Middle Grade Review: Treasure of Ocean Parkway

* Book 2 in the series *

Thea discovers a clue hidden in a closet in her apartment. She knows exactly who should help her solve it - the podcasters from her apartment building. She finds Roya and Amin and pitches them the idea, a new mystery for their next podcast.

The clue is a treasure hunt from her grandfather. Her dad won't talk about him; they don't have a good relationship. Currently her grandfather lives in a home for people with dementia. The clues are supposed to lead to a treasure within the apartment building. 

Can they solve the clues and find the treasure or is it lost forever?

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this sequel. I felt bad for Thea as she was lonely without her sister for company and she barely saw her parents.  I love that she gave from a long time of artists. I love how she became friends with Roya and Amin over the course of figuring out the puzzles. I love how the puzzles here related to the building and also art. Amin's train contest was a fun side story. I love how they set this up for another book in the series. I hope there are several more in the works. 

Cover Thoughts: Cute

Source: My Library

Why I Read This One: I loved the first book - and the combination of mysteries and podcasts

Library Recommendation: Highly Recommended for your middle grade collections.

Plant a Seed: Teen Summer Reading (3)

This is the final post for SUMMER READING ideas. 

Previously I shared flower crafts and nature crafts

This week is all about the books.

Middle Grade Books:

Teen Books:

Hope you enjoyed this series and that it was useful to you.

Picture Book Review: The Humble Pie

Pie is humble - he doesn't need to be in the spotlight. His friend Cake loves the spotlight. But when they are teamed up for a project, Pie gets annoyed. Can he have a difficult conversation with his friend? Will his friend still like him?

This is such a great book for those kids who don't love the limelight. Sometimes you do want to be recognized for your work. But there is a fine line. Pie walks this line well, but he challenges himself a little bit.

Review: Heart Check

 

Harper hates the hockey team; they're just a bunch of cocky sports guys. They get all the funding, and the rest of the school gets close to nothing. When the hockey coach gets fired, rumors fly that Harper's responsible. Now her jewelry making business is in jeopardy. 

Dawson knows he's a hockey superstar. But that won't mean anything if he can't get a scholarship to play hockey. He doesn't want to end up like his father, reliving his glory days while stuck in town. The loss of his coach and all his contacts is stressing out Dawson. The new coach isn't interesting in making him feel special. He's giving other guys on the team a chance. Dawson doesn't like his odds.

Harper and Dawson get thrown together. They start talking and realize that first impressions aren't always right. As they catch feelings for each other, they have to learn to trust each other. Or their new relationship just might be over before it started.

My Thoughts: I loved this book. It totally made me cry. I loved the slow burn between Dawson and Harper as they fought against their feelings. I loved Harper's jewelry business and I want to see pictures of the jewelry described. I loved Dawson's sister. I loved Sabrina. The hockey moments were great. I loved watching the team come together. This debut novel impressed the heck out of me and I can't wait read what Emily Charlotte writes next. 

Cover Thoughts: Cute

Source: My Library

Why I Read This Book: I love sports romances

Library Recommendation: Highly recommended for your school and public library collections.

Review: The Snowman Code

 

Blessing is having a tough time. She was being bullied at school; she stopped going. She told her teacher they were moving to Australia. The winter has been going on for so long and her mom has SAD. Blessing desperately wants the winter to end. 

Everything changes when Blessing meets a snowman: Albert Framlington. Once you talk to a snowman six times, they have to answer. It's part of the snowman code. Blessing and Albert for a friendship and begin to help one another through their troubles. 

On the one hand, Blessing wants winter to end so her mom will feel better. On the other hand, she doesn't want the winter to end so Albert won't melt.

My Thoughts: I really liked this book. I loved the friendship between Blessing and Albert. I love how they worked together. They had fights, but they still helped each other. This book tackles bullies, mental health, being scared, and friendship. I loved all the snowmen. Warning: this book might make you want to build and talk to snowmen.

Cover Thoughts: Cute

Source: Sent for review

Library Recommendation: Highly recommended for your Children's Library - school or public.

Picture Book Review: Biographies for Black History Month

 

Here are a few great picture book biographies - for all year, but also for Black History Month 

Barbara lived in a world of can not cannot. She learned about the world from books and found big dreams. She learned how to make her dreams come true and she trained hard.

There's a great message here: never give up. She's so inspiring. A fantastic read about making your dreams happen. 

Carter Woodson did not have an easy life but he never stopped learning. He challenged a professor who said that Black people had no history and he spent the rest of his life sharing that history.

A great book about one person changing history and challenging the reader that they too can make a different. 

When Patrick Kelly was a boy, he lost a button on his shirt. His mother sewed another one on for him, but it didn't match. Then she sewed a bunch more on the shirt so that the other kids wouldn't laugh at him. Patrick Kelly realized the power of fashion and the importance of looking good makes you feel good. He decided he wanted to learn how to sew.

I loved this story - there's so much joy here. I confess, I didn't know about Patrick Kelly. I did a little more research on him and saw pictures of the clothes he made. And they do make people smile. Mission accomplished. 

Shay wants to be just like Tina Turner. When the town has a festival for Tina, she and her friends are going to perform. But when they're practicing, they get into a big fight. Luckily, Shay's grandmother shares some wisdom from Tina to help save the day.

While this isn't a biography of Tina Turner, it does share lots of information about her. Her life influences Shay to be the best she can be. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Armchair Travel

 This week's topic is armchair travel. Here are a few books I can't wait to read and visit.

hiking in California

Rafting in Colorado

Southern Italy

More Italy - Rome

More Rome

Southern France

Paris

Tour of Europe

Genovia

On a cruise ship

Where will your books take you this year?