Mental Health

Guest Review: The Worrysaurus by Rachel Bright, Illustrated by Chris Chatterton

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Guest Reviewer: Darlene, UCF Elementary Education Student

The Worrysaurus
Author: Rachel Bright
Illustrator: Chris Chatterton
Published October 6th, 2020 by Orchard Books

Summary: A modern Wemberly Worried-featuring dinosaurs!-for today’s young readers, with reassuring, lighthearted text and charming illustrations sure to calm the anxious butterflies in any child’s tummy.

It’s a beautiful day and Worrysaurus has planned a special picnic. But it isn’t long before a small butterfly of worry starts fluttering in his tummy…

What if he hasn’t brought enough to eat?

What if he gets lost in the jungle?

What if it rains?!

With a little help from his mom, Worrysaurus finds a way to soothe the anxious butterflies, chase his fears away, and find peace and happiness in the moment at hand.

Discover the perfect book to help every little anxious Worrysaurus let go of their fears, and feel happy in the moment at hand! The Worrysaurus strikes just the right balance of positive, lighthearted, and kid-friendly, with reassuring, rhyming text from Rachel Bright, the bestselling author of The Lion Inside and Love Monster, and charming illustrations from Chris Chatterton. Perfect for any reader who might feel the flutter of an anxious butterfly in their tummy, The Worrysaurus is sure to become a storytime favorite.

About the Creators: 

Rachel Bright is rained in Graphics at Kingston University, followed by a Masters Degree in Printmaking at UWE. Her striking illustrative and typographic style, coupled with her witty storytelling have resulted in an award winning and ever-growing collection of acclaimed picture books.

Here is her website: The Brightside » Welcome to the Wonderful World of The Brightside (lookonthebrightside.co.uk)

Chris Chatterton began his career in graphic design and animation, working on a variety of projects including Dr Who and CBBC’s The Dumping Ground. Chris’ passion for illustration then led him to pursue a career as a freelance artist working on a number of children’s books.

Now writing the stories as well, Chris considers his debut author/illustrator Gus picture book story to be semi-autobiographical as he claims his loveable grumpy dog character is based on his own grumpy moods!

Originally from County Durham in the UK, Chris now lives and works in Barcelona, Spain.

Chris Chatterton – Illustrator & Author

Review: This book has received nothing but positive reviews from me. Anxiety and worry is real. We have all experienced it at some point in our lives and so have children. It is a struggle that if not targeted quickly can affect everyone negatively. I love how this book targets anxiety and worry in a delicate yet powerful way to teach young readers to manage worries and anxiety and to know that they are stronger than their worries and smarter than their doubts.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: In addition to reading this picture book, I would create a short writing prompt activity for students to write about their anxiety, fear and worries. After this, I  would place students in small groups to engage in conversations in which they can talk it over instead of being silent about it.

Discussion Questions: 

  • Why was Worrysaurus worried during his picnic?
  • Do you think Worrysaurus worried unnecessarily?
  • What do you think Worrysaurus’s mom meant when she said the phrase; “ Oh, my little Worrysaurus, Chase that butterfly away?”
  • Based on  this sentence from the book, “This Worrysaurus often was a one to overthink.” What do you think the author meant by “overthink” and in what ways have you overthought?
  • What did Worrysaurus do to chase away his worries?
  • List 2 things not listed in the story that can help Worrysaurus chase those worries away.

Flagged Passages: 

“Oh, my little Worrysaurus, Chase that butterfly away.”

Book Trailer: 

Read This If You Love: Encouragement and Hope

Recommended For: 

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Thank you, Darlene, for your review!

Blog Tour: Drifters by Kevin Emerson

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Drifters
Author: Kevin Emerson
Published May 10th, 2022 by Walden Pond Press

Summary: A mystery about a girl who sets out to find her missing best friend–and discovers her small town is hiding a dark, centuries-old secret.

