Topic: Friendship

Jada Jones Class Act

The nominations are in, and Jada is officially a student council candidate! At first, Jada isn’t worried about running against her friend Miles in the election. She’s sure that they can support each other even though they are both running for class representative. But it isn’t long before Jada’s classmates start taking sides. Could winning votes mean losing friends?

Still, Jada is excited to run for student council, and she has the perfect slogan: “Vote for Jada, the voice of a friend.” Soon Jada learns that running a campaign comes with a lot of conflicts. Jada’s class learns the characteristic of a leader, but soon the candidates are only focused on winning. As the class’s conflict heats up, Jada struggles to overcome her fear of public speaking and is distraught when a rumor about her becomes the talk of the class. To make things worse, Jada’s friends start pressuring her to make promises she can’t keep. As the campaign heats up, Jada Jones Class Act focuses on relatable conflicts including the dangers of rumors, the fear of public speaking, and the pressure to lie to keep friends.

Jada Jones Class Act has relatable characters, realistic conflicts, and reinforces real-life lessons. Throughout the story, Jada’s family plays a positive role, and Jada treats her brother with kindness. Even though Jada and the other candidate do not act like leaders, in the end, they learn from their mistakes and are able to repair their friendships. Jada Jones has many positive qualities—she’s kind, smart, creative, and honest. Readers will want to emulate Jada’s positive characteristics and parents may want to use the story as a stepping stone to discuss gossip, honestly, and friendship.

Jada’s struggle comes to life with black and white pictures that have a pop of purple. Jada Jones Class Act 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. Overall, Jada Jones Class Act is an entertaining story that has positive life lessons. Readers who enjoyed Katie Woo by Fran Manushkin or Sofia Martinez by Jacqueline Jules will also enjoy Jada Jones.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Sweeping Up the Heart

For spring break, Amelia wants to go on a vacation to Florida. But Amelia’s father doesn’t like to travel. He’d rather spent his time peacefully at home. Amelia wants adventure. Amelia already feels like a freak at school, and she isn’t thrilled about being the only seventh grader sitting at home, doing nothing over spring break.

Amelia plans to spend as much time as possible at Louise’s art studio. When she works with clay, she forgets all about her quiet, lonely house. When Amelia goes to the art studio, she meets Casey. Amelia is looking forward to the break now that she has a new friend to spend time with. While sitting in a cafe, Casey begins a game where he and Amelia make up names and stories for those who are passing by. Casey sees a woman, who looks similar to Amelia, and thinks the woman could be Amelia’s dead mother. Amelia begins to imagine that the woman is her mother and all of the ways that would impact her life.

Sweeping Up the Heart is a simple, beautiful story that deals with the complicated nature of family life. Amelia is insecure and often lonely. Although she has outgrown sleeping with her stuffed lamb, Dr. Cotton, she still tells him her secrets. Amelia, like many younger kids, wants a more exciting life. She doesn’t understand why she doesn’t have more friends. When she meets Casey, she is eager to have a friend to talk to. Like herself, Casey’s family life is not perfect. Casey has been on a campaign to keep his parent’s marriage from falling apart.

Although Amelia and Casey are relatable characters, who deal with grief, some readers may not like the slow pace of Sweeping Up the Heart. Much of the story focuses on the characters’ interactions, as well as Amelia’s struggle with her often silent father. The story is creative, interesting, and heartfelt, but lacks action. Amelia struggles with missing a mother she doesn’t remember, as well as wishing for more adventure in her life. Amelia relies heavily on Mrs. O’Brien, who takes care of the house and meals. Amelia’s loneliness is described in lovely language that allows the reader to understand Amelia’s longing for something more. However, the conclusion comes too soon and there are so many unanswered questions that will leave the readers with mixed emotions. Although Sweeping Up the Heart is an easy-to-read story, younger audiences may have a difficult time finishing the quiet story that focuses on Amelia who is dealing with the changes that come with adolescence. The story will resonate with anyone who feels like an outcast, has family problems, or just longs for more adventure in life.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Amelia has a stuffed animal that she talks to. She thinks, “she talked to him the way she supposed some people talked to God.”
  • Amelia’s mother wanted to name her Epiphany because “I was born on January sixth, the Feat of Epiphany. . . It’s the day the Three Kings supposedly visited Baby Jesus with their gifts. But we’re not very religious and my father thought it was an odd, trendy name.”

Genuine Fraud

Imogen, the heiress of a wealthy New York family, has run away from her responsibilities to her family’s mansion on Martha’s vineyard. Jule is her best friend…or so she thinks. Jule is a social chameleon, becoming whoever she wants to be and getting rid of whoever is in her way. But does that include Imogen?

Told backward, Genuine Fraud tells the story of two girls and their intertwining fates as they navigate the adult world that they long to be a part of. However, this is no charming tale of growing up and friendship, but a dark thriller that takes the reader on mysterious twists and turns. The reader never knows who to trust as they delve deeper into the story. At the end of the story, the reader is confused by questions that are never truly answered.

Although the Genuine Fraud has an exciting premise, the story never quite lives up to the promised thrill. Instead of ending with a narrative payoff, the plot feels like it traveled in a circle. Because the main mystery isn’t solved, it doesn’t really matter what happens in between. At the end of the book, there are so many questions that were not answered that the reader will be left wondering why they suffered through to the end.

Fans of We Were Liars will be disappointed with the lack of charm and relatability of all of the characters. Both Jule and Imogen are not sympathetic figures, and they never connect with the audience. Although Imogen is constantly presented as “fun” and “bubbly,” she comes across as a spoiled rich girl running away from minor problems. Instead of creating unique characters, the characterization relies on overdone tropes and stereotypes.

This book is not suitable for younger readers as it is a thriller that uses a fair amount of profanity and violence. The main character Jule is constantly using brute force to get what she wants. This enables several disturbingly gory scenes that may be too much even for older audiences. These factors, combined with a plot that fails to fully draw the reader in, contribute to the overwhelmingly disappointing nature of Genuine Fraud.

Sexual Content

  • The head soccer coach at Stanford “was a perv… touching all the girls.”
  • Jule gets a ride from a bartender named Donovan, and when he suddenly becomes predatory, she wonders, “Was Donovan one of those guys who thinks a girl who wants a favor has to mess around with him?”
  • Jule describes herself as “brutal,” but says, “that’s [her] job and you’re uniquely qualified, so it’s sexy.”
  • When Jule tried to think of better times, she “remembered the feel of Paolo’s lips on hers.”
  • Imogen’s boyfriend, Forrest, is a main character in the novel, and they often kiss.
  • When Jule goes to Las Vegas, a woman asks her if she is a “working girl,” and tells her “don’t sell yourself.” Jule is not a prostitute but was just wearing heavy amounts of makeup.
  • When Jule was in an arcade, “two boys she knew from school came up behind her and squeezed her boobs. One on each side.”
  • When Forrest comes to Jule to find out information about Imogen who is missing, he asks her, “Did you want to sleep with her?”
  • Jule tells Forrest that she had three boyfriends during her time at Stanford.
  • Imogen thought she was pregnant and spent “all week skipping class and reading people’s abortion stories on the internet. Then one day I finally get my period.” Her boyfriend then broke up with her after she told him the news.
  • When confronted with a boy she had once kissed, Jule thinks she “didn’t need a guy, wasn’t sure she liked guys, wasn’t sure she liked ”
  • Jule makes out with Paolo. “He kissed her then, under the streetlight… He kissed like he couldn’t imagine wanting to be anywhere else on the planet, because wasn’t this so nice, and didn’t this feel good?”
  • Brooke had “a series of boyfriends and one girlfriend, but never love.”
  • Imogen “hooked up” with guys while at college, making it hard to hold on to a boyfriend. These events are not described, just referenced.
  • Brooke goes to the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco with Lupton because she wanted to “get in his pants.”
  • Jule gets an email from Vivian that reported, “that she was in love with Isaac Tupperman and she hoped Imogen would understand because there is no controlling the human heart.”
  • Jule talks to a couple at a bar who are arguing over the movie Pretty Woman. The woman dislikes the movie because she says, “The perfect girlfriend is a whore who does ya for free. Disgusting.” The couple later discusses how Julia Roberts’s character is a sex worker.
  • Jule tells Imogen a story from high school when her track team had a “full-on naked battle, in the showers, three against one.” Imogen remarks that it sounds like a “prison porno movie.”
  • Imogen hires an attractive housecleaner named Scott. Imogen’s friend wanted him to “wash my grapes, strip down, and lick my whole body from head to toe.”
  • Jule goes to the grocery store and when she comes back, “Imogen and Forrest were naked, wrapped around each other in the swimming pool.”
  • Imogen tells Jule a story about when she stayed in London for a summer program and her roommates were “absolutely going at it on the floor of the kitchen one day, like fully nude and yelling. I must have walked in at just a major effing moment, if you know what I mean.”

