Posts by Janie Cheaney
The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney
The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Shane Evans. Little, Brown, 2014. 319 pages, including notes and glossary. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Maturity Level: 4 (ages 10-12) and up Bottom Line: Though it deals with the tragic recent history of Darfur, Sudan, The Red Pencil makes an alien culture and distant…
Read MoreEgg and Spoon by Gregory Maguire
Egg and Spoon by Gregory Maguire. Candlewick, 2014. 496 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-14 Maturity Level: 5 (ages 12-15) and up Bottom Line: Egg and Spoon casts itself as historical legend, making rich use of centuries of Russian heritage, but passes over the most profound heritage of all. Life can’t get much worse…
Read MoreThe Accidental Highwayman by Ben Tripp
The Accidental Highwayman by Ben Tripp. Tor, 2014. 295 pages. Reading Level: Young Adults, ages 12-15 Maturity Level: 5 (ages 12-14) and up Bottom Line: The Accidental Highwayman plunges the reader into 18th-century Britain on a wild, fun ride through its magical subtext. Here’s the subtitle: Being the Tale of KIT BRISTOL, His Horse MIDNIGHT,…
Read MoreSkies Like These by Tess Hilmo
Skies Like These by Tess Hilmo. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014. 231 pages Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Maturity Level: 4 (ages 10-12) One-line Summary: During a summer in Wyoming, Jade’s new friend Roy learns the limits of hero-worship and self-creation. Jade Landers, age 12, isn’t thrilled about spending a good chunk of summer…
Read MorePack of Dorks by Beth Vrabel
Pack of Dorks by Beth Vrabel. Sky Pony Press, 2014. 213 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Maturity Level: 3 (ages 8-10) One-line Summary: For the 10-year-old protagonist of Pack of Dorks, becoming a victim of bullying in middle school is an opportunity to learn acceptance of others. Lucy and Becky are queens of…
Read MoreSky Run by Alex Shearer
Sky Run by Alex Shearer. Sky Pony Press, 2014. 228 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Maturity Level: 4 (ages 10-12) and up One-line Summary: Sky Run is a science fiction adventure for middle grades that views the process of growing up through multiple perspectives. I was 120 years old last birthday. Which is…
Read MoreThe Scavengers by Michael Perry
The Scavengers by Michael Perry. Harper, 2014, 322 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Maturity Level: 4 (ages10-12) and up One-line Summary: The Scavengers is middle-grade dystopian fiction with a warm heart and laughs scattered among the thrills. Maggie, at 13, is a self-described dirty-fingernailed, roughneck girl who has recently taken up residence in…
Read MoreThe Orphan and the Mouse by Martha Freeman
The Orphan and the Mouse by Martha Freeman, drawings by David McPhail. Holiday House, 2014, 220 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Maturity Level: 3 (ages 8-10) One-line Summary: The Orphan and the Mouse is a good-natured animal fantasy for middle-grade readers or a family read-aloud. The mouse residents and the human residents of…
Read More*On the Wing by David Elliot
*On the Wing by David Elliot, illustrated by Becca Stadtlander. Candlewick, 2014. 30 pages. Reading Level: Picture Books, ages 4-8 Maturity level: 2 (ages 4-8) and up One-line Summary: On the Wing beautifully celebrates the varieties of bird life in this picture book for all ages. Birds and picture books seem to be made for…
Read More*Dragon Quest by Allan Baillie
*Dragon Quest by Allan Baillie, illustrated by Wayne Harris. Candlewick, 2013. 40 pages. Reading Level: Picture Books, ages 4-8 Maturity Level: 2 (ages 4-8) One-line Summary: A courageous boy and an elderly knight seek the last dragon in this exciting picture book with a surprise ending. “Hey, you!…Up, up, up, we have deeds to do!” …
Read More*The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
*The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. Dutton Children’s Books, 1978. 182 pages Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Maturity Level: 4 (ages 10-12) and up One-line summary: Ellen Raskin’s classic “puzzle mystery,” 1979 Newbery winner, is still the best example of the genre, with interesting twists and wise character analysis. Six families moved into Sunset…
Read MoreThreatened by Eliot Schrefer
Threatened by Eliot Schrefer. Scholastic, 2014. 278 pages. Reading Level: Young Adults, ages 15-18 Maturity Level: 6 (ages 15-18) One-line Summary: Threatened, one of this year’s most honored YA novels, promotes a “natural man,” anti-civilization worldview. As a boy, Luc felt threatened by the “mock men,” the chimpanzees who never ventured near his village but filled…
Read MoreIf You’re Reading This by Trent Reedy
