Geo Librarian

BOB by Wendy Mass & Rebecca Stead illustrations by Nicholas Gannon Feiwel & Friends, 2018 ISBN: 978-1-250-16662-3 Source: purchased Ages 9-12 Middle grade speculative (fantasy) All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK A classic middle-grade tale of magic and friendship, about a girl who helps an old friend find home, by two New York Times–bestselling authors Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead. It’s been five years since Livy and her family have visited Livy’s grandmother in Australia. Now that she’s back, Livy has the feeling she’s forgotten something really, really important about Gran’s house. It turns out she’s right. Bob, a short, greenish creature dressed in a chicken suit, didn’t forget Livy, or her promise. He’s been waiting five years for her to come back, hiding in a closet like she told him to. He can’t remember who—or what—he is, where he came from, or if he even has a family. But five years ago Livy promised she would help him f...

FAMOUS PHONIES Legends, Fakes, and Frauds Who Changed History by Brianna DuMont Sky Pony Press, 2014 ISBN: 978-1-62914-645-4 Source: purchased Ages 10 and up MG/YA Nonfiction All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Fakes, frauds, and phonies. Sounds like a book filled with criminals and delinquents, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not. Some of the biggest names in history can be found between these pages—and the light isn’t flattering. (We’re looking at you, George “I must not tell a lie” Washington.) Famous Phonies: Legends, Fakes, and Frauds Who Changed History is the first book in a new nonfiction middle grade series that will explore the underbelly of history, making you question everything you thought you knew about history’s finest. Follow the fake lives of these twelve history-changers to uncover the fabrications of the famous, and the should-be-famous! Famous “Phonies”: Confucius • George Washington • Pythagoras • Hiawatha • Gilgamesh • Major Wi...

OCEAN MEETS SKY by The Fan Brothers Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2018 ISBN: 978-1-4814-7037-7 Ages 4 and up Source: publisher for review All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Finn lives by the sea and the sea lives by him. Every time he looks out his window it’s a constant reminder of the stories his grandfather told him about the place where the ocean meets the sky. Where whales and jellyfish soar and birds and castles float. Finn’s grandfather is gone now but Finn knows the perfect way to honor him. He’ll build his own ship and sail out to find this magical place himself! And when he arrives, maybe, just maybe, he’ll find something he didn’t know he was looking for. REVIEW In this gorgeously-illustrated story, a young boy named Finn misses his grandfather.  Living by the sea allows him to look out his window and dream of the place his grandfather told him about where the ocean meets the sky.  This fantastical plac...

BREAKOUT by Kate Messner Bloomsbury, 2018 ISBN: 978-1-68119-536-0 Source: purchased Ages 9-12 Middle grade contemporary All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Nora Tucker is looking forward to summer vacation in Wolf Creek--two months of swimming, popsicles, and brushing up on her journalism skills for the school paper. But when two inmates break out of the town's maximum security prison, everything changes. Doors are locked, helicopters fly over the woods, and police patrol the school grounds. Worst of all, everyone is on edge, and fear brings out the worst in some people Nora has known her whole life. Even if the inmates are caught, she worries that home might never feel the same. Told in letters, poems, text messages, news stories, and comics--a series of documents Nora collects for the Wolf Creek Community Time Capsule Project--Breakout is a thrilling story that will leave readers thinking about who's really welcome in the places we c...

EPIDEMICS AND PANDEMICS Real Tales of Deadly Diseases by Judy Dodge Cummings Nomad Press, 2018 ISBN: 978-1-61930-625-7 Source: publisher for review Ages 9-12 MG Nonfiction All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Feel a tickle in your throat? Do you still have that headache? Could you be falling victim to a deadly virus? From history’s earliest days, bacteria and viruses have stalked humans. Stowing on wagons, ships, and airplanes, these diseases traversed the globe, infecting people in city streets and isolated hamlets. Epidemics and Pandemics: Real Tales of Deadly Diseases tells the tale of five of history’s most critical contagions. REVIEW Disease has long played an important role in both historical and contemporary events.  In this book, the author takes the reader through five such diseases and specific times when those diseases changed history.  The diseases covered include the bubonic plague that wreaked havoc during the Middl...

SPEEDIEST! 19 Very Fast Animals Extreme Animals series by Steve Jenkins Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018 ISBN: 978-0-544-93710-9 Ages 6-9 Primary Nonfiction All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Caldecott Honor winner Steve Jenkins is back with more Extreme Animals, perfect for young readers looking for accessible nonfiction chock full of incredible art. Speediest! will focus on the fastest members of the animal kingdom.  Through illustrations, infographics, facts, and figures, readers will see how big each animal is compared to humans, where it lives on the globe, and just how quickly it can move! With his signature art style, Steve Jenkins' Extreme Animals reader series explores nature's truly superlative animals. These readers are fact-packed and span the globe, detailing the astounding abilities of every shape, size, and species. Each installment focuses on amazing and unusual animals, making these nonfiction readers accessible, i...

ARGOS The Story of Odysseus as Told by His Loyal Dog by Ralph Hardy Harper, 2016 ISBN: 978-0-06-239679-2 Source: Media Masters Publicity Ages 9-12 All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK From a compelling new voice in middle grade comes a reimagination of The Odyssey told from the point of view of Odysseus’s loyal dog—a thrilling tale of loyalty, determination, and adventure. For twenty years, the great hero Odysseus struggles to return to Ithaka. After ten years beneath the walls of Troy, he begins the long journey back home. He defeats monsters. He outsmarts the Cyclops. He battles the gods. He struggles to survive and do whatever it takes to reunite with his family. And what of that family—his devoted wife, Penelope; his young son, Telemachos; his dog, Argos? For those twenty years, they wait, unsure if they will ever see Odysseus again. But Argos has found a way to track his master. Any animal who sets foot or wing on Ithaka brings him news of O...