MONDAY: Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Summary
Benevolence wasn't supposed to be princess. Her uncle was the king and she was happy with her life away from the castle proper with her parents. But when the king is killed, along with Ben's mother, and her father is missing and presumed dead, Ben is next in line for the throne. Grieving and put out over all she has lost, Ben and the queen enter into an epic power struggle that leaves Ben locked in a tower cell. But that cell leads to a secret room where Ben begins to learn magic. And her new skills lead to an adventure that will change the direction of her life and will impact the future of her kingdom.

Review
This was a great story! Beautiful language - more intricate than typical middle grade fiction. Frankly, it is more intricate than a lot of adult fiction. Ben is a sympathetic character at the beginning, but the transformation that comes through time, trial, insight and maturity is even more satisfying. Plenty of material for discussion at home or school - body image and weight, assumptions and pre-conceived notions about people, etc. Excellent story!

4.5 stars out of 5
AR level of 7.9

Recommended for: strong readers 6th grade and older, fans of prince/princess stories

Cautions: none

FRIDAY: Family Guide London

Barnes and Noble offered a deal on travel guides recently, so I picked up this guide to London for families. It's pretty great. I am not very familiar with London spots to visit, so this is a great, clear overview of the options for families. The guide highlights security considerations, budgetary considerations, and has a great understanding of the limits of kids when traveling.

If you are interested in planning some family travel opportunities, check out this series. I'll be looking at another one next week.

4 out of 5 stars

Recommended for: families and students planning trips to Europe, folks who like to dream of travel

Cautions: none

Waiting on WEDNESDAY: May New Releases, part 1

May is just around the corner and that means new books!

Here are a few titles I'll be looking for this month:

The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan (third and final book, I think, in the Kane Chronicles series)

Pete the Cat - Four Groovy Buttons (I love Pete's picture books. The first two were a big hit with my students)

The Bell Bandit - Davies (comes after The Lemonade War and The Lemonade Crime)

Hero's Guide to Saving your Kingdom - Healy (super excited about this one! Four princes, rejected by their famous princesses, discover an evil plot and work to save their kingdoms)

What Could Possibly Go Wrong (Big Nate book of comic strips)

Insurgent - Roth (sequel to Divergent, a popular dystopian novel for teens)



Happy Reading!

TUESDAY: Nancy Clancy Super Sleuth by Jane O'Connor

Summary Fancy Nancy is back with the first in a new chapter book series for her fans. Nancy loves reading Nancy Drew. She and her best friend, Bree, have decided to be detectives. The only problem is that they have no case to solve. But a missing momento from a classroom display is just the sort of case the detectives were looking for.

Review This is a great next step for Fancy Nancy fans who are ready to move on to chapter books. I am excited that it is going to be a series. I think series help kids stay connected to books and characters they like, and it keeps them reading. The only thing that made me sad with this book is that the illustrations are black and white. The color illustrations of the picture books are absolutely gorgeous, but I understand why they don't work in a chapter book.

My students saw me reading this and they can't wait for me to get it in the library. This is one I'll have trouble keeping on the shelves.

Four out of five stars

No AR quiz yet

Recommended for: early chapter book readers, fans of the picture book series

Cautions: none

MONDAY: Bliss by Kathryn Littlewood

Summary Rose's family runs a bakery in their small town. But it's not your normal bakery. The family cook book includes special, magical recipes that the family can use to cure sleep walking or help the course of true love. Rose's one desire is to help with the family's special recipes. But her parents manage all of those, trusting Rose to pick up more flour and other normal ingredients.

Rose's big chance comes when her parents are called away to take their special baked goods to another community. As soon as her parents leave, a mysterious woman shows up, claiming to be Rose's aunt. She says she wants to help Rose and her siblings run the bakery while their parents are gone. What harm could come if Rose pulled out the family cookbook to show her aunt something special?

Review As you could imagine, magical recipes in the hands of inexperienced kids can have all sorts of fun and chaotic results! I really felt for Rose in this story - overshadowed by her siblings, the only one of them who cares about the bakery. She wants so badly to be recognized, to be valued. Once she starts down the road of magic, things spin farther and father out of control. Even as I read and anticipated the disasters that were going to come for Rose and her brothers and sister, I could identify with Rose and understand why she was doing what she was doing. The ending does not wrap up all loose ends, so I anticipate - and look forward to - a sequel.

Four out of five stars

No AR level yet

Recommended for: middle grade readers who like a little magic and fantasy in their stories but also a contemporary, realistic setting.

Cautions: none

FRIDAY: Alien Diplomacy by Gini Koch

Summary
Kitty is adjusting to her new role on the diplomatic corps. Honestly, she would rather be fighting alien superbeings than enduring the diplomacy classes she is failing in a spectacular way. In reality, her whole team is struggling to feel at home in their new roles in the Centurian government. When Kitty and Jeff and the team discover there is an assassination plot in the works, and someone seems to be trying to kidnap or kill Kitty and her team, they will have to set aside their qualms about their new roles and figure out what is really going on in Washington DC.

