Masterpiece by Elise Broach

Lexile Level: 700

Grade Level: 4-8

Age Level: 9-12

Genre: Action/Adventure

“Masterpiece”, written by Elise Broach and illustrated by Kelly Murphy, c2008, is about a boy named James who befriends a beetle named Marvin who lives underneath the floorboards of James’ New York City apartment. For James’ birthday, Marvin gives him a picture he has drawn. Mistakenly, James’ family thinks that James has drawn it. James keeps the secret to protect Marvin and his beetle family from being found out about by James’ family. However, difficulty with this plan arises when James is told that his artwork looks like that of the famous artist Durer. He is then asked by an art museum curator to create a forgery of a Durer drawing in order to fool a thief. Somehow, James and Marvin have to pull this off, but how? This is a charming, well-written, story. It seemed to move slowly at certain points, but I definitely enjoyed it.

Submitted by Karin

Ivy & Bean Break the Fossil Record by Annie Barrows

Lexile Level: 520L

Grade Level Equivalent: 2.7

Age Level: 6 - 8

Interest Level: K-2

Series: Book 3

“Ivy & Bean Break The Fossil Record” written by Annie Barrows and illustrated by Sophie Blackall, book three in the series, is a very funny book! It is about two girls in the second grade. They are friends and their names are Ivy and Bean. When their teacher, Ms. Aruba-Tate, shows them the “Amazing Book of World Records”, they decide they will attempt to set their own world record. They read about various world record setters and try to set records by doing the most cartwheels, dishwashing, and carrying the greatest number of spoons on their faces. Finally, upon reading about Mary Anning, a twelve-year old girl who discovered dinosaur bones, they decide they will discover dinosaur bones of their own. In doing so, they will become the youngest paleontologists in the world! So they start digging up their back yard. Read the book and see what happens! I think this is a great series for this age group.

Submitted by Karin

The Mouse of the Amherst by Elizabeth Spires

Lexile: 900L
Guided Reading: Q
Interest Level: Grades 3-5
Grade Level Equivalent: 5.5

I totally loved “The Mouse of Amherst”, c 1999, by Elizabeth Spires. It is a sweet and poetic book about a mouse named Emmaline who is staying in the house of the famous poet Emily Dickinson. Emmaline lives behind the wainscoting, a style of wall paneling, located behind Dickinson’s room. Before she arrived at the Dickinson household, Emmaline says that she was “nothing more than a crumb gatherer, a cheese nibbler, and a mouse-of-little purpose.” She states, “There was an emptiness in my life that nothing seemed to fill.”

The room which Emmaline occupies comes complete with a desk, paper and a quill pen. Left behind by the former tenant is a poem. It says:

Day by day and year by year,

You soon will find by living here

That words you thought you knew so well – Big ones, small ones, short ones, tall ones –

Words in every shape and size

Hold many meanings, more surprise

Than you would give them credit for!

Upon exploring Emily Dickinson’s room, Emmaline discovers Dickinson’s poetry and decides to leave a poem of her own. Surprisingly, Dickinson leaves a poem for Emmaline, starting a poetry correspondence between the two. This is a very tiny book. It only consists of 64 pages. It contains very sweet illustrations by Claire A. Nivola. Quite inspiring! I am very happy I found this book!

Submitted by Karin

The Case of the Graveyard Ghost by Michele Torrey

Age Range: 8 to 11
Grade Level: 2 to 4
Lexile: 570 L

I simply loved “Doyle and Fossey, Science Detectives, The Case of the Graveyard Ghost” by Michele Torrey. It’s a short, really funny, chapter book about two children science detectives who solve cases. Their names are Drake Doyle and Nell Fossey. They take their business very seriously. They wear white coats and have business calling cards. This book contains four cases Drake and Nell have solved. The first is the case of a snobby girl who falls down a laundry shoot. The second is about the Junior Rose Club. The third case is about a ghost. The fourth case is about parrots. In the back of the book, from the cases are science experiments that children can try. I loved the humor and the focus on science. I think it is a good book for boys or girls.

Submitted by Karin

Leprechaun in Late Winter by Mary Pope Osborne

Age Range: 7-12 Lexile: 500L

“Leprechaun in Late Winter” by Mary Pope Osborne, is #43 in the Magic Treehouse series. In this story, the main characters Jack and his sister Annie are whisked away from their tree house in Frog Creek woods to Galway, Ireland. They are on a third Merlin mission to “help a creative person give their special gifts to the world”.

The person Jack and Annie help in Gallway is Miss Augusta (a real person in history officially named Isabella Augusta Persse who later became, as an adult, Lady Gregory, the wife of a knight named Sir William Henry Gregory). Miss Augusta’s special gift is her love of stories and her ability to remember the exact speech or dialect of the storytellers.

Later in her life, as Lady Gregory, she became known for the folklore she collected from the Irish. She was also a good friend of Ireland’s most famous poet, William Butler Yeats and together, in the year 1904, they founded Dublin’s Abbey Theatre, which is the national theater of Ireland.

I enjoyed this story. It was short but well written. It presented information on Lady Augusta and the fairies or, as they call them in Ireland, si (pronounced shee), in a fun way. There is also a Magic Treehouse Research Guide, you can read, with more information on the subject, called “Leprechauns and Irish Folklore”. This guide, also in our library system, is written by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce.

