Books | Page 57 of 82

Alien Superstar #2 Lights, Camera, Danger has alien action and mild drama

Alien Superstar was one of the best middle-school books of 2019. It crackled with humor, action, and a carefree vibe that ages 9 and up want to experience. Buddy Burger is the titular alien in the book. He’s escaped his home planet because there was an uprising happening that wasn’t bringing the best of the planet to the forefront. His grandmother put him in a ship and sent him to Earth where he crashed onto the backlot of a theme park that also does television production. From here his actual alien form allowed him to be the perfect ‘costumed’ performer on a hit show. It also helped that his costume, Zane Tracy, which is his human form, is a very cute teenage boy. In Alien Superstar Lights, Camera, Danger! Buddy is back and elements from his past are here too. Are they on his side or have they been an evil squadron?

Lights, Camera, danger! meets the high bar set from the first book

The Scary Book, is effective, fabulous, silly-scary for 4 and up

The Scary Book is a delightfully, age-appropriate scary-silly book with pop-up elements. As an adult, I loved reading this. If my kids were young enough to enjoy the fact that I was reading a book to them, they’d love this. What’s surprising about The Scary Book is the creatures really do have an edge, despite all of its silliness. All but one of the animals has a mouth that’s printed on folded cardboard paper that folds out. This gives the illusion that the animal’s mouths are much bigger than they actually are, much like those folded pages in the back of Mad Magazine do.

It’s pop-up fun, with a touch of the scares or the sillies

Ghosts Unveiled!, pitch-perfect, non-fiction scares for ages 9 and up

One of our favorite books from 2019 was Creepy and True Mummies Exposed! Certainly, a major part of my initial curiosity in that book was the fact that I’ve loved mummies, the science of them, cultures that perfected them, and the ghoulish specter that exists inside my imagination of seeing them. The layout and presentation that book was perfect because it blended science, travel, adventure, and imagination into one package that was great for middle school readers and up. Author Kerrie Logan Hollihan dives into the series again with Creepy and True Ghosts Unveiled! It has the same presentation that I loved in the first book but looks at a topic that is difficult to actually prove.

Spooks, ghosts and the content/presentation to engage middle school

World of Wonder Mountains is rocky edu-tainment for ages 5 through 9

“It’s like a poetry book about animals, mountains and the things that live in the mountains”, our 10-year-old said when he read World of Wonder Mountains. Well, to an extent he is correct in that upper-elementary school overview. The first page he turned to was one of the more poetic pages. It’s about the snow lion and spotlights her massive paws as they maw the snowy crags in some of the impossibly high mountains. It could be viewed as poetry. You could also see it as a snippet into what happens in that spot, at that particular moment to that certain animal.

The nexus of poetry/short story and geology

Sounds All Around provides onomatopoeias around the world

Until a couple of years ago, I easily confused a mnemonic device with onomatopoeias. Shortly after doing this I’d flip flop my stance on both of them and reminisce about Johnny Mnemonic, the lovably cheesy film from 1995. Fun fact: that film takes place in 2021. After teaching onomatopoeias to a handful of Chinese students online, as well as incorporating that into my science lessons at school-BAM, I’ll never forget what they are. Sounds All Around takes a global look at these words that sound like what they are, and in turn, has created an entirely new genre of graphic novels.

BOOM! ACHOO! WOOF! they’re not the same in other languages

Lola Benko Treasure Hunter, grounded action for middle school

Lola Benko, Treasure Hunter will feel familiar, but it’s a character and story that is new to you. On the cover, we see a teen-aged-girl who is exploring a giant cavern-esque area with two friends. She’s carrying a headlight with a massive head, like the one that only construction engineers or professional spelunkers would use. The cover’s font could easily be mistaken for entry into the National Treasure film franchise. In addition to that, there are several things within the story that older readers will recognize as influences for the story. However, Lola Benko Treasure Hunter is aimed at readers aged nine through middle school and they might not know or even catch those references.

Lola Benko Treasure Hunter is a middle grade action book that has more of a relationship backbone than its readers might care for.

Middle grade readers will enjoy it, but it might feel familiar too

Lois Lane and the Friendship Challenge, DC graphic magic for girls 8-12

Certain books know their core audience and dedicate itself to entertaining them. Granted some siblings or those readers who might be older or younger could stumble on the book, but they’ll be the outliers. Lois Lane and the Friendship Challenge is one of those books. If you’re a girl reader who is between eight and twelve then this is your jam. Its compact size, pop culture sensibilities, fast-paced story and age appropriate art make this a go-to book for girls who want in on the graphic novel action.

Lois Lane and the Friendship Challenge, an original graphic novel aimed squarely at girls 8-12 with more friendship than power, but speaks to its readers.

Sign-Elementary girls looking for a graphic novel-sign

If You Go With Your Goat to Vote, a happy 411 on voting for kids

Some Christmas music is great in July. Those are the great songs that succeed as being well crafted, played and seasonally timeless without relying on smaltz or stations that have airtime to fill after Thanksgiving. Children’s books that revolve around a certain theme or time of year are like that also. If You Go with Your Goat to Vote shares that in common in that it’s a great book that emerging readers can enjoy any time; even during those periods when people aren’t frothing at the social media mouth about candidate A or B. In other words, it doesn’t have to be an election year for your reader to enjoy this book.

If You Go with Your Goat is a happy, great good-night book about animals, their babies and voting in elections.

Get out the goat-and the vote. This is full non-partisan greatness for ages 3-7