Middle Grade Pick: Caterpillar Summer

Caterpillar Summer
by Gillian McDunn
Bloomsbury
2019
304 pages
ISBN: 9781681197432

Available: April 2, 2019

Caterpillar Summer captures a poignant and honest portrayal of a sibling relationship in which the older sibling must take on the parent role. Cat has never had time to be a kid. She's always taken care of special needs Chicken and talked him out of his "meltdowns." In fact, Cat is the only one who can control him. Chicken needs constant supervision as he is prone to wander off and get lost.

When the siblings have to spend three weeks with their grandparents for the first time in EVER, Cat finally has a summer where she can explore on her own. As she discovers more about the rift between her mother and her grandparents, Cat wonders why the adults can't just fix their differences. She may have to become the CATalyst to heal her own family.

A treasure for middle grade readers who love a story of family ties and sweet sibling relationships. This book is suitable for all school, One School, One Book reads and classroom reads. It would be a great choice for a summer reading book as well.

Recommended grade 4 (good readers), grade 5 and up.

Picture Book Pick: The Honeybee

The Honeybee
By Kirsten Hall
Illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
2018
48 pages
ISBN: 9781481469975

This beautiful cover pops and the book's end papers are decked out in the bees' signature colors: yellow and black and will catch your eye, but the happy illustrations and text that follows the production of honey and the bees' lives will keep young readers entertained. The honeybee is one of the world's endangered species and young readers will cheer for the bees after reading all about them. The bees are shown working and on the production line where they, "Chew, chew--we're changing its makeup,/ We're giving the nectar a chemical shake-up." The faces and features of each bee is unique and children will love their personalities.

Did you know that bees can smell fear? The book instructs people to stand still and be calm and the bee or bees will most likely fly away. However, bees are territorial, so it warns not to get too close to the hive.

A page from the author with bee facts and what children (and adults) can do to help the bees and save them is included.

A cute must-read for the budding animal activist, environmental warrior, budding young scientist or beekeeper, or anyone who loves animals and nature.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Middle Grades Mystery Pick: Twisted Summer (Guest Reviewer Julia Evans)

Twisted Summer
by Willo Davis Roberts
Simon Pulse
2017
186 pages
ISBN: 978148148623

Guest review by Julia Evans, Library Media Specialist from Hueco Elementary School in El Paso, Texas. Follow Julia on Twitter @jevens_hes

Fourteen year old Cici is excited to return to her family's summer home in Crystal Lake, Michigan, after missing last summer. Cici cannot wait to see her crush Jack. Things are not as she hoped they would be. Jack is not around and Jack's mother, who worked for Cici's family is not at the lake house as usual. Cici finds out that Jack's older brother Brody has been wrongly accused of strangling Zoe, a girl they all knew.

Jack and his mother believe in Brody's innocence but everyone else is convinced he
is guilty. Cici sides with Jack and his mother. She feels compelled to find out the truth about the murder, solve the mystery and free Brody once and for all,  but the answers she finds lead to her own family. Just what happened at Crystal Lake? Could Cici be the next victim?

Highly recommeded grade 6-8.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the ARC from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review nor did the reviewer.

YA Book Giveaway: Love & Gelato

 

This is one sweet summer read! Debut author Jenna Evans Welch has a true winner on her hands. Part romance in the Tuscan sun, part adventure, Love & Gelato is pure joy.

 

 

I have FIVE free copies of this awesome new debut! For your chance to win, simply post a comment to the blog and be sure to include first name, city, state and email. Deadline for posting comments is Thursday, May 19 at noon MST. Winners will be chosen randomly by Randomizer and notified on May 19. Please check your email  on that date. Winners have 24 hours to respond to my email. Books will ship from New York. Good luck and start posting!



See what others are saying:

Review

"Lina’s capacity for and understanding of love transform beautifully over the course of the novel; the book is not solely about her personal romance but also other characters’ interwoven love stories. A good addition for teens with wanderlust." (School Library Journal)

"Lina narrates in a breezy style, her mother's journal entries interwoven to provide revelations at carefully paced intervals.Seasoned with luscious descriptions of Renaissance architecture and Italian food, a sure bet for fans of romance fiction and armchair travel." (Kirkus)

"Readers will be caught up in this story of romance, family, and what it really means to be loved." (Booklist Online)

"The reader will find it difficult to put this book down." (VOYA starred review)

The Sound
by Sarah Alderson
Simon Pulse
2014
308 pages
ISBN: 9781442499331

British  teen Ren Kingston is visiting America as a nanny. Just getting over a break-up with her first boyfriend, Ren decides it's the perfect time for escape. She lands a job as a live in nanny for two small children, baby Braiden and precocious Brodie. Between their day care and summer camp hours, Ren has a lot of "off" time to explore the town and walk the beach of Nantucket. She even learns to drive on the right side of the road (the American side--the British drive on the left side of the road--a custom steeped in history that left your sword arm--your right arm--free to defend yourself against enemies. I don't hear about any incidences of sword fighting motorists run amok, so driving on the left seems nonsensical).

Summers in Nantucket cater to a wealthy crowd of old money and year round town kids. The battle lines are clearly drawn in the sand and Ren tries to walk the fine line between the two warring groups. The trust fund babies stick together and party hard; they have no rules and are seemingly above the law while the town kids are expected to worship them. When Ren meets handsome, mysterious Jeremy, she is intrigued. Then she meets local bad boy Jesse and is warned to stay away from him--he's trouble.

