Truth According to Blue – Sunken Treasure, Diabetes, Service Dogs and Friendship

Lynn: Some books have a special place in your heart and Eve Yohalem’s first book, Escape Under the Forever Sky (Chronicle, 2009) is one of them. My middle school readers LOVED it and I loved to booktalk it. So I was really excited to see Yohalem’s new book, The Truth According to Blue (Little, Brown, 2020), and what a treat it is!

Blue is 13, school is out, and she has a secret plan for her summer—hunting for a family treasure her grandfather had spent his life looking for. Pop Pop has passed away recently and Blue’s Dad won’t even talk about any hint of the treasure being real. Blue has another reason to find the treasure. Blue has juvenile diabetes and she desperately wants something more than being seen as Diabetes Girl, especially as she is the actual poster child for a huge Diabetes fundraiser being held at the estate of a famous movie star.

Blue is careful and responsible about her illness. She tests regularly, pays attention to her numbers, and to her service dog, Otis. She can hardly wait to get out on the water and start the search when two huge obstacles enter the picture. Jules, the incredibly spoiled daughter of the movie star becomes Blue’s responsibility to take along and a famous greedy treasure hunter arrives searching for Blue’s treasure! Now for the first time, Blue finds herself keeping big secrets from her parents and taking some serious risks. Is the treasure worth losing their trust?

Endearing characters and a really exciting plot were the high points of the book for me but there are a lot of additional elements that added interest and heart to the story. Blue and Jules are terrific characters, each yearning for the chance to be more than the labels people stuck on them. Blue’s voice is terrific especially and I loved the depiction of a responsible kid trying to do the right thing while making some big mistakes. There is a lot of information about juvenile diabetes woven into the book very skillfully and Blue’s condition is just one piece of who she is. Every reader will fall for Otis. There is also a lot of interesting history, some information on boating and scuba diving, and a setting that makes an intriguing backdrop.

I was rooting for Blue and Jules all the way, cringing at some of their mistakes and smiling at the girls’ growth and developing friendship. The satisfying and surprising ending was the icing on the cake. It was lovely to see such a wonderful parent/child relationship portrayed too. This book had it all and I loved every word! Yay for Blue, Jules, Otis, and Eve Yohalem!

Picture Books Go Camping

Lynn: I know summer is drawing to a close but there is still time to get outside and camp and hike with kids! In fact, the crisp air and colorful beauty of fall may be even better for enjoying nature. Of course, books should ALWAYS be a part of whatever we do. I have two delightful picture books that will be a perfect way to lead up to an outdoor adventure. Read these and smile, and then pack up your tent and lace up your hiking boots!

In The Camping Trip (Candlewick, 2020) by Jennifer Mann, Ernestine, a young city girl, excitedly tells readers that she is going on her first camping trip with her Aunt Jackie and cousin Samantha. She and her Dad are packing up everything she needs and the trip begins. Ernestine is sure she will love camping but there are some surprises. The tent is not one bit easy to set up, swimming in the lake is not at all like swimming at the Y—there are fish in there—and maybe her backpack is a bit too full for hiking without getting really tired! But a campfire supper is really fun and s’mores are delicious. At first sleeping in a tent is a little scary. It is REALLY dark and Ernestine misses her dad. But smart Aunt Jackie takes the girls outside to see the stars and make a wish on a shooting star. The next day, Ernestine bravely tries more new things and when it is time to go she can’t wait to camp again.

Mann’s illustrations are adorable, cartoon-type stick figures with big heads and packed with wonderful small details. The book is a charming mix of graphic novel with panels and speech bubbles and picture book with large spreads. The text is delightful and there is such an authentic feel both to the dialog and to Ernestine’s thoughts and reactions. I especially love the packing scene and the hike. Anyone who has walked ANY distance with young children will laugh at the progression from energetic to exhausted. Use this book to introduce camping to kids or as a wonderful reminder of the fun to be had. Oh, and don’t miss the endpapers!

My second book is Hike (Candlewick, 2020) by Pete Oswald and while it shares some characteristics with The Camping Trip, it is a nearly wordless book, telling its story completely with illustrations and a few sound effects. Here a dad gently wakes his sleeping child in a bedroom showing evidence of preparations for a hike. As the story unfolds in expressive small vignettes balanced with full-page illustrations, the reader watches the pair experience a day hiking through woods, walking across a fallen log by a waterfall, climbing a rocky cliff, and planting a tree. Charming details make each scene a small story all its own as they observe animals, take pictures, and share a very special day.