If You’re Reading This, by Trent Reedy. Scholastic, 2014. 296 pages. Reading Level: Young Adults, ages 12-15 Maturity Level: 6 (ages 15-18) One-line Summary: If You’re Reading This is a moving YA novel about a father establishing a relationship with his son after the father’s death in Afghanistan. For Michael Wilson, life is an endless…
Read MoreThe Dawning of Indestructible Joy by John Piper
The Dawning of Indestructible Joy: Daily Readings for Advent by John Piper. Crossway, 2014,96 pages Reading Level: Young Adults, ages 12-15 Maturity Level: 6 (ages 15-18) and up One-line summary: This short devotional guide for teens and adults shares John Piper’s unique perspective on the coming of Christ in preparation for the Christmas season. The…
Read More*Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus
Note: this review was originally published on February 4, 2011. Heart of a Samurai, by Margi Preus, Amulet Books, 277 pages plus historical note and glossary. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Maturity Level: 4 (ages 10 and up) Bottom line: This Newbery-winning fictionalized biography for middle graders is as likeable as its hero, with…
Read More*Nuts to You by Lynne Rae Perkins
Nuts to You, by Lynne Rae Perkins. Greenwillow, 2014. 259 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Maturity Level: 3 (ages 8-10) One-line Summary: Nuts to You is a charming animal fantasy for younger middle-graders to read alone, or for the whole family to read aloud. So…one day the author took her lunch to a…
Read MoreThe Paladin Prophesy: Book 1 by Mark Frost
The Paladin Prophesy: Book 1 by Mark Frost. Random House, 2012. 560 pages. Reading Level: Young Adults, ages 12-15 Maturity Level: 6 (ages 15-18) One-line Summary: If they can sift the humanist worldview and dismiss the occasional profanity, discerning teens and reluctant readers may enjoy this action-packed, save-the-world fantasy scenario. One sunny morning in southern California,…
Read MorePopular by Maya Van Wagenen
Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek by Maya Van Wagenen. Dutton, 2014. 259 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 11-12 Maturity Level: 5 (ages 12-14) When Maya’s dad, a college professor, found a quaint title from 1951 in his book stash and handed it to her, she never expected it would change her life. Betty…
Read MoreEl Deafo by Cece Bell
El Deafo by Cece Bell. Amulet, 2014. 241 pages Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Maturity Level: 3 (ages 8-10) Bottom Line: Author/illustrator Cece Bell recounts her experience growing up deaf in this graphic-format memoir that entertains and enlightens. Cece Bell is the main character of her own story, told in graphic-novel format with all…
Read MoreBrown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. Penguin, 2014. 320 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Maturity Level: 5 (ages 12-14) Bottom line: Award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson’s verse memoir is a window into the late 20th-century black experience. Jacqueline Woodson (Newbery-winning author) was born in Ohio, the youngest of three siblings, but when her parents…
Read MoreYoung Houdini: The Magician’s Fire by Simon Nicholson
Young Houdini: the Magician’s Fire by Simon Nicholson. Sourcebooks, 2014. 232 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Maturity Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Imagine a pre-teen Harry Houdini as an immigrant shoe-shine boy in New York City, with a showman’s flair and two loyal sidekicks, and you’ve got the gist. The real Houdini grew…
Read MoreD-Day: The Invasion of Normandy, 1944 by Rick Atkinson
D-Day: The Invasion of Normandy, 1944 by Rick Atkinson. Holt, 2014. 202 pages. Reading Level: Young Adults, ages 12-15 Maturity Level: 4 (ages 10-12) On the 1,720th day of World War II (May 5, 1944), a starry host of allied commanders including a future president and a present king gathered to plan for a massive invasion…
Read MoreThe Family Romanov by Candace Fleming
The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming. Shwartz & Wade, 2014. 292 pages including index and bibliography. Reading Level: Young Adults, ages 12-15 Maturity Level: 5-6 (ages 12-15) Bottom Line: The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion and the Fall of Imperial Russia makes a pivotal time in history relatable for…
Read MoreThe War to End All Wars by Russell Freedman
The War to End All Wars: World War I by Russell Freedman. Clarion, 2010. 176 pages including notes and index. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Maturity Level: 4 (ages 11-12) [T]his war changed forever the way wars are fought and the way people think about the use of military power. And unfortunately, it did…
Read MoreWorld War I: An Interactive History Adventure by Gwenyth Swain
