Pick 6: series

 There's something wonderful about finding a good series. A solid adventure with the promise of more to come. Especially for young or reluctant readers, if you can get someone started on a series you've guaranteed months of reading. With that in mind, here are six new books that are part of series.

6 series books published in the past 6 months

1. Jasmine Green Rescues a Piglet Called Truffle by Helen Peters
2. The Accursed Inheritance of Henrietta Achilles by Haiko Hornig 
3. Lobizona by Rommy Garber 
4. Doodleville by Chad Sell
5. The Secret Explorers and the Lost Whales by S J King 
6. The Last Lie by Patricia Fforde
   

Non-fiction book review - Eye By Eye

  

Eye by Eye by Sara Levine

We see plenty of books about individual animals. Or about animals that share a trait. Or about extremes in the animal kingdom. We don't get many that explore differences in a single body part. We don't put much thought into the differences between eyes other than color or maybe size. But there is so much to learn here. We learn that owls have cylindrical eyes. That a sea star's eyes are at the ends of it's arms. That a cuttlefish has W shaped pupils. But Levine does more than tell us these unusual facts. She gives us a basic explanation of why. This book is accessible to very young readers and the illustrations are quite appealing.

More information: Eye By Eye releases September 1.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley 

Book review - Isaiah Dunn is My Hero

Title: Isaiah Dunn is My Hero

Author: Kelly J Baptist

Genre: Realistic fiction

Similar books: Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate

                      Hold Fast by Blue Balliett

Rating:

an important read

Summary (provided by publisher): Isaiah is now the big man of the house. But it's a lot harder than his dad made it look. His little sister, Charlie, asks too many questions, and Mama's gone totally silent.
Good thing Isaiah can count on his best friend, Sneaky, who always has a scheme for getting around the rules. Plus, his classmate Angel has a few good ideas of her own--once she stops hassling Isaiah.
And when things get really tough, there's Daddy's journal, filled with stories about the amazing Isaiah Dunn, a superhero who gets his powers from beans and rice. Isaiah wishes his dad's tales were real. He could use those powers right about now!

My opinion: I feel like the most important part of this book is the opening scenario. The Dunn family begins the book without a home but feeling like their situation is only temporary. They'd been living right on the borderline of poverty, barely holding on. It doesn't take much to tip them over the line, to start them down the downward slope to a point that they can't pull themselves out of. Grief and addiction compound an already difficult situation. We see Isaiah trying to cover his situation in school, with adults, and even masking it's extent with his closest friends. This won't be immediately relatable for upper middle class kids but those who've lived around the poverty line will recognize themselves in this narrative, a fact alone which will make it valuable. But we also get a lot of Isaiah's inner life here. We see his anger and resentment, pointed primarily at his mother but a little at his dad and and Sneaky, resentment for the things he's lost that others still have. We see the fissures that develop between lifelong friends and which cannot be fully repaired.

Book review - Bear

Title: Bear

Author: Ben Queen

Genre: graphic novel

Similar books: Edison by Torben Kuhlmann

                      Trash Mountain by Jane Yolen

Rating:

a fascinating combination

Summary (provided by publisher): Bear is a guide dog who would do anything for his owner Patrick - and embarks on an epic quest from the forest to the city to regain his sight so he can protect his best friend.
Bear is a service dog who would do anything for his owner and best friend Patrick who is blind. But when Bear suddenly loses his vision, he worries he’s lost his purpose in life—protecting Patrick! Following the misguided advice from some self-serving raccoons, Bear embarks on a transformative journey to regain his eyesight. Out of both necessity and survival, he learns to tap into his other senses and begins to see the world from a new perspective that is at times more rich and colorful than the world he’s always known.

My opinion: We see stories about animals separated from their families. Stories about relationships between guide dogs and their human companion. Not often do we find an intersection between the two concepts. Even more rare is the idea that the guide dog finds himself suddenly impaired. This complication allows Queen to explore a number of ideas. Bear is question his role in Patrick's life. If he cannot see, cannot guide, what is his purpose? Through his adventure he learns new ways of navigating and understanding the world, just as Patrick had to do. We also have an exploration of perception. When he cannot see, he interprets life based on what he hears, smells, remembers, and imagines. A solid story with some bits of animal biology and sociology interspersed.

More information: Bear releases August 18.

 Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Picture books for everyone

The Egg by Geraldo Valerio

If any book is truly all ages, it's a wordless picture book like this one. Valerio has done a masterful job of breaking down actions and moments into multiple illustrations so we can follow the story without having to speculate about transition moments. We can see essentially every action that the stork takes. We also get a clear idea of it's emotions, between body postures and facial expressions. It's fear, desperation, loss, and love are clearly portrayed.And given the simple illustration style, the details don't get lost in background noise. Quite lovely.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley 

Non-fiction book review - The Laura Ingalls Wilder Companion

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Companion by Annette Whipple

I was, frankly, a bit disappointed by this book. The chapter by chapter guide amounts more to a footnote. I was anticipating a full paragraph of some element of historical context. The real strength is in the accompanying activities: crafts, gardening, research ideas, and other activities. These are of varying  quality but it's handy to have an assortment of suggestions collected all together in one place. This is a book that will shine on the homeschooler's resource shelf. 

 Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Book review - Eva Evergreen, Semi Magical Witch

Title: Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch

Author: Julie Abe

Genre: fantasy

Similar books: The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner

                      Curse of the Night Witch by Alex Aster 

Rating:

delightful

Summary (provided by publisher): Sometimes all you need is a pinch of magic...
Eva Evergreen is determined to earn the rank of Novice Witch before her thirteenth birthday. If she doesn't, she'll lose her magic forever. For most young witches and wizards, it's a simple enough test:
One: Help your town, do good all around.
Two: Live there for one moon, don't leave too soon.
Three: Fly home by broomstick, the easiest of tricks.
The only problem? Eva only has a pinch of magic. She summons heads of cabbage instead of flowers and gets a sunburn instead of calling down rain. And to add insult to injury, whenever she overuses her magic, she falls asleep.
When she lands in the tranquil coastal town of Auteri, the residents expect a powerful witch, not a semi-magical girl. So Eva comes up with a plan: set up a magical repair shop to aid Auteri and prove she's worthy. She may have more blood than magic, but her "semi-magical fixes" repair the lives of the townspeople in ways they never could have imagined. Only, Eva's bit of magic may not be enough when the biggest magical storm in history threatens the town she's grown to love. Eva must conjure up all of the magic, bravery, and cleverness she can muster or Auteri and her dreams of becoming a witch will wash away with the storm.

My opinion: It can be a bit risky, pulling direct inspiration from a popular piece of media like Kiki's Delivery Service. If poorly done it comes off as a pale copy. But if, as in this case, it is well done you borrow the positive associations from our fondness for the source material and uses it to build a whole new world. In this book, Abe has resolve some of my complaints about the movie, namely that there was no clear conflict or point to the plot. Eva's world has a lot more complexity. There's clear rules to magic and a larger conspiracy afoot. Eva is not an exceptional witch. Her powers are such that she has to use extra creativity to solve her problems. She also genuinely wants to help people. Yes, she wants to prove herself, but helping her people takes precedence. The plot is compelling and the characters are pleasant and reasonably complex. One I would easily recommend.
 

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley