Personal rating of 3 out of 5 stars
by Megan Wagner Lloyd 3 stars A sweet story of one cat’s determination to help the human she loves. Told through three different perspectives, Haven tells the tale of a housecat traversing the wild, making new friends, encountering new enemies, and facing the odds in an unknown world. Perfect for readers who enjoy animals, nature,…
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3 stars A chaotic adventure featuring Death, a unicorn celebrity, and a trio of alien lizards looking to better humanity. Fun humor, adorable artwork, and an unexpected (yet sweet) new friendship. Having Death as a main character, it does dive into some dark humor at times, but has a unique balance with Sparkles rounding it…
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Illustrated by Emily Gravett 3 stars Dealing with her own chronic illness and feelings of inadequacy, Lily is not looking forward to the addition of a new baby in the house. But when she returns home to find a mom who is not quite her mother and a dad who is not quite her father,…
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3 stars A fun adventure featuring demons, riddles, magic, new friends, and a few lessons. Sara has a hard time finding her place at the family Chanukah party. She’s too old for the little kids, ignored by the teens, and doesn’t get along with her brother and the cousins her age. After an unfortunate mishap,…
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by Kristin Pekoll 3 stars A nice overview of intellectual freedom considerations as they pertain to non-book items and happenings in libraries. The book provides examples and considerations regarding bans and critiques of displays and exhibits, artwork, programs and events, bookmarks and reading lists, social media, and databases. It also touches on the importance of…
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Illustrated by Shelly Hehenberger 3 stars A great holiday read. Kayla loves Kwanzaa, but this year a snowstorm stops her brother from coming home for the holiday. The celebration feels different without Khari, but Kayla finds ways to celebrate with her family even when they can’t be together. The book goes through this different days…
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Illustrated by Charlene Chua 3 stars A lovely rhyming picture book highlighting the different ways of celebrating Diwali. In the story, the family prepares and celebrates by hanging mango leaf buntings, creating rangoli, singing hymns, telling stories, feasting, and joining together with their community. The artwork is stunning. Beautiful use of color. It really captures…
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3 stars A whirlwind adventure starring an elf kid, a wizard-in-training, a rock troll, an impulsive leader, and a flatulent pig-dog-thing. The Quest Kids set out to rescue a town, but may have bitten off more than they can chew. Along the way, they must face a golden-pants-wearing dragon, an invisible forest, acid swamps, a…
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Illustrated by Constanza Basaluzzo 3 stars A nice introduction to the celebration of Kwanzaa. Told in four short chapters, this picture book goes through some of the basics of preparing and celebrating. This includes decorating a unity cup, enacting the seven principles, and setting up the candles and lighting them over seven days. It also…
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by Mark David Smith, Illustrated by Kari Rust A fun-filled mystery packed with puns and homonyms. Three witchy sisters move into Covenly and open a pet emporium. But then things get weird. A threatening note appears at their door, a neighborhood goat goes missing. And whatever happened to Chelsea Oh’s casserole dish? A delightful cast…
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