Miss Blake is a Flake

Miss Blake is a Flake by Dan Gutman  112 pages

At-ten-tion! The Beaver Scouts are looking for new recruits. And A.J. and his friends are the first to sign up. They can’t wait to build campfires and earn cool badges.

But scout leader Miss Blake would rather prepare them for falling boulders and surprise bear attacks. When they go on an overnight camping trip, will they be prepared for a real emergency? 

I chuckled out loud on this one.

Octavius Grimwood's Graveyard Guide by Rod Green

 Octavius Grimwood's Graveyard Guide by Rod Green, 29 pages

Written from the perspective of Octavius Grimwood, erstwhile collector and professor of paranormal knowledge, this is a child's field guide to What Goes Bump In The Night, cleverly encased in a coffin-shaped book. Subjects studied include: vampires, witches, ghosts, werewolves, mummies, and skeletons, and more!

Full of need-to-know info for the juvenile supernaturalist on-the-go, this graveyard guide contains helpful tips for spotting and defeating various dark forces, including detailed illustrations and folklore facts from around the world. And, if the subject matter has properly heebied your jeebies, the guide also includes jokes to bring some levity to the situation. 

10/10, highly recommend to any kid of any age who gets a thrill from ghoulies and ghosties.

Socks by Beverly Cleary, 156 pages

Socks by Beverly Cleary

The chronicle of the white-pawed Socks the cat begins humbly inside a cardboard box outside a grocery store. He's lucky enough to find the Brickers, a newlywed couple with a home full of love to share. Socks is the king of his castle until his life is turned upside down by the birth of the Bricker's first child.  From a severe lap shortage, to enemies and unexpected friends, Socks has to find his place in the new order, eventually coming to a mischievous accord with the tiny interloper.

My sister bought this book for me at a rummage sale, and it was a quarter well-spent! The entire book is written from Sock's POV and the language is comical and frisky, much like I imagine a kitten's inner monologue might be. The chapter with the babysitter warmed my cockles, as my grandmother used to say. 

For whom it may concern: the book was published in the '70s, and has more diet culture in it than is necessary for a kid's book, so tread lightly if reading to actual children. 

The Very Worst Ever

 

The Very Worst Ever by Andy Nonamus  117 pages

[REDACTED] keeps his name and school secret—even hiding his appearance behind stickers. Why? Because his bad luck is super embarrassing!

It’s carnival time at school, which means games, food, and fun rides! Not only that, but every student has to come up with a booth and [REDACTED] simply has to win and be gifted the ultimate prize…a LUCKY BRACELET! But first, he needs to come up a winning booth idea, deal with a creepy sad clown, and compete against his best friends. What could go wrong except everything?!

Super silly just as kids like. 

The Deepest Breath

 

The Deepest Breath by Meg Grehan  180 pages

Stevie is eleven and loves reading and sea-creatures. She lives with her mum, and she's been best friends with Andrew since forever. Stevie's mum teases her that someday they'll get married, but Stevie knows that won't ever happen. There's a girl at school that she likes more. A lot more. Actually, she's a bit confused about how much she likes her. It's nothing like the way she likes Andrew. It makes her fizz inside. That's a new feeling, one she doesn't understand. Stevie needs to find out if girls can like girls - love them, even - but it's hard to get any information, and she's too shy to ask out loud about it. But maybe she can find an answer in a book. With the help of a librarian, Stevie finds stories of girls loving girls, and builds up her courage to share the truth with her mum. Written in accessible verse `chapters' and in a warm and reassuring style, The Deepest Breath will be of special relevance to young girls who are starting to realise that they are attracted to other girls, but it is also a story for any young reader with an open mind who wants to understand how people's emotions affect their lives.

This is such a sweet story about innocence and confusion. After reading this, I can't see how anyone would think homosexuality is unnatural or wrong.   

Pet Jokes That Will Make You Howl

 

Pet Jokes That Will Make You Howl   96 pages

By Terry Pierce & Ruth Musgrave

These hilarious pet jokes are getting great reviews from animals everywhere! How does secret cat agent 007 like his cream? Shaken, not purred. What's a dog's favorite festival? Mardi paw.

