This was quite a lovely read. The story rhymes and it takes you through a journey of all the things a child could be when they grow up. I don’t mean things like a fireman or a doctor but things like kind be a thinker be a traveler. It was lovely and lyrical, and the illustrations have this soft, so realistic quality that is just enjoyable to turn every page. in this daily edition, the words can be a tad hard to read and some of the pages they need to be a heavier in bigger, but overall lovely. When are things I constantly comment on in picture books is cadence and when books try to rhyme but lose the cadence. I love that this book you feel a pattern but it’s not a true cadence, so it doesn’t feel like it’s missing. Overall, this book was simply lovely and I could see it being a standard for story times for years to come. 

 

What the F did I just read. This story is at times hard to follow and a tad bit disturbing. At the same time you want to know what happens next. It’s like the car crash you can’t look away from. I’m not even sure where the title comes from. You have two characters. One is a popular girl, and the other is a geeky nerdy boy. They end up stuck together because of UFOs and evil spirits. They must find a way to work together, exercise the Demons, and not get tortured. The beginning of this book is very rapey. There is no rape but it’s very rapey. Plus, the emphasis on schlongs, the having and not having of them, as well as the quite frequent gratuitous semi naked girl who is supposed to be in high school is a bit much for this reader. I like the story when it’s being crazy, I don’t like the story when it’s being unnecessarily sexual because it’s done in such a way as being degrading to women. I am interested enough to see what happens in book 2 to see where this goes, but if I’m more storylines doesn’t start taking shape this will be a short series. 

 

This book is a connector. It’s called Robin and we meet Robin, but it isn’t really about Robin. It’s about the Teen Titans finally coming together and starting to figure out their powers and what is going,  on who is HIVE and what do they want. This book is very much filler. It reads like filler. It looks like filler and get you exactly nowhere just like filler. I do like with the story arc is going and hope it continues but also hope that the wait isn’t as long for the next book. 

 

This is the second book in the series, and it is adorable. Sloths are exactly how you expect them to be… slow. And our little girl, Sasha Patient Pruitt is fast. She wants to go swimming, but she hast to wait for Mr. Sloth, which means she hat to find her patience. She also learned that sometimes the wait is worth the reward. This book is just all lovey-dovey and gives a warm smiley feeling to the reader. I love these two characters and can’t wait to go on anymore adventures with him. 

 

If there was ever a picture book, meant to rip your heart out and stomp on it, it’s this one. But it is done in such a beautiful and loving way that this will be a very heavy contender for top book of the year and its only January. A little girl sees an old man eating alone every single day on her walk to school and one day he’s not there. When he returns on the third day, she hast to go talk to him. Why wasn’t he there? Where did he go? What happened.? Turns out it was the man’s anniversary and he explained to the young lady that he’s not truly alone. He’s sitting with the memories of his wife, and if you have memories of other people, you’re never alone. But less than his home at the end, when the man once again, doesn’t show up because he will no longer show up. But he leaves a note for the little girl to remind her that she is never truly alone. Like I said, stomp on my heart, make me cry in the best most loving possible way 

 

Going into this book blind I would’ve thought this was a ghost story. However, it’s a retelling for the Shining but for a much younger audience. It’s not a strict retelling, but it’s about the Underlook Hotel in Estes Park. It’s about the writer who lives in that hotel with his son Danny, and the ghosts that inhabit it. It’s also about a girl from the community who hates everything about the hotel and the young boy who has come to interview the author on film. I loved how the author incorporated ideas of other famous hauntings as well as mining and lore from the town itself. Overall, this was a fun and interesting read, but it could have been better. I say that because the ending is depressing and leaves a bit of a bat a taste in my mouth. However, there is no blood and guts or gruesome deaths, making this book perfect for the age group. 

 

This book is a DNF. I am listening to an audiobook from the publisher, and it just cannot keep my attention. It’s a sci-fi set in Japan, but at the same time involves castle and train travel and modern society, and it just is not working together well enough to keep my attention. I am 15% of the way in and have no idea what is going on and so for me this story ends 

 

This was a fun, mysterious semi-crazy read. It is very reminiscent of the Westing Game but adapted for a more mature audience. We have a girl, Avery who lives with her sister, and they are barely scraping by. Avery hustles poker in order to make sure her favorite homeless man gets breakfast, she sleeps in the car when her sister’s boyfriend insists he must be with in the apartment, and she just found out that a man in a slick suit has been hunting for her. It turns out that Avery is needed in Texas to bear witness to the reading of a Will that will leave her set for life if she can survive in the Hawthorne house for a year. This isn’t a haunted house but it’s a house full of games and mysteries and hidden staircases, it’s also full of a disinherited family that isn’t exactly happy that some stranger got their billions. This book is both mystery and game. It’s got a tad bit of intrigue and a little bit of danger. It just works. It is a super-fast read that while it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger it still ends with unanswered questions. So, my current favorite thing is that all three books are all out now, so I can continue this series. 

 

Alex is a pigeon that enjoys art. He visits the museum often and makes his own art. His other friends think he is a little weird, but they love the odd and colorful gifts he gives, and they really do support their friend. They support him so much that they decide they’re going to get his art into the museum. This book was just such a fun read. It really puts a smile on your face. The friends they have their own color commentary while the story is forward, such as not knowing what Joe ism which actually means cubism. Overall, this is a five-star read that I think anybody could pick up and enjoy 

 

This book sets out with the intention of breaking stereotypes. Letting girls know that there’s no such thing as a boys, job or a girls job and boys are in the same thing. This girl plans on being an astronaut. The story is not quite non-fiction but it’s a little bit more than your average picture book. It talks about the concepts, but in this hopeful future looking way overall, it works not the biggest fan of the illustrations but the book works