Jovie is adrift. She’d been feeling alone ever since her best friend, Micah, left her behind for a new group of friends–but when Micah went missing last fall, Jovie felt truly lost.

Now, months later, the search parties have been called off, and the news alerts have dried up. There’s only Jovie, biking around Far Haven, Washington, putting up posters with Micah’s face on them, feeling like she’s the only one who remembers her friend at all.

This feeling may be far closer to the truth than Jovie knows. As strange storms beset Far Haven, she is shocked to discover that Micah isn’t just missing–she’s been forgotten completely by everyone in town. And Micah isn’t the only one: there are others, roaming the beaches, camped in the old bunkers, who have somehow been lost from the world.

When Jovie and her new friend Sylvan dig deeper, they learn that the town’s history is far stranger and more deadly than anyone knows. Something disastrous is heading for Far Haven, and Jovie and Sylvan soon realize that it is up to them to save not only Micah, but everyone else who has been lost to the world and set adrift–now, in the past, and in the future.

Praise: 

“An intricate sci-fi mystery for voracious readers who love an extraordinary adventure.” –Booklist

“A satisfying action plot, complete with a shady government agency and villainous beings, is effectively grounded in the emotional realism of the girls’ shifting friendships.” –Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books

About the Author: Kevin Emerson is the author of Last Day on Mars and The Oceans Between Stars, as well as The Fellowship for Alien Detection, the Exile series, the Atlanteans series, the Oliver Nocturne series, and Carlos Is Gonna Get It. Kevin lives with his family in Seattle. You can visit him online at www.kevinemerson.net.

Review: This book is definitely an epic sci fi novel! I am so impressed with how Kevin Emerson weaved the plot together to take us, with Jovie and Sylvan, on a mysterious adventure which had twists and turns throughout leading me to never know what is going to happen. Usually with books with flashbacks or flash forwards, it is easy to make predictions, but with this books, it is more complicated and thus took longer for me to determine what was going on. Because of this, I just had to keep reading, so although the book is long, it keeps you turning pages to piece everything together and then find out what Jovie is going to do with the information. (And just wait for the conclusion!)

I also loved the deeper message within the story that one can never know what is going on with someone else and that we must do whatever we can to make sure one another does not feel like they do not matter or we may lose them.

Discussion Questions: 

  • What were signs that Jovie missed about Micah that may have saved her from drifting?
  • Why did Max feel like he needed to lie? How about Dr. Wells?
  • Why do you think the author chose to start the book with the letter from 1898?
  • How did the jumping around in time affect the reading of the book?
  • Why do you think the author chose to make the light look like a butterfly?
  • How had all the breaches over time affected Far Haven?
  • Why do you think Sylvan listened and believed Jovie when no one else would?
  • What does Micah and Jovie’s friendship teach us about being good friends?

And there are so many more questions I would ask readers, but they have spoilers, so I cannot share!

Flagged Passages: 

Part I: A Hole in the World

Chapter 1 – The Interview, Part 1
January 18, 2022

Picture a spark of light, like a firework shooting skyward in the moment before it explodes. This spark is traveling through the pure darkness of starless space. The only other lights are a few other distant sparks, headed in roughly the same direction.

As we move closer, we see that this single spark is actually a cluster of lights. And each of these lights is, in fact, an entire galaxy, a hundred billion fire diamonds of dazzling colors, from red to blue to white, spinning around a bright center.

Now picture a single blue dot orbiting a single white star. The dot is moving at sixty-seven thousand miles per hour in its orbit, and the star is moving at nearly five hundred thousand miles per hour around its galactic center. This galaxy is racing at one point three million miles per hour toward a mysterious presence—we call it the great attractor—that draws us, for reasons we cannot know, across the dark sea of space.

And yet.

Despite all that, it is possible, on this little blue dot, inside its blanket of atmosphere, in a tiny town huddled at the edge of a great ocean, in a small, crowded living room—

To feel like you are not moving at all. As if the universe itself has ground to a halt.

