Books to Inspire, Thrill and Engage Children
The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had may not be the longest title for a book, but it’s a pretty long one. I almost didn’t pick it up because of it - but I’m glad I did. Dit and Emma are unlikely best friends - especially in America’s rural south in 1917. Dit comes from... Continue Reading →
Marlee is changing. She doesn’t want to change. She doesn’t talk to anyone except her older brother, her sister and her dad. Sometimes her mom. But this year, everything is changing. Her brother is off at college, and now her sister wants to move into his room and leave Marlee by herself. A new girl... Continue Reading →
Tommy is trying to do the right thing. His sister, Mary Lou, is in the hospital recovering from horrible burns. She was injured doing his chore. So Tommy takes over Mary Lou’s paper route. Just until she comes home. But he misses her horribly. They were allies in trying to survive their home, their mother’s... Continue Reading →
Eel is hiding. He’s hiding himself, and a secret. He’s an orphan in London in 1854, and that is not an easy life. He works hard - started as a muckraker in the Thames River. That was not a fun job. Through a series of fortunate events, Eel was able to get a job as... Continue Reading →
Harry Crewe had to leave everything she knew when her father died. She said farewell to the green, rolling hills of her home to move to the desert, a charity case of a friend of her brother’s. There, she’s caught up in the political drama playing out between the Homelanders and the magical Free Hillfolk... Continue Reading →
I recently read Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk with a book club. We all loved it so much that one of my friends decided to read all of Wolk’s books - and pass them on to me. (Thank you Jan! See also Echo Mountain.) Beyond the Bright Sea tells the story of Crow, a young... Continue Reading →
Lizzie Kennedy wants to be a doctor, like her dad. But this is San Fransisco in 1900, and girls go to finishing schools, not high schools. And definitely not colleges. Lizzie, her older brother and her father live in a house on her aunt and uncle’s property on Nobb Hill. They’re not wealthy, but her... Continue Reading →
I stayed up entirely too late to finish Echo Mountain another excellent story by Lauren Wolk, author of Wolf Hollow. Ellie has decided to make Echo Mountain home since her family lost everything in town during the Depression and had to learn how to make it in the wilderness. Her mother and older sister remember... Continue Reading →
Nic wasn't always a slave in the mines of the Roman Empire. He remembers when his mother sold him and his sister to the wicked overseer, Sal. He determines to escape one day, and gives himself a freedman's name, Nic Calva, to prove to himself he won't be a slave forever. One day he finds... Continue Reading →
Tamaya and Marshall have been walking to and from Woodridge Academy since elementary school. They have to walk the long way around the thick woods between their houses and the school, since the woods are off limits. But one day, Marshall leads Tamaya into the woods to avoid a bully. While there, Tamaya encounters some... Continue Reading →
Cultivating Readers 