Tag: friendship

REVIEW: Rules of the Ruff by Heidi Lang

REVIEW: Rules of the Ruff by Heidi Lang

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Amulet Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Jessie is spending the summer with her aunt and uncle and cousin “Ann-Marie.” Ann-Marie used to be just Ann and she was fun to hang out with back then. But when she became friends with Loralee, she wanted to be called Ann-Marie instead. She never sticks up for Jessie when Loralee is hateful, cruel or manipulative. Ann-Marie usually doesn’t pay attention to Jessie unless Loralee stands her up.

So Jessie decides to find her own summer fun by pestering her grumpy neighbor, Wes, to let her join his dog-walking business. Wes agrees to take Jessie along only if she learns the Rules of the Ruff – his rules for working with dogs.

Jessie learns a lot about the dogs – and about Wes – through their partnership. When a rival dog walker moves in on Wes’ business, Jessie is incensed. When she hears that the rival doesn’t even love the dogs like Wes does, that it’s just a job to her, Jessie decides to serve up a little vengeance and get Wes’ clients back. But things quickly turn ugly and the Rules of the Ruff might not be enough to set things right again.

Review

This was a cute story with characters that produced some strong emotions in me. Loralee is horrible. She’s a typical, hateful middle grade bully/mean girl, and she’s just awful. Monique, the rival dog walker, really ticked me off, too, with her cavalier attitude about putting Wes out of business. Max and Ann’s inability to stand up to Loralee at times was infuriating. The author did a great job developing characters that incited strong feelings.

I loved Jessie’s persistence and self-acceptance. She never tried to be something she wasn’t. And she makes some really selfless choices in the book that were both painful to read and also inspiring.

On one level, this is a dog story but even more than that it’s a relationship story.  Jessie’s relationships with each of the characters tell the reader so much about Jessie and about the people around her. The Rules of the Ruff come in handy with people, not just with dogs. Hand this to your favorite dog lover and be prepared for him or her to really connect with these characters, too.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

BONUS REVIEW: Awesome! by Craig Shuttlewood

BONUS REVIEW: Awesome! by Craig Shuttlewood

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic ARC/review copy of this book from Netgalley and Capstone in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Marvin the moose saves the day and becomes a woodland hero. And his best friend, Woody the beaver, helps Marvin highlight his new status. But soon Woody is feeling  jealous and left out. And his attempts to get attention might get him a different sort of attention than what he was aiming for.

Review

I enjoyed the illustrations in this one. This is exactly the sort of art I enjoy and the kind that would grab my attention as I walked past the book on a shelf.  And the story is a classic dilemma. I think this would be great for use at home or at school to start conversations with kids about jealousy, feeling left out, and healthy vs unhealthy ways to  get recognition or to stand out in the crowd.

Rating: ♥♥♥

REVIEW: The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair by Amy Makechnie

REVIEW: The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair by Amy Makechnie

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy from Netgalley and Atheneium Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Guinevere, her sister Elizabeth (Bitty), and their dad move back to Gwyn’s parents’ home town, Crow, Iowa, because of Vienna. Vienna is Gwyn’s mother. Six years ago, when Gwyn was four and Bitty was a baby, Vienna’s heart stopped. Her brain was without oxygen for a long time. While she was eventually revived, her brain was damaged. Vienna doesn’t remember anything now beyond age 13. She remembers her husband because they had been childhood friends. She remembers her mother and sisters, but she can’t reconcile their older, adult lives with her childhood memories. She doesn’t know her daughters at all.

In Iowa, Gwyn and Bitty have Nana and their dad there to help them with the day in and day out activities. They see Vienna at her care facility and on outings, but it is hard to see the person who should love you the most not even know who you are. One saving grace to the whole move is Gwyn’s friendship with Micah and Jimmy. Along with Bitty, the four kids do everything together, including their attempts to solve the disappearance of a local man. Micah’s mom, Gaysie, is Gwyn’s primary suspect. Everyone in town talks about her and whispers about “the accident” that happened when Gwyn’s parents and Gaysie were kids.