Violence

  • Jule sees “a scar wound down her right forearm, jagged, like from a knife, not clean like from an operation” on a woman that she meets and thinks, “There was a story there.”
  • Jule believed, “the more you sweat in practice, the less you bleed in battle.”
  • Jule creates a false origin story about herself in which her eight-year-old self finds her parents “in the grass facedown. Their bodies are crumpled and limp. The blood pools black underneath them. Mama has been shot through the brain. She must have died instantly. Papa is clearly dead, but the only injuries Jule sees are on his arms. He must have bled out from his wounds.” In this story, Jule is shot in the ankle and is taken to a specialized academy to be trained, similar to a spy. This is just a story that she tells about herself, and it isn’t actually true.
  • After feeling swindled by Donovan, Jule “brought her forearm up hard, snapped his head back, and punched him in the groin…. Jule grabbed his slick hair and yanked his head back…. He jabbed with one elbow, slamming Jule in the chest…. Donovan kicked out, hitting her in the shin. Jule punched him on the side of the neck and he crumpled forward….Jule grabbed a metal lid from one of the nearby trash cans and banged it on his head twice and he collapsed on a pile of garbage bags, bleeding from the forehead and one eye.”
  • Imogen had two marks on her upper right arm that, “the nurse at Vassar told me they were burns. Like from a cigarette.”
  • Jule spread a story saying, “Imogen Sokoloff had killed herself in that selfsame river, weighing her pockets with stones and jumping off the Westminster Bridge, leaving a suicide note in her bread box.”
  • When Jule was fifteen, two boys squeezed her boobs. In retaliation, she, “elbowed one sharply in his soft stomach, then swung around and stomped hard on the other one’s foot. Then she kneed him in the groin….When that boy bent over, coughing, Jule turned and hit the first one in the face with the heel of her hand.”
  • Jule murders Brooke, and it is vividly described. “She swung once, hard, coming down on Brooke’s forehead with a horrid crack…Brooke’s head snapped back….Jule moved forward and hit her again. This time from the side. Blood spurted from Brooke’s head. . . She got Brooke’s legs, which scrabbled on the ground. . . and lurched her up and over [the railing]. . . here was a dull crack as her body hit the tops of the trees, and another as she landed at the bottom of the rocky ravine.”
  • When Jule gets drunk, she tells a woman about a boy who threw a slushy in her face. She then, “brought up my knee and caught him in the jaw. Then I swung the shoe…. I brought it right down on the top of his head…. I hit him with the shoe, again and again…. He lay with his mouth hanging open…. Blood out his nose. He looked dead.” She didn’t actually kill him, but did cause serious damage.
  • Jule murders Imogen when they are on a boat together and get into an argument. “The paddle end hit Imogen in the skull. Sharp edge first. Immie crumpled…. She brought the board down on that angel face. The nose cracked, and the cheekbones. One of the eyes bulged and gushed. Jule hit a third time and the noise was terrific, loud and somehow final.”
  • Scott, Imogen’s housecleaner, kills himself. “He had hanged himself with rope from a beam high up in a neighbor’s barn. He had kicked out a twenty-foot ladder.”
  • Jule’s father, “bled himself out, naked in a bathtub.”
  • Noa, a private detective hired to find Imogen, discovers Jule at a resort in Mexico. Jule attacks her. “Noa’s head jerked back, and Jule swung the suitcase hard. It hit Noa in the side of the skull, knocking her to the floor… Noa hit the floor and scrambled for Jule’s ankle with her left hand while she reached toward her pant leg with the right…. Jule steadied herself against the wall and kicked Noa in the face.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Jule hangs out at a bar in Mexico where she is staying at a resort and talks to the bartender, Donovan, about the drinks that he makes.
  • When walking through José del Cabo, Jule sees many American tourists who were, “all drunk and loud.” Many of them were “getting sloshed after a day of sport fishing.”
  • Imogen’s birth mother died by overdosing on meth.
  • Imogen’s father, Gil, died of a long-term illness and the characters often discussed how he had to take a lot of pills.
  • Jule had dinner in Vegas where she saw “a crowd of drunk guys [who] barged in talking about beer and burgers.”
  • Imogen asks Jule about the party scene at Stanford and asks, “With no beer and people being all intellectual?”
  • In the story that Jule creates about Imogen killing herself, she writes a suicide letter that says, “By the time you read this, I’ll have taken an overdose of sleeping pills.”
  • A drunk girl asks Paolo if he wants to get a drink.
  • Brooke’s death is seen as an accident. Paolo tells Jule that, “they think she’d been drinking. She hit her head and nobody found her till this morning… They found her car in the lot with an empty vodka bottle in it.”
  • Jule got drunk for the first time at the island of Culebra. “Jule’s drink arrived. She drained it and asked for another. And another.”
  • A man that lived on Culebra told Jule that he “had a little marijuana business…. I used to grow it in my walk-in closet with lights and then sell it…. But the cops busted me.”
  • When Imogen was in Culebra, she “drank a lot. She had waiters bringing her margaritas poolside.”
  • The people who hung out at Imogen’s Martha’s Vineyard house were, “funny and nonathletic, chatty and rather alcoholic, college kids or art students.”
  • Jule’s roommate, Lita, had friends that came over, “speaking Polish and smoking cigarettes.”

 Language

  • Profanity is used frequently throughout the novel. Profanity includes: damn, hell yes, effing, fuck, dick, fucking, fuckload, and shit.
  • The hotel that Jule stayed at in Cabo San Lucas was a “bloody great hotel.” Jule frequently used the word “bloody” when she was pretending to be British.
  • Jule had, “watched a shit-ton of movies.”
  • Imogen calls herself and others an “asshole” a few times.
  • God and oh God are used as exclamations a few times.
  • Paolo says that it is “hellish” to talk to his mother on the phone.
  • Brooke’s roommate “bitched” because Imogen was in their room so early.
  • Brooke said that “Vivian was a huge witch to me.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual

  • Imogen is Jewish and “celebrated all the Jewish holidays and, when she grew up, she had an unorthodox bat mitzvah ceremony in the woods upstate.”
  • Shanna tells Jule that she “can have anything if you set your mind to it. You pray and you, like, visualize.”
  • A drunk man on a beach sings, “God rest ye merry gentlemen.”
  • When Brooke asks Jule if she is Jewish, she responds, “I’m not anything…I don’t celebrate.”

Star of the Show

Katie Woo is excited when her teacher announced that the class would be performing The Princess and the Frog. She wanted to be the princess who was the star of the show. Katie’s upset when she finds out she is going to be a worm. How can a worm be a star?

Any child who likes to be the center of attention will relate to Katie Woo. Katie is disappointed that she is a worm, but she tries to help her classmates be the best they can be. Even though she is a worm, Katie still practices the part and does her very best.

The book has three short chapters and is written with simple vocabulary that beginning readers will be able to master. Each page contains four or fewer sentences as well as colorful pictures, which include a diverse cast of characters. The story focuses on one vocabulary word—crafty—and uses it in a variety of ways.

Star of the Show also has a glossary, questions, and writing prompts. The story engages young readers by using interesting characters who have relatable problems. Katie Woo will help independent readers improve their skills and become confident readers. Although Star of the Show is part of a series with many of the same characters, it does not need to be read in order.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Friends Forever

Croc and Ally make an appearance in three short chapters that focus on their unique friendship. Croc is pessimistic and grumpy, but Allie has a positive outlook. In the first chapter, “Move Over,” the two friends argue over sharing the sofa. Ally wants to sit close to Croc, but Croc wants more space, so they go looking for two chairs. In the second chapter, “Mr. Grumpy Pants,” Ally wants Croc to know what a grumpy person looks like, so she pretends to be grumpy. In the last chapter, “The Mood is Hiding,” Ally can’t sleep without the moon, so the two sleepy friends try to find it. They don’t find the moon, but they do find a solution to Ally’s sleeplessness.

Beginning readers will enjoy the funny, cartoonish illustrations that appear on every page of Friends Forever. In one illustration, a frightened Croc holds a teddy bear. Friends Forever is written with simple vocabulary that beginning readers will be able to master. Each page has three or fewer simple sentences per page. The small word count will allow beginning readers to feel proud that they were able to read a chapter book. However, more fluent readers may be bored by the story and want a book with a more developed plot.

Croc and Ally highlight the idea that friends do not have to be exactly alike. Readers will enjoy the friendship between the two and want to spend time looking at the detailed illustrations. Readers will want to see what other adventures Croc and Ally go on. Friends Forever will help beginning readers become confident readers.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Bella the Bunny Fairy

Rachel and Kirsty hide Easter eggs for a neighbor’s party. When the party guests arrive and start looking for eggs, they keep seeing a bunny that changes colors. Rachel and Kristy think the bunny is one of the fairy’s pets. Jack Frost was upset that he didn’t have a pet, and he kidnapped several magical animals that belonged to the Pet Fairies. Can Rachel and Kirsty save the bunny from Jack Frost’s goblins?

Bella the Bunny Fairy combines fairies, animals, and a villain to create an easy-to-read story that will engage young readers. Although the stories are formulaic, younger readers will enjoy the cute fairies, and guessing what the goblins will do next. Rachel and Kirsty are good role models because they are kind to others, help their neighbors, and are able to save the day.

Bella the Bunny Fairy is perfect for readers who are just beginning to read chapter books. The story has easy vocabulary, short sentences, and cute black and white illustrations on every page. The story has a simple storyline with a non-frightening villain. There are seven books in the Pet Fairies series as well as a Sports Fairies series, the Fairy Tale Fairies series, and Special Editions. Although the stories have some of the same characters, the books do not have to be read in sequence. Bella the Bunny Fairy will delight younger readers, who will want to read every book in the series because the stories are so much fun.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Goblins make a hole and cover it with leaves to trap Rachel and Kirsty. The girls fall into the trap.
  • The goblins fall into their own trap. “They fell on top of the twigs and leaves in a heap. A second later, the covering gave way. Yelping, the goblins all tumbled into the hole.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • The goblins argue and call each other names, including, “coward,” “scaredy-cat,” and “klutz.”

