Geo Librarian

  QUEEN OF THE SEA Cruise Life #1 written by Reese Eschmann Scholastic Inc., 2025 978-1-339-01815-7 Source: purchased Ages 8-11 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book covers & summaries provided by the publisher through Goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK Caitlin and her big brother, Dylan, are still getting used to shuttling between Mom’s new little house and Dad’s fancy new condo after their divorce. But summer means a solid six weeks with her dad. Finally, one toothbrush in one place and all her outfits together! So when her dad announces that he’s gotten a new job on the fanciest, most fun, family-friendly cruise line -- and he’s bringing his kids along -- Caitlin has mixed feelings. For about a minute! Then off she goes on the adventure of a lifetime on the biggest ship she’s ever seen, the Wandering Princess, which is tricked out to perfection. But soon the pressures of being a crew kid get to Caitlin. She's already had to adjust to two new homes . . . will she be able ...

AVEN GREEN MUSIC MACHINE by Dusti Bowling, illustrated by Gina Perry Union Square Kids, 2022 ISBN: 978-1-4549-4222-1 Source: purchased Ages 6-10 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. REVIEW Aven Green decides to enter the school talent show.  She wants to play an instrument and expects to be an expert quite quickly.  When the reality of learning to play a keyboard turns out to be quite different, Aven's confidence starts to drop.  Things get even worse after a friend hurts her feelings by calling her music "bad noise".  After trying a number of other instruments, Aven throws in the towel and quits. In an effort to encourage her not to give up, her parents take her on a road trip to see a musician perform on a guitar.  The musician, like her, has no arms.  Thanks to a talk with the musician and a gift from her grandmother, Aven finds the courage to perform at the talent show after all....

HUNDRED PERCENT by Karen Romano Young Chronicle Books, 2016 ISBN: 978-1-4521-3890-9 Middle Grade Contemporary (Realistic) Ages 8-12 Source: ARC from publisher for review All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK The last year of elementary school is big for every kid. Christine Gouda faces change at every turn, starting with her own nickname—Tink—which just doesn't fit anymore. Christine navigates a year's cringingly painful trials in normalcy—uncomfortable Halloween costumes, premature sleepover parties, crushed crushes, and changing friendships. Throughout all this, Tink learns, what you call yourself, and how you do it, has a lot to do with who you are. REVIEW I have rather mixed feelings about this book.  While the book does contain issues and problems common to 6th grade, there were several things I had a problem with as well.  Tink is an interesting character who feels like a real 11-almost 12-year-old who worries about things li...

DORY AND THE REAL TRUE FRIEND by Abby Hanlon Dial Books for Young Readers, 2015 ISBN: 978-0-525-42866-4 Ages 7-10 Genre: Realistic/Contemporary Source: purchased All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Fans of Junie B. Jones and Ivy and Bean will love this new story about the spunky little rascal with big ideas. The star of Dory Fantasmagory is heading to school. Her older siblings, Luke and Violet, warn her to leave her imaginary friend, Mary, at home—or better yet, leave her whole imagination at home! Dory is determined to behave like a “regular old girl who never gets in trouble,” but on her very first day she meets a new friend, a girl whose imagination and style are just about as wild as her own. Now she just has to convince her siblings that she’s not making it all up! Filled with plenty of funny pictures, this book bursts with charm and impudence, making this a must-read for the chapter book set. REVIEW Dory remains quite the entertain...

Welcome to the Tracing Stars Blog Tour and giveaway.  I am excited to be able to share this book and author with you.  If you have not already, I recommend reading my review/author bio here . Today, I have an interview with the author to share with you and a great giveaway. A charming novel about sisterhood, self-identity, and friendship from the author of Flutter. Indie Lee Chickory knows she's not as cool as her older sister Bebe. Bebe has more friends, for one. And no one tells Bebe she's a fish freak, for two. So when Indie accidentally brings her pet lobster to school, makes a scene, loses him in the ocean and embarrasses Bebe worse than usual, she makes a wish on a star to become a better Chickory. She tries to do this by joining the stage crew of the community's theater production, The Sound of Music . (Bebe has a starring role.) But Bebe is worried that Indie will embarrass her again, so she gives her a makeover and tells her who she should be friends wi...

