5 stars A touching story with exceptional artwork. Follow Finn as he builds a boat and sets out to find the place of his grandfather’s stories. Taking the trip they’d always talked about going on together, Finn sees fantastic sights, travels to remarkable places, and deals with the loss of his grandfather. The Fan Brothers…
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3 stars Hooray for the first girl lead in the series! Tarshis does address this in the backmatter but… Personally I wish Tarshis would stop hanging onto the explanation that she wanted to write books her sons would read and they weren’t interested in girl characters. I hate this excuse. Can we all just admit…
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2 stars Cute follow-up to the first book. This one sees the trio of Glitter Dragons back in the Magic Forest, using their smarts and bravery to go up against the Shadow Sprites. This time, we follow the water-loving Willa as she gains the confidence to clean up the forest’s waterways. As with the first…
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5 stars A beautifully-told journey of the struggle between two worlds, friendship, grief, and acceptance. I loved every page. Pulling from her own life experiences, LaRocca creates a truly fantastic story. This novel-in-verse strikes to the core. It perfectly captures the struggles of its main character. Though the book is relatively short, it covers so…
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4 stars This is my favorite book in the series of those I’ve read so far (Also, so excited to see another elusive girl main character in this series!). Tarshis nicely handles the respecting wildlife storyline that was so clumsily presented in I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916. I really appreciate that, though certainly dangerous,…
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2 stars Fun adventure story for young dragon lovers. Thrilled to see dragons as heroes and girl dragons at that! This story gives the origins of the Glitter Dragons sect of the Dragon Girls and recounts their first adventure together with Azmina acting as the leader. The writing is simple and straightforward. It didn’t resonate…
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3 stars Nice progression for fans of the I Survived series to nonfiction encounters. I initially grabbed this one because of the sharks attacks of 1916. It is the only true story featured in this collection that Tarshis has written a novel about. Others are tangentially related to books in the I Survived series (I…
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4 stars Another adorable adventure featuring Auggie, Fen, and Willa. In this one, the gang saves a town from a band of Tattle-Tails… and vice versa. I loved the message of helping others, even after they’ve caused trouble. Auggie promises to take care of all creatures, even those “hard-to-love” and he does just that. The…
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4 stars A beautiful story that examines ocean pollution from the perspective of a turtle. The reader follows Little Turtle as she traverses her ocean home, noting the changes that dampen its colors and the silent creatures (plastic bags, bottles, and other garbage) that quickly multiple. Though she experiences great darkness, there are those ready…
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2 stars What the first book lacked in originality, this one certainly makes up for. I’ve never read anything even close to this. However, for me, this one felt pretty random. It tries to throw too many elements together (amusement parks, androids, aliens). Much more sci-fi than the first book but seemed to portray itself…
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