Books | Page 58 of 82

Generation Brave, comfort food for the middle school activist’s soul

Generation Brave wants to be loved. In this case, it’s also a book that wants to be loved. If it’s a loose happy, compilation of young people who are out to change the world then Generation Brave, The Gen Z Kids Who Are Changing the World may not be your scene. To the book’s credit, it doesn’t hide its activism. It clearly states upfront, just in case any middle school or older reader is unfamiliar with the people being highlighted, that these people are opinionated and not afraid to stand up to authority. Cue that song by John Mellencamp in 3, 2, 1. If you’re an activist young person on the left side of the aisle then this book is preaching to you. It’s loaded with mainly liberal young voices or organizations who are very passionate about what they believe. Because of that, the book will be a guidebook for those who speak truth to power and a book full of tripe talking points to the other half.

Generation Brave, meet the new boss, the same as the old boss

Big Foot and Little Foot: The Bog Beast, early chapter book fun

A nice, simple book that’s perfect for emerging readers is a tough thing to find. The chapters could be too short, or too long. The characters could be too juvenile, or just a bit too old for elementary readers. In short, it’s a very narrow line that books need to traverse if they’re targeting grades two through four. Our eight-year-old is right in this struggle. He can read sentences and is building vocabulary, but hasn’t made the jump to chapter books yet. Big Foot and Little Foot is a book series that’s tailor-made for this dapper young man.

An early elementary chapter book that checks all the blocks

Who is the Bucks Bandit? stumbles in this otherwise engaging series

As a family, we are knee-deep in the struggles of getting an elementary-aged student to learn to love reading. One series that he does enjoy is the Diary of a 5^th Grade Outlaw series by Gina Loveless with illustrations by Andrea Bell. The third book in the series is Who is the Bucks Bandit? and it feels very different than the first two. Elementary-aged students who are already enjoying the series will gamely follow along. However, those passive readers who were reading the book just to placate their parents will feel like they’ve been here before. The result will leave librarians and parents of those younger kids who are coming into the series hoping that the fourth book in the Diary of a 5^th Grade Outlaw series finds its mojo again.

The third book in this series feels too familiar

Teen Titans GO! To Camp! succeeds as a graphic novel for this all age team

Teen Titans GO! is easily one of the favorite television shows in our house and has been for the past two years. Our boys are eight and ten now and I suspect that this show will still be in their queue for the next three years. Moreover, the show is incredibly smart and displays a very high level of humor, all the while making fun of how dumb it can be in certain moments. For us, the show rivals The Simpsons in its intelligence and laughs per minute. Similar to that show, it had a comic book element that was equally as fabulous. Unlike Homer’s vehicle, Robin and his crew continue to have new adventures, and the first one of these, Teen Titans GO! To Camp! is out and is everything that fans of the show enjoy and want.

IT’s a graphic novel that delivers the promise of the comic and the TV show

Gridiron is a middle-grade book that transcends football and kidlit

One’s appreciation of a subject matter isn’t relevant to their ability to discern the quality in it. For example, you don’t have to personally enjoy a genre of music to be aware that there is some talent that goes into making it. I am that way with sports. My knowledge of football specifically is limited to what could be written on the back of a postage stamp. Gridiron, Stories From 100 Years of the National Football League is an oversized book that is perfectly aimed at me, plus any middle-school student who happens to enjoy football or the drama of sports.

Gridiron is for book fans, as well as, football fans

The Derby Daredevils, Shelly Struggles to Shine levels up

I love it when the second book in a series surpasses the first one. It doesn’t even have to go all “Empire Strikes Back” and be leagues better than its predecessor. For us, just the fact that it’s better means that the series has lots of gas left in the tank. The Derby Daredevils: Kenzie Kickstarts a Team set up the story about a group of girls teaming up to create a roller derby team. That was a middle-grade book that mainly girls will enjoy that had a variety of positive, diverse themes. The Derby Daredevils: Shelly Struggles to Shine takes that storyline and delivers a J-block to the other teams lead jammer.

Middle-grade comfort food with a side of roller derby for girls 9 and up

100 Kyoto Sights, travelogue & motivator to visit this great Japanese city

100 Kyoto Sights goes by the subtitle of ‘Discover the “Real” Japan’ and that’s a lot to measure up to. After all, ‘real’ is a fluid definition, but in this context let’s think in terms of old-school Japan. I lived in Japan for two years and it is one of the most fabulous places you’ll ever visit. It’s as clean as a theme park with a society that’s just as kind as any the best customer service you’ve witnessed. Even against that backdrop, there’s an area in Japan that offers more for those tourists who want a massive overview of all that Japan’s history has to offer.

Kyoto is a world away and so well worth visiting

Big Nate The Gerbil Ate My Homework is pitch-perfect

I should be working right now. Instead, I got sucked into the black hole that sometimes whirls around me which is Big Nate. In this case, it’s the 23^rd installment of Lincoln Peirce’s instantly funny comic strip series. Big Nate The Gerbil Ate My Homework collects strips that were originally published in newspapers from February 16, 2016, through September 6, 2016. I should be working, but like only eating one potato chip or only watching one cat video I’m failing miserably at only reading a couple of Big Nate comic strips.

bIG nATE IS STILL GREAT AT COLLECTION #23