World War I: an Interactive History Adventure by Gwenyth Swain. (You Choose Books), Capstone, 2012. 112 pages including timeline, index, etc. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10 Maturity Level: 4 (ages 11-12) As in all the “You Choose” history series books, readers have three main paths to travel: as a nursing student in Belgium, a…
Read MoreStay Where You Are And Then Leave by John Boyne
Stay Where You Are And Then Leave by John Boyne. Henry Holt, 2014. 245 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Maturity Level: 5 (ages 12-14) and up Alfie Summerfield is five when the war starts—July 18, 1914, his birthday. Too young to know that his cozy London neighborhood is about to change forever, but…
Read MoreLife Behind the Wall by Robert Elmer
Life Behind the Wall by Robert Elmer. Zondervan, 2014. 515 pages. Reading level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Maturity level: 4 (ages 11-12) and up This novel is actually a collection of three shorter novels published between 2008 and 2010: Candy Bombers, Beetle Bunker, and Smugglers’ Treasure. Together they make a family saga set in Berlin…
Read MoreThe Great Trouble by Deborah Hopkinson
The Great Trouble: a Mystery of London, the Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel, by Deborah Hopkinson. Knopf, 2013, 247 pages with historical notes. Reading Level: Middle Grades, Ages 8-10 Maturity Level: 4 (Ages 11-12) London, 1854: “Eel,” at 13, is on his way up after a brief career as a mudlark, when he…
Read MoreShackleton: Antarctic Odyssey by Nick Bertozzi
Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey by Nick Bertozzi. First Second, 2014. 125 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Maturity Level: 4 (ages 11-12) and up This is the second of Bertozzi’s graphic series on explorers. (The first is Lewis and Clark: The Greatest Adventure in American History.) His books are notable for a casual style and…
Read MoreTreaties, Trenches, Mud and Blood by Nathan Hale
Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood by Nathan Hale. Amulet, 2014. 128 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12Maturity Level: 4 (age 10 and up) This is the fourth volume of “Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales,” all of which employ the author’s own ancestor (the heroic Revolutionary-War spy) as narrator for some dark, dramatic chapters in history.…
Read MoreThe Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes
The graphic edition of Amity Shlaes’ acclaimed history presents a different view of the effectiveness of government action during the Great Depression. The Forgotten Man: Graphic Edition by Amity Shlaes and illustrated by Paul Riuoche. Harper Perennial, 2014. 307 pages. Reading Level: Young Adults, ages 12-14 Maturity Level: 6 (ages 15-18) Amity Shlaes’ Forgotten Man:…
Read MoreSpace Case by Stuart Gibbs
Space Case by Stuart Gibbs. Simon & Schuster, 2014. 337 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10. Maturity Level: 4 (ages 11-12) Moon Base Alpha (MBA), A.D. 2041. After six months, Dashiel (Dash) Gibson rues the day his parents—geologist mom, mineralogist dad—signed up for a three-year residence on the moon. Being an original colonizer of…
Read MoreJunk Drawer Physics by Bobby Mercer
Junk Drawer Physics: 50 Awesome Experiments That Don’t Cost a Thing by Bobby Mercer. Chicago Review Press, 2014. 187 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 11-12 Maturity Level: n/a Hands-on is how a lot of children learn, especially in the area of science. But if you’re a home educator you may have some experience with…
Read MoreWe Were Liars by E. Lockhart
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. Delacorte, 2014. 242 pages. Reading Level: Young Adults, Ages 12-14 Maturity Level: 7 (Ages 16-up) Then he pulled out a handgun and shot me in the chest. I was standing on the lawn and fell. The bullet hole opened wide and my heart rolled out of my rib cage…
Read MoreCruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge. HarperCollins, 2014, 342 pages. Reading level: Young Adults, 15-18 Maturity level: 6 (ages 15-18) A ruined castle broods over the Island of Arcadia, and over the island arches a parchment sky. Arcadia has been separated from the real world by the Great Sundering, which occurred 900 years before our story…
Read MoreThe Glass Sentence by S. E. Grove
The Glass Sentence (The Mapmakers Trilogy #1) by S. E. Grove. Viking, 2014, 489 pages. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 12-14 Maturity Level: 6 (ages 15-18) and up Boston, 1799: . . . in one terrible moment the various parts of the world had come apart. They were unfastened in time. Spinning freely in different…
Read MoreAn Eye for Art: Focusing on Great Artists and Their Work
