With Brother/Sister, Sean Olin takes readers into the minds of two teenagers for whom the world is unraveling fast. Sparely written, deep but easy to read, Olin’s book lets us into the minds of siblings Will and Asheley Baird through their own words as they explain to interrogators how they came to be in the nightmarish fix they’re in: Will is a murderer and Asheley has abetted his crimes, all for what each thinks of as love.

As the plot unfolds, Olin gives us reasons for these two to be almost powerless in the face of their undoing…a disappeared, abandoning father; a drunken, hopeless mother who abrogated her duties, placing impossible burdens on the shoulders of her then-6 year-old son; Asheley’s boyfriend, abused himself, who makes things worse; an ineffectual stoned “step-dad”; and a cast of teenaged characters for whom the world is drinking, party-crashing, crushes, and sports.

Struggling to belong, hoping for happiness, Asheley wants friends but finds only she can control her brother’s increasing anger and violence. Will, desperately alone and torn with self-doubt, fixates on Asheley as the one he must protect at all costs, to whom he must dedicate his life as he inexorably becomes divorced from reality.  Sadly, it is the day of each one’s greatest triumphs that marks the beginning of their undoing.

Many themes make this a worthwhile book for readers, showing that without real parenting, lives can go woefully, tragically astray.

Highly Recommended

With Irises, award-winning author Francisco X. Stork paints the lives of two young women at a crossroads in consciousness and beliefs, faced with decisions that will either allow or destroy their most cherished dreams. Stork’s sensitive handling of an uncommon subject is a valuable journey that will help readers understand the choices we often must make as we weigh the costs of loving against the obligations we have to ourselves of living our own authentic lives.

Kate and Mary Romero have spent two years since the accident that left their mother in a vegetative state, living under the stern, restrictive, limited but loving influence of their father, Church of God Pastor Manuel Romero. His certainty that removing life-supports from his comatose wife would be a sin against God has left the family in service to the all-but-lifeless mother in the parish house provided by the congregation.

The sudden death of their father begins a process of awakening in older sister Kate, who burns to attend Stanford University and become a doctor, and in 16 year-old Mary, a gifted artist whose ability to ‘see the light’ and put it on canvas has vanished since her mother’s tragedy. Mary’s unsuccessful attempt to re-render the famous Van Gogh painting, Irises, has shown her how lifeless and dull her painting has become since her mother’s accident.

Both girls’ dreams, fostered and encouraged by their lively mother, crushed and denied by their father, bring each to the edge of despair at the contemplation of accepting endless servitude to their lifeless mother.

Vivid characters emerge to help the sisters decide whether to sacrifice their hopes to keep their mother “alive”, or to make the leap of faith called for in ending what their mother herself would call no life at all. As the faults of the father emerge, the sisters seek help from distant Aunt Julia, who has health problems of her own.

Having removed life supports from my own dying mother, I connected with the story. Soul and spirit combine in the painful process of letting go, giving this book its own luminous quality.

Highly recommended.

Brian Gable’s zany cat/critter illustrations entertain and help “visually” define over 50 compound words set to Brian B. Cleary’s large (2 cm) text as it rambles over and  under the critters on the page.

Brian B. Cleary defines a  “compound word: [as]  A word made up of two or more shorter words” on the verso page set upon an easel with a teacher cat tapping the definition with her pointer. Then on page 10-11, he states,

” You’ll cut those big words down to size

when you see what they’re made of:

words you can pronounce and can spell

and aren’t a bit afraid of!”

This colorful, kid-friendly cookbook contains over 100 recipes that look simple but delicious.  Geared for 4th grade and up, kids will find not only sweet goodies in the cookbook but also some healthful recipes such as Fruity Bran Loaf, Wholemeal Apricot Rock Cakes and Snack Bars (which are full of whole grains, seeds and dried fruit).  The instructions are written clearly and step-by-step with pictures to illustrate technique.  Each recipe includes large, colorful photographs of the finished treat which should inspire young bakers.  Every recipe looks delicious!  This should be popular in our library, I will book-talk it!

