Tag Archives: Family Life

MG -The Probability of Everything

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Everett, Sarah. The Probability of Everything. HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2023. 978-0-063-25655-2. $17.99. 336 p. Grades 5-7.

Eleven year old Kemi is a budding scientist. She has a loving nuclear family and a diverse and generous extended family. Obsessed with probability, Kemi faces challenges through research, facts, and number crunching. When faced with the end of the world as she knows it, Kemi bravely forges forward undeterred by the demise of everything she has ever known or loved. Explaining more of the plot would ruin the ending for readers, but be assured it is fresh, unexpected, and thoroughly thought provoking.

THOUGHTS: This middle grade debut novel has a truly incredible surprise twist at the end. Well written, beautifully crafted, and careful never to give away the ending, this coming-of-age story touches on many current relevant topics including race, mental health, friendship, family, and grief. A powerful exploration of the powers of the mind.

Realistic Fiction

MG – Fox Point’s Own Gemma Hopper

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Sprangler, Brie. Fox Point’s Own Gemma Hopper. Alfred A. Knopf, 2023. 978-0-593-42849-8. 248 p. $21.99. Grades 4-8.

Gemma Hopper is trying to keep her life running smoothly, but that is not easy since her mother left. Gemma is in charge of all the household chores as well as looking out for her younger twin brothers while her father works several jobs to make ends meet. Her older brother, Teddy, is a baseball sensation and will be leaving soon to join a baseball league in Florida. It seems as though everyone has forgotten that Gemma also has a love for the sport, and in fact, she is quite talented. She feels overshadowed by her brother. Will baseball be the thing that saves her and her family, or will it destroy everything?

THOUGHTS: This is such a great graphic novel with a focus on family, friendship, and hope. Middle grade students will be drawn to this book.

Graphic Novel

YA – The Luminaries

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Dennard, Susan. The Luminaries. Tor Teen, 2022. 978-1-250-19404-6. $18.99. 304 p. Grades 9-12.

Hemlock Falls is not your average town. It’s surrounded by a forest inhabited by nightmares and monsters. The town is kept safe by The Luminaries, an ancient order of hunters who protect the residents each night. Families that make up the Luminaries take turns hunting throughout the days of the week. Winnie Wednesday, of the Wednesday clan, is preparing to participate in the hunter trials. Although she is turning 16 and is eligible to participate, her family has been shunned by the Luminaries ever since her father was accused of being a witch and betraying them all. This is the only way that Winnie can restore her family back to the order, so Winnie must try, no matter how great the danger. Reluctantly, she accepts help from her former best friend, Jay Friday, one of the best hunters in the Luminaries. As Winnie trains for her hunter trials, she continues to learn about the nightmares lurking outside of her town, and when she encounters a new kind of monster, she’ll have to convince the order that exiled her family that this new danger may be a threat to them all.

THOUGHTS: The Luminaries, the first of a new series, has a little bit of everything for readers. In this fantasy world, teenage hunters typically choose their roles rather than have it forced upon them but although they live in a town surrounded by monsters, their lives are quite ordinary. Action, adventure, and mystery await in this new, contemporary fantasy, and it’s the perfect choice for readers looking to try something new.

Fantasy          Emily Hoffman, Conestoga Valley SD

MG – The Edge of In Between

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Savaryn, Lorelei. The Edge of In Between. Viking Books for Young Readers, 2022. ISBN 9780593202098. 304 p. $17.99 Grades 4-8.

Lottie enjoys an idyllic life with her parents in a city where almost everyone she knows has magical abilities. The Living Gray somehow exist without magic, but Lottie is sure that she will never suffer that depressing and magic-less fate. Then Lottie experiences a tremendous tragedy, and her magic slips away, leaving her feeling lost and hopeless. When Lottie’s uncle offers her a chance to live in the In Between and regain her magic and her family, she jumps at the chance, but the magic she is searching for seems permanently out of reach. Eventually, Lottie befriends a family who lives and works on her uncle’s estate and discovers that she can learn to coexist with loss, not as one of the Living Gray, but as a vivid character in a rich and rewarding life of her own.

