Genre: Realistic Fiction

Hurricane Rescue

A dangerous hurricane is racing towards Ben’s hometown. Ben promises his father that he will stay safe inside their home. Ben doesn’t mean to disobey his father, but when Jack and his puppy, Scout, go missing, Ben knows he has to help. With the help of his friend Noah and retired search-and-rescue dog Hero, Ben sets off into the woods in search of his missing friend.

Ben, Noah, and Hero desperately try to locate Jack. When they find Jack, they soon realize that a raging flash flood has made it impossible to continue their trip. Together, Hero and Ben fight to keep everyone alive. But can Hero battle his way past alligators, mudslides, and raging floods?

With howling winds, angry alligators, and danger hiding in every corner, Hurricane Rescue is a fast-paced story that has surprises around every corner. Hurricane Rescue is told from Ben’s point of view, which allows the reader to understand his thought process and experience Ben’s worry about his missing friend Jack. Through their harrowing ordeal, Hero comes to the rescue time and time again. However, in the end, everyone must work together to make sure that everyone makes it out alive.

Hurricane Rescue is an engaging story that doesn’t only focus on the hurricane. Instead, the story also shows the importance of the father-son bond. While Ben lives in a traditional two-parent household, Jack’s parents are recently divorced, which makes it difficult for Jack to see his father on a regular basis. Jack’s grief over missing his father causes him to make the dangerous decision of sneaking off in order to try to make it to his father’s house, which is in a different town.

Told from Ben’s point of view, the readers understand why Ben isn’t truthful. Ben lies to Jack’s mother, intentionally disobeys his father, and leads his friend into danger. Even though the story ends happily, Ben should have been honest with the adults in his life instead of jumping into a dangerous situation on his own. Ben’s impulsive actions and dishonesty were also portrayed in the first book of the series.

Hero plays a main role in the story, and readers will enjoy seeing how Ben and Hero work together. The suspenseful story has likable, well-developed characters who show bravery and courage. However, some of the rescue scenes are unrealistic. Despite this, Hurricane Rescue will keep readers engaged until the last page while it illustrates the importance of rescue workers, such as the National Guard and police officers. Readers who enjoyed Hurricane Rescue should also try Survival Tails: Endurance in Antarctica by Katrina Charman.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • An alligator keeps Hero from helping a dog in trouble. Hero distracts the alligator. “The alligator’s front half was on land. His giant jaw stretched open, revealing sharp, angled teeth. . . Ben’s stomach flipped as the alligator snapped his jaw shut with a loud clack.” No one is injured.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • After a strange encounter, Ben’s friend asks him, “What the heck was that about?”
  • When Ben first met Jack, Ben thought Jack was “kind of a jerk.”
  • While Jack is trapped under a tree, he says, “Well, it kind of feels like it’s all on me, so why don’t you wimps lift this thing off me already?”
  • Jack tells his friend, “I’m sorry, Ben. I’m a total idiot.” Ben replies, “Well, now you’re a total idiot who’s been rescued.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • When Ben’s friend is in trouble, Ben thinks that he should “pray that Jack and Scout would be okay.”

A Boy Called Bat #1

Bixby Alexander Tam (nicknamed Bat) likes routine. When his mom, who is a veterinarian, is late coming home one day, Bat becomes upset. When Bat’s mom arrives, she has a good surprise. She has brought home a stray baby skunk that needs to be taken care of until they can hand him over to a wild animal shelter.

The minute Bat sees the baby skunk, he decides to become an expert skunk caregiver. Bat hopes his mother will change her mind and allow Bat to keep the baby skunk. Bat names the little skunk Thor and takes care of his needs. Bat even contacts a skunk expert in order to get advice about being a good caregiver. But can Bat convince his mom that Thor belongs with him?

Bat’s story doesn’t only focus on Bat’s love of the baby skunk, but it also shows how Bat doesn’t pick up on social cues. Through Bat’s eyes, the reader sees how Bat struggles to make eye contact, to understand others’ actions, and to make friends. Even though Bat is autistic, his difficulties are a natural extension of the story; Bat’s emotions are explained in a way that young readers will understand.

As Bat cares for Thor, he learns interesting information about skunks. Even though Bat is a good caregiver, the story makes it clear that Thor will need to be returned to the wild. Bat’s mother continually reminds Bat that wild animals should not be pets.

A Boy Named Bat is a sweet story that will appeal to animal lovers. Readers will relate to Bat and understand Bat’s desire to keep Thor as a pet. Adorable black and white illustrations appear every 3-7 pages and help readers visualize the characters. As readers learn about skunks, they will also see how Bat’s life is impacted because of his parent’s divorce. Even though the story focuses on Bat’s perspective, younger readers may have a difficult time with the advanced vocabulary. A Boy Named Bat is an entertaining story that would be an excellent choice for parents to read with their child. The story would lead to a discussion on many topics including animal care, family relationships, autism, and friendship.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Geekerella

Elle Whittimer is living in an impossible universe. Her father died, leaving her with her awful stepfamily. Now her only connection to her father is through Starfield, an old science fiction television show that he loved so much he started a fan convention for it. These days ExcelsiCon is one of the biggest cons in the country, but Elle hasn’t been back since her father died. Instead, she finds her solace in late night Starfield reruns, posting on her blog, Rebelgunner, and dreaming of the day when she can escape to California and become a screenwriter. When a movie reboot of Starfield is announced, Elle is afraid that her favorite story is about to be ruined. But this movie just might be the ticket to her dreams because this year, the first-place prize for ExcelsiCon’s cosplay contest is a chance to attend the premiere in Hollywood. With a little help from her coworker Sage, Elle decides to turn her father’s old costume into a prize-winning cosplay.

Darien Freeman just landed the role of a lifetime: Federation Prince Carmindor in the Starfield movie reboot. However, as a lifelong fan, he’s afraid he won’t be able to do the character justice. There are already fans, like the blogger behind Rebelgunner, who are convinced that casting a teen heartthrob was a terrible idea. The last thing Darien wants to do is surround himself with a bunch of angry, hardcore Starfield fans, which means he really needs to get out of judging the ExcelsiCon’s annual cosplay contest. When Darien sends a text hoping to contact someone at ExcelsiCon, he ends up reaching Elle. After connecting through a mutual love of Starfield, their anonymous friendship begins to grow into something more. But what will happen when their paths cross on the convention floor?

Geekerella is part modern-day Cinderella story and part love letter to fandom culture. Poston does a wonderful job exploring the ways in which art can bring together creators and fans alike – across time and distance. Themes of love and acceptance are an integral part of the story. At the same time, some darker topics are addressed, like Elle’s mistreatment by her stepfamily and how Darien has lost his personal life to overzealous fans and toxic paparazzi.

At its heart, Geekerella is an adorable fairytale. Even if readers are unfamiliar with fandom culture, they can still have fun picking out the parallels to the classic Cinderella story. Elle is a charming heroine, whose wit and determination make her easy to root for, while Darien’s sweet optimism makes him an incredibly endearing character. When these two lonely souls find each other through a mutual love of Starfield, it’s nearly impossible not to hope that their budding romance will overcome all the obstacles thrown in their way.

Sexual Content

  • Darien says he doesn’t want to think about the “creepy google searches” that male fans of his costar Jessica Stone make, implying that they might be sexual in nature.
  • Elle describes Darien’s face as “annoyingly beautiful.”
  • When Darien takes off his shirt on live TV, Elle says, “His abs and chest beam across Catherine’s plasma TV, piercing through [her] sleepy brain like a ray of hope in this godless universe.”
  • A fan jumps on stage and forces herself onto Darien. “Her mouth connects with [Darien’s] with such force that it sends them both tumbling over the sofa.”
  • When Darien discusses the kissing incident with his bodyguard, Darien says he thought he’d “choke on her tongue.”
  • Darien and his co-star Jessica must kiss for a scene. When Jessica asks where Darien learned how to kiss, he jokes that he’s had “two hours of practice by now.” In the same scene, Jessica refers to herself as “the best kisser in Hollywood.”
  • Elle daydreams about what life in a better universe would be like. “And maybe at that midnight release, I’d see a guy across the theatre dressed in a federation uniform, and we’d lock eyes and know that this was the good universe. Maybe a guy with dark hair and chocolate eyes and—for a moment Darien Freeman flashes across my mind.”
  • Darien thinks to himself that when he was kissing Jessica, he was really thinking about Elle. “The truth is, it wasn’t just when we’d kissed that I’d thought about Elle. I’d thought about her during every step of that dance.”
  • During a text conversation with Darien, a.k.a. Carmindor, Elle describes an episode of Starfield as “the one with the other Carmindor being sexy in the shower.” She then panics and adds, “Not that YOU couldn’t be sexy too.”
  • Elle worries about what would happen if she met Carmindor, a.k.a. Darien, in real life and thinks to herself, “I hate that I’m falling for someone I don’t even know.”
  • Darien refers to Elle as “ah’blena” during one of their text conversations, in the universe of Starfield this is a phrase meaning “my heart.”
  • Darien’s handler says that whoever wrote the negative blog posts about him “has a serious crush.”
  • After filming the final scene for the movie, Jessica asks Darien if he’s thinking about “the absolute sadness that we didn’t make out more?”
  • When Elle meets Darien for the first time, she describes him as “beautiful in person,” but thinks that his personality is “the biggest turn off.”
  • When she enters the cosplay ball, Darien is captivated by Elle. Darien watches “the top of the stairs, the girl with glowing red hair stares down at the rest of us from behind a sparkling golden mask. Her bowlike lips are painted the flaming color of a red giant. She’s beautiful.”
  • As Darien watches Elle enter the ball, he compares the moment to a meet-cute from a movie scene. “But this isn’t a movie, and I’ve already missed my meet-cute. The sky doesn’t suddenly crash in around us. The world doesn’t lose sound. Because this isn’t where I fall in love. I fell in love across the cell signals and late-night texts with a girl I barely knew.”
  • A rude stranger at the cosplay ball insinuates that Elle is simply a Darien Freeman fangirl, not an actual Starfield fan, and tells her that she is “too cute to play dumb” when she gets offended.
  • Elle and Darien share a dance at the cosplay ball and start to fall into familiar banter. “We’re so close, I can feel his breath on my lips, and my heart is tugging, telling me to kiss him even though I don’t know him. Even though my heart, battered and bandaged and taped together, is still rattling from the text a few hours before. But there’s something familiar in the cadence of his words, the way he phrases sentences, the way he articulates thoughts, like a voice I’ve heard before.”
  • Realizing she’s stayed too long, Elle rushes out of the cosplay ball. Darien, having realized who she is to him, chases after her. “His mask has fallen off and I can see the shiner on his nose, dark as a rainstorm, and the alarm in his eyes. The kind where you’re afraid you’ll never see someone again. ‘Wait, ah’blena!’ Ah’blena? I stumble and one of Mom’s shoes slips off.”
  • One of Elle’s stepsisters tells her friends that Darien is “way sexier in person.”
  • When Darien shows up at the country club looking for Elle, Chloe throws herself at him. Elle thinks that “flirting comes as natural as breathing” to her stepsister.
  • Darien reflects on seeing the real Elle for the very first time. “I won’t say that she is perfect or that she is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, but the moment her gaze finds mine, she’s the best part of the universe. She’s a person I would love to spend a lifetime with on the observation deck of the Prospero.”
  • Elle and Darien share a kiss upon being reunited. “‘Ah’…,’ he begins, enunciating every syllable, raising his hand to my chin, ‘blen…,’ tilts my face up, slowly drawing toward me, like two supernovas about to collide, ‘…a.’ And somehow, in this impossible universe, his lips find mine.”
  • Elle and Darien kiss a second time and she describes it as “the kind of kiss that creates [possibilities].”
  • Sage and her girlfriend are holding hands in the limousine before the Starfield Elle says, “I don’t think they’ve stopped holding hands since that day at the country club.”
  • Sage’s girlfriend says she loves Jessica Stone, to which Sage responds, “Maybe we can share her.”
  • When a reporter asks if Elle and Darien are a couple, he tells her, “I want you, ah’blena. I want to try this thing with you, whatever this is. I want you to be my copilot. And I want to ask you before the movie, in case you really hate it.”
  • Darien kisses Elle on the red carpet. “He bends close, despite the crowds, despite the cameras, despite Franco’s nose-diving into his suit pocket where he’s probably keeping a snack, and kisses me. Around us, the flashes flare like the thrusters of the good ship Prospero, sending my heart rocketing into the farthest reaches of this impossible universe.”

