Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko. 228 pg. Tales from Alcatraz #1. G.P. Putnam's Sons/ Penguin Young Readers, March 30, 2004. 9780399238611.
Coming in very late to post a #tbt, because one of my favorite authors posted that one of my favorite books of all time turns twenty this week! #tbt features Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko. The year is 1935, right in the middle of The Great Depression. Moose Flanagan's out-of-work electrician father, takes a job on Alcatraz Island. The catch? He also needs to double as a prison guard and his family needs to move into an apartment on the island. Moose's older sister, Natalie, has what would now be diagnosed as autism, but was not well understood at the time. His mother hopes to get her accepted to a special school and Moose is tasked with keeping her out of trouble, which means he often cannot play baseball with other children who live on the island. He also has to contend with the warden's spoiled daughter, catch the ferry each day to school and worry about the the prison's most notorious inmate, Al Capone.
This face-paced, hilarious, historically accurate story captured my heart immediately. It won a Newbery Honor, though I was hoping it would win the medal. Ms. Choldenko wrote three sequels to Al Capone Does My Shirts, each one cemented Moose Flanagan's place in my heart as a favorite character. All of her historical fiction novels are well researched and contain extensive back matter. Fun fact: read the author's note in Al Capone Does My Homework for a surprise.
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Monday, March 25, 2024
Middle Grade Monday: Break by Kayla Miller
Image: HarperCollins Publishers.
Break by Kayla Miller. Click series #6. 224 p. Clarion Books/ HarperCollins Publishers, January, 2024. 9780358414229. Review of finished copy borrowed from public library.
Well, Readers, it has been another minute since I posted, and I am sorry. I have been in a bit of a reading slump. Reading slumps can stem from a variety of reasons. Sometimes, you just can't find the right book. Sometimes, you're just too busy doing other things. And sometimes, like me, it is health issues that affect your ability for focus. Whatever the case, it's important to be kind to yourself. You will find your next favorite book.
Middle Grade Monday features Break by Kayla Miller. This is the sixth book in the popular "Click" series. While Break can be read as a stand-alone, fans of the series have been following Olive's growth and will appreciate what she has accomplished here.
Olive is looking forward to spending her spring break doing all kinds of activities with her friends, from binging movies to marathon sleepovers. All of her plans are dashed when she learns that she and her brother, Goober will be spending break in the city with her dad, who recently moved back from New Zealand. Olive has not yet forgiven her dad for leaving the family and moving halfway across the world, so her feelings are complicated. Goober, of course, is all-in.
As in all of Ms. Miller's graphic novels, she creates relateable characters with relateable problems. The palette is muted yet colorful and there's an energy about the art that keeps readers engaged. Utterly charming.
Sunday, December 31, 2023
2023 Reading
January (21)
1. As Good as Dead by Holly Jackson (1/1)
2. Diper Överlöde (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #17) by Greg Kinney (1/4)
2. Diper Överlöde (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #17) by Greg Kinney (1/4)
3. A Leopard Diary: My Journey into the Hidden World of a Mother and Her Cubs by Suzi Eszterhas (1/5)
4. Happy Sloth Day! by April Pulley Sayre (1/5)
5. The Adventures of Dr. Sloth: Rebecca Cliffe and Her Quest to Protect Sloths by Suzi Eszterhas (1/5)
6. Rewilding: Bringing Wildlife Back Where It Belongs by David A. Steen and Chiara Fedele (1/9)
7. Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas (1/13)*
8. Cursed by Marissa Meyer (1/15)*
9. A Journey Under the Sea by Craig Foster (1/18)
10. Two Degrees by Alan Gratz (1/21)*
11. To Change a Planet by Christina Soontornvat (1/22)*
12. I Am Ruby Bridges: How one six-year-old girl's march to school changed the world by Ruby Bridges (1/22)
13. The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Mac Barnett (1/22)*
14. The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach rebuilt her town in stories and photographs by Chana Stifle (1/22)
15. Go Left by Marc Colagiovanni (1/22)
