by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman (Author), Jessica Almasy (Narrator), Recorded Books (Publisher) An Audiobook BOOK SCAVENGER. It’s a fun game in cities all over the country. It’s the newly arrived in San Francisco, Emily, and her new friend, James. And it’s also a dangerous person who will not even stop at murder to get … THAT … book! Emily’s family moves…
by Farook Nizrana (Author) I have owned THE GIRL WHO STOLE AN ELEPHANT by Nizrana Farook as part of my “Africa/India” collection of middle-grade and young-adult books for a long time. But yesterday I pulled it from the shelf, opened it, and read the first short chapter. Then, I went to my couch, still reading. I…
by Kenneth Oppel (Author), Robbie Daymond (Narrator), Listening Library (Publisher) An Audiobook Review INKLING, by Kenneth Oppel, is a very creative, exciting, and touching story about a … okay, you guessed it, a spot, or splot, of ink. But how can you make a story out of that? Oppel does it very well, just as in his wonderful space odysseys. He…
by Ronald Kidd (Adapter), The Kennedy Center (Author), Ard Hoyt (Illustrator), Laura Bush (Foreword) The “Treasure of Ursa Major” is a super fast-paced, exciting story full of humor, history, and fun facts. It is based on a play by Tom Isbell, adapted by Ronald Kidd. Laura Bush wrote a forward. Three of Theodore Roosevelt’s children – eleven-year-old Archie, fifteen-year-old Kermit, and their sister,…
by Kate Messner (Author), Kelley McMorris (Illustrator) RANGER IN TIME, Hurricane Katrina Rescue by Kate Messner is an exciting, suspenseful middle-grade book. It has a very unusual and fun premise. I know you’ve all heard of time-travel novels when a person (or two) travels to different historical times. There are many of them out now. (I especially like Gabrielle…
R. J. Palacio (Author, Narrator), Ian M. Hawkins (Narrator), Listening Library (Publisher) An Audiobook R. J. Palacio (author also of WONDER) has written a spooky book about Silas, a twelve-year-old boy who has to rescue his father. A gang of scary horsemen arrives one night, demanding that Silas and his father accompany them. Their “Boss” wants to talk to Silas’s…
by by Jean Merrill (Author) An Award-winning middle-grade book. Jean Merrill’s THE TOOTHPASTE MILLIONAIRE is a fun, fascinating, and informative kids’ book. Wow, I learned how to make toothpaste, figure profit/loss margins, do advertising, what are stockholders and a Board of Directors, and how to get loans. All with a fun story about a sixth-grader named Rufus…
by James Ponti (Author), Lisa Flanagan (Narrator), Simon & Schuster Audio (Publisher) An audiobook. LONDON CALLING, the sixth City Spies adventure by James Ponti, is another amazing story about the young Special MI-6 spies whom the Second-in-Command of British espionage, calls “those magnificent children.” Each of these kids, aged from 9 to 14, was once orphaned and then found in…
THE BOY ON THE BEACH by Mary Towne (Author) It’s August 1943, and while many of the Long Island neighborhood young men are fighting in WWII, the folks at home are battling a polio epidemic among their kids. It’s scary because no one knows how the horrible disease is contracted. A notion going around is that you…
by Linda Rosenbaum (Author), Barbara Klunder (Illustrator) A Children’s Book Linda Rosenbaum‘s story of 10-year-old Georgie Titus is heartwarming, exciting, and based on an encouraging true account. The cover illustration is a snowy scene with a little boy in a diminutive sled and a happy, excited black dog in the lead. Tucked in the back of the sled,…
Words and Reviews 