Henrietta Hedgehog's Prickly Problem by Carole P. Roman

Genre: Children's Picture Book
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

 I have long been a fan of Carole P.  Roman's Books. I was excited to receive this one in the mail. Henrietta is a hedgehog who is teased at school about her looks. She tries to disguise herself. All this accomplishes is hurting another animal's feelings. Henrietta learns from other animals that they are all different for a reason and being different is okay. This is a lesson that so many children need to hear. Every day I hear kids complaining about what someone said about the way they look. As a teacher it breaks my heart to hear this from any student. Excellent book, a must read.

They Came From the Trees by Christopher Francis

 

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Source: I own a copy

We have a great young adult novel with characters from one of the author's previous books. Margaret, Bailey and Sheldon have returned from, "That Thing in the Sky" which was about an invasion where aliens healed a lot of people on earth. They healed Margaret's mother of her cancer and Sheldon's father of his blindness.  In this book the aliens are back, but they aren't like the ones before. We have aliens who decide who is worthy to live and who should die. They want to merge with the healthy humans to create a "perfect" world. For everyone who has ever read dystopian/utopian books such as, "The Giver", we know there is always a flaw in those types of worlds. Sheldon, Bailey, and Margaret join up with a group of other teens who are doing their best to survive. They face some tough life changing situations and have to make some tough questions. I like that Mr. Francis didn't water this down as far as the fight scenes with the aliens. It truly was like watching a movie. I must continue with the next book, "They came to the Island."  This is really a must read for everyone who likes Science Fiction.

Student Saturday: The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die by April Henry

Student Reviewer: Sophie H.

A 16 year old teenage girl wakes up in a cabin in the middle of the woods. She has no memory of who she is or how she got here. She is tied up, scared and confused. She has obviously been tortured and as she regains consciousness she overhears  two guys talking about killing her. She tries to stay one step ahead of the people after her. Aong the way she meets this guy named Ty. He helps her find a safe place to stay. The teenage girl is very strong and reminds me of the trait of perseverance. She goes 100% at any challenge she faces despite the difficulty or delay in her success. This reminds me of families. You have to trust your family because of how much you love and care for them. She also had to trust her fellow peer, Ty to help her get to a safe place and survive this mess she is in. I would recommend this book to my peers and young adults.