“There are books with Hmong?” This question broke my heart a little. The boy was shocked when I had casually mentioned a book with a Hmong character. He had made it to third grade without realizing that there were books related to his home culture and that they were available in his school library. You […]
April
17
Butter by Erin Jade Lange – Review by Kevin English
posted by CBethM
Outside of the Nerdy Book Club, I have two friends that make up my “nerd herd.” We used to teach at the same school (our mascot was a zebra), and so the name stuck. One of those friends recommended Erin Jade Lange’s Butter to me—and I am so glad she did. Throughout my brief […]
April
16
The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky by Holly Schindler – Review by Leigh Anne Eck
posted by CBethM
Because I am a fourth grade teacher, I try to make conscious decisions about the middle grade books I recommend to my students. Fourth grade falls on the low end of the middle grade spectrum. Sometimes these novels teeter on the borderline of appropriateness for this grade level, due to their language or mature content. […]
April
15
Lately, Man, It’s All About the Weed by James Klise
posted by CBethM
You expected a title like that, maybe, from the guy who wrote Love Drugged. A month ago, an administrator at my school came to visit me in the library. “I have something to discuss,” he said gently, “and I don’t want to upset you.” I steadied myself against the circulation desk. Then his tone […]
April
14
What is it About Books of Summer? by Gae Polisner
posted by CBethM
Dear Mother Nature, is SUMMER ever coming? I don’t mean to whine, but at least here in New York you sure are taking your own sweet time about all things sunshine, flowers, water and sand. Forget the beach. Even your sweet spring buds are barely in sight. Lucky for all of us, fictional […]
April
13
Living Up to Your Character by Jen Swann Downey
posted by CBethM
I’m old enough to have learned (let’s cough a little, and pretend I’m a quick study) that for something to be worth sharing it either has to be true or funny, or both. My MG debut THE NINJA LIBRARIANS has a lot of funny in it. (Or so people tell me who don’t appear to have […]
April
12
The Top 10 Reasons Why I Can’t Stop Reading Children’s & Young Adult Literature by Emily Meixner
posted by CBethM
For the past ten years, I have been teaching college courses on children’s and young adult literature. Even after a decade, it’s still a thrill, and every semester I look forward to new books and new students. Occasionally, usually around mid-semester, a student will ask why I love these texts so much: “Don’t you want […]
April
11
Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere by Julie T. Lamana – Review by Cathy Blackler
posted by CBethM
On a recent trip to Las Vegas I observed a trio of adults set out from a Mini-Mart in the early morning for parts unknown. The fact that they were armed with backpacks and dressed in layers of clothing that had definitely not seen the inside of a washing machine in quite some time led […]
April
10
My Own Copy by Charlotte Cundiff
posted by CBethM
Last week when I handed out the Scholastic order forms to my fourth grade class for the month, I noticed Charlotte’s wide smile as her eyes lingered over one of the pages. “See something you’re interested in?” I asked. Charlotte is an avid reader with a strong sense of her own reading preferences. “I already […]
April
09
Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg – Review by Kim McSorley
posted by CBethM
For Macallan and Levi, it was friends at first sight. Everyone says guys and girls can’t be just friends, but these two are. They hang out after school, share tons of inside jokes, their families are super close, and Levi even starts dating one of Macallan’s friends. They are platonic and happy that way. […]