As she is drawn further into the feud between the two boys, a nanny is found murdered. Megan--a friend of Ren's from back home-is worried about Ren's safety. This is the second summer that a young nanny has been murdered, and a serial killer may be on the loose targeting foreign nannies.



Readers will like the gossip-y pace and beach setting. This is the perfect book for a summer beach read with enough mystery and murder to keep things interesting. Ren's voice comes through loud and clear and it is brilliantly British! Her comments about American pop culture, Gossip Girl references, our weird obsession of throwing the word "LIKE" into sentences at least every other word; example: Ren like thinks it's like weird that Americans like the word like so much, ring too true.

Recommended for readers who like a breezy summer read and anyone who loves a British accent that comes alive on the pages.

Grade 9-up. Partying, mature content.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Picture Book Pick (But So Much More): Rules of Summer

 

See what the author says about his new picture book!

Rules of Summer
by Shaun Tan
Arthur A. Levine Books
2014
48 pages
ISBN: 97805456519125

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Innovative and fun, deep and engrossing, Rules of Summer is one deceptive picture book! Let the art speak for itself like Van Allsburg's The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. Readers are encouraged to enter the art and make decisions about the story based on the art and also their own experiences.

The two page spread with text, "Never leave a red sock on the clothesline" shows two young boys cowering behind a fence, a clothesline empty except for said red sock and a large, menacing, red-eyed monster  bunny peering over the fence. The beast is many times their size and the boys  appear to be  hiding from it.

Each spread features art by Tan and offers the opportunity for readers to tell a story for themselves. Rules of Summer is loosely put together featuring two boys, maybe brothers, who have adventures that summer. My favorite rule is,  "Never miss the last day of summer."  The art shows the smaller boy climbing to the top of a long ladder with the older boy offering his hand to help the smaller child up.

Wildly imaginative robots and weird birds make this story fun for young readers. I predict Rules of Summer will be hugely embraced by readers and art critics as well as art and creative writing teachers around the globe.

Highly, highly recommended for the quirky reader in everyone and those who have wild imaginings and dream strange dreams.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Girl Pick: Past Perfect

Past Perfect
by Leila Sales
Simon Pulse
2011
303 pages

Fun, quirky, and captivating Past Perfect is the latest from Leila Sales author of Mostly Mean Girls.

Chelsea has dreams of escaping her parents constant attentions and working with them in Essex Revolutionary War re-enactment village again this summer. She wants to work in the air-conditioned mall like a "normal" teen not dress in heavy, 10 pound dresses complete with petticoats and a mobcap (a weird droopy bonnet women used to wear) in the stifling summer humidity of Essex, Virginia. When her BFF Fiona convinces her to work in the village just one more summer, Chelsea gives in. She soon realizes that the only thing worse than wearing 10 pound dresses, enduring the summer heat, and working with her parents is working with her ex-boyfriend Ezra, the ONE who broke her heart.

Just across the street from the Revolutionary War village is yet another historical tourist attraction: the Civil War village. There is a heated battle between the summer hires each year for supremacy. The kids call it "war" and it involves mostly harmless and funny pranks, but when Chelsea's general is "wounded" and several of the Civil War's team is hospitalized, the war is really on! Chelsea is kidnapped by a boy on the other team, and she soon finds herself falling for him. This is treason! This is not acceptable!

The clever banter between Chelsea and her friend Fiona and Chelsea and hottie "enemy" Dan is charming. When Fiona wants to work in the village, Chelsea says, "Since she seemed to envision it as a constant Gone With the Wind experience, minus the death and destruction."

Chelsea switches "tribes" and soon finds herself without a "country." Later, Chelsea thinks over her dating relationship with ex-BF Ezra and realizes that he was the one who treated her poorly and she was guilty of allowing him to treat her so badly and she is finally ready to move on.

Brilliant teen dialog, a darling, spunky heroine, a quirky setting, and a hot guy will keep teen girls reading. Some kissing and light petting. No sex. Some talk about "doing it" and a couple of "bad" words.

Recommended grade 9-up because of light petting, language. It would probably be okay for grade 7-8 if you have other edgy titles.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Chick Pick: Moonglass

Moonglass
by Jessi Kirby
Simon & Schuster
2011
232 pages

Poignant, touching, and fresh, Moonglass is a triumph of a first novel. Anna is only seven when her mother walks out into the surf and drowns. Now at age sixteen, her father is uprooting Anna to go live in the small beach town of Crystal Cove, California. Anna is not looking forward to the move--she doesn't want to make new friends or live in a new place.

Things start to look up when she sees the beachfront cottage they get to live in. The next day she meets a motormouth girl named Ashley who assures her that they will be BFF's and she meets Tyler, a hot lifeguard. Maybe this won't be such a bad place after all.

Sadly, Anna keeps remembering the night her mother walked into the ocean--maybe it's because they are now living in the little town where her parents met and fell in love. What was it that her mother was looking for in the surf? Why are some of the cottages abandoned? Who is the strange man who crawls the beach every day? Why is Joy so interested in telling Anna about her mother?

Part romance, part mystery, but all mesmerizing, Moonglass is a sure winner.

Highly recommended ages 12-up. Some skinny-dipping but no graphic details, no sex.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.