Kids Books - Family

My students really enjoyed Paulsen's stories. They found them entertaining as well as educational about the "woods", They especially loved reading about his experience in the Iditarod. We follow the current Iditarod while we read Paulsen's tale. They loved learning about the Iditarod as well.

They're all AMAZING books! And, although I would not like to live in a world like in the books, I also kind of would............ It's confusing. But totally read these books! It's an INCREDIBLE trilogy!

Boy 21 by:Matthew Quick Have you a ever wondered what it is like to live in a neighborhood full of drug dealers, being one of the many white kids in the community. Well the kid in a book called Boy 21 by Matthew Quick, lives this life. Although all of these problems might be distracting, this boy named Finley, keeps himself away from all of these problems by playing his favorite sport, basketball. This is a great book because as I read on, the story was getting better and better. In this book, Finley is a high schooler that plays on the basketball varsity team and he has a girlfriend named Erin who also plays basketball. Finley lives in a neighborhood ruled by drugs, violence, and Irish mobs. His nickname is "White Rabbit" because he is, well white and he eats a lot of carrots. Everything was normal until Finley's coach tells him to help a new kid named Russ, who came to this school after a family tragedy and use to be a basketball star. Now Russ is called "Boy21". Finley has to help Russ even if it means giving up some things. Later on in the book, the two boys realize that Russ coming to the school was a good thing. I really enjoyed reading this book but in the beginning of the book, it was a little inappropriate but other than that, the book was great. I mostly loved when the author makes you infer what will happen next in this book. I'd say that this book is a real page turner because the author kept pulling the reader in about every other page. Mathew Quick is a 42 year old man who is most known for writing a bestselling book called "The Silver Linings Playbook". I believe that this book is kind of unique in its own way. I don't think that any other book was like this one. And the kind of people who would like to read this book are people who like a little bit of drama and sports and the age group for this book would be 13 and up.

It Sounded Better In My Head by Nina Kenwood is a romance novel surrounding 18 year old Natalie. Natalie faces changes in her life when she is about to graduate her senior year of high school. Her parents were getting a divorce and her crush and best friend started dating. As it is labeled as romance, Alex is seen as a comfort character to Natalie but there wasn’t any real chemistry apart from the comedy and insanely cute banters. Their relationship felt unreal to me because their conversations were literal interrogations. I felt like Alex’s presence wouldn’t change anything if he wasn’t in the book, Natalie was the only person on her side, she herself coped through her worries. The characters Nina wrote gave me second-hand embarrassment because of the awkwardness seen throughout Natalie’s interactions. I feel like most teenagers would relate to the quote, “I’m eighteen, and sometimes I would still want to stand up and scream, this isn’t really me.” I recommend this book as a light read and I would give this a 3.5 rating. ~KK

The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu is a fantasy book with a mix of historical fiction. This book takes place all around Europe and is about Nannerl Mozart, the older sister of Wolfgang Mozart (referred to as Woferl) wanting to be known in the world, and mark her place in history. But she was a shadow of her genius brother, who could work music like magic at such a young age. So Nannerl makes a deal with a so called Prince from another world, but all is not what it seems. This book talks about many important aspects of life such as family, love, stereotypes, and jealousy. I think that this book is a must read because if it’s amazing incorporation of fantasy and reality. If you are a fan of Marie Lu’s bestseller series Legend, you would love this book because they are both great examples of Marie Lu’s style. This review was written by Akarsh.

Tears of A Tiger by Sharon M. Draper is a part of a series, and the genre of the book is realistic fiction. The book is about a boy named Andy who is a basketball player with his best friend Rob. After a basketball game Andy, Rob, Tyrone, and B.J all get into Andy’s car after drinking beer. Andy is driving on the highway and starts swerving and crashes killing Rob and leaving him injured. Andy is grieving Rob’s death and blames it on himself for Rob’s death. As Andy goes on in life the book focuses on him and how his family and friends help him.

Kid Owner is about this 12 year old boy named Ryan Zinna. He loves football but his mom won't let him play until a certain age. Ryan was just a normal kid but until his dad, ( which he has never met before) dies, everything changed. He missed his dad's funeral but got to hear his will, he was shocked to find that his dad owned the Dallas Cowboys. And he wanted Ryan to own them. His stepmom pulls some stings and now Ryan might not have them after all. Now he has to compete against his stepbrother Dillon in his middle school football and the Cowboys. He only has his friends Izzy, Jackson, the Cowboys coach, and his mom on his side. How will he win? My favorite part is when Ryan is playing a football game against his stepbrother Dillon. He takes himself out of the game and lets another kid go in that hasn't yet. I really liked this book and if you like sports, football, or the author Tim Green. Then I recommend this book.

"Have I told you how hideous you look tonight?" Now that is just a taste of Cardan's personality, like a crumb of bread. And do not fear for this book does not follow the life of Cardan but of Jude, Jude Duarte. Jude has lived in Faerie for a very long time and if you're wondering what type of superpowers she has, well, no, she doesn't have one, she's not even Fae! Is she a troll or a pixie? No, she is a perfectly normal human. Other than the fact that her half sister, Vivienne, is Fae, her guardian killed her parents, she makes her archnemesis aka Cardan the High King of Faerie, wait what? *coughs* Pretend i never said any of this...... ahhh, now I've got you interested huh? Well, to bad, because you have to read the book! Trust me, this book will get you hooked. I recommend this book for ages 11+. Happy Reading!

When Hope and her aunt move to small-town Wisconsin to take over the local diner, Hope's not sure what to expect. But what they find is that the owner, G.T., isn't quite ready to give up yet - in fact, he's decided to run for mayor against a corrupt candidate. And as Hope starts to make her place at the diner, she also finds herself caught up in G.T.'s campaign - particularly his visions for the future. After all, as G.T. points out, everyone can use a little hope to help get through the tough times... even Hope herself. Filled with heart and charm

Do you like books with lots of adventure? How about books with children that outsmart villains? If so, this book would be great for you! In this book, the Mysterious Benedict Society, the main characters of the story, try to stop their opponent, the evil genius Mr.Curtain, from taking over the world. When a blackout suddenly hits their town, the four Mysterious Benedict Society members, Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance, find out that Mr. Curtain caused it and that he plans on creating even more blackouts. Their search for Mr.Curtain leads them into a trap, which gets them captured. How will they escape? How will they stop Mr. Curtain from trying to take over the world ever again.? And will Constance's new powers help them? Even though it started off a little slowly, it was really interesting at the middle. Also, it had lots of adventure and action.