 Violence

  • During a fight, Elle’s stepmother, Catherine, hits her. “With a crack, Catherine’s manicured hand strikes the side of my face.”
  • Darien films a choreographed fight scene. “There’s an explosion behind us—bright lights, the actual effects to be added later—as half the ship blows. Calvin lunges at me. I dodge left, grab his right hook, but he powers through it and sends me careening backward. I slam against the floor, pulling my weight back, scrambling to get my feet under me. He picks me up by the collar; I grab his hand and wrench it away. Quickly, I reach for my gun. Too slow. He rams his shoulder into my chest, and I stumble into the console. The entire structure shakes. He grabs hold of my neck and pretends to squeeze.”
  • Elle accidentally hits Darien in the face with a door, causing his nose to bleed. He describes the blood as leaking “into my mouth and down my chin and onto my favorite T-shirt.”
  • Darien gets into a physical altercation with his former friend, Brian. “If one good thing has happened over the last few months of preproduction and soulless salads and four A.M. workouts with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s cousin, it’s that I learned to throw a punch. Thumb out, clench fist—swing. Brian stumbles from the force of it.” The fight scene lasts for three pages.
  • Sage tells a dog, “The next time you jump on me I’ll skin you and wear you as a hat!”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Prior to the beginning of the story, Darien was in an accident that prompted headlines to speculate about his health. When he describes the accident he says, “I wasn’t drunk, or high, or tripping on anything besides my own feet.”
  • Darien describes his former relationship with Brian, a friend who sold him out to the paparazzi, as “shoot-the-shit, drinking beer in the back of pickups friends.”

 Language

  • Elle uses the phrase “Nox’s crack” in place of a curse. The Nox are a race of aliens from the Starfield
  • Anon, the director of the Starfield movie, tells Darien that he has “brass balls” right before he films a stunt sequence.
  • Darien describes one of his lines as a “kiss ass goodbye.”
  • Elle describes sitting inside the food truck on a warm day as “hot as balls.”
  • Sage refers to Elle’s stepsisters as “the hell twins.”
  • Sage describes Princess Amara’s character arc as a “crappy subplot.”
  • When Elle first sees Darien in person, she thinks to herself, “Holy Federation Prince, Batman. It’s Darien effing Freeman.” This is one of three times this phrasing is used as an exclamation.
  • Miss May, one of the people running ExcelsiCon, says that Elle gave Darien “a snowball’s chance in hell.”
  • When Sage enters ExcelsiCon, she says, “Holy shit.”
  • Darien uses the word “fracking” in place of an f-bomb.
  • Darien tells Brian that he’s “not trying to be a dick.”
  • Elle calls the stranger harassing her a “left-testicled Nox.”
  • During his fight with Brian, Darien imagines a headline describing the incident: “DARIEN FIGHTS WITH SLEAZY PAPARAZZO AND MURDERS HIS ASS.”
  • During an argument with his father, Darien asks, “Why the hell insure my abs anyway?”
  • Sage tells Darien that she has been grounded by her mother, adding, “like hell I am.”
  • Elle says that her stepmother got rid of all of her Starfield memorabilia, including “one hella rare Pez dispenser.”
  • Elle tells Darien that she will make his life “a living hell” on her blog if he screws up Carmindor.

 Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Elle describes herself as sending a prayer to “the Lord of Light or Q or whoever is listening.”

by Evalyn Harper

 

Ella Unleashed

Ella didn’t think having a stepparent would be cool, but when her mom married Krishnan, Ella soon loved doing things with her stepfather. When Ella enters a junior dog show, Krishnan teaches her how to handle his champion dog, Elvis. Ella’s first attempts end in embarrassing disasters; however, she isn’t giving up. She is determined to win the prestigious National Dog Show.

Ella wants everyone that she loves to see her perform in the next dog show, but her dad can’t stand to be around Krishnan. Ever since her mom and dad’s divorce, Ella’s dad has been lonely and depressed. When Ella’s friends suggest she find her dad a new girlfriend, it seems like the perfect idea. A new girlfriend will lift his spirits and hopefully make him want to come to her next dog show.

When Ella and her friends create a fake online dating profile for her dad, Ella’s convinced that nothing can go wrong. But soon, Ella realizes that her plan isn’t as perfect as she thought. Can Ella find the perfect girlfriend for her father? Will she manage to bring her divided life together in time for her moment in the spotlight?

Any tween with divorced parents will relate to Ella’s struggles. When it comes to winning a dog show, Ella thinks practice will give her the winning edge. When it comes to her father, she’s convinced that using scientific data will help her find her dad the perfect girlfriend. Soon, Ella learns that when it comes to dogs and people, it’s impossible to predict how they will react. In the end, all of Ella’s perfect plans led to hilarious disasters.

Any reader with a blended family should read Ella Unleashed. Although Ella does attend several dog shows, the majority of the story focuses on complicated human interactions. Through her experiences, Ella learns that she can’t control everything. The story also shows the importance of communication. At the end of the story, Ella and her father decide to go to counseling to help them work through some of their issues. Ella Unleashed is an easy-to-read story that uses compassion and humor to explore complex family relationships.

Sexual Content

  • While secretly signing her father up for a dating site, Ella and her friend are confused by the drop-down menu. They don’t know what demisexual and non-binary mean.
  • While having dinner at a restaurant, two women discuss breaking up.
  • A character mentions her “college roommate and her wife.”

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • While at a restaurant, a lady orders a glass of Malbec.
  • While on a date, a woman “is making big sweeping hand gestures as she talks. . . Beth flings her arm to the right, and her hand smacks directly into the server, who’s about to put down their drinks. . . two full glasses of red wine go flying.”
  • When going to a house for dinner, a woman brings wine.

Language

  • “God,” “OMG,” and “Oh my god” are used excessively as an exclamation. For example, a boy tells his siblings, “God, both of you shut up! I hate you!”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Ella is preparing for her bat mitzvah by “learning my Torah portion.”
  • While at a dog show, a judge inspects Ella’s dog, who is acting like he has to go to the bathroom. Ella prays that “she doesn’t put her hands anywhere near his bladder.”
  • Ella pretends to be surprised by something her dad said. Ella prays “my surprise looks genuine.”

Wish

Charlie has made a wish every day since fourth grade. Then, social services send Charlie to live in Colby with a family that Charlie has never met. Charlie doesn’t let that stop her from making the same wish, but now Charlie wonders if that wish will ever come true.

Charlie doesn’t get along with the “hillbilly” kids at school; however, her backpack buddy, Howard, just won’t go away. When Charlie sees a skinny stray dog, Howard promises to help her capture the dog. With Howard’s help, Charlie is able to befriend the dog who has captured her heart.

When Charlie’s sister, Jackie, comes to visit, Charlie begins to see things in a new light. Jackie points out all of the good things in Charlie’s new home. When Charlie’s social worker tells Charlie that she will soon go home to live with her mother, Charlie wonders why she isn’t excited by the news. After all, wasn’t Charlie hoping to leave Colby?

Charlie is an endearing character who desperately wants a normal family filled with love. Because of her unhappy family life, Charlie is filled with uncertainty and anger. Like many children, Charlie says things that she doesn’t mean, worries about fitting in, and dreams of a better life. Despite Charlie’s anger, Howard befriends Charlie, and she soon learns the true meaning of friendship.

Wish is a compelling story about Charlie’s struggle to understand her broken family life. Charlie’s strong voice allows the reader to understand both her anger and her confusion. Charlie is surrounded by an interesting cast of supporting characters that help her begin to heal. With the help of her foster parents, Gus and Bertha, Charlie begins to realize that possessions don’t make people blessed—love does.

Even though Wish deals with the difficulty of coming from a broken family, Charlie’s feelings are described in ways that young readers will understand. Even though the story focuses on Charlie’s internal struggle, the story contains enough action to propel the story forward. Wish is beautifully written, and each character jumps off the page.

When Charlie allows her anger to get the better of her, she is often surprised by Bertha’s kind reaction. Bertha tells Charlie, “You can’t judge people for the mistakes they make. You judge them for how they fix those mistakes.” In the end, Charlie realizes that she has a “real family,” even if it is different than a traditional two-parent household. Wish is written with compassion and insight that will help readers understand the importance of friendship and family.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When a girl makes fun of Charlie’s boots, Charlie “kicked her skinny shin. Hard. The next few minutes were a blur of crying and hollering and tattling and then I found myself sitting in front of Mr. Mason, the principal.”
  • Charlie tells her friend about a time when “I got sent home from kindergarten the very first day for poking some boy with a pencil.” She said she used the pointy side of the pencil.
  • Bertha tells Charlie a story about when her mother was in elementary school. When a boy was being mean, Charlie’s mother “stomped over to that boy and bit him on the hand so hard he hollered like she’d cut his hand off with a butcher knife. Then ran home crying while she hollered cuss words at him.”
  • When a girl accuses Charlie of lying, Charlie gets angry and “before I knew it, I was standing over her with my fists balled up and my heart beating like crazy. I felt red-hot anger settle over me like a blanket. I wanted to stomp her perfect sneakers. I wanted to yank those butterfly barrettes out of her hair.” Charlie’s friend comes over and calms her down.
  • When a boy makes fun of Charlie’s friend, Charlie got angry and ran “straight at T.J., full steam ahead. I kept my arms stiff in front of me and bam! I shoved him so hard his head snapped back and he crashed face-first into the dirt. I confess I was more than a little surprised when he got right up and shoved me back, knocking me to the ground.” The vacation Bible school teacher breaks up the fight.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Dang and Darn are used often. For example, after Charlie kicks a girl, her friend asked her, “Dang, Charlie, why you gotta get so mad about that?”
  • Heck is used once. While talking to Bertha, Charlie wonders, “What the heck kind of question was that?”
  • Charlie calls her friend a “squirrel-eating hillbilly.” She also refers to the kids that live in Colby as hillbillies.
  • Charlie’s friend calls her a “quitter and a baby.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Charlie goes to church with Bertha and Gus. Charlie “hadn’t been to church since I was little. Scrappy [her father] never wanted any part of it, calling those people do-gooders and Bible-thumpers, but Mama took me and Jackie for a while.”
  • When a snake gets into the house, Bertha stayed with a friend “for nearly a week until Gus swore on the Bible that it was gone.”
  • Charlie goes to a friend’s house for dinner. “So we sat at the table and before I knew what was happening, Howard grabbed my right hand and Dwight grabbed my left and they all bowed their heads while Burl said the blessing. He thanked the Lord for nearly everything under the sun, inkling the deviled eggs on the plate in front of him.”
  • When Charlie goes to dinner at a friend’s house, “everyone held hands and Dwight said the blessing and thanked the Lord for baked beans and new friends.”
  • Bertha and Gus invite friends over for dinner. Before eating, everyone “held hands while Mr. Odom said the blessing. Gus and Bertha weren’t the blessing type, but I guess they did it to be nice to their company. Mr. Odom sure had a lot of stuff to be thankful for, everything from this beautiful day to those turnip greens.”
  • Charlie attends vacation Bible school and learns songs.
  • Charlie thinks about “those good-hearted Odoms thanking the good Lord for me at their supper table.”