THOUGHTS: Reminiscent of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, this book strikes all the right notes of tragic orphan storytelling and dreamy magical realism. Discussions about life, grief, letting go of lost family, and moving forward with joy are all part of this haunting story. The way Lottie and her new friends intertwine and support each other leaves the reader with a satisfyingly hopeful ending.

Fantasy Fiction          Erin Faulkner, Cumberland Valley SD

Elem. – Our Story Starts in Africa

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Lawrence, Patrice. Our Story Starts in Africa. Magic Cat Publishing, 2022. 978-1-4197-6022-8. Unpaged. $18.99. K-3.

When Paloma, a young black girl, visits her family in Trinidad, she feels like somewhat of an outcast. Her cousins have a very different way of speaking, and the children therefore have trouble understanding one another. This leads them to question how they could possibly be family. Luckily, Tante Janet has an answer. She explains how their entire family has roots in Africa, going all the way back to Africa’s warrior queens and ancient relics. She proceeds to describe how other countries became jealous and stole Africa’s precious things, including its people. This forced Africans into slavery in new countries with new languages. Therefore, although they all had to adapt to different cultures and languages, their stories can all be traced back to Africa, indisputably making them a family. Brightly colored illustrations depict Paloma’s world, while more muted, sepia tones portray scenes from African history. Some elements of Caribbean culture are mentioned throughout the story as well, including coconut water, ginger beer, and cocoa trees. An author’s note, a recommended reading list, and questions and answers about Africa and slavery are included at the end. 

THOUGHTS: This is an informative tale about the history of Africa, colonization, and slavery. It would make an excellent addition to any elementary social studies collection. Include it in a display during Black History Month, or use it to introduce African history, Caribbean culture, or slavery. 

Picture Book          Julie Ritter, PSLA Member

Elem. – Farmhouse

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Blackall, Sophie. Farmhouse. Little, Brown, and Company, 2022. 978-0-316-52894-8. 32 p. $18.99. Grades K-3. 

This book, which is written in one long sentence, tells the story of a farmhouse and the family who makes the house a home. The house, occupied by 12 children and their parents, is part of a 19th century dairy farm, and each spread details the day-to-day lives of the family members. They perform chores, play, squabble, read, cook, make mischief, share secrets, and dream of the future all together under one roof. Eventually, the children grow up and move away, and the house falls into a state of disrepair. It sits empty, except for its many new animal inhabitants, until the author herself purchases the property and salvages what she can from the old structure. Using the books, maps, sheet music, clothing, keys, and buttons she finds inside as inspiration, Blackall created this book, weaving together a tribute to the house and the family who lived in it so many years ago. This book’s stunning illustrations were created using a variety of mixed media, including Chinese ink, watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil. Blackall also incorporated additional materials she salvaged from the farmhouse, including wallpaper, newspaper clippings, clothing, string, curtains, and handkerchiefs.

THOUGHTS: This book is so visually impressive that each repeated reading will uncover previously unnoticed details. Each spread bursts with the personalities of the family members, and readers will enjoy flipping back and forth between pages, noting how the family and the farmhouse change over time. It’s a tribute not only to one family and one farmhouse, but to the way time passes and things change. Physical items are left behind, but so too are their stories, waiting to be rediscovered by new generations.

Picture Book          Anne Bozievich, Southern York County SD

Elem. – Bathe the Cat

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McGinty, Alice. Bathe the Cat. Chronicle Books, 2022. 978-1-452-14270-8. Unpaged $17.99. Grades K-2.

Bathe the Cat is a funny rhyming picture book about a family whose grandmother is coming to visit, so they make a list of chores to do. One of those chores is to bathe the cat, which doesn’t make the cat very happy. So the cat spends the rest of the picture book messing the chore list up, so they end up doing things like mowing the floor and mopping the fishes. Finally by the end of the book the chores are done, grandma has come, and the cat escaped their bath. Throughout this book, the reader will love finding the cat and their mischievous ways they mess with the chores.

THOUGHTS: Wonderful picture book with charming illustrations. Definitely a great addition to any elementary collection.

Picture Book          Mary McEndree, Lehigh Valley Regional Charter Academy

MG – The Star That Always Stays

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Johnson, Anna Rose. The Star That Always Stays. Holiday House, 2022. 978-0-823-45040-4. 274 p. $17.99. Grades 5-9.

