Five Books You MIght Want to Read!

The reading continues - along with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) - which should be followed with InNoWriMo and GaNoWriMo and IntgNoWriMo. (International Novel, Galactic Novel and Intergalactic Novel Writing Month).

I Can Make This Promise by Christine Day.  This started with a dog. Although Edie's mother is Native American, she was adopted by white parents. At a local PowWow, Edie meets a friendly homeless dog.  The dog fascinates her but her parents drag her home and leave the dog behind. That dog - just remember it.

At home, the summer project that Edie and her best friends have planned hits a bump when one friend wants to change everything. I put the book down for a day or two. Changing friendships, sigh.

The three friends find a mystery in Edie's closet and off we go on a "What haven't my parents told me?" tangent. Because parent's sometimes make awkward decisions. Edie finally confronts her Mom and learns a family history that is painful and enriching.

The adoption of Native American children was/is(?) rife with abuses until the Indian Children Welfare Act was enacted in 1978. That is the foundation for this book.

Our children are vulnerable. Protect them.

The Usual Suspects by Maurice Broaddus 
OK. This book came with high praise and kudos from my favorite book blogger, Betsy Bird.  So I had to read it.
It is a fabulous book. Truly. But the jacket calls it "hilarious" and it made me cry.

A gun is found on the playground, right next to the school - not on the school playground, but frighteningly close.  Thelonius Mitchell and his friends are the denizens of THAT classroom, the one with the kids who are hard to teach. So, immediately, they fall under suspicion.
The politics of the upper grades in this school are populated by some very crafty and dog-eat-dog students. As "T" tries to clear the names of himself and his friends, he runs afoul of the Queen Bee with painful results.
His solution to proving the innocence of the usual suspects is balanced on a razor thin line. Is it fair? Is it true? You decide. Funny episodes aside, this book just underscores the point of the previous review.

Our children are vulnerable. Protect ALL of them.

Because of the Rabbit by Cynthia Lord   This book is about a bunny and the cover is blue so it was an easy sell for me.

Here's what I said on Goodreads.
"Adorable middle grade new-kid-in-school story with low profile loving parents, and a found rabbit.

Animals! Finding friends! Being oneself! Accepting differences! This one hits a lot of great notes and even lends itself to discussion.

Wide appeal."
That says it all.

YAY! In this one the children are not the vulnerable ones.

Strange Birds: A Field Guide to Ruffling Feathers by Celia C. Pérez.   Ofelia, Aster and Cat all receive mysterious invitations from Lane.  Their meeting is not filled with lifelong friendship on sight. But they continue to meet and they get involved in an attempt to end an environmentally unfriendly custom.

The Floras, a generations long "scout" type organization for girls in this Florida town, is central to the book, as well as the evolving relationships among its members.

Expect cloak and dagger-ish shenanigans, excellent research skills and family conflict.  Just like the rabbit book, this story hinges on love of nature and crafting friendships.  "Wide appeal!"

YAY again!  These kids have grown-ups who know their jobs.


All the Greys on Greene Street by Laura Tucker with illustrations by Kelly Murphy.    Set in 1981, this book follows Olympia, a young artist living on Greene Street in New York City. Her father and his business partner, Apollo, clean and restore antique artworks. Ollie's mother is a sculptor, creating soaring works in their loft apartment.

 Then Ollie's father disappears - in the middle of the night -* leaving behind a note - just for Ollie.  My review on Goodreads is short and to the point. It tells you very little of what made this such a good book but why re-create the wheel?

"This was a read-right-through novel. Olympia's father disappears in the middle of the night, right before her mother takes to her bed. Assumptions are made. Art is destroyed and created. Mysterious men appear in the hallway. Good friends have Olympia's back.

My unreviewerly review is. I liked it. It is a good book. Nice characters, a bit of mystery, a screen free existence. Yeah."

Ollie was vulnerable but, thankfully, Ollie's friends looked out for her.  It could have been horrible. 


* If you must disappear, I suggest doing it in the middle of the night.  Just saying.