Freshmen

Although initially nervous about making new friends during her university’s Frosh Week, Phoebe quickly befriends her roommate, Negin, and a girl named Frankie. As she settles into college, everything seems to be going smoothly until she bumps into her high school crush, Luke Taylor, at a party. Phoebe’s heart skips a beat as she realizes this is her chance to capture Luke’s heart.

Luke never noticed Phoebe in high school. Now that he’s no longer with his long-term girlfriend, Abby Baker, college has given him a whole new view. Taken in by Phoebe’s amazing smile, curly locks, and naïve optimism, Luke falls hard for Phoebe. Then, the “Wall of Shame” is exposed—a text chain created by Luke’s college soccer team where some of the members take photos of girls they slept with and rate them on a scale of 1 to 10 – and Abby unexpectedly comes back into Luke’s life. Is Luke truly the “perfect man” for Phoebe, or is he just another misogynistic jock?

With its cast of crazy characters, Ellen and Ivison create a funny story that addresses many of the problems modern-day teens face, such as cyberbullying, self-doubt, and relationships. As the story develops, both Luke’s and Phoebe’s points of view become relatable and realistic. Readers will understand Luke as he struggles with his feelings for Phoebe and Abby, and will empathize with Phoebe as she struggles to make it through her first year of college.

Along with Luke and Phoebe, Freshmen contains a cast of characters which embody every aspect of college life – there’s Arthur Watling (the pot-smoking roommate), Frankie (the ridiculously tall and funny girl that cannot seem to find a man), Josh (the cake-eating sidekick), and Will (the misogynist jock). Readers will fall in love with these realistic characters and root for them as they live through the many ups and downs of college life.

Freshmen starts off slow and takes its time developing the characters; however, once the plot picks up speed, readers will have a hard time putting it down. Ellen and Ivison push the limits of young adult fiction. During Frosh Week, the characters drink like soldiers and only put down their drinks so they can make out and have sex. They constantly attend classes hungover and live in absolute party pigsties. This book is intended for older readers, those preferably attending college, and has no real moral lesson. Nonetheless, it is a funny book that deals with problems young adults face in college.

 Sexual Content

  • While in the club on the first night of Frosh Week, Will and Phoebe exchange a smile with each other, and “then we were making out with each other. He was a good kisser, but I couldn’t really get into it because I kept wondering if everyone was watching.”
  • After a party, Will takes Phoebe back to his house for tea and some baked goods. The baked goods and tea “weren’t wonders of the main event; they were the reason we both latched onto so we could come here.” Phoebe and Will start kissing as Phoebe gets undressed. Will “reached down and put his hand inside my underwear, and then suddenly he just stopped and moved away.” Will has erectile dysfunction, so they do not have sex.
  • While hanging out, Luke “suddenly couldn’t wait any longer. I [Luke] leaned over and we were kissing again.” Luke and Phoebe kiss.
  • At another party, Phoebe “felt someone’s arms around my waist and a kiss on my cheek.” It was her friend, Frankie, and they kissed again before meeting up with more of their friends.
  • After Luke invited Phoebe back to his dorm, they lay in bed together. Luke put an arm around Phoebe, pulled her in, and kissed her. Phoebe recounts, “We kissed for ages, and then, bit by bit, we were both undressed.” Phoebe wondered if she should give him a blowjob while she kissed his stomach. She “kissed him again and then did it. Just for a few seconds. Long enough to say I had done it but not long enough to mess it up in any way.” She then asked Luke if he had a condom “and then he was inside me. And it actually felt good. Really good. The surrealness resurfaced and I giggled by accident.” This scene lasts for five pages.
  • After seeing Luke with his old girlfriend, Josh took Phoebe home. While they walked, Josh hugged Phoebe and then Phoebe “kissed him on the cheek, gently, near his mouth, and then moved across and kissed him again, closer this time. He cupped my face in his hands and made a sort of quiet, frustrated moan.” Josh pushes her away, not wanting to make out with one of his best friends, and sends her home in a cab.
  • At the college Christmas party, Phoebe and her friends watch all of the successful couples make out. Ed and “Sophie – or Sarah – were kissing, right in the middle of the dance floor” and Phoebe “didn’t recognize him at first without his holey sweater. He looked less philosophical in a tux. But there he was, his tongue down the throat of” Stephanie Stevens.

Violence

  • While talking to Phoebe about a past birthday party, Luke remembers how Chris Isaacs and Alex Paine “pushed Justin Hader on the floor and Chris had grabbed a pair of scissors, telling him they were going to give him a proper haircut. A boy’s haircut.” Phoebe says Luke “pulled Chris off him.”
  • A group of girls protested the soccer team’s “Wall of Shame” and stormed the soccer field during a game. Will looked at Frankie and “then, suddenly booted the ball at her. For a split second, the whole crowd went silent . . . There was just the dull thud of the ball hitting Frankie’s chest, and she strangled sort of half-gasp-half-scream.” Luke and Trev sprint toward Will, intending to take him down, but Ed bolted out of the crowd, “threw himself at Will and just flattened him.” Frankie and Will were not hurt.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • This book takes place in England, where the legal drinking age is 18. Alcohol is mentioned on almost every page. Since many of the college students are 18 or older, they drink excessively. They drink tequila, schnapps, Guinness, Jägerbombs, vodka, beer, cocktails, gin, lagers, and shots.
  • Will’s house “was covered in empty beer cans.”
  • The college students are constantly hungover. In one case, Luke and Phoebe had to help Stephanie Stevens find her way back to her dorm as she vomited.
  • The alcohol-driven college parties can get crazy. Connor, Phoebe’s group leader, creates a booze bath. He’s “pouring out a bottle of wine and a bottle of tequila. Along with everyone else’s contributions, plus two liters of Coke, a bottle of grape juice and the powdered Nesquik…”
  • In another instance, Connor puts a mattress on two skateboards to create the “beer chariot,” which they roll through the hallways as students pour beer on them.
  • Luke’s housemate, Arthur, smokes weed. One time while hanging out and playing video games in Arthur’s room, Luke “had a drag and offered it to Rita.” Rita refuses, saying she does not smoke.

Language

  • Profanity is used in the extreme. All characters cuss, and it is rare to find a page without some sort of slur. Profanity includes fuck, ass, hell, oh God, jerk, dick, twat, and vag.
  • Arthur says the house he was going to live in this year got “fucking condemned.”
  • When Luke breaks up with Abby, she tells him, “You’re being a dick, Luke.”
  • As he pees into the dorm sink, Arthur says, “just ’cause we’re not rich enough to get an ensuite bathroom, like those posh fucks up in Gildas, doesn’t mean we can’t improvise, if you know what I mean.”
  • Frankie shows off her snake-proof jeans and says, “Honestly, these are like Bear Grylls-endorsed leggings. Try to bite these bitches, because you won’t get through.”
  • After Luke missed their quidditch practice, Phoebe knew “he wasn’t coming. Whichever way you looked at it, it was a dick thing to do. I felt like such an idiot.”
  • After Luke Taylor refuses to hook up with a girl, Will says, “But come on, Taylor. You’re a first-year, for fuck’s sake. You can’t not get laid this week.”
  • Frankie thinks Luke is a “self-obsessed ass.”
  • While meeting Luke and Phoebe for their group presentation, Mary looks at her phone and says, “Oh fuckbags, I’m late for band practice.”
  • Luke recalled, “Chris Isaacs and Alex Paine were the biggest assholes in the whole school.”
  • Frankie believed Negin “killed mad amounts of people with her resting bitch face alone.”
  • Phoebe believed her garters were “too long and go right up to my ass.”
  • When Luke calls Phoebe, Frankie snatches the phone right out of Phoebe’s hand and Phoebe screams, “Don’t be a twat, Frankie!”
  • After Frankie explains to her mom over the phone how Phoebe got a condom “stuck up her vag,” Frankie responds with, “Oh Christ.”
  • After Wicks was confronted by the soccer team about the girl he had sex with, he admits her “face was ropey, but trust me, boys, the tits were amazing.”
  • After Luke takes Phoebe back to her dorm, he feels that “full-on lip-kissing always felt way too couple-y in the mornings, so I just went for a kind of half-arsed cheek kiss that morphed uncomfortably into a semi-hug.”
  • After Luke lies about the “Wall of Shame,” Phoebe thinks she is a “clichéd, pathetic dick” for missing him.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Matthew Perkey

She’s the Liar!

When Abby enters sixth grade at her new boarding school, Brookside Academy, she is determined to reinvent herself. She sheds her shy personality and starts playing the part of the confident, bubbly, popular “Abbi.” She quickly learns about the Committee, an all-powerful student organization that controls nearly every aspect of extracurricular life. Whatever you do, you don’t want to be on the Committee’s bad side.

Abby’s older sister, Sydney, is in eighth grade at Brookside. At home, she was always a loner, so Abby is shocked to discover that Sydney has also crafted herself into a new person at school—she’s the president of the Committee and rules the entire student body through intimidation.

Each sister is a threat to the success of the other’s new personality, and things get heated as Abby and Sydney try to outmaneuver each other for power and influence. Both girls have hidden motives, and they soon find themselves hopelessly tangled in a web of lies, schemes, and blackmail.

She’s the Liar! uses the backdrop of a boarding school to highlight the fact that every story has two sides. The first half of the book is told from Abby’s point of view. In the past, Abby allowed one embarrassing moment to define her. Now that she’s at a new school, Abby decides to reinvent herself. Instead of avoiding people, Abby is going to be outgoing, join clubs, and make friends. Soon, Abby is able to overcome her fears and she realizes, “The old me would’ve been totally terrified that if anyone knew my secrets, nobody would like me. But then you told me that I had to own my failures and my success, because they’re all part of me.”

The second part of the book is told from Sydney’s point of view. At the beginning of the book, Sydney’s actions seem villainous and cruel. Adding Sydney’s point of view allows readers to understand her actions, which are largely based on insecurity. Even though it is clear that the reader is supposed to sympathize with Sydney, why she blackmails people instead of befriending them is never mentioned. The ending is a little too sweet and unrealistic; however, even Sydney learns the importance of taking ownership of her past deeds.

Middle school readers will relate to Abby’s fears and uncertainty, and they will cheer for her when she takes steps towards being a better person. Even though there are some holes in the plot, younger readers will still enjoy the story, which showcases student government and sister relationships. Even though the story focuses on Abby and Sydney, the other characters in the book have different interests: astronomy, theater, dance, and even playing Dungeons and Dragons. The other characters add interest and show that people’s differences should be celebrated. She’s the Liar! is an entertaining story that teaches that no one should feel embarrassed about their past.

 Sexual Content

  • One of the sixth graders is embarrassed because “I wrote this really stupid, gushy letter to a guy in my youth group.”

