First loves make your heart beat fast, make your cheeks burn pink, and make you shy even when they’re your best friend. Archie and Zack love eachother, and everyone knows this. Archie decides to write Zack a note, from A to Z, but he feels something is missing, so he hides it in a tree. He writes another one, but again hides it. He writes a third note, and hides that one as well. Three classmates find the notes: Zuzella, Zinnia, and Zelda. All who the note could be for since it didn’t say Zack – but each knew the note was from Archie to Zack because everyone knew they loved eachother.

This cute picture book is the perfect first love story, a perfect depiction of people who are just meant to be, and a perfect picture story of acceptance. I enjoyed that the illustrations add to the story, in fact, you need them to fully understand what Archie feels as he wonders whether this will be the note he gives to Zack.

If you are looking for an LGBTQIA+ fiction picture book to add to your collection, this sweet story is the one! Don’t forget to check out the cover under the jacket for a surprise!

In this sequel to Kelly Yang’s novel, Front Desk, we continue the story of Mia, Lupe, and Jason. Mia and her family (and the other investors) now own the motel and are doing really well. They have had a great summer with Lupe and Mia running the front desk. In Kelly Yang’s first novel she tackled topics of colorism and racism, in this novel she takes on the topic of immigration as well as racism. Despite these topics being difficult to convey to elementary kids, Yang does it in a way that middle grade students can understand, empathize with, and learn from. I was very impressed with the amount of information presented and the ease at which Yang fit it into her story.

This novel surrounds a gubernatorial race in California and immigration legislation that would kick all illegal immigrants out of schools – including Mia’s best friend Lupe. Mia watches many of her classmates and Lupe shrink in fear and worry as their new 6th grade teacher talks about the legislation and tells them that racism doesn’t exist. Mia, who learned how powerful her voice is in the first novel, continues to use her writing to make change at the motel and in her community. They are faced with many challenges, including the motel possibly losing investors because Mia wrote ‘Immigrants Welcome’ on their Calavista Motel sign.

This is a fabulous story of friendship, integrity, empathy, and the power of voice.

The afterward of this novel also tells about the author’s own experience with similar legislation growing up in California. She talks about the quantitative and qualitative research she put into this book and that every hate crime which we read in the story is one that happened in real life.

I highly recommend adding this to your library, along with Front Desk.

This is a great story about how storyteller Zora Neale Hurston became the collector and teller of stories. The book follows Zora’s life from her childhood, where she got her love of oral storytelling, her mother passing away, her father remarrying, her leaving home at 14, getting educated and returning home to collect the stories she remembered from her past.

This book is illustrated by Jacqueline Alcantara and the illustrations in this book are fantastic. You can feel the energy that Zora Neale Hurston carried with her on her journeys and her story friends follow you through the illustrations. There are frogs in glasses, rabbits in hats, and foxes that you can find hiding in the pages of Zora’s story. The end papers at the end of the book offer an Author’s Note and additional reading sources to continue learning about the prolific storyteller.

This is a great addition to the biographies and stories in your classroom or library.