Is the title of this book a bit extreme? Sure. It's certainly designed to play on a kid's fondness for the macabre. But the information it contains is solid. The actual text is informative without hyperbole. With photos and charts throughout there's plenty on each page to engage a reluctant reader.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
What are you currently reading?
Goodbye, French Fry by Rin-rin Yu - A Chinese-American girl navigates difficult classmates, what it means to be Chinese, and the possibility of having to move.
What did you recently finish reading?
Postscript by Cory McCarthy - Some of the last humans figure out how to live when the world is falling apart.
What do you think you'll read next?
Choir Grrl by Ashley Granillo
Author: Rie Neal
Age range: middle grade
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar book: Maizy Chen's Last Chance by Lisa Yee
Summary (provided by publisher): Curious ten-year-old Saffron Speiser-Green loves science—unfortunately, her “experiments” tend to end in more messes than actual answers. (Just ask the broken alarm clock that’s still at the bottom of her backpack.) Saffron has a plan, though—a blue ribbon in her school’s Project Showcase will show the world she means business.
But when Saffron’s beloved volcano project ruins the walls at Mama’s job and gets her fired, Saffron will do anything to make things right—including helping Mama convince her other mom, Mimi, that they should move to the Silicon Valley to run Gran’s coffee shop. Mama’s dream job is worth giving up the blue ribbon. Right?
Luckily for Saffron, her new friends in the Silicon Valley are busy preparing for a STEM Expo, and Saffron is determined to find a project “smart” enough to show everyone she belongs there. But the coffee shop? No customers, no vision, and…tons of debt. And if it closes, Saffron’s family will have to move again. After a class trip to the STEAMology Museum in San Francisco, though, Saffron knows how to save the café—and what to do for her STEM Expo project. But she’s going to need a lot of help.
What I liked: Saffron is sort of the modern Ramona or Clementine. She's clever and creative but also impulsive to a degree that often gets her into trouble. She is, in short, realistic. And while Saffron is disabled, her hearing issues are not central to the plot. They inform some of her behavior but that's all. It's inclusive without being a capital I issue. It's a relatively quick and engaging read.
What I didn't like: The focus of the plot can be a bit scattered. And it lacks the humor that we often see in impulsive characters. There's not a lot of depth to the plot but it's accessible.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
Author: Lance Rubin
Age range: teen
Genre: light magical realism
Similar book: Noggin by John Corey Whaley
Summary (provided by publisher): It’s the morning of Carter Cohen’s 16th birthday, and everything’s going his way.
He’s psyched and ready to get his driver’s license, his little brother’s not hogging the bathroom, and, man, something smells good for breakfast…
But when Carter bounds downstairs, Mom bursts into tears. It happened again. It’s Carter’s 16th birthday—for the sixth time. Every time he’s supposed to turn 17, he loops back a year. His memory gets wiped clean, his body ages backward—the rest of the world moves on, just not him.
Maggie Spear, on the other hand, has been dreading this day ever since she and Carter started dating. When she spies him in the halls and he doesn’t seem to know her at all, it’s obvious that it’s over between them. She can’t be in a relationship with someone who is just going to forget her again and again. Since Carter doesn’t remember that they’re together, then it’s probably better if she just pretends that they never were.
Except Carter senses that there’s more to their story than Maggie’s letting on, and Maggie’s keeping secrets of her own—but in the process of trying to let the other go, they find themselves falling in love all over again.
With Maggie soon leaving for college and Carter’s birthday quickly coming around again, will they be able to find a forever that isn’t stuck at 16?
What I liked: Essentially, this is a time loop story. While the details of this book are a little different the heart of the plot is the same - Carter must figure out what caused him to loop and correct it, leading him to self-discovery. At least, that's what we think we're getting. The set up certainly suggests that course. But Rubin allows this plot to become much more. Certainly we explore the choices that might have lead to Carter looping. The plot transcends the simple self-discovery though. There's a broader exploration of the importance of communication and the complexities of relationships that allows the plot to move beyond the expected. This is more than simple entertainment.
What I didn't like: Some of the issues in this book are over-simplified. Characters are not especially deeply explored. Really, though, those are minor annoyances. Overall this is a solid read.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
Every year we plant a big garden, a bulk of the vegetables we will eat. Since some of the things I like are a bit more obscure I order some of my seeds which has to be done in December or January. It's a bright spot in the depths of winter, receiving seed packets and making plans for the garden.
It can also be a problem. Once you have the seeds in hand there's this itch to plant things, to watch things grow and to eat fresh vegetables. The solution - microgreens. Buy some cheap lettuce, spinach, radish, and other edible greens seeds and plant them in a shallow tray of potting soil in a window. The greens won't get very big but you can eat them. And it's a constant reminder that Spring is, in fact, coming.
Author: Lisa Graff
Genre: realistic fiction
Age range: middle grade
Similar book: Shark Teeth by Sherri Winston
Summary (provided by publisher): Fallon Little has a secret—and it’s not how she got the enormous scar that divides her face in two.
Thirteen-year-old Fallon has only ever told one person what really happened on the day she got her scar. Why would she? The truth is dark, and Fallon has much brighter things to focus on, like being cast as the lead in the school play, and hanging out with her two best friends, Trent and Kaia. But when Fallon's uncle Geebie dies, his funeral ignites a wildfire of events that Fallon can't manage to tamp down. The school play is spiraling out of control, Fallon's impossible Aunt Lune comes to live with them, and Trent and Kaia might just be so into each other that there isn't room for Fallon in their friend group any more. And when secrets even worse than the one about Fallon's scar threaten to come to light, Fallon might not have the strength to keep them buried for much longer.
What I didn't like: This isn't so much a thing that I didn't like as something to bear in mind when recommending this book. It talks frankly and plainly about abuse. While this is never graphic and doesn't dwell on details, it also doesn't hide what happened to a character behind metaphor or leave us to fill in blanks. It depicts the abuse and the emotional fallout plainly. So be prepared to discuss and help young readers process the events of this novel.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
What are you currently reading?
The Mighty Macy by Kwame Alexander - A verse novel about an anxious girl finding her voice and speaking up for things that matter to her.
What did you recently finish reading?
A Scar Like a River by Lisa Graff - Fallon has three big secrets that she's kept since the day she got her scar. Her uncle Geebie's funeral starts Fallon on a path of confronting her secrets and the changes in her life.
What do you think you'll read next?
Space for Saffron by Rie Neal
