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The Encyclopedia of Me
The Encyclopedia of Me written by Karen Rivers was an interesting take on the middle school drama that all girls go through. Rather than a novel, The Encyclopedia of Me is actually written as an encyclopedia with entries for each letter that actually works really well as a story too!…
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Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Subsitute
Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute is the prefect start to a series of books for reluctant readers – especially elementary school-age boys. Jarrett Krosoczka’s graphic novel format works perfectly for reluctant readers with minimal text and a lot of action. The plot line follows the lunch lady and her assistant…
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Starry River of the Sky
Starry River of the Sky is written by Grace Lin and is considered a companion novel to Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. In both of these stories, Lin takes the Chinese folklore that she so desperately did not want to hear as a child and creates her own spin…
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The Composer is Dead
I would have to say that Lemony Snicket is one of the most interesting authors that is currently writing for children. From A Series of Unfortunate Events to The Lump of Coal his work is definitely different and kids go crazy for it! With that being said, I picked up The Composer is…
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The Black Book of Colors
This is probably one of the most interesting picture books I have ever seen! A quick story before I continue on: I volunteered at a summer camp for children with visual impairments and each child was different – from those who were completely blind, to those who could differentiate light…
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Penguin and Pinecone
“One day Penguin found a curious object.” And so begins this beautiful story of friendship between a penguin and that curious object – a pinecone! Salina Yoon has created such a cute world with her whimsical illustrations and simple text about what it means to be a friend. I don’t…
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Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon
Bomb: The Race to Build – and Steal – The World’s Most Dangerous Weapon written by Steve Sheinkin, is another non-fiction title that makes a difficult topic easy to understand, interesting to read about, and accessible to a wider audience. I’ll admit, it’s been awhile since I’ve taken a U.S.…
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Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95
Children’s non-fiction books have been in the spotlight recently with the focus on Common Core Standards in the education field. That being said, many authors are creating non-fiction books that are more easily accessible and interesting to kids. Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 written…
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Palace of Stone (Princess Academy #2)
I have to admit, I still love a good princess story! Overall, I really enjoyed Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale the follow-up story to The Princess Academy. Miri travels to Asland to attend the Queen’s College and becomes a lady of the court to her friend, Britta. But after having grow…
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What Came From the Stars
What Came From the Stars by Gary Schmidt is a high-fantasy story about a young boy, Tommy, who finds a magical necklace from another planet in his lunchbox and what ensues can only be explained as chaos. I had a really hard time with this book – I’m not much of…