Kids Books - Family
Ivy and Bean: Take Care of the Babysitter - Book 4 (Ivy & Bean)
By Annie Barrows
This book's genre is mischievous behavior and it was written by Annie Barrows,and Sophie Blackall. Once upon a time Bean was at her friend's house. Then her mom tells her that her older sister, Nancy will be babysitting her for the afternoon. Bean sneaks her best friend Ivy into her house and they both get stuck in the attic,while Nancy puts on makeup that her mom strictly told her she could not wear until she was older. The main characters are Ivy and Bean. Ivy is kind,an animal lover, and she is smart. I can infer this because on page 16 the illustration shows Ivy reading a big “`grown up book”. Bean loves adventures, getting dirty, she also doesn’t brush her hair, and Bean always does something weird. This is a fact because on page 1 the illustration shows Bean grinding corn on the sidewalk. Bean and Ivy change at the end of the book to become more sneaky, because they don’t get caught in the attic and makes Nancy give them both a little bit of money. Bean and Ivy can specifically make Nancy give them each $2 because while they both were trapped in the attic, Nancy was putting on makeup her mom told her she couldn’t wear. One unanswered question I'd like to ask the author is why are Bean and Ivy best friends they’re total opposites? What I enjoyed most about this book were the illustrations because they’re simple and detailed. The illustration I liked best was the cover because Bean and Ivy are tiptoeing somewhere looking sneaky. I would recommend this book because it’s a very unique book with compromises, dirt, and getting your older sister in trouble.
So B. It
By Sarah Weeks
The story takes place in Reno, NV and Liberty, NY, but most of the action takes place on the bus ride to Liberty. The time is current day. Heidi, Bernie and Mama are the main characters and they are all totally believable. I liked Heidi the most, since she is the main character and struggles the most in finding the true story to her life. She doesn't want much in the world, but does want to find out where she came from and who her family is. I am amazed at how well Heidi has done in life with the cards that she has been dealt. She has a mother who has a bum brain and has been home-schooled by her caring neighbor, Bernie. Although she doesn't interact too much with the outside world, Heidi seems pretty smart and prepared for the real world. I can relate to Heidi a little bit since I never was able to meet my grandparents. I have felt the same way in that I wanted to find out more about them since I never met them. The problem in the story is that Heidi has a mother who is mentally challenged (only speaks limited words) and therefore, Heidi has no idea who any of her family members are. She wants to find out who her family is so she ventures out to Liberty, NY in hopes of finding her grandmother who was once believed to be in a photo found in a closet in her home. The problem is solved when Heidi manages to take a long bus adventure to Hilltop Home and meets people who steer her toward the information that she needs. I won't tell more in fear of giving away the ending. I love the ending, but found it to be very different from what I expected- which is great for a reader. What I like about this book is that students will get a better understanding of people with disabilities and how life can be affected in various ways. Heidi learns to never give up on her dream and continues her search for her family. I learned that not everything is exactly as you would expect it to be and not all stories end happily or the way that you want them to end. Fifth graders and above should read this book and would learn from it because it teaches them about broken families and how to be successful in life. I rate this book a 10/10 due to the wonderful things that I learned about mental illness and perseverance.
Everything on a Waffle (Newbery Honor Book)
By Polly Horvath
Primrose Squarp knows for a fact that her parents are still alive. Everybody, including her guidance counselor Ms. Honeycut and her new guardian, Uncle Jack, disagree. Primrose's parents disappeared one stormy night. First, her dad's fishing boat got swept out to sea, and her mom went looking for him on the Squarp family's little boat. Now, the town has asked her uncle Jack to take care of her. That summer, Primrose has tons of adventures, including getting her foot run over by a truck, being in a fire, and losing her finger. And while she's doing all that, Primrose learns new recipes for her recipe book! But will her parents ever return? I recommend this book if you like short, funny books.
The Supernatural Society (The Supernatural Society, 1)
By Ogle, Rex
The Supernatural Society by Rex Ogle was a fun, fantastical, middle grade read packed with lots of diversity. Middle grade books always tend to be the highlight of my reads. They are so fun and bring me back to my elementary school reading days. After all this time, I still love sneaking away to a middle grade book. The nostalgia is real. The Supernatural Society by Rex Ogle popped into my lap and I couldn't help but be excited and giddy. I love fantasy reads in the middle grade world - they explore world building, friendship, magic, science, and all things cool! This book was all of that and more! There's diverse sets of monsters (and cultures!) in this book that can make everyone feel at home. There's some mystery and empathy in this book too, as we truly feel for Will since his life has been turned upside down during a divorce. We all had something like that as a kid - some thing that we struggled with, whether it be losing friends, divorce, difficulty at school, etc. We've all been Will in some way. So, you might have picked up on some of the story so far in this review. Will moves away with his Mom and his best friend/dog Fitz after his Dad gets up and leaves his family. They move to East Emerson, which seems weird and uninviting at first... but proves to be even worse than we imagined because it's full of monsters! But only Will can see them... His Mom thinks he's crazy! The teachers, the crossing guard... There's monsters galore! Eventually he meets some friends at school, adopted siblings Linus and Ivy. Linus is a smart guy who really only wants to focus on his studies, and his sister Ivy is a bit of an outcast, but she does see the monsters too! When Fitz goes missing, along with many other animals in the town, Will, Linus and Ivy team up to try to solve the mystery of the missing pets. Oh, did I mention there's witches, vampires, a mystical fox, a curse, and more magic and science packed tight in this book? It's all so engaging and fun! This book will keep you on your toes and hooked around every corner. I did love the diversity packed into this book. It feels like home. It's not just one culture or one person, it has almost everyone you can imagine. Throw in the sarcastic and fun narrator, and you've got one excellent read. It's reminiscent of reading a book that mashed Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and A Series of Unfortunate Events together. We've got a set of three friends, sarcasm galore, and lots of fun, fantasy hijinks. It's not a carbon copy of these by any means, but it reminds me of those books from my youth. I will say this book is a family friendly story that does not go deep into the dark realms at all. I can see anyone ages six and up taking a stab at this book (depending on your reading level, of course). My only negative for this book is how it ends. The Supernatural Society sets up a large series (that will hopefully be coming soon!). I like books that can stand alone without having to fear that you need to read the next book as soon as possible to continue the story. While I do think that I would pick up the next books in a heartbeat, I really didn't want to be left on a cliffhanger of "find out what hijinks from our friends are next..." in case the next book never comes. So, here's hoping I can get my hands on the next copy to continue seeing our new, fantastical friends. Four out of five stars.