Review
This book was a bit of a departure from the rest of the series for me - it feels like a transitional book, linking Kitty's "old" life with her new one. I usually have passages that I read over and over because Kitty is just so wonderfully in-your-face. But Kitty and the whole crew are feeling so out of place, there weren't a lot of fun moments like in other books. Also, Kitty has to be diplomatic in her new role. She can't just tear into someone like she usually does - and I so love those moments! But all of these changes are completely necessary for the evolution of the story and the characters. Now that Kitty and Jeff have a baby, their roles needed to change, and this is a great avenue for that change, and it really pushes Kitty in fun new ways. I enjoyed the story, and finished it in one night. I'm already looking forward to reading it again, along with the rest of the series (I bought all of the books in e-book form, too, so I can carry them all together!). Now, I just have to wait until December for Alien vs. Alien.

4 out of 5 stars

Recommended for: fans of the rest of the series, fans of science-fiction/romance

Cautions: language, adult relationships, alternate lifestyles

WEDNESDAY: Various Book Fair titles, part 2

 

 

Here are a few more picture books from our book fair:

Under the Ocean was my first introduction to Miss Smith books. I loved it. Miss Smith and her class go on a field trip to the ocean. As Miss Smith reads from various ocean-related stories like Moby Dick, the story starts to come true. I think this would be great for literature teachers to introduce "classic" stories to students. (AR level of 4.3)

Pig Kahuna is a funny little story about two pigs and the surf board they find. It's quirky and a lot of fun. My kindergartners are going to love this one! (AR level of 2.3)

Dream Big Little Pig is about a pig who is trying to discover who she wants to be. She has a great support system and copes well (maybe too well to be realistic) with disappointment when she tries something she's not great at. Adults may read other messages into the story (do you have to be perfect at something to enjoy it?), but if you accept it at face value, it's a nice story. (AR level of 3.2)

Chicken Big is a great twist on a classic. So funny! (AR level of 2.7)

MONDAY: Secret Agent Splat by Rob Scotton

Summary
Splat's dad makes ducks. Splat knows (and names) each and every one. One day he notices a duck is missing. The next day, that duck is back (without its beak) and another is missing. Splat tunes into his favorite TV show about a secret agent cat and Secret Agent Splat is born. Splat tracks down the culprit, but it's not who he thinks it is.

Review
Super cute story! I am a Splat fan in the first place, but when I saw there was going to be a mystery-themed story, I had to read it. The illustrations are colorful and snuggly-looking, full of great details and little jokes. There's even a duck code on the back cover.

4 out of 5 stars
No AR rating yet

Recommended for: young mystery fans, fans of Splat's other adventures

Cautions: none

FRIDAY: The Scoop by Fern Michaels

This is the first book in Fern Michaels' Godmothers series. I received a review copy from the publisher. This was a series I had read about but have never tried.

Summary
Toots has buried her last husband. She is done getting married. She wants to do something with her life, her experience and her money to make a difference. She starts with her three best friends - one whose abusive husband is dying, one who has munched and snacked through her grief, and one who is so painfully OCD, she can barely leave the house. Once Toots starts making some inroads with her friends' lives, the four of them turn their attention to Toots' daughter who lives in LA and works at a failing tabloid. Toots thinks she can secretly buy the paper and salvage her daughter's career. But things don't go as smoothly as Toots would like.

Review
There were elements of the story that reminded me of a Carol Higgins Clark mystery - where the reader gets glimpses of the "bad guys" away from the main action of the story and bit by bit the pieces start coming together. This was a long story for the first in the series where the actual story, about the tabloid, is just coming together by the end. A lot of time is invested in the godmothers character development as set up for the rest of the series.

3 out of 5 stars

Recommended for: Fans of Fern Michaels' other work, fans of contemporary romance stories (although the romance is hinted at and not fully developed yet in this first book)

Cautions: some language

WEDNESDAY: Various Book Fair titles, part 1

  

During our school's spring book fair, I had a chance to peruse many books I hadn't read before. Here are three picture books I really enjoyed.
When a Dragon Moves In is about a boy who builds a perfect sand castle and a dragon moves in. But having a dragon isn't as fun as it first seems. This was my go to book when I had a class finish looking around the fair early and I needed something to read. (AR level of 3.3)

Joyce Meyer's Every Which Way to Pray is a great piece for kids about prayer - what it is, and what it is not. (AR level of 3.1)

Finally, Chalk is a wordless story about kids whose chalk drawings come to life. It is great fun! I think it would be a great title for teachers doing units on storytelling. I often have students who want to draw their story, but don't know how to communicate a whole story through their pictures. This would be a great "mentor text" for them.

MONDAY: Who Was Albert Einstein? by Jess Brailler

I am a mentor with the program In2Books which matches volunteers with students around the country. Students and their mentors read 5 books together through the course of the school year and exchange emails about what they read.


This was the book I read with my student this year in the biography category. This is a line of books I love. I enjoy reading them and I think they are a great addition to any home, school or classroom library. 


In this particular book, readers can learn about the inventor, Albert Einstein, in a kid-friendly format. Includes great information about Einstein's life, including some great quotes.


4.5 out of 5 stars
AR level of 5.8

Spring Break Break

By the time this posts, I will have finished my second book fair of the school year and will be kicking back to enjoy Spring Break. So, I'm going to take a blogging break and come back on Monday the 9th with new book reviews. 


See you Monday - and Happy Easter!