Hero by Alethea Kontis - ESSENTIAL

Kontis, Alethea Hero, 306 p. Houghton Mifflin, 2014 (paperback).  Language: PG (6 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG (glimpse of clothesless girl); Violence: PG (regular for fantasy).

Kontis’ book is now in paperback.  If you don’t own this series already, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?  Seriously – just go out and buy it right now.  Here is a link to my original review.

MS, HS – ESSENTIAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher

Sing by Joe Raposo - ADVISABLE

Raposo, Joe Sing, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld.  PICTURE BOOK. Christy Ottaviano Books, 2013. $19.99. Content: G. 

This is a picture book version of the classic Sesame Street song, Sing. It begins with three birds together in a nest. Two of them can sing and they fly away. The one left behind can’t seem to find his or her voice. The bird is joined by a boy playing a guitar and is encouraged to sing by his music. The book ends with the full song in both English and Spanish, as well as an inspirational message about the creation of the lyrics. 

The very simple illustrations are endearing and sweet. The lyrics and pictures invite the reader to sing out even if they don’t think others want to hear it.  This is a good book for reminding children (and adults) that what we have to say is important. Definitely a lovely combination of lyrics and pictures.  

PRE-K, EL (K-3)- ADVISABLE. Reviewed by: Shay, School Librarian

The Swift Boys & Me by Kody Kiplinger - ADVISABLE

Keplinger, Kody The Swift Boys & Me, 265 p. Scholastic Press, 2014.  $17.  

Language: G; Mature Content: PG (affair mentioned, not described); Violence: PG (girl pushed down and kicked).  

Nola has lived next door to the Swift boys for as long as she can remember and they have always been her best friends – especially Canaan, who is her same grade.  Nola does almost nothing without one or all of the boys.  Just as summer before middle school starts, however, the boys’ father walks out on the family, leaving every boy and their mother with gapping wounds.  Canaan, especially, hurts Nola is almost unforgivable ways.  Left her own devices, Nola tentatively makes new friends and a life for herself beyond the boys.

Keplinger’s novel is not a fluffy boy-next-door book.  It feels deeply and painfully, poignantly laying out the demise of a previously life-long friendship.  Don’t let the pink cover fool you; some scenes will choke you up.  I don’t know if the emotions will go over students’ heads or not, but I do have a smaller group of girls who will buzz about it when they find it.  

EL – OPTIONAL; MS – ADVISABLE.  Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS

Mia’s Thumb by Abuja Stille - OPTIONAL

Still, Ljuba. Mia’s Thumb, PICTURE BOOK. Holiday House, 2013.  $16.95. Content: G. 

Mia loves to suck her thumb. It comforts her in all of the scary, exciting, or overwhelming moments in her life. Mia’s family desperately wants her to stop sucking her thumb and tells her all of the reasons to do so. Mia finally stops sucking her thumb once Grandma models the thumb-sucking behavior. 

I thought the family in this book came off too severe! They weren’t very understanding or supportive of helping Mia in the process of sucking her thumb. I liked how the author demonstrated why Mia continued to suck her thumb at the beginning of the book and I thought that the illustrations were unique (although somewhat lackluster) because of the collage technique, but the rest of the book was very unsympathetic and ended very abruptly. 

PRE-K, EL (K-3) – OPTIONAL.  Reviewed by: Shay, School Librarian

Name Your Link

The Troublemaker by Lauren Castillo - OPTIONAL

Castillo, Lauren. The Troublemaker, PICTURE BOOK. Clarion Books, 2014. $16.99. Content: G. 

Someone is stealing things from the family. Everyone thinks it is the little boy, but he insists that, this time, it wasn’t him. The little boy saves the day when he finds the troublemaker, who turns out to be a surprise for everyone. This was a tedious book to get through. I had an issue with the mismatched tenses in the story (first past tense, then present, then past again).  I wanted to like it because some of the illustrations were very distinctive, but it was somewhat anticlimactic and the language needed to be more descriptive. 

PRE-K, EL (K-3)- OPTIONAL. Reviewed by: Shay, School Librarian