Category Archives: Reviewer’s Library Type

It Fell From the Sky

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By The Fan Brothers

One day, a beautiful sphere fell from the sky into the grass and the insects marveled at the object. This is another home run book by the Fan Brothers. Not only are the illustrations top notch, but the story of Wonder, friendship, and greed is a simple and sweet tale as well. In this story, a marble falls to the ground and the friends are taking guesses at what it is. Spider comes up with the brilliant idea of charging everyone to see the Wonder. It is a great plan at first, but before he knows it business has slowed and all his friends have left him. Did he choose greed over friendship? Spider comes up with a plan that takes lots of patience to bring everyone back together. As his plan takes shape the illustrations become more and more colorful until the last few pages are in full color to fully communicate the joy of all the friends. Up until then the illustrations are all in black and white with the exceptions of the Wonder that fell from the sky (a cat eye marble) and the money (leaves) that Spider gets greedy over. The book is rated from ages 4-8, although any person who loves art will love this book.

Please don’t forget to check out under the dust jacket for a beautiful hardcover illustration.

Cover image of It Fell from the Sky: Fan, Terry, Fan, Eric, Fan, Terry, Fan, Eric: 9781534457621: Amazon.com: Books

The Circles All Around Us, by Brad Montague, illustrated by Kristi Montague.

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This is a wonderfully written and illustrated book for primary aged children explaining healthy understanding of circles of people in our lives. Illuminating that we are in the center and those closest to us are immediate family, then extended family, then friends, community, ect. The story encourages inclusivity as we “widen” our circles to include more and more people. Our story ends with bringing it back to our first person (the reader) and the love they hold inside.

Standing on Her Shoulders, A Celebration of Women. Written by Monica Clark-Robinson, art by Laura Freeman.

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Beautifully illustrated and highly inspirational book for girls, young women and elders, alike. Our story begins with a young African-American girl sitting at the table with her mother and grandmother (assumed). The older women begin to tell her the story of all the women who have come before her and the foundation they layed, the work they gave, the sacrifices made to create the world today as a better place for their children’s children. In poetic form, we go through the ages highlighting events in history or seeing famous faces as we work our way to the present time. This book honors the ancestors and history of women, family, and the land our nation was built upon. The ending of the book brings our story full circle after explaining that we are standing on the shoulders of women before us, with this simple question: Who Will Stand on YOURS?

My Very Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World, by Malcolm Mitchell, illustrated by Michael Robertson

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This story is about the typical child who cannot find a “good” book to read. They are certain it doesn’t exist. Until one day, something happens that changes everything….

Based on the true story of Malcolm Mitchell, Super Bowl champion, as he struggled with finding his love for books. As a young child his teacher’s homework assignment was to bring to school his favorite book in the whole world. Malcolm’s feelings about books weren’t very good. As a matter of fact, he would rather be playing. He had tried reading books before but found that they lacked action, had too big of words, and was just too hard to do.

His mother tells him that the best stories are often found inside of ourselves so Malcolm is inspired to write and share his own book with the class. It was a hit! His classmates loved it and Malcolm finally found his love with a book. To this day, he loves reading.

Huda F Are You?

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Huda F Are You? by Huda Fahmy is a memoir in graphic novel form. It is FANTASTIC! Huda writes of a time in her life when she moved from a large city where she was known as the “hijabi girl” to a small, predominantly Muslim community where nearly everyone adorned hijabis. This prompted a lot of questions for Huda in regard to her own identity. Who is Huda? The book follows her journey to find friends and fit in, but most importantly Huda’s self discovery shines through in the end. I feel all middle school and high school students will find this relatable, funny, and quick to read. I am choosing to put the book in our graphic novel section rather than the biography section because I think it will get more use. 