Supernatural

  • A fairy uses magic dust. “She lifted her wand, and a shower of golden sparkles floated down onto the girls. Rachel and Kirsty held their breath as they shrank to fairy size, and glittering wings appeared on their backs.”
  • A fairy uses her wand to send a message to a bunny. “Lifting her wand, she began to write in the air. Like a sparkler, the wand left a glittering trail of bright blue letters.”
  • A fairy wants to fix a box so a rabbit can’t escape. “Then Bella waved her wand. A cloud of dazzling sparkles swirled around the box, making it whole again.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Caterpillar Summer

Eleven-year-old Cat is used to taking care of her younger brother, Chicken. She knows that he isn’t like other seven-year-olds. Cat understands that Chicken gets upset easily; He doesn’t like loud noises, tags in his shirt, or being called Henry. Sometimes he acts out, and Cat has become an expert at calming him.

Cat is looking forward to spending three weeks in Atlanta. Unexpectedly their plans change, and Cat and Chicken go to stay with their grandparent that they have never met. She isn’t excited about spending time with her mother’s estranged parents, Lily and Malcon. She doesn’t think they can take care of Chicken as well as she can. But as she adjusts to her grandparents and life on an island, Cat realizes it has been a long time since she has been able to be a kid. The more that she learns about her grandparents, the more she wonders why her grandparents haven’t been a part of her life.

Beautifully written, Caterpillar Summer is written from Cat’s point of view and does an excellent job putting Cat’s emotions into language that younger readers can understand. Her mother works hard to provide for the family, and her father has died, which leaves Cat in charge of her brother. Cat is a remarkably relatable character, who clearly loves her brother, but gets frustrated that she must always watch him. As Cat learns to trust her grandparents to care for Chicken, she is given more freedom and becomes aware of her own needs. Because of her newfound independence, she learns the importance of advocating for herself.

Readers will also love Chicken, who loves sharks and who wants to do things his way. Cat soon learns that her overprotective nature has not allowed Chicken to solve his own problems. And although Chicken needs to be watched over, he also needs to be able to interact with others and solve conflicts on his own. In addition to the lovable characters, the story also has cute black and white illustrations of a chicken and a caterpillar that connect to the characters and help the reader understand the conflict between the two siblings.

The story focuses on family relationships and the misunderstandings that can lead to lasting hurt. The story also hints at the difficulties biracial children encounter. The story is realistic and shows the complicated nature of family relationships. Themes of family love, forgiveness, and friendship are woven through the story. As Cat meets new people, she learns that people are “good and bad, at the same time.” Readers will come away understanding that all people have good qualities and bad qualities.

McDunn uses beautiful language and well-developed realistic characters to create an honest story about families. There are several scenes that are funny, some scenes that are heartwarming, and some that will make readers grab a tissue. Even though the story is written using easy vocabulary and simple sentences, many younger readers may not connect with the story because of the lack of action. If you are interested in action, adventure or fantasy, Caterpillar Summer will not appeal to you. Readers interested in realistic fiction will definitely find Caterpillar Summer worth reading. If you like Caterpillar Summer, you may also want to read Bob by Wendy Mass & Rebecca Stead.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • While at the library, Chicken and another boy get in an argument. The boy’s sister says, “Neddie told me he grabbed Chicken’s book, but Chicken wouldn’t let go. When Neddie lost his grip he smacked himself in the nose with his own hand.”
  • While on the merry-go-round, Chicken falls off and “then a foot thwacked him in the eye. He rolled onto his back.”
  • Cat sees two boys kicking their brother.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Cat’s grandfather tells her, “My plan for your mom’s life did not include a husband and a child, living on the other side of the dadgum country.”
  • Heck is used twice.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Pedro for President

Pedro is running for class president against Katie Woo. He has to write a speech about what he would do as president. But Pedro is stuck! He can’t even write one word. Will anyone vote for Pedro?

In Pedro for President, Pedro and Katie Woo show that they can still be friends even though only one of them can win. As Pedro goes through his day, he helps others and encourages them. Even though the ending is a bit predictable—Pedro wins—younger readers will still enjoy the story which is written with simple vocabulary that beginning readers will be able to master. Although Pedro for President is part of a series with many of the same characters, it does not need to be read in order.

Full-color illustrations appear on every page, showing Pedro and his diverse classmates. Short chapters that only have four or fewer sentences make the story accessible to independent readers. The end of the book contains a glossary, questions, writing prompts as well as two pages of jokes. Pedro for President wins the vote—it’s an engaging story for young readers! Readers who enjoy the Pedro series should also try the Katie Woo series because it has many of the same characters and is written in the same format.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

 

A Good Team

Yeti is good at bouncing a ball on his head, but Unicorn cannot bounce a ball on her head. Unicorn is good at running races, but Yeti can’t run fast. Even though Unicorn and Yeti aren’t good at the same things, they can still have fun together. They play ring toss, run a race, and go ice skating.

Designed for children who are learning to read, A Good Team contains easy-to-read text. When each character talks, their words appear in different colored quote boxes. Each page has a full page of illustrations, and contains three or fewer sentences. Beginning readers should be able to read the text alone, and will enjoy flipping through the story multiple times to look at the colorful, silly pictures.

A Good Team is the second installment in the series but can be read as a stand-alone story. Although the story does not have a plot, the characters enjoy a special friendship. As they play games, Unicorn and Yeti encourage each other to try new things, and they demonstrate positive communication skills. A Good Team is not as funny as the first book in the series, but readers will still enjoy the sweet story. A Good Team will build confidence, fluency, and a love of reading.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Unicorn uses magic to make ice skates and hot coco appear.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

The Spooky Sleepover

Katie Woo is having a sleepover. She and her friends are going to eat yummy food, play dress-up, and tell spooky stories. After telling spooky stories, Katie Woo worries that there is a monster under her bed. She has a scary dream, and when she wakes up, her lucky kimono is missing. Did a monster steal it? Is there a ghost in the house? What happened to Katie Woo’s lucky kimono?

Younger readers will relate to Katie Woo and her sleepover fears. Even though Katie Woo and her friends have fun, Katie still worries about monsters. Independent readers will enjoy the easy-to-understand plot and the bright colorful illustrations that appear on every page. Each page contains four or fewer sentences, with simple vocabulary. Although Katie’s Spooky Sleepover is part of a series with many of the same characters, it does not need to be read in order.

At the end of the story, readers will find a glossary, questions, and writing prompts. Younger readers can continue the fun with the pancake recipe at the end of the book. Readers will enjoy Katie Woo’s sleepover adventure and improve their reading skills along the way. Readers who enjoy the Katie Woo series should also try the Pedro series because it has many of the same characters and is written in the same format.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

The Host

Earth has been invaded and successfully conquered by tiny, worm-like aliens called “souls,” who invade the bodies of humans and take over their minds. The invasion is over, the souls have won, and only a handful of wild humans are left in hiding.

When one of those humans is captured, Wanderer is inserted into its body to report to the other souls what life this wild human led, and to discover if there were other wild humans with her. But when Wanderer enters Melanie’s body, Wanderer is shocked to find Melanie still conscious and resisting. This is Wanderer’s body now; Melanie should have faded away.

Melanie’s presence frightens and shames Wanderer, who feels weak at not being able to control her host body. But then Melanie’s memories start to seep in, memories of a human brother and a lover who are still in hiding, memories of what it means to be human. Wanderer starts to love these people who she has never met and longs for them. When the opportunity arises, will Wanderer destroy Melanie and sell out her family to the other souls? Or will Wanderer turn her back on her fellow souls and attempt to find Melanie’s family to taste just what makes humanity so special?

Many readers will want to pick up The Host because Stephenie Myers is the author. Even though The Host is considered an adult novel and has more advanced vocabulary than the Twilight series, the content level is similar to Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. One area that may be controversial is that Melanie has a romantic relationship with a slightly older man; during The Host Melanie is 21 and her love interest is 29. However, there are many flashbacks to when Melanie is 17 and first met Jared, who was then 26. When she wants to be intimate, Jared initially says no because he does not want to take advantage of her. They do get together at some point after that, though their ages are not specified.

The Host is an emotional story that explores the bounds of love and examines what it means to be human. Wanderer is a kind, gentle soul who hates her host at first, but then grows to love her; Melanie is a spirited and sometimes violent girl who has learned to survive in the world the souls have created. Both Melanie and Wanderer have to set aside their preconceived ideas about the other species and find common ground. There is an array of characters who are all richly drawn and satisfyingly complex. The story contains enough danger to constantly keep readers on their toes. For readers looking for love, adventure, and an emotionally wrenching story, The Host is sure to delight.

Sexual Content

  • Jared kisses Melanie. “He kisses me again, and this time I feel it. His lips are softer than his hands, and hot, even in the hot desert night.”
  • When Melanie says she wants to share a room with Jared, he says that’s a bad idea because when he was stocking his place, “birth control was pretty much the last thing on my mind.”
  • Jared kisses Wanderer to test her reaction. “I think he just meant to touch his lips to mine, to be soft, but things changed when our skin met. His mouth was abruptly hard and rough, his hands trapped my face to his while his lips moved mine in urgent, unfamiliar patterns.”
  • The first time Ian kisses Wanderer, he “ducked in and touched his lips to my forehead.” The second time, “His lips were soft and warm. He pressed them lightly to mine, and then brushed them back and forth across my mouth. . . He caught my lower lip between his and pulled on it gently.”
  • After a soccer game, two friends are playing around. “She laughed, tugging away, but Wes reeled her in and planted a solid kiss on her laughing mouth.”
  • Wanderer and Ian kiss twice more, both described in similar fashion. When they kissed, Wanderer “shoved my mouth against his, gripping his neck tighter with my arms…Remembering how his mouth had moved with mine before, I tried to mimic that movement now. His lips opened with mine, and I felt an odd thrill of triumph at my success. I caught his lower lip between my teeth and heard a low, wild sound break free from his throat in surprise.”
  • When Wanderer and Jared kiss, “My hands knotted in his hair, pulling him to me as if there were any possible way for us to be closer. My legs wrapped around his waist, the wall giving me the leverage I needed. His tongue twisted with mine, and there was no part of my mind that was not invaded by the insane desire that possessed me. . . My hands fisted around the fabric of Jared’s T-shirt, yanking it up.”
  • When they agree to move into the same room, Wanderer thinks, “Ian and I would be together, partners in the truest sense.”