This was how fourteen-year-old Sylvan Reynolds felt on a winter night in 2022, in the town of Far Haven, on the coast of Washington State, as Dr. Wells began to speak.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet with us again.”

Sylvan sat on one of the couches. Dr. Wells sat directly across from him, in a chair from the dining table, her tablet balanced on her knees. Her assistant stood behind her, tapping his phone.

“Sure.” Sylvan glanced at his parents over on the other couch. His mother, Beverly, smiled supportively, but her eyes darted with worry. His father, Greg, sat with his arms crossed, glowering at the visitors.

“I’d like to revisit the events surrounding the disappearance of Jovie Williams,” Dr. Wells said. “Now, as I’m sure you know, what we’re discussing here is very sensitive. We do need to have your word that—”

Read This If You Love: Sci-fi, Time travel, X-Files, Stranger Things

Recommended For: 

Stop by the other blog tour stops!

5/9/22 Nerdy Book Club @nerdybookclub
5/10/22 Bluestocking Thinking @bluesockgirl
5/11/22 Charlotte’s Library @charlotteslibrary
5/13/22 Maria’s Mélange @mariaselke
5/16/22 Teachers Who Read @teachers_read
5/23/22 Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers @grgenius
5/27/22 A Library Mama @alibrarymama
5/31/22 Unleashing Readers @unleashreaders

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**Thank you to Walden Pond Press for providing a copy for review!**

Author Guest Post: “There’s No Wrong Way” by Adam Lehrhaupt, Author of There Was a Hole

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“There’s No Wrong Way”

At it’s heart, There Was a Hole is a book about loss and helping readers learn a way to manage the complex emotions that come with it. These emotions can be BIG, scary, uncontrollable, and even unwanted. But that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. And it definitely doesn’t mean they should be ignored.

Everyone experiences loss in their lives. Even children’s book authors. Several years ago, I went through my own time of loss. As an author, my natural inclination in times like that is to look for books that deal with what I’m experiencing. Unfortunately, sometimes you just can’t find a book that lines up. When that happens, a good author takes matters in their own hands. They ask themselves; can I write a story that acknowledges the feelings I have. That shows they are valid, normal feelings everyone has? And most importantly, that there are things you can do to help yourself feel better?

It turns out that you don’t have to be a children’s book author to do this. Anyone can write a story for themselves. And the cool thing about writing for yourself, is that YOU get to choose what you write about. My path to writing this book is a long and winding one, but I’m going to lay out a few things that should help you write your own. Hopefully, writing your own story about loss, or fear, or whatever, helps you better understand how you are feeling and might even start you down the path of recovery.

First, and most important, there’s NO WRONG WAY to write a story for yourself. Writing the story doesn’t commit you to letting anyone read it. Remember, this exercise is for you and you alone. When, and to whom, you show your work is completely at your discretion. That said, here’s the steps I take when writing for myself.

  1. Come up with a great character name.
    We’re going to put this character through the ringer. It’s probably best not to give them your name. you don’t want to run yourself through the events we’re going to plan below. Pick a different name. Something cool. Something unique. Something fun to write about. Maybe Cleo, or Duke, or Ephemeralia. Any name you want.
  2. Decide what the big event should be.
    The main plot of our story will hinge on what this event is. It should be something extremely important to our main character. The bigger the event is to them the better. Maybe Cleo is a skiing champion who moves to a town with no snow. Or Duke’s pet gerbil passes away. Perhaps Ephemeralia has to start at a new school…with none of her best friends. These might not be huge issues to me, or even you, but they are MASSIVE for Cleo, Duke and Ephemeralia.
  3. Pick three bad things that our main character can do in response to this event.
    This is where the fun begins. What terrible, horrible actions can our main character take because of what happened to them? Do they yell? Do they scream? Are they scared to meet new people? Can they break something accidentally? Pick something you think might be scary, or would get you into A LOT of trouble. Once you have three, or more, put them in order from least bad, to most horrible.
  4. Think of something our character can do to atone for their actions.
    Sure, we’re talking about causing all kinds of trouble, but that doesn’t mean our character can get away with their behavior. In fact, until they acknowledge their actions, they will never be able to recover from the effects of the original event. So, how do they overcome, or at least address, the mess they’ve become making? They don’t need to make everything better, but it would help if they start down the path.
  5. Find a good place to sit and start writing.
    Now’s the moment we’ve been waiting for…writing. Don’t worry about making it perfect, or even good. Just get words down on paper. There’s plenty of time to revise and edit later. If that’s what you want. Remember, this is a story just for us. The key thing is to get it out. To write it. Once that’s done, you’ll already be on the path to recovery. The next steps are up to you.

