Allie and her mom have just moved to town. Since the death of her brother things have been rough and now her parents have split up. But, on her first day Allie meets Sam and instantly feels a connection. But is the connection more than friendship?
Sam knows she is gay but also knows that her family, her church, and most of the people around her will disapprove. This is even more apparent when 2 teachers at school are pretty much forced out because of their relationship.
What are Allie and Sam supposed to do with their feelings. This was a good look at what it was like in the late 1970s for middle schoolers exploring their sexuality. I appreciated the fact that although Sam's church was against it the book did not dwell too much on that or become overly critical of the religious aspect.
This is one of those people that you have probably heard of vaguely but didn't really know anything about. This short nonfiction book talks about Black Bart's life, his robberies, and even more importantly the behind the scenes work of capturing him. I liked the parallel discussions of Bart and the Wells Fargo detective who led the investigations. I liked this one.
I do not like the cover - it didn't appeal to me at all and I am guessing some kids may be meh.... but
The book itself was quite good. Mickey and Lev are both wrestlers. Mickey's family wrestles and she started mainly as a way to get her dad's attention but now she loves it. Problem is - her brother's former coach won't take her because she's a girl so she ends up on a different team.
Lev is on the other team and is asked to pair up with Mickey. He doesn't like it at first but they become friends along the way.
But when things get rough Lev isn't sure he has what it takes to keep wrestling. Can they both find what they need from wrestling, from each other, and from others?
I liked this way more than I thought I would!
This is a companion book to the author's Adrift at Sea which tells the journey of a Vietnamese family and mentions the girl they left behind with her grandmother. This is the story of the girl and what her life was like while waiting for her family to be reunited. This was very interesting.
Annie B loves to invent things and create commercials for her inventions. When auditions come up for a spokesperson in a web show she is really excited. But then, her best friend gets the part instead and Annie is upset. It seems like Savannah always gets the prizes, the parts, the awards and Annie gets nothing. To make it worse, Savannah is starting to hang out with someone else. Can Annie fix their friendship and find her own place to shine?
This was a solid middle grade novel.
Ever since the death of her father Cora's little family has been floundering. Her mom is trying to find good work and Cora is picking up the slack by caring for her sister Adare who was brain damaged at birth. Things have gotten worse to the point that they are now homeless. Through it all Cora is holding on to her father's memory and his love of trees. When she finds a tree that was special to her father it helps lead to some closure but also some trouble as well.
This was a pretty solid book about clinging to what's important.
This was a nice, concise collection of the state fossils. Each page had photos, identifying scientific information, and a brief description of why the fossil was important to the state. For young scientist this will be a nice browsing book or introduction to fossils. It could also accompany state report resources.
