Student Saturday: Bogus by Karla Oceanak

Student Reviewer: Darrell S.
Genre: Middle Grade, Graphic

Bogus is a funny book. I can sit there for hours and read this book. It's about a boy named Aldo Zelnick.  This is the sequel to the book "Artsy-Fartsy". The book "Bogus"  is about when Aldo, Jack and Bee find a ring. Aldo thought that the ring was super bogus. But, Jack thought it was real. When aldo had the ring he lost it. The next day there was an article in the newspaper. It turned out that the ring was real and someone had a $1,000 reward for whoever could find it. One of the best books ever. If you want to find out what happened, then I want you to read this book.


Teacher's Note:
This student was so into this series that his giggles and sharing with his neighbor, along with his, "You have GOT to read this Mrs. Stiles", prompted me to read Artsy Fartsy.  He was right, I loved it.

The Sound Catcher by Graham Garrity

Source: I purchased

Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy

I purchased this book because it sounded interesting.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Chloe is a young girl who had an accident and ended up with a bump on her head.  As a result of that bump she keeps seeing colored clouds. Her mom has kept her home for several days and finally decides she needs some fresh air.  Chloe goes to the old quarry and sees a funny looking man on a funny looking tricycle below her.  When she finally meets him she learns he is the Sound Catcher.  He catches stray sounds.  He tells her it is strange that she can see him as he is invisible.  Then he learns she can see sounds in the form of colored clouds.  He is trying to prove everything about himself when Chloe tells him about a strange stray sound. It was a whisper that makes her think that something bad is going to happen.  Because those particular sounds were green they began to gather up green clouds and finally figured out what the situation was.  What do you do when you hear that someone is going to steal the crown jewels? This is what Chloe and the Sound Catcher must figure out.

I thought it was quite unique to see the sounds as colored clouds.  I loved how inside the special tank used to hold them they form layers like the rainbow.  The red clouds were those that were pleasant such as a baby's giggle.  Yellow were those annoying sounds like lawnmowers.  This was a unique book. For someone like me who is very visual I loved this book.  It combined sounds and sights magnificently.  This book sounded interesting so I figured I would read it before I purchased it for my classroom shelves.  This is one that will go on my list to purchase.  I look forward to reading more by this author.

Five Books For All Ages

Angel and Granny: The Broken Winged Butterfly by Doreen Linda Funk

Genre: Children's Picture Book

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

This is a beautiful story about change. Angel is a young girl who is meeting her grandmother for the first time. Angel wasn’t sure about spending time with her grandmother. Her grandmother was a bug scientist, and Angel didn’t like bugs. A special delivery to granny’s house changed all of that. With Granny’s help with her science fair project, Angel learns all about painted lady butterflies.  In the process she frees her thinking about bugs, much like a butterfly frees itself from its chrysalis. It is wonderful to watch things change and grow. Often children don’t see that they, like butterflies must change and grow. Beautiful pictures and so much to learn. I really enjoyed this book. I learned so much more about the process of metamorphosis.

Silly Socks by Sandra Novello

Genre: children's Picture Books

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Help a young girl find her silly socks in this book. They are never where they should be. She finds them on her lampshade and in her toy box, but not where they should be.

Clive the Clever Crow – Sandra Novello

Genre: children's Picture Books

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Clive is a very clever crow. He eats what is left out for him. In each page of the book you need to find where Clive is hiding. Look closely because he is a very clever crow.

The Nectar of Friendship - Gramps Doodlebug

Genre: children's Picture Books

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Cindy was preparing some nectar to take to her friend Susie. Susie hurt her wing in the wind. As Cindy flies through an orchard she meets a moth who needs her help.  He tells her that a friend is trapped in a web.  Will Cindy help the moth free her friend or will she travel on to Susie’s house? I loved the theme of paying it forward in this book.

Hissy Fitz by Patrick Jennings

Genre: Upper Elementary/Middle Grade, Adventure

Source:  I won a copy form Kids Buzz. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Hissy Fitz is a house cat. He has several humans he lives with. He loves to cuddle with Georgie, but she won’t stop talking. Abe talks to Hissy through a sock puppet. Then there is the terror of the house, Zeb.  He is Abe’s twin. He is hyper to the point of being aggressive. Hissy Fitz can’t seem to get any sleep. He roams the town paying visits to his friends. He is becoming exhausted. Will he ever get the rest he needs? This was a cute book by the author of “Guinea Dog”. I know my students are going to love this one.

