Calvin Coconut: Rocket Ride, by Graham Salisbury; Wendy Lamb Books: New York, 2012; $12.99 This book is about a kid named Calvin who is getting bullied to give the bully a ticket to his dad’s concert. Calvin lives in Hawaii. His dad is coming there for his band performance. His dad is a famous rock […]
Book Reviews
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, by Amy Chua; Penguin Books: New York, 2011; $16 Sophia and Louisa Chua are perfect kids. They get straight A’s and are the best at everything. Sophia played piano at Carnegie Hall when she was fourteen; Louisa was accepted as a student of the world-famous violinist Naoko Tanaka. This […]
The Mighty Miss Malone
The Mighty Miss Malone, by Christopher Paul Curtis; Wendy Lamb Books: New York, 2012; $15.99 Usually I can tell whether I like a book or not within the first chapter. With this book, I could tell in the first sentence. When I read, “‘Once upon a time…’ If I could get away with it, that’s […]
Summer of the Wolves
Summer of the Wolves, by Polly Carlson-Voiles; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers: New York, 2012; $15.99 Polly Carlson-Voiles’s Summer of the Wolves is a wonderful book about a twelve-year-old girl named Nika and her younger brother who were recently orphaned and are being sent to their long-lost uncle’s house in Minnesota for the […]
The Blackhope Enigma
The Blackhope Enigma, by Teresa Flavin; Templar Publishing: United Kingdom, 2011; $12.70 What? When? Why? These were the thoughts running through my head as I flipped through The Blackhope Enigma. Written by Teresa Flavin, this novel is a perfect example of when reality and fantasy clash and the result is beautiful. What is an enigma? […]
The Lucy Variations
The Lucy Variations, by Sara Zarr; Little, Brown Books for Young Readers: New York, 2013; $18 An inspiring tale of a young musician finding her place in this crazy world, The Lucy Variations is a journey about finding yourself and accomplishing your dreams no matter what giant obstacles are blocking your way. Lucy’s little brother’s […]
Below
Below, by Meg McKinlay, Candlewick Press: Massachusetts, 2013; $15.99 Anyone would think that if you drowned a town with five thousand swimming pools of water, it would be done and gone, forgotten forever! But twelve-year old Cassie knows that everything has a way of revealing itself, sooner or later. Since she was a little girl, […]
Kizzy Ann Stamps
Kizzy Ann Stamps, by Jeri Watts; Candlewick Press: New York, 2012; $15.99 Kizzy Ann Stamps is a normal girl. She has a dog named Shag. She lives on a farm with her mother, father, and brother. But there’s one catch to this whole “normal girl” business: Kizzy Ann is black. Today, that wouldn’t be a […]
The Million Dollar Putt
The Million Dollar Putt, by Dan Gutman; Hyperion Press: New York, 2006; $15.99 If you happen to be walking along the shelves in the library and it’s a rainy afternoon and you’re looking for a short but enchanting story, then The Million Dollar Putt, by Dan Gutman, is for you. Dan Gutman has made the […]
Sugar
Sugar, by Jewell Parker Rhodes; Little, Brown Books for Young Readers: New York, 2013; $16.99 Ten-year-old Sugar lives on the River Road Plantation in Mississippi in the early 1800s. Sugar is a young African-American girl whose father died during the Civil War and whose mother died of sickness shortly after. As Sugar spends her time […]
The Lions of Little Rock
The Lions of Little Rock, by Kristin Levine; Penguin Young Readers Group: New York, 2013; $7.99 Have you ever read a book where you’re able to relate so much to the main character that it’s creepy? The Lions of Little Rock made me feel exactly that way. It’s 1958, and Marlee Nisbett is a twelve-year-old […]
Al Capone Shines My Shoes
Al Capone Shines My Shoes, by Gennifer Choldenko; Penguin Young Readers Group: New York, 2011; $6.99 Though I am fascinated with American history, including Alcatraz, I was drawn to the book Al Capone Shines My Shoes, by Gennifer Choldenko, for different reasons. The main character’s name is Moose, a nickname that I have been called […]
