#road2reading Challenge - time traveling chapter books 9.19.19

All journeys have a starting place.

This is a weekly place to find books and tools

that you may use with readers 

at the start of their independent reading journey.

Join in the conversation at #road2reading.

One of my favorite genres has always been historical fiction.  Some of my favorite middle grade reads have been set in history.  However, sometimes a setting that takes place in the past can be tricky for readers to understand because they don't have enough background knowledge about it.  But, a good series can put that to rest!  Fans of The Magic Tree House series will tell you they have enjoyed traveling to many different places and times with Jack and Annie!  Here are some new series that are tackling time and place travel!

At the Heels of History:  Filigree's Midnight Ride
written by Pam Berkman and Dorothy Hearst
illustrated by Claire Powell

Your students may have heard the name Paul Revere... they may have even heard of his infamous Ride... this book brings the facts to life in a way that is memorable and fun for young readers.

The book introduces us to Filigree, Paul Revere's dog.  However, before he was Filigree, he was Pudding who was owned by a British loyalist.  But now Filigree wants to show he's a Patriot dog and fight against the British soldiers.  The other dogs... and cat... don't believe in Filigree, but Frances, Paul Revere's daughter does!  When Mr. Revere leaves on an urgent assignment, it's Frances that encourages Filigree to stay with her father and help keep him safe.

The rest of the story follows Filigree as he accompanies Mr. Revere on his very important ride.  There are several parts of the story that are different from the infamous story most of us are familiar with.  I liked how the authors included information about this in the backmatter of the story.  Berkman and Hearst explain that the story most of us have heard about Paul Revere's Ride and "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" are based on written stories and not actual facts.  Revere's now infamous ride was made famous in a poem that dramatized the ride when in reality he would never shout "the British are coming" because the area he was riding through was full of British patrols!

This is a quick read (under 200 pgs) and the book is a small, trim size.  Since the story is told by animals, it will appeal to young readers, some who have not even heard of Paul Revere!  It's exciting that a whole new generation of readers will be able to access history through these chapter books.  This book will also be accessible to older readers who are in 5th grade who are starting to study the American Revolution time period.  This is a perfect book to use as a quick class read aloud or for students to read independently as a way to reinforce information they are learning.  

This is the first book in the series and I'm interested in seeing where the authors take readers in history.  To learn more about the series, be sure to visit the Heels of History website.  There is a lot for young readers to explore and learn and additional information for parents and educators on the site.

Here's more about the authors and illustrator:

Pam Berkman has written books for grownups and this is her first book for kids. She loves writing about events in history and thinking about how they connect to things that are happening today. She also works as an editor. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and twin sons. For more information, visit her website, or on Twitter: @PamelaBerkman

Dorothy Hearst is the author of the Wolf Chronicles trilogy; Filigree’s Midnight Ride is her first book for young readers. She loves writing about canine characters, birds, and other creatures who can give us the chance to see ourselves in new ways. She is an acquiring editor, a martial artist, a self-defense instructor-in-training, an avid hiker and reader, and a dog lover. She is not entirely domesticated, but is very food motivated. Learn more at her website, or on Twitter: @DorothyHearst

Claire Powell is an illustrator, writer, and designer who lives and works in London. She has spent several years as a design director in the world of channel rebranding working for clients such as Nickelodeon, BBC Three, CBBC, and BBC One. To learn more, visit her website.

Instagram: misspowellposts

Thank you to Barbara at Blue Slip Media for the review copy.


Check out these other time traveling adventures!




Time Dogs:  Balto and the Race Against Time
written by Helen Moss
illustrated by Misa Saburi
This series takes us back in time with some senior-age dogs... but when they time travel they go back to when they were puppies and they find themselves assisting other dogs that are well-known in history!  In the first story, Baxter and his four dog-friends time travel back to Alaska and meet up with the famous sled-dog, Balto.  Balto and his fellow dogs are in a race against time to bring some important serum to Nome in order to help sick children.  Will Baxter and friends be able to help?  And will they get back to the time machine in order to get back home?
Young readers will enjoy this chapter book adventure series, especially since it is told from the dogs' perspective.  A series that is similar to the popular Ranger in Time series, but a little bit shorter in size.
There is already a second book in the series that is published (Time Dogs:  Seaman and the Great Northern Adventure) and the third book will publish in March.