16. We Are Here by Tami Charles (1/22)*
17. Holding Her Own: the exceptional life of Jackie Ormes by Traci N. Todd (1/22)
18. Wait and See by Helen Frost and Rick Lieder (1/22)*
19. True You: a gender journey by Gwen Agna and Shelley Rotner (1/22)*
20. Booked by Kwame Alexander (1/22)
21. The Cool Code by Deirdre Langeland (1/26)
February (11)
22. Step Right Up: How Doc and Jim Key Taught the World about Kindness by Donna Janell Bowman (2/1)*
23. Soul of the Deep by Natasha Bowen (2/3)*
24. The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander (2/7)*
25. Melvin the Mouth by Katherine Blanc (2/14)
26. Lift Your Light a Little Higher by Heather Henson (2/15)*
27. This is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender (2/19)
28. Unraveller by Frances Hardinge (2/24)*
29. Flamingo by Goujing (2/24)*
30. Leon the Extraordinary by Jamar Nicholas (2/24)
31. A Storm of Horses: the Story of Artist Rosa Bonheur by Ruth Sanderson (2/24)
32. Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson (2/28)*
March (13)
33. This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi (3/2)*
34. Mary Anne's Bad Luck Mystery (Babysitters Club Graphic Novel #13 (3/3)
35. Girl Running: Bobbi Gibb and the Boston Marathon by Annette Bay Pimentel (3/8)*
36. The Girl Who Ran: Bobbi Gibb the First Woman to Run the Boston Marathon by Frances Poletti & Kristina Yee (3/8)
37. Winter Bunderland by James Patterson (3/12)
38. A Thousand Steps into Night by Traci Chee (3/13)
39. The Flying Horse by Sarah Maslin Nir (3/19)
40. Inheritance: a Visual Poem by Elizabeth Acevedo (3/20)*
41. Just Jerry: How Drawing Shaped My Life by Jerry Pinkney (3/22)*
42. Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro (3/23)
43. The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden (3/30)
44. Where Have All the Birds Gone? by Rebecca E. Hirsch (3/30)
45. Squished by Megan Wagner Lloyd (3/31)
April (8)
46. Awe: the New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life by Dacher Keltner (4/6)
47. Dog Man Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea by Dav Pilkey (4/6)
48. Loveless by Alice Oseman (4/12)
49. Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood (4/15)*
50. Nat for Nothing by Maria Scrivan (4/16)
51. The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams (4/21)*
52. The Stolen Heir by Holly Black (4/30)*
53. School Trip by Jerry Craft (4/30)*
May (13)
54. A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat (5/4)
55. Bloom by Kenneth Oppel (5/9)
56. The Librarian of Auschwitz: the Graphic Novel adapted by Salva Rubio (5/10)
57. Sunshine by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (5/12)*
58. Captain America: the Ghost Army by Alan Gratz (5/12)
59. Colin Kaepernick: Change the Game: a Graphic Novel by Colin Kaepernick and Eve L. Ewing (5/15)
60. We are Totally Normal by Rahul Kanakia (5/15)
61. The Fire, the Water and Maudie McGinn by Sally Pla (5/23)*
62. The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera (5/24)*
63. Hands by Torrey Maldonado (5/26)*
64. Every Body: a First Conversation about Bodies (5/29)
65. Bomb Graphic Novel: the Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin (5/31)
66. The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt (5/31)*
June (10)
67. The Storyteller by Brandon Hobson (6/5)
68. An American Story by Kwame Alexander (6/6)*
69. Home Away from Home by Cynthia Lord (6/9)*
70. Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement by Angela Joy (6/9)*
71. Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow (6/13)*
72. Fry Bread: a Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard (6/16)*
73. Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Bouley (6/21)*
74. Thieve's Gambit by Kayvion Lewis (6/25)*
75. When Clouds Touch Us by Thanhhá Lai (6/28)
76. Just Like That by Gary D. Schmidt (6/30)*
July (11)
77. The Order of Things by Kaija Langley (7/2)*
78. The House of Marionne by J. Elle (7/7)*
79. The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar (7/8)
80. Spare by Prince Harry (7/16)
81. Boobies by Nancy Vo (7/16)*
82. Barely Floating by William Rivera (7/21)*
83. Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee (7/23)
84. The Good the Bad and the Barbie by Tanya Lee Stone (7/24)*
85. Peace is a Chain Reaction by Tanya Lee Stone (7/26)*
86. Be the Bus: the Lost & Found Wisdom of The Pigeon by Mo Willems (7/26)
87. The Probability of Everything by Sarah Everett (7/29)*
August (13)
88. Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith (8/1)
89. Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper (8/2)*
90. Seven Clues to Home by Gae Polisher and Nora Raleigh Baskin (8/3)
91. We are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride (8/6)
92. Rosa Parks & Claudette Colvin by Tracey Baptiste (8/7)
93. Yellowface by R. F. Kuang (8/10)
94. Shakti by SJ Sindu (8/16)
95. Bruce and the Legend of Soggy Hollow (8/25)
96. American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (8/25)
97. Buzzing by Samuel Sattin (8/27)
98. White House Club House by Sean O'Brien (8/28)
99. Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz (8/28)
100. Seen and Unseen by Elizabeth Partridge (8/30)
September (5)
101. The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama (9/6)
102. Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler (9/13)
103. Ode to My First Car by Robin Now (9/20)
104. Moonflower by Kacen Callender (9/24)
105. Fire & Fate by Serena Valentino (9/27)
October 10
106. Kelcie Murphy and the Hunt for the Heart of Danu by Erika Lewis (10/1)*
107. Reign by Katherine McGee (10/11)
108. Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass: the Graphic Novel by Meg Medina (10/12)
109. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling (10/15)
110. Picture Day by Sarah Sax (10/17)
111. A Work in Progress by Jarrett Lerner (10/18)*
112. Odder by Katherine Applegate (10/20)
113. Parachute Kids by Betty C. Tang (10/21)
114. The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro (10/26)
115. Good Different by Meg Eden Kuyatt (10/29) (SLJ)
November (8)
116. Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino (11/2)
117. The One and Only Ruby by Katherine Applegate (11/5)
118. The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown (11/7)
119. DogTown by Katherine Applegate and Jennifer Choldenko (11/9)
120. The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri (11/12)*
121. Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow (11/15)*Th
122. The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dunakube (11/17)
123. Out of This World: Star-Studded Haiku by Sally M. Walker (11/22)
December (12)
124. The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill (12/1)*
125. Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? by Mac Barnett (12/4)*
126. How to Bird by Rasha Hamid (12/4)*
127. Everywhere Beauty is Harlem by Gary Golio (12/4)*
128. Santa Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins (12/7)
129. Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion by Shannon Stocker (12/7)
130. Rewind by Lisa Graff (12/7)
131. The Book of Turtles by Sy Montgomery (12/8)*
132. Standing in the Need of a Prayer: a Modern Retelling of a the Classic Spiritual by Carole Boston Weatherford (12/11)*
133. No Brainer by Jeff Kinney (12/12)
134. Fury of the Dragon Goddess by Sarwat Chadda (12/16)*
135. The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass (12/20)
2023 Audio Books
January (4)
1. As Good as Dead by Holly Jackson (1/1)
2. Cursed by Marissa Meyer (1/15)*
3. Two Degrees by Alan Gratz (1/21)*
4. Booked by Kwame Alexander (1/22)
4. Booked by Kwame Alexander (1/22)
February (3)
5. Soul of the Deep by Natasha Bowen (2/3)*
6. The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander (2/7)
7. This is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender (2/19)
March (4)
8. This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi (3/2)*
9. A Thousand Steps into Night by Traci Chee (3/13)
10. Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro (3/23)
11. The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden (3/30)
April (4)
12. Awe: the New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life by Dacher Keltner (4/6)
13. Loveless by Alice Oseman (4/12)
14. The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams (4/21)*
15. The Stolen Heir by Holly Black (4/30)*
May (4)
16. Bloom by Kenneth Oppel (5/9)
17. We are Totally Normal by Rahul Kanakia (5/15)
18. The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera (5/24)*
19. The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt (5/31)*
June (5)
20. The Storyteller by Brandon Hobson (6/5)
21. Home Away from Home by Cynthia Lord (6/9)*
22. Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow (6/13)*
23. Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Bouley (6/21)*
24. Just Like That by Gary D. Schmidt (6/30)*
July (5)
25. The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar (7/8)
26. Spare by Prince Harry (7/16)
27. Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee (7/22)