An Eye for Art: Focusing on Great Artists and Their Work by the National Gallery of Art. Chicago Review Press, 2014, 176 pages. Reading Level: Middle grade, ages 10-12 Maturity Level: 3 (8 and up) This book is a collection of “Inside Scoop” newsletters, a family quarterly published by the National Gallery of Art in Washington,…
Read MoreThe Carnival of the Animals by Jack Prelutsky
The Carnival of the Animals, by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Mary GrandPre. Knopf, 2010, 32 pages (CD included). Reading Level: Picture book, ages 4-8 Maturity Level: 2 (ages 4-8) and up Camille Sainte-Saens supposedly wrote The Carnival of the Animals in 1886 as an inside joke for his music students. Many of the musical themes…
Read MoreListen to the Birds: An Introduction to Classical Music by Ana Garhard
Listen to the Birds, by Ana Garhard. The Secret Mountain, 2013, 48 pages each (CD included). Reading level: Picture Books, ages 9-12 Maturity Level: 3 (8-10) and up There are lots of ways to introduce classical music, depending on the age of the child. Ms. Garhard’s way is to group musical excerpts around a theme…
Read MoreAva and Pip by Carol Westin
Ava and Pip by Carol Weston. Sourcebooks, 2014, 211 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grade (11-12) Maturity Level: 4 (11-12) On the first day of fifth grade, Ava asks her parents why they named her Ava. “Because we like palindromes,” says Dad. That’s why Ava and her older sister’s name spell the same forward and back,…
Read MoreAlways, Abigail by Nancy Cavanaugh
Always, Abigail by Nancy Cavanaugh. Sourcebooks, 2014, 311 pages. Reading level: Middle Grade (8-10) Maturity Level: 3 (8-10) Abigail Walters is starting sixth grade with high hopes of joining the pom-pom squad. She and her best friends Alli and Cami (better known as AlliCam) have planned and practiced for it since third grade, and Abigail…
Read MoreThe Night Gardener
The Night Gardener, by Jonathan Auxier. Amulet, 2014, 350 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Maturity Level: 4 (age 10 and up) Teenage Mollie and her little brother Kip are on the road at a very inauspicious time and place—mid-nineteenth-century Ireland. Their parents have sailed for America, intending to send for them when they…
Read MoreThe Castle Behind Thorns
The Castle Behind Thorns, by Merrie Haskell. HarperCollins, 2014, 341 pages. Reading level: Middle Grades, ages 11-12 Maturity level: 5 (ages 11 and up) Sand awoke curled in the ashes of a great fireplace. He doesn’t even remember falling asleep, and his surroundings give him no clue how he got here—wherever “here” may be. As…
Read MoreI Kill the Mockingbird
I Kill the Mockingbird, by Paul Acampora. Roaring Brook Press, 2014, 177 pages. Reading level: Middle grades, ages 11-12 Maturity level: 4 (ages 11-12) and up Lucy and her friends Elena and Michael are cemented by the lasting ties of book-fandom. They all love books, but not necessarily the same ones. Michael, for instance, has…
Read MoreZane and the Hurricane
Zane and the Hurricane: a Story of Katrina, by Rodman Philbrick. Scholastic, 2014, 181 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 11-12 Maturity Level: 4 (ages 10-12) Zane does not want to spend a couple of weeks in New Orleans—Smellyville, he dubs it—but his mom has just discovered an almost-relative of his late father there and…
Read MoreAlmost Super by Marion Jensen
Almost Super, by Marion Jensen. Harper, 2014, 251 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, Ages 8-12 Maturity Level: 3 (ages 8-10) Every four years, on February 29, the Baileys of Split Rock gather for the adolescent members (12 and older) to receive their specials powers. It always happens at 4:23 p.m.: a flash of light, and…
Read MoreCuriosity
Curiosity, by Gary Blackwood. Dutton, 2014, 310 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, Ages 11-12, Young Adult, ages 12-14 Maturity Level: 5 (Ages 12-14) Philadelphia, 1836: Rufus Goodspeed has led a sheltered life as the only child of his sheltered father, a Methodist minister. Partially crippled from birth (which birth also took his mother), Rufus feels…
Read MoreGrandmaster
Grandmaster, by David Klass. Farrar Strauss and Giroux, 2014, 226 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, Ages 15-18 Maturity Level: 6 (15-18) What if you discovered that your nerdy dad is a superhero? That’s what happens to Daniel Pratzer—sort of, though Dad doesn’t suddenly zoom across the sky in tights and a cape. Daniel doesn’t make…
Read MoreSeven Stories Up
Seven Stories Up, by Laurel Snyder. Random House, 2014, 229 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, Ages 8-10 Maturity Level: 3 (ages 8-10) Annie and her mom arrive in Baltimore on a sad mission: to say farewell to Annie’s grandmother, who is on her deathbed in the former luxury hotel built by her great-grandfather. Grandmother is…
Read MoreWhat is War Good For?