Magic on the Map: Let's Mooove!
written by Courtney Sheinmel and Bianca Turetsky
illustrated by Stevie Lewis
Ready to learn more about the United States?  Join twins Finn and Molly as they time travel all over the USA in a camper with a computer inside named PET (Planet Earth Transporter).  In this first adventure PET brings them to the state of Colorado.  Finn and Molly arrive at a cattle ranch and they quickly figure out they have some work to do before PET will bring them back home to Ohio.  When the prized cattle, Snowflake, disappears, Finn and Molly race to get her and bring her back to the ranchers.  
As readers go through the story, information about the state is told or illustrated.  For example, in this book, the state flag of Colorado is illustrated at the beginning of a chapter and information about the states that border Colorado come up in the story.  Further information about the state is listed in the backmatter.
The second book in the series, The Show Must Go On, brings Molly and Finn to the state of New York!  The third book will publish in January and take the twins to the great state of Texas!
I think readers are really going to enjoy this series and visiting the different states.  The books are about the length of the I Survived series and with the predictable events in each book, they will be great for younger readers.  I recommend libraries with 2nd-5th grade readers looking into this series!


Hope these time traveling stories find a way into your libraries and the hands of your readers!

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday - North America by Sarah Albee 9.18.19

Wednesdays I join Alyson Beecher from kidlitfrenzy and other

#kidlit bloggers to share wonderful nonfiction picture books.

The intention of today's blog post is to give professionals that work in the
education field new nonfiction reading material and ideas to use 

with students to promote a love of reading nonfiction materials.

My daughter is a high school freshman.  She's in a Western Thought class and is learning about ancient civilizations.  When you think about the history of the United States, it seems like most of my history lessons began when North American was being colonized by Europeans.  Of course, we're just starting to learn about the myths and falsehoods that surround this thinking.  One only needs to look at the new book North America: a Fold-Out Graphic History by author Sarah Albee and illustrator William Exley to see how wrong our history lessons were.

North America: A Fold-Out Graphic History

written by Sarah Albee

illustrated by William Exley

published by What On Earth Books

Oct. 1st, 2019

This is a fascinating piece of work.... piece of artwork... that really should be in every classroom.  Told entirely through captions and graphic art, the book delves into a huge amount of history of our continent.  Organized in a fold-out format, it can read like a book where you turn the continuous pages, or can be open into one long layout - one on each side.  The top to bottom organization and color focus is very cool - historical references about Canada are in a green color, the United States in orange tones, and Mexico in purple.  Dates are noted at the bottom of the pages in a continuous timeline and are also included in each historical caption.  What I find absolutely amazing is almost the entire first layout is all the history of North America before the American Revolution.  In fact, only the very last page of the first layout has information about the history of the United States in regards to The Mayflower and the Pilgrims, which is where most students begin learning about the history of the United States.  

The information is shared through captions and illustrations.  I thought it was fascinating that Albee shares in the backmatter that there are less than 200 captions - but the information that is put into the captions are amazing.  They absolutely left me with wanting to know more information about that part of history, which is exactly what Albee wanted.  She left us with a variety of sources, that she explains are more intended for adult readers, but certainly a starting point to find more information!

After my first read I had many questions floating in my mind for Sarah.  She generously agreed to answer some.  I hope some of this information helps you as you read through this book and they are great to share with your readers!

Thank you, Sarah, for talking with us!

1.    How did you decide to use the fold out format for this book?

The format itself is a specialty of my (British) publisher, What On Earth Books. They’ve done some amazing titles in this accordion-style fold out, and I’d long admired their books. So I was delighted when they contacted me about writing North America.

Once I got started, I found the format to be both a thrill and a challenge. Of course, the timeline part required me to think in a linear way. But once I’d plotted out the approximate timespan represented on each “panel” (as we ended up calling them), I had to rather dramatically reframe my thinking as I zeroed in to write each one. Suddenly I had to think “vertically.” What was happening in this area at the same time that was happening in that area? Writing each panel felt more like weaving a spider web. And with sixteen panels, I had sixteen webs to weave. 

The project also required me to assess my own perspective taking. My default thought process was to “center” all the big events of American history that most of us Americans are taught in school. I had to fight that impulse constantly. The Amero-European part of North American history is just that—a part. And generally not a very nice part. Luckily my editor was in complete agreement. We devoted a sizable portion of the book to the pre-European-invasion era, to show kids the vast array of rich cultures and civilizations that spanned the continent. This is history many kids haven’t learned enough about, although happily I think that’s starting to change.

