Kids Books - Social
Darkstalker (Wings of Fire: Legends)
By Tui T. Sutherland
Get ready to be wowed by Tui T. Sutherland's first installment in the "Legends" spin-off series! Told from the perspective of three different dragons- Clearsight the NightWing, Fathom the SeaWing, and Darkstalker himself, this beautifully crafted novel shows us what motivated Darkstalker to become the twisted dragon we know well as of the modern arcs. I absolutely adored every page of this book. It gave us rich insight to the history of Pyrrhia, from its normalization of animi to the fact that RainWings' powers were actually well-known, featured in the guide to the tribes, and feared by many. Despite Darkstalker's villainy, he was a character the reader could easily empathize with, and his backstory was fleshed-out, and, in the grand scheme of things, made sense. Clearsight was a lovely POV, although I'd like to get a bit more detail as to why her seer powers were so strong, and if it could happen again in the modern timeline. Fathom's character itself seemed a bit lacking, and it was rather reminiscent of Turtle- now we know why Darkstalker called him that when he summoned him in Talons of Power- but his chapters were filled with action, suspense, and emotion. His past trauma was something rarely explored in middle-grade books such as Wings of Fire, but it was executed wonderfully. The massacre scene was amazingly written, and gave me chills the first time I read it. The three protagonists worked wonderfully together, and Darkstalker's spiral into madness was gradual and extremely interesting to watch play out. I do wish Arctic's death was described in a bit more detail, although I have a hunch that if it was, this wouldn't be a middle-grade novel. Darkstalker's relationship with Whiteout was something I adored- Whiteout was one of my favorite characters, since neurodivergent characters are just so rare in Wings of Fire. She was nicely written and the detail about her scavenger doll was just adorable! Darkstalker's devotion to Foeslayer was also sweet- there is a SERIOUS lack of positive parent-child relationships in Wings of Fire. I liked how Indigo could see through Darkstalker from the start- it showed how Albatross made her far more vigilant. I never saw her plot twist coming! And, speaking of Albatross, he was a sinister character who, despite his early death, managed to be insanely well-written. The writing style of the book also seemed a lot more mature and serious than the main series, a change I personally enjoyed. If you're looking for a novel with dragons, morally gray main characters, and magic, Legends: Darkstalker should be your go-to (although I would recommend reading the main series, first!)
Pig the Winner (Pig the Pug)
By Aaron Blabey
Pig the Pug never disappoints! He is always so funny. Pig is up to lots of trouble in this book. It will definitely make you laugh.
The Fault in Our Stars
By John Green
Ok, if you haven’t read this book, WHAT ARE YOU DOING????!!!!!???? SUMMARY: Hazel has cancer. She has had it for a while now, and it doesn’t look like it’s getting any better. She is taking her meds, and attending support group. Her life is pretty predictable. But during one support group meeting, she meets Augustus—a kind and compassionate young man who is a cancer veteran. Augustus is a sophisticated young man; he is scared of oblivion, “smokes” cigarettes, but doesn’t light them because it is a metaphor. ” You put the killing thing in your mouth, but don’t let it do the killing.” As Hazel starts hanging out with Augustus, “she falls in love with him the way he falls asleep; slowly, then all at once.” Hazel introduces him to her favorite book, An Imperial Affliction, and he is soon engrossed in it as well, and the rapid end of the book has them searching for answers. As much a love story as a story centered about a book, this heartstring-tugging cancer love story WILL make you cry. THOUGHTS: I can not even begin to tell you how much I loved this book. I just can’t. It was SO FLIPPING GOOD. It is a perfect book. Beautiful. I don’t know where to begin. Okay, okay (haha, lol). John Green’s writing was incredible. You can tell that he is sage and knows how to write—because this novel was written flawlessly. The characters were so real and you fell in love with them as they did each other. To give you an idea—I did cry. See picture at bottom. This book is definitely a “feels” book. Augustus is a genuine character; a caring, metaphor-loving, honest, meaningful person. I thought it was really cool that this book was kind of partly centered around this one book that they both loved. It was pretty cool, seeing them trying to get in contact with the secluded author. This book had so many perfect quotes—I highlighted so many passages from the book on my Kindle. I can not stop raving about this book, and I am so excited to see the movie because I want more TFIOS in my life. It is going to make me cry even more than the book made me cry. I loved this book so much and I can not wait to pick up Paper Towns, which I just got!