Oswald uses a peaceful palette of greens and browns in this quiet but rewarding account not only of the joys of spending time in nature but also of a parent and child spending time together. Back home together at the end of the day, the pair snuggle together on the sofa looking at the drawings and photographs of their special day. This quiet book rewards paying attention to the many details and will be one to read and share over and over.

City Spies – A Summer Blockbuster Film – I mean BOOK for Kids

Lynn: I love a good summer blockbuster whether it is a book or a movie and I know a lot of kids are right there with me on that notion. James Ponti’s new and totally entertaining book City Spies (S&S/Aladdin, 2020) will happily divert kids looking for a bit of a break from the summer heat.

This crazy romp is a series starter that should create fans of every reader. The initial premise – that MI6 has recruited a secret group of teen spies, all terrific talents—requires a leap of faith but once that jump is made the reader is off to the races. The story begins as a new member, an American girl just sentenced to juvenile detention for a well-intentioned hack into the foster care system, is added to the team. A fair amount of time is spent setting the stage and introducing the characters but a well-paced plot with increasing suspense keeps the story moving nicely. Settings include Scotland and Paris and both the Eiffel Tower and the Catacombs are part of the fun. Like most summer blockbusters, the action is non-stop and nail-biting.

Ponti gives readers an engaging diverse group of young teen characters, snappy dialog, and a dose of humor plus the addition of STEM topics that make this terrific fun. There is a definite cinematic feel to this one that I really enjoyed and readers like me will be eager to read the next installment.

Welcome to the Alley – Harper Alley Graphic Novels

Lynn and Cindy: It is nice to find something to celebrate in these difficult times and we are happy to help welcome Harper’s new graphic novel imprint, Harper Alley. Nine titles are coming in September and October and we’ve been lucky enough to have been sent some of them to preview. And what a treat! Here’s a quick look at a few of these wonderful upcoming new books.

Early Readers

Pea, Bee & Jay: Stuck Together by Brian “Smitty” Smith (September 2020)

Pea loves to roll! He brags to his friends that no one on the farm as ever rolled as far as he has – all the way to the fence! Like kids everywhere, one of Pea’s friends challenges him with a risky dare – roll all the way to the big red tree OUTSIDE of the farm fence! Pea can’t back down and he rolls right into the biggest adventure of his round little life. Pea finds danger, two new friends and a new appreciation for home. Plenty of kid perfect humor and cute illustrations with just enough danger and surprises to keep the story rolling along. Simple vocabulary and plenty of visual assistance for early readers. Watch for more adventures to come!

Arlo & Pips Series: King of the Birds by Elise Gravel (October 2020)

Arlo is a crow with a big ego and he tells his friend, Pip, about his talents. He can imitate other sounds (a car honking) and count up to six. Footnotes add additional facts to back up Arlo’s claims. For instance, crows can count, and may even be able to add.) Arlo and Pip’s adventures are divided into three chapters, and the clear illustrations are in panels from one to six on a page with text appropriate for beginning readers. Humor, friendship, and animal science facts make this a winner for early comic fans.

Middle Grade

Lightfall: The Girl and the Galdurian by Tim Probert (September 2020)

Have you been struggling to find something to give to fans of the Amulet series (Graphix 2008) by Kazu Kibuishi? Look no farther than this outstanding new fantasy series. The sun has disappeared from the land of Irpa. Bea is the adopted granddaughter of the Pig Wizard who owns the Salty Pig and makes medicines and tinctures. While out gathering herbs, Bea encounters a strange traveler, Cad, a supposedly extinct Galdurian, looking for the Pig Wizard. When they return to the cottage, Bea’s grandfather has disappeared leaving only a note and a precious Jar of Endless Flame. The pair set out on a quest to find the Pig Wizard and perhaps they will save their world along the way.

A terrific storyline, endearing characters, humor, and mystery will delight readers along with absolutely gorgeous illustrations. I read this in galley form and even in that format, the luminous quality of the illustrations took my breath away. I cannot wait to see the finished copy and young fans will be clamoring for the second installment the minute they finish the first!

Measuring Up by Lily LaMotte (October 2020)

There’s nothing like a food competition to bring on stress in the kitchen and between friends. Cici is new to Seattle and misses her A-ma back in Taiwan but winning a local kids’ cooking battle would give her the means to bring her beloved A-ma over to celebrate her 70th birthday with the family. Schoolmates have already mocked her packed lunch food choices, so what can she make for the judges that they will like? Cici is a likeable character in a fun story that navigates some of the pitfalls of middle school, especially as an immigrant. Perfect for readers who liked Amina’s Voice, about a Muslim girl finding her self through music instead of food.