Violence

  • When Melanie is robbing a house, a man grabs her. “‘One sound and you die,’ he threatens gruffly. I am shocked to feel a thin, sharp edge pushing into the skin under my jaw.”
  • When Jared first kisses Melanie, “his lips come hard on mine…I jerk my knee up in a sharp thrust.”
  • Wanderer reads the headlines of an old human newspaper. There are stories including “Man Burns Three-Year-Old Daughter to Death” and “beneath this was the face of a man wanted for the murders of his wife and two children.”
  • When Jared first sees Wanderer, “his arm shot out and the back of his hand smashed into the side of my face. The blow was so hard that my feet left the ground before my head slammed into the rock floor. I heard the rest of my body hit the floor with dull thumps, but I didn’t feel it. My eyes rolled back in my head.”
  • A group of humans try to kill Wanderer. The struggle takes place over two pages. “His hands wrapped around my throat, choking off my air. I clawed at his hands with my useless, stubby nails. He gripped me tighter, dragging my feet off the floor.”
  • Jamie hits Jared. “There was a sharp crack, and someone gasped…Jared had one hand over his nose, and something dark was oozing down over his lips. His eyes were wide with surprise.”
  • Kyle tries to kill Wanderer; the fight is described over eight pages. “His hand locked on the back of my neck, forcing my face into the shallow stream…He fought to push me back into the stream, but I wriggled and wedged myself under him so that this own weight was working against his goal…He jumped over the smaller stream with a bound and carried me toward the closest sinkhole. The steam from the hot spring washed my face. He was going to throw me into the dark, hot hole and let the boiling water pull me into the ground as it burned me.”
  • Wanderer discovers that the humans tried to cut out one of the alien souls. “Brighter than these were other silver things. Shimmering segments of silver stretched in twisted, tortured pieces across the table…tiny silver strands plucked and naked and scattered…splatters of silver liquid smeared on the table, the blankets, the walls.”
  • Wanderer asks Jared to hit her face with a rock, to cover a scar. “It made a squishing sound and a thud—that was the first thing I noticed—and then the shock of the blow wore off, and I felt it, too.”
  • To fake an injury, Wanderer deliberately stabs herself with a knife. “I jammed the knife into my arm. The headrest muffled my scream, but it was still loud. The knife fell from my hand—jerking sickeningly out from the muscle—and then clunked against the floor.”
  • Ian punches Jared. “Ian’s fist struck Jared so fast that I missed the blow—I just felt the lurch in his body and saw Jared reel back into the dark hall.”
  • Melanie attacks Jared when she thinks he killed Wanderer. “He’s got my right hand, so instead of punching, I throw out a vicious backhand with my left, catching his face across the cheekbone. The force of the blow stings in the bones of my hand.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None.

Language

  • “Hell” is used a few times. When Wanderer remembers her host body’s death, she was, “sucked into the hell that was the last minute of her life.” Another time Jeb says, “How the hell would I know?”
  • “Damn” is used several times. One time Jared says, “Damn it, Jeb! We agreed not to—”?”

Supernatural

  • Earth has been overrun with aliens called souls, which take over the body of their human hosts. “The soul shone in the brilliant lights of the operating room, brighter than the reflective silver instrument in his hand. Like a living ribbon, she twisted and rippled…her thin, feathery attachments, nearly a thousand of them, billowed softly like pale silver hair.”

Spiritual Content

  • When Melanie asks Wanderer if souls believe in an afterlife, Wanderer says, “There’s a reason we call it the final death…We have so many lives. Anything more would be…too much to expect…When I die here, that will be the end.”
  • When a friend dies, Wanderer says at his funeral, “I hope your fairytales are true. I hope you find your Gladdie.”
  • A soul commits suicide. “Then his face went blank, and his body slumped, unresisting, to the cot. Two trails of blood flowed from his nostrils.”

Shawn Loves Sharks

Sean loves sharks. He has 126 shark books, which have taught him a lot about ocean predators. Sean loves how sharks have a big mouth full of sharp teeth. Sean does not love his classmate Stacy. He loves to pretend to be a shark and chase Stacy around the playground.

Sean loves sharks more than anything else in the world. When his teacher announces that every student will do a report on a predator, Sean is excited write about the shark. But he isn’t assigned the Great White Shark. When Stacy begins researching sharks and acting like one at school, Sean turns mean. Is there any way sharks can bring Sean and Stacy together?

Young shark lovers will love Sean Loves Sharks. Although the story has shark facts, it is also about building new friendships and discovering new things. Sean acts like a shark as he goes through his day—he chops his food and pretends to chomp the cat and his classmates as he chases them. When Sean is forced to learn about seals, he is incredibly disappointed, but as he reads he learns that seals are actually really amazing.

At one point, Sean is really mean to Stacy. As he thinks about his behavior, he realizes that “he knew that even a fast and clever seal could never be friends with a shark.” The conclusion is absolutely, adorably wonderful and will lead to some great discussions between parents and their young readers. Readers will not only learn facts about sharks and seals, but will also learn about bullying, friendship, and being kind to others.

Besides being an entertaining story, Sean Loves Sharks also has beautiful, often funny, full-colored illustrations. The illustrations will put giggles into young readers because humor is often incorporated into the pictures. For example, Sean’s cat is dressed as a shark, and the students pretend to be predators. Another positive aspect of the illustrations is that they show diverse characters; Stacy has dark hair and slanted eyes; Sean has brown skin; the students in the classroom are also drawn showing different ethnicities.

Even though Sean Loves Sharks is a picture book, the story is intended to be read aloud to a child, rather than for the child to read it for the first time independently. The engaging story is fun to read aloud. Since there is little text on each page, the story is a quick read making it an excellent bedtime story. Sean Loves Sharks is not only an entertaining story containing ocean creature facts but also has a positive message about being kind to others.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Louisiana’s Way Home

Granny thinks the day of reckoning has arrived. In the middle of the night, Granny wakes up Louisiana, telling her they must leave immediately. Granny often had ideas in the middle of the night, so Louisiana thinks that they will return home soon. But this time, Granny crosses the Georgia border and drives into Florida.

Now Louisiana is living in a hotel room with her sick Granny. Louisiana doesn’t want to be separated from her best friends or her pet. She wants to find her way home. But soon, Louisiana begins making friends. She meets a boy with a crow that sits on his shoulder, a kind minister, and a grumpy hotel owner. As Louisiana tries to navigate a new town, she wonders if “the curse of sundering” will determine her fate? Will Louisiana always be forced to leave those she loves?

Louisiana’s story “is a long and tragic story full of dark alleys and twists and turns and many unexpected happenings. . . And also curses. There are curses in the story.” Louisiana’s Way Home is told from Louisiana’s point of view, which allows the reader to understand Louisiana’s thoughts and emotions. Louisiana is a spunky, irresistible character who struggles to understand her well-meaning, but unstable Granny.

Throughout the story, Dicamillo expertly crafts an array of characters who are both realistic and interesting. Some adults are so jaded by their own experience that they have lost all compassion, and others who are willing to open their doors to a lonely, lost child. However, the most fascinating character is Burke; he is “the kind of person who, if you asked him for one of something, gave you two instead.”

Louisiana’s Way Home is realistic fiction that touches on themes of friendship, family, love, and forgiveness. The story also shows the importance of attending school. When Burke skips school, his mother tells him, “After a time, it will catch up with you, and you will find that life has closed its doors to you. . . Open doors. That is what we want—doors that are open to us.”

Even though Louisiana’s Way Home uses simple sentences, the word choice may make the story difficult to read. For example, the author uses words such as inopportune, ascertained, irrelevant, and juncture. At the beginning of the story, Louisiana talks about a “curse of sundering” that has affected her family; however, the meaning of the word sundering isn’t discussed until much further in the book, which may cause some readers to be confused about the curse.

Even though Louisiana was introduced to readers in Raymie Nightingale, readers do not need to read the story to understand and enjoy Louisiana’s Way Home. As Louisiana navigates difficult situations, she learns that “We all, at some point, have to decide who we want to be in this world. It is a decision we make for ourselves.” As Louisiana tries to figure out who she wants to be, readers will be engrossed in her heartwarming story.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • After having all of her teeth removed, the grandmother is given antibiotics and painkillers.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • According to Louisiana’s grandmother, there is a curse of sundering on the family. The curse began when “My great-grandfather sawed my great-grandmother in half, and then he walked away. He left my great-grandmother on the stage. Sawed in two. . . Someone else put her back together. . . and the two of them ran away together and my granny was left entirely alone.”

Spiritual Content

  • Louisiana thinks, “Granny didn’t believe in heaven. But that didn’t mean I had to not believe, did it?”

Trick or Cheat?

Harris is excited about sharing the traditions of Halloween with Zeke. Zeke discovers that he can use his true form for his “costume.” Zeke wants Harris to have an amazing costume, so Zeke uses his powers to create a costume for Harris. Now Roxy feels left out because she and Harris always make their costumes together.

