A beautifully illustrated story about a boy growing up, yet still keeping his mischievous side.

Wilhemina, known as Will, is happy living on a Zimbabwean farm. Then her father dies, the farm gets sold, and she is shipped off to boarding school. Though I am loathe to recommend any book that has a villain named Samantha, this book touched my heart. I love Rundell's descriptions of the land and life in Zimbabwe. An excellent title.

I really liked this quirky graphic novel. The Spanish wasn't overwhelming. and I liked learning about lowriders. Car culture isn't something I know a lot about, or see represented often in books for middle grade readers.

I really think First Second's review sums it up, so I'll direct you to go over there. An excellent title for introducing the Holocaust.

I want all the sloths ever now! Another must-purchase for my library. This book is adorable and makes me want to join the Sloth Appreciation Society immediately!

Recess was never my favorite subject, but this is a great collection of stories that readers will enjoy. No recess love required.

A beautifully illustrated story of Shackleton's failed Antarctic journey. I wish I had been more captivated by it, but I found it sort of tedious. They were lucky though!

Dragons--oh my! I loved this story about Alanna and her love for all creatures. I especially loved Morgana.

Loved this one! So good.

The information in this book is well thought out and placed, but I can't endorse any book published in 2014 that has this blurb on the back: "Read about famous artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh, and Henri Matisse, as well as important women and African-American artists." To me, that sounds like women and African-American artists can be important, but none are famous (or the famous ones aren't important? I'm not sure.) Additionally, the plural is used above, but only one female artist (Mary Cassatt) and one African-American artist (Jacob Lawrence) are highlighted, with paragraphs talking about others. Forget about pretty much any other minority as well--you've got Katsushika Hokusai representing Asian artists and that's it. If you're looking to introduce kids to a Euro-centric version of the greats, then this is your book.