Retaliation by Yasmin Shiraz

Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

From Goodreads:
Violence runs rampant on the streets of Washington, DC, and on one seemingly quiet day, the Odom family finds its world destroyed when seventeen-year-old Tashera is brutally attacked by a group of high school girls. 
Retaliation exposes the corrupting existence of violence in our communities and the retaliatory measures families go through to protect themselves and their children.

My Thoughts:
This could have been ripped right out of the headlines of today's newspaper.  Tashera is a seventeen year old high school girl who is attacked while on her way home.  She is jumped by three girls she goes to school with.  She doesn't know why.  Her mother is very angry. The streets have already claimed one child. Her son Kahlil was paralyzed while running with a gang. Her oldest son has gotten out and become a lawyer. The problem is that the violence doesn't stop here.  They each find a way to retaliate for what was done to Tashera.  This is a problem in a lot of inner city areas.  The circle of violence just keeps going around and around.  However, as realistic as this book is, it leaves you with a feeling that there is always hope. The author has even included conflict resolution tips at the end of the book.  This would be an excellent book to be read aloud in the classroom.   I have been lucky in my life and career to not have experienced this situation.  However, last year I had a student who wrote a poem in which he expressed his biggest fear is dying in a drive-by shooting. This is something that happens often in his neighborhood.  If this book can be used to give even one student hope then it is most definitely worth the read.  It is a book I highly recommend.

Skeletal by Katherine Hayton

Genre: Young Adult, New Adult, Mystery, Thriller
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

From Goodreads:
Three months before she died Daina Harrow faced a bully at school.
Six weeks before she died Daina Harrow suffered an assault in the park.
One week before she died Daina Harrow stole a secret people had killed to hide.

That was ten years ago. Ten long years.

Now, her bones have been found on a building site. A coroner's inquest has been reopened. A parade of witnesses is about to start.
And Daina's here. Watching every day as her mother cries in the courtroom. Watching every day as her friends, and her enemies, and her killers lie about her on the stand.
Watching, and making sure that no matter what the coroner hears, you know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

My Thoughts:
This was a great book.  Because we watch what is happening and go back to learn more about Daina's past we get the whole story.  It is creepy and sad at the same time knowing Daina is listening to the  people lie. Those who mistreated her, or ignored and neglected her are there telling their story.  Daina wants to make sure the reader knows the truth.  I felt so sad that it took so long to learn what had happened to her.  
I felt sorry for the life she had lived.  I loved the ending and the twists that I had not expected.  I would most definitely read more by this author.  I will probably re-read this again and again.

Student Saturday: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Student Reviewer: Alexia R.
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Animals

I think this a a good book for everybody, even adults and small children.  This is a book about Ivan, a silverback gorilla who has spent most of his life in a small shopping mall in a cage. Ivan made friends over time like Stella who is an elephant, Runy who's a baby elephant and Bob a stray dog who spends a lot of time with Ivan in his cage.  Over time the animals became depressed, do you think they will ever get out of the small cage and get moved to a zoo?

This is an incredible book. It teaches a lot of lessons to people of how we treat animals for the good and for the worst. This book is really sad and funny and I recommend this for all ages because this book can teach a lot to people of all ages.

Great Stories by some Great Authors

Genre: Children's Picture Books

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinion expressed here are my own.

Fribbet the Frog and the Tadpoles by Carole P. Roman

This is the next book in the Captain No Beard series. When Cayla drops a bucket of dirty water on deck, everyone realizes Fribbet the frog is missing. They find him and learn he is distressed. It seems Fribbet’s home is invaded by tadpoles. As a reader we learn about the changes a frog goes through from egg, to tadpole, to frogs. We learn how valuable a lesson it is to listen to others and help them through their problems. This invasion of siblings for Fribbet is something Captain No beard can identify with. He also shows how special it is. The ending has a surprise for one of the other crew members. Another wonderful way to teach children simple lessons.

Stories For Children 5 by Francois Bissonnette

This book contains two fairytales. They are based on original stories by the Grimm brothers. The first story is a retelling of “Snow White”. In this version Snow White is taken far north by a servant and dumped in the snow to freeze. The Snow Fairy sends a mother polar bear and her two cubs to rescue her. The king is saddened when his wife tells him his daughter has run away.  Many yhears later he sends out eligible princes to find her promising them her hand in marriage. The queen creates a poisoned apple and places it outside of the polar bear’s cave. The cubs roll it in to Snow White where she takes a bite and falls asleep. You must read this to find out how it ends. It is quite different from the Disney Version.

“The Magician” is based on “The Rich and the Poor”

A magician traveling to a magician’s meeting stops at the house of a rich man and asks to spend the night. He is turned away because of his appearance. A poor man sees this and offers him the best of everything they have. The next day the magician gives them three wishes. They ask for health, food every day, and they were given a new house. The rich man learns who he turned away. He rides after the magician seeking both forgiveness and three wishes. Read to see what he will do for those wishes.