How do you use the label “anti-war?” As in, “Saving Private Ryan is the best anti-war movie ever made, or “All Quiet on the Western Front ranks at the top of anti-war literature.” In 1969, Edwin Starr’s Motown song “War” became a huge hit. Its theme was simplicity itself: WAR! What is it good for?…
Read More*The Warden and the Wolf King
An epic finale to an epic fantasy series. *The Warden and the Wolf King,by Andrew Peterson. Rabbit Room Press, 2014, 519 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-14 Recommended For: Ages 10 and up, especially fantasy lovers Janner, Kalmar, and Leeli are the children of Nia and Esben Wingfeather, though they never knew their father. Esben was…
Read More*The Desperate Adventures of Zeno and Alya by Jane Kelley
*The Desperate Adventures of Zeno and Alya, by Jane Kelley. Feiwel & Friends, 2013, 201 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, Ages 8-10 Maturity Level: 3 (ages 8-10) and up Bottom line: This sensitive middle-grade novel beautifully explores struggle and loss from two points of view: a girl stricken with leukemia and an African grey parrot.…
Read More*National Wildlife Federation World of Birds by Kim Kirki
*National Wildlife Federation World of Birds: a Beginners Guide, by Kim Kirki. Black Dog & Levanthal, 2014, 80 pages including glossary and index. Reading Level: Picture Book, Ages 4-8; Middle Grades, Ages 8-10 Maturity Level: All One-line Summary: From the handsomely-embossed cover to the hand-lettered chapter titles, this book is a delight. There are no…
Read MoreFor the Birds II
Feathers: Not Just for Flying, by Melissa Stewart, illustrated by Sarah S. Brannen. Charlesbridge, 2014, 32 pages. Reading Level: Picture Book, Ages 4-8 Maturity Level: All “Birds and feathers go together, like trees and leaves, like stars and sky. All birds have feathers, but no other animals do.” And did you know . . .…
Read MoreThe Great Greene Heist
The Great Greene Heist, by Varian Johnson. Scholastic, 2014, 226 pages. Age/interest level: 9-13. Everybody loves a con man, as long as they’re not the ones getting conned. Jackson Greene already has this reputation at Maplewood Middle School. If any elaborate pranks have been played, he was “allegedly” behind it. He comes by his talents…
Read MoreThrough Middle-Eastern Eyes: I Am Malala and Hidden Girl
Two real-life memoirs of girls living in a turbulent time and place: Hidden Girl: the True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave, by Shyima Hall, with Lisa Wysocky. Simon & Shuster, 2014, 232 pages. Age/interest level: 12-up When we are young, it is often the emotion of an experience that stays with us the longest.…
Read MoreOn the Blue Comet
On the Blue Comet, by Rosemary Wells. Candlewick, 2010, 329 pages. I looked out the diner car window. We were just careening past a station called East Libby. A farmer stood on the platform, hands in overall pockets, eyes dreaming down the track from a sun-wrinkled face. Next to him on the platform was a…
Read MoreSRC, Week 6: Spy for the Night Riders
Welcome to Week 6! Time doth fly . . . We started out with The Blue Comet as our book for this week, but due to some issues with content, we’ve decided to focus on this title (see explanation here). We didn’t want to leave anyone hanging, though, so we’ll address The Blue Comet tomorrow…
Read MoreHappy Fourth!
This year marks the bicentennial of our national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which was written after the author witnessed the battle of Ft. McHenry from the hold of a British warship. That happened in September 1814, and we’ll be looking for some good books on the subject to review early this fall. In the meantime,…
Read MoreSRC Blue Comet: Problems and Alternate Suggestion
**Please note: We’ve added an alternate reading option for this week. Spy for the Night Riders: Martin Luther (Trailblazer Books #3)by Dave and Neta Jackson. If you have already bought the book, we’d recommend either reading it aloud so a parent can edit the bad language or using a Sharpie to “delete” it. Return with me, please,…
Read MoreSummer Tales
Two middle-grade summertime stories, both by Newberry-winning authors: Half a Chance, by Cynthia Lord. Scholastic, 2014, 218 pages. Age/interest level: 10-14 Lucy is used to moving—it’s her third time in 12 years. This time, her photographer dad and computer-programmer mom have moved to a New Hampshire lake mostly populated with summer people, so the friends…
Read MoreIce and Jungle–New Middle-Grade Adventure
Ice Dogs, by Terry Lynn Johnson. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014, 279 pages. Age/interest level: 12-16. It’s the call of the wild—Victoria Secord loves her 16 dogs and her life in Alaska, where everything was perfect until the accident that took her father. Dad taught her everything she knows about mushing and wilderness survival, but Mom…
Read MoreIt’s Summertime! Let’s Learn Something!