When Halloween finally arrives, Roxy is still upset with Harris. To make matters worse, another student is jealous of Zeke’s costume and tries to ruin it. Can Harris and Roxy keep Zeke’s costume from being destroyed? Who will win the Halloween costume contest?

Harris is the only human that knows that Zeke is an alien. When Zeke goes to school as his true self, others wonder about his “costume.” Will Zeke be able to keep his identity a secret? Readers will keep turning the pages to discover the answer. The story doesn’t just revolve around Zeke’s “costume,” but also focuses on Roxy’s hurt feelings. Even though Roxy is upset with her friends, she still helps them. Readers will learn that friends can be upset with each other and not want to talk to each other; this doesn’t mean that the friendship is over.

Readers will be drawn to the book because of the cute cover and the black and white illustrations that appear on every page. The fun illustrations will help readers recognize the characters’ emotions. The story will keep the reader engaged with its fast-paced plot, large font, simple vocabulary, and short chapters. Although Trick or Cheat? is the fourth installment of the series, the story can be enjoyed without reading the previous books. The humorous story is perfect for students who are transitioning to chapter books.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A student puts a bag of flour over a door. The student was trying to destroy Zeke’s costume, but instead, “it fell right on top of Mr. Mulvaney. A cloud of white exploded right on the gym teacher’s head, and Zeke looked over to see him covered in flour.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Zeke is an alien who can change shape. Zeke explains, “People from Tragas have the ability to change our appearance. We can make ourselves look like the inhabitants of whatever planet we’re currently on.”
  • Zeke used his power to “redirect” a bag of flour.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Bloom’s Ball

Princess Bloom isn’t very good about planning ahead. This year, she has decided to have a surprise birthday party for herself. She made all the plans for her Magic Garden birthday ball. When her human friend Cressida arrives to help with the finishing touches, they find a flock of hungry quails. The quails are eating all of the food and destroying the decorations. Is Princess Bloom going to have to cancel her garden ball? Can Cressida find a way to save the party?

The third installment of the Unicorn Princesses series, Bloom’s Ball has several interesting new characters. There are slow snails that deliver the mail and gnomes and sleepy dragons that work in the garden and love to build. The wonderful wizard lizard also makes an appearance and is the cause of many of the story’s conflicts. Despite his lack of magical ability, the wizard lizard brings a sparkle to the story. Younger readers will love his funny spells and find humor in his magical mishaps.

Although the story revolves around Princess Bloom, Cressida is the real star of the show. Cressida uses creative problem-solving skills that allow her to find a way to safely remove the quails from the garden. However, to make her plan work, she must enlist the help of others. In order to help her friend, Cressida gives up something that is important to her. Cressida “didn’t want to give away Daphne’s present. But saving the Enchanted Garden was more important than her unicorn charm.” Through her actions, readers will learn the importance of selflessness.

One drawback of the story is that there are many characters that appear in the beginning. Even though most of the characters are in previous books, readers may have a difficult time keeping track of all six princesses. Although the plot of Bloom’s Ball is choppy, younger readers will relate to Bloom’s desire to have the perfect party. The happy ending is predictable but heartwarming.

Like the previous books in the series, beginning readers may struggle with the amount of text on the page and the long descriptive passages. The pictures scattered throughout are cute but infrequent. For independent readers who want to add a little sparkle to their reading list, Bloom’s Ball is a good choice.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • A wizard lizard casts several magic spells. The first spell is supposed to make an invitation. The wizard chants, “Happity Bappety Birthday Bloom! Wingety Swingerty Fluttery Sloom! Glittery Flittery Slittery sail! Prettily Flittery Slittery Quail!” Most of the wizard’s spells do not work out as intended.
  • The wizard lizard casts a spell to give Cressida a party dress. “Wind swirled around Cressida. Then, suddenly, she was wearing a bright pink dress with white polka dots and the puffiest skirt she had ever seen. On her feet were black, shiny Mary Jane shoes.”
  • Cressida has a magical key that glows bright pink when the unicorns want to invite her into their realm. When Cressida is in the unicorn realm, time in the human world stands still.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Star-Crossed

Matti has never wanted to be on stage before, but when her teacher announces that the eighth-grade play is Romeo and Juliet, Matti wants a part. Everyone expects Matti to be on the sidelines, but can she convince her teacher she deserves to be on the stage?

Matti had a crush on Elijah, but when the play begins everything changes. Gemma—a smart, pretty, British girl—gets the part of Juliet. Matti starts to wonder why she feels fluttery whenever she is near Gemma. If Matti was crushing on Elijah—a boy—could she also have a crush on a girl?

Many middle schoolers will relate to Matti as she struggles to understand her feelings. She also must figure out who she can trust with her secret. Even though she loves her friends, can they be trusted to not only accept that she has a crush on a girl, but can they also be trusted to keep Matti’s secret until she’s ready to reveal it?

Matti struggles with telling people she has a crush on a girl. When she tells her best friend and her sister, they both accept the news without shock and encourage her to pursue her crush. The story never delves into the negative reactions that others may have to her news.

Star-Crossed has plenty of dialogue and drama to keep readers engaged until the end. Throughout the story, the characters discuss Romeo’s and Juliet’s behavior and feelings of love. Although Matti’s story parallels Romeo and Juliet, the discussion of the play slows down the plot.

Middle school readers will fall in love with Matti and her friends. The characters include the typical mean girl, but also adds some unique characters. Tessa and her Shakespearean insults add humor. Matti’s inner thoughts add depth to the story. In the end, Matti’s story contains drama, crushes, family, and friendship conflict that will keep readers entertained. Star-Crossed is a romance appropriate for younger readers who want to learn about Romeo and Juliet.

Sexual Content

  • When Matti thinks about the play, she thinks, “All I could think about was Gemma kissing Liam, Liam kissing Gemma—and wondering why that image made my insides knot up.”
  • During play practice, the kids are teasing a boy about having to kiss Gemma. When the boys are talking, Gemma “marched over to Liam and smooched him on the lips.”
  • Matti wonders if she has a crush on a girl. If she did have a crush on a girl, “would it mean that you were gay, or a lesbian, or whatever word you were supposed to call it, if you liked only one particular girl?”
  • When Matti sees Gemma, her “heart zoomed.”
  • Matti reveals that she has a crush on a girl. Her sister responds by asking, “Have you ever kissed a boy?” When Matti says no, Cara replies, “Too bad. Because kissing a girl works the same way.”
  • Matti thinks that she can crush on boys, even though she currently has a crush on a girl.
  • During play practice, Gemma “smooched” Matti’s mouth. Then the two practice the scene that requires the two to kiss. When they have to kiss at play practice, “it made me (Matti) swimmy-headed.”

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • When talking about others or to others, often there is name-calling including dirtbag, moron, malt-worm, and doofus. For example, some said, “in my opinion Elijah’s a stuck-up dirtbag.”
  • Tessa went to a Shakespeare camp and learned Shakespearean insults that she uses throughout the story. A list of the Shakespearean insults is included at the back of the book.
  • When someone calls Tessa ugly, Tessa says, “I’m ugly? You’re like a toad; ugly and venomous. Thy face is not worth sunburning.”
  • One of the characters says “bollocks” several times. The character also calls someone a “prat” and a “dimwit.”
  • Dang is used three times.
  • Oh My God, OMIGOD, and God are often used as exclamations.
  • Holy Crap is said once.
  • While discussing Romeo and Juliet, a student asks, “Isn’t that kind of gay?” The teacher explains, “People may choose to identify themselves as gay, and it’s a word of pride. But the way you’re using the word, it’s just an insult, and there’s no room for that in this production, or in this school. “

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Minecraft: The Crash

Bianca doesn’t think before she acts because her best friend, Lonnie, has always been there to catch her when she falls. But when Bianca and Lonnie are in a horrific car crash, Bianca learns that thoughtless actions can lead to severe consequences for her and for others.

Bianca wakes up in the hospital with painful injuries. She is afraid to find out what has happened to Lonnie—did he survive or has Bianca lost her best friend? To avoid the painful truths of reality, Bianca jumps into the virtual reality world of Minecraft. When she meets a glitching avatar that might be Lonnie, Bianca vows to do everything she can to help Lonnie in the virtual world.

Bianca teams up with Esme and Anton, two other kids who are in the hospital. While in the Minecraft world, the kids must face dangerous mobs that are generated by their fears and insecurities. With the help of her new friends, can Bianca overcome her fears and return to reality?

Minecraft: The Crash begins with a graphic crash scene, which leaves Bianca wondering what happened to Lonnie. Bianca’s resulting fear and guilt conflict drive much of the story. Her time in the Minecraft world adds interest to those who play the game, but fans may not like that the story does not stay true to the actual Minecraft game. Instead, the author changed many of the game’s elements to fit the story’s plot. On the other hand, if someone is not familiar with the Minecraft game some events will be confusing.

Bianca, Esme, and Anton interact like typical teenagers—they argue and disagree, but they also work together (most of the time.) Esme and Anton show the importance of working together to solve a problem. They also encourage Bianca to face her issues. Esme and Anton are likeable characters who stick with Bianca through everything. However, Bianca is hard to relate to because she comes off as a self-centered person who is dishonest when it benefits her. Although Esme and Anton are doing everything they can to help her, Bianca does little to contribute to the group’s plan. Instead, she does what she wants even if it may cause harmful consequences to others. Although she feels guilty for causing the car accident, she has not learned from the event.

