Books | Page 75 of 82

Star Wars The Secrets of The Jedi, a light side primer

If Star Wars, The Secrets of The Jedi were a football playbook it would be 90% focused on the defensive side. For younger fans of The Force, especially given that The Rise of Skywalker is nigh, this is a great literary jumping on point for those that know a little bit about this famous family. The cover of The Secrets of The Jedi gives the Star Wars initiated a quick preview of what’s inside, or namely, what’s not inside. There aren’t any dark force characters on the book’s cover. There are a couple pages inside that hint to their evil, but the deep-dive to the dark side is left to another book.

A beautiful and detailed look at the Light Side of the Force this Is

I Love Me, an Australian board book that will suit any toddler

One look at the cover the board book I Love Me by Sally Morgan and Ambelin Kwaymullina and you can tell it’s happy, full of energy and has an Outback vibe that we’ve never seen. Every page on this board book is corner to corner color with just a hint of enthusiasm that will shake up crawlers through kindergarten kids.

I LOve me is a board book that sports universal appeal

Queen of the Sea, a taut page turner on an unlikely subject

Queen of the Sea by Dylan Meconis doesn’t look like a graphic novel. For starters it’s as thick as most books that you’ll find on the adult best-seller list, that is to say it’s very thick. The subject matter also doesn’t typically lend itself to something that you’d associate with an engaging graphic novel. You see, Queen of the Sea is about an island that operates as a convent in the early 1500s.

Make a fun graphic novel about nuns on an island? Dylan Meconis: Hold my rosary

Alien Superstar is funny, whip smart and a book ages 9 and up will love

You might’ve seen the press tour for Alien Superstar. I was skeptical of the book because my bias against celebrity authors. The jaded side of my personality sometimes thinks that the quality of the book will be less and that the author is simply coasting by on their fame in another profession. Alien Superstar is written by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver and is a hoot of a book. It’s one that our fourth grade student read in three nights and could not put down. Curious about the book that he couldn’t stop raving on I picked it up and can attest to his impression.

Alien Superstar is upper elementary gold, kids 9 and up will love it!

Deadendia The Broken Halo, quirky LGBTQ sci-fi graphic novel

My weird is not your weird. What I think is different, odd or not my normal could be your go-to entertainment. Quirky is a much better word for that. Everything can be quirky. It’s the way that your dog walks around the bush three times before using the bathroom. It’s the way that some creators accent their characters to a degree in their mannerisms to make just a bit more eccentric than the rest of us. Deadendia The Broken Halo is the second book in the series by Hamish Steele on Nobrow. It’s full on quirky for those readers 14 and up who want a beautifully illustrated story that’s crafted in another dimension, then wrapped in bacon and served with a side of friendship, monsters and angels.

Deadendia: The Broken Halo is quirk-tastic, sci-fi with an LGBTQ twist

Making Friends, a gleeful graphic novel that is not what you think

I know this graphic novel, that’s what you’re thinking. You look at the cover and see three girls and a boy, all of whom are in middle school. They’re talking on the school bus, they all look happy and the graphic novel is called Making Friends. I thought I knew this graphic novel before reading it, thinking that it would have some tragic, Doofenshmirtz-type back story about the friends and what they’ve overcome. Instead, Making Friends is a joyful graphic novel about friendship, science-fiction, family and realizing when you’re in the right place. It’s a fast paced graphic novel that ages 12 and up will immediately relate to, but the book is appropriate for those readers 8 and up.

Making Friends is an upper elementary and up graphic novel about friendship, but with more science-fiction and action than you’re expecting.

This is a great graphic novel-and it is different than what you think it is

The Story That Cannot Be Told, deep fable for middle school readers

The Story That Cannot Be Told gives you the illusion of a very deceiving premise. It’s about Ileana, a young girl in communist Romania in WWII who has been sent to stay with her grandparents in the mountains. What’s surprising is that the book doesn’t focus on what you think it will. Instead, its story is all about telling stories and family. The result is a book that’s part fairy tale, historical snap shot, mythology and fictional story that feels real.

The Story That Cannot Be Told is a fascinating ‘story’ book for middle school readers

Mammal Takeover! is a full immersion educational graphic novel

Graphic novels can be so much more than entertaining and fun to read. They can be educational!! Really, they can be and they’re so much more than what some parents, educators or kids might think that they are. The Earth Before Us series from Amulet Books is a great example of how much and how different a graphic novel can be. Mammal Takeover! is the third book in this entertaining and educational series that is about old school Earth.

Mammal Takeover! is a semi-deep dive graphic novel into the prehistoric story of Earth