Cindy once created a bulletin board with chef’s aprons and red checked tablecloths captioned “Are You a Foodie?” and this book needs to be added to that fun display.

My Brother the Duck – Scientific Method at Work in a Picture Book

Lynn: Take one “fledgling scientist,” aka young Stella Wells, who is clearly not pleased about the impending addition to the family, and add a father’s joke. “You’re waddling,” he tells Stella’s mom, “We must be having a duck.” Stella is not amused because if a “baby was bad enough, a duck was unacceptable.” Stella decides much more research is required and sets out to gather facts to prove her hypothesis. Pat Zietlow Miller takes on the scientific method in her very funny new picture book, My Brother the Duck (Chronicle, 2020).

When the new sibling arrives and her parents name him Drake, Stella sets to work. Enlisting her best friend and fellow researcher, they tote up the accumulated proof. Drake not only sounds like a duck, he looks like a duck! Deciding the facts were not yet conclusive, the team consults an expert, their teacher who tells them:

“If it looks like a duck

and sounds like a duck,

it’s probably a duck.”

Just as Stella decides that maybe having a duck in the family wouldn’t be so bad, her ongoing observations yield a startling new discovery.

I took to this picture book like a duck takes to water! Miller’s sly text wonderfully assisted by Daniel Wiseman’s cheery digital illustrations made me laugh out loud. Young readers will have no trouble getting the jokes so delightfully presented on each page and along the way, they’ll acquire a little more understanding of the scientific method. This picture book fits the bill for both classrooms and lap-time reading.

Cindy: Fits the “bill?” Lynn does love her puns, but the book does just that. A new sibling can be a strange thing to understand for a young child but as this new baby brother “fledges,” his older sister grows comfortable with him. Wiseman has as much fun with his ducky illustrations and hidden “eggs” in the brightly colored art as Lynn does with her puns. Make note, the twist ending will have everyone laughing.

Pair this with the classic Are You My Mother? (Random House, 1960) by P.D. Eastman for added fun.

Hilary McKay Proves There Is Magic in Reading

Lynn: Passionate readers have always talked about the absorbing magic of books. One of our favorite authors, Hilary McKay, explores that concept in her new middle-grade book, The Time of Green Magic (S&S/McElderry, 2020) set to be published in July. Eleven-year-old Abi is a reader.

“She read while her father dragged into her life Polly as a stepmother, plus two entirely unwanted brothers. She read through the actual wedding ceremony… She read through the year that followed, squashed with three strangers into a too small house. Most recently she had read through the start of a new school. But she had never read a book like this.”

For a few startled moments, Abi was ON the Kon-Tiki in the middle of the ocean. She had never experienced such a vivid feeling of being in the book and when she came back to herself, there was salt on her skin. Was it the book, Abi wonders, or something strange about the new house? This delicious opening introduces readers to Abi, her father Theo, and her newly blended family. Desperate to find a bigger home, the family has moved into a house swathed in green ivy with room for all of them. It is far too expensive for their budget but the house enchanted them all. I was hooked from the beginning and the way this plotline plays out is a joy that avid readers will love.

But there is a lot more going on here! One of the elements of McKay’s writing that I deeply appreciate is the way she gets inside kids’ heads and describes so perfectly what she finds there. That element nearly stole the show for me in this book as we as readers feel every bit of Abi’s reluctance to share her family with her deeply annoying new stepbrothers, 6-year-old Louis’s emotional hunger for an animal/companion all his own, Max’s painful quarrel with his former best-friend or his soul stunning first crush on Louis’s babysitter. The thoughts, feelings, actions, and fears of each character are exquisitely written here as are the intricate and achingly real relationships developing between them. In fact, they felt so real while I was reading that I wouldn’t have been surprised to have had a little green magic bring them walking into my living room! Hand this wonderful story to every book lover you know!

Cindy: We’ve often raved, I mean blogged, about Hilary McKay’s books (The Exiles series is one of my all-time favorite series). Can I rave about the cover on this one? The cat is larger and not quite what I imagined as I read the book, but it will certainly draw in readers. I want my own attic room in this ivy-covered cottage. Lynn describes the book beautifully, but one of my additional favorite parts are the letters Granny Grace sends to Abi from Jamaica. Granny Grace finally was able to pursue her own dreams after caring for Abi during the ten years after her mother’s death. It is she who provides the title when she ends her letter, “So much ivy, so much news! What a time of green magic!” Her letters always come with a pressed Jamaican flower, too, and little Louis is jealous. He’s not a reader and avoids all tricks to get him to read until, finally, a letter comes addressed to him. My heart melted a little. My heart also melted as Max devotes himself to learning French to speak to Louis’s French babysitter, Esmé, in an effort to get this older girl to notice him. Young love. Book love. Family love. Don’t miss this one. “Iffen” you do, you’ll be sorry.