Where the Red Fern Grows
By Wilson Rawls
There are a lot of good and great books in the world, but Where The Red Fern Grows is definitely something special. Ten year old Billy Colman has his heart set on getting dogs. To be specific, he wants two coonhounds. He asks again and again for those two dogs, but as much as his parents want to get them for him, they can't afford two coonhounds for Billy. So Billy works long and hard so he can buy two coonhounds with his own money. Eventually, Billy gets the amount he needs and buys two coonhounds. He names them Old Dan and Little Ann. Billy works with them and trains them, and Old Dan and Little Ann turn out to be excellent coon hunters. They tree so many raccoons which Billy sells to get money for his family. Soon, Old Dan and Little Ann are more to Billy than his hunting dogs. They are his best friends. Where The Red Fern Grows is such a heartwarming story. I love the bond Billy has with his dogs. This classic is one of my favorites. I recommend this book to boys and girls ages 10+.
Forget Me Nat (Nat Enough #2)
By Maria Scrivan
I bought this book at my school book fair.....OMG it's so amazing!!! Basically my life to..... I receantly got rejected it hurt but it was probaly for the best he turned out to be pretty rude to my friends but it's ok just like Nate learns
Nightfall (Keeper of the Lost Cities)
By Shannon Messenger
This book is amazing! On the challenging scale, I would rate it a 3 - super good! I rate it a 3 because I learned a lot, but there weren’t many challenging words. What especially surprised me was when Alvar was like, “Huh? Who’s Alvar?” It was a very cliffhanger-y end to the story. I also liked that Sophie got to see Amy/Natalie again. It was funny when Amy got ride on Silveny and she’s all, “Aggghhh! But this is sooo fun!” It would be cool if Amy could teleport with Silveny, but that would be dangerous since nobody knows if Silveny would come back. I think that 4th to 7th graders would benefit from this book the most, since I think that 8 year-olds wouldn’t understand it as much.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul
By Jeff Kinney
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (The Long Haul) is about an ordinary teenager named Greg who’s just trying to enjoy summer break, which had just started. Unexpectedly, his mom planned a surprise road trip. Most of their family members were unsatisfied with what she came up with and showed a reluctant attitude, yet they still went on that trip. Throughout the trip, events that happened were unexpected, none of them actually imagined anything like it would happen on their road trip. I can somewhat understand Greg’s feelings towards the trip because I had experiences of unexpected trips and unwilling to go to the trip as well. Also, his personality is just like any other teenagers, who wants to spend summer break on activities that interests them the most. I enjoyed the parts where their family had to deal with the pig that Manny got, it was exceedingly entertaining and I actually laughed out for a few parts of it. Overall, this is an interesting novel and I’ll recommend this to readers who likes to read about teenager’s life.
I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives
By Martin Ganda, Caitlin Alifirenka
This story opened up my eyes to other parts of our world, instead of just the United States. Caitlin Alifirenka is just a normal 7th grade girl. She has crushes on boys, wishes she could stay up later, and shops at the mall 24/7. Martin Ganda is a boy from Zimbabwe, Africa. His life is hard- their family has no shoes, is going on the brink of poverty, and all sleep in the same room. Even with all of that going on, Martin is the best student in his whole school. He plans to finish school, unlike his mother and father. Unless some school fees will have to cut him off short. So when Caitlin has an assignment to write to a penpal in a different country, Caitlin picks Zimbabwe, for it sounds the most interesting. She asks in the letter what Zimbabwe is like, what they do there, what is their favorite so and so. Back in Zimbabwe, Martin is one of the smartest ones, so he is given one of the ten letters that received the classroom. His letter was from Caitlin, and asked him what life was like. Martin wrote back what they did and things like that. But secretly, Martin was holding back. He was worried Caitlin wouldn't want to keep on writing if she found out that he was very poor. The letters are continuing, and both friends feel closer than they've ever been with anyone before. Caitlin goes through boy drama, and Martin is going through the drama of school fees and poverty. So Caitlin starts sending him money in their letters. This makes a tremendous impact on Martin's family and life. Realizing the impact, Caitlin and her family start sending Martin and his family care packages, gifts, and money. It seems like they've gotten over any obstacle. Except one. College. Trying to bring Martin to the US, Caitlin and her mother work frantically for colleges and money. Both pen pals have helped each other. Can they help each other one last time? A true story that is reread worthy, I Will Always Write Back, is definitely a fantastic book. Happy reading!
The Secret Zoo
By Bryan Chick
I loved this book so much! It was adventurous and had mystery at every turn. My favorite part was when they discovered way the secret zoo and why it had too be kept a secret. the only thing that I didn't like was how it ended on a cliff hanger.
Assassin (Wings of Fire: Winglets #2)
By Tui T. Sutherland
This winglet stars the infamous Nightwing asssasin DeathBringer. This short story was highly entertaining to read, and gives a whole lot of depth to DeathBringer's character, who we meet in Book 4. I highly reccomend for any dragon fan or WOF fan to come and read this short story!!









