Library collections are always changing. Twenty years ago, I needed 100+ page biographies for students who were assigned biography projects. Today, I need shorter biographies on a wider variety of people. It's still a challenge; for Black History Month, there are a million different biographies of Rosa Parks or Mae Jemison, and for Women's History Month, so many versions of the lives of Eleanor Roosevelt or Susan B. Anthony. One teacher now assigns three minute presentations on activists, politicians, journalists, and other very specific types of careers, and it's been hard to find.  Whe ..read more

Happy Birthday, Shakespeare! We don't know the exact day, but it's frequently given as April 23. What better way to celebrate than to pick up this new book about him?  Bausum, Ann and Sevilla, Marta. The Bard and the Book: How the First Folio Saved the Plays of William Shakespeare from Oblivion  April 2, 2024 by Peachtree E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus How DID the plays of Shakespeare get saved, when the practice four hundred years ago was not necessarily to print out the entire play? Actors might get just their own parts, and there were some quartos for sale, but plays were mea ..read more

It's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday  at  Always in the Middle  and #IMWAYR day  at Unleashing Readers Respicio, Mae. Isabel in Bloom April 9, 2024 by Wendy Lamb Books E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus Isabel has been living with her lolo and lola in the Philippines in 1999, helping them garden so they can earn a living by selling their produce in the market. Her mother has been in the US for five years, working as a nanny to three children in a wealthy family while studying nursing. Now, she is doing well enough to send for Isabel. It's hard to levae her grandparents a ..read more

Walsh, Jenni L. Operation: Happy April 2, 2024 by Zonderkidz E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus Jody Zuber is used to moving around to be with her father, who is based in San Diego with the Marines in 1938. For Christmas, she gets a Shirley Temple doll, a Monopoly game, a Nancy Drew book... and her most desired gift, a dog. Happy is a retired Marine dog, a German Shepherd/Collie/Husky mix, and is large enough to take up half of Jody's bed, which is just what she wants. When the family moves to Ford Island near Honolulu in 1940, Jody and Happy have all manner of adventures. While Jody and her o ..read more

Todd, Jonathan. Timid April 2, 2024 by Graphix E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus In 1988, Cecil's family moves from Florida to Boston for his father's work. He's apprehensive, especially since he attended a small, private church school at his old home. The family, which includes his mother and sister Leah, has friends in the area, and stays with them before finding their own home. They settle in fairly well. They find a church home, and Cecil finds friends in Chris, who is somewhat jerky, and Ruthie, who is also religious. Leah suggests that Cecil befriend more of the Black kids in school, but ..read more

Sumner, Jamie. Deep Water April 9, 2024 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus In this novel in verse, we see Tully preparing to make a 12.1 swim across Lake Tahoe, accompanied only by her good friend Arch in a kayak, who will offer support, bananas, and an emergency plan if something goes wrong. The water is cold, but she is determined, and has trained hard for this. Her mother is a physical therapist and also an avid swimmer who has supported Tully, but has also decided to leave Tully and her father. If Tully is the youngest person ever to make this swim, her ..read more

Finnegan, Margaret. Sunny Parker is Here to Stay April 23, 2024 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus Sunny loves living at the Del Mar Gardens affordable housing community in Monroe Heights, where her father is a manager. Her friend Haley Michaels, who is Black, lives close by, and she spends a lot of time with Mrs. Garcia and her children, who include AJ, who is developmentally disabled. Mrs. Garcia often goes with Sunny on Neighborhood Favor walks to pick tomatoes or berries that people post on the app, and always introduces her son to any new police officer ..read more

April is PACKED with titles! I know that people have opined that I should only post one book a day, but since I have so many titles, I will do slightly shorter reviews!  Mancilla, Monica. Sing it Like Celia April 2, 2024 by Penguin Workshop E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus Salva Sanchez' parents divorced when she was very young, and it's been just her and her mother, who is a nurse. When her mother doesn't come home, she ends up calling her father, who picks her up, won't tell her what happened, and take her to a trailer park where they are staying while he investigates a case of a wo ..read more

Borba, Adam. This Again? April 16, 2024 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus Noah Nicholson has an absolutely disastrous day when he has to give a speech for the class president election at East Hills Middle School in Albany, New York. He has a plan. A good plan. It involves becoming class president, doing well on the bowling team, going to Harvard like his older brother Paul, and becoming a college professor of physics. His parents are co chairs in a university science department, so there is a definite trend toward embracing academia. However, he's not ..read more

It's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday  at  Always in the Middle  and #IMWAYR day  at Unleashing Readers Bradford, Chris. Gamer (Virtual Kombat #1) April 2, 2024 by Union Square Kids Originally published by Barington Stoke, 2012 E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus After a widespread virus killed a huge portion of the adult population in 2030, many children were left orphans and are living on the violent streets. One of these is Scott, who is struggling but still a good person. When he sees the violent Stck and Juice beating up twins Tammy and Tommy and stealing their food, h ..read more