A Circle Unbroken by Sollace Hotze. Clarion Books, 1988. 202 Pages

Found in the stacks. Low Circ. Not popular. planned to weed but started reading it. Fabulous historic fiction a la Dances with wolves for upper elementary. Then page popped out of binding in my hand-- so dry, the glue.

Weeded and read anyway. A book I would have loved even as a kid.

Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate. Feiwell & Friends, 256 pages.

4th, 5th grade. sad. magical realism. Bookclub.

The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry. Yearling, 2010, 176 pages

Odd and Quirky-- a family where the parents are distant and couldn't care less about their kids-- find them annoying, in fact. 4 kids on their own but with many issues-- weird, bossy older brother, shy and timid youngest girl who lacks confidence, Two Twins straining to find out who they are and make their mark. A funny nanny who is a character-- and on the kid's side, an old rich man who redeems himself and a foundling baby they all revolve around. And there is more. Loved it. Hooray for quirky families-- a funny sort of old fashioned but not really book.
- audio read  by comedian Arte Johnson.
If you love Roald Dahl and Lemony Snicket.

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword Of Summer by Rick Riordan, Disney Hyperion, 2015. 491 Pages

Half Magic by Edward Eager. Harcourt Brace, 1954, 182 pages.

On my "classics I have to read" list. Fun and clever for 3rd and 4th graders and families.

Who Was Julia Child by Geoff Edgers and Carlene Hempel. Grosset & Dunlap, 2015, 112 pages

I have a ton of Who Was/Who is series books. Very, very popular and fun-- moving them from NF to series made them visible and accessible to all and upped the circulation tremendously. Narrative nonfiction biography of lots of different important figures-- many historic but many current as well-- a huge hit with teachers, parents and the 3-5 grade set. Who Was Julia Child? was written as a narrative- fun to read, historically accurate enough, full of illustrations and still the all important --100 pages or more-- needed for so many school reports.

The Journey That Saved Curious George: the true wartime escape of margret and h.a. rey by Louise Borden. Houghton Mifflin, 2005.

I love a picture book biography. This is not a full biography, but a true account of their escape from Nazi occupied Paris. Exciting, accurate and age appropriate.