Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys

  The wind and I play tug-of-war with my new kite. The wind is winning.   Imagine that it is raining. Your sister is standing right next to you holding her umbrella over her head in an attempt to keep dry. There is a big puddle right in front of you. You think: If this puddle [...]

Cinderella’s Lost Tap Shoe

Cinderella Smith, by Stephanie Barden    My name is Teresa Louise Smith, but everyone calls me Cinderella. Why, you ask? Because I always seem to be losing one of my shoes. I even write my name and address on the bottom of all of my shoes so it’s easy to return lost shoes to me. I love [...]

Yerf!

Spunky Tells All, by Ann Cameron “I have never caused any trouble to the Bates family. I am an older Dog, a considerate Dog. I always followed a daily routine… I liked my bowl with my food in it, which always sat in exactly the same place, and was just for me…I liked my naps. [...]

Stories from the Second Grade

The One and Only Stuey Lewis, by Jane Schoenberg Stuey has just started second grade. He is SO embarrassed! He hasn’t caught on to reading yet. His best friend, Will, is like a reading machine. Stuey feels as though he’s the only beginning second grader who can’t read yet. How is he going to keep it from [...]

Bluestem Award Nominees: Part Ten

Here are the last two nominated books for the 2012 Bluestem Award. Dying to Meet You, by Kate Klise Start with writer Ignatius B. Grumply, add 11-year-old Seymour Hope and his cat Shadow and mix them in with a ghost named Olive C. Spence. They all end up inhabiting 43 Old Cemetery Road one summer. They [...]

Bluestem Award Nominees: Part Six

Here are two more of the nominees for the 2012 Bluestem Award. The World According to Humphrey, by Betty Birney Humphrey is a pet hamster in Room 26 at Longfellow School. The students take turns taking Humphrey home each weekend.  Humphrey manages to bring out hidden courage and kindness in everyone he visits. He helps the members of [...]

Bluestem Award Nominees: Part Four

Here are two more of the nominees for the 2012 Bluestem Award. Swindle, by Gordon Korman After a mean collector named S. Wendell Palamino (known as Swindle) cons him out of his most valuable baseball card, Griffin Bing must put together a band of misfits to break into Swindle’s compound and recapture the card. Griffin is [...]

Bluestem Award Nominees: Part Three

Here are two more of the nominees for the 2012 Bluestem Award. Just Grace by Charise Harper Image being in a class in school with three other kids who have the same name as you do. Grace (whose harried teacher nicknames her Just Grace to distinguish her from the three other Graces in class) deals [...]

Come in from the cold

Favorite Books to Read When It’s Cold Outside Remember summer? Warm temperatures and green grass? If you’re yearning for that season, then it’s time to read Lawn Boy and Lawn Boy Returns by Gary Paulsen. A twelve year old boy starts a summer lawn mowing business that grows beyond his wildest expectations. So jump into [...]

Meet Misty Gordon

Misty Gordon and the Mystery of the Ghost Pirates By Kim Kennedy The Gordon’s antique business, D.E.A.D., which stands for “Deceased Estate and Antiques Dealer” acquires unusual items sometimes. When a clairvoyant dies, Misty finds a pair of eyeglasses that enable her to see ghosts. This leads to a crystal ball, pirate ship, treasure, diary, hypno-clock, [...]