Emmaline and the Second Summer by Britt Hampton

Posted on by LibrAriel Book Adventures

Rating : 4 out of 5 Stars

Emmaline and the Second Summer by Britt Hampton is a juvenile fiction novel. A copy of this novel was provided to me in exchange for my honest review. This review is solely my opinion. This novel focuses on solving the problem of broken stories. Emmaline is a reserved child that prefers reading over adventures. She doesn’t cry or make a fuss. Her life changes and first the first time she cries because she feels a change coming. A spiral of events occur after her parents reveal some life changing news to her. She must learn to have fun this summer at her grandfathers farm. Can she have an adventure? She arrives at her grandfathers farm and upon her arrival he gives her a ring that belonged to her grandmother. Once she grasps the ring she is transported to a new place, confused with so many questions. She must taken on a new important role this summer and truly take an adventure by trusting her feelings. As she takes on this new role as a storysmith, she must decide who to trust and who not to trust. If you want to learn more about Emmaline’s adventure, this book is available to purchase.

Overall this short read was absolutely adorable. I would recommend it to younger kids. This book challenges your imagination and forces the reader to look at the bigger picture. I loved the connection between the characters and the writing. I personally wanted to know more about her parents and what happened to her grandmother. I also hoped to find out who the mystery person was. ( you’ll have to read it to figure out what I’m talking about)

2017- Recap

Posted on by LibrAriel Book Adventures

Hi there,

Thanks for following my blog. I hope you have enjoyed my reviews thus far. I hope to continue to post one review a week and keep four reviews a month. This year has been an awesome year as I am now a full time Youth Services Librarian. I enjoy reading a wide range of books and interacting with a diverse set of readers. My instagram has grown as well as my group of friends.

Here are my top books from 2017:

  1. Red Queen
  2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone
  3. The Ivory Rite
  4. Brave
  5. Mustaches for Maddie
  6. They Both Die at the End
  7. Turtles All The Way Down
  8. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe-
  9. Words on Bathroom Walls
  10. . Warcross
  11. Giant Days
  12. We Are All Made of Molecules
  13. Court of Fives

2018 Reading Goals:

  1. Read 75 books
  2. Post four reviews a month
  3. Finish at least two books off my shelf
  4. Have at least four QA’s with four authors
  5. Read something outside of my comfort zone

What are your reading goals for 2018? Have you signed up for any challenges? Cheers to 2018 and cheers to new goals!

Mustaches for Maddie by Chad Morris

Posted on by LibrAriel Book Adventures

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Mustaches for Maddie is a contemporary juvenile fiction novel. I chose this book for my book club and want to have the kids read it. Maddie finds happiness behind brightly colored mustaches. She faces many challenges with her health and still remains positive when life gets hard. She faces challenges at school and makes new friends by being herself. Maddie loves to make people laugh, whether is by creating a new game or putting on a mustache when situations get hard. She is definitely a strong character and I loved that this is based on a true story. I adored the authors commentary at the end of the novel and the note from Maddie herself. I was able to email the author and get a few questions answer for my book club. I recommend this book for juveniles between the ages of 10-14. It is based on the life of a middle school girl.

Here is some of the questions and answers from the author. A special thanks to Chad Morris for answering my questions.

1. What was your inspiration for this book? 

“Mustaches for Maddie is based on the true story of my daughter. She’s funny, loves acting, and thinks fake mustaches are hilarious. She has quite the collection. But  a few years ago, she was diagnosed with a tumor pressing up against her brain. She faced two neurosurgeries with hope, good friends, and humor. In fact, hundreds, if not thousands of people, put on mustaches to make her smile while she was recovering. Maddie is great inspiration. “

2. How does this book relate to kids in this age group. 

“Mustaches for Maddie is a middle-grade book, so targeted at kids in the 3-7 grades. It’s sweet spot is probably more 4-6. And I think it’s especially relatable because Maddie went through her surgeries during those grades. She also deals with friend trouble, and facing her own fears in ways that kids those age can relate to. For example, auditioning for a play and trying to get enough courage to stand up to someone whose doing something mean. “

 

3. What are some challenges you faced while writing this book?

“Writing a book is always a challenge, but this one had some special difficulties. For example, my wife (Shelly Brown) and I were trying to capture a real person’s voice on the page. That made us nervous. In some ways that was easy. We know her and she has a great personality. In other ways this would be recorded for forever and we really wanted Maddie to like it. We wanted it to be a blessing in her life, rather than a regret. So she read and approved each draft. She also had a note at the end. “

“Another challenge was writing difficulties Maddie faced in school. She had to deal with some very manipulative girls (a less talked about way of bullying) and we didn’t want to immortalize their weaknesses. So we decided to fictionalize Maddie’s trials. We based them off of true moments and themes, but changed the characters and circumstances enough that they felt new. This is also explained in a note at the back of the book. “

4. What is something you like kids to know that decide to read this book? 

“That they can meet any challenge with compassion, humor, and good friends. School Library Journal said that Mustaches for Maddie is “a good readalike for fans of R.J. Palacio’s Wonder.” We think that the same way Wonder teaches people to be kind, Mustaches for Maddie encourages compassion. There is a website Mustachesformaddie.com that even has teaching guides and activities for school classes and families. “

We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen

Posted on by LibrAriel Book Adventures

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This is a young adult contemporary fiction novel focus on the challenges faced by twin high school teenagers whose lives are intertwined. Stuart and Ashley are two teens who must face their own challenges and learn to get along. This book discusses divorce, family, friendships, bullying, sexual assault, and new relationships. It’s a great contemporary novel to give to any teen facing problems in school. Stuart is a friendly kid who has been bumped up a grade because he is “gifted.” His dad tells him he should not tell that to everyone. Ashley is a popular freshmen in high school who just wants to have all the attention. Her parents are divorced and her dad is gay. She wants to keep her dads sexuality a secret from her friends. As Stuart’s dad and Ashley’s mom make the decision to move in together, things start to get complicated. Can these two teens get along? Will Ashley ever accept Stuart as her step brother?

I loved the plot twist and kind of hated Ashley the entire story. In the end Ashley changed but that took the entire story. You definitely get the popular girl vibe from Ashley and the geek vibe from Stuart. Stuart wants to do what’s right and protect his new family member, while Ashley just wants to be popular. I wanted more from the title and I wanted more from the story. Overall, it had a great message but it was predictable in some places and the end was kind of cheesy. I would definitely recommend this to other teens who are interested in this book but only to older teens who are okay with LGBTQ reads. It was a bit mature for younger teens but very well written.

I give it a 4 out of 5!