Heroes We Need: Here in the Real World by Sara Pennypacker

Cindy: Children who embrace time alone, time to think, and time for their own pursuits are going to quietly embrace Sara Pennypacker’s new middle-grade novel, Here in the Real World (Harper/Balzer + Bray, 2020). Ware’s summer plans with his grandmother get sidetracked when she falls and breaks a hip landing her in rehab. His parents immediately sign him up for another summer of “Meaningful Social Interaction” with a side of humiliation that is the local Rec camp. He offers to pay them twice as much as the camp fees to let him stay home alone, he’s eleven, after all. They refuse. He skips out of Rec on the first day during a morning run and takes refuge at a crumbling church nearby. There he meets Jolene, who is using the church’s lot to grow a garden in coffee cans. Battle lines are initially drawn as the two stake their claims and go about their projects. Ware, fascinated by the Middle Ages, is turning the church into a medieval castle. Soon their refuge is threatened by a bird welfare organization and the potential sale of the church. Jolene and Ware must join forces and fight for the land that is so important to them.

Both kids have personal issues. Ware is different and he has overheard his mother wish that they just had a normal kid. Jolene’s situation slowly comes to light, although experienced readers will understand her issues of abandonment and abuse sooner rather than later. Both kids inspire the reader to champion their cause and to enjoy watching the transformations that ensue. Being quiet and being different is okay.

Lynn: One of the things I admire most about Sara Pennypacker’s writing is the way she gets how kids think and then puts readers right there in that experience too. That aspect is a highlight of Here in the Real World. Introverted Ware with his rich inner life, is vividly and authentically portrayed here. We feel Ware’s acute anxiety over the prospect of daily immersion in the summer rec program and we also feel his misery at how he thinks he disappoints his mother by being who he is. Watching Ware grow throughout the story and become confident in himself is the real joy of the book. I was a kid like Ware. I remember still my deep unhappiness at the prospect of the noisy horror of things like birthday parties and I still shudder at the thought of games like Musical Chairs!

One of the great gifts of reading is the ability to see through someone else’s eyes and this thoughtful book provides children unlike Ware to experience his feelings and those like him to be reassured. And seriously – what kid could resist the idea of that medieval castle complete with moat? Don’t miss this quiet and wonderfully crafted book.

Mama Needs a Minute: A Board Book for Overwhelmed Moms

Cindy: My daughter-from-another-mother, a young mother named Alicia, is doing a beautiful job parenting two infant twins and a 2-year-old. Three busy little girls who keep her going night and day. Following her schedule online and in-person is exhausting just to observe! Did I mention she also works part-time outside the home, too, in adult probation and parole? When Nicole Sloan’s new board book, Mama Needs a Minute (Andrews McMeel, 2020), arrived in my review books, I knew who my test reader needed to be. I gifted the book to Alicia with some pampering lotions and waited to hear. She loved this story so much she ordered a copy immediately for her friend, Laura, another mom of twins and two other children. They are both reading it daily to remind themselves that it’s okay to take a minute for themselves.

The mamas in this book might have purple hair or green skin, but they all have one thing in common: they are there to help their child learn, eat, play, etc. but sometimes “Mama needs a minute” to shower, dress, have coffee, or rest. After multiple page turns of mama’s declaration that she needs a minute, the book comfortingly closes with a twist. With the baby quietly nestled in her arms, she proclaims, “This mama just needs a minute…with you.”

Here’s to Alicia and Laura and all mamas who need a minute!

One Little Bag – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Lynn: I am writing this post as I start the second week of self-isolation and as I do, I am thinking about how differently I am already seeing my world. Some things matter more to me and some seem completely irrelevant. I don’t know how much we will be changed by the events of COVID-19 but I suspect that many of us will feel an even deeper commitment to caring for each other and caring for our world. I loved Henry Cole’s book, One Little Bag: An Amazing Journey (Scholastic, April 2020) the moment I read it. Now, two months later, I find I love it even more for several reasons.