Anya's Ghost
By Vera Brosgol
its about this girl who fell into a well and she found a skeleton and a ghost was attached to it then the ghost was technically livin with anya because she needed help from the ghost to help her cheat in class. Untill near the end of the book... ⚠warning:it has some curse words⚠ but over all I like this book
This Is My America
By Kim Johnson
This book was fantastic! I would definitely recommend it for ages 13-18! If you are younger than 13 and want to read it, you should be at least 11 years old.
Sisters
By Raina Telgemeier
I really liked this book. Its a graphic novel! So about the story, When Raina was little she wanted a little sister more than anything in the world. When she finally gets a little sister she is... well she's not so sure she wants one anymore. Her sister just likes to play by herself. Now in present time she has to spend a WHOLE WEEK in the car with her sister. She doesn't know if she can handle it...
The Great Treehouse War
By Lisa Graff
I just finished reading this amazing book, and I loved it! This book is about a girl named Winnie, who's parents are a bit difficult. Winnie's parents are too alike for their own good, and they want everything to be equal. For instance, when Winnie came home from school and her parents told her that they were getting divorced, they had a duct-tape X on the couch for her to sit on, exactly between her parents. Since her parents are getting divorced, they inform Winnie that she's going to have an EXACTLY equal amount of days with each of her parents, by switching off between their new houses each day of the week. But, since there's seven days in a week, Winnie's going to spend that one extra day living in a treehouse, exactly between her parents' houses. At first Winnie thought the idea of living in a treehouse was ridiculous, but then she realized that it might be nice to have some peace and quiet. Then stuff got even crazier. Winnie usually spent Thanksgiving with her family, as the one holiday they celebrated, but since her parents weren't living together anymore, they had to celebrate a new holiday. First Winnie celebrated a new holiday with her Mom, then Winnie's dad got jealous of her mom celebrating the holiday with Winnie, so HE decided to celebrate a DIFFERENT holiday with Winnie. So that's how it happened that every day of the week Winnie celebrated a different holiday, so she had no time for her homework, or anything else. But there was one exception - on Wednesday's she lived in her treehouse, so she could relax, draw, cuddle with her cat, and do her homework, things normal kids did every day. But since there was only one Wednesday each week, Winnie was falling behind with her schoolwork, because every day (except Wednesday) was spent celebrating a holiday. Her teacher said that Winnie might even fail fifth grade! Her teacher gave her an important history report to do, and said if she didn't ace it she would have to redo fifth grade. So Winnie was under a lot of stress, until her final breaking point. Winnie's dad wanted Winnie to spend the summer with him, so to make up for those days with her dad, Winnie's Mom said that Winnie would spend every Wednesday with her, until the time from the summer was made up. This Winnie could not handle, because Wednesday's were her only time for normal things, and she would fail fifth grade if she didn't get a good grade on her history report. By chance Winnie learned that technically her treehouse wasn't a part of the US, so it didn't follow the rules of the US either. So, Winnie went up to her treehouse when her parents told her this, and it wasn't a Wednesday. She decided to stay up there until her parents came up and talked to her together about the whole holiday every day of the week thing, like levelheaded adults. Then Winnie's friends joined her, all because of something they wanted their parents to agree on, like more video game time, or more attention. And since her treehouse was technically its own country, no one could come into the treehouse unless the kids approved. After the kids had been in the treehouse for a couple days, "The Treehouse Ten" became famous. Will the kids come down from the treehouse, or will they stay up there until they get what they want? I really loved the format of this book, it was really cool. The book was told in Winnie's perspective, in the style of a journal, with fake sticky notes every few pages, written by various people in the Treehouse Ten. My favorite character was Winnie, because she seemed really smart and levelheaded in this book. I would recommend this book is to late elementary and middle school readers. Enjoy!
Biscuit (My First I Can Read)
By Alyssa Satin Capucilli
it is about a small dog that can not fall asleep. and to go to sleep biscuit needs a kiss,a story and lots more. you should read it because it is a good book.








