Well-known author Lois Lowry (The Giver, Number the Stars) presents her reflections on World War II in verse.  Born in Honolulu four years before the bombing at Pearl Harbor, she opens with the image of herself playing on the beach with the attack of the USS Arizona on the horizon behind her.  With research to back her poems, she presents grim facts of the loss aboard the USS Arizona, for example, the fact that there were thirty-seven sets of brothers aboard. Part 2 moves on to the bombing in Japan, “another horizon,” where the Lowry family lived, with mention of people and artifacts found after the bombing.  Black and white drawings by Kenard Pak contribute to the artful depiction of the lens from Lois Lowry’s childhood.

While the suggested call number for this book is 940.54, the World War II section, this book is not hard research material. While facts learned are interesting, the verse style lends itself more to the emotions associated with World War II. Perhaps a better spot for it would be on the poetry shelf.

This book of 74 pages has short four to six page chapters with one black and white illustration per chapter. There is just the right amount of Korean cultural differences included to make Korean students feel recognized and non-Korean students to say, “Wow”, I never new that, “That’s cool.”

Mindy has been at her new school in Florida for a few months now. Lunar New Year is quickly approaching, reminding Mindy of how much fun Lunar New Year had always been with her mother and father. Unni, Mindy’s afterschool babysitter, is Korean, also. Unni’s mother is busy making special foods for their Lunar New Year celebration and makes extra for Mindy and her father.

Dad ( appa in Korean) wants to take Mindy to Orlando, FL, for the Lunar New Year Parade. Mindy’s not sure if she wants to go. How fun could it be without her deceased mother along. Appa tells Mindy to invite her friend Sally to come to the parade with her. At school on Friday, Mindy tells her class all about Lunar New Year during “What’s New with You?”. She even has special rice cakes to share ( not sell, like the trouble she got into in book #1) with her class.

On Saturday, appa suggests Mindy wear the hanbok (Korean dress for special occasions) to the parade her mother helped her purchase last year. It just fits. Off to the parade in Orlando with appa and Sally they go. The parade in wonderful and so big, but does not seem to have any Korean representation. Once the parade is over, Sally and Mindy see a huge Pikachu balloon floating by and run after it to take pictures. Sally and Mindy get worried, almost panicky, once they realize appa was not able to follow them through the crowd. Sally’s emergency cellphone battery has died. And neither one of them knows their parents’ cell numbers. Now what? Sally does have an emergency $20 bill for food, though. That is where appa and his friend find Sally and Mindy in the food court. The four of them have lunch, then make arrangements to meet back at Mindy and appa’s house for a Korean Lunar New Year dinner.

Mindy comes to realize that “without Mom here to celebrate with us, … I could still like it. And we could have new traditions and make new memories with our new friends.” (71)

Author Lyla Lee notes in her Acknowledgments, ” I wanted to write a book about the fun Korean traditions that my parents kept alive in our family despite the fact that we moved to the United States more than twenty years ago.”(75) She has succeeded in a most wonderful way!

Mindy Kim is a 7 1/2 year old who has just moved to Florida from California with her dad, months after her mother died. Mindy is worried about starting a new school. “My old school had kids of many different colors. But here, no one looked like me.” ( 5) Her new teacher does not know how to pronounce her Korean name Min-jung and asks, ” ‘ Do you have an English name?’ ” (10) At lunchtime, the other students have never seen a Korean lunch and laugh. After school is better, when she goes to Eunice’s (Unni) house because Unni has a dog. Mindy wants a dog of her own so much.

Mindy’s second day of school is better because she has made some goals for herself, just like dad does. First, Mindy asks Sally if she can eat lunch at her table. That worked. Sally is interested in Mindy’s seaweed snack and soon has everyone at the table wanting to try it, too. Sally gives Mindy the idea of trading food for the seaweed. Then Mindy gets so many snacks she can’t eat them all. Then, Sally suggests she sell the seaweed snacks to the other students. Mindy’s seaweed snack business is taking off. She wants to use the money she earns to get a puppy. A puppy would help dad feel better, too, because he is still sad over mom’s death, like Mindy. Another student tells on Mindy for selling the snacks which is against the school rules. When the principal gets involved, Mindy and Sally become upset with each other for their part in the rule breaking. Principal involved means parents get notified, and Mindy’s not having a mother comes up again. Dad takes it all in stride and helps Mindy apologize to Sally. Later, when everything has settled down, dad has a special celebration for Mindy for making it through her first good week at her new school.

This book of 77 pages has short four to six page chapters with one black and white illustration per chapter. There is just the right amount of Korean cultural differences included to make Korean students feel recognized and non-Korean students to say, “Wow”, I never new that, “That’s cool.”

