4 stars A heartfelt story of a family’s love shared in a big house filled with memories. Told by the eldest daughter, the story follows the children from adoption to adulthood, depicting moments from dance parties to grandparent visits, new pets to Halloween adventures, tea parties to block parties. Such an adorable story. It was…
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4 stars A fascinating blend of science fiction and the supernatural paired with romance, music, found family, and questions of what makes a legacy. I really enjoyed the genre mixing. Donut-making aliens, deals with the Devil, and passion for music collide in such a unique way. Like the Béla Bartók piece that plays such a…
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Illustrated by Minnie Phan 5 stars A remarkable story of bravery, hope, and working toward a better future. Set during the 2020 California wildfires, the story follows Simone as she and her mother evacuate. Though Simone is scared, her mother helps calm her by recounting her own evacuation during a flood in Viet Nam. Using…
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Illustrated by Courtney Lovett 3 stars A fun read overall. Honestly, the setup was a little weird to me. A journalist and a doctor drive around the country in their RV with their two young children and their dog helping out with various natural disasters. It seemed odd that Jaden and Leela would go along…
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Illustrated by Ted Hammond 3.5 stars An interesting look at the Winchester Mystery House and Sarah Winchester more specifically. I’ll admit, before reading this I’d only heard the supernatural versions of the story. I appreciate that Berne took a fact-based approach and highlighted some of the reasons for the unique architecture. The book covers quite…
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4 stars Fast-paced, action-packed historical fiction centering around the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. The earthquake itself happens fairly quickly. There are some interesting facts surrounding earthquakes in the text, but much of the story deals with Leo’s life before the disaster and the resulting fires following the quake. It does contain some useful information…
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