Many Worlds, One Li-Bro-rian

Taking a short break from the Bluebonnets, I decided to read a more adult level book from one of my favorite authors, Michael Crichton. Crichton, M. (2017) Dragon Teeth . New York, NY: Harper Collins If William Johnson seems to be nothing more than a rich, spoiled, Yale college student, that's because he is.  However, a bet with a fellow will have him traveling to still wild west of the late 1800s, and it will change him forever.  He signs up on an expedition to find dinosaur bones, but what he finds is  a whole lot of trouble. Michael Crichton has an amazing way of blending fact with fiction, reality with fantasy, that really gets your mind wondering "could this be real?".  Dragon Teeth is no exception.  Crichton does so much research into his novels, they always have a factual feel to them.  That feel makes the adventure within that much more thrilling.  If you like the wild west, paleontology, or just a good adventure, this could be the book...

  Creech, S. (2018) Saving Winslow . New York, NY: Harper Collins  Louie doesn’t have a great track record with pets.   Each animal he has tried to care for has either run away, disappeared, or died.   But when his dad shows up with a tiny baby donkey, Louie knows things are going to be different.   While everyone else tells him the donkey won’t make it, Louie refuses to listen.   He’s determined to do everything in his power to save Winslow, and beat the status quo. This was a nice short story.   It touches on loss, family, and friendship.   Louie’s determination to be there for the donkey, is often reflected in his loss of companionship from his brother, who went off to the military.   A nice feel good story.   Barnes, D. (2017) Crown . Evanston, IL: Agate Publishing This book is all about a boy’s trip to the barber shop and how it makes him feel.   It’s very poetic in how it describes the processes,   t...

  Sell, C. (2018) The Cardboard Kingdom . New York, NY: Alfred A Knopf. The wicked sorceress and her minions are attacking once again!   Luckily we have the superb knight, and his team of good to combat her evil forces!   When that epic battle finishes, we can all relax at the Dragon’s Head Inn.   What?   Is it time to go home already?    In this amazing graphic novel by Chad Sell and friends, we see the stories of a bunch of neighborhood kids and their summer adventures.   Each kid has their own story, and their own challenges to face.   Even with those real life challenges, they can find solace and kinship just outside in the Cardboard Kingdom.  Everyone can find someone to relate to in these stories, and have a good laugh as well.   The art is great enough to move the story on its own, regardless of dialogue.   I recommend this to any kid, and anybody else who enjoys a heartwarming tale.

It' time for another Bluebonnet book!  This time it's Angela Cervantes' Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring ! Cervantes, A. (2018) Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring . New York, NY: Scholastic Inc. This book starts out with your typical tween, complaining about something amazing like getting an all expenses paid trip to another country for a month.  Then it takes a turn for the mysterious.  Paloma, our American tween, meets a set of twins.  They're pretty nice, but maybe hiding something.  Either way, they convince Paloma to join them in hunting for a missing piece of Frida Kahlo's artwork, a peacock ring.  Along the way, Paloma will learn about her deceased father's Mexican culture, appreciate art, and live through adventures straight out of her favorite mystery novels. I really liked this book.  Not only did it get me interested in Frida Kahlo's artwork enough that I did my own research into it, but it drew me into the my...

I continue my reading of the Bluebonnet list with The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty. When Lucy was 8 years old she was struck by lightning.  The accident left her a math genius, but also gave her some interesting quirks.  She's germaphobic, and has to sit and stand 3 times every time she sits down.  Now twelve, she's already taken homeschool classes through high school and now wants to apply to college.  Her Nana however, doesn't think she's ready and makes her promise to attend middle school for a year.  She's been instructed to make 1 friend, do 1 thing outside of home, and read a book that isn't math.  Math is easy, but middle school may be impossible! I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It has all the makings of the middle school drama book, but add a fish-out-water story and math!  The book is humorous, smart, and relatable.  Being different is okay, even if it can be scary.  I'm only three books into the Blu...

This week I've a got another one making me feel the feels!  Captain Superlative! Janie doesn't feel like she's anything special.  It's her mission in life not to stand out, or get involved.  When a strange girl in a swimsuit and a blue wig starts tearing down the hall at school and doing nice things for people however, she starts finding that maybe getting involved is just what she, and the rest of the school, needed. This book was pretty interesting.  It's both sweet and sad.  The moral was good and it's one I hope most kids can pick up on and follow.  It has a good focus on how doing a lot of little good things, can really add up to a big change.   Overall, a pretty good book. Puller, J (2018) Captain Superlative! . New York, NY: Disney Hyperion

Hello!  Now that I have a break between my classes, I can post about books again!  The next series of books I'm going to post about are on the Texas Bluebonnet list.  I decided I'm going to read all of this year's list and do my part and vote on my favorites.  So without further ado, here is my first review of one of the bluebonnet books! Rhodes, J. (2018) Ghost Boys . New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company  Jerome is a good boy.  He usually listens to his parents, tries not to stand out in school, and does his part to help at home.  Then one day, after a new friend gives him a toy gun, he is shot by a policeman.  As a ghost, he wanders around, wondering why he's still around.  At home, he has to deal with his families grief, and he doesn't have the ability to comfort anyone.  In fact, the only one who can see him is the daughter of the policeman who shot him.  Jerome has to learn to deal with his own death, and how he can he...

King, A. (2010) Please Ignore Vera Diets . New York, NY: Random House Spoilers!   Vera’s best friend just died.   Except that he’s not her best friend anymore.   She loved him. She hated him.   It’s all pretty complicated.   They say his dead body was just thrown onto his lawn.   They say that he started the fire that killed all those animals.   They say a lot of things, but Vera knows not everything they say is true. Charlie Kahn and Vera were neighbors.   They’ve been best friends since they were children.   Charlie had a sort of rebellious air about him that Vera adored.   He always did his own thing, even if it was weird.   She knew that his father was abusive to his mother, but they kind of just ignored it.   Instead they would hang out in the woods between their houses or go up to the pagoda.   When they were twelve Vera helped Charlie build a tree house in the woods.   They kept improving it, and...