My Favorite Books

    My feet splash in the stream while icy water pours over my ankles. I trudge across logs and between rocks. My feet grow numb. How much farther? Will I find them? Another bend and a pile of sticks block the channel.I scramble onto the bank, stumble through the dense, whippy willows and crash...

Written by Andrea Beaty. Illustrated by David Roberts Ada Twist is a member of “The Questioneers” in a series of science-based books for middle grade readers. The first three books in the series are: Ada Twist, Scientist; Rosie Revere, Engineer; and Iggy Peck, Architect; and Sofia Valdez, Future Prez. Each book has an unlikely issue and the kids use critical...

Author: Melissa Wiley Pearl Donnelly grew up on a ranch near San Diego back in the early 20th century. Along with cattle, the family raises ostriches and sells their feathers for lady’s fancy hats. When she’s 11, Pearl’s rambunctious brothers are spotted by a movie producer. He hires them as stuntmen in the Western he’s...

Author: Tanya Lee Stone Almost Astronauts tells the story of a serious attempt to include women in the 1960s space program.In 1960 and 61, nineteen women went to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to participate in the rigorous tests given to the Mercury program astronauts. Randy Lovelace performed the testing at his family clinic, the Lovelace Medical...

Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley Ada Smith and her brother Jamie are evacuated from London at the start of World War 2. They are sent to a village far from the city, just like the Pevensie kids in Chronicles of Narnia. However, instead of a magical land in a wardrobe, Ada finds a pony in a...

Author: Christina Soontornvat Sai Arawan, apprentice to the Master Mapmaker, escapes family trouble on an expedition to the Southern Lands. Along the way, she finds more trouble from the disloyal crew, dragons, and greed. The story mixes nautical technology, Thai mythology, and the Age of Exploration to create an exciting fantasy adventure. Sai faces serious...

Book 1 of the Moon Base Alpha trilogy Author: Stuart Gibbs Twelve-year-old Dash Gibson lives on the moon. His parents are exceptional scientists who were hired to study lunar geology on a three-year mission with their family. Dash discovers that life on Moon Base Alpha is boring, except that “the toilets might as well be...

Author: Kevin Sands Middle grade, history, and science – The Blackthorn Key combines my favorite genres into an exciting, high-stakes mystery. Apothecary’s apprentice Christopher Rowe starts this adventure with the phrase, “Let’s build a cannon.” He builds one, although testing it inside the apothecary shop was probably not his best idea. Ah, well. What does...

Author: T. Kingfisher I instantly fell in love with this fun fantasy.  Fourteen-year-old Mona is the baker’s niece and a baker herself. She is also a minor mage with the power to magick the best breads ever. She’s content using her gift to make the gingerbread men dance. And then, she finds a dead body...