Gwyn will learn a lot about her new community, her new friends, her mom and even herself as she experiences these early months in Iowa.

Review

This is a lovely, heartbreaking story of family and friendship. There are several layers to this, and they all worked well.

On the surface, this is about Gwyn and her family, especially her mother. My heart broke for Gwyn (who acts older than 10 in a lot of ways) as she tries to manage her emotions about her mother. The situation is difficult and tragic, but Gwyn’s dad refuses to lose hope. Gwyn’s anger and resentment is understandable; she is grieving in her own way the lost of her mother in a parental role in her life.

This is also about the past. The family moves back to Iowa hoping the familiar people and places will help Vienna regain some of the memories she has lost. There are a lot of references to the past, especially to the friendship between Gwyn’s parents and Gaysie, and the mysterious “accident.”

Then there’s the mystery. Gaysie’s neighbor and friend, Wilber, disappears, and Gwyn is determined to figure out what happened to him. At the same time, there’s also her friendship with Jimmy and Micah which grows while they work on the mystery.

I don’t think the mystery is central enough to put this in that genre. I’d categorize this as realistic fiction. It’s beautiful and emotional. A really engaging story. This would be a great addition to personal libraries, school libraries, classroom libraries and class read-alouds. Just be sure to have tissues nearby!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: The Game Masters of Garden Place by Denis Markell

REVIEW: The Game Masters of Garden Place by Denis Markell

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Delacorte Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

The adventurers – Torgrim, Bran, Jandia, Mirak and Gerontius – are on a quest to find the pieces of an ancient scepter. They have secured six of the seven pieces, but the final battle seems impossible to win.

Ralph, Noel, JoJo, Persephone and Cammi have been playing Reign of Dragons for a couple years. Their original Game Master moved away so the kids have been taking turns planning the next part of their campaign for the pieces of the Seven Serpent Scepter. But as they’ve gotten older, everyone but Ralph seems to be drifting away from the game.

Ralph plans one final gaming day with his friends hoping to find the final piece of the scepter before the rest quit Reign of Dragons all together. But one roll of a golden d20 changes everything when  their characters – Torgrim, Bram, Jandia, Mirak and Gerontius – are pulled from the game into the real world.

Review

This was SO fun! I’ve never played Dungeons and Dragons, but I know enough that I was able to follow along with the game play here. Kids who aren’t familiar with RPGs (Role Playing Games) may need a 5 minute tutorial about how the game works, but the rest of the story will make sense for everyone.

The characters in this – both the real life kids and their game counterparts – are terrific. It took me a little while to get all of them straight – which adventurer had which powers, which kid went with which character, etc. The kids are racially diverse (there’s a conversation about this when the kids explain that dynamic to the adventurers which is terrific) and one of the kids seems to be working through some things regarding his sexuality although it is fairly subtle. While these things round out the characters, they aren’t “issues” to be addressed in the story. These are just pieces of who the characters are. There are some fantastic moments when the kids really click with their game counterparts which was fun. The characters were my favorite part of this story.

This is a delightful fantasy book. The first 40% or so is set up – getting to know the kids, getting the history of their game play, and seeing the game characters in action. Then the game characters are pulled into our world. I loved seeing the adventurers trying to sort out our culture. And the connection between the game world and ours was handled in a clever way.

I highly recommend this book for kids who love fantasy and gaming and RPGs and the like. This was so fun!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

REVIEW: The Fantastic Library Rescue and Other Major Plot Twists by Deborah Lytton

REVIEW: The Fantastic Library Rescue and Other Major Plot Twists by Deborah Lytton

Posted on by Jaymie

[Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Jabberwocky for the opportunity to read an electronic ARC/review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Ruby Starr is a book fanatic. She loves to read and even started a book club with her friends. And then other kids also started book clubs. They’ve started a great reading culture in their school.