28. The Good the Bad and the Barbie by Tanya Lee Stone (7/24)*
29. Peace is a Chain Reaction by Tanya Lee Stone (7/26)*
August (4)
30. Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper (8/2)
31. We are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride (8/6)
32. Yellowface by R. F. Kuang (8/10)
33. American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (8/25)
September (5)
34. The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama (9/6)
35. Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler (9/13)
36. Ode to My First Car by Robin Now (9/20)
37. Moonflower by Kacen Callender (9/24)
38. Fire & Fate by Serena Valentino (9/27)
October
39. Reign by Katherine McGee (10/11)
40. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling (10/15)
41. Odder by Katherine Applegate (10/20)
42. The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro
November (6)
43. Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino (11/2)
44. The One and Only Ruby by Katherine Applegate (11/5)
45. The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown (11/7)
46. DogTown by Katherine Applegate and Jennifer Choldenko (11/9)
47. The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri (11/12)*
48. The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dunakube (11/17)
December (3)
49. Rewind by Lisa Graff (12/7)
50. Fury of the Dragon Goddess by Sarwat Chadda (12/16)*
51. The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass (12/20)
Wednesday, December 13, 2023
Waiting on Wednesday: Amulet 9: Waverider by Kazu Kibuishi
Image: Scholastic Inc.
Happy Wednesday! Waiting on Wednesday features Amulet #9: Waverider by Kazu Kibuishi. This concluding volume in the popular Amulet series has been ten years in the making and will release on February 6, 2024.
Here's the publisher synopsis: After her confrontation with Ikol, Emily finally understands the stone's power and what she must do to defend Alledia from the shadows. As she travels to Typhon to help her mom and Navin, Prince Trellis returns to the Kingdom of the Elves to save his countrymen — and confront the fraud who has seized power in the absence of a king. The threat of darkness follows all Stonekeepers closely, and it will take the strength of both new friends and old foes to conquer it... and survive.
TMS Library owns the first eight books in the graphic novel fantasy adventure series, so there's time to reread or get into the world. Happy reading!
TMS Library owns the first eight books in the graphic novel fantasy adventure series, so there's time to reread or get into the world. Happy reading!
Monday, December 11, 2023
Middle Grade Monday: Picture Day by Sarah Sax
Image: Penguin Random House
Another late posting, sorry. Middle Grade Monday features Picture Day by Sarah Sax. Seventh grader, Viv is dreading picture day and having to wear a mom-approved outfit and hair style. She's also an aspiring influencer, and so, she chops off her hair, dyes it blue and makes a statement with her outfit. This gains her fans who also hope to be their true selves, but Viv gets a little carried away with Internet fame and her crazy ideas. This almost costs her her friendships with her long-term bffs.
The pleasing palatte, uncomplicated panels and diverse range of characters are sure to appeal to fans of Telegemeier, Miller, and Chmakova. Picture Day is a series starter and I'm looking forward to reading more from Sarah Sax.
Monday, December 4, 2023
Middle Grade Monday: The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown
Image: Hachette Book Group
Sorry for this late posting. Too much going on health-wise. It'll all settle out eventually. Middle Grade Monday features The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown. Roz is busy protecting her island home and its denizens and awaiting the return of her son, Brightbill, when news reaches the island of a new menace, the poison tide. When Roz not only learns that she is waterproof, but immune to the poison tide, she sets out north on a treacherous journey to the source of the poison.
The first two books in this trilogy are TMS favorites and this installment was much anticipated. So far, I've received mixed reviews from fans, some love it and some are a bit disappointed. I personally loved it. I adore Roz and her unconditional love for all things. Either way, if you've read the first two books, do yourself a favor and finish the trilogy. Happy reading!
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