Sharon Draper writes some of the best books for teens, so I was excited to see her new book for younger kids. Sassy: Little Sister is NOT my Name! is about Sassy Simone Sanford, a fourth grader who loves her name. Unfortunately, no one at home calls her that. They all call her Little Sister, and she...
Effie Maloney's family has had a rough few years, but lately, things have turned around. Effie is now keeping a list of all the good luck she has had in recent months. The only black cloud is her bossy older sister, Maxie. Then Valentine's Day arrives, and Effie's luck starts to turn. I laughed...
James Cross Giblin has written about fifth-grader Jason and how he proceeded with his assignment, a three-page report on Sir Alexander Fleming. Trouble was, Jason didn't think Fleming was all that exciting, even if he did discover penicillin. His teacher suggested Jason look for an interesting story...
With Thanksgiving on the way, it's a good time to consider the definition of a Pilgrim. Molly's Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen does just that. When Molly explains to her mother what her teacher told her about why the Pilgrims came to America, Molly's mother thinks it describes why their family...
Miss Stretchberry loves poetry, and makes it part of her classroom every day. In Love That Dog , we meet Jack, who thinks poetry isn't for boys, and that he can't understand it. The story is told through Jack's poetry assignments. As the year unfolds, he finds that poems do have something...
Dave was normally a pretty noisy 5th-grader. In fact, maybe he was a loudmouth. But after reading about Gandhi, and how for many years he spent one day a week not talking at all, Dave thought it was worth finding out what it would be like to keep silent. After about a half day of trying silence on his...
Vanessa kind of likes living in the Governor's Mansion with her mother, the governor of Florida. The food is really good, and you never know when you'll run into somebody famous, like Governer Schwarzenegger! But Vanessa is not happy that her mom is running for President - she's off campaigning...
"Is this the bus for us, Gus?" That's the question Tess asks on every other page of this book, while they wait to go to school. Big brother Gus answers with varying degrees of patience. Meanwhile more kids keep lining up to ride too, and their wordless activities are worth watching. And...