-
Twas the Night Before Christmas
Create a new tradition and read a few Christmas stories on your own or share some with you family today! One of my favorites is The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. Every time I read it, I can hear my mom’s voice reading this story to us when we…
-
Graphic Novel declared a Terrorist Operation????
A war correspondent, David Axe, traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo and wrote a middle grade graphic novel about the “Lord’s Resistance Army” called Army of God. After finding an illustrator and publisher, his graphic novel has now been flagged by the United States Office of Foreign Asset Control…
-
Christmas means….
In my parent’s house, Christmas means my dad setting up his model trains from when he was young and my mom baking in the kitchen, and watching White Christmas with everyone. Growing up with three siblings my mom used baking as a way to spend time with each of…
-
Seeing Cinderella
Seeing Cinderella by Jenny Lundquist is fun, entertaining read – perfect for middle school girls, especially those who enjoy their fiction mixed with just a little fairy tale magic. When Callie Anderson, a sixth grader who already has frizzy hair, freckles, and finds that she has to…
-
Middle School Holiday Party
In T-minus 2 hours, we’ll be hosting our middle school group, Junior Friends, holiday party filled with games, a craft, and plenty of snacks. We have found through trial and (mostly) error that an hour is just enough time for the kids to relax and hang out and not too…
-
The Raft
I’ll be honest, this was another one of those books that piqued my interest just by the cover art. I recently read Unbroken, written by Laura Hillenbrand, a true story about a man whose B-24 bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean, afterward he spent 47 days floating on a raft…
-
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!…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…