The Chicken Squad: the first misadventure

From the author of Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, comes a new chapter book series about four chickens that go looking for trouble and find it. Meet Dirt, Sugar, Poppy, and Sweetie, and the retired search-and-rescue dog, J.J., as they uncover the mystery of the shiny green circle that caused the squirrel to run into the chicken coop and faint. Preview the book
The Chicken Squad: the first misadventure by Doreen Cronin (AR level: 3.3/points: 0.5)

Saving Lucas Biggs Book Review

Saving Lucas Biggs by Marisa de lost Santos and David Teague

"There is one now: the spot where I stand,

And one way the road goes: onward, onward."

Margaret and Josh are from two different times, but they share a common problem - Victory Fuels. For years, Victory Fuels has been hiding secrets. Secrets about quieting disgruntled employees and environmental hazards. Both children know a person that has been directly influenced by the bullying tactics of the Biggs family, the family that runs Victory Fuels and the town of Victory, Arizona.

Margaret belongs to a long line of time travelers who have taken a vow never to return to the past to try to change history, but this is too important to ignore. Her father is going to prison for something that he didn't do. If only she could change the events of 1938, and change the hearts of those running Victory Fuels. If only she could save her father by first saving Judge Lucas Biggs.

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Zane and the Hurricane Book Review

Zane and the Hurricane by Rodman Philbrick

Zane lives in New Hampshire with his mom. His father passed away. Zane knows nothing about his father's past in Louisiana, so his mother thinks it will be great for Zane to visit his great-grandmother, Miss Trissy, who turns out to be the person that raised his father.

While visiting Louisiana, Zane experiences first-hand the worst hurricane in U.S. history. Zane and Miss Trissy evacuate with the rest of New Orleans, but Zane gets separated from his group when his dog, Bandy, jumps out of the van window and Zane follows him down the highway and back into New Orleans, straight back to Miss Trissy's house.

Zane and Bandy brave Hurricane Katrina all alone in Miss Trissy's house. Flood waters rise and force them into the attic where they are stranded with no food or clean water until a boat carrying Mr. Trudy and Malvina rescues them.

They are not safe yet, and the journey continues as Zane travels through the flooded streets of New Orleans and learns about the after-effects of a massive hurricane, including death, greed, and lawlessness.

Zane and the Hurricane is one of the first children's books that I have read that so precisely describes the terrible events of Hurricane Katrina. The imagery is so vivid, and the story is heartbreaking, but it is also a story of perseverance, friendship, and loyalty.

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Sky Jumpers Book Review

Sky Jumpers by Peggy Eddleman

Did you love Hunger Games and Maze Runner? If so, Sky Jumpers might be right up your alley. It is written with a younger audience in mind, but it has all of the excitement and adventure of the others.
The story is set post-World War III. The earth is ravaged by bombs and most of the earth is uninhabitable because of a deadly gas called Bomb's Breath. Communities have had to rebuild and many have had to start from scratch, especially since the Bomb's Breath has made most types of metal unstable and some of the tools from the past are nonexistent. White Rock is known for its inventions, and the antibiotic that the local doctor makes is the reason that bandits come to town and hold everyone hostage. Hope and her friends are the community's only chance. They must find a way to get the medicine back and save the community from the bandits.

Themes of inventiveness and ingenuity, war and rebuilding, and finding your own strengths make this an excellent choice for a read aloud. 
Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee 2015-2016

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