A thought provoking story with wonderful family and friend dynamics continues in Book Two of the Donut Dreams series by Coco Simon. In Book 2, we have Lindsay’s (from book 1) cousin’s story. Kelsey and Lindsay are both entering middle school and both work in the Donut Dreams Shop of the ‘Park’, their grandparents restaurant in the small town of Bellgrove.

Kelsey is not a fan of change. Middle school has change written all over it. One of the first changes Kelsey faces is having two of her friends try out for a different sports. Kelsey likes field hockey, as does her friend Sophia. Her friends Bella and Riley have decided to go out for soccer. Kelsey’s circle of close friends is expanding from elementary school and she’s not sure how she feels about that. Then, Casey nominates Kelsey for the sixth grade class representative. What will that even entail?

Meanwhile, on the home front, Kelsey’s mother invites her motherless cousin, Lindsay, over for their family’s special Friday night event because Lindsay’s little brother is sick. Ugh, change.

Kelsey does not make the A Team in field hockey, but is on the support team. Kelsey’s happy with it. She is not competitive. She will have “all of the fun without all the pressure.”(79)

Now, Mom wants Lindsay go with them on their special mom and me weekend, too. ” ‘ I don’t want to share Mom with anyone more than Jenna and Molly, because sharing her with them is already too much… ‘ ” (99)

Kelsey will realize how much her family is there for her, carrying the theme family always has your back from book one.

In the end Kelsey comes to find people :

1. who want to help you,

2) here to listen,

3) let them in,

4) not knowing everything is okay,

5) not having solutions is okay,

6) kindness will always win out and you’ll stay true to yourself.

Here is a new series full of what it means to be family! It is thought provoking and reassuring all at the same time!

Book #1 – Hole in the Middle – is told by Lindsay as she works out entering middle school. Lindsay’s mother was the art teacher at Belgrove Middle School until she died two years ago. Now, Nans and Grandpa live with Lindsay, her younger brother, and her father. Lindsay’s grandparents own the restaurant ” Park View Table” or the Park for short. Lindsay’s extended family works at this restaurant, too.

Now that Lindsay is starting Belgrove Middle School she will be starting to work in the family restaurant, too. The special part of the restaurant that sells donuts.

The theme “family always has your back…” (44) runs continuously throughout this book with a warm sense of comfort. Middle school is definitely a time in life when a person is trying new things and “start to figure out who you are and what you like.” ( 94) This is a time when comfort is needed. Lindsay’s grandma Mimi comes to town to help her find a special dress for the upcoming Fall Fling. Mimi brings a wide array of dresses with her from Chicago for Lindsay to try on at a ‘dress party’, but Lindsay wonders if it is a ‘pity party’ because everyone else’s mother in this small town is helping their daughter pick out their Fall Fling dress.

Now is the time for the title’s hidden meaning to be revealed. “Nans says that we’re like donuts…we have holes is us, and I guess for me that hole is where I miss Mom…But that like a donut’s shape, we’re surrounded by people, in a tight circle, so that the hole doesn’t get any bigger.” (128)

Each chapter title is topped with candy sprinkles just like on top of a donut.

The first two chapters of book #2 SO JELLY, finish off this book.

There are 15 pages of text with two paragraphs per page opposite color team action photos.

The Atlanta Flacons out of Atlanta, Georgia, “have played in the National Football League (NFL) for more than 50 years. The Falcons have had good seasons and bad. But time and time again, they’ve proven themselves.” (4)

The book includes information on the Falcons’ coaches, team star players, their playoff and Super Bowl games, and statistics on all of the above.

I am not a football fan by any means, yet I was impressed by the way the author showed the Falcons’ effort to overcome obstacles from their beginning years to 2017.

The book includes: a table of contents, a time line (which snakes around the page), a postgame quiz, a glossary, a website (booklinks.abdopublishing.com), and an index.

Young readers just starting chapter books will enjoy this ‘getting ready for Halloween’ short chapter book with only 48 pages. The illustrations have just the right amount of chubby green boogeymen with horns on their heads and a friendly helpful ghost to make this a seasonal winner and a winner in family dynamics.

Damien Q. Boogey has a secret, but before he tells us, his father yells, for him to come down stairs. Damien’s father is furious to read Damien “applied to be an apprentice candymaker.” (18) How can the son of the boogeyman have a son who is a candymaker? This is horrible. Dad wants Damien to follow in his family’s footsteps. Though Damien is terrified of his father, he stands up to him and declares, ” It’s my dream.” (19) The argument is on until Georgia, the ghost (and a former resident of the house), steps in and suggests Damien “shows you his SKILLS in the kitchen? He is quite talented, you know.” (28) Damien puts his Granny’s skills to the test and makes a cupcake his father states is better than Granny’s. Success!