Stories For Children 6 by Francois Bissonnette

“Lily and the Prince” is the story of a mother named Helen and her daughter Rebecca who were very rich ladies. Helen was so greedy she adopted a girl named Lily to do all of the work. They didn’t want to pay out the money to a maid. Helen decided her daughter should marry the Prince. Every day they went to town to look for him. One day the Prince stopped by Lily’s house.  He had a problem with his horse. Lily fixed up the horse. The Prince was so impressed he asked to come back the next day.  This continued for a long time. They fell in love. One day Lily’s mother came home early and when the Prince said he was going to marry Lily her mother refused. They rode off anyway. Helen cast a spell on the Prince to stop the marriage.  I loved this Cinderella type story. But, will it have a happy ending?

“The Princess and the Frog” 

This is the story of a beautiful princess  who liked to sit by a lake and read the inscription inside the ring her father had given her. One day the ring fell into the lake. A frog offered to dive down and get it if she would let him be her companion. She agreed. When the frog returned the ring she took him home and explained everything to her father. The frog dined with them. However, he asked to share her warm bed and she refused. He offered her a way to get rid of him. Is his request too much for the Princess?

Executive by Leslie Wolfe

Genre: Adult, Thriller
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinons expressed here are my own.

In this young adult thriller you have a corporation that manufactures drones. Then you have a company that sends people in to help fix companies in trouble. Alex Hoffman is one of those up and coming  people sent to work undercover in the company that makes drones.  Two military drones have crashed killing a lot of innocent people.  Her job is to pretend to be an IT person and find out what happened.  She is faced with a lot of arrogant executives who abuse their powers.  The question is, will she be able to do her job, or will she be discovered?

This is definitely a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat turning the pages as fast as you can.  I did feel like the author had a negative outlook on big corporations. It kind of came through in the pages of the story.  I could be completely wrong.  This was not a big enough deal to make me not enjoy the storyline.  I believe there is enough here to love that any lover of thrillers will enjoy this book.

Psychaotic: See the World in Red and Black by Irum Zahra

Genre:  Adult, Poetry
Source: I received a copy from the author to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Depression is a common theme running throughout this book. This is not a collection of feel good poetry. They are dark and full of raw emotions. Most of them are free verse poems. These poems come from deep within. They show the hurt and betrayal that is often kept hidden within. "Peace to My Storm" is my favorite of all of them. There was a time in my life when this poem was my life. It is hard to imagine the journey she had to take to write a poem that mirrored my own life. I say this because I can still see clearly my own dark path I walked. For those who like poetry that touches the soul, dark or not this book is for you.

The Universes Inside the Lighthouse by Pam Stucky

Genre:  Young Adult, Science Fiction
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

If you like time travel books then you will most assuredly enjoy this book.  This book is not traveling through time, but through different universes.  Emma and Charlie Neeson are twins who find themselves on Dogwinkle Island.  They really think they are going to have a boring time.  Then they learn about the Balky Point Lighthouse.  Inside is where they can jump from one universe to another.  Dr. Waldo is in charge of "The Hub".  Emma and Charlie travel with Ben and Eva an alien they have befriended.  This would be just another ordinary science fiction book if it was only about visiting other time periods. Instead the author has you visiting multiple universes.  The author threw in antagonist Vik.  The aliens are trying to find Vik because he is causing some major problems. He is trying to destroy the only way to travel between the universes.  He is spreading what they called "The Void".  It reminded me of "The Neverending Story" and the nothingness.  The characters were all well developed.  You have Charlie who is very outgoing and then his sister Emma who likes to hang back, she's somewhat introverted.  The story starts out at a great pace. The events begin to ramp up the tension within the story making it almost impossible to put down the book. You want to continue to read to the end of the book.  This is one that I know my science fiction loving students will really enjoy.  I look forward to reading more from this author.

Author bio:

Pam Stucky, a native of the Pacific Northwest, is the author of the Wishing Rock series (novels with recipes), starting with Letters from Wishing Rock, and the Pam on the Map travelogue series, books that take readers along on Pam's journeys and adventures around the world. The Universes Inside the Lighthouse, Pam's eighth book, is Pam's first foray into both YA and sci-fi. 

Author links:

http://www.pamstucky.com

https://www.facebook.com/pamstuckyauthor

https://www.twitter.com/pamstucky

https://www.pinterest.com/pamstucky

https://plus.google.com/+PamStucky/