This is the story of a little brown paper bag, first used to bring home a flashlight a single dad buys at a store with his young son. Keep on eye on that flashlight because it will appear almost as often as the little brown bag that gets used and re-used and used again as the wordless story continues. The bag next holds the boy’s lunch. The father has drawn a red heart on the bag and in the small vignettes that follow the bag is used in a variety of other ways, holding marshmallows for a camping trip, music for guitar practice, and tools to repair a first car. The bag goes off to college with the boy, holds a wedding ring, a bear for a new baby, and checkers for a game between a grandson and his grandfather. This cycle of life tale ends with a heart-melting scene in which the paper bag holds a new tree planted in the forest to celebrate a life.

Cole’s style and detailed illustrations have always enchanted me, offering new rewards with each reading. There is most often an underlying sweetness to Cole’s work too that never fails to please along with a welcome dash of humor. Those things are strongly at work in this new book too. Each exquisitely drawn page holds clever details, the sweetness of life’s ordinary and special moments and a lot of smiles. While the book is wordless, there is a message that comes through strongly about the importance of taking care of each other and taking care of the planet, and of re-using what we have. In a time when so much feels out of our control, this story and this message seem more important every day.

Cindy: I may have to use my stored paper bags for toilet paper if the hoarding doesn’t abate. I haven’t been able to buy a roll since this COVID-19 emergency started. I grew up with a mother who was born during the Great Depression and we reused everything. Plastic bread wrappers were rinsed out and clothespinned to the kitchen curtain rod to dry and reuse. So this book, with its creative journey of one paper bag, is dear to my heart and will be to yours, as well, once you’ve read it. Henry Cole’s work is well known, and his talented art is on full display here. Six double-page spreads show the journey from a tree in the forest through the manufacturing of a paper bag to its use at the grocery before we even get to the title page. Working in three colors, his black ink drawings feature touches of brown as the bag comes to life and small red hearts are added to the bag, one by one, through the years of use. These color choices keep the focus on that bag.

While reading this book, I suspended belief as the bag lasted through generations…that’s one tough bag. But then I read the Author’s Note and learned that Henry used a paper lunch bag for three years of school…and then willed it to a friend who used it for another year. He was moved by the events of the first Earth Day in 1970 to reuse that bag. And reuse it he did. This book will publish just a few weeks ahead of the 50th anniversary of that first Earth Day. What a great book to have on hand to remind us of the importance of conserving our resources.

Two New Picture Books Stroll NYC’s Central Park

Cindy: A Green Place to Be: the Creation of Central Park (Candlewick, 2019), a debut picture book by Ashley Benham Yazdani, is not just for New Yorkers. Many readers will enjoy the stroll through the pages of watercolor scenes highlighting the history and the building and the enjoyment of New York City’s famous park. As the city grew, green space was quickly disappearing. A design contest was held and the winners, architect Calvert Vaux and landscaper Frederick Law Olmsted submitted a design built to scale on a scroll two feet three inches wide and ten feet two inches long! Then the hard work of clearing and shaping the land began. Ice skating on the lake began in the winter of 1858 and slowly other sections were completed and open to the public after careful attention to details, future vision, and the philosophy that the park should be for everyone, no matter their social class or status. One double-page spread shows and names the thirty-four unique bridges and archways in the park that will have park visitors looking at the structures in a new way. More details and some interactive elements are included in the backmatter. Can you find all twenty-two gray squirrels in the pages of this book?

Lynn: Frederick Olmstead and Calvert Vaux’s extensive planning, hard work, and attention to every detail resulted in a spectacular garden. But Madelyn Rosenberg imagines a denizen of the park that never showed up in those original plans in a delightful picture book titled, Cyclops of Central Park (Penguin/Putnam, 2020). Did any of you New Yorkers realize there is a Cyclops nestled into a cave in the midst of Central Park and of course he takes care of a flock of sheep? Cyclops is content to stay safely in his cave in Central Park, protecting his sheep and he worries about the dangers of venturing out of the park. But Eugene (it would be Eugene!) goes missing out in the dangerous world and Cyclops has to be brave and go looking. But no luck! Cyclops has to call in the troops—I mean flock—to join the search.

What a fresh, imaginative, funny, gorgeous, and downright adorable book this is! As Cyclops searches New York and its attractions, he and sheep discover a whole city full of fun. He visits an art museum, the Statue of Liberty, and best of all, Coney Island! Victoria Tentler-Krylov’s brightly detailed illustrations are packed with funny details that made me laugh out loud. Bright splashes of color make each page a joy. I’d love some of these originals for my house! With the lost Eugene safely in tow, they all retire back home. “There’s no place like cave,” Cyclops says but it is clear he is now ready to have more adventures.