Um....Clever but not funny:)

Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol: Night of the Zombie Zookeeper

 

Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol: Night of the Zombie Zookeeper  

122 pages  by Andres Miedoso (book #4)

For this case, Desmond and Andres off to the zoo! Zoo field trips are the best. You get to ride in a bus, you get to spend the day outside, and all the animals are safely far away in their enclosures. Nothing scary here, right? Wrong! Leave it to Desmond Cole to find the one zookeeper who’s also a zombie.

El Deafo by Cece Bell

 El Deafo by Cece Bell-233 pages

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a really good graphic memoir about the author's childhood grappling with her deafness. She got Meningitis at age 4 and it caused her to go deaf. This happened in the 1970s. She had to wear hearing aids behind her ear at home, but a phonic ear at school. Bell was somewhat embarrassed at the time and scared that the other kids would make fun of her for being different. She made (and lost and regained) some friends across her childhood. Bell created an alter ego for herself called El Deafo to help gain confidence in herself and come to grips with her deafness. This is a powerful story about growing up deaf and what it means to different people. I highly recommend reading this if you haven't. 

Whatever After: Genie In a Bottle

 

Whatever After: Genie In a Bottle (#9) by Sarah Mlynowski    176 pgs

Abby and her little brother, Jonah, have a magic mirror in their basement that takes them to different fairy tales, which they always wind up messing up. But sometimes, it's for the better: Snow White doesn't eat the apple, Cinderella gets a job she loves, etc.
In this enchanting ninth installment, the siblings fall into the story of Aladdin. They're excited to be in this world of magic carpets and genies, but making three wishes isn't so easy, and soon hilarities and hijinks ensue! 

This is a cute series. As long as the reader knows their fairy tales, they'll get the humor. I even learned that their is more to the Aladdin story than Disney had us believe:) I would recommend this to a young reader.

The Night Ride by J. Anderson Coats

The Night Ride by J. Anderson Coats 216 pages Mark Twain nominee, juvenile fiction book. I really wasn't interested in reading this book, until I met the author and then I had to give it a try. The setting was not the time period I expected, old English time. The story was hard for me to get into, but turned out to be a good story overall. The Black Stallion meets Tamora Pierce in this adventure-filled middle-grade novel about a young stable girl who discovers a secret that endangers her beloved horse and threatens her future. Sonnia loves horses more than anything. She works at her family's struggling pony ride business but dreams of the beautiful steeds in the royal stables, especially Ricochet, who she's been slowly saving money to buy - even though she knows people from her impoverished neighborhood are rarely so lucky. Then Ricochet is moved to the racetrack across town, and Sonnia lands a job there. Now, she can see Ricochet every day and earn enough money to buy him in no time - all while helping her family with her new wages! She even joins the junior racing cadre to train to become a jockey. But then she uncovers their secret pastime: competing in the Night Ride, a dangerous and highly illegal race in the darkest hours before dawn. Every race puts the horses at risk. Sonnia wants to protect the horses she's grown to care for, but she's only a kid from the poor side of town - considered expendable, just like the horses. If she just keeps her head down, soon she can buy Ricochet and get him out of there - and keep supporting her family. But would she be able to live with herself?

Lion of Mars By Jennifer Holm

Lion of Mars by Jennifer Holm 259 pages Bell is a kid raised on Mars who learns that he can't be held back by the fears of the grown-ups around him. Bell has spent his whole life - all eleven years of it - on Mars. But he's still just a regular kid - he loves cats, any kind of cake, and is curious about the secrets the adults in the US colony are keeping. Like, why don't they have contact with anyone on the other Mars colonies? Why are they so isolated? When a virus breaks out and the grown-ups all fall ill, Bell and the other children are the only ones who can help. It's up to Bell - a regular kid in a very different world - to uncover the truth and save his family ... and possibly unite an entire planet. Mars may be a world far, far away, but in the hands of Jennifer L. Holm, beloved and bestselling author of The Fourteenth Goldfish, it can't help but feel like home." -- ‡cProvided by publisher. I am not a fan of science fiction, but this book kept me intrigued and wanting to read more. The tie to a pandemic, truly made an impression. It was a very good fit for 4-6 graders.