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • “God” and “Oh my god” are frequently used as exclamations. For example, during play auditions when a girl sings, someone says, “Oh my god, she’s so good.”
  • Freaking is used once. When Sydney approves purchasing a telescope, someone asks, “Jenna gets a freaking telescope, and I can’t have two hours at the mall?”
  • Pissed is used once. When a student tells her friends that Sydney tried to blackmail her, her friends were “pretty pissed.”
  • While out to dinner with their parents, some girls walk by the table. Abby asks her sister if the girls are her friends. Sydney replies, “I would never associate with those idiots. God, don’t be stupid.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • While on stage, Sydney takes “a deep breath like I taught Abby to do and pray everyone can’t read my emotions all over my face.”

Amelia Bedelia on the Job

Amelia Bedelia’s class is learning about jobs, but most of the students don’t know what their parents’ occupations are. Amelia’s father talks about making slides and pitching, so Amelia assumes her father coaches baseball. When Amelia’s class goes on a field trip to a corporate park, she discovers a lot about her father and his job.

In Amelia Bedelia on the Job, Amelia’s story jumps back and forth between Amelia’s home, her school, and a corporate park. During the story, different students share what they learned about jobs. For example, one student gave a report about plants and factories, while another student gives a report on mills. During the field trip, students learn about getting paid, withdrawals, and other work-related items.

Similar to other books, Amelia Bedelia on the Job uses silly illustrations to show what Amelia imagines a word to mean. However, the chapter book also teaches the difference between jargon and slang. While on the field trip, one of the adults also uses idioms in his speech. Even though the idioms are illustrated to mean the literal meaning of the idiom, the idioms’ meanings are never explained in the story’s text. Instead, at the end of the story, there are two pages of illustrated idioms that show their literal and figurative meanings.

Amelia Bedelia’s parents are portrayed in a positive light and they share a cute story about how they met. When he was younger, Amelia’s father was a “jerk.” While telling the story, both parents explain what a “soda jerk” is. Readers who enjoy action-packed stories will be disappointed with Amelia Bedelia on the Job, which feels like an extended vocabulary lesson.

Even though Amelia Bedelia on the Job has black-and-white illustrations that break up the text, the story has some advanced vocabulary which may be confusing for some readers. When Amelia is confused about a word’s meaning, her confusion is often illustrated, which adds some humor to the story. Amelia Bedelia on the Job is packed with information about words and careers. Unfortunately, the story’s focus on teaching gives the story a slow pace, which may cause many readers to put the book down and never pick it up again.

If you’re looking for a book that teaches vocabulary and is an interesting story, you may want to add Hilde Cracks the Case by Hilde Lysiak, Polly Diamond by Alice Kuipers, and Diana Toledano, or Mac B. Kid Spy by Mac Barnett to your reading list.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Bull Shark

When the ominous theme song to Jaws plays on his cell phone, fish-obsessed sixth-grader Barn Whimbril knows a shark attack has been reported. Barn tracks attacks all over the world. But this time, it’s right in his own backyard—a series of canals near coastal Florida. As more sightings of these aggressive bull sharks occur in the area, Barn sets out to investigate. Can Barn figure out what has brought these sharks to a once quiet part of his state before another attack occurs?

Full of nonstop action and adventure, Dragged from Under: Bull Shark starts off with a deadly shark attack. The story is told from Barn’s point of view, which allows the reader to learn interesting shark facts without the information sounding like a biology lecture. Barn is awkward around Margaret because she’s a girl, and he’s surprised that a girl could also be interested in sharks. Barn is an extremely likable character. He’s obsessed with sharks, smart, and a little odd. Even though Barn knows he’s different than other kids his age, he doesn’t try to change who he is.

Barn isn’t the only likable character. The large cast of supporting characters are unique and interesting as well. Barn is surrounded by positive adults, who encourage him to be careful, as he investigates the shark attack. Many of the adults, including Jessup who works for Fish and Game, acknowledge Barn’s knowledge and listen to his ideas. Instead of discounting the adults around him, Barn listens to their advice and shares his ideas with them.

Dragged from Under: Bull Shark will engage middle school readers as it teaches how human behavior can cause wildlife to act differently. Even though sharks are dangerous, they are not portrayed in a negative light. Several chapters have the shark’s perspective, which allows readers to understand that the sharks were just doing what sharks do—searching for food.

Shark lovers will want to add Dragged from Under: Bull Shark to their must-read list. The Shark Whisperer series by Ellen Prager and Extreme Adventures: Shark Bait by Justin D’Ath will also take shark-loving readers on a bunch of adventures under the ocean.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • While Robby and Jason are swimming in Florida, a bull shark attacks Robby. Robby “began splashing water every which way. . . then Jason saw something red bloom around Robby’s body. . . Robby’s eyes had gone wild and terrified. Jason saw a large dark body, a fish’s body, slash across Robby’s chest and bite him on the shoulder. . . The shark went underwater when it came to Robby. Robby jerked hard when the shark struck him again.” Robby dies from his wounds.
  • While Barn was on a deck behind a restaurant, a man sics a dog on him. Barn “ducks behind the garbage can, using it to fend off the dog. . . It was a small dog, compact and rust-colored, maybe an Australian cattle dog. It lunged at Barn as soon as it discovered him behind the garbage can, its lips curled back, its teeth flashing forward for a bite.” Barn accidentally falls into the water.
  • When Barn falls into the water, a shark attacks him. “Something hit his leg. . . hard. His knee. The force of the blow swung his leg back in his hip joint and he wondered if he had been bitten.” Trying to get away from the shark, Barn crawls into a floating garbage can. “. . .Something else slammed against the garbage can. The plastic quivered with the force of the impact. It was like being hit by a bat as well as being bitten.” Barn is not seriously injured. The shark scene takes place over four pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Freaking, heck, and Dang are each used once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Hero #1

Hero, a retired search-and-rescue dog, is not prepared for a stray puppy to come into his life. But when he and a twelve-year-old boy, Ben, discover Scout is injured and afraid, Hero is determined to give the tiny pup a home. Ben promises his parents that he will be able to care for both of the dogs and still be able to keep up on his school work.

When Scout hears a loud noise, he becomes frightened and runs off, disappearing. Hero and Ben go in search of Scout, but soon Ben and Hero find themselves going down dangerous and unexpected paths. Ben soon learns that he has gained the attention of Mitch, the leader of a dogfighting ring. Mitch is determined to capture both Scout and Hero in order to make the dogs fight. Can Ben find his dogs and bring them home before it’s too late?

Ben is excited when he learns that the police department has agreed to let him take care of Hero. However, Ben soon finds that taking care of a dog isn’t as easy as he thought. Soon, Ben is falling behind in school and forgetting important obligations. Ben’s father has always taught him to act with purpose, but Ben seems to be messing up more and more.

When Scout and Hero are missing, Ben intentionally lies to his family about the dogs’ whereabouts because he doesn’t want to get in trouble. He also sneaks out of the house and puts himself and his friend Noah in dangerous situations. When Ben finally talks to his parents, he justifies his actions by thinking that he “hadn’t lied, exactly. He’d told his parents the truth—just not all of it.” Ben doesn’t reveal the whole truth until there is no other option.

Hero is a fast-paced story that takes readers into the dogfighting arena. Readers will connect with both Ben and Hero as they try to save each other. The story doesn’t just focus on dogfighting. Instead, Ben also has conflict with a new boy at school and his friend Noah. The well-rounded story is full of danger and friendship. Even though Ben’s actions do not always make sense, readers will fall in love with Hero.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When Ben is distracted, Jack throws a baseball at him. Ben tries to duck, but he isn’t fast enough. “The ball nailed him on his right collarbone, hard. The pain shot through his body. Ben doubled over and took short, sharp breaths, hoping he didn’t pass out right there on the field.”
  • Ben and Noah sneak into a barn that men use for dogfighting. Ben can hear “snarling. Growling. Pained yelping and crying. He smelled the sharp tang of blood in the air.” As Ben looks around the barn, he sees caged dogs. The dog’s faces “were scared and bloody. Their bodies bore the marks of man injuries. Even worse than their wounds, though, were their eyes. They gazed at Ben with a combination of desperation and fear.”
  • As Ben looks for Scout, he can hear “dogs tearing at each other. . . Ben heard one of the dogs wailing and whimpering. It sounded like the animal was hurt—badly.”
  • The leader of the dogfighting ring sees Ben in the barn and pulls a knife on him. Hero sees Ben and he “soared at top speed, front paws extended, teeth bared. . . He [Mitch] let out a confused grunt as Hero landed on him. Ben watched Mitch’s eyes grow big as his body fell forward, Hero on his back with his teeth clamped down on the back of Mitch’s neck. . . Mitch fell facedown onto the concrete floor, his head hitting the ground with a sickening thump. . . Mitch was out cold.”
  • After Ben gets away from Mitch, two “bloodthirsty demons” chase him. Hero comes to the rescue. “One of the dogs was on the ground bleeding. The other was crouched down low, circling his opponent: Hero.” Ben runs away.
  • When Mitch again corners Ben, Hero’s “eyes burned with hatred, and when he opened his mouth to snarl at the men, Ben saw blood on his teeth from the other dogs. . . Hero launched himself into the air, straight at Mitch. . . Mitch wailed in pain as his head smacked the concrete again.” Ben runs away.
  • Again, Mitch comes after Ben. “Hero snarled and snapped his head sideways, latching on to Mitch’s calf with his powerful jaw. Mitch cried out in pain, but he couldn’t get away.” Hero bites Mitch on the leg. A man tackles Hero. Ben grabs a rusty shovel and “hefted it with both hands and ran toward Hero and the man who still lay on top of him. . . Ben swung the shovel high in the air and brought it down fast onto his head. With a groan, the man passed out cold and fell to the side, off Hero.” Hero is injured and has to be taken to the vet. The barn scene is described over eight pages.
  • Hero leads Ben and his father to Mitch, the leader of the dogfighting ring. Hero runs into Mitch’s house and is attacked by two dogs. Ben watches as “Hero and the two dogs spun in circles, snapping their jaws and pouncing on each other. It was a cloud of fur and spit.”
  • When Ben’s father sees Mitch, he pulls a gun on him. As the two men talk, Scout “launched himself at Mitch. The puppy jumped onto Mitch’s wounded leg, closing his small but sharp teeth on his calf.” The police arrest Mitch. The scene is described over six pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Heck is used three times. For example, Ben tells his dog, “You scared the heck out of me.”
  • When Ben asks Noah for help, Noah replies, “Of course I’ll help you, stupid.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

A Good Kind of Trouble

Twelve-year-old Shayla is allergic to trouble. All she wants to do is follow the rules. (Oh, and she’d also like to make it through seventh grade with her best friendships intact, learn to run track, and have a cute boy see past her giant forehead.)

But in junior high, it’s like all the rules have changed. Now she’s suddenly questioning who her best friends are and some people at school are saying she’s not black enough. Wait, what?

Shayla’s sister, Hana, is involved in Black Lives Matter, but Shay doesn’t think that’s for her. After experiencing a powerful protest though, Shayla decides that some rules are worth breaking. She starts wearing an armband to school in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Soon, everyone is taking sides and she is given an ultimatum.

Shayla is scared to do the wrong thing (and even more scared to do the right thing), but if she doesn’t face her fear, she’ll be forever tripping over the next hurdle. Now that’s trouble, for real.

