The weekly post where I recap some of the KidLit books I’ve been reading. Ocasionally, I’ll also talk about some adult fiction books as well.

Be sure to check out Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers to see what other Kidlit readers are reading. Because, you know, we can never have too many books in our TBR piles.

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Just Finished

I was so excited to check this book out. I love Nikki Grimes’ books, and this one is fantastic. Both of the kids enjoyed listening as I read, but my 10 year old daughter was enthralled. She has always paid very close attention to stories about girls doing amazing things. My daughter would often stop and ask questions as we read the story and the book opened up lots of discussion. Excellent read.

This is a very cute story about a picky eater flamingo. She refuses to eat the shrimp her parents want her to and instead eats all sorts of other things instead. Not to spoil anything, but something fun happens each time she tries something new. The back matter in the book is good as well.

I requested this from the library and I had no idea how huge and heavy it was! It is well over 400 pages long. Despite that, it is still a quicker read. The cover is great and is even textured like a basketball. I was the scorekeeper for a time for my high school boy’s basketball, so this brought back some good memories. There was a lot to enjoy in this story as it ties in basketball history, the story of actually creating the graphic novel, and the main story of the high school basketball team. The author has lots of footnotes in the back explaining when and why he made changes to what actually happened in real life. Excellent read.

I enjoyed this story, but the mom’s boyfriend really bugged me. I know that this is sort of the point, but he just rubbed me the wrong way. I guess it is effective because that is how the main character feels as well. I always like a good farm tale and it was fun to see Jen grow as she learns how to take care of the chickens and help at the farmers market. I think the book captures the frustration and helplessness a child often feels when major life changes occur and they have no say in the matter.

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Added to My TBR