When Ruby and her friends pick out a brand new book for their club to read, they struggle to get enough copies for their group to share. That’s when Ruby discovers the school library is having budget issues. The library hours are being cut, and they can’t buy any new books.

Ruby and her friends decide to do something to help the library. But Ruby’s desire to be the hero in her own story causes some trouble that snowballs into a big mess.

Review

This is a cute middle grade book that feels geared toward the younger side of the age range. The characters are around ten and their interactions focus on friendships, homework and food fights. Ruby is a fun, imaginative, and creative character. The action of the story is occasionally set to the side when Ruby’s imagination kicks in.

I love that Ruby owns and names her feelings – even if she’s not proud of them. She recognizes that she wants to be in charge, be the hero, save the day. And that can make her envious and make her refuse the help of others around her.

The story about the book club and the library rescue was solid, but even better was Ruby’s personal story. Her thoughts and feelings and choices, her triumphs and failures, made this a worthwhile read for me.

This is the second book in a series. I haven’t read the first book, but that did not impact my understanding of the things going on in this story. Give this to elementary kids who enjoy friendship stories and stories that celebrate books and reading.

Rating: ♥♥♥½

REVIEW: EngiNerds by Jarrett Lerner

REVIEW: EngiNerds by Jarrett Lerner

Posted on by Jaymie

[Thanks to the author, Jarrett Lerner, who hosted a social media contest in 2017 where I won a copy of EngiNerds.]

Summary

Kennedy and his crew of friends call themselves “The EngiNerds.” There’s roughly a dozen of them, and they hang out in the science lab at lunch. Ken’s best friend is Dan. His nemesis is John Henry Knox, a kid obsessed with weather.

One day Ken comes home from school and finds a huge and heavy box on his porch with his name on it. Dan helps him get it in the house, and they start to put it together. After a brief distraction, they come back and find a fully assembled robot.

Greeeg, the robot, is apparently smart enough to assemble himself. And he’s VERY hungry. Greeeg will eat anything – except radishes – including glass jars and take out containers. At first, Ken thinks Greeeg is another cool present from his grandpa like the wind tunnel or the train set. But Grandpa K. didn’t send Greeeg. And Ken is starting to think that his cool new robot might be a lot more dangerous than he first thought.

Review

This was page after page of fun. The boys are quirky and smart. They bicker and banter, but when push comes to shove, they back each other up. I didn’t even get to know them very well yet in this first book. There’s a lot more to discover about the boys in the next book, I hope.

And the robot adventure is just getting started for Ken and his friends. There are plenty of mysteries and unanswered questions to carry readers further into the series.

If this had come out when I was teaching, I would have needed several copies of this in the library. I know just the kids I would have given this one to. They would have gobbled it up, begging for more.

I highly recommend it for the middle grade readers in your life who enjoy funny, quirky stories and science fiction.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Captain Superlative by J. S. Puller

REVIEW: Captain Superlative by J. S. Puller

Posted on by Jaymie

[Profuse thanks to Netgalley and Disney-Hyperion for the priviledge of reading an electronic review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Jane is a “blend into the background” sort of kid by choice. She keeps her head down. She avoids attention. Her grades are good enough to get by. And that is her focus – to get by.

But something is very different at school that January. Some kid is walking around dressed as a superhero, calling herself Captain Superlative. Who does that?! Kids will think she’s weird. They’ll call her a freak!

Captain Superlative catches Janey’s imagination, though. She watches the Captain help kids all around the school. She opens doors for the kid in a wheelchair and makes a study guide for the whole seventh grade to help with a tough test. And she stands up to the Queen Bee, Dagmar, when she bullies her favorite target.

Before she really knows what’s happening, Janey finds a little bit of the heart of a hero in herself. She steps out of the shadows and joins Captain Superlative as she tries to make a difference in the lives of every single person in the school. But when things turn rocky, Janey will have to decide if she’s going to run back to the shadows again or if she is brave enough to stand alone in the spotlight.

