• Lists

    9 White Bird Read Alikes

    White Bird Header

    R. J. Palacio’s White Bird is being adapted for the big screen, but with several delays, I hope that it becomes available later this year. Based in the same world as her hit book, Wonder, White Bird is the story of Julian’s grandmother. As a young Jewish girl, she was…

  • Lists

    The War That Saved My Life Readalikes

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    When your friend/colleague/children’s librarian comes into your office with a huge smile and twirls, you know life must be good. Her most recent book discussion for middle school students was on The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley – a book that all eleven kids LOVED and were…

  • Activities

    Holocaust Survivor Program

    We had a HUGE crowd for this program on a Wednesday evening. At a time when there are fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors living, I felt strongly that we needed to give our community the opportunity to hear about this horrific historical event from a first-perspective. It also worked out…

  • Lists

    It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 8/8/16

    This week I read a couple nonfiction stories – I love what authors are doing with informational text for middle grade and young adult readers.  It’s so interesting and I truly believe that if they could incorporate some of these stories into the curriculum, it may excite more students to…

  • Reviews

    Book Review: Wolf Hollow

    “The year I turned twelve, I learned how to lie. The year I turned twelve, I learned that what I said and did mattered.”  And with those words, you’ll meet Annabelle a 12-year old girl, living in rural Pennsylvania in the early 1940s.  Her life is fairly simple, helping her…

  • Reviews

    Book Review: Symphony For the City of the Dead

    I’ll be honest, this book took me a while to read. Not because it was boring, it was very informative and fairly dense. But, I now feel lke I know a lot more about the eastern front of World War II against Nazi Germany than I ever did. This is…

  • Lists

    It’s Monday, What Are Your Reading? 1/25/16

    I had all the plans in the world to do a TON of reading this weekend as we got hit by Winter Storm Jonas which dumped over two feet of snow on us in 24 hours.  But, shoveling takes a lot of time and we’re not even done yet.  So…

  • Reviews

    48 Hour Book Challenge Review #9

    140 Character Synopsis/Review: Inspired by true events, Uprooted is the story of Lindy as she evacuates to Canada while family still lives in war torn England. Title: Uprooted Author: Lynne Reid Banks Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s Books Publication Date: 2015 Page Number: 336 pgs.

  • Reviews

    Listening for Lucca

    I picked up Listening for Lucca with trepidation because (and don’t repeat this!) I often judge books by their cover!  Not, unlike the kids I suggest books to.  The cover we have for this book, looks like an old fashioned cover with a painted image and washed out colors, it definitely didn’t look…