Published March 15th, 2022 by Sleeping Bear Press

About the Book: Lily has a hole. It eats her joy, makes her angry, and–no matter what Daddy does to try to help–it just keeps growing. So Lily retreats. But a friend lets her in on a secret (he has a hole too!) and shows her the best way to repair holes: spend time on friends, family, the things you love, yourself, and kindness. Those patches don’t make the hole go away, but they help. A lyrical and age-appropriate story for learning to cope with grief and loss.

About the Author: Adam Lehrhaupt is the award-winning author of more than a dozen books for children, including Warning: Do Not Open This Book!, Chicken in Space, I Will Not Eat You, Wordplay, This is a Good Story, and Sloth Went. He has traveled to six continents, performed on Broadway, and lived on a communal farm. He currently lives in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA, with his wife and two sons. Follow Adam on Twitter and Instagram @Lehrhaupt, Facebook @adamlehrhaupt, and at adamlehrhaupt.com

Thank you, Adam, for this great guidance for writers!

You Are Not Alone by the Alphabet Rockers, Illustrated by Ashley Evans

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You Are Not Alone
Authors: Alphabet Rockers; Illustrator: Ashley Evans
Published: January 11, 2022 by Sourcebooks

Summary: From the Grammy award-nominated hip-hop group Alphabet Rockers comes an empowering picture book that invites kids to to love themselves, stand up to hate, and foster inclusivity among their peers!

When I say something is unfair to me, but it’s fair for you, what does that make it?
When I meditate, it all gets clear.
And if you listen, you will really hear.
I am not alone. I am enough.

It can be scary to feel like you’re all on your own, especially in the face of prejudice. But always remember: you are not alone. Inspired by the Alphabet Rockers’ empowering song “Not Alone,” this uplifting picture book reassures kids that they belong and encourages them to love their beautiful selves and their identities, use their voices against hate, and step up for one another and have one another’s backs no matter what.

Review: I dare you to read this book and not read it aloud. It’s packs such a punch. It’s lyrical and powerful. I’ve now read it aloud to four different children, and every time, they end up shouting, “You are not alone!” right along with me. Loneliness is a feeling that so many children experience, so I am very grateful for this book. It reminds us all (adults, too) that we are aren’t alone and others are feeling the same emotions as we are. It reminds kids to tell their stories and ensure that their stories are heard. 

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: I would love to ask kids to write their own spreads, similar to a spread they saw in the book. They might share an experience that made them feel alone, and then, at the end, write in big letters, “You are not alone!” They don’t need to share them publicly, but it offers a reflective experience for students that could be meaningful.

Discussion Questions: 

  • Which spread impacted you most? Why?
  • When are some moments that you felt alone? (No need to share them aloud.)
  • How do the spreads work together to form a powerful message?

Flagged Spread:

Read This If You Love: All Because You Matter by Tami Charles; I Am Enough by Grace Byers; The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig; The Red Tree by Shaun Tan; 

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**Thank you to Sourcebooks for sending a copy for review!**

Review & Giveaway!: Susie B. Won’t Back Down by Margaret Finnegan

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Susie B. Won’t Back Down
Author: Margaret Finnegan
Published October 5th, 2021 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Summary: This funny, big-hearted novel about a young girl’s campaign for student council president is told through letters to her hero Susan B. Anthony.