2.    How did you and the illustrator collaborate?

I bow down before William Exley. The visual acrobatics Will managed to pull off are pretty remarkable.

And this project was unusual because we did get to collaborate. As many bookish people know, fiction writers generally don't collaborate at all with their illustrators. For “ordinary” nonfiction books, we authors might be allowed to see sketches for historical or scientific accuracy, but that’s pretty minimal input. But for this book, collaboration between the author (me) and the artist (Will) was essential. As I worked on early drafts, I kept a running table of images that I came across in my research for Will to access later, for reference. And Will did tons of research himself. 

I saw his sketches at every stage, and Will was extremely open to my feedback and suggestions. And then he tweaked everything again after the Smithsonian curators weighed in. (See first line of this section about bowing down before Will.)

3.    I liked reading about the research process in the backmatter - can you tell us more about how you worked with Smithsonian to put this together?

The Smithsonian curators were fantastic. How I wish I had such a Varsity Fact-Checking Squad backing me up on every project! They queried and questioned and combed through every entry, finding lots of errors (shudder) and clarifying places I realized I was murky about. They reviewed the book multiple times. 

4.    Talk more about the organization for this book.  There are so many ways to read it - linear, going from top to bottom…

To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure how kids are going to read this book. That’s why I’m super-duper eager to hear reports from actual classroom teachers and librarians.

I wrote most of my past books with the idea that kids could either read cover to cover, or dip in at any point that looked interesting to them. This book can be read cover to cover, but of course the fun is the fold-out. I really can’t wait to see how kids interact with it.

Thank you, Sarah, for your time and this amazing book!



A book like this with its unique fold-out format may leave teachers and librarians wondering how it will be used with readers.  Here are a few ideas from some amazing educators:

Terry Goth, 4th grade teacher:
In 4th grade, the most obvious use would be as an example of a chronological text structure when we are teaching informational text structures. I can also see this being used during a discussion of research, and what parameters students should consider when deciding on information to include. It would be fun for students to ask questions of Sarah Albee about how she undertook this monumental process! I think some of the most important lessons actually come out of the author's notes when she discusses the perspective from which history is taught. I can see some rich discussions surrounding how and why this happens, and this would also work well with the single story lessons from Jess Lifshitz as well.

Jason Lewis, 5th grade teacher:
There are several ways I plan on using Sarah Albee's "North America" with my fifth graders. Not only can we follow along with the almost two hundred years of history that we will learn throughout the year, this timeline will show my students how young the United States is compared to the recorded history of North America. The back matter is full of great additional resources including an index that will help my students find events quickly and specific websites to continue our learning. 

Kristen Picone, 5th grade teacher:

Sarah Albee's and William Exley's North America: A Fold-Out Graphic History is a welcome addition to MG social studies and ELA classrooms.  The unique format provides much to explore and discover with students.  During our nonfiction unit of study in my 5th grade classroom, we spend a lot of time discussing text features, types of nonfiction, and text structures and how each is impacted by author's purpose (thanks to Melissa Stewart for all the resources for this work).  This book will be added to my "Discovery Day" lesson plan, where students peruse through various nonfiction texts to notice and wonder.  Students will undoubtedly notice the timeline format, the fold-out pages, the captions, and the backmatter.  Students will work in teams to analyze the backmatter and the various features of the text to determine why each was included and how it helps us as readers. This work will help readers as they continue to explore and read more complex nonfiction. This text can also be used as a mentor text for students as they write their own nonfiction, particularly when researching within the content areas.

Linda Mitchell, Middle School Teacher Librarian:

6^th graders at Stonewall Middle School learn American History from early indigenous cultures to 1865. Today, we laid North America out on a table to build student interest in this topic during library time. Students looked at the pictures and the caption (text features) and wrote a sentence about what they wanted to learn more about this year.

      

This is a book you definitely want in your libraries.  The information is rich and invaluable and as you can see, there are many ways to use it!  After using it with students return to this post and share Sarah's answers - I bet they will be thinking about these things as they read through the book.  Be sure to find it at your local bookstore and libraries on Oct. 1st!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 9.16.19

This weekly post comes from Jen at Teach Mentor Texts

 and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers.  

It's a great source to find new books to use with your students.

Last Week's Adventures

Take a look at the nonfiction that has been in my stack!


