C.J. Milbrandt's Blog, page 45
July 27, 2018
Drizzle
Drizzle
Kathleen Van Cleve
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Polly Peabody’s family lives on what can only be called a magical farm. Their house is a castle. Nobody can drown in their lake. The insects are surprisingly intelligent. And it rains every Monday at 1:00 p.m., without fail. Which does wonders for their rhubarb crops. But events conspire, and it looks as if they might lose the farm.
Rhubarb and emerald rings. School bullies and best friends. Dragon flies and dark towers. Sabotage and saving the farm. Absolutely fun...
July 24, 2018
#amreading Poetry
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Through a series of autobiographical poems, Jacqueline revisits her childhood in Brown Girl Dreaming. Yes, it’s a peek into the civil rights moment, but even more, a celebration of family and beginnings and cherished things and stories. Beautiful. The Poet’s Dog is a short story about two lost children who are led to safety by a dog. And Inside Out & Back Again is the story of a Vietnamese family who leaves behind their war-torn home in Saigon. Poetic snippets give us glimpses of the home Ha...
July 23, 2018
BYWAYS: Illustrations
Every one of the Byways Books includes beautiful full-color art by my illustrator, Hannah Christenson. Here’s a sampling from Book #1, On Your Marks: The Adventure Begins.
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July 20, 2018
The Evil Wizard Smallbone
The Evil Wizard Smallbone
Delia Sherman
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Neil runs away from the uncle who beats him and the cousin who bullies him and finds himself at the door of the Evil Wizard Smallbone. Getting away proves impossible, but perhaps that’s not a bad thing. Curses and coyotes. Motorcycles and Maine. Household chores and Hellcat. Tourist towns and longstanding traditions.
After a rough patch of so-so books, this came as a welcome surprise. Utterly enjoyable. (But then, I always did love a curmudgeon.) This...
July 17, 2018
#amreading: Realistic Fiction
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Rules was impossible for me to put down. It’s a sibling story & a friendship story. (Two of my favorite things!) Catherine makes a new friend in the waiting room at the office where her little brother David (who is autistic) goes for occupational therapy. Jason can’t talk, but Catherine steadily adds words to his vocabulary. In The Wednesday Wars, Holling Hoodhood is pretty sure that his teacher hates his guts. Especially when she decides to introduce him to Shakespeare. (Set during the Viet...
July 10, 2018
#amreading Variously
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The Jacket turns a simple misunderstanding into one boy’s wrestling with his understanding of race, equality, and bigotry. The Cat Who Went to Heaven is a picturesque historical piece about a Japanese artist. It includes many simplified versions of stories about the life (and reincarnations) of Buddha. Drizzle is a delightful save-the-farm story that includes a magical rhubarb patch and regularly scheduled rainstorms.
July 3, 2018
#amreading Traditions
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In Buried Fire, the new minister at the church on the hill revels in the discovery of an ancient cross buried on their grounds. Meanwhile, a boy on a sleepy hillside is trapped and changed by a malicious thought that rises up from the Pit. In The Gravedigger’s Son, Ian is destined to follow in his father’s footsteps, watching over the dead. The only problem is, he’d really rather be a healer. And Night of the Howling Dogs is a survival story about a scout troop camping in Hawaii when an eart...
July 2, 2018
#MGCarousel – Summer Reading Bingo
Summer Reading! Time for a fresh sticky post, where I’ll keep my July BINGO board, part of the Summer Reading Challenge for #MGCarousel at Elymnifoquent.com, where Elza and I blog about middle grade books.
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Play along! Grab your July bingo board here >>
Can’t read those tiny book covers? I’ve listed the titles/authors.
SQUARES COVERED [In order, row by row, top to bottom]:
Three-way BINGO for June
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Celebrating a triple BINGO! I’ve listed the title/author over on the original post – #MGCarousel – Summer Reading Bingo (June edition). And I’ll post my July bingo board shortly, which I’ll be working at in addition to #CampNaNoWriMo. (Hooray for a playful summer schedule!)
BYWAYS: Illustrations
Every one of the Byways Books includes beautiful full-color art by my illustrator, Hannah Christenson. Here’s a sampling from Book #3, Over the Bridge: A Zane Johns Adventure.
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