The Sisters Grimm

The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley is an adventure story with two heroines.  Sabrina and Daphne have been mysteriously abandoned by their parents and left to the foster care system.  After a few bad experiences and creating a grisly Sabrina in response, a woman who claims to be their long-lost grandmother shows up and takes the girls home.  Sabrina attempts to escape and Daphne, being younger and therefore a little too innocent, according to Sabrina, befriends the elderly woman and to Sabrina's dismay the girls end up on a quest to save their "grandmother."  After a few harrowing events involving giants, fairy dust, and Prince Charming, the girls, especially Sabrina, begin to believe their may be some truth to their grandmother's story, but now the problem is: can they save their grandmother from the giant and can they get to her before the three fat pigs?  Grades 3 and up.

The Mysterious Benedict Society

The Mysterious Benedict Society is written by Trenton Lee Stewart and published in 2007.  This book is an adorable adventure story and joy of all joys, it is the beginning of a series!! Four children are selected by Mr. Benedict to form a team of spies who are to go undercover at a private school isolated by water on all sides.  The children make astounding discoveries, as only children can, and as the reader gets to know each of the four characters, we find out how each child is an essential part of the team, even cranky little Constance Contraire who has a secret of her own.  As the children make discoveries and use morse code to relay messages back and forth with Mr. Benedict the situation becomes more and more dangerous and the impending Emergency more dire.  Will the children escape with their lives and can they save the world from the Emergency??  Read to find out.  Really.  Read this book!  Grades 3 and up.

Freddy and the Baseball Team From Mars

Freddy and the Baseball Team From Mars by Walter R. Brooks was published in 1955 and while there are some antiquated terms and phrases, the content of the story is excellent for that youthful reader seeking mystery, a little bit of fright, sports, and science fiction.  Freddy is a walking, talking pig, who mingles among animals and humans alike.  He is such a nice and intelligent pig that the aliens who have recently settled in town have long since befriended Freddy and ask him to help them find their missing friend.  The mystery unfolds as Freddy decides to investigate the missing critter by building a baseball team and competing with suspects.  The book holds all those key elements young readers are looking for as well as the gentlemanly behaviors and etiquette of the mid-20th Century, among animals no less.  Grades 3 and up.

Boycott Blues: How Rosa Parks Inspired a Nation

Pinkney, A.D., Pinkney, B. (2008). Boycott Blues: How Rosa Parks Inspired a Nation. Greenwillow Books.

Boycott Blues is a story of Rosa Parks told in a bluesy, jazzy narration.  In the background of the illustrations the reader can find a hound dog strumming his old guitar and imagine the sound of him telling this story in a sing-songing voice.  The story is inspirational and relays the struggles of Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as they lead African Americans in a fight for equal laws and treatment against the Jim Crow laws.  Imagine yourself reading this story out loud and you might best picture yourself standing on stage with a guitar and jazz band behind you as you read the rythmic lyrics.  Some of you readers out there, if you're brave like Rosa Parks, might make a podcast for the rest of us to enjoy!

The Firefly Letters

Engle, M. (2010). The Firefly Letters. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 

This book peeks in the lives of four young people in mid-nineteenth century Cuba.  The bulk of the story revolves around Cecilia, a young slave who was sold by her father for a stolen cow.  Fredrika is a young Swedish suffragette who travels to Cuba to exercise her freedom as a woman and demonstrates how much a woman can do when she steps outside the expected societal path.  Fredrika and Cecilia, while living difficult lives, appeal to Elena who is young, pampered and wealthy.  But when Cecilia is pregnant and due to have a baby born into slavery, what can be done about it? (Grades 5 and up). 

Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature's Survivors

Sidman, J. (2010). Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 

This book is half poems, half informational essays.  The poetry is flowing and rythmic, making the book easy to read and share with youngsters.  The informational sections are full of facts and details about life forms which have survived the enormous changes brought about since the beginning of life.  The illustrations are beautiful, spreading across pages and allowing the poems to flow through them.  The book is created with sparks of information for all readers from the very young who will appreciate the colors and rhythmic poem to the older learners who will appreciate the immense amounts of information about life that has beat the odds.  (Grade 3 and up).

Inside Out and Back Again

Lai, Thanhha. (2011). Inside Out and Back Again.  New York: Harper Collins Children’s Books.  

A National Book Award Winner, this books introduces a topic rare to American literature.  Set in the aftermath of the Vietnam war in Vietnam, a young girl adjusts to life without a father and in increasing poverty.  The story travels to Atlanta where the family attempts to settle into a new way of life.  She and her brothers find their way, keeping their interests ranging from kung-fu to medical sciences intact along the way.  Written in poetic prose, the author tells a story of struggle and conquest through illuminating language. (Grade 3 and up).