Aftershocks

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When a massive earthquake traps Ruby under concrete, life didn’t flash before her eyes. Instead, time began to crawl. Ruby has a companion in the dusty dark, Charlie, who she previously wanted to ask if he’d buy her beer just seconds before the rumbling began. Crushed under the literal weight of the world, with a cell phone to mark the time but not call or text, Ruby will recount the last events before the earthquake – her final conversations and thoughts on her relationships with others in her life. She and Charlie will no longer be strangers though they will never see each other again. This is a character study, and still, a page-turner as the hours become days and survival seems unattainable. It is a quick read that will interest reluctant readers.

Fire with Fire

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Sibling rivalry, budding romance, deft action scenes, and dragons — all elements of this fast-paced, wonderful work by Destiny Sora. Daughters of two of the best dragon slayers in the world, Eden and Dani Rivera have been secretly training all of their lives to become slayers like their parents. Eden is driven and focused; she has had to work hard for every skill she has attained while Dani uses her more natural abilities to train while keeping a social schedule. Dani will come face to face with a dragon that changes everything she believes. Eden will be presented with an opportunity to change as well, but to the opposite side of her sister. Acts of betrayal will test family loyalty, and a myriad of magical acts will keep fantasy readers entertained. Even those who aren’t big fantasy fans will enjoy the breakneck banter of the main characters. This is a highly recommended read for middle and high school audiences.

The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein

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The historical fiction WWII novel, The Enigma Game, is actually the “prequel” to Elizabeth Wein’s critically acclaimed Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire.  I did not read her earlier works but this did not at all detract from my enjoyment of this well-crafted tale. The story is told in the voices of three young people brought together by the strange circumstances of war.

It is 1940 and 15-year old Louisa has recently lost both her parents at the hand of German forces. She is the child of a black Jamaican father and a white British mother, and has to suddenly be responsible for her own survival. She has a difficult time finding employment in her new English homeland because of racial prejudice and her young age, but is able to find a job in Scotland taking care of an elderly German-born ex opera singer. 

Jamie, the second narrator, is a Royal Air Force flight leader stationed at a base near the Scottish village of Windyedge, where the story takes place. Ellen is the third voice, and she is a youngish volunteer driver for the military base, and grew up as a “Traveller,” the common name for the nomadic tribes of the British Isles.

Wein cleverly weaves a tale of espionage and wartime drama as seen through the eyes of her three main characters. A pilot from the German resistance leaves an Enigma code maker/breaker machine at the Limehouse pub, which is the central location for the main characters. Louisa, a classically trained musician, is able to crack German pilot code communications to help aid the Royal Air Force. The pacing of the story really varies with the voice, and I found Louis’s voice to be spunky and intelligent but somewhat contrived, as opposed to the other two older characters who seemed more genuine. I was most engaged with Jamie’s narration of dangerous flight missions. I think this story would resonate with WWII history buffs, and it has an impressive amount of historical detail that I found fascinating. Recommended grade level for this book is 9th grade and above. I give the book four out of five stars.

Review by M. DeBuse-Losh, OHS Library Secretary

The Ghosts We Keep by Mason Deaver

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Mason Deaver’s 2nd novel, The Ghosts We Keep, is a deeply emotional story of a non-binary high school student losing his older brother in an accident. Liam Cooper is already having trouble maintaining friendships at school and is struggling with his place in the world and what he wants to do after high school, and the death of his brother makes him almost suicidal. It’s a believable story, and it was born of the author’s own grappling with grief. It moves pretty slowly and the main character might drive you a bit crazy, but you’ll hang on to the end in order to find out how Liam matures and survives this tortuous time. Genre: Realistic Fiction

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by M. Losh, OHS Library Secretary

The Circles All Around Us, written by Brad Montague and illustrations by Brand and Kristi Montague

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This book is a best fit for primary aged children but may be considered an everybody books, as all ages may benefit and enjoy the content. The Circles All Around Us, refers to the family, friendship and community circles we create and cultivate as human beings. It creates a reference for categorizing people and how close you may or may not be with them depending upon where they are in your circles. Circles closer to you are your family and circles farther away, your community. The book also touches upon inclusion and adding to your circle group and the love it gives to yourself and others.