The author noted that she grew up in a small village in Italy where her family gathered every year to crush the grapes at harvest time.  This story is about Claudia, a small girl in Italy whose family owns a vineyard.  She’s afraid of heights and is reluctant to climb the ladder to the roof where the big barrel is placed for crushing grapes.  With gentle support from her family, Claudia is able to join the other children in the grape stomping.  She ends up delighting in the task and overcomes her fears.  The harvest celebration culminates in a big Italian family feast until the exhausted Claudia cuddles in for a well-deserved afternoon nap on Grandma’s tall bed.  This picture book was an interesting read, particularly with the author’s cultural connectivity and use of Italian words (glossary included) sprinkled throughout the story.  The illustrations were bright and colorful, depicting the beautiful Italian countryside.

Buzz and Fly Guy go for a car ride with Dad , when Fly Guy gets sucked out the car’s open window. Fly Guy goes from car to truck, to boat, to circus train, to airplane, to rocket with Buzz and Dad in hot pursuit.

Tedd Arnold leads his readers on in wide-eyed wonder, just like his wide-eyed characters!

This book was fun to read due to the humorous writing style as well as the text being in letter format.  Some of the characters are town phantoms and there are mysteries to solve.  The story is about a small town which is about to lose it’s post office in lieu of a new technology called VEXT-mail (which is hilariously faulty).  To spice up the story a bit, there is strange, mysterious and sometimes mildly threatening fan mail arriving at Spence Mansion, the home of eleven year-old Seymour Hope and his adoptive parents  Ignatius Grumply (an elderly writer) and Olive C. Spence (a ghost writer, literally!).  Most of the characters have phonetically comical names such as Dr. Izzy Dedyet, the town doctor.  Seymour and his new friend Wy Fye (who is addicted to texting on her cell phone) work to solve the mysteries and save the post office.  A light and entertaining read, Ms. Klise’s books are popular in our school library (K – 8 gr).

Damon, his mother, her friend and Jaden, are helping to pack up the belongings in grandfather’s house because he now lives in an assisted living community. When Jaden shows grandfather an old photo, grandpa tells of how the boy in the photo disappeared without a trace 60 years ago all due to a treasure map they had. Later, Jaden finds the same treasure map. Clues on the map lead Damon and Jaden into a dark, creepy cemetery and a hidden underground vault.

Told in nine short (less then 10 pages each) chapters with  ten black and white drawings by Nelson Evergreen, Jason Strange (pseudonym) reveals his investigative notes on this mystery with a surprise bone-chilling end.

Includes: Discussion Questions , Writing Prompts, and a glossary.

I enjoyed the twists in the story, but  later (perhaps because I’m an adult) became dissatisfied by over-thinking the mother’s role in the story.

The cover artwork makes this a good Hi-Lo book for older readers.

This is book 3 in the Lemonade War Series following The Lemonade War and The Lemonade Crime.  This book is well-written and engaging, drawing me in to the plot and characters so that I didn’t put it down until I’d finished the last page.  This story is about 9 year old Jessie, her 10 year old brother Evan, their mother and Grandmother.  Jessie, Evan and their mom take trip to visit Grandma who has been having some health problems, including signs of dementia.  While visiting, the kids discover that their Grandma’s valuable antique bell is missing from her property which sparks a mystery to be solved.  They meet a new friend along the way, who shows strong signs of autism.  The themes of friendship, acceptance, standing up to bullies, mystery, aging loved ones, work ethic and reliability are all present in this story.  I highly recommend this entire series and have found that my students enjoy these books as well.

This is the tongue-in-cheek sequel to THE WICKEDEST WITCH in the Witches at War! series by author Martin Howard and illustrator Colin Stimpson. “Only a power-crazed evil sorceress out to take over the world would wear heels like that, and, in fact, Deadly Nightshade was a power-crazed evil sorceress out to take over the world. So that was alright.”  And to do that Diabolica needs The Black Wand of Ohh Please Don’t Turn Me Into Aaaaargh … Ribbet. The politics of the witching world continues as Esmelia plots to gain the title of The Most Superior High and Wicked Witch permanently while her apprentice, Sam, simply plots to stay alive, though hopefully not as an apprentice to Esmelia.

The NUMBER 1 rule in the witching world is witches do not have children! Sam knows who her grandmother was, Sam’s mother has just learned Sam is her daughter, but doesn’t know who her own mother was. A puzzle to be solved, a throne to gain, and the world to conquer.

Who, oh, who will come out on top, and how does the classic children’s song/dance the Hokey Pokey turn into a magical dance of Hocus Pocus which helps to foil evil?