Middle Grade Review: Dangerous Allies

 

* Book 4 in the Forgotten Five series * 

Things are heating up in the war of the Supers. The Forgotten Five are feeling the pressures of betrayal and attempting to heal from the trauma their parents inflicted. It's not easy sorting through emotions, especially when you feel alone. They're struggling to know who to trust. They're also trying to answer one of life's biggest mysteries: can people change? 

My Thoughts: I love this series - there's lots of action, danger, and secrets shared. This book has lots of feelings - feeling of betrayal and working through trauma. The ending of the last book surprised me, but I enjoyed how that played out.  I can't wait to see what happens next to this group. 

Cover Thoughts: Great

Source: My Library

Library Recommendation: A must have series for your library 

Elizabeth Park

Last weekend, we visited Elizabeth Park to see the flowers. 

This was my favorite on there. 

This gazebo looks like something out of the Hobbit. 

And it's even charming inside

We spend a pleasant morning walking through the park. 

Library Joy

 

Last week, I met Mychal the super librarian who spoke about library joy.

And it got me thinking of early library memories.

When I was five, we lived in a different place for a year. I remember getting my library card there, tickled that my last name was the name of the library. It was no relation to me, but I thought it was the coolest thing ever. 

I also remember loving this one book and taking it out over and over again. I have no recollection of the book itself. I think it might have been sad. I just remember how important I felt having the same last name. 

I'll be sharing more of these stories over the next few weeks, but what is your earliest library memory? 

Review: Beast of Skull Rock

Book 4 in the Monsterious books 

Simon and Jade are visiting their grandfather in Maine during the summer. Their grandfather runs a curiosity museum. The tourist town is having a bit of trouble with rumors of break-ins. Simon and Jade are curious about them, but their grandfather is being strangle tight lipped. 

Simon and Jade hear strange sounds at night. But their grandfather dismisses their fears. He warns them to stay upstairs rather than wander the museum at night. Simon and Jade feel betrayed, but they are also determined to get to the bottom it this mystery.

They go searching for the creature that could be stalking the town. They camp out in the museum. Nothing they do seems to change anything. The break-ins are getting worse. Can they solve the mystery?

My Thoughts: I really enjoy these books, even though I'm not a scary stories person. The books aren't connect except in the idea of spooky and monsters. I loved Simon and Jade - how they were determined to figure out the puzzle. I loved the moments in the bookstore. I enjoyed going through the museum. The ending was great. I do hope there are more of these books on the way. 

Cover Thoughts: Fantastic

Source: My Library

Library Recommendations: Highly recommended for you school and public libraries! 

Honored to have been in the acknowledgements! 

Picture Book Wednesday: The Yellow Bus

A yellow bus winds it's way through town carrying important cargo. The cargo makes the bus happy. But things change and times moves on and the bus changes along with the times.

This is not a school story - but a fascinating history of one yellow bus and what makes her happy. This book is beautifully illustrated - I love the bright colors against the black and white illustrations. There's an author's note at the end of the book that explains the inspiration behind the story. 

Take a look at the making of this book:

* This book was sent for review

Top Ten Tuesday: Flower Covers

 This week's topic is all about May Flowers - this after the rain post in April (April showers bring May flowers). Here are some books with flowers that I'm excited to read. 

Just a few flowers here on the curtain:

Middle Grade Review: Heroes

Frank and Stanley are best friends, growing up on Pearl Harbor. They love superheroes and work together to create comic books. Frank writes the stories and Stanley draws them. They were meeting with a family friend on the USS Utah for a tour. 

The tour has barely started when Japanese planes flew overhead dropping bombs. From that moment on, Frank and Stanley's lives were in danger. They fight to make their way back home. 

Frank is white and Stanley is Japanese American. While the boys get back home, Stanley's mother recognizes that things have changed. She's burying their Japanese ancestry items.  People start looking at them differently afterwards. 

Even when they get home, the boys are not safe. 

My Thoughts: The story takes place in three parts: Before, During, and After. I loved the different parts and the fact that the book took place mostly in one day. There's lot of action and danger that kept me turning the pages quickly. I felt terrible for both the boys for all the horrors they witnessed. However, I felt worse for Stanley has he dealt with racism from people who had known his family.  While this book doesn't go much beyond the day of the attack, it does talk about the horrific history of the Japanese internment camps. I really enjoyed the question that this book sets out to answer: What makes a hero? I love how it worked as a topic for the main characters but also for the country. The point that we joined the war after an attack and not before raises some questions.  This is a great book for an introduction to Pearl Habor and the reasons America joined to war. 

Cover Thoughts: Great

Source: Checked out from the library

Library Recommendation: Highly recommended for your school and public library's collection.