The length of the book, the complexity of the plot, and some difficult vocabulary combine to make Minecraft: The Crash more appropriate for middle-school readers than younger readers, as does the fact that the story deals with the difficult topic of death. Although Bianca recognizes that she is to blame for Lonnie’s death, the ending of the story does not acknowledge the long-term ramifications of the car crash or the pain Lonnie’s death caused others. Despite these drawbacks, this book will keep readers who want to jump into the Minecraft world entertained with battle after battle.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Bianca and her friend are in a car crash. Bianca could see the driver of the other car; “his head lurched back as his green car collided with our blue one.” During the crash, “there was the smell of smoke. And the taste of blood. And the scrape of something against my body that felt like it had gutted me open somewhere in the middle. I wondered if I’d been halved.” Bianca is seriously injured. Her friend dies.
  • While in the Minecraft word, Bianca meets a zombie mob. She began “plowing through green guys with the sword like an Amazon warrior. . . I was screaming and chopping and generally having a great time until one of them hit me, and the energy bar at the top of my vision went down half a heart.” The battle takes place over three pages. During that time, Bianca kills zombies. When she kills one, “green slime burst in pixelated arcs that fell on the ground and disappeared in seconds.”
  • While in the Minecraft world, Bianca tries to go into another player’s house. She triggers an explosion and “blocks exploded, lava erupted, and a series of sparks bloomed in front of my eyes.
  • Spiders charge the three kids. Bianca “picked up my sword again and hacked at the charging spider. It broke into blue pieces and fell to the ground . . .” Then Anton “did a spin and swiped at another spider. It broke apart, but the river of spiders just kept pouring out of the house.”
  • A group of villagers attacks and “they all turned on us, mercilessly raining down blows. . . Anton got the brunt of the blows.”
  • While in a tunnel, zombies attack. Lonnie and Esme “started slashing through the mob. . .” Later, creepers appear. As Bianca tried to escape, “creepers pressing in. One on the far end popped and set off a chain reaction.”
  • Witches begin throwing potions at the group. As Bianca was fleeing, “a potion hit me and exploded. My movements instantly became slower. My heath bar over my head dipped. . . . Ashton kept on hitting until the witch died.”
  • A line of endermen appear and “this group seemed to be gunning for us, arms outstretched in attack mode. . . I swung my sword, just missing it, and giving it enough time to reach me. My health points took a big hit when it landed a blow. . . The endermen pounded me with its fists. I put my arms up, unable to do anything else. . .” The battle takes place over two pages.
  • Endermen attack the group again. Endermen “rained down on us like black hail. . . Esme fired arrow after arrow into the crowd of them. I hacked my way through at one side . . .”
  • When Bianca’s friends try to get her to leave the game, she “thought about the TNT I had in my inventory, and how I needed a distraction. It suddenly appeared and detonated instantly in front of us. We were blown back in different directions. My heath bar took a major hit.” Bianca’s friends were “thrown back into the exit portal.” They were forced out of the game.
  • A slime mob attacks a house. Bianca “charged in, giving my best warrior yell. I bashed through the little slimes that were at my feet while keeping the skeletons away from Lonnie.” The battle takes place over three pages.
  • Zombies come into a bobby-trapped house. When the zombies got to the door, “there was the click of a trigger, and the sound of a low whistle that got louder and louder, and then bam! Both of them got smashed by an anvil.” The battle takes place over two pages.
  • While in the bobby-trapped house, Bianca steps on a pressure plate. She runs, but “a series of flaming arrows flew towards us. Most stuck in the ground, burning in place, but a few of them hit us. The sharp stab of the arrow piercing me was bad enough, but the fire . . . I started to crawl away, but Lonnie sat where he was, pinned by three arrows that hit his legs and arm. . . d” No one is seriously injured.
  • Zombies attack again. Bianca “continued slashing with my sword while pushing Lonnie backward, away from danger. . . a zombie hit me, sending me sprawling. My body felt leaden as I hit the floor, and I didn’t know if I had the energy to escape the approaching zombie. . . “ Lonnie pulls her to safety.
  • Bianca and Esme get into an argument. Bianca “pushed her to the ground and started to hit her with my fist, but she was back up on her feet a moment later, punching back. . . I pulled my hands up to shield my face, hoping the blows would end soon, and a moment later she stopped.” Someone pulls Esme off Bianca.
  • A scarred enderman appears and Bianca “thrust upward with the sword. I caught the enderman’s arm. It staggered back a step, but then reached around with its other arm to strike me. . . the enderman’s arm flashed out, lightening quick, thwacking my face. The blow burned like fire. . .” Esme shoots the enderman, but others appear. Anton has TNT so he “lobbed the bombs over our heads as we kept firing. . .” The group is able to escape. The battle takes place over 2 ½ pages.
  • Witches ambush Bianca. “They pelted potions, and I warded them off with my sword as best I could. Then I charged the closet witch—the one on my right—slashing until it died, droppings ticks and glass bottles.” Someone saves Bianca.
  • Wither skeletons with swords attach the group. “Anton killed one at close range by sticking its torso, and one of Esme’s arrows found its target, destroying the third one.”
  • Ender pirates attack. Bianca tries to escape, but one “extended its hand and knocked me over. I fell to the floor, but I didn’t seem to have taken much damage. The fighting continued around and over me for a second before I regained my footing.” The battle continues for 3 ½ pages and ends when Anton detonates an explosion, “The yellow and orange of the bomb was bright against the sky. . . I (Bianca) jumped up onto the rail, and dove into the water as the pirate ship blew up behind me.”
  • Someone steps on a pressure plate and enemies appear. “The silverfish looked vicious, and they came straight toward us with their jaws unhinged, as if they meant to take a bite out of anyone who got close enough. . . They swarmed around us, unrelenting and hideous, but our armor kept us relatively safe. . .” They escape through a portal.
  • Bianca and her friends jump through a portal, but an enderman appears and grabs Bianca. “The enderman grabbed me by the hand, pulled me backwards, and threw me down on the ground. It kneeled over me, wrapped its hands around my neck, and squeezed. I choked for air. My legs and arms flailed as I tried to dislodge myself from the enderman’s grasp.” The game glitches and Bianca reappears somewhere else.
  • In a final battle, Bianca and her friends fight a dragon. “Its eyes blazed as it charged straight toward us. I could feel the heated air radiating from its flapping wings. . . The dragon dropped its wing and clipped Anton on his back. He lurched forward, landing at Lonnie’s feet and staring up at the sky.” The battle takes place over 10 pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • While in the hospital, doctors gave Bianca painkillers. When she woke up, she “considered that the drugs were making me loopy.” Later Bianca’s father is told that doctors have “administered the strongest painkillers we can under the circumstances. . .”

Language

  • Darn, jeez, heck, and crap are each used one time.
  • Pissed is used five times. For example, Bianca thinks that another player “looked pissed.”
  • Anton says that Esme is “a jerk sometimes.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Sparkly New Friends

Unicorn has a horn. Yeti is big and furry. But both like sparkly new things and become unlikely friends who discover that their differences make their friendship even more sparkly.

Yeti loves snow. Unicorn does not. As Yeti tries to teach Unicorn about snowball fights, the reader will learn important lessons about friendship. When Yeti throws a snowball at Unicorn, Unicorn says, “Throwing things at your friends is not nice.” As Yeti is trying to explain what a snowball fight is, Unicorn says, “Friends should not fight. Friends should talk about their problems.” At the end of the snowball fight, Unicorn realizes “friends could fight and still be friends.” This silly, humorous approach to learning about friendship will delight readers.

Designed for children who are learning to read, Sparkly New Friends contains easy-to-read text. The book will engage beginning readers as well as teach about friendship. Younger readers will be drawn to the book because it has a unicorn, a yeti, and sparkly things. Cute, colorful full-page illustrations bring the characters to life. Readers will giggle as Unicorn uses her magic to make Yeti “fancy.”

When each character talks, their words appear in different colored quote boxes. Each page contains four or fewer sentences. Sparkly New Friends will build confidence, fluency, and a love of reading.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • When Yeti wants to be fancy, Unicorn uses her magic to decorate Yeti’s fur.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Noise: Based on a True Story

An introverted girl who just wanted to be left alone. A talkative little boy with a very important wish. Based on a true story, Noise is the heartwarming tale of finding joy in unexpected places. Short and sweet, the full-color comic book is for both children and adults alike.

Cathryn sits in the back of the bus because she wants to be alone. But a talkative fourth grader just keeps asking questions. Cathryn finally blows up and yells at the inquisitive boy. Later, Cathryn apologizes to the boy and gives him a balloon. The boy happily takes the balloon, and tells Cathryn how the balloon is important because “you can’t send mail to heaven without a balloon.” After that revelation, Cathryn takes the time to befriend the boy.

A short, powerful graphic novel, Noise uses colorful pictures to illustrate the story. Each page has six or fewer short sentences. Despite the lack of words, the story shows the importance of being present. Despite the powerful message, many readers will be able to finish the book in just a few minutes and might be left wanting more. At only 26 pages, Noise is perfect for struggling readers or as a discussion starter. More advanced readers will find the cute story too short and it will be quickly forgotten.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Dreaming Dangerous

Brassmere Academy is the only home Plum has ever known. Hidden deep in the woods, Brassmere is home to orphans who have extraordinary abilities. Each night when Plum lays down to sleep, she travels into dream worlds, where her best friends Vien, Gwendle, and Artem meet her. While dreaming, the friends go on exciting journeys and fight dangerous monsters.

During a dream, Artem tells Plum, “They’re coming for us. One by one, until they find the one they need.” When she wakes up, Artem is missing. No one knows where Artem has gone. Plum is convinced that the adults at the school cannot be trusted.

Plum, Vien, and Gwendle search for their friend. As they find clues in both the dreaming and waking worlds, they uncover many secrets. Plum has always considered the director, Dr. Abarrane, a trusted adult, but now she wonders what dark secrets he keeps. Brassmere has always kept the children safe from the outside world, but is the real danger inside Brassmere’s walls? Will Plum and her friends be the next to disappear?

