Completely Full Bookshelf

For MMGM, I am recommending Rain Reign  by Ann M. Martin. Here's the publisher's description: From Newbery Honor author Ann M. Martin, who wrote the Baby-sitters Club series, comes a New York Times -bestselling middle grade novel about a girl, her dog, and the trials of growing up in a complicated and often scary world. Rose Howard is obsessed with homonyms. She's thrilled that her own name is a homonym, and she purposely gave her dog Rain a name with two homonyms (Reign, Rein), which, according to Rose's rules of homonyms, is very special. Not everyone understands Rose's obsessions, her rules, and the other things that make her different—not her teachers, not other kids, and not her single father. When a storm hits their rural town, rivers overflow, the roads are flooded, and Rain goes missing. Rose's father shouldn't have let Rain out. Now Rose has to find her dog, even if it means leaving her routines and safe places to search. L...

I have had to read yet another classic novel for school, so I've decided to review it this week. For MMGM, I am reviewing The House on Mango Street  by Sandra Cisneros. Here's the publisher's description: The best-selling coming-of-age classic, acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught in schools and universities alike, and translated around the world. The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Told in a series of vignettes—sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous—Sandra Cisneros’ masterpiece is a classic story of childhood and self-discovery. Few other books in our time have touched so many readers. Pros: The characters.  One of the best parts of The House on Mango Street  is the characters. The main character and narrator, Esperanza, is a true-to-life combination of a girl who tries to have fun...

For MMGM, I am recommending Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow  by Jessica Townsend. Here's the publisher's description: An instant New York Times bestseller! “A Harry Potter-esque adventure.” — Time Magazine A breathtaking, enchanting new series by debut author Jessica Townsend, about a cursed girl who escapes death and finds herself in a magical world–but is then tested beyond her wildest imagination. Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she’s blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks–and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday. But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor. It’s then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chose...

For MMGM, I am recommending The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp  by Kathi Appelt. Here's the publisher's description: “Librarians often say that every book is not for every child, but The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp is” ( The New York Times ).  Meet Bingo and J’miah, raccoon brothers on a mission to save Sugar Man Swamp in this rollicking tale and National Book Award Finalist from Newbery Honoree Kathi Appelt. Raccoon brothers Bingo and J’miah are the newest recruits of the Official Sugar Man Swamp Scouts. The opportunity to serve the Sugar Man—the massive creature who delights in delicious sugar cane and magnanimously rules over the swamp—is an honor, and also a big responsibility, since the rest of the swamp critters rely heavily on the intel of these hardworking Scouts. Twelve-year-old Chap Brayburn is not a member of any such organization. But he loves the swamp something fierce, and he’ll do anything to help protect it. And help is surely neede...