F.A.R.T.: Top Secret! No Kids Allowed! (1) (The F.A.R.T. Diaries)

The F.A.R.T. Diaries is an adventurous comedy that will entice anyone looking for some wacky fun! A diabolical plot by a group of parents and teachers (also known as F.A.R.T.) to brainwash kids into obedience is discovered by FP, and it’s up to a tween boy to figure out how to stop it. The boundless humor and wacky characters were bound to interest anyone who lay a finger on this book! This daring book takes the character vs. society conflict above and beyond with unmatched creativity! People who dislike reading could pick up this book and immediately be engrossed, dystopian readers will appreciate the challenge of authority, but all the action and comedy can be enjoyed by all!

Cloud Town by Daniel McClosky

Cloud Town by Danial McCloskey represents a dystopian world with monsters and crazy events. This book is perfect for readers that enjoy science fiction and exploring a whole different world. Two friends, Olive and Pen forever head each other backs, until a giant android that protects their town from huge monsters almost steps on them. Only one of them can drive the android to protect the townspeople. Their friendship then becomes threatened by abandonment, and feelings of betrayal. The miraculous creativity and imagination the author used to create this crazy adventure of a story were compelling. This Dystopian graphic novel mixes adventure, contemporary art, and ridiculous characters all to create this masterpiece.

Fallout by Steve Sheinkin

A fantastically riveting and fast-paced read, this nonfiction thriller, Fallout, by Steve Sheinkin, will entertain readers who enjoy topics from real wartime heroes to readers of the espionage genre, alike. Strangely enough, during the Cold War, a paperboy’s tip leads to the discovery and dismantling of a Russian spy ring, and even the unexpected and the undetected will drive the world forward, even through the surmounting crises of the Cold War. In Fallout, the use of pictures to give readers a window into the physicality of the fantastic people and characters is merely brilliant! The fast-paced high-tension story, following the “how it happened” of selections of the Cold War! Whether you read quickly or slower, this book will keep you on edge and turning the page! Fun and fast, never a dull moment, but thoughtful and contemplating, showing the subject due consideration!

Set Me Free by Anne Clare Lezotte

Set Me Free is a page-turning novel about courage and compassion by Ann Clare Lezotte. It is a sequel to Show Me A sign which was inspired by the true history of a deaf community in Martha’s Vineyard. It is sure to be a wonderful hit among middle-grade audiences. Mary Lambert has been tormented by the memory of being kidnapped as a specimen of cruel experiments to determine the cause of her deafness, and she is now growing tired of her life in Martha’s Vineyard and of her beloved writing and decides to the teacher an 8-year-old deaf girl how to communicate with no past language experience, which will prove to be much more complicated than originally thought. The descriptive language allows the reader to feel hope and courage. Those who loved Ann Clare Lezotte’s novel “Give Me a Sign” will honor how much time went into making this book just as good as the first.

Hazard

by Frances O’Roark Dowell

Hazard written in verse by Frances O’Roark Dowell may just be the new hit among middle-grade audiences. Hazard, is a boy filled with rage and dealing with a father newly home from the Afghanistan war. He is being forced to go talk to a therapist about his father and the rage he keeps inside, strongly feels like it will do nothing. The amount of effort that was put into representing the families that have had very similar experiences as shown in the book makes one appreciate the story even more. Some families can relate to the events of the book and that makes this wonderful realistic fiction story worth reading. Others will enjoy the struggle that the characters experience throughout the book while others will love the realistic part of it. Though everyone will love the story that Frances O’roark Dowell told.

The Thirteenth Hour

Before the first chapter the author tells the reader that she wrote her first book when she was eleven and that if we want to, we will write a book also. This statement sets the tone for a book that lends itself very well to being a book that teachers will read aloud to their students and that some students will then choose to read for themselves.
The young Rosemary is given an intriguing golden watch accompanied by some precise but mysterious directions on a hospital visit to her sick Aunt Jo. Rosemary’s dreams, under the influence of the watch, become adventure reality as she tries to save her frenemy Jeremiah with the help of a new friend, Alejandro, and some helpful dream world friends.
Teachers are cautioned to read the book first as some images and scenarios may be troubling to some students.

Jazz for Lunch!

This book is a visual celebration of Jazz. Written in the rhyme, you can feel the music in the rhythm of the words as they connect the food prep of Auntie Nina and her young nephew to the sounds of different instruments. Each page has a few words in large, colorful fonts that jump off the page. The vivid illustrations match the excitement of the music. There are also nods to the legends of Jazz including Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane and Thelonius Monk. The end papers have paragraph bios of the musicians mentioned in the text. This book would work well to introduce children to the joy of experiencing Jazz.

There’s a Ghost in This House

Every day students ask me for scary books. Here is one that is more Casper the Friendly Ghost than Elm Street. A girl moves from room to room in her 18th century house looking for ghosts that she has heard live there, but she never sees one. The fun is when you turn the translucent page that overlays where she is looking to reveal the playful ghosts that are having fun hiding from her. Each page has one or two short sentences. This book appeals to young children who enjoy the surprise factor in “lift the flap” books. The illustrations of the rooms are done in brown and cream contrasting the girl who has bright yellow and green. This palette also allows the white ghosts to appear clearly. One consideration, is the translucent ghost pages are less durable that the paper ones. Readers will also want to flip these back and forth several times to make the ghosts appear and disappear, so they will have more use. This is a delightful, engaging book that is a perfect fit for early elementary students.

I am Malala Yousafzai by Brad Meltzer

Another book in the Ordinary People Change the World Series, I am Malala Yousafzai, starts out with Malala introducing herself as an ordinary girl who likes pink, cupcakes, and pizza. The narrative quickly turns to how girls in her country are not treated the same as boys. It discusses the school started by her father and her quest to seek education. It does depict when she was shot and does show someone holding a gun. The illustrations show Malala as a young girl throughout the entire book. The end includes a timeline and photographs of Malala.

If You Were an Elephant

Young listeners and early readers can learn all about African bush elephants in this gentle book about our largest mammal. Hints of African patterns and soft sun-bleached colors add to the sweet, but factual story of elephant life. The book also included an “Amazing Facts about Elephants” page at the end that will have readers, young and old, wanting to share what they have learned about the lives of African elephants.