Told from Plum’s point of view, Dreaming Dangerous quickly jumps into the mystery of Brassmere Academy. Right from the start, the reader understands the strong bonds of friendship between the four friends. The friends travel into the dream world, where they encounter imaginative worlds full of monsters. Plum spends an equal amount of time in the real world and the dream world, which adds drama but also may cause some confusion.

Dreaming Dangerous is a compelling story that has the perfect amount of suspense and scare factor for younger readers. Readers will be drawn into the story because of the interesting dream world, the children’s abilities, and the mystery surrounding Brassmere Academy. The ending of the story shows the violent death of Plum’s mother and the evil nature of Dr. Abarrane. However, the death is not described in gory detail. The only negative aspect of the story is the abrupt, confusing conclusion that leaves many questions unanswered.

Many readers will be drawn to Dreaming Dangerous because of the well-develop characters, monsters, and mystery. The fantasy story is at times creepy and frightening. For readers who like Gothic-style mysteries, Dreaming Dangerous is an easy-to-read, fast-paced story that will entertain until the very end.  

Violence

  • While in a dream, Plum falls. “Sword pointed downward, Plum leaned into the momentum of the drop, landing hard on the head of some giant, scaled creature. An alligator, she suspected. She jammed her sword between its eyes and it thrashed and roared. . . Blood stained her sword and her shoes. . . The giant alligator would not die quickly . . . a set of sharp teeth had snared her ankle and pulled her underwater.” Plum’s friend appears and saves her. The battle with the alligator happens over four pages.
  • While in a dream, Plum sees a monster. When she asked the monster a question, “its mouth became so wide that it was big enough to devour a girl like Plum in a single bite. And that’s what it did. . .” She falls down the monster’s throat and lands in a town.
  • The gargoyles that stood guard over Brassmere came to life. The gargoyles flew towards the school. “One of the gargoyles was barreling through the overarching glass window of the grand foyer. The other had scaled the side of the building that housed the dormitory, and its giant swinging tail was shattering the windows. . . All the birds and insects in the wallpaper had escaped and were buzzing and flapping at the ceiling and remaining windows, trying to find a way out.” No one was injured.
  • Plum wakes up Melinda, who was in a trance. When Plum touches her, “Melinda raised her head and looked at Plum, her mouth curled into a vicious snarl. And then, Plum was airborne, flying backward by the metal in her boot buckles and the buttons of her coat, until she hit a wall, hard, and everything went dark.”
  • In a dream, Plum sees the young Dr. Abarrane kill a woman and take her baby. When the woman tries to argue, “Dr. Abarrane didn’t bother to argue. He pulled the trigger . . . the woman had fallen to the ground. Dead. The baby screamed and fell into a fit of tears.”
  • Dr. Abarrane chases after Plum and Artem. He tried to inject Plum with a syringe, but “a metal tray hit him in the side of the head, hard. All it took was one blow and he was down.” The kids were able to escape.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Plum is given a “strange purple liquid” through an IV. The liquid makes her sleep, and she is unable to wake from her dream.
  • After Artem disappears, Plum finds him in a building that looks like a hospital. When she finds him, he has an IV “that dripped in a bag over his bed. Plum recognized that odd purple liquid; it was the same thing Dr. Abarrane had given to her that morning. . .”
  • Plum overhears a nurse talking about the death of a boy. The boy was given “three doses of blue. . . The immediate effects were an increase in physical strength and energy.” The fluid killed the boy.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • The orphans who live at Brassmere Academy all have special abilities. The main characters share their dreams. Some “could bend and move metal if they concentrated.” Others could “charm animals” or “communicate with their thoughts.”
  • While in a dream, Artem “could always breathe underwater.”
  • While in a dream, Plum and the others travel to a town. Plum thinks what they saw “happened in the past, and somehow I was able to see it.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Boy Bites Bug

Will wasn’t trying to prove a point. He wasn’t trying to put his friend in his place. He just wanted to fix an awkward situation. So, he ate a stink bug. Now, everyone knows him as bug boy. His new popularity brings a host of confusion—he’s feuding with his old best friend and trying to navigate a new friendship. Will wants to do what’s right, but he’s not always sure what that is.

Boy Bites Bug is a fast-paced story that brings the struggles of friendship into focus. The diverse characters are authentic, funny, and bring heart to the story. Will has a hard time figuring out how to deal with his changing friendship with Darryl. Will thinks, “Darryl and he had been friends for a long time, but would a real friend make him feel crappy for trying to be a decent person?”

As Will and Elroy become friends, Will struggles with figuring out what racism is. Even though his new friend Elroy is from Minnesota, others see him only as a Mexican, and Will makes assumptions about Elroy because of his race. Will knows it’s wrong to give someone “crap about who he was,” but wonders if his own behavior and assumptions are racist as well.

The story shows strong positive relationships between Will and his family. Even though Will’s actions have negative consequences for his sister, his sister still stands by his side. Will’s sister is one of the best parts of the book because even though her bug-eating brother causes her problems, in the end, she supports him and even makes up a bug-eating cheer for him.

Boy Bites Bug will appeal to a variety of readers because Will and his friends struggle with real-life issues—friendship, family, and figuring out life. Through Will’s journey, the reader will learn about eating bugs “on purpose” as well as get recipes that include bugs. The gross factor brings humor as well as lessons about different cultures. In the end, Will realizes that making fun of people for eating bugs isn’t funny. He also learns an important lesson about forgiveness. He learns that “some apologies would never fix things, but that didn’t mean they shouldn’t be made. It just meant they’d be harder to get out.”

Sexual Content

  • One of Will’s friends uses his father’s credit card for ridiculous items because, “his dad left Simon’s mom and taken off to Arizona with a girlfriend, leaving Simon behind with a credit card to make up for not calling much or ever visiting.”

Violence

  • Hollie accidentally gives a boy a bloody nose. “Hollie had been putting something on the top shelf of her locker when Jeremy sneaked up behind her and brushed her back. . . He’d surprised her, and when she jerked around, her elbow cracked his nose.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • During a presentation, Will talks about how many bugs can legally be in food. He said, “If one’s dad had a bear with it (pizza), he would drink twenty-five hundred aphids, too.”

Language

  • Light profanity is used throughout the story. Profanity includes crap, holy crap, holy cow, and heck.
  • Will’s sister said someone is “acting like a jerk.” She also calls her brother a “dork-face” and a “fuzz-butt.”
  • A boy calls the new boy a “cholo.” The boy “knew he’d crossed a line, but his jaw squared too-he wasn’t taking anything back.”
  • The kids in the book call each other names including bonehead, dork, jerk, loser, nerd, idiot and menso (stupid).
  • Will gets upset because his friend is making “the three of them look like prejudiced jerks.”
  • “Oh my gosh” is used as an exclamation.
  • At wrestling practice, Will changes quickly because he didn’t want “his bony butt hanging out in front of these guys any longer than necessary.”
  • Will said his father can cook, “but you only eat his chili if you want to shoot flames out of your butt.”
  • When Will is introducing someone to the sport of wrestling, he said, “If you think it’s gay, you should leave now.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

 

 

My Father’s Words

A terrible accident takes the life of Fiona and Finn’s father. Lost in grief, a friend suggests Fiona and Finn volunteer at an animal shelter. They meet two dogs that need their comfort. As Fiona and Finn help the dogs, they reflect on their father’s words.

Beautifully written, My Father’s Words will captivate readers from the beginning. Being told from Fiona’s point of view allows the story to focus on the family’s grief and how each member of the family responds differently to grief. Fiona worries that her brother has lost his ability to laugh. Introducing the two shelter animals adds heart as well as a little bit of humor.

Fiona and Finn’s father’s caring attitude and wisdom come through as Fiona and Finn think about his actions and words. Finn struggles with whom to blame for the accident that killed his father, but in the end, he realizes, “I can’t blame her anymore. I can’t blame her little boy. And I can’t blame my father.” Finn comes to accept that his father’s death was an accident, and no one was at fault. The story imparts another lesson when Fiona recalls how her father taught her that when a problem can’t be solved, you need to be able to let go.

The two siblings face varied emotions—love, anger, blame, and concern for others. As they process their emotions, they learn the importance of helping others. One of Duncan’s patients, Thomas, helps Fiona with her own grief; through their phone calls Fiona reexamines her belief that Thomas was a “nut case.”

Simple words, short sentences, dialogue, and short paragraphs—many are only one sentence—make the story accessible to younger children. However, because of the topic of death, My Father’s Words would be a good book to read with an adult, who can understand the emotional impact of losing a parent. Anyone, regardless of age, would benefit from reading My Father’s Words since it shows how a loved one is never truly gone. This emotionally engaging story will leave readers in tears, but also with the feeling of hope.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Declan’s will said that he wanted people to “eat cake, drink champagne, and play basketball” at his funeral.

Language

  • Fiona thinks that one of her father’s patients is a “nut case.” Once her father heard her call someone a “nut case” and he “talked to me about the dignity of people.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chemistry Lesson

Maya has her summer all planned. She has an internship at MIT and the perfect boyfriend, but before the summer fun can start, Maya’s boyfriend breaks up with her. Maya, who is still grieving her mother’s death, has one thing on her mind—getting Whit back.

When Maya finds her mother’s old notebooks, she thinks she’s discovered the perfect way to get her boyfriend back. With the help of her mother’s lab intern, Ann, Maya makes a love serum. But before Maya can use it on Whit, she needs to test out the serum on two test subjects. Maya embarks on an adventure that leads her to discover the unpredictability of love.

