This book is about Marjorie the snail, and she just wants some time alone. However, she can’t be alone when there’s always a trail leading everybody to her. At times, she gets annoyed and frustrated because she needs her quiet time. Help from her friend Bernard will allow her to find the best of both worlds. Overall, I like the story and I get the concept and know children who will take this to heart. However, I’m not the biggest fan of the artwork and think it could be better.

 It’s really hard to read a choose your own adventure, style book when there are no choices to be made or when the pages say turned UTK. I am assuming TK means to come or later because there are no pages called TK. in all honesty, this story has it interesting parts but it’s more absurdist than interesting. Some kids belong to something called the climate club but live in a futuristic world where there are bicycles in homes and helicopters in cars and planes and everything is disposable. Where people are racing to leave the earth into space because the earth isn’t worth it. I love choose-your-own-adventure style books, however, this one was not worth the time it.  It borders on the line of camp, but not a style of campo you want to keep reading. 

 

This series is just a lot of fun. This beginning chapter book series introduces kids to the various gods and heroes of Olympus. It does it in such a way as to make them understandable and make it comedic. Demon whose full name is Pandemonium as is the son of Pan and it is his job to heal the various animals of Mount Olympus. This time it’s a dragon that has a bit of a tummy problem and literally stinks up the entire mountain. But fixing this dragons tummy problem is no small thing as Demon’s healing box is broken and there are other priorities to the gods which demons serves. My favorite part of this book and the series is the comedy. The god characters are so overdramatic, and Demon is the “I just want to do my job and not die type” of assistant. I’m only halfway through the series and I look forward to each new book. 

 

Volume five picks up where we left off in book 3 but also starts with a new story. Erica is on her own in a new town. We meet Gabby a girl whose family has just been bloody ripped apart. She is a gal with sass and attitude who likes to break every rule she can. And she’s not happy that she’s not getting her way after everyone has died. Erica now has a tail of her own who is there to assassinate her. This is a great first step in the next adventure of Erica slaughter, which will probably take two or three volumes to conclude in the first part of the story arc is fantastic. 

 

I finally get the background I have been wanting. Volume four takes us back in time where we find Erica and the first monster she ever encountered. We find her mentor who welcomes her into the society as well as all the missing information we have needed about the society. It’s inner workings, the masks, the colors, all of it.  Out of all the books in the series, this one went by the fastest. I’d be interested in knowing where Erica‘s mentor and her “brother” are now. Overall, I continue to love this story and I’m very thankful I have book number five to get me going next. 

 

Volume three marks the ending of this current fight. The monsters die but more questions still abound. Saint George sent a team to not help per se, more to take over and annihilate the town so no one can talk about the monsters.  Erica slaughter is not going to let that happen. She is going to do the job she came to do in the way she means to do it. And Tommy is going to sacrifice himself so that the rest of the town can live. But just like before this volume leaves more questions than answers. We’ve seen Erica wear a black mask throughout the three volumes, and we know some people wear a white mask. Then we meet the dragon elder, who wears like the jaws of a snake or a dragon, which would make sense as a hinged mask rather than a bandanna. Plus, he talks about the order in the various houses and how they live or die and who won will not let that happen. Plus, I still don’t know what the stuffed animals are about. I want more information so I must move to book four. 

 

I had to check that I hadn’t accidently picked up book one all over again as it starts similarly. Some boys daring themselves to go into the woods. Next there’s blood. This does pick up directly after book one. There are monster babies, and they need to die. More children around town will die if they’re not captured. Most of this book was back-and-forth about the organization sending help to Erica, (help she didn’t want) and saving more lives. The town is in shambles, and everyone’s scared. Only Erica slaughter has a chance of saving everyone. Book 2 ends with no ending and wait for book 3. 

 

I have two feelings about this book. Our main character, Charlie Rose is deaf. She was born that way and it will never change. She goes to a traditional school and speaks signed English instead of American Sign Language. I do not know the difference. I would be interested in knowing if the author is death as well. The story revolves around Charlie Rose being made fun of in the library when people can’t communicate with her because Rose has very limited speaking abilities. She relies on others to speak for her or through her communication book. In the end of the book, she stands up for herself with the help of her best friend Daisy, to tell her class to stop picking on her and have a little compassion and maybe instead learn something new. I like the message of the book, but it is quite long. The illustrations are lovely, but it illustrates signs, but then gives no meaning of it, so what was the purpose of illustrating the sign movement. I really want this book to work but as someone who is not in the deaf community, I don’t know how accurate or if I am fully getting the message of the illustrations. I think the book is lovely. I also think there are problems, but those problems could because I’m not part of the deaf community. 

 

I love the Moolah books. The art just makes the reading that much better. These are simple stories to help kids understand and do yoga. Unlike other books of this type, you want to read this story not just get an education from it. The stories themselves are funny and adding the yoga into it works and doesn’t seem like something that’s being thrown at the reader as a lesson. Plus, the illustrations are so bright and colorful a put a smile on the readers face. 

 

This book stole the format some Boys Town Press and it’s a book about anxiety. In this book Gretchen has a little accident when she throws up her pizza and the thought of eating pizza next week makes her anxious. This book gives her a way to deal with it through a fun little acronym, and then practice using that acronym. The book does what it supposed to do and the idea that they use a stomach bug with the school cafeteria set a bad taste in my mouth but the lesson in it is OK. I wish they’d found it some other way to do anxiety rather than around what they’re serving at lunch. The lesson in here is attainable and would be usable both in schools and libraries. I just overall not a fan of this book.