I can see why so many people love this book. George is a girl.  She knows she is a girl.  However, everyone in her family and at school see her as  a biological boy.  George’s deepest desire is to live as herself, but to also be Charlotte in the school play.  But Charlotte the spider is a girl's part.  So that may not happen.  I love how open Geroge’s best friend is.  She is caring and loving, and once told is all on board with George and helps Melissa come out into the world.  I wish the mom was a bit more supportive.  We see her tell George that she doesn’t want one of “those” boys - i.e a boy in girls clothes.  As a reader you feel it's because she wants George to have an easy life, but she doesn’t realize how uneasy their life is now.  I know there are some who think this book should not exist at all, and others who think it should exist, but still find it problematic.  I am not one of those people.  Overall I really liked and enjoyed this book.  I just thought it ended in a weird place.  Almost like one of those after school specials from the late 80.  It was abrupt.  The story is done and over, but I wanted to know more and had so many questions left unanswered.  I do know there is a sequel called Rick who was the school bully in this book, so I think I am going to check that out as well. 

Adrien was adopted as a toddler and he has never gotten along with his sister Grace.  She is a full believer that he is not really family, and those family bonds are going to be tested.  Their parents die in the first chapter of this book.  And while both kids go to boarding school, Adian tells his guardian that he wants to go to school far away from his sister.  He wants nothing to do with her, as she wants nothing to do with him.

Fast forward 4 years later. His guardian tells him to come home.  At the same time he starts getting weird anonymous texts that say his sister Grace may have killed their parents to steal their chemical research, and he won't know unless he comes home.  So home it is.  It’s only supposed to be for a month.  He can hold out for a month.

This book is full of mystery.  Did Grace have anything to do with her parent’s death? Was it really an accident?  Plus Adrien has to navigate the school he used to go to, but now most people are on his sister’s side.  Afterall he left his sister alone to deal with their parent’s death.

This is a decently paced read.  Adrien's journey to re-assimilate, find a new path in life, and discover what he wants to do after school is a joy to read.  The story moves at a pretty jaunty pace.  It is heartfelt and has it’s funny moments, and really feels like a teenages life.  The ending however wound up quickly.  It went from who does Adien really want to kiss, to hey here’s what really happened with that fire and oh by the way, the exploding bathtub didn’t go as planned.  It was just way too quick.  I had more questions.  It was a fun listen, and Brewer can keep a reader entertained.

#MusicChallnege (2 Evils) 

#BBRC - trans author

 

 This super fun book is a non-fiction title in disguise.  It uses a cute beetle with depression issues to introduce his friends and all the things about them that are special.  Burt is not special, but he finds a way to help his friends anyway.  There was a lot to like about this book.  It is funny and educational, and I can see kids wanting to read this over and over again. 

 This book is very reminiscent of the Dinosaur books from Jane Yolen (How do Dinosaurs say Goodnight, etc).  This dragon goes through the day with perfect manners.  She lets others go first, helps clean up etc.  The book has a great rhyming pattern and cadence.  This will make it fun to read and to listen to at storytime. 

 First off this book was overly long and drawn out.  Plus the story and the illustrations remind me of Teddy Bears’s Picnic from the 80’s.  The story is nice, it’s about a bear that wanders to the attic and goes exploring.  It just doesn’t keep my attention. It looks and feels old and dated and is a reading turn off. 

 This book was really well done.  It is laid out like a graphic novel.  Molly is a little girl who is afraid to speak in front of the class.  She comes up with various reasons not to, including going a full day without talking.  This day makes her realize how many people say I Can't!  But she knows they can.  And if they can, then she can!  I like that there was not some big multistep way to believe in yourself.  It was a simple idea, but one that sticks and one that works. 

 This book is SOOO much FUN!.  The froggies do not want to sleep, and this book shows us all the things they would rather do instead. This includes meeting aliens, jousting, and falling through clouds.  What really brings this book to life is the amazing illustrations.  They are all at once fun, bright, heartfelt, sometimes creepy, and the great narrator of this story.  Buy this book and see how many times kids want to read it.  This will be a book that gets worn out!. 

 Not sure if this is a board book or not, but it feels like a board book.  It shows what pumpkins can and do become on Halloween.  This book is a bit darker, which is noticeable from the cover.  Not anything meant to scare, but it appeals to the horror loving parents and isn’t all cute and chibi style.  It’s dark, decadently so. 

 This book was a bit all over the place.  The story seemed to jump from action to narrative often. The sisters are a fun couple who still get amazed by each other.  They have been monster hunters for a while, which is a good thing, as monsters have spring up all over the city, and it is up to the girls to defeat them.  I love how the author uses real places and gives info bits about them, as well as clues to remember things in life.  But overall, while I liked this, I didn’t like it enough to pick up the next book. 

 This was a sweet story.  It was about collecting rocks. That may sound boring to some, but this book makes it sound fun.  The things they talk about could happen with many things a child chooses to collect.  I love the lesson in friendship at the end.  It just moves so well and is so cohesive of a story.  I think for some children this will be a perfect book that they will want to keep and share with the kids they eventually have.