Submitted by Karin

“The Summer I Shrank My Grandmother” by Elvira Woodruff

Lexile Level: 740, Grade Level: 3-6

“The Summer I Shrank My Grandmother” by Elvira Woodruff, c1990, is a funny book. I really enjoyed it. Nelly Brown is a girl who wants to be a scientist when she grows up. Her parents are also scientists. Nelly is always performing science experiments. However, she sometimes gets into trouble when the experiments don’t go right. It is the summertime and Nelly’s parents are going on a work vacation to New York. Nelly, however, decides not to go with them but to instead join her grandmother, Emma Brown, at a rented cabin on the seashore. While there, Nelly discovers an ancient looking chemistry set called “McFinney’s Powerful Potions”. With this set, the experimenter is granted one powerful wish. Since Nelly’s grandmother is getting so old, Nelly decides that she will make her grandmother younger. She does but unfortunately her grandmother keeps getting younger and younger, so young that Nelly is afraid she may disappear and she won’t have a grandmother anymore! Read this story to find out what happens!

Submitted by Karin

The Star Maker by Laurence Yep

Grade Level: 3 – 5, Ages 9-12, 112 pages

I just love The Star Maker by Laurence Yep, c 2011. I read one of his other books, Angel Fish, and felt the same way about it. There is something about the way Yep creates his characters and their relationships to one another that leaves me with a good feeling. Through Yep’s stories I have also learned a lot about Chinese customs and what it is like to live in China Town. I have visited the San Francisco, New York City, and Chicago China Towns and along with my family, have always liked Chinese food. So maybe that is why I have an affinity with or interest in China Town. Set in the 1950’s in the San Francisco China Town, “The Star Maker” is based upon Lawrence Yep’s childhood. The story is told from the viewpoint of Artie, an eleven year old boy, who is unpopular with his extended family and who is being bullied by his mean cousin Petey. In order to gain some respect, Artie says he will provide all of the fireworks for the Chinese New Year. Not having any money though, Artie’s Uncle Chester, with whom Artie has a close relationship, saves the day by agreeing to buy them. However, when Uncle Chester falls upon hard times, you wonder how or if he is going to be able to pull this off. Another theme running through the story is how Artie’s Uncle Chester, still single at an older age, meets a woman who becomes special to him. I definitely recommend this book and any of the many other books by Lawrence Yep.

Submitted by Karin

The Very Little Princess by Marion Dane Bauer

Ages 9-12, Grades 2-4, 122 pages

“The Very Little Princess” by Marion Dane Bauer, c2010, is about a girl named Zoe who is dropped off by her mother to live with her grandmother because either her mother needs time alone or can’t handle taking care of her. When Zoe’s mother drops her off at her grandmother’s, it is evident that her mother is not close to her grandmother. The communication between her mother and grandmother is tense. Zoe overhears them arguing and suspects it is about her. Only until recently, when she was told she would be going to live with her grandmother, Zoe had never heard of this grandmother or known she had any relatives. It has always been just her and her mom, living in various apartments in Minneapolis. As she is being driven to her grandmother’s, a house in the Minnesota countryside with a green lawn and lilac bushes, she suspects that her current life will possibly come to an end. She doesn’t know for sure though. You don’t know when, if ever, Zoe will go back to live with her mother. While at her grandmother’s, she plays with a dollhouse and a doll named Regina. One day, the doll, a not so very nice princess, comes to life, ordering Zoe around and claiming her as her mother. This takes up most of the story. I didn’t care for this story at all. I didn’t like the tone of voice it was written in. I definitely didn’t like the doll. This doesn’t mean that everyone is going to dislike the story. It is about a topic that perhaps some children have experienced or are experiencing with a parent and may be something they can identify with. It got excellent reviews on Amazon. I have enjoyed other stories by Marion Dane Bauer, such as “The Blue Ghost”.

Submitted by Karin

Frindle by Andrew Clements

Interest Level: Grades 4-6

Actual Grade Level: 4.8

Lexile Level: 830L

“Frindle” by Andrew Clements, c1996, is about a boy named Nick Allen, who enjoys making his school “more cool”. In his third grade classroom, Nick creates a tropical party, complete with sand, and in fourth grade, he initiates a bird peeping noise (to emulate his teacher’s beak-shaped nose), that other students join in with. The sound and the fact that she can’t pinpoint a certain student, annoys his teacher to no end.

Now Nick has reached fifth grade. It is time for preparation for middle school and he has a very serious teacher named Mrs. Granger. She is a dictionary fanatic. Nick, however, is the opposite! He likes words, but not dictionaries. Already, at the very beginning of the year, he feels like it is going to be a very long one! You’ll have to read this book to see what happens with Nick during this year in Mrs. Granger's classroom. A clue is that, again, it has to do with something Nick creates. Also, another clue is that Mrs. Granger does not like made-up words, whereas Nick does. At only 105 pages long, the story, a classic, is short, but a lot of fun. I had wanted to read “Frindle” for some time and I’m glad I did!

Submitted by Karin

Miss Smith Reads Again! by Michael Garland

Miss Smith is a second grade teacher and Zack can't wait to go to school each day. When Miss Smith reads from her incredible storybook the stories literally come to life around them. In this book she reads the Lost World where they trek through the jungle and then they meet up with a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The class has to split up and run and when they meet up again they are missing Miss Smith. So they have to find her so she can finish the story and get them home. Very fun read with colorful illustrations.

Charlie and Lola

This year's pick for Books to Bridge the Region is I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child.

It's a cute read about how Lola is a picky eater. She will not eat carrots, peas, potatoes, mushrooms, and many other things. She will never not ever eat a tomato. So Charlie her brother decides to trick her. Carrots become orange twiglets from Jupiter, peas are green drops, mashed potatoes are cloud fluff, fish sticks are ocean nibbles, and tomatoes are moonsquirters. So Lola wants to eat them and moonsquirters aka tomatoes are her favorite. Very cute. And there is also a video on it as well in Charlie and Lola Volume One. Check it out. Your kids will love Charlie and Lola.