Geo Librarian

  KAYA OF THE OCEAN by Gloria L. Huang Holiday House, 2025 ISBN: 9780823457885 Source: eARC from Beth Parker PR Ages 9-12 Middle grade fantasy/speculative fiction Book cover, author photo, and interview provided through Beth Parker PR. ABOUT THE BOOK On the surface, thirteen-year-old Kaya leads a charmed life. She lives in beautiful, beachy Lihiwai. She has ride-or-die best friends. She’s ultrasmart and killing it at school. She even works with a super-cute boy at her parents’ restaurant. But she also has anxiety—serious anxiety, the kind that makes you scratch and pick—and she’s always had bad luck around the ocean. It’s hard to enjoy Hawaiian beaches when you’ve almost drowned more than once. But as stranger and stranger things happen to Kaya around the sea, she realizes that—wanted or not—she has a special connection to it. Waves rise when she’s angry. Surf smooths when she’s calm. Fish come when she calls them. And when she learns the truth about her family and her divine ...

  OLIVETTI written by Allie Millington Feiwel and Friends, 2024 ISBN: 978-1-250-32693-5 Source: purchased Ages 9-12 All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover & summary provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. ABOUT THE BOOK A heartfelt novel praised by Tom Hanks in the New York Times as including "a conclusion nearly impossible to divine and yet so perfect it includes that most tactile of memories..." Being a typewriter is not as easy as it looks. Surrounded by books (notorious attention hogs) and recently replaced by a computer, Olivetti has been forgotten by the Brindle family—the family he’s lived with for years. The Brindles are busy humans, apart from 12-year-old Ernest, who would rather be left alone with his collection of Oxford English Dictionaries. The least they could do was remember Olivetti once in a while, since he remembers every word they’ve typed on him. It’s a thankless job, keeping memories alive. Olivetti gets a rare glimpse of action fro...

I've had the privilege of reading a bunch of books in verse for an article I've been writing. As a result I'll be sharing a number of them over the next few weeks.  The two books I highlight here I absolutely loved.  Not only did I enjoy the beautiful verse and language, but the stories are touching and I fell in love with the characters. One story revolves around a young boy struggling with selective mutism and the other with a girl and her family who are looking for healing after fleeing years of abuse.  Both books deal with sensitive issues very well. THE MAGICAL IMPERFECT by Chris Baron Feiwel & Friends, 2021 ISBN:   9781250767820 Source: eBook purchased  Ages 8-12 Middle grade Historical fiction (with a touch of magical realism) All opinions expressed are solely my own. Book cover provided by publisher through Goodreads.com. REVIEW In 1989, in a small town just outside San Francisco, Etan struggles to find his voice.  After his mother leaves to rec...

WILLA AND THE WHALE by Chad Morris and Shelly Brown Shadow Mountain, 2020 ISBN: 9781629727318 Source: ARC from publisher for review (Thanks!) Ages 9-12 All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK After losing her mom, Willa is grieving and having a hard time living with her dad and his new family on an island off the coast of Washington State. Her dad tries to cheer her up by taking her whale watching, something Willa's mom used to do. While all the passengers are on one side of the boat, Willa encounters a humpback whale on the opposite side. Willa feels so lonely that she starts to talk to the whale—and the whale talks back! The whale, named Meg, quickly becomes a trusted friend and confidante Willa can speak to whenever she's by the ocean. Meg offers sound advice Willa needs about dealing with a nemesis at school and trying to figure out why her friend Marc is keeping secrets about his family life. Before the story ends, it will take all o...