All about the Books

Bibliography: Holm, Jennifer L. and Holm, Matthew. 2016. BABYMOUSE GOES FOR THE GOLD. New York: Random House Children's. ISBN 9780307931634 Plot Summary: Babymouse mother tells her she has to take up a sport. So Babymouse signs up for the swim team at school. Babymouse figures that it does not take a lot of effort to swim and she learns very quickly that is not true. Her team is named, "Shrimps" and they are a mix of animals: panda, goat, penguin, rabbit, and a bird. Their coach is a lobster. Each week, the Shrimps compete in swim meets and Babymouse shows up but doesn't quite get the hang of swimming competitively. Babymouse decides to quit the team but they convince her to stay because the best thing about being on the swim team is the friendship. Critical Analysis:  The Holm siblings (Jennifer and Matthew) do a good job of writing a story that is filled with humorous moments. This is the 20th book in the Babymouse series and in this story, Babymouse has an experien

Bibliography:  Lin, Grace. 2009. WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON. New York: Little Brown and Company. ISBN 9780316038638 Plot Summary: Minli is a young girl who lives in a village that has not seen rain for a long time. Minli, along with her parents work hard to make the land fertile and grow rice. Each evening after dinner, Ba (dad), tells Minli a story of some kind that explains life and nature.  Minli enjoys hearing the stories all the time even if Ba has told them to her before. Ma, tired and drained from working outside all day, doesn't like the stories because she believes they give Minli ideas. One day, Minli buys a goldfish from a man who claims that the fish can bring good fortune. Ma is upset that Minli wasted money on the fish and Ba is fine with it because what good is money if you don't use it.  That evening, Ba tells Minli the story about a man who can answer any questions on a mountain. Ma is frustrated but allows the story to be told. Later that evening, Minli

Bibliography:  Telgemeier, Raina. 2019. GUTS. New York: Scholastic Graphix ISBN 9780545852517 Plot Summary: In this story, Raina is a fifth grade girl who is scared of vomit. It began with her not feeling well in the wee morning hours and as we read the story, we see that Raina becomes consumed with getting ill and then having to go and vomit.  Raina has two best friends, Nicole and Jane; they both enjoy hanging out with Raina but notice that she is becoming weird. There is also Michelle, who likes to joke and tease her classmates. As the school year progresses, Raina misses school because she is always feeling sick. Because this is happening often, her parents take her to the doctor and have her tested for various digestive disorders. Finally, Raina goes to see a therapist to get help with what is bothering her. Raina doesn't understand why she needs a therapist but over time she learns that how she feels is normal and she is in control of those feelings. The therapist helps Raina

  Bibliography: Phelan, Matt. 2009. THE STORM IN THE BARN. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press. ISBN 9780763636180 Plot Summary: This is the story about a boy named Jack who finds himself trying to fight off bullies, and what appears to be some kind of person. As the story goes along, Jack lives in a small Kansas town, where everyone knows each other and they think highly of Jack. Except Jack gets caught in a cloud of dust and he chose to head home instead of sheltering in town. This makes his father quite upset because the family is dealing with Jack’s sister who is sick. The town doctor tells Jack’s father to watch him because he may have dust dementia; memory loss the is caused by inhaling too much dust.  Jack overheard the comment and thinks nothing of it. Jack has heard the stories about how the land use to be great until the rain stopped. He even heard stories about a boy who was strong and stopped the dust from hanging around the town. All Jack knew was that there was something to

  Bibliography: Wolk, Lauren. 2017. BEYOND THE BRIGHT SEA. New York: Dutton’s Children’s Books. ISBN 9781101994856 Plot Summary: Crow is a young girl who lives on an island in Massachusetts. She is being raised by an old guy named, Osh and his neighbor, Miss Maggie.  Crow is a nature girl: she swims in the ocean, knows how to steer a boat and enjoys being outside.  Crow genuinely enjoys her life but she does wonder where did come from and what is her “real” name. Osh is content with he life he has created for himself and Crow and so he doesn’t pay much attention to Crow’s questions about where did come from and what became of her parents until a fire is spotted on a neighboring island.  Crow wants to know what is happening over on the Penikese Island and if possibly that is where she was born. Crow sets out find out about the inhabitants of the island and if she has roots there.  Osh doesn’t understand why Crow wants to know where she came from; nor does he stop her from finding out

  Bibliography: Larson, Kirby. 2014. DASH. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 9780545416351 Plot Summary: Mitsi Kashino is a young Japanese American girl who lives in Seattle with her family goes through a life-changing experience because of who she is.  In December, right before  Christmas break, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the military base in Honolulu, Hawaii. Mitsi doesn’t fully understand what that means for her, her family, and the community which they live in, but she will soon learn how people treat others who may share common things but don’t look like them.  After the Christmas break, Mitsi returns to school to find that her best friends no longer want to hang out with her.  A group of boys pick on her because she is Japanese and the popular girl, Patty is outright rude to Mitsi.  Mitsi doesn’t understand why Mags and Judy, no longer want to be friends with her.  Soon, there are notes being left with the word, “Jap” on them and drawings of Japanese people in mean poses.