Need to own

Unlike a lot of what I had read before. I felt like I could hear Harry in my head, his desire to make people understand why he was a contienious objector, and his desire to reconcile with his family. It is definitely a little discombobulating, and things shift around so you are never quite sure what is reality. I wasn't exactly sure what to make of Agatha either.

Philip has a summer job and his parents think he's been giving all his money to them to put in a savings bank. Secretly he has been giving money to his brother Victor, who has been kicked out of the house because of his drug addiction. After a tornado goes through their small Oklahoma town, Victor moves back in to go cold turkey. Told in sparse verse, Wolf does a good job of showing how a 16 year old would react to these various changes. The ending is slightly hopeful. A quick read that could be engaging for reluctant readers.

This is really a 3.5 stars book for me. Mac is a wrestler with a short fuse (not a huge surprise, as he has an abusive father and seems to have had no counseling to deal with that or the anger he feels in general) and when he makes a mistake that leads to potential jail time, he runs away instead to become a brawler. Brawlers are underground fighters that compete in matches much more dangerous than high school wrestling or even professional. The book leads Mac into situations that make him think about how far he will actually go and if he is leading the type of life he wants.

There are things I like about this book: wrestling is not a popular topic, so that adds diversity in topic to your bookshelf. You also learn about Muay Thai, a different form of martial arts than the ones we commonly see. Additionally, there is no romance, which can appeal to some readers. It is violent, which would be the main objection I could think of. I also thought the ending tied things up a little fast, but I liked that we still had consequences for the protagonist.

Winter and Collier join together for a biography of one of the greatest lawyers in recent history, Thurgood Marshall. From an early age, Marshall honed an ability to argue through discussions with his father who asked for evidence to back up his claims and his high school debate career. As a lawyer, Marshall is responsible for many of the civil rights victories of the 1950s and 1960s. Winter doesn't hesitate to show that Marshall put his life on the line for these victories. Collier's watercolor and collage illustrations illuminate the different parts of Marshall's life and often show movement. A back page gives a bit longer overview of Marshall's life.

Esther believes in the scientific method. All the other fairies believe in magic. Though Esther tries to show them the things she discovered through science, they still resolutely believe in magic. When a tree is wilting, can Esther show them how to really fix it?

Part of me felt like the book came down really harshly on believing in magic. However, in a day when people believe facts are optional, maybe in some ways we do have to come down harshly on what truth is. Additionally, how many fairy STEM books do you have? Especially with such cute fairies that have different shades of skin.

i thought it would be fun, but really, it's one big fat joke disguised as a picture book. Oh haha, the llama overindulged and the rip from his pants destroyed the universe! Isn't that funny? No, no it's not.

Violet is a young woman growing up in the southern part of Sudan, a part of the world that is currently at war. This book chronicles her experiences there and her eventual move to Portland, Maine. A good overview of the current immigrant experience, I think this will be especially relevant to Maine students as they seek to understand their peers in the oldest and one of the whitest states in the nation.

I loved this one. Pup is a member of a big family. Two years ago his brother died, and although everyone seems to be moving on just fine, there's a lot of stuff bubbling beneath the surface. Additionally, his best friend, Izzy, seems to be changing before his eyes as she dates the detestable Brody. He's even failing studio art, a class many think would be impossible to fail. However, one excellent picture starts to shake everything up, and will change the lives of the Flanagan family forever.

I really really enjoyed this one. Foley does a great job of showing a family struggling with grief but not wanting to admit it, and the horrifying effects that alcohol can have on a family. I will be thinking about Pup for a while.

Really powerful. Stories of resistance in Germany during World War II are one of my favorites to read. It's a good reminder that something isn't good or bad, but there are so many shades of grey in between. I think the verse format makes it easier for lots of ages to access the work. I also liked the going back and forth in time. It heightened the suspense for me.