The Books of Elsewhere: The Shadows (Book 1) by Jacqueline West

When eleven-year-old Olive moves into the crumbling old mansion on Linden Street, she's right to think there's something weird about the place, especially the walls covered in creepy antique paintings. But when she finds a pair of old-fashioned glasses in a dusty drawer, she discovers the most peculiar thing yet. She can travel inside these paintings to Elsewhere, a world that's strangely quiet . . . and eerily sinister.


Now, I don't like spooky, scary, horror or anything along those lines typically. But, this book had just the right amount! It was suspenseful, creepy and mysterious.  I really wanted to know what was happening and why! Great page turner and I loved the cats!

Eggs Over Evie

It's been a year since her parents divorced. Evie is dealing with all the emotions of missing her father, seeing her mother change and news of her father's new wife having twins! Mixed into the book are many references to recipes and cooking as Evie's father is a celebrity chef and Evie plans on becoming one, too.

I thought the voice of Evie was very truthful and believable as she struggled through all the emotions and changes in her life. I found the cooking part of the book a distraction, though. Unless your child is a true foodie, I am not sure they would really understand the quotes from famous cooks that begin each chapter. The included recipes seem a little strange to me as well. Are children really going to try them? The best part of the book for me was the relationships she developed with the people in her life.

The Romeo and Juliet Code

Because of the bombing of London, 11-year-old Felicity is taken by her parents to live with relatives in Maine in 1941. She slowly adjusts to her new family, including Uncle Gideon, who teaches sixth grade at the local school; Aunt Miami, who lives and breathes Shakespeare; “The Gram,” Felicity’s grandmother; and Derek, a 12-year-old adopted orphan whose dreams of military service have been dashed by a bout with polio. Felicity’s engaging personality and curiosity about letters arriving from Portugal written in code “stir up the soup” of life in the Bathburn household, but only time will tell if that’s a good thing.

This family is very quirky and it was difficult for me to really picture Felicity just being dropped here by her parents. The whole mystery in the family about her parents; the fact that Derek is hidden away and Felicity is not told; and the ending leaving so many unanswered questions makes this one tough to recommend.

The Great Wall of Lucy Wu

Sixth-grader Lucy Wu thinks it's going to be the best year ever. Her sister is going to college, so she will have a bedroom all to herself that she can redecorate. She know her basketball team is going all the way this year and since is finally at the top of her school as a sixth-grader!

She really isn't interested in being Chinese, or Chinese food or Chinese culture. She would rather have lasagna, to the dismay of the rest of her family. Then her whole world is turned upside down when a relative from China comes to stay with her family and will share her room for several months!

I thought the story was well written and the voices of the characters rang true. Life as a tween is difficult enough, but Lucy must also struggle with balancing two different cultures and expectations from people on both sides.

The Genius Files: Mission Unstoppable

Here's another series by Dan Gutman that will sure to be a hit with boys and girls. In this book, twins, Coke and Pepsi McDonald, will soon be going on a 3000 mile trip across the country with their parents when they discover that strange people are trying to kill them! Without their knowledge, they have been included in a secret government plot to use young geniuses to solve the nation's problems.

Well, as they travel across country they have a lot of adventures and the readers are introduced to a lot of trivia about all the landmarks they visit on the trip. Funny thing for us, is that the book ends at The House on the Rock! Very funny!

Action, humor, trivia, crazy James Bond-type gadgets and mayhem- all wrapped into a great new series.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

When Dwight makes a Yoda out of paper and puts it on his finger and offers advice, the 6th grade starts to ask him questions. Tommy is a boy who is compiling the case file of all the ways in which Origami Yoda has helped his classmates. He needs to know if Origami Yoda can be trusted, because he has a very important question to ask him.
Each chapter of the book tells someone’s story in his or her own words usually, about how Origami Yoda helped them. Tommy comments on the story, generally in support of Origami Yoda, whereas Harvey, the naysayer, takes the other side.

I loved this book!