Reviews written by Connie Reid, Site Manager

What Worked: This is a Ready to Read level one graphic novel book. The sentences are short and the pictures really help a young child to figure out the words. The illustrations were really bright and fun to look at. These upbeat cupcakes are very relatable to children having fun...

What Worked: Looks can be deceiving. I was pleasantly surprised by how thorough the information was on all things that can fly contained in this book. With the title and illustrations on the cover, I expected a simplistic book just naming basic things that fly like airplanes and...

What Worked: Armadylan is an awesome hero but he is feeling left out because the PJ Masks don’t always need his help. His feeling of rejection leads to him being tricked by Octobella to get a crystal allowing her to be a bit wicked. The PJ Masks tried to warn...

What Worked: This is a Pre-Level one book designed to allow early readers to read this independently. I liked that the text was large with only a few words per page and they rhymed or repeated. The illustrations were fun and expressive to help a reader figure out the words...

In the second installment of the Six of Crows Duology, our group of thieves and outcasts are pulling off daring plans in the city of Ketterdam to save Inej after she was kidnapped by the esteemed Merchant councilman, Jan Van Eck. Kaz Brekker’s plan is daring and if it works...

This was a great first book of a duology. It felt like a mix of the Triwizard Tournament from Harry Potter and the rich sectors from the Hunger Games while still being an original story. The world-building drove this tale of villainy and allowed morally gray characters to flourish. ...

What I Liked: Liesl Shurtliff has created a fun fairytale world where favorite stories get a new spin and Grump is another addition to her other books, Red, Rump, and Jack. This Snow-White retelling is quite different from the Disney version. Borlen is a dwarf born underground, but unlike his...

What I liked: Through knock-knock jokes, riddles, tongue twisters, and corny jokes this book incorporates a ton of scientific facts in a fun way. The vibrant photographs were very engaging. I discovered that one of my children read ahead of me so they would know all the answers when I...

What I Liked: I have been a huge Mad libs fan as a teacher because they are a fantastic way to practice grammar without students grumbling. Now with my own children, they make travel much easier as we all take turns being the writer and the word contributor and cracking...

What I Liked: My family has become big fans of Stuart Gibbs and after catching up on the Spy School, Charlie Thorne, and Once Upon a Tim series we have branched into his older series by reading Belly Up, the first book in the Funjungle series. In the book, we...

What I liked: In true Gibbs fashion the beginning starts with the principal having a very rough day when he finally gets a new desk and it is blown up along with all of the spy school! The fast-paced events will keep the whole family turning the pages to find...

What I Liked: Finally! I have been waiting for three books for Adrian and Nova’s secrets to be revealed and it was so good! I didn’t mean to stay up until 3 AM to finish it but I couldn’t stop, the plot twists just kept coming. Narcissa Cronin is a...

What I Liked: I expected book two would be the book where the alter egos of Adrian and Nova would be revealed with all the messy angst that would involve. Marissa Meyer kept me guessing and turning the pages again waiting for that to happen. However, the tension kept building...

What I Liked: I loved Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles series, so I came into this book not knowing what to expect but ready to like it. Turns out I did. I like Meyer’s ability to world-build. There are many superhero books out there, but she managed to make an intriguing...

What I Liked: One of my favorite genres is a fantasy involving the fae, and this book is great for middle-grade audiences that may not be familiar with their magically tricky ways. Lark’s family lives on the border with the fae realm. Lark’s family is renowned for breading shadowbred horses...