4 stars A wonderful conversation starter for topics of race and understanding other’s perspectives. Latham and Waters use poetry to tell the story of Irene and Charles, fifth-graders based on their own childhood selves, who have to work on a poetry assignment together. Along the way, they learn about each other, how they are the…
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4 stars More mysterious happenings in need of investigating, this time at Claire’s school. Another great entry in The Haunted Library series. While these are best read in order, there’s enough backtracking and explanation of past events, that one could still enjoy this without having read the first two. While Claire and Kaz investigate the…
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4 stars Another adorable, fun adventure. This one is a bit spooky with a nice mystery to solve. Great follow up to the first book. It continues the story, providing new mysteries and development of the overall plot, while still leaving some open ends to be discovered throughout the rest of the series. The mystery…
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4 stars As far as the fake-dating trope goes, this one was pretty good. I’m not usually a fan of the trope because of the predetermined trajectory of the relationship. Because of that, it took me a bit to get into this book. But there were also enough other things going on to keep me…
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4 stars A sweet story of a girl’s first time fasting for Ramadan. At first, Lailah is excited about being able to fast, but after moving from Abu Dhabi to American, she’s worried about explaining fasting and Ramadan to her teachers and classmates who might not understand. One aspect I loved about the book is…
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5 stars I loved this book so much! It take a sometimes-tricky concept and perfectly fits it into a high-energy, engaging read that focuses on personal choice, verbal consent, and the validity of one’s own likes and dislikes. This book does a great job of presenting its messages in a way that is easy for…
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5 stars This has everything I look for and love in a board book. Fun, colorful artwork, a simple but sweet story (bonus points for rhyming), and activities to keep little ones entertained. This push, pull, slide adventure has plenty to keep little hands busy as they journey through a magical land with a unicorn…
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3 stars I’d like to take a moment to just marvel at Maroh’s artwork. That color scheme is just… wow. Okay, on to the review. As I said the artwork is great. I loved the color choices. They really captured the desert versus water dynamic going on. The art style I loved so much in Blue…
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5 stars A frightened ghost swept away from his family, a “solid” (aka non-ghost person) who can see ghosts, and a library that has a few mysteries. This was a delightful read. It started off a bit dark with Kaz being blown away from his family. But it ends on a hopeful note and sets…
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3 stars Pizazz doesn’t like her name, her cape, her “embarrassing” superpower, or being a superhero in general. But as she navigates the world of elementary school, she learns new ways of viewing the world and how to save it. An engaging story about a reluctant superhero and her struggles fitting in at a new…
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