Susie B. has a lot to say. Like how it’s not fair that she has to be called Susie B. instead of plain Susie. Or about how polar bears are endangered. Or how the Usual Geniuses are always getting picked for cool stuff over the kids like her with butterflies in their brain. And it’s because Susie B. has a lot to say about these very important things that she’s running for student council president.

If she’s president, she can advocate for the underdogs just like her hero and fellow Susie B., Susan B. Anthony. (And, okay, maybe the chance to give big speeches to the whole school with a microphone is another perk.) But when the most usual of Usual Geniuses also enters the student council race, Susie realizes this may be a harder won fight than she thought. Even worse, Susie discovers that Susan B. Anthony wasn’t as great as history makes it seem, and she did some pretty terrible things to try to help her own cause. Soon, Susie has her own tough decisions to make. But one thing is for sure—no matter what, Susie B. won’t back down.

Praise: 

“Susie is energetic, breathless, enthusiastic, and genuinely, charmingly funny.” —Kirkus Reviews

A Junior Library Guild Selection

About the Author: Margaret Finnegan is the author of the middle-grade novels Susie B. Won’t Back Down and We Could Be Heroes. Her writing often focuses on themes on inclusion, hard choices, and being true to yourself. She also makes a really good chocolate cake. To learn more, and to download free discussion guides, visit MargaretFinnegan.com.

Twitter: @FinneganBegin
Instagram: @finneganbegin

Review: Happy book birthday to Susie!!!

This book has so much in it! I was highlighting away as I read–both as a recreational reader and as a teacher (see more in Teachers’ Tools!)! I love that it is an epistolary novel, specifically writing to Susan B. Anthony, because it gives us insight into Susie’s school, home, and her inner thinking. The discussions throughout about heroes, fairness, and history is done in a very age-appropriate way but also doesn’t sugar coat anything. I love that Susie has a “butterfly brain” and went to reading lab but is proud of it. The talk about how all brains are different made my heart sing! And on top of all of this, the story itself is so on point for coming of age and how popularity, personalities, and more really start to affect kids starting in about 5th grade.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: I am in love with Mr. Springer’s hero project! The way he made the project cross-curricular, interesting, interactive, and included choice just makes it such an amazing project! And there are definitely parts of the book that will work as mentors/exemplars to share with students if you have them do their own hero project including some of Susie’s letters and the Voting posters. Also, the author created a mock Susie B. News to show one of the activities for the hero project: https://www.margaretfinnegan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/The-Susie-B.-News.pdf.

The author also shares some activities in the publisher-created discussion guide!

Discussion Questions (from the publisher-created discussion guide): 

  • Describe the way that the author organizes the story. How does this format help to connect the worlds of Susie B. at home and at school?
  • Why does Susie B. call Chloe and her three R’s (Rachelle, Rachel, and Rose) “fakey fakes?” In contrast, Susie B. has Joselyn Salazar as her best “spark.” What connects these two as friends?
  • Each of the characters copes with the social scene at school differently. How does Soozee Gupta manage to not be alone at lunch? What is your opinion of her social strategy?
  • Susie B. wrangles with the idea of fairness and justice. She believes that they are two different things. What do you think is the difference between being fair and being just?
  • What do you think is the most important lesson that Susie B. learned in this story? Give reasons for your opinion.

Flagged Passages: Chapter 1

Dear Susan B. Anthony:
I have very bad news for you. You’re dead. Really dead. Like, over one hundred years dead. Like, right now, you are dust and bones in the cemetery of your old hometown, Rochester, New York.

Sorry.

You are probably thinking, What the heck? If I am dead, why are you writing to me?

