What is your favorite way to spend time with your grandma? Would you rather snuggle up with her and read a great book together or go on a big exciting adventure? Would you rather visit a museum or the beach with your grandma? What if you couldn’t spend time with her at all? If Grandma Were Here, written by Amber L. Bradbury and illustrated by Jessica Corbett, explores all the fun things kids can do with their grandmothers but also teaches young children that even if they can’t physically be with their grandma, she will always be with them in their hearts.
Roger Tarkington isn't your ordinary 12 year old boy. He spends his days traveling, time traveling that is. In school this year, Roger is faced with the problem of cheaters. After being wrongfully accused, he takes it upon himself to use his magic calendar to find out who the real culprits are. It isn't easy, however, to keep track of the current time, go back in time, and still be a regular kid! Join Roger to see if he can keep it all straight, solve the mystery, and still make it to class on time!
What would you do if death followed you everywhere you went? Katie - The Daughter Of tells the story of a girl who literally lives that very scenario, but not in the way one would think. Seventeen-year-old Katie Death is the daughter of one of the world’s many Grim Reapers, James Death. Grim Reapers are Immortals who serve to help separate souls from their dead hosts. As her dad is Immortal, Katie has heard stories about the Immortals her whole life. These stories include things like the battle between Upstairs and Downstairs and between Angels and Demons.
As a music adherent with an underlying mental illness, writer Benjamin Bradford shares his challenges, his loves (Anna and Sophie), and his questionable motivations in the novel Everything that Came Before Grace. Readers can’t help but connect with Benjamin as he falls in love, falls into fatherhood, and is essentially forced into adulthood accompanied by musical undertones which help him express otherwise suppressed emotions for benefit of momentary appeasements.
Kid Lit: An Introduction to Literary Criticism by Tom Durwood is informative and interesting to read. It begins by briefly defining children’s literature, kid lit for short, and highlights its history. It covers coming-of-age resources well, so plans for future editions include adding information about picture books and some international literature too. The book is divided into three sections. The first clearly summarizes concepts such as identity, gender, social class, trauma, and war as they relate to literary criticism.
When parents bring children into this world, it is assumed they will provide for them and love them unconditionally. With that, it is also assumed they will teach them responsibility and to work hard to achieve goals in life. As children transition into adulthood, it can be challenging to let them take on adult responsibility, and sometimes parents struggle with that transition. In this story, a mother experiences that struggle and goes too far in assisting her daughter with her college acceptance.
I Am Sam follows a curious pelican named Sam who does not know what he is. Sam is on a journey to figure out who he is, and along his journey, he encounters many animals who help him to determine what kind of animal he is. He makes many new friends on his exploration. He goes to this zoo and figures out that he’s a pelican, but then later that day he gets captured by humans at the zoo. Sam escapes with help from the other zoo animals, and he goes to find more of his species!
My Homework Ate my Dog by Derek Taylor Kent is an exciting book about a kid named Rudy. Rudy burns down his house one day and has to pay for the consequences by attending Danville Reformatory, for “challenging” boys and girls. Danville Reformatory turns kids with discipline problems to A+ students. When the bully from his old school moves to Danville, will they follow the rules together or become A+ students like everyone else?
Cady and Cooper, best friends, and two model students and offspring, decide that before they graduate, they want to do things “normal kids” do. They make a bucket list.
