All in Dr.Bookworm Book Rec
āLook. I didnāt want to be a half-blood.
If youāre reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.
Being a half-blood is dangerous. Itās scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.ā
The LIghtening Thief by Rick Riordan
My Lola (my grandma on my momās side) and I were close. She had a special relationship with each of her grandchildren. Still, even after sheās been gone for 18 years, I can picture her smile (with bright red lipstick!) and hear her laughter and it makes me smile too.
I love hearing āoriginā stories about books, especially about beloved series in our house. Cressida Cowell opens How to Be a Viking with an explanation that the series was inspired by a drawing she did in her sketch book about a little Viking prone to seasickness and his relationship with his father, who happens to be chief of their tribe. Thus Hiccup and Stoik the Vast are born (and later spun into the How to Train Your Dragon series).
If you havenāt guessed by now, itās REALLY hard for me to resist buying books. Even as our house is overflowing with them.
So when Little Lion and I were out Christmas shopping last weekend and I was fairly good at convincing her to put most things back on the shelf, when it came time to put back Dragonology by Ernest Drake and Dugald Steer, I was torn.
āHere is everything I know about France: Madeline and Amelie and Moulin Rouge. The Eiffel Tower and the Arc De Triomphe, although I hav eno idea what the function of either actually is. Napoleon, Marie Antoinette, ad a lot of kings named Louis. Iām not sure what they did either, but I think it has something to do with the French Revolution, which has something to do with Bastille Day.ā
~ Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Jason Reynolds starts off For Everyone with the words āDear Dreamerā. Not Dear Reader, but Dear DREAMER.
Itās a message straight to my heart.
My Lola was one of my kindred spirits. I think she understood me in a different way than my mom does.
So you can imagine that when I heard that Dan Santat was illustrating a picture book about a boyās relationship with his grandfather, I leaped at the chance to read it. I mean, itās Dan Santat, right?
āScene 1: EXT NEW YORK, AMERICAN MINISTRY OF MAGICā1927āNIGHT
AERIAL of New York and MACUSA building.]
Scene 2: INT MACUSA BASEMENT, BARE, BLACK-WALLED ROOM, NIGHT
The long-haired, bearded GRINDEWALD sits motionless, partially fixed to a chair. The air shimmers, charged with spells.
ABERNATHY peers in at GRINDEWALD from the corridor.
A baby chupacabraāpart lizard, part homunculus, a blood-sucking creature of the Americasāis chained to GRINDEWALDāS chair. ā
~ The Crimes of Grindewald by J.K. Rowling
āOkay, so when youāve just moved to a new town and are still a total outsiderā¦
thisā¦
ā¦is not the best way to start life at your new school.
Hi! Penelope here. Peppi for short. Itās my first day at Berrybrook Middle School, and I just ripped over my own feet and dropped everything.ā
~ Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova
Jenny Han, the author of To All the Boys and its sequels, wrote an op-ed piece in the NYT about what it means for teens to have an Asian teen role model like Lana Condor AKA the actor who plays Lara Jean Song Covey. Why is her full name important? Because Lara Jean is a mixed Asian-American. Just like my kids.
Monster Boogie as its re-incarnation of a picture book is such a pleasure to sing. Yes, sing. I couldn't help but sing the book the first time I read it to Little Lion because I know this song too well. And I'm a bit tone deaf.
What I love about Roof Octopus is the quirkiness of the storyline and the whimsical, magical, and colorful illustrations that match the story perfectly. Basically a little girl wakes up to find an octopus on her rooftop. And while the adults aren't so quick to accept someone new and foreign to their neighborhood, Nora is wholeheartedly all in.
While I had one dream come true by being able to finally see a performance at the Globe theater in London, I have to admit that the situation wasn't ideal. I was still jetlagged, it was crazy humid, and Little Lion was fidgety.
I read I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman completely backwards. Or completely out of order, at least. Have you ever done that? Skipped ahead to get to the crux of the matter? Or because there's a scene you want to spoil for yourself?
I skipped around and then read the last third and then went back to the parts I skipped.
We've heard the phrase WE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS over and over again. And it's true. No matter how many times you hear it, or if you're sick of hearing the same things in conferences. When I was growing up, I NEVER saw myself in the books I read. Ever.
I was so excited that Erin Entrada Kelly won the Newbery that I did this read-along a little differently: I distributed ten copies of Hello, Universe to my fellow bibliophiles and colleagues who love to read.
Pug Pals: Two's a Crowd by Flora Ahn is a real stand-out in the early chapter book genre. Pug Pals starts out with a look at the day-to-day in a pug's life (Sunny) as she navigates snacking, playing with her prized bunny toy, and watching her favorite detective show. Throw in a newly adopted sibling and we've got ourselves the perfect book conflict.
I have this huge affinity for snails that started when I was little. There's a great video of my cousins, sisters, and me playing in the backyard with snails. I think theoretically we are rescuing and clearing the garden from them. I also remember putting them in jars and watching them kiss.
The Crossover centers around Josh and his twin, Jordan AKA JB, who are two middle schoolers who play basketball, just like their dad. The family dynamics are spelled out easily, and the interaction between (mainly) the three of them is heartfelt and wonderful. At its heart, this novel is about a family. But, yes, it's about basketball too, and relationships, and coming of age.
In Kat Writes a Song by Greg Foley, Kat works hard to create a song, and then she second-guesses herself. We've all been there. Thinking we're creating something fantastic, especially as a writer, and then we start to let the doubts creep in. What I admire about Foley's story is that he shows Kat persevering through the creative process, and then sharing her joy.
What's your go-to book? When I have nothing to read and no access to the internet (and fan fiction), there are a handful of books that I can always count on. Where She Went by Gayle Forman is one of them.
