Today I’m offering some books that speak to something really important in our wounding world — the deep down, heartfelt assurance that your body is good and lovable and wondrous, exactly as it is. For many, many, many of us …
Category: chapter/middle grade
1 wacky sci-fi + 1 fizzing fantasy
Looking for something slightly off-kilter and crammed with action?! Here are a couple series-starters that’ll work for ages 9 and up. How to Save the Universe Without Really Trying, by John Cusick published in 2020 by Harper 322 pages Meet …
50 books, 100-ish pages and under…round three!
Over the years, some of my perennially favorite, top-read posts are my collections of 100-ish-pages-and under chapter books. These mighty-slim books range widely in their difficulty, style, and content making them appealing choices for a variety of readers — those …
six picks for tween readers
Today I’ve got some great reads for the long hot days of summer. From the extremely quirky, to sci fi and fantasy, to stories of the real, challenging lives of tweens, middle grade literature has got you covered. The Time …
the Olympics are coming! it’s time to explore Japan!
The beleaguered 2021 Summer Olympics are set to begin on July 23rd. There have been many quirks and setbacks in the history of the modern Olympics, but the devastating pandemic, year-long delay of the games, and debate over whether or …
Read More "the Olympics are coming! it’s time to explore Japan!"
summer-set novels and chapter books
Hi all! I meant to get this post out earlier this summer… …and then it slipped right off my plate. However, summer solstice was just yesterday so there’s lots of warm days ahead for these summer-set novels. I’ve got a …
fiction fancies
Recently I’ve been burrowing back in the library catalog, searching for fiction gems I’ve missed through the years. Today I’ve got a first sampling of what I’ve discovered, four delightfully different fantasies — check them out for reading aloud or …
spiffy & short — fiction for young readers and listeners
Today’s books deliver wonderful stories that are nicely suited to reading aloud to young children or handing to sturdy young readers. They’re too long to qualify for my 100-pages-and down lists yet they are fairly short and their style and …
Read More "spiffy & short — fiction for young readers and listeners"
the persecuted Uyghur, art, and female empowerment…read your world
The Uyghur people, a predominantly Muslim people located in far northwestern China, have been spotlighted internationally in recent years due to their persecution by the Chinese government. In addition to repressive police surveillance, more than a million Uyghurs have been …
Read More "the persecuted Uyghur, art, and female empowerment…read your world"
the bird in me flies…a stunning portrait of an artist
The Bird in Me Flies, written and illustrated by Sara Lundberg, translated by B.J. Epstein first published in Sweden in 2017; English edition 2020 by Groundwood Books 120 pages This ravishingly beautiful, fictionalized biography of Swedish artist Berta Hansson has …
Read More "the bird in me flies…a stunning portrait of an artist"
