Category Archives: Highly Recommend

Barely Missing Everything by Matt Mendez

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Reviewed by OHS Student Wiley P.

In this book, three Mexican main characters Juan, JD, and Fabi are all trying to figure out what to do with the problems life throws at them, especially in a world where having brown skin can make things extra difficult. The fast paced and intriguing writing keeps in going and the characters learning. This novel is constantly engaging and makes you keep reading.

Themes of racism and poverty within the southern United States.

A definite purchase for all libraries.

Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

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Reviewed by OHS Student Adelaide E.

Book 2 in the Legendborn Series

Interweaving Arthurian legend with the harsh realities of slavery and its modern affects, Bloodmarked will be a compelling and educational read for people of all ages, but primarily the YA audience, as it has a young female lead on the path of discovering more about her heritage and newfound powers.

Soon after the events of the previous book Legendborn, Bree Matthews is learning to control her powers as a medium and the Scion of Arthur in order to rescue fellow scion Nicholas, a quest on which her right to rule is questioned by the Order of the Round Table, and her relationship with the Kingsmage Selwyn Kane develops.

I liked that it had a strong female protagonist whose struggles included people challenging her right to rule and discovering the implications of her new status as a medium, which includes obtaining the powers, skills, and qualities of her ancestors, such as Arthur.

Personally, I didn’t feel that there was much development with her relationship with Sel or Nick. Nothing substantial happened because Nick was kidnapped throughout the entirety of the book, leaving Sel to remain his Kingsmage. There was some discussion about whether Sel would be able to be Kingsmage to the both of them, but this was an unresolved point in Bloodmarked.

The Friendship Wish

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Moving to a new place is just as hard for this little mermaid- Rosie- as it is for any other person. In this first book of the Mini Mermaid Tales series, Debbie Dadey works her magic of sharing life experiences with which young readers will be able to relate.

Rosie, the little mergirl, is too young to start Trident Academy. Rosie just moved into the area 3 days ago and is lonesome. Rosie has only just met Aqua, who talks her into going to take a quick look at the school. From there, they get swept into the school as the regular students enter the building. Impetuous Aqua cannot help herself from exploring the school, while shy Rosie is weary and reluctant, but follows Aqua deeper into the school.

First, they are in ‘deep-sea trouble’ for making a mess in the art/music room and later they are in ‘deep-sea trouble’ for leaving their neighborhood without telling anyone.

Despite their destressing first experience together, Aqua and Rosie become friends when their parents are shown a school for younger ‘mini mermaids and merboys’.

Six chapters, two or more black and white illustrations per chapter, table of contents, large font, word list (glossary),and story questions at the end all make this a fin-tastic (47) first book in a new series!

Words from the glossary appear in bold type within the story. Even bigger and bolder words of strong emotions also appear.

Submitted by Mary Pong

Sometimes Love, by Katrina Moore

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Our military service members make lots of sacrifices for our country and deserve our thanks and recognition. Families of service members are also asked to make sacrifices, and those sacrifices can be difficult for young people to understand. In Sometimes Love, a young girl moves to another country with her father and service member mother. Her beloved dog cannot go with the family. Adjusting to her new home is difficult. But eventually the little girl makes connections with friends in her new home only to again move. This time the girl’s sadness is softened by the excitement of returning to her beloved dog. A very relatable book for our military families told in a way that validates and normalizes the challenges of military families.

Endpapers include a letter from the author recognizing the volunteer organizations that support the animals of military service members during moves and deployments.

A Dinosaur Named Ruth: How Ruth Mason Discovered Fossils in Her Own Backyard by Julia Lyon

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Historically, women and minorities in scientific fields rarely received the recognition of their expertise either in their time or in the history books. The voices of women and minorities in science were often ignored. Ruth Mason was one of those voices. Starting as a young girl, she collected amazing dinosaur bones. Year after year she reached out to the experts in museums and universities to share her findings and was ignored or belittled.

It was only as an old woman when a fossil hunter named Rick Brooks accidentally ended up on her land that when the value of Ruth’s collection of dinosaur fossils was finally recognized. Now, skeletons from the Ruth Mason Quarry are found in museums all over the world. In recognition of her contributions, one of the reconstructed skeletons in a museum in Wales is known as “Ruth”.