The best part of Chemistry Lesson is the relationship Maya has with her best friend, Brian. Realistic, funny, and kind, Brian shows what true friendship should look like. Another positive relationship in the story is between Maya and her father. Both are trying to deal with the loss of Maya’s mother and struggle with the grieving process.

Although the storyline has an interesting premise, Maya’s willingness to ignore moral codes to get Whit back seems farfetched. Whit’s early disappearance from the story leaves the reader wondering why Whit is worth all of the effort to create a love potion. For a person who is so smart when it comes to science, Maya is completely clueless when it comes to guys. By completing the experiment, Maya does learn about herself and others, but her naivety when it comes to boy-girl relationships comes off as false.

Chemistry Lesson is a quick, easy read that has a diverse cast of characters. Even though the story focuses on a love potion, the love scenes won’t stir up much emotion. For those looking for a fun, unique love story, Chemistry Lesson will hit the mark.

Sexual Content

  • Brian is gay, but the only reference to his sexuality is when Maya asked, “Were you ever this upset about Matt?”
  • Maya’s aunt has a female partner “of more than 20 years.” Pam tells Maya that when she “had crushes on women and men while I was with Pam,” but because she was older, she was “able to ignore the crushes.”
  • Maya’s friend Yael told Maya “how a woman she’d met in undergrad pursued her for months only to dump her for a guy on the rugby team.”
  • Maya and her boyfriend, Whit, decided “we’d have sex in four weeks—once Whit moved into off-campus housing, where he’d have his own room.” Maya was “unable to stop myself from imagining what was going to happen in less than a month.”
  • When Maya’s boyfriend breaks up with her, her friend tells her, “This whole ‘losing my virginity thing is a heteronormative concept anyway.”
  • Maya makes out with Kyle. The scene is described over three pages. As they kiss, “He tipped me back so that my head rested against a couch pillow, and then he was half on top of me, one leg on the couch, one on the floor. . . He shifted so that his knee fell in between my legs.” Maya stops Kyle. Then he said, “This kind of thing happens all the time in college.”
  • Maya thinks back to visiting Whit at college where, “I’d seen students bring strangers back to their rooms and then say goodbye forever the next morning.”
  • One of Maya’s friends “hooked up with one of the techs from next door.”
  • Maya makes out with a boy at a party. “He pulled me close and hugged me, and I reciprocated with my arms around him. Then I felt a tickling wetness on my neck. . . He put one hand on my butt like it was no big deal . . . I couldn’t do much besides keep my mouth open as his tongue began wagging from side to side inside it.” The scene is described over four pages.
  • Someone tells Maya, “sometimes the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.”
  • When Maya is in Whit’s room, she teases him for having Bananagrams in his nightstand. She says, “You’re supposed to have condoms and drugs in there.”

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • For an experiment, Maya takes drops. When her friend catches her taking the drops, she tells him, “I’m ingesting a pheromones-masking formula to get Whit back.”
  • Maya thinks back to “the wine that Whit once stole from his parent’s liquor cabinet so we could share it on one of our first real dates.”
  • After dinner, Maya’s aunt poured her a “full glass of sweet wine.”
  • Maya goes to several parties where there was alcohol. At one, “Most of the kids were drinking beer procured by someone’s older brother.”
  • When trying to explain an experiment, one of the characters mentions Viagra.
  • Maya, her father, and her friend go to an outdoor play. Her father brought “water bottles filled with his special juice drink.” Maya’s father said, “I’m teaching her that alcohol isn’t something you consume in excess for the purposes of getting drunk.”
  • Maya goes to a party where teens are drinking and she “could see a pack of adults smoking something in a circle.”
  • When Maya hurts herself, she takes Percocet for the pain.

Language

  • When someone makes fun of Kyle’s singing, he “lifted his middle finger in our direction.”
  • When Maya visits her aunt, her aunt uses profanity including “goddamned.” The aunt’s accent is so thick that the curse words sounded like “fahckin’ or ‘gawhddamned.’”
  • “Oh my god” is used as an exclamation.
  • Profanity is used infrequently but includes bullshit, dammit, hell, and shit.
  • After Maya sings karaoke, her friend says, “you sounded like a fucking robot.”
  • “Jesus” is used once as an exclamation.
  • When Maya falls down, a guy says, “Holy shit, she’s down.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Since You’ve Been Gone

Emily was ready for summer. She had it all planned out: she and her best friend Sloane would find fun part-time jobs, go on weekend trips, and take everyday adventures together. However, everything changes when Sloane mysteriously disappears, leaving behind a list for Emily to accomplish. Seeing this as the only way to get her best friend back, Emily is determined to finish the list. The list contains thirteen tasks designed to push Emily’s comfort zone like “riding a horse” or, even scarier, “kissing a stranger.”

Emily embarks on a completely unexpected summer filled with risky exploits, play-writing parents, and new friends that allow her to discover who she is as an individual, not just half of a whole.  Since You’ve Been Gone is a delightful novel that makes the reader long for those days of summer that seemed endlessly filled with possibilities. Fans of Morgan Matson’s other books will be thrilled by this adorable adventure that is in her same spellbinding style.

This book is perfectly appropriate for teen readers and is relatable in many aspects through the struggles Emily faces to discover her individual identity. Nonetheless, there is a great deal of romance throughout the book and sexual content is found on several occasions, so parents of younger readers may heed caution. Despite this, Since You’ve Been Gone is a delightful book full of hilarious scenes in which the readers feel as though they are part of a group of friends. The characters and plot make Since You’ve Been Gone well worth reading.

Sexual Content

  • Sloane and Emily make a plan to find “summer boys.”
  • A boy absentmindedly stares at Sloane when she is at a craft fair, and he unknowingly picks up a macaroni necklace during his entrance of her beauty.
  • Items on Sloane’s list include skinny dipping and kissing a stranger.
  • When Emily goes to The Orchard, a popular hangout place, a couple of parks next to her car and “started furiously making out in the front seat.”
  • When Emily sees Frank lift up his shirt to reveal his surprisingly ripped abs, she “felt my feet tingle.”
  • When Emily meets Dawn for the first time, Dawn is crying about the fact that her boyfriend is cheating on her with her best friend.
  • Sloane’s boyfriend, Sam, was “sliding his arms around Sloane’s waist and kissing her cheek.”
  • Emily’s parents’ play has a kissing scene that Emily and Frank almost have to perform.
  • Emily makes out with a stranger in the small pantry of Frank’s house. “His lips were on mine . . . he wrapped his arms around my waist, and started kissing me for real . . . And soon I was kissing him back, my pulse racing and my breath catching in my throat, his hands twined in my hair. It was only when his hands slipped under the hem of my shirt . . . that I came out of the make-out trance.”
  • Emily’s former boyfriend Gideon is a “good kisser.” They kiss a few times in the book.
  • Sam kisses Emily, making Sloane break up with him.
  • Emily and Frank kiss in her car as the rain is pouring down on them through the sunroof. “And it was a kiss that felt like it could stop time . . . We were kissing like it was a long-forgotten language that we’d once been fluent in and we were finding again, kissing like it was the only thing either of us had wanted to do for a long, long time, kissing with the urgency of the rain that was pounding down all around us . . . His hands were tangled in my hair, then touching my bare back, and I was shivering in a way that didn’t have anything to do with the cold.”
  • At the conclusion of the novel, Frank and Emily engage in a passionate kiss that is not described in detail.

Violence

  • When attempting to break into her own house, Sloane falls over the windowsill and lands “with a thump that I could hear even from the ground.”
  • A character commits arson in the play Bug Juice that Emily’s parents wrote.
  • Frank hits Collins on the back affectionately and Emily remarks, “I had no idea why boys, when they become affectionate, got violent.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • At the apple orchard where many parties are held, there are ladders, and “only the bravest‒or drunkest‒people ventured up them.”
  • The Orchard is described as having, “a small group smoking. There was a keg and a stack of red Solo cups, an open cooler at his feet.”
  • Emily gets a cup of beer that was “mostly. . . a cup of foam.” She “took a tiny sip, wincing at the warm, metallic taste, wondering how much longer I had to stay.”
  • Collins hits on a girl who is, “smoking a cigarette and talking on her phone.”
  • Sloane acquires fake IDs for herself and Emily to go into a bar and hear one of their favorite bands perform. Emily does not go in the first time, but returns after Sloane has gone missing. Within the bar, she sees “the shelves of liquor stretched up almost to the ceiling.” When she orders a diet coke, the bartender asks her if she wants it “with rum,” to which she refuses.
  • At Frank’s birthday party, Emily gets tipsy.
  • When Emily sleeps over at Sloane’s house, she is sent to get a bottle of wine from the fridge for them to drink while they binge watch Psychic Vet Tech.

Language

  • Phrases using the word “god” as an exclamation are used frequently.
  • Profanity is used frequently throughout the novel. Profanity includes holy crap, hell, and damn.
  • Collins jokingly insults Frank and says, “You complete moron. I thought I was going to have to get the ladder and pull you out like a damn cat!”
  • Emily thinks that some people at a party think that she is a “narc.”
  • A girl in a bar says, “Jared has been cheating on me with some skank named Penelope.”
  • Frank says to Emily, “Don’t be stupid.”

Supernatural

  • When thinking of Sloane’s mysterious disappearance, Emily says, “I was negotiating with some cosmic dealer who could guarantee this for me.”
  • An example of the trivial text exchanges between Sloane and Emily is, “Have you noticed it’s been a while since anyone’s seen the Loch Ness monster?”

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Morgan Filgas

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