Taken to Camp O’Donnell in the Philippines, nurses saved as many American lives as they could with the scant resources they had — despite that the nurses themselves suffered terribly from disease and starvation in the POW camps.
Terri Schlichenmeyer
Imagine wading to school in snow that’s waist-high and having to build a fire when you got there. Imagine going outside to go to the bathroom, no matter what the weather. And then read “One Room Schools” by Susan Apps-Bodilly.
He loves me. She loves me not.
Patricia Hruby Powell’s children’s book “Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker” is written almost like scat: quick lines, be-bopping here and shooby-loobing there, rising and falling as though Josephine Baker herself was singing the story. It’s infectious, even in the sad parts. Your little one might not notice that hoppity-bop but once you do, you won’t be able to not see it.
Looking for a basic intro to eliminating meat from your diet? You’ll find it in “The Smart Girl’s Guide to Going Vegetarian,” but there’s a lot of repetition to slog through to get it. That’s not to say that I didn’t like this book – because I did. It’s got humor, nutritional information, tips, and encouragement inside it, as well as argument-busters and a good section on eating disorders.
Oh, it’s nice to see Seven McKnight again. In “True Story,” we get a chance to catch up on where she’s been and who she’s dating, and we get to spend some time with her friends, too. That’s fun — if you can understand what’s being said in the conversations between the characters. Like other books in this series, Simone uses lots of slang in this book which, while it makes the story authentic, also can make it hard to grasp. On the flipside, there’s enough humor in this book and the characters are appealing enough to make a reader want to stick around and, happily, the confusion eventually takes care of itself.
Using verse to speak to young athletes, Lesynski highlights the excitement of the game and all its facets to kids for can’t get enough hoops. I liked the way author Loris Lesynski moves between spectator and player POVs here (for kids who are one or the other), and the action-packed cartoon drawings by Gerry Rasmussen just add to the enjoyment.
Reading. Pfft. Who has time? Who can take hours and hours to actually read a book, especially if it’s not all that good? Why waste that kind of time? You wonder that often, which is where I come in. It’s my job to find the good stuff for you and, for this calendar year, these are the books I loved best that you shouldn’t miss.
If you’re looking for a Kwanzaa-Christmas-Hanukkah book that will dazzle your 2- to 6-year-old, this one’s it. Read it, and “Dusk” could become one of her favorite things.
Every year, Arturo and his abuela decorate their Christmas tree with special ornaments, but in the new book“Arturo and the Navidad Birds” by Anne Broyles, illustrated by KE Lewis, there was one year when the tradition was nearly shattered.
Like most kids, you love it when someone reads one of your favorite Christmas stories aloud. You probably enjoy singing Christmas carols, too. “The Family Christmas Treasury” will help you do both by including the words to some of those songs you love, along with several holiday story favorites.
If your kids need something new to read every Hanukkah, then stop your search right here. For family or for fun, “Hanukkah in Alaska” is a book your 3- to 6-year-old will want to see.
You love getting presents — but do you know how much fun it is to give them? In the new book, “Boris and Stella and the Perfect Gift” by Dara Goldman, you’ll see that giving is sometimes better than getting.
You’re a pretty big kid.