Category Archives: Recommendation

I am Superman

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Written by Brad Meltzer, Illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos

Brad Meltzer has added the series “Stories Change the World” to his repertoire after the success of the “Ordinary People Change the World” books. It is about the story of Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El. This book gives the backstory of Superman in a thoughtful way, explaining how what makes makes him an incredible person isn’t what he can do and how strong he is. It’s what is in his kind heart. The illustrations are what you would expect, remarkable! The pictures will attract emerging readers as well as older readers who want to read something quick and fun. I would recommend this fun and thought provoking graphic to all elementary grades. This is one of three books in this new series including Wonder Woman and Batman.

The Fantastic Flying Competition

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by Tjibbe Veldkamp & Sebastiaan Van Doninck

This whimsical picture book introduces young children to many different types of birds (as well as bats) in the race of the ages. Many teams fall to the wayside (the owls get a late start as they have slept in) and one team is cheating! This book has zany illustrations with a lot of color and will be popular with many of your young students. Who will win? You will not find out until you laugh your way through this fun picture book. Recommended for K-3.

Break This House

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Candice Iloh

This coming of age is tied to tons of social issues facing Americans today. Yaminah Okar feels like she has moved past the hurt from her past when it suddenly comes back and she must once again face her multiple traumas. Maybe this will be the time she will overcome. Candice Iloh dangles a mystery in front of the readers so we willingly follow Yaminah into the heart of many social ills plaguing America today. This is a page-turner that will have the reader intrigued from the first sentence of the prologue.
Iloh introduces many characters, subplots, and conflicts and doesn’t seem to fully explore any of them. This book needed to be longer, or the focus narrowed. Iloh does include a letter to the reader informing them about the tough topics and emotions of the book; I would encourage all readers, especially younger teens to take her warning seriously.

Zyla and Kai

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By Kristina Forest

This romance bounces between the past, present, and perspective. Kai and Zyla fell in love, broke up, and then fell in love again….maybe. Kai is a romantic and serial monogamist while Zyla has long ago sworn off love. Their twisty relationship, heart-wrenching-back-stories, and likable personalities will be appealing to most readers. It’s nice to have a romance featuring students of Color where race and culture are treated as a natural element of the story instead of the focus. This novel is great at the build-up but sputters to an underwhelming conclusion.

A Heavy Dose of Allison Tandy

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by Jeff Bishop

Review by David R. 11th Grade

A Heavy Dose of Allison Tandy surprised me. Based on the cover, I thought it would be too romantic and light. I was wrong. This book is darker and definitely more suspenseful and interesting than you would think by looking at its pink cover. I definitely recommend it, especially for guys who want to read a romance from the boy’s point of view.

Practice Girl

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By Estelle Laure

An empowering novel with a lot of heart. Jo Beckett is still reeling from the death of her dad; he was her best friend and lifelong wrestling coach. Looking for comfort, Jo gets into romantic relationships with several different guys on the wrestling team. Each time Jo thinks it’s true love, but the guys don’t feel the same. Soon Jo finds out that the guys on the team have a nickname for her, “practice girl.” She’s someone to practice sex with before moving on to a real relationship. This revelation is crushing. Jo feels betrayed by her teammates and her own heart. Not willing to give up on herself, Jo makes a plan to show the guys that she’s more than a “Practice Girl.” Her initial intention is revenge, but what she finds is healing.
This realistic novel about the double-standards girls face and the labels society places on them for being sexually active is given a unique spin by being set in the world of high school wrestling. Many teens will connect with Jo’s struggle to distinguish between physical attraction and true affection. Although this is a needed story, with a strong heroine, the novel is hampered by character voices that are not distinguishable from one another.

Something Beautiful by Lita Judge

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Mouse loves playing alone with his ball and then he starts playing with Elephant and they start playing together. Then Elephant and Mouse meet Giraffe and start playing with him. Each time they don’t think they need anyone else until they meet someone new and get to know them and discover a great friendship. The illustrations are beautiful and the expressions on the animals faces are detailed and add to the story. The message that we all have value and each add something beautiful to the group.

Nana, Nenek & Nina by Liza Ferneyhough

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Nina lives in San Francisco and visits her Nana in England and her Nenek in Malaysia. The similarities and differences between the two visits give us a peek into the places that her grandmas live. She wears different clothes, eats different foods and plays different games, but she loves her grandmas and they love her. The side-by-side colorful illustrations show the similarities and differences between the places Nana and Nenek live.

The text spans across both pages when it is talking about both Nana and Nenek. This can be confusing for readers as sometimes you read the text on one side and others you have to read across the gutter. Without reading the book jacket or the dedication the readers would not know where Nana or Nenek live since it is not mentioned in the story.

The story would be good for reflecting on families, identity and different cultures that make us who we are.

Pascual and the Kitchen Angels

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Written and Illustrated by Tomie dePaola

Pascual was touched by God at a very young age. Initially, he was a shepherd but as a young adult he felt the desire to feed the poor and thus he decided to become a friar. He traveled to a Franciscan monastery where the friars asked him to become their cook. Not knowing anything about a kitchen, he prayed to God and angels came to the kitchen where they made incredible meals. Pascual never did learn to cook but by the gift of God he provided food to the friars as well as the poor. An author’s note at the end of the book explains that Pascual is the patron saint of cooks and the kitchen. The illustrations are beautiful and the story is light. I would recommend this book as an extra purchase for an elementary library.

I am Amazing

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Ayaan, a young African American boy, speeds around the playground at school wearing a cape and helping his friends. He feels proud of his efforts until some classmates laugh at him and tell him he can’t be a superhero – real superheroes don’t look like him. With the support of his father, Ayaan realizes that superheroes come in all shapes and sizes and their most important identifying characteristic is that they are committed to helping others. By continuing to be kind, helpful, and brave, Ayaan can live up to his superhero cape.

While not likely to engage most elementary school children, this book speaks to the preschool child through the relatable experiences, cute illustrations and clear language.