I have given many book talks for the spooky season in the past few weeks. I always like to include some nonfiction books. I tell the kids how the truth can be stranger than fiction. I always love when the kids ask, “Wait, this really happened?”. I found the author Don Brown and his collection … More Don Brown
All He Knew by Helen Frost Four out of Five Magical Coffee Cups A young boy, Henry, loses his hearing due to an illness, and his family is convinced that sending him to a home for the “unteachable” is their best option. His parents don’t really want to do this, but they want to do … More All He Knew
The Girl in White by Lindsay Currie Four out of Five Magical Coffee Cups: Mallory lives in Eastport, Massachusetts, also known as “the most cursed city in the USA.” This city takes spookiness very seriously, and October is the height of its tourist season. *Incoming Random tangent* This made me think of all the cities … More The Girl in White
It’s close to Halloween! It’s time for some spooky middle-grade books! As a middle school librarian, I have been reading spooky books like it’s my job! Well, it is. This past week I focused on the author K. R. Alexander. This author practically has their own shelf in my library, and the kids love them! … More K. R. Alexander
A Rover’s Story by Jasmine Warga Five out of Five Magical Coffee Cups If you watched the Mars rover landing, this might be the book for you. If you think about Opportunity’s last message to Earth as the dust storm covered their solar panels, this might be the book for you. If you liked the … More A Rover’s Story
The Necklace by Matt Witten Four out of Five Magical Coffee Cups I don’t have a physical Kindle, but I have the app on my phone. I know I have the app; I have a ton of books on the app! Here’s the problem: I keep forgetting about those books as I look at my … More The Necklace
Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr. Four out of Five Magical Coffee Cups Huguette Clark! I bought this book on a whim at the Newberry used book sale in Chicago. I do love nonfiction. I like hearing about all sorts of history. I saw this book’s cover and grabbed it as … More Empty Mansions
Going Viral by Katie Cicatelli-Kuc Three out of Five Magical Coffee Cups I found this book at my school’s Scholastic Book Fair. Got to love those book fairs! This is a story during lockdown. I love that we are getting more of these. Some people want to avoid the lockdown as much as possible, but … More Going Viral
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston Three out of Five Magical Coffee Cups: I saw a few TikTok videos about ‘First Date Questions’ that are not the usual, “What do you do for a living?”. One of those questions was something like, “Do you think you have the ability to go undercover for a long … More First Lie Wins
The Last Word by Taylor Adams 4 out of 5 Magical Coffee Cups Have you ever read a book where you feel like everything is wrapping up, but there are too many pages left? This was one of those books. Things started happening, and I said, “Oh, okay, this is what is going on.” But … More The Last Word
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