Woodencloak by Dawn Ford tells a tale for middle graders of a troll princess fighting to free her father and her people. It’s a page turner, all right, as Horra barely escapes her castle during a coup. Together with her pet eagle, Horra flees into the wilderness and...
The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes by Dawn Ford leads the reader on a young adult fantasy journey spanning two worlds. Tambrynn hates her indentured servitude, basically slavery since there seems to be no end in sight. She’s been a kitchen helper/scrubber of things...
A Justice and a Mother The picture book biography I am looking at today is Amy Coney Barrett: A Justice and a Mother, by Joyce Claiborne-West, illustrated by Ivana Besevic. I’ve been curious about Barrett. This book goes over her many strong points: a sharp mind,...
This chapter book for early readers makes a very good homeschool read-aloud. In First Contact, Book 1 of Terra Prime Adventures, T.D. Patrick tells the story of Zack, 12. He’s one of 1500 colonists snoozing in hyper-sleep for nine months while rocketing away...
Max Einstein: The Genius Experiment is a middle grade book that takes the female scientist character to a whole ‘nother level. But does the book grab our hearts? Maxine Einstein, an orphan who has no idea where she came from, lives with other homeless folks...
In this book, Everything Sad Is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri, the author channels his twelve-year-old self, an immigrant from Iran living in Edmond, Oklahoma. He tells his life story to his fifth-grade class as part of an assignment. And it’s a long story–for...
In The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart, twelve-year-old Coyote Sunrise and her dad wander America in their retrofitted school bus, with no plans, no schedule. Well, there is one scheduled item–a weekly call to Coyote’s grandma. In a...
Twelve-year-old Ellie finds her middle-class family thrust by the Great Depression into foraging for existence in the woods on Echo Mountain, far removed from their former lives in town. In this book published in 2020 and written by Lauren Wolk, Ellie finds she loves...
Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan is a novel that pairs the points of view of two fifth grade boys, Ravi, a recent immigrant from India, and Joe, a local guy. Both have to deal with the same bully. The book alternates chapters between the two points...
