For any adult who’s too young to remember Loving v. Virginia (or any child who wasn’t born then), “The Case for Loving” is a very informative, eye-opening book.
Terri Schlichenmeyer
Glenn Murphy doesn’t just teach in “Evolution: The Whole Life-on-Earth Story,” “Bodies: The Whole Blood-Pumping Story” and “Disgusting Science” — he entertains, too, with a back-and-forth format that seems like a conversation between author and reader.
The box hummed and a white light came from the edges of it. Ranger couldn’t look at the light but when he finally opened his eyes, he was in a dusty, loud place with big animals, funny smells — and a woman’s frantic voice. Someone was lost, and Ranger heard a familiar word: “FIND!”
Authenticity tops the list of qualities in the new book “Stella by Starlight” by Sharon M. Draper.
Beginning with his earliest memory and moving forward to young adulthood, Jason Schmidt shares a powerful, emotional coming-of-age tale of an unstable childhood, of the beginning of AIDS and of people living on the edge of society with little to nothing, all told in a voice dripping with sarcasm, irony and anger.
Rags worked hard at keeping rats and mice away from the soldiers. He acted as an early-warning system for incoming shells; when he fell “belly-to-dirt,” so did the soldiers. He sniffed out wires and carried messages across enemy lines, which was very dangerous. Soon, everyone knew about Rags. He was “a giant of a dog.”
Everybody needs a hero in their life. In the new book “Bass Reeves: Tales of the Talented Tenth” by Joel Christian Gill, your hero just might be a lawman.
Every home, it seems, contains a Gimme Monster at some point or other during the holidays. When that happens, you need “The Lollipop Monster’s Christmas.”
You’re going to love what’s beneath your tree this year … mostly. In the new book “My Puppy Gave to Me” by Cheryl Dannenbring, illustrated by Cynthia Kremsner, there are some presents you can probably live without.
It’s Christmas Eve, a quarter to ten, and Spark Elf is getting antsy. In just two hours, he and his fellow elves Bobbin and Nutshell will help Santa deliver presents. The reindeer are ready, the sleigh is full, and because he feels “so good,” Spark snaps an elfie.
In the new book “Firebird” by Misty Copeland, illustrated by Christopher Myers, a young girl learns to replace the word “can’t” with one that strengthens as she learn the story of a child who wanted to dance among the stars.
Yes, “The Great Thanksgiving Escape” is a kids’ book, but I absolutely loved the imaginations and the naughty glee that author-illustrator Mark Fearing gives his main characters.
In the new book “I Am Jazz” by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, with pictures by Shelagh McNicholas, you’ll read about a girl who’s just like other girls … only different. That’s because Jazz has “a girl brain but a boy body.”
It was 1942, and the Japanese had just bombed Pearl Harbor. America entered World War II soon after, which meant plenty of discrimination for Japanese-Americans like the Itanos. Tomi, Hiro and their older brother Roy had been born in America, but that didn’t seem to matter to many in their California town.
Don’t think that this book is only filled with gratuitous farts-are-funny pages. Yes, there’s that in here, but it also aims to inform. Kids who read this book will learn a thing or two about biology, and they’ll be delighted by the accompanying giggle-making illustrations.