Books to Inspire, Thrill and Engage Children
Ani was supposed to meet her best friend Weevil. She was NOT supposed to be arrested by the governor's wardens. And Weevil was certainly not supposed to allow himself to be arrested too. And neither of them were supposed to be tested for the deadly plague running through the land - the Scourge. The River... Continue Reading →
Lily can’t wait to get away from school and the city and head to Rockaway Bay with her grandmother and father. But when she arrives, she realizes this summer is going to be different. Her best friend, Margaret, is moving to a war factory town. Then Lily discovers her father is leaving for the war,... Continue Reading →
Henry Bower loves rocks. He’s read about them, dug for them, studied them as much as possible - which is a lot, since he’s homeschooled. One night, he sees a meteorite fall from the sky - and it lands in his family’s field in rural Maine. What a day! He and his little sister, Birdie,... Continue Reading →
Pinmei's grandmother is the neighborhood storyteller and always has the perfect story for Pinmei and the villagers. But the emperor's soldiers break into Pinmei's house and kidnaps her grandmother. Fortunately, Grandmother was able to hid Pinmei in a large pot, so the soldiers didn't kidnap her. So Pinmei and her friend Yishan set out to... Continue Reading →
At the end of Pax, Peter and his pet fox, Pax, were separated. Pax, Journey Home picks up a year later. Pax is living in the wild with his mate, Bristle, and her brother, Runt. Peter is living with Vola, lonely and unwilling to let anyone into his heart. He’s grieving his father’s death in... Continue Reading →
September and Ivan have a lot of responsibilities - more than most children their age. Their dad travels a lot, fishing on different boats around the Alaskan coast. That leaves September and Ivan at home, alone, to tend to their property. Their mother died on the bay in a huge storm that wrecked their boat.... Continue Reading →
The subtitle is what really made me pick up The Inquisitor's Tale by Adam Gidwitz - Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog. Gidwitz tells the story of these children through the recounting from many different people, all gathered at an inn in rural France during the Middle Ages. It's a fascinating tale... Continue Reading →
Samuel lives on the frontier of the colonies - in a small settlement on the edge of the woods. He teaches himself how to hunt, track and live in the woods, feeling its rhythms and life. One day his world is shattered. As he is on a ridge in the woods, he sees smoke rising... Continue Reading →
Gustave loves living in Paris and hanging out with his best friends, his cousin Jean-Paul and their friend Marcel. They almost won the synagogue Boy Scout scavenger hunt! They couldn’t find a yellow feather, which caused them to lose to the other team by just a few points. But Gustave’s life is about to change.... Continue Reading →
Callie has found a stray dog and she is determined to figure out his owner. Her investigation causes her to collide with Wendell, a white boy from town. She reluctantly joins forces with Wendell to find out who owns the wandering yellow dog. As they investigate, they find themselves getting closer and closer to a... Continue Reading →
Cultivating Readers 