Review

If I could give more than five stars to this, I would! (In fact, I looked back and one other time I gave a book a 5+ rating. I think I have to do that again for this book.) This was spectacular! In fact, just before I read this, I read a book I thought would surely be a favorite for 2018, and after reading this book, I can barely remember what I liked about the last one. This one has just consumed me since I finished it. This book has everything I love – a fascinating story, amazing characters and tons of heart. But this went one step farther with a hint of a “message.” It’s subtle, and it is woven into the entire fabric of the book. And it is perfect.

Oh, how I love Janey. She exemplifies everything I love about middle school students. She’s full of heart and strength and fear. She’s trying to make her way through difficult situations and do the right thing. Sometimes she fails. But you understand her heart. You know where her choices are coming from. I wanted to hug her. A lot. She’s a delight.

This was an emotional one for me – at least a six-tissue read. It would be hard for me to read this out loud without crying. But this begs to be read out loud – to be experienced “together.” It’s a bullying story on one small level. But it is so much more! It’s about a culture of kindness, about finding your voice, and about then using it to help others. It’s about family and friendship and legacy and character. And it’s wholly superlative.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥+++

REVIEW: The Great Treehouse War by Lisa Graff

REVIEW: The Great Treehouse War by Lisa Graff

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

When Winnie was finishing 4th grade, her perpetually bickering parents announced they were getting a divorce. Their primary concern was complete and total equality. No extra time for either parent. So one parent took Thursdays, Saturdays and Mondays. The other took Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays. Wednesdays were “free” days when Winnie would live in her two-story treehouse between her parents’ homes.

If this wacky schedule wasn’t obnoxious enough, her parents also started competing with one another to plan the most elaborate “holiday” celebrations for days like “Peach Cobbler Day” each and every day they had Winnie. Their elaborate plans consumed all of Winnie’s time. Her 5th grade school work suffered. Winnie’s best days at school were Thursdays, after her no-nonsense day to herself.

Winnie gets desperate. Her promotion to 6th grade is at risk, and she can’t get her parents to listen to her about how serious things are. Her teacher can’t get through to them, either. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Winnie decides to just STAY in her peaceful, neutral treehouse. And her friends decide to revolt as well and join her. This is the story of The Treehouse Ten.

Review

I have longed to read this book for months, and I am SO glad I did. What a FUN story!

There was a part of me that wanted to get distracted by plausibility. What custody plan puts a 5th grader in an unsupervised treehouse one day a week? What parents would get so caught up in their petty competition that they would ignore their daughter’s schooling? But I have seen how divorce and custody can bring out the worst in people. So I set aside my plausibility issues and just enjoyed the story. The rest of the story overcame my questions. And thankfully there were other adults looking out for Winnie!

I loved Winnie! She is such a great character. Her solution to the chaos of the Treehouse Ten standoff was so creative. Absolutely fantastic!

The format of this was fun. It’s presented as a school memoir project and includes diagrams, post-it notes from all of the kids, and transcripts of news reports. The format kept things fun and fresh.

I would put this into the hands of any kid who loves stories about kids who stand up for themselves in difficult situations. I highly recommend this one!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty

REVIEW: The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

When Lucy was 8, she was hit by lightning. It stopped her heart for a couple minutes and activated part of her brain in a new way. Now Lucy is a mathematical genius. She can calculate long, complicated math problems in her head. It’s an awesome gift.

Because of her math gift, Lucy could go to college even though she is only 12. But Lucy’s grandmother is concerned that Lucy has missed some of the “soft skills” that other kids pick up in school and in activities with their peers. So they make a deal. Lucy needs to spend one year in seventh grade – make one friend, try one activity, read one book that isn’t about math. If Lucy does that for a year, she can then go to college or wherever she wants to go with her education.

