Stacking Up Books for Summer
It’s alllmoooost summer! What’s on your agenda of fun things to do? Most important: What’s on your list of good books to read?
If you’re still coming up with ideas, The Mini Page can help. Dig in to the summer reading issue, head over to the library, and round out your stack of stories, sagas and schemes to keep summer interesting!
• In “Anybody Here Seen Frenchie?” by Leslie Connor, two kids become unlikely best friends: Aurora Petrequin, who is loud, and Frenchie Livernois — who doesn’t speak at all. Frenchie has autism, and at school, Aurora often speaks for him. When he goes missing, Aurora’s special understanding of Frenchie helps solidify their friendship.
• You’ve listened to their podcast; now dig in to Mindy Thomas’ and Guy Raz’s book “Wow in the World: Wow in the Wild: The Amazing World of Animals.” As you explore the animal kingdom, you’ll learn how each species has a part to play in Earth’s life. And you might just find out you’re a fish! With fun illustrations from Jack Teagle.
• One fact leads to another in “Return to Factopia,” the second in a series by authors Kate Hale and Andy Smith, with all the facts verified by the Britannica Group. Bet you can’t guess how icebergs are related to the loudest burp EVER! There’s only one way to find out.
• Sometimes it’s hard to know which side you’re on. So it is for Noah, whose family supports the British before the American Revolution in “Loyalty” by the author Avi. As the conflict continues, Noah has to learn whom to trust and how to make his own decisions about right and wrong.
• Summer is a great time to be thinking about how to make the next school year successful. Check out “Superpowered: Transform Anxiety Into Courage, Confidence, and Resilience” by Renee Jain and Shefali Tsabary for tools that will help you tackle worries and stress.
• In kindergarten, former professional football player Colin Kaepernick and his classmates were asked to draw their families. Colin drew himself with a brown crayon and the rest of his family with a yellow one. Colin, who was adopted, realized then that he was different. In “I Color Myself Different,” with illustrations by Eric Wilkerson, Kaepernick shares his story with other kids.
When it’s time to sink your teeth into a tasty tale, try “Cress Watercress” by Gregory Maguire. The story of a family of rabbits who have to move to a less-than-ideal home captures readers’ imaginations, along with illustrations by David Litchfield.
• Let’s end this summer reading issue with a special book suggestion. You have probably heard news about the war in Ukraine, a country in Eastern Europe. Russians and Ukrainians have been fighting there since February.
Many Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes and flee to other parts of their country or to other parts of the world — even to the United States.
Last year, author Linda Sue Park wrote a book called “The One Thing You’d Save.” She wrote it as if it were an assignment given by a teacher to a class facing an imaginary fire in their home. But kids in Ukraine might be having the same type of thoughts as they prepare to leave their homes, maybe for good, during the war.
As they think about what’s important, the students in Park’s book, illustrated by Robert Sae-Heng, learn about themselves and their classmates — just as her readers will.