Congratulations! Even though you are dead, you are not forgotten! You are still remembered for being a brave and determined defender of women’s rights, especially women’s suffrage. That is the fancy name for women voting, even though I think suffrage should be the name for not being able to vote, because it sounds like the suffering you would have to go through if everybody thought your voice didn’t matter one speck.

Since I am also a brave and determined defender of all the rights of all the people, I thought you would like to know that I am thinking about you.

Plus, Mr. Springer is making me.

Mr. Springer is my fifth-grade teacher. Every year he assigns this thing called the Hero Project. All of his students have to choose a personal hero. They can choose anyone they want, as long as the person is dead. Mr. Springer used to let kids choose living heroes, but then the live heroes kept doing horrible things and ruining everyone’s projects. Luckily, dead heroes can’t surprise you like that. We are going to do a bunch of research and assignments on our heroes and basically use them to learn stuff about language arts, history, and even math and science. Mr. Springer is always trying to find sneaky ways to get us interested in what he’s teaching.

Read This If You Love: Twins by Varian Johnson & Shannon Wright, How to Win a Slime War by Mae Respicio, Kids Under the Stairs series by K.A. Holt, Friends Forever by Shannon Hale & LeUyen Pham, Five Things about Ava Andrews by Margaret Dilloway

Recommended For: 

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**Thank you to Blue Slip Media for providing a copy for review and giveaway!**

Already a Butterfly: A Meditation Story by Julia Alvarez, Illustrated by Raúl Colón

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Already a Butterfly: A Meditation Story
Author: Julia Alvarez
Illustrator: Raúl Colón
Published June 16, 2020 by Henry Holt and Co.

Summary: Already a Butterfly is a gentle picture book tale about self-soothing practices and self-confidence beliefs.

With so much to do in so little time, Mari is constantly on the move, flitting from flower to flower, practicing her camouflage poses, and planning for migration. She’s the busiest butterfly around. But does being productive mean she is happy? Mari couldn’t say. The only way she feels like a butterfly is by acting like one. Little does Mari know, the secret to feeling like herself is simply to focus her breath, find her quiet place, and follow her instincts. With the guidance of a thoughtful flower bud, Mari soon learns to meditate and appreciate that she was a butterfly all along.

Acclaimed author Julia Alvarez extolls the importance of mindfulness, reflection, and self-care for young children in this gratifying picture book, stunningly illustrated by award-winning artist Raúl Colón.

About the Author: 

Julia Alvarez is the author of numerous bestselling and award-winning novels including How the García Girls Lost Their Accents and In the Time of Butterflies, collections of poems, and works of nonfiction as well as picture books. She has won the Pura Belpré Award, the Américas Award, the Hispanic Heritage Award in Literature, the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Outstanding Achievement in American Literature, and the National Medal of Arts.

Raúl Colón has illustrated several highly acclaimed picture books, including Draw!; the New York Times-bestselling Angela and the Baby Jesus by Frank McCourt; Susanna Reich’s José! Born to Dance; and Jill Biden’s Don’t Forget, God Bless Our Troops. Mr. Colón lived in Puerto Rico as a young boy and now resides in New City, New York, with his family.

Praise:

“Soft, textured illustrations full of floral elements match the gentle quality of the tale. In a world that can’t seem to slow down, this story reminds readers to trust their instincts and breathe.” —Kirkus Reviews

“This is a tale about learning to be joyful in a world that seems to demand more and more of individuals. Young readers will find the prose and the dreamlike pictures of Mari’s journey soothing—and something to meditate on.” —Booklist

“Alvarez pens this introduction to meditation with advisory zeal, focusing on explanations that will appeal to caretakers who seek to support young meditation practitioners. Jewel-toned spreads by Colón provide scope for dreaming: Mari’s distinctive features—her black braids, her elflike shoes, her golden crown—give readers a fantasy heroine to linger over.” —Publishers Weekly

Review: At first glance, Mari seems like the perfect butterfly. She is beautiful, busy, efficient… but is she happy? She is doing what she things she should do but is she embracing who she is? These are the types of questions that this book is asking.

