Worthy of the praise it is receiving.

Who doesn't want Emily Dickinson to have been secretly solving crimes in her teens? I love MacColl's books, and this one was no exception. Dickinson flirts with a 'Mr. Nobody' who ends up dead a few days later. No one comes to identify the body, which leads her to investigate. Quiet mayhem ensues. It's not a thrilling murder mystery where danger lurks around every corner, but you get the sense of what it is like to solve a mystery in a small town where everyone knows who you are. One of my favorite parts of the book is how each chapter starts with a line from one of Dickinson's poems. I think it would make kids pick up her poetry books.

I love Tonatiuh's illustrations. I thought it was interesting to learn a Mexican myth. I prefer his earlier books to this one, but I think I'm biased about the myth itself, wishing that the woman had something more to do than fall in love and potentially be married off. I feel bad ranking it lower because of that, but it is how I feel.

Another great middle school book, this one involving a girl for whom words pop up on your skin. Imagine every thought you had about yourself plastered there for everyone to see. Scary. Imagine that in middle school: scarier. This was also an excellent story about believing in yourself.

I got a free copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Although I did not enjoy "Booked" as much as "The Crossover," I still think this is a worthy addition to libraries and classrooms. Nick has a crush on a girl, is dealing with bullies and his father is forcing him to read a dictionary. (That is actually one of my ideas of a nightmare.) I found him to be pretty relatable and have realistic reactions to different situations in the book. I especially liked how he and his best friend Coby reacted to being on different travel soccer teams--there was rivalry and smacktalk, sure, but I could also tell that they supported each other no matter what.

I would like all of Mac's shirts by the way. I am hoping that Alexander didn't just make them up and we can order them soon.

This is one that I'll be thinking about for a while. The writing of this story is beautiful. I love the general plot. I love the way Pennypacker chose to tell part of the story from Peter's point of view and part of the plot from Pax's. I love Vola so much, and she breaks my heart.

I need to sit with the ending however. It doesn't end the way I would like, which isn't really the problem. I had to read it three times, because I felt like I missed something. It was so sudden. I'm hoping it will rise in my esteem as time goes on.

I really liked this one. Raymie wants to win Little Miss Central Florida Tire because she believes it will bring her father back. He ran away with a dental hygienist. She is taking baton lessons with Ida Mae, because that's a skill that will help her win the contest. She meets two other girls there, Louisiana and Beverly, and their friendship teaches them all things that summer that Little Miss Central Florida Tire alone never could.

This has a mystical, dreamy quality to it that I enjoyed. It seems that most of my friends who had read this before me had not been a fan, so I went in with apprehension. I was drawn in to the story. It is one that I will want to ask my patrons if they enjoy, because I wonder if it is one that adults will enjoy more than children.

Really thought-provoking. If you've ever wanted to think about libraries as how they should be now, and some ideas for how to get there, pick up this book.