Rescue & Jessica A Life-Changing Friendship by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes

Rescue & Jessica A Life-Changing Friendship is based on the real-life story of Jessica Kensky who was injured in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. The bombing resulted in the eventual amputation of both of her legs. Rescue, a lab trained as a service dog by the NEADS program, literally came to Jessica's rescue and became her very own personal assistant. More importantly than that, Rescue became her loyal friend at a time in her life when she desperately needed one.

This picture book won one of my favorite book awards...the Schneider Family Book Award. I recommend it to any reader who values canines and the wonderful ways they can enrich human life.

Mrs. N.

Because by Mo Willems

If you know Mo Willems books, Mo Willems's books are FUNNY! Think of the Elephant and Piggie series, the Don't Let the Pigeon series, and the Knuffle Bunny trilogy.

Because is nothing like Mo Willems's previous books. Because traces the history of how a little girl develops and achieves her dream of composing a symphony. It is a serious and beautiful story of how those who come before inspire those who come after to envision ways we can contribute something beautiful to the world. It is also the story of how no one can accomplish his/her dreams alone. We truly need one another.

I love the book's perfectly simple title. The illustrations are vibrant and fill every page. I especially like the ribbon of music that floats through the air ready to touch and change those who are open to its power. This book is quiet, deep, and inspiring.

I recommend it to any age student who can appreciate the fact that picture books can be powerful tools for communicating important ideas.

Mrs. N.

Invisible Emmie by Terri Libenson

Invisible Emmie is Terri Libenson's debut novel. (That means her very first book.) It is a graphic novel about a severely shy, artistic middle schooler named Emmie who fantasizes about being outgoing, athletic, and popular. The story alternates between Emmie and her alter ego Katie. Emmie's pages are written in a neat, thin handwriting style, and pastel colors are used for the illustrations which appear on a plain white background. In contrast, Katie's pages are written in bold, all caps handwriting, and the illustrations are brightly colored with a contrasting brightly colored background. I liked how the illustrations cleverly help communicate the difference between Emmie and Katie's personalities.

The main action revolves around the note Emmie writes while playing the love note game with her best friend Bri. Emmie writes a note to Tyler, the boy she has a crush on. Find out what happens when the note falls into the wrong hands, and Emmie's true feelings go public at her middle school! What follows is every bit as humiliating as you might imagine. Fortunately, though, Emmie (and the readers) learn that truth, however embarrassing, sometimes sets you free!

I recommend this book to 4th-6th graders who enjoy well-illustrated graphic novels that speak important truths about life in middle school.

Mrs. N.

Stolen Girl by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

You may remember Stolen Girl from last year's Spring Book Fair. (It was featured on the Scholastic promotional video, and many of us really wanted to read it!) Stolen Girl is actually part of a trilogy of WWII books written by Marsha Skrypuch. When this story begins, the war is over and the main character Nadia is moving from a Displaced Persons camp in Europe to Canada. Nadia is not her real name, and Marusia and Ivan, the Ukrainian couple who are moving with her, are only pretending to be her parents. No one knows who Nadia really is, including Nadia! The trauma she endured during the war caused her to suppress her memories. As Nadia adjusts to a new country, a new language, and a new family, her memories slowly begin to come back to her, usually in the form of nightmares. But she is determined to face her past; otherwise, she realizes she will never be able to build a new future.

One thing I like about historical fiction is that it is inspired by true events. At the end of the book, the author explains some of the facts that gave her the idea for the story. For example, the Lebensborn Program was part of the Nazi's attempt to expand the Aryan race. Their method was to steal blond, blue-eyed Eastern European children who looked Aryan. This is what happened to the character Nadia.

If you like historical fiction and want to learn facts about WWII that are not typically taught in school, you need to read Stolen Girl. The book reads like a mystery, so mystery-lovers will also be happy with this title. I recommend it for 3rd-6th graders.

Mrs. N. 

Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson

Harbor Me is an engaging and important book by award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson. The story takes place in Brooklyn, New York over the course of one school year. The main characters are six 5th and 6th grade students who have been pulled together into Ms. Laverne's class because they learn differently from the other students. Haley, one of the students, narrates the powerful story.

The main action takes place in what the students call the ARTT ("A Room To Talk") room. This space is a former art classroom where Ms. Laverne sends them for the last hour of each day. She provides this space so that they can talk among themselves and get to know "the unfamiliar"...each other. Each student is quite different from the other: Esteban is an illegal immigrant from the Dominican Republic; Tiago is a Puerto Rican boy who feels torn between two different cultures; Ashton is a new kid, the only white student at the school, who is being bullied for being different; Amari is a black boy who is awakening to what it means to be a black man in the world; Holly is a black girl who stands out both because her parents have money and because she cannot sit still; and Haley is a bi-racial girl whose mother is dead and whose father is in prison.

Like the students, readers get to know each person intimately throughout the course of the book. In the end Jacqueline Woodson reminds us that while we are each different from the other, we are also very much the same.

I highly recommend this book to 4th-6th graders. It is a short, quick read that leaves a tremendous impression and challenges readers to "harbor" one another.

Mrs. N.

Treasure Hunters by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein

Fans of James Patterson's Middle School, iFunny, and House of Robots series will welcome the addition of his Treasure Hunters series to our library!  In this first volume readers are introduced to the treasure-hunting Kidd family, which is made up of Professor Tom Kidd (world famous oceanographer), Mom, Tommy, Storm, and twins Bick and Beck. Each kid in the Kidd family contributes to the family business in his/her own unique way. Tommy, the oldest, is valued for his physical strength and experience sailing the family ship. Storm has a photographic memory. Beck is the artist who not only illustrates the tale but also lends her expertise when it comes to finding valuable works of art. Finally, Bick is excellent at words, which is a skill that always comes in handy, and results in him serving as the story's narrator.

As the story begins a raging storm at sea leads to the disappearance and supposed death of the children's dad. Readers learn that Mom went missing 3 months earlier in a treasure hunt trade gone bad in Cyprus. This leaves the Kidd kids on their own to carry on the family's treasure hunting business--sailing around the world, searching for valuable artifacts, and being chased by bad guys.

Don't let the size of the book scare you. It is long (451 pages with 70 chapters), but the chapters are very short and are filled with illustrations. In addition, the story is packed with nonstop action and adventure. Treasure Hunters is part of James Patterson's Jimmy books, "books written to be so good that when you're finished, you'll say 'PLEASE GIVE ME ANOTHER BOOK!'" I recommend this series to 3rd-5th graders who enjoy the action/adventure genre and are looking to start a new series.

Mrs. N.