While we’re gearing up for our summer reading challenge (still time to sign up!) the kids may be looking around for something to read. Fiction comes to mind—what a great time to catch up with Percy Jackson or Greg Heffley! Or not. Though lighthearted fantasy or humor seems right for summer, don’t neglect nonfiction. Kids…
Read MoreDigging in the Dirt
Due to the loooong winter experienced by those of us in the Midwest and eastern United States, we’ve been slow to get our garden in. Also a bit tardy to look around and notice the new gardening books that always start popping up in March. But better late than never: here’s one nice addition to…
Read MoreGifts for Grads, 3rd Edition
If you have a high school or college graduate, you’re thinking about how fast time flies and how bittersweet the occasion of this very special young adult stretching his or her wings and flying out into the world. We think of all the things we should have told them and all the time that might…
Read MoreThinking Christianly–about Everything
Reclaiming the Christian Intellectual Tradition series, by various authors. Crossway, 2012-2016, 110-140 pages each. Age/interest level: 16-up. This fall, bright, committed Christian students will pack their Bibles and drive blissfully away to secular college campuses. They know their Bible, but if they don’t know how to relate the Bible and Christian thought to the subjects…
Read MoreBook Bits – May 5, 2014
It’s graduation month, so we’re going to get all serious this week. Watch for gift recommendations and college prep resources, and if college isn’t in the future for you or your high school grad, education goes on. Or how about learning a trade? Mike Rowe says there’s a career–and money–to be made in helping to…
Read MoreFaithgirlz in Action: Two New Series
Zondervan’s “Faithgirlz!” books are series novels aimed at middle-grade girls. These two “girlz” series fall prey to some common weaknesses of Christian fiction, but show some bright spots too: Riley Mae and the Rock Shocker Trek (Good News Shoes, #1), by Jill Osborne. Zonderkidz, 2014, 238 pages. Age/interest level: 8-12. Riley Mae Hart loves shoes:…
Read MoreOver the Moon and across the Pond
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Over the Moon, by Frank Cottrell Boyce. Candlewick, 2014, 240 pages. Age/interest level: 9-13 The magical car seems to be flying for the last time in this latest installment of her time-traveling adventures (following Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Race against Time, which takes her and the Tooting family back…
Read MoreShakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ron Koertge
Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ron Koertge. Candlewick, 2003, 116 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, 10-12 Maturity Level: 5 (Ages 12-15) One-line Summary: Kevin, age 15, learns to deal with difficult life issues by expressing his thoughts in poetry. An entertaining introduction to poetry forms. Shakespeare himself doesn’t have much to do with it; it’s all…
Read MoreBaseball Is . . . by Louise Borden
Baseball Is . . . by Louise Borden, illustrated by Raul Colon. Simon and Shuster, 2014. 40 pages. Reading Level: Picture book, ages 4-8 Maturity Level: 2 (ages 4-8) and up One-line Summary: a picture book tribute to baseball for all ages, from an author and illustrator who love the game. This lavish picture book…
Read More*The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
*The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. Harcourt Mifflin Harcourt, 2014. 237 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grade, ages 10-12 Maturity Level: 4 (ages 10-12) and up Bottom line: The Crossover, a verse novel for middle grades, is an exuberant, touching, and funny tribute to basketball and family. Basketball Rule #1: In this game of life/ your family…
Read MoreFamily Devotional Time
Even though I have some reservations about personal devotional books, expressed here, family devotions are another story. While some formats are “less optimal” than others, time set aside as a family to talk about God’s word and its application to everyday life is time well spent. The quantity doesn’t matter as much as the consistency;…
Read MoreBible Review: The Family Reading Bible
The Family Reading Bible: a Joyful Discovery: Explore God’s Word Together, NIV. Zondervan, 2010, 2336 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: all ages Bottom Line: The Family Reading Bible includes the full text with scriptures arranged in three separate reading tracks for growing families. Just like it says, this version is meant…
Read MoreBible Review: The Story Teen Edition
The Story: Teen Edition. Zondervan, 2011, 498 pages (paperback). Reading Level: Middle Grades ages 10-13 Recommended for: ages 12-15 Bottom Line: This teen edition of “The Story” presents an abridged version of the scriptures arranged to form a continuous narrative accessible for teens. Not to be confused with The Story: the Bible as One Continuing…
Read MoreBible Review: The Big Picture Interactive Bible
Big Picture Interactive Bible: Connecting Christ through God’s Story (HCSB)*. Broadman &Holman Kids, 2014, 1350 pages. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 8-10 Recommended for: ages 6-10 Bottom Line: The “Big Picture” in this HCSB Bible relates to Jesus as the central figure of both Old and New Testaments. Like the NIV Jesus Bible, the purpose…