Linked by Gordon Korman

Linked by Gordon Korman 246 pages Link, Michael, and Dana live in a quiet town. But it's woken up very quickly when someone sneaks into school and vandalizes it with a swastika. Nobody can believe it. How could such a symbol of hate end up in the middle of their school? Who would do such a thing? Because Michael was the first person to see it, he's the first suspect. Because Link is one of the most popular guys in school, everyone's looking to him to figure it out. And because Dana's the only Jewish girl in the whole town, everyone's treating her more like an outsider than ever. The mystery deepens as more swastikas begin to appear. Some students decide to fight back and start a project to bring people together instead of dividing them further. The closer Link, Michael, and Dana get to the truth, the more there is to face-not just the crimes of the present, but the crimes of the past. With Linked, Gordon Korman, the author of the acclaimed novel Restart, poses a mystery for all readers where the who did it? isn't nearly as important as the why? This is a juvenile chapter book, but I still enjoyed it. The mystery was well written, as Gordon Korman's work always is. The suspense of finding out the real identity of the vandal stretches throughout the book. This book addresses the Holocaust and the KKK, so there was some sensitive material, but I enjoyed the story as well as the author's note at the end.

Capsized!: the Forgotten Story of the SS Eastland Disaster by Patricia Sutton

 Capsized!: the Forgotten Story of the SS Eastland Disaster by Patricia Sutton, 155 pages

From the MARC: "On July 24, 1915, the SS Eastland, filled to capacity with 2,500 aboard, capsized in the Chicago River while still moored to the pier. The disaster took more passenger lives than theTitanic and stands today as the greatest loss of life on the Great Lakes. Capsized! details the events leading up to the fateful day of the disaster and provides a nail-biting, minute-by-minute account of the ship's capsizing. Kids follow the lives of workers and their families, mostly first- and second-generation Polish and Czech immigrants employed by Chicago's largest manufacturer, Western Electric's Hawthorne Works. From the courage of the survivors to the despair of families who lost loved ones, Capsized! brings the stories of ordinary working people enduring the unthinkable to light. It also raises critical-thinking questions for young readers: Why do we know so much about Titanic's sinking and yet so little about the Eastland disaster? What causes a tragedy to be forgotten and left out of society's collective memory? Why was no one ever held responsible for this catastrophe? What lessons from this disaster might we be able to apply today?"

What was the San Francisco Earthquake? By Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler

What was the San Francisco Earthquake?  By Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler, 108 pages

Most grown ups know about the big San Francisco Earthquake but children may not.  This was a very interesting history of the 1906 earthquake and the aftershocks.  It was amazing to learn how many fires broke out and how many people were displaced.  There are quite a few pages of pictures taken at that time in San Francisco.

Where is Stonehenge? By True Kelley

Where is Stonehenge? By True Kelley, 108 pages

I did not know much about Stonehenge.  I knew where it was but I did not know why it existed and how it existed through the years.  This was a fascinating book that gives the complete history of Stonehenge.

Who is Ralph Lauren? By Jan O'Connor

Who is Ralph Lauren?  By Jan O'Connor, 107 pages

This was a fascinating children's book on the life of Ralph Lauren. Ralph Lauren was the child of Jewish immigrants. He grew up fascinated with the movies and high style. Ralph began his career designing ties and then worked his way up to designing stylish clothes.  He went on to become a world famous fashion designer who designs the United States Olympians opening and closing ceremony wardrobes.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Coraline by Neil Gaiman - 184 pages

Started this month off with a juvenile horror so I didn't have bad dreams.  Enjoyed the story about a young girl who could see things others couldn't and finding a fake (evil)  family instead of her real one in the house she lived.  It was a struggle but finally she found the real family.

Baboons by Alexis Roumanis

Baboons by Alexis Roumanis - 24 pages

I had a friend from South Africa who had an encounter with Baboons.  I'll never forget the story.

A juvenile book.  This had some wonderful facts that I never knew before.

RABBIT & ROBOT: THE SLEEPOVER by Cece Bell

Rabbit & Robot: the Sleepover by Cece bell - 56 pages

Easy Book.  What a cute story of friendship....an unlikely friendship to say the least.  They are way too different to be friends but somehow they make it work.

Fog Island by Tomi Ungerer

Fog Island by Tomi Ungerer - 48 pages

This is a child's book.  The reason I read these from time to time is that I don't remember being read the simple stories when I was young.  It wasn't until about 7th grade that Mom and I  began reading and writing together.

So this book....scary looking...would have appealed to me when I was young.

Off the coast of Ireland.  Two children were warned not to take a boat to the mysterious Fog Island  because no one ever came back from it.  During a storm the children were forced to land here and indeed it was a mysterious foggy island with someone pulling the chains.