Picture Books


Pigeon Math
written by Asia Citro
illustrated by Richard Watson
If you've ever had to answer to a child why we use counters when doing math vs a different object, read this book to the child!  No one will be using pigeons to help with math after this book!  But I bet this book will warrant multiple readings because it really is that funny!  I like that the mathematical equations are written on each page.
Publishes Sept. 24th


The Evil Princess vs The Brave Knight
written by Jennifer L. Holm
illustrated by Matthew Holm
Sibling rivalry portrayed in a kingdom.  No surprised but I enjoyed the evil princess the most :)


Look! I Wrote a Book! (And You Can Too!)
written by Sally Lloyd-Jones
illustrated by Neal Layton
Fun book to use at the beginning of the year when talking about writing.  Some of the suggestions were not my favorite (talking about having no words in a book and people not knowing what's happening in the books... hmm... I enjoy wordless picture books... smh).


Like a Girl
written by Lori Degman
illustrated by Mara Penny
With rhyming and poetic lines, this book does not soften the blow that women and girls are strong, powerful, and smart humans.  Featuring a diverse cast of women from both past and present times, this book definitely needs to be read aloud to young readers!
Don't know who the women are featured in the book?  No worries, check out the backmatter that features quick information about these important people.  Want to know more?  Find additional books in the source notes!


A Boy LIke You
written by Frank Murphy
illustrated by Kayla Harren
A book I would read in conjunction with the one above.  Maybe take a look at what society says of males/females and then read these books!  
Don't miss the author's note at the end.


Attack of the 50-Foot Fly Guy
by Tedd Arnold
Someone Arnold keeps his Fly Guy stories feeling fresh and fun with each new story.  This time Fly Guy ends up eating some scientific toxic waste that makes him gigantic!  Another fun story with Fly Guy and Buzz.


Spencer's New Pet
by Jessie Sima
This book is the coolest.  It's absolutely one of my favorites of the year.  
The format is super sweet - told like an old silent film in mostly black and white but the balloon animal is in red and told in "parts".  The endpages even have the number count down like the start of an old time film.
But the story and what happens.... that's all I'm going to say.  Just trust me and read it.
And don't forget to look for a few familiar characters!

Middle Grade


Strange Birds
by Celia C. Pérez
We meet four unlikely friends in this story who come together because each has been selected by Lane (the granddaughter of a wealthy women whose parents marriage is crumbling before her eyes) to join her unusual club of misfits.  Ofelia is a budding journalist who reports what she sees.  Aster lives with her grandfather and frequently treats him to the goodies she bakes.  And finally there is Cat, an avid birdwatcher  who does not want to join the club her family has been part of for generations because they are using a hat that is made of bird feathers as a token crown for their annual contest.  Each girl brings unique characteristics to this club but they quickly find out they need each other more than they originally thought!


My Jasper June
by Laurel Snyder
A fantastic coming of age novel that shows we never really know all of the things that each new person we meet comes with.  When we meet Leah it should be on the best day ever since summer vacation is just starting.  However Leah doesn't feel like celebrating, in fact she's a bit lost and her family is not acting the way she wants them to act.  But why?  What has happened that made her feel this way.  The reader does not find out right away (way to keep the suspense, right?) but we do get to watch Leah meet Jasper and watch how the two become unlikely friends.  Leah dscovers Jasper has her own ghosts, too.  Can they get past their individual problems and become life-long friends?


More to the Story
by Hena Khan
Khan takes on a modern day Little Women story that spotlights an American Muslim family.  Jameela is the second oldest sister.  Jameela wants to be a reporter and uses her talent to try and impress her father who is leaving for an extended work trip overseas.  One of her first assignments for her school newspaper is to interview the new student from England, who just happens to be a close family friend.  Everyone likes the new boy but Jameela is having trouble saying the right thing to him.  Meanwhile, her youngest sister has taken ill and is diagnosed with a severe illness.  
Readers familiar with Little Women will see the connections.  Younger readers who have never even heard of the story will appreciate this one with the modern-day connections.

Young Adult


The Fountains of Silence
by Ruta Sepetys
I absolutely love her work and just love how each of her stories are different.  Yes, they are all in different time periods, but the way she crafts each of her historical fiction books are fascinating.
This story takes place in Spain in the 1950s, under the fascist dictatorship of General Franco.  Readers understand a piece of history that is probably not as well known and we also explore the stories of characters Daniel, son of a wealthy oil tycoon from Dallas, TX, and Ana, a young Spaniard who lives in a poor town in the Madrid area.  The way the lives of the characters come together and intertwine is beautiful and full of soul.
This book publishes Oct. 1st and is one I highly recommend!