The Indestructible Tom Crean: Heroic Explorer of the Antarctic

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by Jennifer Thermes

This is the incredible story of the life of Tom Crean, an explorer in the Antarctic during the ‘golden age’ of exploration in that area. He was part of three expeditions to the Antarctic, two with Robert Scott and one with Ernest Shackleton. His first trips were with Captain Scott – one on the Discovery to set up camps and later on the Terra Nova, Scott’s final ill-fated voyage. This expedition was a race to the South Pole which ended with Scott and two men dying and Tom saving the lives of two others by hiking thirty five miles back to base camp for help. Tom joined Ernest Shackleton on his exploration of Antarctica aboard the Endurance, which was crushed by ice and sank, leaving the crew stranded. They hunkered down on Elephant Island and Shackleton chose five men (including Tom) to accompany him in a small lifeboat to South Georgia Island where there was a whaling station. This island was over 800 miles away through strong seas and winds. But, they had not choice. They made it to the island and Shackleton, Tom and one other man hiked over the mountains to the whaling station. Because of their bravery, ALL the sailors from the Endurance were rescued. Tom then spent several years in the Navy and retired to Ireland. He was a quiet and humble man, who was a brave hero.

An afterward gives more details along with a timeline and additional resources. A map on the front endpapers and illustrations of Antarctic animals on the back endpapers add to the wealth of information.

This book is a true gem. While the focus of many books are on the leaders of these expeditions, Scott and Shackleton, there were truly brave men that accomplished great things alongside them. Tom’s story needs to be shared and Jennifer Thermes has created a beautiful piece that will enthrall the readers. Told in present tense and illustrated in colored pencil and watercolor, this book needs to be on library shelves everywhere. Interestingly, I shared this book with a Falkland Islander and folks there are very well aware of Tom Crean’s story and he felt that the book was a good representation of his life.

I Am a Tornado by Drew Beckmeyer

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Tornado is coming through without a care of what it destroys. When the tornado picks up a cow, the very patient cow notices that the tornado seems upset and listens to the tornado. As the cow and tornado talk, the tornado starts to get smaller and smaller with the cow promising to stay until the tornado blows away.

While the focus of the book seems to be on anger and having someone listen to you there is a little bit of science about tornadoes thrown in in the middle. This would be a good book for SEL because the tornado did not realize that it was upset and just felt powerful destroying things until the cow took the time to listen.

Contenders: Two Native Baseball Players, One World Series by Traci Sorell

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Two Native American baseball players, Charles Bender and John Meyers, face off in the 1911 World Series that newspapers recounted as “Indian against Indian.” The story bounces back and forth between the World Series games, their different backgrounds and life growing up, and the racism that they faced and how it is still apparent today. Charles is Ojibwe and grew up on the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. He was taken to an Indian boarding school where he learned the game watching older boys play. John grew up on the Cahuilla tribe’s reservation in Southern California. He learned to play baseball on the reservation. The two experienced racism inside and outside of the ballpark and the author goes on to explain that over 100 years later Native athletes still face those challenges. Then end pages also include and author’s note, time line, quotes and sources.

Bugging Out

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By Jorge Cham and daniel Whiteson

In this volume of the series, “Elinor Wonders Why”, Elinor and her friends are preparing for insect day at school by trying to decide what bug they want to dress up as. Elinor goes home to create her butterfly costume but searches in her garden with her dad to make sure her costume is correct. While searching, she learns many things about this beautiful insect.

This graphic novel series for young readers introduces science content in a fun way. The format is pleasing and the images are vibrant and appealing. This reader highly recommends this series for all elementary libraries.

How to Carry a Cupcake

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By Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson

When Elinor and her friends realize their teacher, Ms. Mole, is having a birthday tomorrow they decide to bring her a cupcake. Olive, the elephant is ready to bring one to school but is not sure how to get it to their teacher safely and not squished in her bag. Elinor, Olive and Ari study nature to solve their problem.

This is a elementary level book in the series “Elinor Wonders Why” where Elinor and her friends work to solve problems as well as explore nature. It is a fun story in the popular graphic novel format that will introduce science concepts as well. This reader highly recommends this series for young readers in the elementary library.