INTRODUCTION Hiking the Appalachian Trail is a bucket list item for many hikers. The Trail, by Meika Hashimoto, details one boy’s mission to conquer the Trail and accept the coming of age pains that he encounters as he matures. REVIEW Tony and his friend Lucas make a summer bucket list. The last item on the list… Continue reading Kate Lundeen Gives a Thumbs-Up to A Middle Grade Adventure: The Trail
If you're like me and think that middle grade books are some of the best books available and if you like reading about history and ancient mysteries--then Candace Fleming's newest book, THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY (Scholastic, 2021) is for you--or for a young reader in your life.What reader can resist this opening that is printed… Continue reading THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY: UNCOVERING TUTANKHAMUN'S TOMB
The minute sixth-grader Theo Thomas gets off the bus and arrives in Destiny, Florida with his Uncle Raymond, I’m right there with him. Award winning author AugustaScattergood, uses great details to pull readers into the character and setting: Theo grabs his bags, baseball mitt and a tattered book, Everything You Want to Know About Baseball; the heat hits… Continue reading The Way to Stay in Destiny- A Review and an Audio CD Giveaway!
My apologies if you receive this blog post twice. I am reposting it since it didn't seem to get sent out the first time and I wanted you to have a chance to win this fantastic book. Two girls. One white, one black. The South and civil rights. Given my own work-in-progress, Half-Truths, how could I… Continue reading Yankee Girl and a Giveaway
Two girls. One white, one black. The South and civil rights. Given my own work-in-progress, Half-Truths, how could I not read Yankee Girl? Drawing upon her own childhood experiences, the author, Mary Ann Rodman, writes in her author's note: "Like Alice (the protagonist), I was the daughter of an FBI agent. In the summer of… Continue reading Yankee Girl and a Giveaway!
Secret codes. Invisible men. Pentominoes. Fibonacci numbers. Hidden Pictures. Geometry. Red herrings. Murder. The Wright 3, a middle grade mystery for boys and girls by Blue Balliett, has all of these PLUS a plot that captures the reader’s attention and refuses to let go. When 6th-graders Tommy, Calder, and Petra hear that the Robie House,… Continue reading The Wright 3