Kid Reads New Book Reviews
Click on a cover to jump to its review!
A World Away
Reading Level: Ages 12 and up
Sixteen-year-old Eliza Miller has reached the age for Amish teenagers to experience "rumspringa", their wild time, when they must decide whether or not to committ to the Amish way of life. Eliza yearns to spend the summer with the "English" and learn about the modern world. When she is offered the opportunity to be a nanny in the Chicago area it's everything she could wish for, including a romance with a Yankee boy. This is a wonderful look at a unique culture, and yet in many ways, Eliza is just like anyone else trying to find their path in life.
Nancy Grossman is a Highland Park author.
Login or register to post comments | 
Printer-friendly version | 
Send to friend | PDF version | 
Tags: 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, High Schoolers, Books for Girls, Chick Lit, JY Fiction, HG
Vodník
Reading Level: Grades 5 - 8
After Tomas' house burns down, his family moves back to Slovakia where they had lived until Tomas was five and where he had nearly died. Soon after his arrival in his mother's home town he begins to have strange encounters with Slovakian legendary characters. Everyone, from Death herself to a crazy water vampire, known as a vodnik, seems to remember him and want something from him.
Login or register to post comments | Printer-friendly version | Send to friend | PDF version | Tags: 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, Adventure, Books for Boys, Family, Fantasy, Folktales, Horror, In Other Lands, Misfits, Supernatural, JY Fiction, SH
The Pregnancy Project: A Memoir
Reading Level: Grades 7 and up
Gaby's mother became pregnant with her first child at 14. All of Gaby's seven older brothers and sisters became teen parents as well, but Gaby, who was an unplanned, post-divorce child, is determined to not follow in her family's footsteps. When she needed to design her senior year research project she wondered, how would people react if a hardworking, determined student with a planned out future DID become a teen mother? Thus begins a six month long faked teen pregnancy and social experiment.
Login or register to post comments | Printer-friendly version | Send to friend | PDF version | Tags: 7th Grade, 8th Grade, High Schoolers, Adults, Biographies, Books for Girls, Family, Friends, Misfits, Non-Fiction, Relationships, School, Self Image, Social Issues, JY Non-Fiction, SH
Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan's Rescue from War
Reading Level: Grades 3-6
This is the true story of Tuyet, an eight -year- old orphan who didn't remember her life before the Saigon orphanage. There were the scars that she thought might have been from the war that still raged on, but she couldn't remember When Saigon fell, she was one of 57 babies and children evacuated to Canada during "Operation Babylift."
Check availability of the book
Books by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Novels about war orphans:
Betti on the Highwire by Lisa Railsback
Dogtag Summer by Elizabeth Partridge
Login or register to post comments | Printer-friendly version | Send to friend | PDF version | Tags: 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, Biographies, Books for Girls, Non-Fiction, J Non-Fiction, HG
Anna Dressed in Blood
Grades 7+
Cas, teenage ghost killer, moves to a new town to pursue a tip he's gotten on a murdurous ghost known as Anna Dressed in Blood. Cute, personable guy that he is, he quickly gets in with the popular crowd - his plan is to learn as much as he can about Anna - and who tells urban legends better than high schoolers?
Cas doesn't really expect Anna to be any more formidable of a ghost than anything else he's thought. But, of course, Anna is different.
Creepy, spooky, gory... you won't soon forget Anna or her dress of blood.
Find this book on our shelves.
Similar titles you may enjoy:
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman
For older readers:
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Login or register to post comments | Printer-friendly version | Send to friend | PDF version | Tags: 7th Grade, 8th Grade, High Schoolers, Adventure, Horror, Read-Alikes, Supernatural, JY Fiction, EF
The One and Only Ivan
Grades 4+
Ivan (The Ape at Exit 8) is a downtrodden, has-been silverback gorilla living in a small, unkept domain within a shopping mall, occasionally accompanied by Bob, a stray dog who sneaks into Ivan's domain through a hole in the glass.
Stella, an aging elephant with a bad foot, dies from lack of treatment after Ruby, a baby elephant purchased from a defunct circus, arrives at the mall. The owner hopes Ruby will jumpstart visitor attendance again. Before Stella dies, she asks Ivan to promise that he will bring Ruby somewhere safe, knowing his devotion to protection of his friends is paramount.
Ivan's poetic narration is honest, painful, and heartbreaking; Applegate's insight into captive animal life is powerful. Don't miss this book, no matter how old you are.
Find this book on our shelves.
More books by Katherine Applegate.
Login or register to post comments | Printer-friendly version | Send to friend | PDF version | Tags: 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, High Schoolers, Adults, Animals--Talking, Don't Miss These, Family, Fantasy, Friends, Non-Prose, Read-Alouds, J Fiction, EF
Giants Beware!
Grades 3-5
Claudette, a spunky medieval girl with her heart set on giant-slaying, encounters some difficulty doing so because she is a girl. Accompanied by her cowardly brother, Gaston, and Marie, Claudette's polar opposite, determined Claudette sets out to slay a giant. Giants beware? More like anyone-who-crosses-the-main-character-Claudette Beware!
An action-packed graphic novel for adventure-lovers, Giants Beware! introduces a powerful main character and expertly blends comedy with fantasy.
Find this book on our shelves.
Login or register to post comments | Printer-friendly version | Send to friend | PDF version | Tags: 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, Adventure, Books for Boys, Books for Girls, Family, Fantasy, Friends, Humor, Misfits, Social Issues, J Graphic Novels, EF
Emma Dilemma: Big Sister Poems
Reading Level: Grades 2-4
These poems are for every big sister who has had to deal with an little sister who drives them crazy! Has your room been invaded? Does she want to join you and your friends? Do you parents always expect you to be the "role model?" But do you really, really love each other-most of the time? This is the book for you!
Check availability of this book
Books by Kristine O'Connell George
Login or register to post comments | Printer-friendly version | Send to friend | PDF version | Tags: 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, Books for Girls, Family, Non-Fiction, Non-Prose, Relationships, J Non-Fiction, HG
Mister Death's Blue-Eyed Girls
Reading Level: Ages 12 and up
Combining murder mystery, historical fiction, and a coming-of-age story, this chilling book is base on real life events in the author's past. The time is 1956 and Nora anticipates spending a the summer before her senior year with her group of friends. But two of her friends are shot to death on their way to the last day of school. Everyone but Nora is sure that the murderer is a jealous ex-boyfriend. Told from a number of perspectives, the story examines the effect this horrible event had on so many lives.
Check availability of this book
Another story of a shooting is
Give a Boy a Gun by Todd Strasser
Login or register to post comments | Printer-friendly version | Send to friend | PDF version | Tags: 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, High Schoolers, Books for Boys, Books for Girls, Crime and Punishment, Historical Fiction, JY Fiction, HG
A Boy and a Bear in a Boat
Grades 1-4
A boy, looking to go to the other side, hops into a bear's boat for what he is assured will not be too long of a journey. Hours later, the bear continues to assure the boy that They. Are. Not. Lost. Sometimes unforseen anomalies arise, you know.
Days later the two have run out of sandwiches.
A simple, quiet adventure story perfectly tailored for a bedtime read-aloud, A Boy and a Bear in a Boat recalls cozy, character-rich classics with plenty to think about, yet is one of a kind and quite quirky.
Find this book on our shelves.
Other good read-alouds for age 4 to 2nd grade and grades 3 and older.
Login or register to post comments | Printer-friendly version | Send to friend | PDF version | Tags: 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, Adventure, Animals--Talking, Fantasy, Friends, In Other Lands, Read-Alouds, Survival, J Fiction, EF