermoor life. 

The author plans on writing 7 books in this series and I found that it is the closest to being Harry Potter like without exactly mirroring that series. Movie rights have already been purchased and publishers are talking about this book being the next popular series.  As I read this book, I also thought it was perfect for Harry Potter fans.  I look forward to seeing if this title becomes popular. I know I will be promoting this series. 

The author is from Australia and now lives in London. This title won't be eligible for a Maud Hart Lovelace nominee since the author is outside the United States. But I still highly recommend this book. The reading level is 5.6 and has 481 pages. Both boys and girls will like this book. I give it a 4 out of 4. 

• Print Length: 481 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (October 31, 2017)

Watch the following video where the author reads from her book!

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The Perfect Score by Rob Buyea

The kids in a 6th grade class get a teacher who was asked to come out of retirement for the year. Mrs. Wood is a great teacher and has a no nonsense approach and knows how to manage a classroom. She also excels at the daily read aloud time and it becomes the highlight of the day for some of the students.  Meanwhile the statewide testing focus causes her administration to ask her to start practice test sessions early in the school year and require cutting out non essentials such as birthday parties, read alouds, and even some recess time. The students feel the pressure from their own lives and school and when the time comes to take the test, team up and devise a plan to cheat in order to all get perfect scores.  This results in some consequences they hadn't planned on. 

The author, Rob Buyea, used to teach fourth grade and so I expect that his realistic stories about school will be described correctly.  His experience with testing is not like my school.  All our tests are done on the computer and not paper and pencil.  And even when it was with paper and pencil, none of the tests were exactly in the same order. It would have been impossible to cheat the way the ids in this story do. Our students don't receive results of their tests until way into  the summer. The results don't have as much impact on them. It does however impact the teacher, and the report card of the school. 

Buyea uses the multiple points of view in his previous books and does the same in this book as well. Each student has some issue in their own life which shades how well they are doing in school. From no time to study because of sports, bullying, dyslexia, to always wanting to perform perfectly.  The consequences for each student helps family and school understand more about the difficulties the students are dealing with at school and home. 

This is a fun and fast read. You have to keep the characters straight but it is pretty easy if you remember to read the chapter headings. I give this book a 3 out of 4 rating. It is a 4.7 reading level.

• Print Length: 351 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (October 3, 2017)