BENJAMIN PRATT AND THE KEEPERS OF THE SCHOOL Book 1: We the Children (978-1-4169-3886-6) Book 2: Fear Itself (978-1-4169-3887-3) Book 3: The Whites of Their Eyes (978-1-4169-3888-0) Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2010-2012 Grades 3-6 Reviewed from personal copies.   Book 1: Benjamin Pratt’s school is about to become the site of a new amusement park. It sounds like a dream come true! But lately, Ben has been wonder if he’s going to like an amusement park in the middle of his town—with all the buses and traffic and eight dollar slices of pizza. It’s going to change everything. And, Ben is not so big on all the new changes in his life, like how his dad has moved out and started living in the marina on what used to be the "family” sailboat. Maybe it would be nice if the school just stayed as it is. He likes the school. Loves it, actually. It’s over 200 years old and sits right on the harbor. The playground has ocean breezes and the classrooms have million dollar ...

Dumpling Days written and illustrated by Grace Lin Little, Brown and Company, 2012 ISBN:  978-0-316-12590-1 Grades 3-6 Reviewed from purchased copy. BLURB :  There was no day that dumplings couldn't make better . Pacy is back! The beloved heroine of The Year of the Dog and The Year of the Rat As the month passes by, Pacy eats chicken feet (by accident!), gets blessed by a fortune teller, searches for her true identity, and grows closer to those who matter most. has returned in a brand new story. This summer, Pacy's family is going to Taiwan for an entire month to visit family and prepare for their grandmother's 60th birthday celebration. Pacy's parents have signed her up for a Chinese painting class, and at first she's excited. This is a new way to explore her art talent! But everything about the trip is harder than she thought it would be--she looks like everyone else but can't speak the language, she has trouble following the art teacher...

With Monday off of work I managed to get more reading done than I expected I would.  I finished two books.  I won't be able to get as much reading done for the rest of the week, but I hope to finish at least two more. Jake  written by Audrey Couloumbis Random House Books for Young Readers, 2010 ISBN: 978-0375856310 Grades 3-6 Reviewed from purchased e-book. Nominated for Beehive Book Award Fiction. Opinions expressed are solely my own. BLURB :  A heartwarming holiday story from Audrey Couloumbis, the Newbery Honor–winning author of Getting Near to Baby.  With beautiful writing and an endearing young narrator so honest and full of hope that you can't help but fall in love with him, Audrey Couloumbis tells a story, of a young boy and the grandfather that he’s just getting to know, that will make readers laugh and cry and, most of all, appreciate the gift of family. It's a few days before Christmas when ten-year-old Jake's mom breaks her leg, e...

The Perfect Christmas written by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by JoAnn Adinolfi Henry Holt and Company, 2011 ISBN: 978-0-8050-8702-4 Interest Level: Grades K-2 Reviewed from purchased copy. BLURB : Family one: exquisite pastries, a beautifully trimmed tree, and festive cello music. Family two: an artificial tree, rock hard candy, and custom kazoo carols. Full of silly humor, this cheerful picture book proves that no matter how you celebrate Christmas, it’s the spirit of the holiday that counts the most. This book is pretty straightforward.  It compares the different ways that two families celebrate Christmas.  I enjoyed looking at the differences between the two families. The way the two families come together at the end is a pleasant reminder that we can find things in common with each other if we make the effort.  There is some humor mixed in (one of the grandmother's cookies breaking someone's toe). The story is written in rhyme that flows fai...

A Dog's Way Home written by Bobbie Pyron Katherine Tegen Books, 2011 ISBN: 978-0-06-198674-1 Interest Level: Grades 4-8 Received free in a giveaway hosted by A Patchwork of Books . Opinions expressed here are solely my own. BLURB: One late fall afternoon, a tragic highway accident leaves eleven-year-old Abby and her beloved Shetland sheepdog, Tam, stranded at opposite ends of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Though each is determined to be reunited with the other, the days separating them turn to weeks, then months, and dangers and changes fill up Abby's and Tam's lives. Will they ever find their way back home to one another?  I consider myself generally speaking a cat person.  I'm much more comfortable around cats than dogs.  But I do still enjoy reading books about dogs.  When I first heard about this book, I wasn't sure that I would really like it.  Of course, I do really like other dog books.  Jack London's Call of the Wild and White Fang are ...

Cloudy with a Chance of Boys (The Sisters Club Series) written by Megan McDonald, illustrated by Pamela A. Consolazio Candlewick Press, 2011 ISBN: 978-0-7636-4615-8 Interest Level: Grades 3-6 Reviewed from purchased copy. BLURB :   As the middle sister in a family with three girls, Stevie Reel doesn’t know much about boys, and that’s always been just fine with her. But lately, things have been changing: kids at school are starting to pair up, and Owen, the new boy in her Earth Science class, seems to have his sights set on Stevie. The trouble is, Stevie doesn’t want a boyfriend- she’s not even sure she’s ready to have a boy friend. And her sisters, who know exactly where they stand on the issue of boys, are no help: drama queen Alex is busy trying to orchestrate a perfect, Romeo-and-Juliet-style first kiss from her heartthrob, Scott Towel (er, Howell), while Joey can’t understand why anyone would like a boy better than a frog anyway. If only figuring out boys wer...