Read MoreBible Review: The Jesus Bible (NIV)
The NIV Jesus Bible, Zondervan, 2014, 1760 pages Reading Level: Middle Grades, 8-10 Recommended for: ages 8-12 Bottom Line: This children’s version of the NIV translation puts a proper focus on Jesus as the central figure of the entire Bible. It’s about time! Bible publishers are waking up to the fact that the whole word,…
Read MoreBible Review: NKJV Ignite
NKJV Ignite: the Bible for Teens. Thomas Nelson, 2013, 1600 pages. Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: ages 12-15 Bottom Line: Ignite offers engaging features for the active teen who is just beginning to engage seriously with scripture. In trying to determine the difference between this teen Bible and Extreme Teen (another NKJV…
Read MoreBible Review: ESV Journal Bible
ESV Journal Bible, Crossway, 2012 (latest edition), 1380 pages. Reading Level:Middle grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 12 and up Bottom Line: Though limited in long-term value, the ESV Journal Bible offers a reliable translation with plenty of room for the reader to interact with the text. The Journal Bible is available in a variety…
Read MoreBible Review: NKJV Extreme Teen Study Bible
NKJV Extreme Teen Study Bible, Thomas Nelson, 2012, 1792 pages, for ages 13-18 Reading Level: Young Adult, ages 12-15 Recommended for: ages 12-15 Bottom Line: The Extreme Teen Study Bible offers standard in-text features in a reliable translation. This version of a teen study Bible in the New King James translation was originally published in…
Read MoreThe Shakespeare Stealer–and an Interview with Author Gary Blackwood
The Shakespeare Stealer (1998), Shakespeare’s Scribe (2000), and Shakespeare’s Spy (2003), by Gary Blackwood. Penguin Group; Puffin Books. Age/interest level: 12-16. True story: in 1998 I was shopping around a manuscript about a 14-year-old boy in 16th-century London who through a series of happy misfortunes becomes an actor in William Shakespeare’s theater company. Before starting…
Read MoreIt’s Party Time! How to wish Will a happy 450th
What better way to celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday than to throw a party! With ten or more guests and liberal use of the suggestions below, it could be a night to remember. But wait! think’st thou. Parties take a lot of planning and expense and just plain work! Yes, but if you get your homeschool group, room mothers,…
Read MoreAdventuring with Wilder Good, Gannon & Wyatt, and a Giveaway!
The Adventures of Wilder Good: Elk Hunt, by S. J. Dahlstron. Paul Dry Books, 2013, 101 pages. Age/interest level: 9-13. The title says it all: young Wilder goes hunting for his first elk with trusted neighbor and old timer Gale Loving. An early-morning rise, a drive into the Colorado mountains, a hike deep into the…
Read MoreAmerica, the Future: Divided We Fall and Sylo
This month we’re looking at some YA and middle-grade titles that could be described as “high-interest”: stories that grab you and don’t let go. But these two YA novels also contain some thought-provoking material–especially the first. (And speaking of “high-interest,” the movie version of Divergent opens today! See our reviews of all three titles in…
Read MoreRetro Reads: The Sword in the Stone
This week we begin a series of occasional posts called Retro Reads: those modern-day classics you may have missed in your teen years or before you were even on the radar screen. We’ll do this mostly by author: Beverly Cleary, E. L. Konigsburg, Elizabeth Speare, Natalie Babbitt—and any favorites you’d like to suggest? We launch…
Read MoreSequelville: in Which We Follow up on Some Old Favorites
Sometimes fans of a popular book DEMAND a sequel (see Origami Yoda, below), and sometimes the entire series is planned out from the beginning. Whether a series conclusion lives up to its promise is another story, but all of these sequels have their charms. Click on the highlighted title of the previous book to read…
Read MoreMiddle Grade Winners: Cheesie Mack and Jack Strong
We’ve written about “middle-grade losers” before–those feckless, clueless fifth-and-sixth grader boys (exhibit A being The Wimpy Kid) so popular with boy readers of that age and younger. Here we try to balance the ledger with a couple of fifth- and sixth-graders who have a lot going for them, but just a few little problems appropriate…
Read MorePortrait of the Fantacist as a Young Man: Carpet People
The Carpet People, written and illustrated by Terry Pratchett. Clarion, 2013, 261 pages. Age/interest level: 11-up Sir Terry Pratchett, grand old man of fantasy/science fiction, began his career at the age of seventeen, with this very book (the original version is included in the appendix of this edition). He revised Carpet People while in his…
Read MoreDragons and Time Fetches: More Middle-Grade Fantasy
Handbook for Dragon Slayers, by Merrie Haskell. HarperCollins, 2013, 226 pages. Age/interest level: 10-up. When our story begins, Tilda, age 13, has no interest in dragon-slaying; she just wants to write the definitive book on the subject. Or the definitive book about something. Due to a lame foot and a retiring personality, she’d just like…
Read MorePresidents Day–What the Hayes?
