StS is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Pop on over there to ogle what other bloggers got this week.
For review:
The Tapper Twins Go to War (with each other) by Geoff Rodkey. 219 p. The Tapper Twins Series. Little, Brown and Company, April 7, 2015. 9780316297790.
Publisher synopsis: This brand-new series by a popular screenwriter is a pitch-perfect, contemporary comedy featuring twelve-year-old fraternal twins, Claudia and Reese, who couldn't be more different...except in their determination to come out on top in a vicious prank war! But when the competition escalates into an all-out battle that's fought from the cafeteria of their New York City private school all the way to the fictional universe of an online video game, the twins have to decide if their efforts to destroy each other are worth the price.
Told as a colorful "oral history" by the twins and their friends, and including photos, screenshots, chat logs, online gaming digital art, and text messages between their clueless parents, The Tapper Twins is a hilariously authentic showcase of what it's like to be in middle school in our digitally-saturated world.
Lowriders in Space by Cathy Camper. Illustrated by Raul the Third. 112 p. Chronicle Books, November 14, 2014. 9781452121550.
Publisher synopsis: Lupe Impala, El Chavo Flapjack, and Elirio Malaria love working with cars. You name it, they can fix it. But the team's favorite cars of all are lowriders—cars that hip and hop, dip and drop, go low and slow, bajito y suavecito. The stars align when a contest for the best car around offers a prize of a trunkful of cash—just what the team needs to open their own shop! ¡Ay chihuahua! What will it take to transform a junker into the best car in the universe? Striking, unparalleled art from debut illustrator Raul the Third recalls ballpoint-pen-and-Sharpie desk-drawn doodles, while the story is sketched with Spanish, inked with science facts, and colored with true friendship. With a glossary at the back to provide definitions for Spanish and science terms, this delightful book will educate and entertain in equal measure.
I went to Bookfest@Bankstreet today. This is an annual event that I try not to miss. For many years, it was hosted at NYPL and for the last five(?) years, at Bankstreet College. These were in our goodie bag:
Full Steam Ahead! by Paul A. Reynolds. Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. 48 p. Charlesbridge Publishing Inc., September, 2014. 9781580896757.
Publisher synopsis: Sydney and Simon are twin mice on a mission to save the wilting flowers in their window box. During a humid heat wave, their window got stuck, and now they can't open it to water their blossoms before the neighborhood flower show. The young chapter book underscores how the characters use STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) to learn about the water cycle on earth and in the home and, ultimately, to rescue their flowers. Curious readers can learn more in a glossary and author's note.
If You Find This by Matthew Baker. 358 p. Little, Brown and Company, March 15, 2015. 9780316240086.
Publisher synopsis: Mixing mystery and adventure in the tradition of Louis Sachar, Avi, and E.L. Konigsburg, If You Find This is the story of unlikely friendships, unexpected bravery and eleven-year-old Nicholas Funes's quest to prove his grandfather's treasure is real.
Nicholas is a math and music genius with no friends and a huge problem: His father has lost his job, and they'll have to sell their house, which holds the only memory Nicholas has of his younger brother. Just in time, Nicholas's senile grandfather arrives, filled with tales of priceless treasure he has hidden somewhere in town—but where?
With the help of misfit classmates, two grandfathers, a ghosthouse, hidden messages, séances, and an uncanny mind for numbers, Nicholas stages a nursing home breakout, tangles with high schoolers in smugglers' tunnels, and gets swept up in a duel with the biggest bullies in the neighborhood. Will it be enough to find the treasure and save his house?
If you read this blog with any regularity, you know I received an arc of this.
The Terrible Two by Mac Barnett and Jory John. Illustrated by Kevin Cornell. 216 p. Amulet Books/ Abrams, January 13, 2015. 9781419714917.
Publisher synopsis: Miles Murphy had it made. He lived in a great town near the ocean, he had two best friends, and, most importantly, he had a reputation for being his town’s best prankster. All of which explains why he’s not happy to be moving to Yawnee Valley, a sleepy town that’s famous for one thing and one thing only: cows. Worse than that, Miles quickly discovers that Yawnee Valley already has a prankster, and a great one. If Miles is going to take the title from this mystery kid, he is going to have to raise his game.
It’s prankster against prankster in an epic war of trickery, until the two finally decide to join forces in order to pull off the biggest prank ever seen: a prank so huge it would make the members of the International Order of Disorder (a loose confederacy of pranksters that flourished a couple of centuries ago) proud.