Stranded! Amy Racina's Story of Survival written by Tim O'Shei Capstone Press, 2008 ISBN: 978-1-4296-0088-0 Grades 2-6 Reviewed from personal copy. Amy Racina set out during the summer of 2003 on a 17-day hike through the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  She went alone.  She felt comfortable doing this after developing a love of hiking following her first intense hiking trip with her father and brother in 1972.  Amy stayed on the main hiking trails for the first 11 days of her trip.  Then she decided she wanted more time alone and took to the more rarely used trails.  Unfortunately, she lost the trail and had to cross a steep hill to get back to the trail.  While attempting to accomplish this, the ground fell out from under her and she fell 60 feet. Amy's injuries were severe, including broken bones and a crushed right knee.  She quickly put on a tourniquet to slow the bleeding and then fixed herself some hot soup to keep herself from succumbing to s...

Billy & Milly Short & Silly written by Eve B. Feldman, pictures by Tuesday Mourning G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2009 ISBN: 978-0-399-24651-7 Grades K-2 Reviewed from personal copy. BLURB: Follow Billy and Milly through thirteen adventures in these funny and simple short stories. Through very basic storytelling, these brief narratives are told in only three or four words apiece. For example, "Stoops (Billy and Milly sit on their front stoops as the ice cream truck drives by.), Hoops (Billy shoots his basketball...), Scoops (...as Milly licks her ice cream cone...), Oops (...until the ball hits the cone and squashes her ice cream!)." I used this book last week with my first and second grade students as an introduction to story elements.  I explained to them that to be a story there needs to be at least three things: characters, setting, and plot.  The short stories in this book worked perfectly to emphasize my point that a story doesn't need to have 100...

Stuff That Scares Your Pants Off! The Science Scoop on more than 30 Terrifying Phenomena! written by Glenn Murphy Roaring Brook Press, 2011 ISBN: 978-1-59643-633-6 Grades 3 and up Reviewed from purchased copy. BLURB : Beginning with a gripping description of the worst-case scenarios we've all heard on the news, expert explainer Glenn Murphy explains the science behind our terror and delivers a reassuring message that life is only as scary as we make it! There were several things that I really liked about this book.  First, I appreciated the humor that Murphy included trying to lighten up a rather heavy topic (fear). Second, the title and cover of the book are an immediate draw, especially for reluctant readers. Third, the organization of the material is such that a student could flip to any section and read about the topics that interest him/her the most. Fourth, I liked how the author explained fear, both the physical reaction and the feelings associated with it....

Missing on Superstition Mountain written by Elise Broach, illustrations by Antonio Javier Caparo Henry Holt and Company, 2011 ISBN: 978-0-8050-9047-5 Grades 3-6 Reviewed from purchased copy. BLURB : It’s summer and the three Barker brothers—Simon, Henry, and Jack—just moved from Illinois to Arizona. Their parents have warned them repeatedly not to explore Superstition Mountain, which is near their home. But when their cat Josie goes missing, they see no other choice. There’s something unusually creepy about the mountain and after the boys find three human skulls, they grow determined to uncover the mystery. Have people really gone missing over the years, and could there be someone or some thing lurking in the woods? Together with their new neighbor Delilah, the Barker boys are dead-set on cracking the case even if it means putting themselves in harm’s way. I have really enjoyed Elise Broach's other books, Shakespeare's Secret and Masterpiece.  So I was look...

Ponies (National Geographic Kids, Level 1) written by Laura Marsh National Geographic, 2011 ISBN: 978-1-4263-0849-9 Grades K-1 Reviewed from purchased copy. Ponies addresses a perennially favorite topic.  The book takes a look at what a pony is, how they are different from horses, different markings, and different breeds, along with advice about riding them. The photographs compliment the text which is very important in nonfiction books.  The photographs are clear and crisp, the text is suitable for new readers. I especially like the photos in the glossary that help students understand the highlighted words better. The jokes are a nice touch, since I have yet to meet a child that didn't love a good joke. Trains (National Geographic Kids, Level 1) written by Amy Shields National Geographic, 2011 ISBN: 978-1-4263-0777-5 Grades K-1 Reviewed from purchased copy.   TRAINS BLURB:   Choo Choo! Kids love trains! Especially the old-timey steam engi...