Told from Shayla’s point of view, A Good Kind of Trouble effectively explains the Black Lives Matter movement and Shayla’s budding awareness of political activism. When Shayla and her friends begin junior high, they struggle with the changes that come with growing up—crushes, changing friendships, and figuring out their own beliefs.

Readers will relate to Shayla as she struggles with the difficulty of junior high. Shayla’s teacher assigns an “eyeball journal” so students can write down their observations. As Shayla writes in the journal, her thoughts and emotions come to the forefront, which allows the reader to connect with Shayla on a deeper level.

As the story explains the Black Lives Matter movement, most of the information is introduced as Shayla’s parents listen to news about a trial where a black man was killed by a police officer. Shayla’s parents and several adults talk about the trial, but the events are not described in detail. Even though the story focuses on how African-Americans are unjustly stereotyped, the story also touches on how other races are also stereotyped. Shayla’s friends are different races—Isabella is Latin and Julia is Asian.

Throughout the story, Ramée incorporates quotes from famous people, such as author Ralph Waldo Emerson. Shayla’s parents and teachers also give positive advice. For example, one teacher says, “You can be different from the generations before you. You can celebrate people’s differences. Or step up and challenge beliefs you know are wrong.” As Shayla explores her own personal beliefs, she thinks about everyone’s opinions and applies them to her own life.

A Good Kind of Trouble will entertain readers as it introduces them to some heavy topics. The story will show the importance of taking a stand as well as discovering your own belief system. A Good Kind of Trouble would be an excellent story for parents to read and discuss with their children.

Sexual Content

  • Isabella tells her friends that “my dad has a new girlfriend. And you know my mom. She’s all freaked out about it, and worried that I’m going to freak out about it. . .”
  • For a science lab, Shayla is paired up with a cute boy. During the lab, “We both reach for the honey at the same time, and our hands brush. Then a few minutes later, there is this one moment when our heads get really close together. Thank God I brushed my teeth real good this morning!”
  • The students at school play a game and “command” a person to do something embarrassing. At the school dance, Tyler is “commanded” to kiss Shayla. Tyler asks Shayla to dance and “before I can say anything, Tyler kisses me. I’m not talking a peck on the cheek; his mouth is smothering mine. . . I know it’s not a nice kiss. It is slobbery, and even though he must’ve just had a mint so at least his breath isn’t bad, his lips are chapped and scratchy.”
  • Shayla is upset when everyone talks about her and Tyler’s kiss. When she talks to Tyler, she tells him, “And you should know it’s not cool to just kiss somebody. You can’t be all up on somebody who didn’t say it was okay.”

Violence

  • At school, a group of boys try to put Alex in the garbage can. Bernard tries to help. “Most of the boys are laughing, and a few try to grab Bernard’s arms, but Bernard is stronger than they are, and he hauls off and punches a guy and then yanks Alex from Daniel. . . Bernard pushes Alex behind him and then he clobbers Marcus, and that’s just when Principal Trask walks outside the cafeteria.”
  • Some of the students wear armbands in support of Black Lives Matter. “In fifth period I found out the fight was all about Noah Randolph getting commanded to take off his armband and he wouldn’t, so a bunch of other boys started whaling on him.”
  • Shayla’s father tells her about a woman who was “selling incense in front of a store.” When the police were called, “two officers shot her.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • While talking about other people, several characters are referred to as “jerks.” For example, when Shayla sees a boy in the school hallway, “A bunch of boys surrounded Alex, and I can tell they’re being jerks just by the way they’re laughing and nudging each other.”
  • While walking in the school hallway, a boy yells, “My dad says Black Lives Matter is racist.” Shayla thinks, “I want to tell him his dad is an idiot. . .”
  • Shayla’s sister calls her a dummy one time.
  • Dang and damn are both used once.
  • “Oh my god” is used as an exclamation once.
  • When a boy says, “Blue lives matter.” Shayla tells him, “Of course blue lives matter, stupid.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Shayla’s family prays before dinner. “Usually our prayer before dinner is really fast. Just a quick thank-you to God for the food, and sometimes Daddy will add something silly like thanking God for Momma’s brown eyes. . .But tonight Momma’s voice is slow and serious. . . ‘And protect our daughter, Hana, as she struggles to understand the horrible shootings and this troubling verdict. Keep her on the path of peace and nonviolence. And give solace to the poor families, Lord, who have lost young men way too soon.’”
  • During a relay, Shayla was afraid she would drop the baton. During the event she was “praying we’ll connect.”

Because of the Rabbit

On the last night of summer, Emma tags along with her father, who is a game warden, on a routine call. They’re supposed to rescue a wild rabbit from a picket fence, but instead, they find a little bunny. Emma convinces her father to bring him home for the night.

The next day, Emma starts public school for the very first time after years of being home-schooled. More than anything, Emma wants to make a best friend in school. But things don’t go as planned. On the first day of school, she’s paired with a boy named Jack for a project. He can’t stay on topic, he speaks out of turn, and he’s obsessed with animals. Jack doesn’t fit in, and Emma’s worried he’ll make her stand out. Emma and Jack bond over her rescue rabbit, but will their new friendship keep Emma from finding the new best friend she’s meant to have?

Because of the Rabbit combines several subplots into one story. Not only is Emma struggling with attending public school for the first time, but she also is upset that her brother, Owen, has less time for her. Emma’s family demonstrates healthy relationships and positive communication skills. Emma revisits tales that her grandfather shared with her. She also names her pet rabbit Monsieur Lapin after a character from her grandfather’s stories.

Attending public school isn’t an easy transition for Emma. The author does an excellent job describing Emma’s complex feelings in kid-friendly language. Like many students, Emma hopes to find a best friend and worries that telling the whole truth will make others dislike her. One of her classmates, who appears to have autism, is kind to Emma. Even though Emma likes spending time with the boy, she worries that others will judge her if she spends time with him. In the end, Emma learns that it is important to look at things from another person’s perspective. Emma realizes that “I’ve wanted them all to be the kind of friend I needed, but I hadn’t tried as hard to be the one they needed.”

Anyone who has ever been left out of a group or is facing a new school will relate to Emma. Because of the Rabbit is beautifully written and has many positive life lessons. However, the story focuses on Emma’s personal conflicts. Readers who enjoy fast-paced, adventure stories will have a difficult time staying engaged. Because of the short chapters and easy vocabulary, Because of the Rabbit would be an excellent story for a parent to read aloud to their child.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

In the Spotlight

Ellie’s best friend Kit loves to be in pageants. Kit wants to share the pageant experience with Ellie. Ellie is excited to spend time with Kit and meet new friends. Plus, Ellie has plenty of engineering ideas to help the other contestants with their acts, like building a light-up skateboard ramp for Kit.

One contestant, Kit’s not-so-nice pageant rival Melody, makes fun of Ellie’s tool belt and thinks engineering isn’t “ladylike.” Then Melody’s rabbit—part of her talent act—goes missing. Ellie knows she can build a contraption to catch him, but will Melody’s attitude make Ellie doubt that engineering has a place in the pageant?

In the Spotlight begins with several of Ellie’s engineering plans and sketches. Each sketch explains engineering ideas in a kid-friendly manner. The beginning of the story is slow, but once Ellie and Kit begin their pageant activity the pace picks up and has several positive life lessons. At first, Ellie is fearful that others will not appreciate her engineering talents, but her love of engineering and her knowledge of electricity and circuits refuses to be quelled. Through Ellie’s experiences, readers will learn to appreciate people’s different skills.

At first, mean girl Melody comes across as stereotypically selfish. However, as the story progresses her character becomes more well-rounded. Even though Melody is mean to Ellie and Kit, instead of being mean in return, both girls show Melody kindness. Kit believes that “sometimes it’s more important to be nice than to be right.” Because of the girls’ kindness, Melody realizes that her cruel behavior was wrong. Kit and Ellie also learn how forgiveness can be a path to friendship.

The story contains some fun illustrations of Ellie’s sketches; however, the story is text-heavy, which might make the story daunting for some readers. The story’s plot is easy to understand and vocabulary isn’t difficult, but the sentence structure is complex. Strong female characters, important life lessons, and positive adult interactions make the Ellie, Engineer a series worth reading. Ellie, Engineer would be an excellent choice for more advanced readers or to read aloud with a parent. Even though In the Spotlight is the third book in the series, the books do not need to be read in order.

Instead of being a stereotypical beauty pageant story, In the Spotlight is a cute story of friendship and accepting yourself. With realistic conflicts, engaging characters, In the Spotlight teaches life lessons along with electricity. Readers who enjoyed In the Spotlight should also try the Girls Who Code Series and Rosie Revere and The Raucous Riveters by Andrea Beaty.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Melody calls someone a weirdo.
  • One of the characters repeats their tee-ball coach who says, “Don’t get distracted! Stop scratching your butt!”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 Middle School Mayhem

After being trapped in a locker for hours, Max Crumbly has discovered three burglars are planning to steal all the school’s new computers and his father’s vintage comic book. Max vows to stop them and get his book back. But after crashing through a ventilation shaft and landing on the burglar’s pizza, he is surrounded by three ruthless criminals. There is no hope in sight as Max is now trapped between the three burglars who are ready to tear him apart and three ruthless criminals. All of a sudden, Erin, his only friend at South Ridge Middle School, comes to the rescue. She shuts off all the lights giving Max valuable time to escape.

Trapped in the school, Max and Erin must get Max’s comic book back and trap the three burglars – Moose, Tucker, and Ralph – before the police arrive. After Max confines Moose in the cafeteria and Tucker in the gymnasium, it seems like Max might actually accomplish the impossible and outwit the thieves. But Ralph, the ringleader of the burglars, poses a much harder challenge for Max than his two cronies. Will Max be able to catch Ralph and save his dad’s comic book, or will he be caught by the most malicious criminal of them all?

Russell creates a character who is flawed just like any other boy his age but manages to work through his problems. Up against an impossible task, Max strives through self-doubt to outsmart and outwit the criminals to save the school’s new computer center. Throughout the book, Max grows as a person and he now considers the consequences of his actions. He also feels bad after he accidentally gets Erin grounded because she was helping him snoop around the school. Young readers can see Max as a role model. They can be inspired to work hard when all hope seems lost and help others whenever possible.

While parents might find the book repetitive and full of too much bathroom humor and slapstick comedy, younger readers will enjoy the story’s amusing mayhem. Many of the jokes come from Max either making a fool of himself or hurting the criminals in some way, like trapping Ralph in a room with a snake and setting his hair on fire. However, the large font, black-and-white illustrations, and consistently funny jokes will help young, reluctant readers transfer their reading skills from picture books into full-fledged novels. Readers should read the first book in the series in order to understand this one. This book also ends with another cliffhanger, so make sure you have the next book in the series The Misadventures of Max Crumbly: Masters of Mischief.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Ralph grabbed onto Max’s cape in the ventilation shaft. Max rolled over onto his back, brought both of his knees to his chest, and then kicked with all his might. “The chunky soles of my lost-and-found motorcycle boots landed squarely on Ralph’s very sweaty and very surprised FACE!!”
  • Moose chases Max and grabs him by his collar. Moose accidentally “butt-dialed the burner on the stove and set himself on fire.” While on fire, Max dumps a bucket of slime on Moose, wraps him in plastic wrap, and ties him to a pole.
  • Max knocks Turner out in the gym and ties him up in a soccer net.
  • Max shoots a rocket at Ralph. It misses but lights Ralph’s toupee on fire. “As Ralph slowly walked toward me, I noticed the strangest thing. The top of his head was smoking.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Max knew middle school was going to be challenging, but he never “expected to end up DEAD in the computer lab, wearing a SUPERHERO COSTUME, with four slices of PIZZA stuck to my BUTT!”
  • The students at Max’s school nicknamed him “Barf” after he threw up on his bullies’ shoes.
  • After Moose and Tucker complain they are hungry, Ralph shouts, “How about I rip out your spleens and shove ‘em down your throats?! Then you won’t be hungry anymore, you MORONS!”
  • When grabbing Max, Ralph snarls, “Hold still, you little RAT!”
  • When Ralph gets stuck in a ventilation shaft, Moose and Tucker try to pull him out. Ralph’s saggy pants fall off and he is pictured in his underwear.
  • Max said that releasing his pet turtles into the wild when he was younger was “the STUPIDEST thing I’ve ever done in my life!!”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Matthew Perkey

 

 

 

 

 

Jada Jones Dancing Queen

When the student council decides to host a dance as their next fundraiser, Jada feels nervous and queasy. She’s excited to give back, but she can’t dance! Still, she’s determined to help the cause and show she cares. She practices her moves, gets help from friends, and even does research at the library to prepare—but will it be enough to help her create change in her community?

