by Carolyn | Cultural Diversity, Education, Girls, Historical Fiction, Juvenile Fiction, Middle School, Middle-grade, Recommendations
I loved Esperanza Rising. I love being surprised by a book, and this one surprised me. I know I had heard some good reviews, but I had also read some critical ones. I’m not sure what I expected, but I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did (I finished...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Boys, Cultural Diversity, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Juvenile Fiction, Middle School, Middle-grade
Rarely have a been more conflicted about a book. There is so much to love about The Inquisitor’s Tale. In fact, it just won the 2016 Newberry Honor Book as well as the Cybil audiobook of 2016. But I have a few concerns about it, particularly for Christian...
by Carolyn | Book Lists, Chapter Books, Character Training, Cultural Diversity, Early Readers, Education, Historical Fiction, Juvenile Fiction, Middle-grade, Newbery, Parenting, Read Alouds
This isn’t what I had planned on posting this month. But my heart has been heavy reading responses from friends on both sides of the aisle to the recent presidential election. There is fear of racism and persecution (and now actual occurrences of such). There...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Imagination, Juvenile Fiction, Middle-grade
Pioneer and fantasy are not two words I would normally put together. But Melissa Wiley does a charming job melding these two genres in The Prairie Thief. But the fantasy element still surprised me. I knew Wiley had written some of the extension books for the Little...
by Carolyn | Biography, Book Lists, Education, Historical Fiction, Older Elementary, Picture Books, Read Alouds
If you are looking for some Thanksgiving themed books to read with your kids, I think you’ll enjoy the five I’ve selected. I’ve tried to add some variety to my recommendations. Some books tell the Thanksgiving story, one talks about the season, and...
by Carolyn | Audiobooks, Chapter Books, Classics, Girls, Historical Fiction, Imagination, Juvenile Fiction, Read Alouds, Recommendations
The Moffats, by Eleanor Estes, is listed on several wonderful book lists for children. My oldest daughter has enjoyed this book, along with the rest of the series, but I had never read it. I thought it was about time to rectify this omission. The Moffats is the first...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Character Training, Girls, Historical Fiction, Imagination, Middle School, Middle-grade, Mystery, Read Alouds, Scary Stories
How do you feel about scary stories for kids? When I was a kid, Goosebumps was a popular series, but, honestly, Nancy Drew was too suspenseful for me! On the other hand, my daughter loves “scary” books (at the same age that I couldn’t handle them)....
by Carolyn | Adventure, Boys, Character Training, Classics, Cultural Diversity, Historical Fiction, Juvenile Fiction, Newbery, Read Alouds
How would you feel if you were 13, left alone in a cabin in the wilderness, responsible to take care of it until your family arrived? That’s the situation Matt finds himself in at the beginning of The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare. Through...
by Carolyn | Adventure, Girls, Historical Fiction, Middle-grade, Mystery, Recommendations, Steampunk
Let me just say, if you have girls, go get this book! When I first heard the premise for The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, I was intrigued. Jordan Stratford has taken two historical figures (plus a few others), squashed their timeline and given them a fictional...
