Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay

​Uncorrected copy provided by publisher. Pub date: June 18, 2019  Publisher: Kokila ISBN: 978-0525554912

Born in the Philippines but raised in the United States, seventeen-year-old Jay learns that his Filipino cousin is dead. Stunned by the tragedy and his family’s reluctance to divulge any of the details, Jay returns to the land of his birth to ascertain what happened to his gentle, thoughtful relative. ​Tracing the life of Jun is challenging. The family is unwilling to discuss anything about him or his life. Jay suspects a cover-up and wants to learn the truth. He is startled by what he eventually finds and realizes that surviving can be dangerous for a young man trying to make his way through a drug-infested sub-culture. Ultimately Jay develops an appreciation for his Filipino heritage and decides to make a major life change. ​Hopeful, heart-wrenching, unforgettable storytelling.

Disappeared by Francisco X. Stork

​Audiobook accessed via Overdrive ​Pub date: October 1, 2019  Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books ISBN: 978-1338312829

Devastated by the disappearance of her friend, investigative reporter Sara Zapata discovers the astonishing number of young girls who have gone missing. Her published news articles begin to draw attention. As she searches for answers, things take a frightening turn when she discovers that key pieces of information are missing. Her family is threatened and her home is no longer a safe place. Sara learns that her brother may have jeopardized the family's future by a decision which will brings him into the influence of the drug cartel. Will she find her friend? Can she protect her family? Sara will risk all to discover the truth and remain true to herself. Seeking asylum and crossing the border from Mexico into the United States make this book particularly relevant.

I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest

​Uncorrected copy provided by publisher. ​Pub date: April 26, 2016  Publisher: Scholastic ISBN: 978-1338032352

Best friends Libby and May invented Princess X, a comic featuring a sword-wielding warrior princess wearing a gold crown and red sneakers. One fateful night Libby's mother fell asleep while driving across a bridge. The car tumbled into the icy water with Libby and her mother trapped inside. Libby is dead. Princess X is no more. Three years later May discovers Princess X stickers directing her to a website. She wonders: Why this sudden reappearance of Princess X? May sets off on a dangerous mission to uncover what happened that fateful night. Her quest pits her wits and her nerve against a cunning man with a deranged plan. A can't-put-it-down combination comic and prose thriller. ​​

Weird Little Robots
by Carolyn Crimi ill by Corinna Luyken

Penny Rose is lonely. In the past, she has always enjoyed friendships with other children in her neighborhood. Now everything has changed. Her family moved and she can't connect with any of her new classmates. She spends her free time sequestered in the shed in her family’s backyard, creating a collection of tiny robots from found objects: outdated technology, broken bits and pieces, even a set of false teeth. She names each creation and fills her days tinkering with these mini-friends. Then she meets her nerdy neighbor Lark. A budding ornithologist, Lark has a yard brimming with an incredible collection of birdhouses created from assorted curiosities that the birds leave for her, Lark wasn’t afraid to let her weirdness show, and Penny Rose thought that was very brave.

Build Your Own Robot

The Year We Fell From Space by Amy Sarig King

The Year We Fell From Space is a searing portrait of a young girl in conflict. ​Liberty Johansen distances herself from her classmates when she refuses to participate in school playground activities such as marriages and excommunications. And she’s not afraid to let her views be known. ​It’s stupid...We’re in sixth grade. Having weddings is stupid. ​She shoulders a massive self-imposed burden, trying to keep her family together, attempting to maintain peace and a sense of normalcy in situations which are beyond her control. She is fascinated with astronomy and creates her own star maps. Her interest in the stars becomes her safe place. She discovers an unusual rock and believes that it is a meteorite, sent from the skies directly to her. The rock becomes her solace, her companion, and her confidante. Lib views herself and her world through the lens of her current circumstances: sixth-grade outcast, protector for her younger sister, and dutiful daughter to her separated parents.

Smeelings

Liberty's life is filled with hikes, gazing at the night sky, campfires, and s'mores. And smeelings. ​ Smeelings are "smells that make feelings." I'm sending a toasted gooey s'more with lots of smeelings to King. Thanks for this poignant portrayal of a young girl and her family coping with mental illness. Its a story that has found a home in my heart.

The Upper Case: Trouble in Capital City
by Tara Lazar ill by Ross MacDonald

Following up on her hit picture book 7 Ate 9: The Untold Story Tara Lazar brings readers another clever take on our alphabet system, specifically capitalized letters. Readers are treated to a noir style whodunit. Private I is informed by Question Mark that the capital letters are missing. ALL of them. Our intrepid detective is on the case. This was serious. If all the capital letters were gone, there’d be incomplete sentences dangling everywhere.

Upper Case Antics

The Upper Case trailer

Alphabuild magnetic blocks

Bake alphabet cookies

Tiny World: Pins! by Keith Zoo

I maintain the Book Shop for our community’s Ronald McDonald House. The facility offers children and their families a welcoming residence when a child requires ongoing medical treatment at local hospitals and treatment centers. The purpose of the Book Shop is to provide books of interest to children and teens during their stay.

As I monitored book usage patterns, one thing became clear: the current collection was not meeting children’s interests. It was time to rethink the Book Shop. What would appeal to young residents? Here are some things I discovered: Youngsters undergoing therapy want materials that will quickly engage them. While there are differences according to age and interest, I found books with the highest use fell in these general categories: board books, picture books featuring popular characters from T.V. and movies, nonfiction animal books with large color photographs, books celebrating holidays, teen romance, picture books with an engaging cover, and easy-to-read bilingual books.