Jada Jones Dancing Queen leaves the science behind and focuses on helping others. Jada Jones, the science-loving girl, is worried about what others will think of her less-than-perfect dance skills. Even though Jada’s friends and family try to teach Jada some dance moves, Jada worries about embarrassing herself. By the end of the story, Jada realizes her dance moves don’t need to be perfect. Like the previous books in the series, Jada Jones Dancing Queen has relatable characters, realistic conflicts, and reinforces real-life lessons.

When the student council begins encouraging others to show kindness, Jada witnesses several small acts that make a big difference. For example, students began complimenting others and one student helped a kindergartener tie his shoe. When the student council decides to raise money to purchase coats for kids in need, Jada makes it clear that everyone needs help at some point. Jada uses money that she had been saving for a rock tumbler to purchase a coat for the coat drive. The best aspects of the Jada Jones series is Jada’s positive behavior as well as the encouraging family interactions.

Jada’s struggle comes to life with black and white pictures that have a pop of purple. Jada Jones Dancing Queen is intended for readers who are transitioning to chapter books. The story has eight short chapters, easy vocabulary, and illustrations on almost every page. The story does have several pages with only text and some complicated sentence structure. Science-loving readers may also want to read Ellie, Engineer by Jackson Pearce and The Data Set series by Ada Hopper.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

With the Fire on High

Emoni, a Philadelphia teenager, has aspirations of being a chef. Through her cooking, she is able to explore her identity as an African-American, as well as her Puerto Rican ancestry. Emoni’s family also forms a central role in her life. Her dad is a Puerto Rican activist and community organizer, but he is often absent. Emoni lives with her Puerto Rican abuela and her two-year-old daughter, who she conceived during her first year of high school. Now a senior, Emoni is learning to juggle her family, her academics, her personal life, her job, and her love of cooking.

At the beginning of the school year, Emoni learns that her school is introducing a culinary arts class. She is unsure if she will be able to balance it with her other commitments, and has a hard time warming up to the chef who teaches the class. Though they get off to a rough start, the chef soon becomes an important mentor for Emoni. She learns the importance of following directions in the kitchen, which is a place where she is used to doing whatever she wants.

Meanwhile, Emoni meets Malachi, a new student. She is hesitant to become friends, but they soon become close. Malachi becomes Emoni’s romantic interest. He is a sensitive boy who respects and cares for Emoni. Their relationship develops slowly through the course of the book. Malachi courts Emoni by showing that he is willing to accommodate her family situation: he is respectful towards her abuela and daughter.

With the Fire on High is heartfelt and expertly written. Readers will relate to Emoni’s struggle to decide whether she will go to college, and what shape her future will take. Readers will quickly find themselves rooting for Emoni and her family. They will cheer at her victories and feel distressed at her losses. The first-person narration paints a vivid picture of Emoni’s culture, her family, her personality, and how food plays an emotional role in her life.

With the Fire on High has mature themes and sexual content, but it is handled maturely. Sex is not glorified or demonized. When Emoni and Malachi become intimate, they do so because both of them feel emotionally ready. Emoni also struggles with the decision to date because of her many responsibilities. Emoni only brings Malachi around her child when she is certain that he’ll be a good influence.

With the Fire on High uses a unique character voice and vivid descriptions of food to draw the readers into the setting. The description of every character is strong, but especially Emoni’s. Her stubborn personality, her love for her daughter, and her unique narration all help her to come alive on the page. Readers will be able to relate to some piece of Emoni, but she is, by and large, her own distinct personality. The lessons she learns throughout the story will resonate with any reader. This is a coming-of-age story, and Emoni’s maturity is marked by her ability to make choices that will let her support her family while still caring for herself.

Sexual Content

  • The main character, Emoni, is a teen mother. She describes her first sexual experience—with her child’s father—as something “a lot more technical” than she expected and indicates that the experience was disappointing and confusing because she wasn’t ready. “When he finally shoved into me, it stung. For a second, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to push him away or pull him closer, and then he was panting and sweating on my chest and apologizing. . . I cleaned my own self up, put on my pants, and left. He didn’t even say goodbye.”
  • The chef encourages the cooking class to “come eat Emoni’s chocolate pudding.” Many of the boys take this as an innuendo and tease Emoni about it, but the double entendre is never explained.
  • When Emoni and Malachi kiss for the first time, “His hand moves down to my butt and curves around it.”
  • Emoni and Malachi make out on a couch and make the decision to be intimate. Emoni’s “legs straddling his lap, arms wound around his back. Kissing him back. . . I never saw what the big deal was about it, outside of how nice it was to be touched. But this is different. . . He keeps kissing my neck. And then my hands are everywhere. I need to touch his skin, his shoulders, his back. I kiss his ear and he moans into my neck. ‘This feels too good.’ And this was new, too. This power of making a boy jump or moan.” The scene continues for about three pages, and while it’s implied that they become sexually intimate, the narration does not describe the rest of their encounter.
  • Emoni’s best friend Angelica, a lesbian, has an anniversary dinner with her girlfriend and is nervous about having sex for the first time. She has had sex with guys before, but “this is less about exploring, and more about expressing.” Emoni tells her, “You don’t have to do anything you aren’t comfortable doing.”

Violence

  • Malachi tells Emoni that his brother “was killed last February. Some beef in the neighborhood back home and he was shot. It’s unclear if it was a stray bullet or meant for him.”
  • In Spain, when a child steals Emoni’s purse, Malachi runs after the child and grabs him “by the back of his coat.” Emoni is concerned that Malachi will hurt the child, but he lets him go.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • During their trip to Spain, Emoni chooses to abstain, but some of her classmates get drunk. This ends in her classmate getting so drunk that she throws up. The next day, the student can’t remember what happened.
  • Emoni makes herself a meal and pours herself a glass of wine. She thinks, “I know [my grandmother will] raise an eyebrow when she sees I had some, but she won’t reprimand me; growing up, she was allowed to drink from the time she was fourteen and she finds the alcohol rules on the mainland excessive.”
  • Malachi jokingly asks a flight attendant for a glass of wine.
  • Emoni cooks with beer; the book includes a recipe for beer bread.

Language

  • Throughout the book, Emoni and her friend Angelica try to curb their language so they won’t be a bad influence on Emoni’s daughter. Slips like “shit—I mean, shoot” and “damn—I mean, darn” are frequent.
  • Emoni’s first-person narration has similar slips: “Tyrone is still being a dick—an ass—a prick. Who uses the word prick?” She later notes about him: “Damn, he smells good as fu—hell… heck.”
  • Damn, hell, and shit are used frequently.
  • Characters occasionally say “Jesus” and “oh my God.”
  • “Ass” is often used as a suffix in phrases such as “grown-ass woman” and “greasy-ass job.”
  • Angelica describes Malachi’s smile “as if you’re choosing to give a sunlit middle finger to this fucked-up world.”
  • Emoni’s classmate gets vulgar when she’s drunk and says “fuck” multiple times, including when she accuses Emoni of “fucking Malachi.”
  • Angelica says that she’s “nervous as fuck.”
  • Leslie’s classmate says the chef she’s working with “sounds like a crackhead.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Emoni’s grandmother is “a soft Catholic. She believes in the teachings of God, but she doesn’t push her religion on people. I went to church with her on Sundays, but she didn’t force me to do communion or confirmation. And she didn’t force me to keep the baby. She just held my hand and told me to think about what it would mean.”
  • Emoni’s grandmother goes to church several times in the book and has a circle of church friends.
  • While dealing with her dishonest boss, Emoni says, “You’re a nice man, Steve. . . I’m going to tell my grandmother to pray for you.” She then thinks, “I hope he can see in my face that I just sprinkled the juju of a spiteful Puerto Rican grandmother all over his life.”
  • Emoni jokingly describes water ice (a frozen treat) as “a direct gift from the gods.”
  • Emoni’s father says that Puerto Rico is “where I’ll die, whenever God decides that should be.”
  • Malachi jokes that “My cuts of jamón ibérico would make you believe in God.”

by Caroline Galdi

The Dog Who Lost His Bark

Patrick has been desperate for a dog for as long as he can remember. A dog he can play with and talk to. A buddy. A best friend.

In his young puppy life, Oz has suffered at the hands of some bad people. His mother told him that somewhere out there is a boy or girl just for him, but Oz no longer knows who to trust. When Patrick finds Oz, he is determined to coax the frightened little dog’s bark back. Then they can finally both be happy, can’t they?

The Dog Who Lost His Bark is a sweet story about a boy and his dog; however, the story hits some heavy topics. Patrick and his mother are spending the summer at his grandfather’s house. During this time, Patrick continues to ask where he will see his father again. His mother avoids the question until the very end. Then she tells him, Patrick’s father “found someone new for himself in Sydney last year, and she’s coming back with him.” Even though Patrick is clearly distressed with his father’s long absence, neither his mother nor father talk to him about the upcoming changes in his life. The story never resolves the conflict, which leaves the reader with many questions.

When Oz was a puppy, he was taken home by a family that was clearly abusive. Although the story does not describe the abuse in detail, younger readers may become upset when they see Oz mistreated and eventually thrown into a trash heap. Patrick goes to a shelter and chooses to take Oz home. Patrick knows he needs help in order to bring Oz’s bark back, so he consults books. Patrick is kind and patient with the sad puppy. However, when Oz poops in Patrick’s shoe, Patrick doesn’t take him outside or teach him where to go to the bathroom. Instead, Patrick keeps putting clean shoes in the room for Oz to use.

The story uses easy vocabulary and short paragraphs, and explains Oz’s emotions in easy-to-understand terms. Some words run together and are in all caps, such as BADSTUPIDDOG, which may cause some confusion for younger readers. Beautiful charcoal sketches appear on almost every page that convey the character’s emotions. Animal lovers will enjoy The Dog Who Lost His Bark; however, because the story contains animal abuse and parents separating, parents might want to read the story with their child.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A man and woman take Oz. They put him in a box and leave him in the car overnight without food or water. When they give Oz to their son, he begins poking Oz. “All the people were laughing now. It seemed they enjoyed the boy’s game. They laughed even louder when the boy lifted Dog by his tail, and Dog felt as if his tail would tear off.”
  • A man wraps Oz up in linoleum flooring and throws him in the dump.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Several times, a man calls Oz a STUPIDDOG.
  • After a boy knocks down the Christmas tree, “The big man made a sound: ‘OHMYGOD.’”
  • The boy calls Oz, “POOPOODOG” and “STUPIDPOOPOODOG.”
  • Patrick’s mother playfully calls Patrick “dopey.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Storm Blown

A little rain and wind doesn’t worry Alejo—they’re just part of life at the beach. As his padrino says, as long as there are birds in the waves, it’s safe. When people start evacuating though, Alejo realizes things might be worse than he thought. And they are. A hurricane is headed straight for Puerto Rico. Worried that his padrino needs help, Alejo braves the storm in order to search for him.