There didn’t used to be a Presidents Day; instead, Americans observed Lincoln (Feb. 12) and Washington (Feb. 22) separately. But since those two had thoughtfully arranged to be born in the same month, and achieve the rank of Best President, and we didn’t want to slight the other 42 (I guess)—why not just slide them…
Read MoreBe My Valentine: The State of Teen Romance
If you go back as far as I do, you remember the YA novels before there was any such category as “YA.” These were mostly insipid girl-meets-boy or girl-changes-boyfriend stories that I, little snob that I was, turned up my not-unsubstantial nose at. The other option in the early-teen fiction landscape was series books, chiefly…
Read More*Tommysaurus Rex by Doug TenNapel
Tommysaurus Rex by Doug TenNapel. Scholastic (Graphix), ask 2013. 238 pages. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 8-10 Maturity Level: 3 (ages 8-10) and up Bottom line: This graphic novel’s humor and lively drawing style are made-to-order for middle-grade boys, but it also deals thoughtfully with important themes. Ely’s best friend is a dog, which seems…
Read MoreAward-Winning Science Picture Books
The Animal Book: a Collection of the Fastest, Fiercest, Toughest, Cleverest, Shyest—and Most Surprising—Animals on Earth, by Steve Jenkins. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013, 208 pages. Age/interest level: 6-up. Steve Jenkins has made a name for himself writing about specified corners of the animal kingdom (see our review of The Beetle Book) and illustrating them with…
Read MoreA Quick Trip around the World
Maps, by Eleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski. Candlewick, 2013, 107 pages. Age/interest level: 4-up You like maps? We’ve got maps! After a view of the whole world, followed by a political map of Europe, the fun begins: big, double-page spreads of each country, lavishly illustrated with folk-arty, idiosyncratic icons of flora, fauna, geographical features, local…
Read MoreWalk Like an Egyptian–and a Roman
It’s nonfiction week at Redeemed Reader—or not entirely, but we’ve got a lot of nonfiction titles to review, including a quick trip around the world and a delve into scientific inquiry for the picture-book set. Today we take a trip back in time—way back—to the ancient Egyptians and the slightly-less-ancient Romans. Treasury of Egyptian Mythology:…
Read MoreOn the Court and in the Woods: Books for Teen Boys
Will in Scarlet, by Matthew Cody. Knopf, 20134, 272 pages. Age/interest level: 12-up. We’re introduced to William Shackley as a callow, nervous 14-year-old on his first real wolf hunt. He has expectations to live up to: heir apparent to the family estate while his father is away crusading with Richard the Lionheart, he’s spent most…
Read MoreSecond-Grade Perils: The Year of Billy Miller
The Year of Billy Miller, by Keven Henkes. Greenwillow, 2013, 229 pages. Age/interest level: 6-8. Kevin Henkes’ name on a book jacket automatically gets attention. No wonder: not only is he equally successful at writing and illustrating, he’s one of the very few children’s writer/illustrators to win both Newbery and Caldecott medals. And probably the…
Read MoreLive From Philly! Betsy Tweets the ALA Youth Media Awards
Since Friday, unhealthy Betsy’s been rubbing elbows at the American Library Association winter conference in Philadelphia. This morning she got up super early to snag a good seat at the Youth Media Awards, viagra the ALA’s BIG EVENT of the year. This, of course, is where they announce winners of their coveted prizes, mainly the…
Read MoreNewbery Buzz: The Truth of Me, plus one more
This is our last “buzz” post, but tomorrow Betsy and I are going to go out on a limb and make some predictions about the winner–maybe even name some titles that should be the winner. The Truth of Me, by Patricia MacLachlan. HarperCollins, 2013, 114 pages. Age/interest level: 8-14. Janie: Robert, the latest in a…
Read MoreNewbery Buzz: Counting by 7’s
(Janie and Betsy are continuing their chat about some of the outstanding children’s literature being touted for the coveted Newbery award–yes, there are people who speculate and handicap and figure the odds, just like for the Oscars and Golden Globes. See our thoughts about The Real Boy, Flora & Ulysses, and The Center of Everything. …
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