In THE TERRIBLE TWO, bestselling authors and friends Jory John and Mac Barnett have walked an impressive tightrope: They’ve created a series that has its roots in classic middle-grade literature yet feels fresh and daring at the same time.
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. 271 p. Nancy Paulsen Books/ Penguin Young Readers Group, February 5, 2015. 9780399162596.
Publisher synopsis: The author of the beloved One for the Murphys gives readers an emotionally-charged, uplifting novel that will speak to anyone who’s ever thought there was something wrong with them because they didn’t fit in.
“Everybody is smart in different ways. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its life believing it is stupid.” Ally has been smart enough to fool a lot of smart people. Every time she lands in a new school, she is able to hide her inability to read by creating clever yet disruptive distractions. She is afraid to ask for help; after all, how can you cure dumb? However, her newest teacher Mr. Daniels sees the bright, creative kid underneath the trouble maker. With his help, Ally learns not to be so hard on herself and that dyslexia is nothing to be ashamed of. As her confidence grows, Ally feels free to be herself and the world starts opening up with possibilities. She discovers that there’s a lot more to her—and to everyone—than a label, and that great minds don’t always think alike.
Nuts to You by Lynne Rae Perkins. 259 p. HarperCollins Publishers, August, 2014. 9780060092757,
Publisher synopsis: How far would you go for a friend? In Nuts to You, the funny and moving new novel by Newbery Medalist Lynne Rae Perkins, two squirrels go very far indeed to save a friend who has been snatched up by a hawk. Nuts to You is short, funny, and surprising—an Incredible Journey with squirrels. It features black-and-white art by the author on every page and will appeal to fans of animal fantasies by Kate DiCamillo, Kathi Appelt, and Avi.
The squirrels Jed, TsTs, and Chai are the very best of friends. So when Jed is snatched up by a hawk and carried away to another realm, TsTs and Chai resolve to go after him. New communities are discovered, new friends are made, huge danger is encountered (both man-made and of the fox and bobcat variety) and mysteries are revealed.Nuts to You is wholly original, funny, lively, and thought-provoking. It is a deeply satisfying piece of storytelling about the power of stories to save the world; about the power of friendship and the importance of community.
This beautiful book is illustrated in black-and-white on every page by the author and includes an introduction, epilogue, and funny footnotes throughout. A terrific read aloud!
Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury. 310 p. Scholastic Inc. February 24, 2015. 9780545810623.
Publisher synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Twylla lives in the castle. But although she's engaged to the prince, Twylla isn't exactly a member of the court.
She's the executioner.
As the Goddess embodied, Twylla instantly kills anyone she touches. Each week, she's taken to the prison and forced to lay her hands on those accused of treason. No one will ever love a girl with murder in her veins. Even the prince, whose royal blood supposedly makes him immune to Twylla's fatal touch, avoids her company.
But then a new guard arrives, a boy whose easy smile belies his deadly swordsmanship. And unlike the others, he's able to look past Twylla's executioner robes and see the girl, not the Goddess. Yet Twylla's been promised to the prince, and knows what happens to people who cross the queen.
However, a treasonous secret is the least of Twylla's problems. The queen has a plan to destroy her enemies, a plan that requires a stomach-churning, unthinkable sacrifice. Will Twylla do what it takes to protect her kingdom? Or will she abandon her duty in favor of a doomed love?
Purchased: I just had to pick up Coe Booth's middle grade novel and get an autograph for my students.
Kinda Like Brothers by Coe Booth. 248 p. Scholastic Press/ Scholastic Inc., August, 2014. 9780545224963.
Publisher synopsis: Jarrett doesn't trust Kevon.
But he's got to share a room with him anyway.
It was one thing when Jarrett's mom took care of foster babies who needed help. But this time it's different. This time the baby who needs help has an older brother -- a kid Jarrett's age named Kevon.
Everyone thinks Jarrett and Kevon should be friends -- but that's not gonna happen. Not when Kevon's acting like he's better than Jarrett -- and not when Jarrett finds out Kevon's keeping some major secrets.
Jarrett doesn't think it's fair that he has to share his room, his friends, and his life with some stranger. He's gotta do something about it -- but what?
From award-winning author Coe Booth, KINDA LIKE BROTHERS is the story of two boys who really don't get along -- but have to find a way to figure it out.
That's what's new with me. What's new with you? Leave a link to your post in the comments section.