Emily’s brother, Elliot, has been really sick. He can’t go outside their New Orleans home, so Emily decides to have an adventure for him. Emily wades out to a tiny island. For once, Emily wants her mother to worry about her. While hiding from her home, she befriends an injured goose and a shy turtle. Emily doesn’t know that a storm is racing her way.

As the hurricane rages across Puerto Rico and heads towards the United States, both kids will face life-threatening danger. Soon Alejo and Emily will be in the storm’s deadly path, but nothing has prepared the kids for Megastorm Valerie. Who will survive nature’s fury?

Like a wind-blown leaf in a hurricane, Storm Blown jumps from many different settings and points of view, which quickly becomes confusing. Although Alejo and Emily are the two main characters, the story also gives a glimpse of Emily’s father, the national climatic research center workers, as well as the animals trapped in the hurricane. Since the story includes so many points of view, Alejo and Emily are underdeveloped, which makes it hard for the reader to connect to them.

Storm Blown shows the devastation a hurricane can cause which leads to many daring episodes. However, some of the events are hard to believe. For example, Alejo, who does not know how to drive, is able to steal a van, drive through torrential rains, and arrive safely home. Alejo is so worried about his padrino that he braves the weather only to find an empty house. Although Alejo’s actions are brave, the reader will wonder why he and his padrino did not discuss a disaster plan. Instead, Alejo’s grandfather tapes a note to the kitchen table. In a world where natural disasters happen often, readers will question some of the kids’ daring deeds and actions.

Readers interested in extreme weather or survival stories will find Storm Blown difficult to read because of the many points of view and the challenging vocabulary. The story also ends abruptly and leaves the reader with too many unanswered questions. Instead of choosing Strom Blown, readers should try the I Survived series by Lauren Tarshis, The Raft by S.A. Bodeen, or Trapped by Michael Northrop.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Nature’s violence is shown throughout the book. A tree falls, hitting Joy. Emily goes to help her. “Swallowing a sudden nausea, Emily propped herself against the closest limb and pulled Joy to her feet. Joy swayed in the wind, blinking as the rain mixed with the blood in her matted hair. It ran down her arms in rivulets, and Emily tried not to gag as Joy hooked her elbow around her narrow shoulders for support.”
  • The helicopter pilot is injured when he was “pinned to the ground beneath a heavy limb. His face was contorted into a grimace, but he wasn’t moving. Not even as the dark water lapped against the side of his head, threatening to suck him deeper into the mud beneath their feet.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Several of the characters are given pain medication after an injury. Elliot is given pain pills, but he doesn’t like how “the pain pills made it so he couldn’t stay up for more than a few hours.”
  • When Elliot’s mother brings him pain pills, he saves them for later. After he got dressed, Elliot slipped “his pain pills into his pocket.”
  • While waiting for a hurricane, the hotel gives the guest drinks. “The hotel bar made so many Dark ‘n’ Stormies that they ran out of rum halfway through Alejo’s rounds, switching to something they were calling a Frozen Valerie.

Language

  • “Oh my god” is used as an exclamation once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Several times in the story, the characters pray for something. For example, Emily’s father “prayed that Sarah had fixed things up with their daughter.” When Emily’s father finally made it home, “Silas prayed for a miracle.”

 

 

Sisters

Raina wants a little sister, but once Amara shows up, things aren’t how she expected them to be. Amara cries a lot. She’s grouchy. To make things worse, Amara always has to get her own way. As the two sisters grow up, their relationship doesn’t improve. When their baby brother is born, the tiny apartment that they live in becomes even more cramped.

When the family is invited to Colorado for a family reunion, Raina’s mom decides to take a road trip without their dad. Being stuck in a car for three weeks doesn’t bring the sisters any closer. Instead, they argue their way across three states. Is there anything that will bring these two sisters together?

Sisters doesn’t just focus on the family car trip, instead, it continuously jumps back to the past to show how Raina and Amara’s relationship has always been full of conflict. Both girls are mean, argumentative, and do things just to irritate each other. Amara is a complete brat, while Raina tries to block out everything by wearing headphones and ignoring everyone. While younger readers may think the sisters’ behavior is silly, parents will not want their children to emulate the siblings’ behavior.

Throughout the story, the two girls are never disciplined. At one point, Raina’s parents give up their bedroom, so Raina can have her own space. Because the parents knew Amara would be “a little put out,” they let her get a pet snake. However, the family doesn’t research the pet before they purchased it, and the snake eventually ends up lost in the family van.

Sisters is a simple story told through both illustrations and text. Each page contains eight or fewer sentences. The easy vocabulary, simple sentences, and bright pictures make Sisters accessible to all readers. The brightly colored pictures do an amazing job at showing the facial expressions of the characters, which brings the character’s emotions to the forefront. Although the story will engage readers, parents may want to skip picking up this book and instead try Raina Telgemeler’s graphic novel Ghost which shows a healthy sibling relationship and has a positive message. Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson is also an excellent graphic novel that contains a positive message.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • While riding in the car, Raina ignores her sister, so Amara reaches over and punches her in the arm.
  • Amara’s pet snake tries to bite her.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Amara calls Raina a moron and an idiot.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Beverly, Right Here

Fourteen-year-old Beverly has run away from home before. But this time, she plans on leaving for good. Beverly wants to make it on her own. She finds a job and a place to stay, but she can’t stop thinking about her drunk mother and her dog Buddy, who is buried under the orange trees back home. She also worries about her friend Raymie, who she left without saying a word.

Beverly doesn’t want to make friends. She doesn’t want to care about anyone. In a world where everyone has left her, Beverly decides to only care about herself. But soon, she realizes that there are good people around her. There are people that care about her and depend on her. As she begins to find a sense of community, she learns about herself as well.

It’s 1979 and Beverly hops in a car with her cousin, who drops her off in a random town. She has no money, no friends, and no idea where her steps will take her. Luckily, Beverly finds Iona, who takes in Beverly and treats her like a beloved niece. Iona is funny, truthful, and an overall wonderful person. However, the story never hints at the dangers of running away and trusting complete strangers.

Set in 1979, Beverly, Right Here does not show the dangers of the modern world. For example, in one scene, when an older man pinches Beverly’s butt, the waitress tells her not to complain. Another troubling aspect of the story is Beverly’s relationship with Elmer. Although Elmer’s age is never revealed, he is preparing to go to college. Even though Elmer is a sweet soul, and Beverly and him only dance and hold hands, the age difference is alarming.

Unlike its companion book, Louisiana’s Way Home, the characters and themes in Beverly, Right Here are not as developed, which leaves too many unanswered questions. Even though Beverly’s mother is a drunk, it is unclear why Beverly felt the need to run away. In addition, Beverly talks about the death of her dog; however, the reader doesn’t know how the dog died and why the dog’s death had such a negative impact on Beverly. Lastly, at the end of the book, Iona’s son shows up, questions her decision-making skills, threatens to take away Iona’s car, and tells Beverly she is “nobody” and must leave.

Beverly, Right Here is realistic fiction that highlights the importance of making connections. The short chapters and easy vocabulary help propel the action forward. Although there are several interesting characters, including Iona and Elmer, Beverly’s actions are at times confusing. The abrupt conclusion leaves the reader wondering what will happen to Iona and Beverly. Beverly, Right Here is a companion book to Raymie Nightingale and Louisiana’s Way Home. However, each book can be read as a stand-alone.

Sexual Content

  • While working at a restaurant, “a fat old man with a cigar in his mouth pinched [Beverly] on the butt.”

Violence

  • Beverly’s friend, Elmer, tells her about a school bully who “beats the crap out of you, for being a poetry-loving sissy.”
  • When Elmer was in high school, he was bullied. A boy duct-taped Elmer to a chair and locked him in a janitor’s closet. When the janitor found him and let him loose, “he cried. And I cried.”
  • A man comes into a restaurant and threatens the owner with a whiffle bat. As the man leaves, he yells, “If you call the cops, I’ll come back here to this stupid fish place and break everybody’s bones. I promise you I will.” After the owner gives the man money, one of the employees chases the thief down and tackles him.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Beverly mentions that her mother was “drunk all the time.”
  • When Beverly calls her mother, she thinks that her mother “didn’t sound too drunk.”
  • Beverly thinks about her mother “sitting on the back porch, drinking beer and cigarettes. . .”
  • Beverly tells a friend that her mother is “drunk most of the time.”

Language

  • Beverly’s cousin yells at her, “Dang it! You always did think that you were better than everybody else on God’s green earth.”
  • When a woman sees Beverly’s wet, sandy clothes, the woman says, “Lord, child. What have you been doing?”
  • When Beverly was younger, she would eat glue because “it was just a way to piss the teachers off.”
  • A woman calls Beverly “con artist trash.”
  • Crap is used six times. For example, Beverly wonders, “why was there so much crap in the world?”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Locker Hero

Max Crumbly is like any other teenage boy. He likes comic books and video games, and his uncanny ability to smell pizza from a block away has helped him out in some really sticky situations. However, after being homeschooled by his grandmother for years, Max is about to face the scariest thing ever: South Ridge Middle School. Awkward and alone, Max tries to make friends with the other students, but within days becomes the favorite target of the school bully, Doug “Thug” Thurston.

Despite Thug’s repeated attempts to throw him in his locker every day, Max succeeds in his attempt to make friends. He meets Brandon, his best friend in the world, at a pet store and they work at the local shelter together on weekends. Max also develops a crush on one of the most popular and smartest girls at his school, Erin. All the boys love Erin, especially Thug. When Erin meets Max, she is really nice to him and develops a small crush on him. Erin invites Max to help paint the backgrounds for the school play with her. But, after Erin tells Max that the play is canceled, they eventually stop speaking to each other, much to the dismay of Max.

But, all that drama is trivial after Thug traps Max in his locker on a Friday afternoon before a three-day weekend. Alone and with no way to call home, Max must find his way out of the school before he dies of starvation or boredom (whichever comes first). While in the locker, Max uncovers three criminals’ plots to rob the school of its brand new computer center. After the phone lines are cut, Max must find a way to singlehandedly stop the thieves and save the school. Will Max become the superhero he always wanted to be or will the thieves catch up to him?

Russell created a flawed character, who struggles with fitting in at his new school and being ‘hip’ and ‘cool’ around the other students. Throughout the book, Max grows as a person and rises above his middle school problems to think of others, like valuing saving the school’s computers above going home and taking a nap. At the end of the story, Max may inspire readers to put other people’s problems above their own.

Max Crumbly: Locker Hero is the companion series to Dork Diaries, but focuses on a male protagonist. Parents should be concerned about the book’s level of bathroom humor. Many of the jokes come from Max either unintentionally puking or peeing on other students, or just making a fool of himself. However, the black-and-white illustrations along with consistently funny jokes will help reluctant readers transfer their reading skills from picture books into full-fledged novels. Readers who are struggling with a new school or the transfer to middle school will enjoy this fun, easy-to-read story.

