Written by Isabel Allende, Illustrated by Sandy Rodriguez
Perla has two superpowers. First, she can make anybody love them. Second, she can roar like a lion. When she is adopted by the Ricos, she finds herself in the position to help Nico Rico who is being bullied. Nico learns how to roar like a lion against a bully at school.
Written from the viewpoint of Perla, this is a light story about how a dog’s love can support the boy who cares about him the most.
Written by Richard T. Morris, Illustrated by Julie Rowan-Zoch
A young boy adventures into a jungle, or is it the woods? He stumbles upon a house where he meets the poet, Robert Frost. From there the boy and the poet argue about his famous work, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”. The boy argues that the poem needs more action and needs to include his hippo in the jungle. The poet insists that the poem should be calming and meditative. An humorous adventure ensues with a jingling hippo, meteors, snakes and karate.
This book contains bright and vibrant illustrations. It has the original poem at the end as well. If one has a specific theme to focus upon or the actual Frost poem is a focus within the school, this would be a fun extra purchase for your library.
A papa rockhopper penguin falls asleep while waiting for his egg to hatch and is accidentally separated from his egg. He ends up very far away and has to use a variety of modes of transportation to make it back to his egg. He takes a train, a chopper, a pogo stick, an elephant and a hover board to name a few. The characters throughout the story are different animals, the text is rhyming, with some rhymes being approximate rhymes. The illustrations are vibrant and fill the page.
A young boy is in bed and should be asleep, but he is awake. He must be nocturnal. He sneaks around the house on his way to get a tasty snack. He discovers he is not the only one awake and they enjoy a snack together and eventually fall asleep. Throughout the story we are introduced to a few nocturnal animals. The pictures are cartoonish and includes labels for the different animals. The end of the book includes some information about nocturnal animals.
Chris gets teased for his long curly hair, but he likes it. When he looks in an ornate mirror to reassure himself, an African woman mystically appears. She reminds him that in a faraway land his hair is the hair of a king. Chris learns that acting like a king isn’t about swagger and bling it’s about how you treat others. Chris steps up into a leadership role on the playground encouraging others to “stop judging, quit calling names. Be a little more chill. Stop playing games.” The story ends with Chris playing with his new group of friends.
Lovely illustrations portray a diverse cast of children with expressive faces. The story encourages the concepts of positive self-image as well as acceptance and kindness to others. The only drawback is the unexpected appearance of the mirror that does not fit the flow of the story.
By Rio Cortez. Illustrated by AshLeigh Corrin
In this book our main character travels down to the Hudson River every Saturday with her abuela who has missed to ocean since moving from Puerto Rico. Going there and back, she and her abuela stop and visit people and shops in their neighborhood They also relax and enjoy the river when they arrive at the park. This book celebrates the culture and history of the Afro-Caribbean communities of New York. This would be a good book to purchase if your community has Caribbean or Spanish speaking students. It talks about the powerful goddess Yemaya who represents motherhood and the sea.
by Ryan Calejo
In this fourth installment of the adventures of Charlie Hernandez, he and his friends must save the land of the living from dark forces by traveling back in time to the 1950’s in Cuba. Charlie is a morphling and able to transform in moments of crises into animals that help him save the day. While trying to save the past, present and future, the 3 friends encounter many of the monsters and figures from previous books as well as a few new ones – the Phantom of Time, Tragaldabas, La Carreta, La Llorona, La Mano Paluda, Queen Joanna, Madremonte, and Charlie’s dead grandmother are just a few of the many mythological and story characters Charlie encounters. The action is non-stop, as in previous books. The monsters from South American mythology are frequent and, for me, mostly unknown. That has been my only frustration as a reader. I don’t have the background myths and legends to fall back on, though Charlie certainly does. I’m occasionally at a loss for who is who, but by book 4, it is nice to see a few of the creatures from earlier books reappear. The books could use a glossary of legendary creatures for a quick reference. There are usually some context clues, but for me, I could use a few more. There are always a lot of characters – good & bad – to keep track of! Anyone who has enjoyed the series previously will undoubtedly enjoy book four. Since it leans on the past three books for reference, I’m not sure I would recommend jumping right into book 4.
By Helaine Becker and Kevin Sylvester
This graphic novel for young readers is cute and will be relatable to students. A school story about Puffin, whose mom becomes an ambassador to the United Avian Nations. He has to move to New Stork City and start in a new school for international students. Like all new students, he is worried about fitting in and is missing his cold and watery home. Penguin is assigned to be his “buddy” but is overwhelmed with the many activities he’s committed to and thus is concerned about adding on being a buddy to the new kid. Puffin struggles to fit in and is laughed at and misunderstood as many of the birds at school are not water birds. In the end, Penguin realizes that Puffin is struggling and does what he can to make things easier for him. They end of in the drama club together and during a performance, Puffin saves the day. The illustrations are great for a graphic novel. I particularly like the very funny and relatable introduction of the various birds in Puffin’s class. Canada Goose, the fashionista. Downy Woodpecker, the drummer. Loon, the gossip and all the others you will giggle about. There are many school stories that will interest students and thus I recommend this one as an extra purchase. It would be a great purchase if you need more graphics, especially if you have the extra money for it.
Reviewed by OHS student, Audrey L.
This book is a cute, light contemporary romance that also covers serious topics, such as dealing with the loss of a loved one. The light, fluffy plot makes this romance an easy and enjoyable read.
After something awful happens during freshman year at college, Wes Bennet must give up his dreams, and his girlfriend, to return home to Nebraska. Flash forward 2 years later, Wes is starting fresh at college determined to win the girl of his dreams, Liz Buxbaum, back.
I enjoyed the supporting characters, and how the author added more to the plot than *just* Wes trying to win Liz back. I also liked how Lynn Painter made the story dual-POV, unlike the first book. The book felt too slow in the beginning, and it had a pretty predictable plot. I felt like the breakup was so rash, odd, and out of place. And, while I understand that Liz is a grown adult now, I kind of miss the way she was in the first book, but it does make sense for her character to change and mature. Someone might like reading this book if they enjoy reading romances. It’s also a good sequel for the first book, “Better Than the Movies,” but can be read as a standalone.
Reviewed by Eli 12th grade – This novel is an interesting story with a good plot and conflict. Manny, is forced to leave his hometown by his stepfather. He is now faced with new challenges brought on by his new home in New York, angry neighbors, and a cockroach infestation that only he seems to understand the danger of. Although the novel is a horror piece, it is also great at describing personal relationships in a coming-of-age story. With Manny maturing as a person over a short period of time. The dialogue was very well written and descriptive at showing emotions of the people involved. I felt like some of the action scenes were a bit rushed and didn’t have much set-up.