Helpful Hints

Nina Soni, Former Best Friend
​by Kashmira Sheth ill by Jenn Kocsmiersky

Nina Soni’s life just got more complicated. She accidentally destroys her best friend's art project. Nina fears that Jay will no longer be her friend. She is stymied when her teacher assigns a Personal Narrative Project. She has nothing to write. Her life is as boring as plain rice. ​Then she discovers an interesting phenomenon that will be the basis for her person narrative. To her dismay, she learns that her idea is the same experiment used by  Jay at last year's science fair. She is discouraged. When her sister's birthday party plans fall through, Jay and Nina come together and develop a clever solution to the birthday dilemma. Upon reflection, Nina realizes that retelling events of the past twenty-four hours will make an interesting writing project.

For=get-ful-ness means your mind becomes so full of new thoughts and ideas that it pushes out the old ones.

Former means once-upon-a-time.

Scientific Discoveries

Dish soap

Lemon juice

Baking soda

Vinegar

Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds  ill by Alexander Nabaum

Reynolds has penned a novel comprised of interconnected stories. Read independently they are insightful vignettes, zeroing in on the ten city blocks students attending Lattimer Middle School traverse each day. Collectively the stories reveal the hearts of those bound together by geography. The lives of these unique individuals intersect in unexpected ways. In the push and pull of everyday life, we meet students affected by life-altering events such as sickle cell anemia, cancer, dementia, incarceration, and gay-shaming. These ten blocks are jam-packed with a rich assortment of sensory details. ​"There's a smell in the air. A mix of exhaust and exhaustion. Also cooked food and cooked hair. There's a feel in the air. A stickiness like walking through an invisible syrup. A thickness to life. There's a sound in the air. A shrill and chill. The scream and whisper of the world making a symphony of so good and so what."

One Fox: A Counting Book Thriller by Kate Read

Can a counting book be a thriller? In the capable hands of Kate Read the answer is an emphatic YES. The title page features paw prints, stealthily walking across the two-page spread and heading into... the first page and one famished fox. Page two zooms in on the face of said fox, shifty eyes focused on its prey. A single feather floating at the bottom of the page is a tantalizing hint as to what will follow. The page turn confirms our suspicions. ​Three plump hens. The tension builds as readers follow the items enumerated on subsequent pages: snug eggs, silent steps, on ominous tapping, beady eyes shining in the darkness, and a set of sharp teeth.

Outfoxing a Fox

Aalfred and Aalbert by Morag Hood

Morag Hood is back with another inventive tale of friendship. She still manages to spend some time in at the grocers where Carrot and Pea hang out. However, for this book broccoli and cheese play a supporting part. Starring roles belong to two aardvarks. Aalfred and Aalbert. Name spelling is a playful nod to the species nomenclature. Although the two aardvarks have neighboring burrows, they have never met. Each has a very distinct lifestyle, one active during the day and the other nocturnal. They seem destined to remain apart. Until an observant bird decides to intervene.

It's Science

Charlotte Brontë Before Jane Eyre
by Glynnis Fawkes introduction by Alison Bechdel

​Charlotte Brontë Before Jane Eyre is an insightful and well-researched portrait of young Charlotte Brontë. Prologue features Brontë receiving a letter from England's Poet laureate Robert Southey. A series of panels focus on Charlotte and the emotions that play across her face as she reads his critique of her poetry.  Literature cannot be the business of a woman's life. This opening sets the stage for an illustrated chronology of the sixteen-year struggle for Brontë and her sisters Emily and Anne to establish themselves as authors. The 1800’s were not a period favorable for educated women who aspired to move beyond the traditional vocations of teacher or governess. Following the death of her mother, Charlotte is sent, along with her three sisters, to an austere boarding school. Both of her of older sisters die from "consumption" and the two younger girls are withdrawn from the school.

The four surviving Brontë children remain at home, where their imaginations take flight as they create an elaborate world based on a set of toy soldiers. They call their fantasy world Glass Town. It becomes the basis for their early ventures into writing. We will be the subject of tales and verse for years to come! Hooray for Great Glass Town! Eventually Charlotte and Emily return to school and prepare to become teachers. Both girls find the life of a teacher and governess to be distasteful. They want to write. Assuming constant care of young charges leaves no time for these accomplished siblings to pursue their passion for writing. They receive this advice: women cannot support themselves as authors.

Eventually the sisters determine that they will find a way to see their work in published form. All three women submit novels for consideration. Anne's Agnes Grey and Emily's Wuthering Heights are accepted. Charlotte's The Professor is rejected. Fortunately Charlotte receives this encouraging response: perhaps she might write another novel for consideration. She gets to work on a story set on the moors. The main character is neither wealthy nor glamorous. She has endured a painful childhood. Despite difficulties the heroine is determined to succeed. Her name is Jane Eyre. Brontë writes, pouring her life and her heart into the work. When she is ready to submit her final clean copy of Jane Eyre she learns that if the publisher rejects the novel she must pay both sending and returning shipping fees. She risks a double payment if the novel is rejected. She decides to send the manuscript. I've been writing incessantly for a year- what will come of it?

Fawkes line drawings and ink wash are an excellent medium for the pastoral British Isles ​setting.

Meet Glynnis Fawkes as she discusses two of her recent projects.

Brontë Times Three