Two totally different and unusual books about friendship, but both so fun. For the younger reader/ listener: THOSE DARN SQUIRRELS and the CAT NEXT DOOR by Adam Rubin, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri How to make a friend? Little Old Lady Hu with her very opinionated cat, Muffins, moves in next door to very grumpy Old… Read more »
Book Room
Accepting your friends for who they are
Odd Weird & Little, by Patrick Jennings (Egmont, 2014) Woodrow has always born the brunt of the bullying from Garret and Hubcap, two boys in his fourth grade class. Until the day that Toulouse arrives, that is. Toulouse is little. Very little. He wears suits with vests and big glasses over his huge round eyes…. Read more »
A Conversation with Author Tara Altebrando
Tara Altebrando was kind enough to follow-up on an earlier ReaderKidZ post about her newest book, The Battle of Darcy Lane, by joining us today to answer a few questions. The Battle of Darcy Lane is your Middle Grade debut, but you are well versed in writing YA fiction. Did you face any challenges while… Read more »
The Battle of Darcy Lane by Tara Altebrando
In The Battle of Darcy Lane, author Tara Altebrando portrays the complicated nuances of adolescent relationships in a creative, authentic, competitively believable way. In this entertaining novel, Altebrando explores how loyalty between friends can shift at the roll of one’s eyes. She takes a close look at the fragile nature of relationship while considering others… Read more »
THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY
THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE and LUCKY by Holly Schindler Auggie lives with her grandpa Gus, a trash hauler, in a poor part of town. Auggie is labeled by some as a girl from the wrong side of the tracks. Auggie and Gus may not have much money but Auggie has plenty of spirit and imagination. Where others… Read more »
The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker
Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell, illustrated by Christian Robinson (Chronicle Books, 2014) Josephine is not your usual picture book. Nor is her story the typical subject matter of a children’s biography. And yet, Josephine will dazzle readers. This extraordinary book chronicles Josephine Baker’s life from her birth in “honky-tonk town… Read more »
Doll Bones by Holly Black
Newbery Honor winning Doll Bones, written by Holly Black, is one of the finest action/adventure/ghost stories for the younger set ever written. In it, twelve-year-old, well-rounded, basketball-playing Zach Barlow and his close friends Poppy and Alice engage in great imaginative games of devilment and intrigue, games that his absentee father interprets as childish and immature…. Read more »