To be honest, reading this book may have hit home more for me than for Trent. The book is about slowing down and taking the time to be happy. Trent is still young and knows how to enjoy time, but it is important for me to show him that I too have time for the small things and also help him continue to do so. But just like the book made me think about passions, being busy, and how we come off, it will do the same for most readers.

I really loved the backmatter as well, learning how the author was inspired by the Mariposa DR Foundation’s Center for Girls and her granddaughters. It truly brought the book together and shows how the ideas within the book can be used in the real world.

Now, take all of this beautifulness in words and story and add in Colón’s beautiful watercolor illustrations that bring Mari to life, and this book clearly is a must have when discussing mindfulness with all ages!

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Use Already a Butterfly and the ideas in the “Growing Your Own Wings” backmatter to bring meditation into your classroom. A great day to introduce this would be World Meditation Day which is May 21st!

An extension reflection activity that would be fun is to have students make their own butterfly wings and write items, moments, people, etc. on their wings that make them truly happy. These wings can be a symbol to remind them to cherish those things.

Tips for Mindful Meditation: 

Discussion Questions: 

  • Why did the author choose Mari as the butterfly’s name?
  • How was the author inspired by her time with the Mariposa DR Foundation’s Center for Girls?
  • How could Mari’s story be compared to your life?
  • What did Bud teach Mari?
  • Why was Mari happier in her chrysalis?
  • Do you think what Bud taught Mari will make her happier?

Flagged Passages: 

Read This If You Love: I am Peace by Susan Verde, Calm with the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, My Magic Breath by Nick Orntner, Good Morning Yoga by Miriam Gates

Recommended For: 

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**Thank you to Barbara at Blue Slip Media for providing a copy for review!**

Sofia’s Kids’ Corner: Breathing Underwater by Sarah Allen

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Sofia is an 9-year-old brilliant reader who aspires to be a book reviewer. On select Saturdays, Sofia shares her favorite books with kids! She is one of the most well-read elementary schoolers that we know, so she is highly qualified for this role!

 

Dear readers,

This book is wonderful in the sense that it perfectly describes sisters. The thing that is really interesting and sad about this book is that the main character’s sister struggles with feelings. The main character, Olivia, tries her hardest to help her older sister but she usually can’t. The author almost made me cry in so many scenes. This book is recommended for ages 10-14.

Olivia’s big sister, Ruth, has a medical condition in which she struggles with feelings. This means that Olivia usually looks for signs on how Ruth is feeling. For example, what music she is listening to. Ruth listens to “happy” songs and sometimes she listens to “sad” songs. Ruth listens to all of these songs on an IPod. The old type, not the new mobile device that looks just like a miniature IPhone. She has had it for almost forever. Olivia wants to make Ruth happy again and she plans on taking her back to their first home. She remembers a game her sister and her called Treasure Hunt. The way that it worked was Ruth found a word like New or Sparkley. Then Olivia went around wherever they were and took photos that had something to do with the word Ruth picked. While Olivia was doing that Ruth made a playlist of songs that have something to do with that same word. After all of their tasks were completed they met back at a certain spot and shared what they had found. Ruth didn’t seem to have the illness back at her first home. She only started having bad days around the big move. Olivia is planning a road trip to their first home and she plans to find a treasure box that she buried there the last time they were there. She also plans on making the whole road trip a treasure hunt without Ruth noticing. Olivia really hopes that the road trip will make Ruth happier and stop her bad days from happening.

I sped through this book like a torpedo! This was the first book I have ever read on a kindle and I thought I would be reading less often because of that, but obviously I was wrong! I love this book! I almost cried or screamed at some parts because the author is really great at writing things and making people feel emotional while reading them. I am definitely keeping a lookout for some of her other books!

 

**Thanks so much to Sofia for this review. We are looking forward to reading this book and had heard it was really well done. Now we know we need to read it!**