Club Microbe

Club Microbe - 56 pages

Elise Gravel

Summary (From Goodreads)

It's a germ’s world. We’re just living in it!

In Club Microbe , Elise Gravel teaches young readers that germs live all around us―and even inside of us! Guided by Gravel in this formidable introduction to the fascinating world of microorganisms, we learn that some microbes get a bad rep for making us sick, but that most are helpful creatures that allow us to digest food, make cheese, and even enable snowflakes to form in winter.

In her signature colorful cartoon style, Gravel describes the invisible work of microorganisms that aid in creating our food, producing oxygen, and keeping our planet alive. She gives us a tour of the heroes and the villains of the microbe world, stopping to marvel at their unique names and wondrous shapes.

Review

This was as charming and humorous as it was educational -- the perfect way to get kids (and me!) interested in learning more about science!  

Every Month is a New Year: Celebrations Around the World

Every Month is a New Year: Celebrations Around the World - 48 pages

Marilyn Singer, Susan L. Roth (Illustrator)

Summary (From Goodreads)

Around the world, people celebrate the start of the new year at midnight when December 31 becomes January 1. But not everyone celebrates on this date. In fact, during every month of the year, some group of people in some part of the world is celebrating the new year. Chinese New Year is celebrated in January or February. Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, is celebrated on March 21. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is celebrated in September or October. Diwali, celebrated in parts of India, falls in October or November. All these celebrations, and many others, have unique traditions and festivities that people observe. This collection of poems pay tribute to several of these fascinating festivities, some well-known and some lesser-known. Go on a whirlwind international tour of these diverse celebrations--enough to fill a twelve-month calendar, and more.

Review

This one is great for learning about holidays from other cultures!  There's a pronunciation guide in the back, as well as information about each of the holidays and traditions mentioned in the poems.  

Delicious in Dungeon, Volume 7

Delicious in Dungeon, Volume 6 - 215 pages

Ryoko Kui; Taylor Engel (Translator)

Summary (From Goodreads)

It's eat or be eaten...literally! Massive changes in the dungeon have drawn out new monsters for Laios and his party to take on-and taste! But the shift has attracted the attention of the western elves, whose intervention could spell further trouble not only for Laios, but also for everyone on the island! Facing the threat of the Lunatic Magician from within and the elves from without, the adventurers must rally as a team like never before, especially when forced to confront a beast straight out of Senshi's nightmares!

Review

It's still a bit too soon for me to say whether I like the dynamic the party has with Izutsumi, though the early hints of character development we've seen thus far have been promising.  I'm also glad we finally got some much-needed insight into Senshi's character and backstory.  

Bad Hare Day (Goosebumps #41) by R.L. Stine

 Bad Hare Day (Goosebumps #41) by R.L. Stine-117 pages

⭐⭐⭐1/2

Trick cards, floating scarves, disappearing doves. Tim Swanson loves magic tricks. Someday he wants to be a real magician. Just like his all-time favorite hero, Amaz-O.

But then Tim goes to Amaz-O's show. And he finds out his idol is a total grump. That's when Tim decides to steal the bag of tricks. Amaz-O's bag of secret tricks. Scary tricks.

The one with the multiplying red balls.
And all those hissing snakes....

Thoughts: This one is pretty good. Tim Swanson is in for a rude awakening when he gets to "join" Amaz-O's magic show at 12 years old. I continue to enjoy the twists at the end of these books. They're not really that scary reading them as an adult, but they're still fun reads.

Night of the Living Dummy III (Goosebumps #40) by R.L. Stine

 Night of the Living Dummy III (Goosebumps #40) by R.L. Stine-125 pages

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Trina O'Dell's dad used to have a ventriloquist act. That's why he has all those dummies in the attic. He calls it his Dummy Museum. There's a dummy with freckles. And one with a sneer just like Rocky. Trina and her brother, Dan, think the dummies are pretty cool.

But now there are voices in the attic. And dummies keep showing up in the strangest places.

No way those dummies could be alive! Right?

Thoughts: I liked the previous instalments in this series within a series. I liked this one, also. Slappy is an evil dummy and he just keeps coming back. I also like it because it's somewhat similar to Child's Play and Chucky and also other horror franchises where if you say the "magic" word(s) an inanimate object comes to life. 

Poison Ivy: Thorns by Kody Keplinger

Poison Ivy: Thorns by Kody Keplinger

208 pages

⭐⭐⭐/5

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

There's something unusual about Pamela Isley—the girl who hides behind her bright red hair. The girl who won't let anyone inside to see what's lurking behind the curtains. The girl who goes to extreme lengths to care for a few plants. Pamela Isley doesn't trust other people, especially men. They always want something from her. Something she's not willing to give.

When cute goth girl Alice Oh comes into Pamela's life after an accident at the local park, she makes her feel like pulling back the curtains and letting the sunshine in. But there are dark secrets deep within the Isley house. Secrets Pamela's father has warned must remain hidden. Secrets that could turn deadly and destroy the one person who ever cared about Pamela, or as her mom preferred to call her ... Ivy.

Will Pamela open herself up to the possibilities of love, or will she forever be transformed by the thorny vines of revenge?

Poison Ivy, Vol. 1: The Virtuous Cycle by G. Willow Wilson

Poison Ivy, Vol. 1: The Virtuous Cycle by G. Willow Wilson

Poison Ivy (2022-) #1, 160 pages

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pamela Isley has been a lot of things in her life. A living god, a super-villain, an activist, a scientist, and dead. In a new body that she didn’t ask for and with a renewed sense of purpose, Ivy leaves Gotham and sets out to complete her greatest work—a gift to the world that will heal the damage dealt to it...by ending humanity.