The year is 1914 in Boyne City, Michigan, and 14 year old Norvia has her life turned upside down after her parents divorce and her mother remarries. A divorce is considered scandalous during this time, and Norvia and her siblings are about to discover the stigma that is attached to them when they move into their new home. In addition to the divorce, Norvia is discovering that not everyone is accepting of her Ojibwe heritage. Despite all the challenges facing the five Nelson siblings, they are determined to make the most of their new lives. And along the way they discover the benefits of a strong family unit whether they are connected by  blood or through marriage. 

THOUGHTS: This was a lovely historical fiction book. I enjoyed the setting, the story, and most of all the delightful and vivid characters.

Historical Fiction          Victoria Dziewulski, Plum Borough SD

MG – Attack of the Black Rectangles

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King, Amy Sarig. Attack of the Black Rectangles. Scholastic Press, 2022. 978-1-338-68052-2. 258 p. $17.99. Grades 4-7.

Mac Delaney is excited to start 6th grade even though his teacher Ms. Sett is known around their small town for enforcing rather strict rules, such as a curfew for teenagers and no pizza delivery after a certain time of night. She even got the town to give up trick-or-treating at Halloween! Mac does not let her rules bother him; after all, he has his hands full trying to understand his dad who is struggling with an unnamed mental illness. When his class starts literature circles, Mac and his friends pick Jane Yolen’s The Devil’s Arithmetic. However, he is horrified to find that there are certain words and sentences covered in black rectangles, specifically words in the scene where the main character Hannah enters the shower at the concentration camp she is forced to go to. He buys the book from the local bookstore to compare the copies and finds that those black rectangles were put there by someone else in order to censor parts of the story. After finding out that Ms. Sett did indeed censor the book’s shower scenes because “some boys might giggle,” Mac is furious. Mac’s father does not understand what the big deal is, but Mac knows censorship is wrong. He and his friends decide they need to take action, and in doing so they find more people willing to fight against censorship than he ever thought possible.

THOUGHTS: A.S. King’s book shows the harm that censorship can have on a small community while handling the topic fairly. She clearly thinks highly of young adults as the young characters in this book are whip-smart and fully aware of the social issues that plague the world. This timely novel takes place in a famously small town in Lancaster, PA; local readers will enjoy seeing their favorite establishments pop up in the book as the backdrop to Mac’s story.

Realistic Fiction         Danielle Corrao, Manheim Central SD

MG – Cress Watercress

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Maguire, Gregory. Cress Watercress. Candlewick Press, 2022. 978-1-536-21100-9. $19.99. 227 p. Grades 3-8.

Cressida Watercress and her rabbit family live in a spacious and well kept burrow. Young Cress has never known a moment’s want or worry until the day Papa fails to return from foraging. Unable to care for her young children alone, Mama makes the difficult decision to move her  family to a cramped basement apartment in an animal tenement known as the Broken Arms. Cressida’s brother Kip is often sickly, and Mama must work harder than ever to feed, shelter, and support Cress and Kip. The Broken Arms is filled with animal characters of all shapes, sizes, and temperaments. Mr. Owl, the landlord, is an enigmatic figure who will often comment on the comings and goings and behavior of his tenants from high above though he is never seen by those same tenants. Manny, the building superintendent, is helpful but demanding. The pressure to make timely rent payments is difficult for Mama, especially when Kip is not well. Cress must learn to accept and understand her new neighbors, and must step-up to help Mama. Growing up is not easy, especially when dealing with childhood grief. As Cress matures, her relationship with her mother becomes strained at times, and she grapples with friendships just as many tween human children do. Eventually the Watercress family finds great comfort and companionship in the community at Broken Arms, and Cress finds herself in a position to save the day when her newly adopted community is threatened.

THOUGHTS: Beautiful illustrations by David Litchfield set the tone for this coming of age novel. The struggles Cress encounters in her relationship with her mother and her friends will be easily recognized by middle grade readers and adults alike. The depiction of childhood grief is especially well characterized in this warm and gentle story.

Animal Fiction          Anne McKernan, Council Rock SD
Realistic Fiction