Laurie’s Picks Spring 2012

Best for grade 2 & up:

****  Bless This Mouse
By Lois Lowry      The church holds an annual bless the animal day, where everyone brings every kind of animal into the church to be blessed. This means the church mice must act carefully to avoid being devoured by cats or being seen by humans. An enjoyable read!

 

Best for grade 3 & up:

***    Abe Lincoln at Last!
By Mary Pope Osborne   Once again Mary Pope Osborne takes us on a really fun adventure back in time; back to the 1860’s and Washington D.C. to be exact. Jack and Annie need to go, find something special, and bring it back with them to help break a magic spell.

***    Barn Boot Blues
By Catherine Friend         Twelve-year-old Taylor was happy being a city girl and was not excited about the family moving to a farm. Taylor’s new friends convince her to plan a way to get her parents’ attention so they will sell the farm and move back to the city. And just when it looks like it worked, Taylor finds strength she didn’t know she had. Good Read.

 

Best for grade 4 & up:

 **** Stealing Magic      
By Marianne Malone        Jack and Ruthie return to the Art Institute of Chicago hoping to continue visiting the exciting exhibit of the Thorne Rooms. Shrinking to enter the miniature rooms is just as much fun as before, but now they notice items missing from some of the rooms and that rooms with missing art work are no longer alive. Who is stealing the beautiful art work and ending the magic of the living rooms? The setting for this story is based on the real Thorne Rooms that you could go visit yourself or check out online!

****  Vanishing Acts
By Phillip Margolin and Ami Margolin Rome Mystery lovers will enjoy this book; it keeps you guessing until the very end! Madison is about to start junior high when her best friend goes missing. Madison’s strength helps to find her a place on the junior high’s soccer team and to make a new friend. Her bravery helps find her missing best friend, and her Dad solve a murder case where he is defending a man accused of killing his wife.

****  Wonder Struck
By Brian Selznick.           This extraordinarily beautiful book also contains the most precious story. The story unfolds about two young people unable to accept their lives as is and take matters into their own hands. Ben’s story begins in Minnesota where he has lost his mother and his hearing, so twelve-year-old Ben takes off to find his father in New York City. Rose’s story takes her to New York as well and her story is told in pictures. Their story is told 50 years apart (1927 and 1977) about the same places; American Museum of Natural History and Gunflint Lake Minnesota. A truly wonderful book!

 

Best for grade 5 & up:

***    Inside Out & Back Again
By Thanhha Lai     A Newbery Honor Book. Through a series of poems, a young girl chronicles the life-changing year of 1975, when she, her mother, and her brothers leave Vietnam and resettle in Alabama. The author uses true experiences from her own life to tell the story. The reader will feel the honesty in these poems as you get a sincere look back at this time in history.

****  The Lions of Little Rock
By Kristine Levine A mute girl just entering middle school has to deal with the fact that some schools are closed due to the public outcry of school integration and her parents’ opposing views are causing tension at home. She befriends the new girl, who is a black person trying to pass as a white girl. Once this is found out, the girl is ostracized and the mute girl is in danger from trying to stay friends with her. Mean people and tough subjects are deftly handled in this look back into a troubled time for America.

****  May B        
By Caroline Starr Rose              Story told in verse about survival in pioneer days. A young girl is sent to help a new wife endure her life on the prairie in a soddie. Unfortunately, the new wife ends up sneaking off and the husband goes to try and bring her back. May does not know when they will come back and is too far away from her family’s farm to get back by herself. May has to keep herself alive and try to make it home. Sad times and heartfelt angst for the girl touch your heart.