When Zachary Beaver Came To Town

Book: When Zachary Beaver Came  To Town

Author: Kimberly Willis Holt

Publisher: Yearling

Pages: 240

Grade Level: 4^th Grade and up

Rating: 5 Stars

Nothing ever happens in Antler, Texas. In the summer of 1971, Toby is having a rough time adjusting to major changes in this town, specifically his mother leaving to pursue personal dreams in Nashville and his best friend Cal’s older brother has been shipped to Vietnam. Just when he thinks the changes have ended, the fattest boy in the world makes an appearance in Antler and sparks a new adventure for Toby and Cal making that summer one they would never forget.

This book is a National Book Award Winner and is written for every boy that ever needed to read a book for school. Holt takes serious subject matter and makes it easy to comprehend. There is a lot of turmoil, and the characters are so well developed that you feel their pain when and you celebrate their triumphs. It is definitely a book for older children, teens and adults. I am so happy that certain schools have this book on their reading list and use this book for class discussions because children have so much to gain from reading this novel.

The Fault In Our Stars

Book: The Fault In Our Stars

Author: John Green

Publisher: Dutton Books

Pages: 336

Grade Level: 9^th Grade and up

Rating: 5 Stars

Picture This: You are a 16 year old girl with cancer. You lug around an oxygen tank to help you breathe and your parents expect you to be more social so they force you to go to weekly Cancer Kid Support Group. Your buddy Isaac (who lost an eye to cancer) finds out he will have to lose his sight completely, and decides to bring his friend Augustus Waters to the meeting he publically announces this awful news. Augustus may have lost his leg to cancer, but he is the most gorgeous boy you have ever seen. Augustus takes an interest in you and he begins to change your life in a way you could never imagine.

John Green does it again! This book is so moving; you need a box of tissues, but you will also laugh out loud. You will get so emotionally attached to each character and truly feel a part of these people’s lives. Green is such a master storyteller and has amazing character development; you will not be able to put the book down. It is also an interesting topic that isn’t often written about in YA lit. This book is a must read!!

Earwig And The Witch

Book: Earwig And The Witch

Author: Diana Wynne Jones

Illustrator: Paul O. Zelinsky

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Pages: 128

Grade Level: 2^nd Grade and up

Rating: 4 Stars

Earwig is an orphan who loves living in the orphanage. Everyone does everything she wants for her, the cook, the other kids, even the boss. Earwig’s life changes when a strange looking woman and even stranger looking man adopt her. She immediately assumes the woman is a witch and gets excited about learning all kinds of spells from her new mom. When the witch makes Earwig her slave, Earwig starts to take charge of things in her new home and teach the witch that everyone deserves a loving home.

This book is so much fun! It is fast-paced, gender neutral and the perfect recommendation for children starting chapter books. Readers will cheer for Earwig as she concocts spells of her own, befriends a cat, and truly creates a home for herself. The pictures compliment the text beautifully and this book is the perfect suggestion for what you should read next.

DRAMA

Book: Drama

Author: Raina Telgemeier

Publisher: Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic

Pages: 233

Grade Level: 4th Grade and up

Rating: 5 Stars

Drama is the story of 7^th grader Callie who loves theater and is part of the set design crew for her school play along with her best friends. However, her dreams for the stage are big and the budget is small and drama is surrounding her both on stage on and off! When two cute brothers join the scene, things start to get even crazier for Callie, but she knows how to keep it all together and make a true show-stopper!

Drama, which focuses on Middle School Theater in graphic novel form, is the book version of the television show Glee. Some characters can really sing, others are more artistic, some have personal secrets, some flaunt their talent more than others and all of them are aware that no matter what happens on opening night, the show must go on! The book is such a fun read and the pictures make you fly through each “act”. The novel tackles the most important issues of Middle School: hobbies, crushes and friendship. The graphic novel is perfect for any child or young adult who loves the stage!

Note about the author: This is Raina Telgemeier’s second graphic novel. Her first, SMILE, is based on her traumatic dentistry adventures when she was young. I highly recommend that book as well!

Caddy's World

Book: Caddy’s World

Author: Hilary McKay

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Pages: 272

Grade Level: 4th Grade and up

Rating: 4 Stars

In the sixth book in the Casson Family series, Caddy is twelve years old and life is bringing her a lot of changes. Her friends are growing up and going in different directions, her mother is pregnant and her father now runs the household. When her mother delivers the baby prematurely, Caddy is ready with a helping hand to everyone around her. After all, she is “Caddy the Brave” and can calm anyone in any situation and everyone seems to be going through a chaotic time!

Don’t judge this book by its cover, it is definitely unappealing to any upper elementary school student, and the story is so well written with complex, real characters that it will easily sit on a shelf just because of the look of the book. Caddy’s story is so real on so many levels. She doesn’t worry about having fancy clothes or accessories (she can’t afford them), and she values her friendships and her family relationships more than anything else. The book is about a girl who is poor monetarily but rich in everything else, and it is important to have books like this in today’s society, when so many books for tween girls harp on the “right” clothes and bullying other children.

Knuckle & Potty Destroy Happy World

Book: Knuckle & Potty Destroy Happy World

Author/Illustrator: James Proimos

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

Pages: 80

Grade Level: 3rd Grade and up

Rating: 5 Stars

Knuckle and Potty are tired of being cute and lovable book characters. They decide to take control of their personalities by attacking the author and illustrator of the books they are featured in. When that does not go as smoothly as expected, with the help of some friends they devise one more plan to ruin Happy World, the world created for them and taint their reputations forever!

These characters are amazing and the premise is so creative that everyone who reads this will be rooting for Knuckle and Potty! The book is written in both paragraph and comic form which makes it a quick read and is a great suggestion for reluctant readers. Upper elementary school students will understand the humor easily. This book is ideal for book talks and is definitely a must have for graphic novel collections everywhere!

Alice On Board

Book: Alice on Board

Author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Publisher: Atheneum Books For Young Readers

Pages: 288

Grade Level: 8th Grade and Up

Rating: 2 Stars

This is the 27th book in the Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.  Alice and her friends are hired to work on a cruise ship and have one final big adventure the summer before they go their separate ways and start college. The girls have to learn to weather many a storm and keep it together under stressful conditions – so much for smooth sailing!

This was my first encounter with Alice McKinley and I found her to be extremely boring. I was more interested in many of the references to previous books and situations than the summer working on the cruise (which had potential to be extremely adventurous!) After 26 books full of girl drama, teen pregnancy, death, marriage and more, it must have been time for Alice and her friends to have the most lackluster voyage four friends could have on a cruise ship. This book was excellently written, but I would definitely recommend choosing a different Alice book if you want to start this series.