Similar to the movie Home Alone, the antics in Max Crumbly: Locker Hero’s are hard to believe, and the over-the-top action comes to an abrupt end. None of the story conflicts are resolved, which may upset some readers. Instead of wrapping up the story, Russell leaves off on a cliffhanger. Readers will want to jump into the next book in the series The Misadventures of Max Crumbly – Middle School Mayhem.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • After Thug finds out that Max isn’t Dark Vader’s son, he threatens to “beat my face into a pulp.”
  • One of Max’s favorite comic book superheroes, Electrostatic Man, “actually ZAPPED his OWN MOTHER with 10,000 watts,” killing her.
  • Ralph swears that once he gets his hands on Max, he’s “GONNA RIP HIS FACE OFF.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Max believes that if he had superpowers, life in middle school would be better. He would never “miss the stupid bus again” because he could just fly to school.
  • In one of the images where Max draws himself flying, he gets pooped on by a bird. Max thinks, “Getting bombed by an angry bird is NOT cool.”
  • Max is calling his book THE MISADVENTURES OF MAX CRUMBLY and it will be “a highly detailed record of all the CRAP I’ve had to deal with! my experiences here at this school.”
  • Max has a socially anxious bladder and he pees when he gets nervous or scared. In one of his drawings, he imagines peeing on Thug.
  • One day in gym class, Max vomited on Thug’s shoe.
  • Max “had exactly forty-eight seconds to get my BUTT on the bus” before his big fight with Thug.
  • Max would have loved the janitor’s pretend rock and roll show “a lot better if I hadn’t been watching it from, you know …. INSIDE OF MY STUPID LOCKER!!”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Matthew Perkey

 

 

 

 

 Dog Days

The trials and tribulations of middle school life are temporarily over for Greg Heffley. As summer approaches, there are no bullies or classes to worry about. Greg is ready to kick back and enjoy junk food, TV, and video games. However, after his summer vacation is canceled, a three-month guilt trip starts for Greg. Greg now has to put up with his mom’s constant demands to go outside and read a book, his dad and his “bonding” experiences, a terrible birthday party, a new dog, and a fight with his best friend, Rowley. How will Greg survive?

Written in Greg’s own journal, the conflict of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days revolves around everything that happens in Greg’s life. It is written from his 12-year-old perspective. The story contains a lot of bathroom and childish humor. At one point in the story, Greg, who is almost naked, has to chase after his dog. At another point in the story, Greg has to save his younger brother, Manny, before he accidentally washes his hands in the urinal.

Greg Heffley is a well-developed and relatable character for young audiences. Although Greg is lazy, petty, narcissistic, and cowardly, he does have moments of kindness. Greg will show readers the importance of sharing and thinking of others. He even points out some of the flaws in his own terrible behavior, showing kids that procrastinating and sleeping all day isn’t worth it. The consistently funny black-and-white illustrations, which look more like a comic strip than a highly illustrated graphic novel, help break up the text and keep even the most reluctant readers engaged.

Greg’s perspective is often pessimistic and at times can be downright mean. Greg demonstrates qualities, such as laziness and selfishness, that parents would not want their children to emulate. However, the story has relatable conflicts and shows readers the different perspectives of children and parents. Greg’s behavior could lead to a good discussion between parents and children about how people should act. Readers do not have to read these books in order to enjoy them. The fun, easy-to-read story will teach valuable and practical lessons to readers. Despite the childish humor, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days will entertain readers and have them laughing out loud.

Sexual Content

  • At the beginning of the book, Greg and Rowley are strolling around the country club pool and he says, “We’re both bachelors at the moment, and during the summer it’s better to be unattached.”
  • Greg has a crush on Heather Hills, a lifeguard at the public pool, and hits on her every day for weeks. However, he “…didn’t mention Heather Hills to Mom, because [he doesn’t] need her getting in the middle of my love life.”

Violence

  • Rodrick shoves Greg off the high dive.
  • Grandpa accidentally runs over Greg’s dad’s dog while Rodrick’s fish eats Greg’s fish.
  • Greg snaps Rowley with a rubber band, leaving him with a red mark on his arm.
  • Rowley “crushed [Greg’s] hand to smithereens” with a hammer because he thought it was the Muddy Hand (a terrifying horror movie character) coming to get him.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Both bathroom and immature humor are used frequently and include words like poop, idiot, pee, and dumb.
  • Poop jokes are told frequently. For example, Rodrick wants to name the dog Turtle so he can call it “Turd for short.”
  • Scared that he’s not going out enough, Greg’s mom invites Fregley over and suggests that he and Greg should play outside together. Greg glances out the window and says, “I think Fregley might be naked” when he sees Fregley shirtless behind a tree.
  • When Greg was younger, he used to go swim in the baby pool, but he quit after he figured little kids would pee in the pool.
  • Greg’s dad went back-to-school shopping and the next day Greg says, “Well, THAT was a dumb move because Dad did all of his shopping at the pharmacy.”
  • Greg’s at the public pool and asks a lifeguard, “Does Mrs. Arciaga REALLY think it’s a good idea to wear a bikini when she’s eight months pregnant?”
  • Greg has the highest score on an arcade machine called Thunder Volt at the boardwalk, and his name was at the top of the high scores list. However, the person that had the second highest score on the list listed their name as “Is an idiot.” The high score list says “Greg Heffley …. is an idiot.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Greg’s Gramma prays to the Lord to help her find her dollar savers coupon book while Greg prays, “Dear Lord, please let Mr. Jefferson get hit on the head so he forgets about the money I owe him. And please let me get past the third level of Twisted Wizard without having to use any of my bonus health packs. Amen, and thank you in advance.”
  • Greg describes a church trip on Sunday. He says, “Today’s sermon was called ‘Jesus in disguise,’ and it was about how you should treat everyone you meet with kindness because you never know which person is really Jesus pretending to be someone else.”

by Matthew Perkey

 

Home Court

Eleven-year-old Amar’e Stoudemire has a lot going on. He loves to go skateboarding in the park. He takes his school work very seriously. He helps out with his dad’s landscaping company. He also likes to play basketball with his best friends – but just for fun.

When a group of older kids starts disrespecting his boys on their neighborhood basketball court, there is only one solution. Amar’e must step in and use his athletic ability and intelligence to save the day. This experience leads Amar’e to realize that basketball is his true passion. This story is based on the life of All-Star NBA sensation Amar’e Stoudemire who overcame many obstacles to become one of the most popular figures in sports today.

Like many readers, Amar’e is interested in a wide range of activities—skateboarding, basketball, and hanging out with his friends. When his friends need him, Amar’e isn’t afraid to take on some trash-talking older kids. Anyone who has been mistreated will relate to Amar’e’s difficulties. Amar’e’s struggles are illustrated with simple black and white drawings which are scattered throughout the book. Amar’e tells his story using easy vocabulary and short paragraphs to create an easy-to-read, entertaining story.

Sports fans will enjoy the play-by-play basketball action. However, the story doesn’t just focus on sports. Amar’e also enjoys learning tricks on his skateboard, helping his father, and doing well in school. Amar’e worries about his history writing assignment on Dr. King. In the end, Amar’e is able to connect Dr. King’s message to his life. He writes, “One person could do a lot, but the more people you have behind you, the more you could accomplish.”

Amar’e’s diverse interests give additional intrigue to the story, but also make the story choppy. One positive aspect of the story is Amar’e’s strong connection with his family and friends. Because the story is written from Amar’e’s point of view, readers will understand why Amar’e believes it’s important to be a good student, a good friend, and a hard worker. Younger sports fans will enjoy Home Court because of the positive message that is delivered by a relatable character. Readers who are looking for similar books should try the Zayd Saleem Chasing the Dream Series by Hena Khan.

Sexual Content

  • While playing a basketball game, Amar’e and his friends huddle up. An older boy tells them to hurry up “unless y’all are making out in there.”

Violence

  • While playing basketball with some older kids, Carlos intentionally tripped Amar’e. “My eyes were on the ball, so I didn’t see Carlos stick out his leg. I sure felt it, though. His shin banged into mine just above my ankle and I tumbled hard onto the pavement.”
  • While playing basketball with some older kids, “Yeti clobbered Duece on a moving pick. It was the bigger player on the court taking out the smallest, and it was hard to miss the foul.”
  • While playing basketball, an older boy “jammed his elbow hard into his lower back. Mike grimaced in pain and lost his dribble.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Some older kids trash-talk Amar’e and his friends. Afterward, one of Amar’e’s friends calls the boys “jerks.” Later Amar’e thinks, “Yeti was hanging on the rim again like a jerk.”
  • When an older boy throws trash on the ground, Amar’e asks, “Shouldn’t you go back to the garbage dump you came from?”
  • An older boy calls Amar’e and his friends “losers.”
  • “What the—” is used once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Sonic Breach

Tom gets to take all sorts of cool classes at the Swift Academy of Science and Technology, but robotics may be the one excites him the most. His teacher is holding a battling robot tournament, and Tom and his friends have to build a machine that will come out on top.

With the final battle coming up, Tom and his friends need as much time as possible to refine their masterpiece. But the rest of their teachers have been giving so many pop quizzes that they can barely focus in class, never mind concentrate on the tournament. Naturally, everyone is frustrated with the trend. . . until a mysterious new phone app appears. If students get pop quizzes during first period, they can warn everyone else about it by getting their phones to emit a high-pitched sound—a mosquito alarm—that adults can’t hear.

Tom is unsure about the whole thing, but it technically isn’t cheating, right? But when someone changes the app to break all the rules, the ethics aren’t debatable anymore. The longer the perpetrator remains unknown, the more harshly teachers treat all the students, and the pressure won’t stop until Tom and his friends track down the person behind the app takeover.

Like the first book in the series, The Sonic Breach incorporates mystery and technology. However, unlike The Drone Pursuit, The Sonic Breach doesn’t have as much interaction between Tom and his friends, which takes some of the enjoyment out of the story. Book two is also told from Tom’s point of view, and the story has an easy-to-read, conversational tone which allows the readers to understand Tom’s thinking process.

As Tom and his friends solve the mystery of who hacked the Pop Chop app, the readers will learn the importance of perseverance and helping others. At one point, Tom thinks, “Mistakes are ways to learn, overcome, and move forward. I would much rather have had our robot fail during a sparring match than during the final battle. This way we can learn from our design mistakes and make it better than it was before.”

The cover of The Sonic Breach shows two students battling their robots. However, the battle bots take backstage to the moral question of using a new app—Pop Chop. The story focuses on Tom’s moral dilemma: is using Pop Chop a form of cheating? Although the topic is relevant to students, readers may quickly become bored with the lack of action. In the end, Tom and his friends discover who hacked the Pop Chop app, but the mystery’s solution is unrealistic and comes too easily.

Readers looking for non-stop action and an in-depth mystery may want to leave The Sonic Breach on the shelf. However, readers who enjoyed the first Tom Swift book and are interested in technology will find The Sonic Breach entertaining. Tom Swift is an intelligent, likable character who models good communication skills. Plus, parents will appreciate the story’s positive relationships and messages.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Tom and his friends build a robot that says the phrase, “Get to za Choppa.” The phrase comes from an Arnold Schwarznegger movie, and the kids at the school often repeat it. One of the students “was creative with his altered Arnold phrase, ‘Get to the crappa.’”
  • When a news crew shows up at the Swift Academy, the reporter walks over to the fencing team. A student wonders why the reporter is covering the fencing team when there “are two perfectly good robots over there beating the crap out of each other.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None
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