How is it that we are entering the month of May this week? Where did this school year go? I am feverishly sifting through new titles to order so that we can do an EPIC book tasting at the end of the school year to create individualized summer reading lists based on books that get us excited!
Here is a new series by Newbery winner Adam Gidwitz. I have a feeling it will not be on the shelf very often!
The Creature of the Pines (The Unicorn Rescue Society #1), (2018)
words by Adam Gidwitz and pictures by Hatem Aly
Goodreads summary: Elliot Eisner isn’t exactly excited about starting at a brand-new school in a brand-new town; he’d much rather stay at home and read a book. But things take an unexpected turn when he finds out his weird new teacher, Professor Fauna, has planned a field trip for Elliot’s very first day. Along with a new friend–brave, outspoken Uchenna Devereaux–Elliot gets caught up in a secret group of adventurers, The Unicorn Rescue Society, whose goal is to protect and defend the world’s mythical creatures. Together with Professor Fauna, Elliot and Uchenna must help rescue a Jersey Devil from a duo of conniving, greedy billionaires, the Schmoke Brothers.
Watch the Unicorn Rescue Society book trailer.
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Here’s a graphic novel everyone has been waiting for. I’m sorry it took me this long to bring it to your attention!
Waking the Monsters (HiLo #4), (2018)
by Judd Winick
Goodreads summary: DJ and Gina are TOTALLY ordinary kids. But Hilo isn’t! Has Hilo finally met his match? Not if D.J. and Gina can help it! ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! Mega Robot Monsters are suddenly waking up all over and they’re TOO BIG and TOO STRONG for Hilo to fight on his own! Luckily, he doesn’t have to! He has GINA and some brand new SUPER POWERS on his side! Being heroes can be super fun – but it can also be SUPER dangerous! And the closer Hilo and Gina get to saving their world from the monsters –
the closer Hilo gets to the dark secret of his past. Does he really want to know? Do WE?!
I couldn’t find a book trailer for his latest graphic novel, but here is the HiLo intro book trailer.
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I was at the Barrington Public Library and this gem was on display. I’m eagerly reading it now. Last year I had the chance to hear Katherine Paterson talk about writing this book and I’ve been intrigued by the nationwide literacy campaign this story is about ever since.
My Brigadista Year, (2017)
By Katherine Paterson
Goodreads summary: When thirteen-year-old Lora tells her parents that she wants to join Premier Castro’s army of young literacy teachers, her mother screeches to high heaven, and her father roars like a lion. Lora has barely been outside of Havana — why would she throw away her life in a remote shack with no electricity, sleeping on a hammock in somebody’s kitchen? But Lora is stubborn: didn’t her parents teach her to share what she has with someone in need? Surprisingly, Lora’s abuela takes her side, even as she makes Lora promise to come home if things get too hard. But how will Lora know for sure when that time has come? Shining light on a little-known moment in history, Katherine Paterson traces a young teen’s coming-of-age journey from a sheltered life to a singular mission: teaching fellow Cubans of all ages to read and write, while helping with the work of their daily lives and sharing the dangers posed by counterrevolutionaries hiding in the hills nearby. Inspired by true accounts, the novel includes an author’s note and a timeline of Cuban history.
Watch Katherine Paterson discuss My Brigadista Year.
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I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover but there is something really inviting about this one, isn’t there? I cannot wait to crack this one open.
Just Like Jackie, (2018)
by Katherine Paterson
Goodreads summary: For as long as Robinson Hart can remember, it’s just been her and Grandpa. Robbie knows they look like an odd pair, because her blond hair and pale skin don’t match his dark complexion—but those differences don’t mean anything to her. And though she wishes Grandpa would tell her more about the rest of her family, she’s learned over the years that he doesn’t like to talk about the past.
But Grandpa’s memory is starting to get bad, and Robbie’s worried that soon he won’t remember their family—including her—at all. She’s sure that he would get better if she could stay out of trouble, but it’s hard to keep her fists to herself when bullies like Alex Carter make fun of her for not having a mom or for looking so different from Grandpa. It’s up to Robbie to learn how to deal with her anger and to keep her family together—no matter what.
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If you are around on Saturday, April 28 (Independent Bookstore Day) you can stop by Barrington Books from 10:30am to noon to meet the really fun author (and good friend of Sarah Albee) of this new realistic fiction book.
Lights Camera Disaster, (2018)
by Erin Dionne
Goodreads summary: Hester Greene loves making movies. With her camera in hand, she can focus, make decisions, and have the control she lacks in life, where her executive function disorder (think extreme ADHD plus anxiety) sabotages her every move.
But middle school is not a movie, and if her last-ditch attempt to save her language-arts grade–and her chance to pass eighth grade, period–doesn’t work, Hess could lose her friends, her year, even her camera. It will take more than a cool training montage to get her life together, but by thinking outside the frame, she just might craft a whole new ending.
Written partially in script form, with STOP/PAUSE/PLAY/REWIND moments throughout, this laugh-out-loud story will speak to any budding filmmaker, or unintentional troublemaker, in every act of their lives.