Best Reads T3 2018-19

Here's what I read and loved this spring. Click on the titles to read plot summaries. If you'd like to see all of my books, you can follow me on Goodreads.

Picture Books

When Sadness Is at Your Door by Eva Eland
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. Simple and stunning.




The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Gave me chills



There Are No Bears in This Bakery by Julia Sarcone-Roach
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I will order for next year and do a lesson on similes, I do believe.


Hands Up! by Breanna J. McDaniel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Took me a while to realize it is the same character throughout. Really liked the idea, but it was the afterword that made me make the connection to the rally cry. Powerful and joyous.


Because by Mo Willems
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Save for Mock Caldecott? Use now for a lesson in cause and effect? Give to the music teacher for her to use? Hmm.


The Bell Rang by James E. Ransome
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Beautiful paintings. Visceral text. Would recommend as an upper-grade readaloud tied into history lessons v. me reading it to first graders with no context.


Hey, Water! by Antoinette Portis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Could pair with "Water is Water" for a lesson.



Potato Pants! by Laurie Keller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

May pair with "Horrible Bear!" for a K lesson on handling righteous indignation.





Tomorrow Most Likely by Dave Eggers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kind of random, but I liked it.

Middle Grade Fiction

Sweeping Up the Heart by Kevin Henkes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Beautifully written. We are completely in Amelia's head for a week.

p. 11: "She was moving quickly because she was eager to work, but more to the point she was reinventing her walk, trying to make it faster and more graceful. Purposeful. Her legs had grown so much lately that she felt out of sync, as if her body belonged to someone or something else. And she'd recently decided that she hated her knees."


Nightbooks by J.A. White
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Loved the structure, with all of the truly creepy short stories interspersed with the main plot. The big reveal was cuckoobananas. RICBA nominee.





The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street by Lindsay Currie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not sure the reasons for the haunting were explained completely satisfactorily, but nicely spooky for the middle grade set. RICBA nominee.





Margot and Mateo Save the World by Darcy Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nonstop action. And Dr. Smalls looking up "foot cancer" made me lawl. This will be an easy sell to get kids reading RICBA books.

Graphic Novels

The Epic Origin of Super Potato by Artur Laperla
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So incredibly silly. I laughed out loud twice.




New Kid by Jerry Craft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Much stronger than a lot of the offerings in its category, I thought. Although I sometimes had trouble telling all the kids apart and tracking their personalities. Page 108 where we think Gran'pa is a ghost made me laugh. Collin's banishment perplexed me. How do they know who paid for what? Chapter title spreads were great.

Nonfiction

Beware of the Crocodile by Martin Jenkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow! Perfect for the kids who want more animal books. Lots of facts presented with drama and sometimes a little bit of gruesomeness. Too bad neither creator is American, so I can't use it for Mock Caldecott next year.


Rocket to the Moon! by Don Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I wish the entire series were already available.






An Inconvenient Alphabet: Ben Franklin & Noah Webster's Spelling Revolution by Beth Anderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm going to do more with alphabetical order in library class next year, because the kids just do not know it. I wanted to cry this week when second graders were playing an online guide words game. HOW CAN A WORD THAT STARTS WITH M COME BETWEEN APPLES AND BANANAS??????


Sea Bear: A Journey for Survival by Lindsay Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Moore creates sky, ice, and sea with a blue watercolor palette. The "tossed by a tempest" pages are particularly strong.



Bloom Boom! by April Pulley Sayre
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I need to get her books for my libraries.

For Grownups

On Turpentine Lane by Elinor Lipman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

SUCH fun! Crazy plot points and a sweet little love story. Agree with this quote: "Dinner can be one lamb chop, or scrambled eggs, or a bag of potato chips. I'm content. Everything on the DVR playlist is mine."




The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am really liking Flavia and Dogger as partners.




Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Armand, you hold so many secrets ... some of which were total fakeouts because Penny gave us characters' interior monologues which then were not quite accurate. But I shall allow for entertainment's sake.