Currently Reading


The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary
by Laura Shovan

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday - what's in my nonfiction stack? 9.11.19

Wednesdays I join Alyson Beecher from kidlitfrenzy and other

#kidlit bloggers to share wonderful nonfiction picture books.

The intention of today's blog post is to give professionals that work in the
education field new nonfiction reading material and ideas to use 

with students to promote a love of reading nonfiction materials.

Here are the nonfiction picture books that jumped out of my stack recently:



Nine Months: Before a Baby is Born
written by Miranda Paul
illustrated by Jason Chin
A gorgeous picture book that has a narrative that is just right for curious young minds.  The scientific illustrations and those that tell a story are drawn with such precision by illustrator Jason Chin.  This book is perfect for those readers who are looking for more information than the baby is growing in a mommy's "tummy".  Additional information is included in the backmatter including how long the gestational period is for different animals, what happens when a baby is born too early and a simple, yet heartfelt, explanation for when a baby does not survive a pregnancy.


Girls With Guts! The Road to Breaking Barriers and Bashing Records
written by Debbie Gonzales
illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon
Quick overview of some of the female athletes who have pioneered and led the way for the women athletes of today.  Women have had to fight their way to be allowed to play all kinds of sports and be allowed to compete in the same competitions, fields, courts, etc as men.  Readers will certainly get a quick idea of how women have fought their way through barriers and proven their own athletic prowess.  Includes a timeline and extensive biography.  I could see readers getting interested in this topic and doing further research of their own!


Stormy Seas: Stories of Young Boat Refugees
written by Mary Beth Leatherdale
illustrated by Eleanor Shakespeare
I'm late to the party on this one - but wow, what an important book for these times.  Detailing 5 children's voices, from 1939 to 2006, these are their refugee stories and how they seeked asylum via crossing the seas in most often, very harsh conditions.  If you use Alan Gratz's Refugee, this book is a perfect one to accompany the reading to give more background.


Does It Fart?  A Kid's Guide to the Gas Animals Pass
written by Nick Caruso and Dani Rabaiotti
illustrated by Alex G. Griffiths
Oh this book is as funny as you think it will be, and as informative as you think it will be!  It's actually pretty fascinating!  Don't you want to know how one time an airplane carrying 2,000 goats had to land because they set off the fire alarms with their farting and burping??  The real question is who wants to do goat yoga after hearing this???


Happy nonfiction reading!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 9.09.19

This weekly post comes from Jen at Teach Mentor Texts

 and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers.  

It's a great source to find new books to use with your students.

Last Week's Adventures

Well, there were no true last week's adventures because I had to go on a little blogging break.  Things got too hectic and I needed to concentrate on what had to be done.  Earlier this summer we received the exciting news that our daughter would be representing Team USA and swimming at the Parapan Am Games.  The Pan Am games our played every four years and are held the summer before an Olympic year.  Countries participating in the games are from North and South America.  There were highs and lows, but what an experience!  Our daughter was in Lima, Peru for 2 weeks, my husband and I were there for 10 days.  I decided to take a blogging break in the month leading up to our travels because there was just too much to do getting ready for this big event.  Now, things are back to normal and I've got some books to share!


Picture Books


Snowmen at Halloween
written by Caralyn Buehner
illustrated by Mark Buehner
Sometimes, follow-ups to books just don't work.  However, this one was a delightful surprise!  The other Snowmen books have been a hit, but perhaps are a bit overdone.  This one, although it follows the same plot line, seems fresh and new and different because of the Halloween spin.  You know what else holds true?  How that autumn snow, falls hard and then disappears within a day!  I loved the illustration at the beginning of the book where the children are rolling their snowballs and there is a trail of green - not winter brown - grass!  Another favorite are the "nose rings" in the carrot nose of a mohawked snowman :)
A great addition is the key to finding all of the hidden items on the back of the book jacket.  No more frustrating looks and no-finds!


Hungry Jim
written by Laurel Snyder
illustrated by Chuck Groenink
A really great book to use when talking, "what is this book really about?"  
A young boy wakes up hungry... really hungry.  And what happens next will be quite the contradiction to what you think may happen!  


Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You
written by Sonia Sotomayor
illustrated by Rafael López
Oh, I love this book so much.  As a parent of a physical disabled child, this is the book I wish everyone would read to kids.  In our experience, it is much better for someone to say why do you have a big shoe instead of the stares, the sad looks, the non-looks, the laughs (oh yes, mostly teenagers).  Just ask.  With that said, I know that is not the experience for everyone, however I think for the majority, people would rather you ask so they can understand.
Each page in the book features a child with a disability.  The disability is quickly explained in a way that makes sense to a young reader.  The child ends the page asking a question that may or may not relate to other kids.


Piranhas Don't Eat Bananas
by Aaron Blabey
A rhyming story that will make readers laugh... because there are several mentions of bums (as in, yes, the rear end).....


I Got Next
by Daria Peoples-Riley
Unique story - told in free verse, narrator is the shadow of the young boy.  The two go back and forth getting the young boy ready to ball with some kids.


Ojiichan's Gift
written by Chieri Uegaki
illustrated by Genevieve Simms
Oh, really loved this one.  It will stay in my heart for awhile.  
Every year Mayumi visits her Ojiichan in Japan and they work on their special rock garden - raking patterns in the gravel around the large rocks and Ojiichan teaches young Mayumi how to take care of the nature in his backyard.  Until one visit comes and Mayumi sees for herself that her grandfather is no longer well enough to take care of his house and must move.  She finds a way to hold their special tradition near, even if it's not exactly the same.
A beautiful story that honors the traditions family members can have and the love that spans generations.

Middle Grade


Indian No More
written by Charlene Willing McManis
with Traci Sorell
This book must be on your TBR.  This is what we need - books written by #OwnVoices that gives authenticity and actual understanding to all voices.  
This story is based loosely on the life of the author.  She has crafted pieces of her own history into this beautiful and often heartwrenching story about a Native American family whose tribe was terminated and relocated by the American government.  This story takes place when the family must leave their reservation located in Oregon and relocate and integrate into the 1960s era of Los Angeles.  "Indian no more" and now the family must become "Americans"... a strange concept to kids who are just beginning to understand their own identity.
Do not miss this book - publishes Sept. 24th.


The League of Secret Heroes:  Cape
by Kate Hannigan
This is the first of what should be a trilogy and I'm really excited about it.  Overall, it is such a neat concept.  Kate Hannigan brings together historical fiction, taking place in the day when female super heroes were being published in comics, and females had a quiet, yet vitally important part in the war front as computers.  Just like the computers that made a difference in the race to space (Hidden Figures), these female computers had an important part in creating a computer that could help figure out numbers to help Americans on the war front in Europe.  All of these things come together in this middle grade novel.
Three girls who have a knack at puzzles (cracking code) come together and unbeknownst to them, have what it takes to be a real super hero!  Their powers come out when they are together and they each get a few super powers of their own to use against Nazi spies that are in America during WWII.  When the girls become super heroes, most of the story is done in a classic comic style, illustrated by Patrick Spaziante.
I'm interested in seeing how this book goes over with readers.  Since the readers at my school are on the younger side (we only go up to 4th grade), there will probably be some confusion with the time period.  I think they will ultimately be able to understand the plot, just will miss some time period references.  
I thought the addition of the comic was really neat.  They are very reminiscent of Marvel/DC Super Hero comics.  However, I was often confused when I read them.  It seems like it jumped around too fast and there were parts I didn't understand.  I think young readers will like them, but I hope they can figure out when something doesn't make sense.
Hannigan includes backmatter that tells the reader more information about the true parts of the story - about the female computers, the actual computer and project they were working on, and about Nazi spies in America during WWII.  I love that this super hero fantasy book is not just a fantasy, real history is embedded into the story.
Bottom line is I'm interested in seeing where the storyline will go and what will happen to the Infinity Trinity!  Looking forward to book 2!


Bounders: The Forgotten Shrine
by Monica Tesler
I gushed about book 2 (this is book 3 in the series) in the summer.  If you have not listened yet and gotten this book for your libraries, change that!  It's a must have!!  Adventure, action, suspense and science fiction.  This series is amazing.  So far I have found the first book to move the slowest, but that's because they were setting up the characters and explaining the technology behind the gloves, the packs, and the bounding itself.  The next two books are nonstop once you start them.  I have book 4 ready to go and book 5 will be out before we know it in December.  Don't miss this series!!

Currently Reading


The Gauntlet
by Karuna Riazi
This one has been in my pile for a long time!  Looking forward to it, especially since the follow up has just been published!


Happy reading week to you!