Middle school is tough for any kid. Add in the fact that Lucy has been homeschooled for four years, she’s a math genius (which she wants to keep secret), and she has several OCD compulsions, and the difficulty level increases quite a bit. But Lucy has a lot to offer her new school if she’ll give it a try. She might even surprise herself along the way.

Review

This was exceptionally good! I adored Lucy and the other characters in this book. From the beginning I loved Lucy’s pre-teen awkwardness and her love of all things math. She has this fantastic confidence when it comes to her gift and when she is in settings where she feels safe. But she’s cautious in places – like school – where she doesn’t want to stand out any more than she already does with her compulsions (she has a sitting ritual as well as cleaning and counting compulsions).

As if Lucy wasn’t awesome enough on her own, she also finds a group. Through a school project Lucy finds true friendships as well as a place to put her math gift to use in the real world. It’s such a cool part of the story.

I thought this was realistic, too. Crummy things happen at school. People don’t understand Lucy’s compulsions (in part because she doesn’t open up about it, like with the English teacher). A few kids are unkind. Lucy struggles to find her voice and figure out where she wants to use it. Her problems don’t magically resolve at the end of the story. But great things happen for and through Lucy. And it was a treat to read her story. This will be a favorite for 2018. I highly recommend this for older elementary and middle school readers. Fans of Counting by 7s and Finding Perfect might enjoy this as well as readers who love fantastic, rich characters in their stories.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the opportunity to read an electronic review copy of this outstanding book! All opinions are my own.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

REVIEW: Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Princess Theodosia is the only daughter of the Astrean Fire Queen. But that is before the Kalovaxians come. Before the Theyn kills her mother and the Kaiser conquers Astrea. Before the people of Astrea are turned into slaves and the Spiritgems that provide the kingdom’s magic are mined almost to extinction just for decoration of the Kalovaxian nobility. Before the Kaiser declares Theodosia is now “Lady Thora,” the Ash Princess.

Stripped of her strong, true name, Lady Thora tries to keep her head down and survive. She is publicly beaten if there is even a hint of rebellion anywhere in Astrea. She is whipped to remind her – and anyone who would even think of helping her – that she is nothing. No longer a princess, but only an Astrean disgrace. Thora’s only friend is the daughter of the Theyn, the man who murdered the Fire Queen. But how much can Thora truly trust this “friendship?” She’s been betrayed before – even by her own people trying to curry favor with the Kaiser. How could any Kalovaxian be a true friend to the Ash Princess?

When the Kaiser forces Thora to kill the Fire Queen’s last guardian, she starts to wonder if keeping her head down and merely surviving her beatings is enough of an existence. Thousands of her people are dead or dying while she lives in relative “comfort” in the palace. But the Kaiser has decided the Ash Princess is now of age, and he is plotting decisions for her life that will place her on a dark and dangerous path. Perhaps it is time for Theodosia to return and take a stand.

Review

In a Young Adult market full of books of displaced royalty fighting to reclaim their throne, this book stands out from the crowd. It’s captivating!

The fantasy thread in the story is thin but intriguing. The Spiritgems are a foundational piece of Astrea’s history, but I don’t think we have seen yet all they can mean to this story. I am eager to see them cut loose.

The most satisfying part of the story for me was the intricate relationships and competing loyalties in the besieged world of Astrea. Theo/Thora has worked so hard to merely survive, she hasn’t been able to spare a lot of energy to think about her people. She has no one she can truly trust. And her enemy is stunningly manipulative and cut-throat. It’s hard enough for her to even think about standing up to the Kaiser. Her feelings for some of the Kalovaxians who have been her only companions for the last 10 years complicate her desire for freedom. I loved the complex and competing motivations.

There are some nice twists in the end that make the wait for book 2 excruciating. I can’t wait to see how things progress for Theo next. I highly recommend this book!

Thanks to the folks at Netgalley and Delacorte Press for the opportunity to read an electronic review copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