Stella Diaz Has Something to Say

Title: Stella Diaz Has Something to Say
Author:  Angela Dominguez
Publisher: Roaring Brook
ISBN: 9781626728585

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Good story for younger readers about believing in yourself and overcoming fears.

Rating: 3/5

Piper

Title: Piper
Author: Jay Asher, Jessica Freeburg, & Jeff Stokely
Publisher: Razorbill
ISBN: 9780448493664

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Interesting take on the Pied Piper story.  Great illustrations and deep characters.

Rating: 4/5

Sideways Stories from Wayside School

Title: Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Author: Louis Sachar
Publisher: Avon
ISBN: 9780380698714

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: I never read this one when I was little (I did read and like Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School), and maybe I would have liked this better if I did.  It is very, very dated, and the chapter illustrations just killed it.

Rating: 1/5

The Year of Billy Miller

Title: The Year of Billy Miller
Author: Kevin Henkes
Publisher: Greenwillow
ISBN: 9780062268129

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Good story with great characters for younger readers, although the beginning did not seem to have much to do with the end.

Rating: 3/5

The First Rule of Punk

Title: The First Rule of Punk
Author: Ceclia C. Perez
Publisher: Viking
ISBN: 978-0-425-29040-8

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Great story about (not) fitting in with both your classmates and your culture.  Not sure if zines are still a thing, though, among middle schoolers.

Rating: 4/5

Stacking the Shelves: 2/18-2/24

For possible review (on Bookloons):

Obsidio by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

First Reads from Goodreads:

Resurgence by A.J. Flower

What Secrets May Say by Chris Lofts

Gramp's Manuscript by Sharyn Jensen

Beyond the Blue Door by Elaine Benwell

The Golden Wand Trilogy by Russell Hasan

When Fire Met Rain by Henry Reign

Pretty Little Killers by Rita Herron

The Secret Page by Al Turner

The Ankeny Arsonist by G.G. Morris

The Last Motley by DJ Edwardson

Killing the Secret by Donna Welch Jones

Love Sick by Autumn J. Bright

When the Kingdom Falls by Meagan Hurst

Unidentified by Michael McBride

Corruption by Adam Vine

The Adventures of Lola by Jade Harley

Harvest Sky by Hunter McEgan

The Del by S.G. Courtright

On the Cusp(id) by SW Matthews

Meandering by Vera Mont & Francis Mont

The Old Brown Suitcase

Title: The Old Brown Suitcase
Author: Lillian Boraks-Nemetz
Publisher: Post Hypnotic
ISBN: n/a

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: It was nice to read a slightly different spin on a fictional holocaust story (mostly after the war and in Canada), but some of the story parts fell a little flat, mainly in characterization of Slava's family.

Rating: 3/5

Gold Dust Woman

Title: Gold Dust Woman: A Biography of Stevie Nicks
Author: Steven Davis
Publisher: St. Martin's
ISBN: 9781250032898

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Like most unauthorized biographies, there were moments of supposition that hurt the narrative, but not bad.  It did not make me like Stevie Nicks any better, but it did make me want to listen to some songs again.

Rating: 3/5

Clayton Byrd Goes Underground

Title: Clayton Byrd Goes Underground
Author: Rita Williams-Garcia
Publisher: Amistad
ISBN: 9780062215918

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Rather realistic, but it just kind of ends, like it needed to be tied up really fast.

Rating: 3/5

Weekends with Max and His Dad

Title: Weekends with Max and His Dad
Author: Linda Urban
Publisher: HMH
ISBN: 9780544598171

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: This cute and fun read is great for kids whose parents have gone through a divorce.

Rating: 4/5

Bud, Not Buddy

Title: Bud, Not Buddy
Author: Christopher Paul Curtis
Publisher: Listening Library
ISBN: 9780807204788

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Excellent work of historical fiction (depression era) for middle-grade readers.

Rating: 5/5

The Unlucky Lottery Winners of Classroom 13

Title: The Unlucky Lottery Winners of Classroom 13
Author: Honest Lee
Publisher: Scholastic
ISBN: 9780545132060

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Wild short stories about how a classroom of kids spent their ridiculous lottery winnings.  Some good lessons there, but also a funny read.

Rating: 3/5

Clementine

Title: Clementine
Author: Sara Pennypacker
Publisher: Hyperion
ISBN: 9780786838820

Why Read?: For Fun

Thoughts: Very cute chapter book - kind of like a more modern Ramona.

Rating: 4/5

Stacking the Shelves: 2/11-2/17

First Reads from Goodreads:

The Shadow of Armageddon by Jim LeMay

Sanctum Sanctorum by Michael Burns

Tayel Tower by Wray Wrigley

The Spirit of Imagination by S. A. Tawks

All You Need Is Life by Leonard Ryzman

Battle of the Soul by Carl Alves

Love Amidst the Shadows by Carl Turner

Mr. Snuffles by Matthew McCormick

Stranger Things Have Happened by Thomas Gaffney

A Kingdom Besieged by Raymond E. Feist

The Secret of Heaven by Felix Alexander

My Bullheaded Superhero Valentine by Kitty Bucholz

Love Bites by TL Clark

If Souls Can Sleep by David Michael Williams

Alibi Aficionado by Harvey Church

Drip by Andrew Montlack

Potlatch by Bruce Hartman

D for Daisy by Nick Aaron

Echoes of a Storm by Alan Scott

The Flyer by Frederick S. Parker

Beginnings by Chris Hoffman

Gauntlet Fall by Maddy Edwards

Received in February's Scriptd:

Bulrusher by Eisa Davis

Milk Like Sugar by Kirsten Greenidge

Bought from Usborne Books & More (link is to my consultant site):

Uncle Shawn and Bill and the Almost Entirely Unplanned Adventure by A. L. Kennedy

Butterflies by Susanne Gervay