"Jedi Academy" - Jeffrey Brown

All the inside jokes of Star Wars with all the understanding of a middle schooler's experience. Too funny and enjoyable!

Roan wants to be a space pilot like his dad and brother! But his acceptance letter comes not from Pilot Academy, but Jedi Academy. (at least he doesn't have to go to plant school on Tatooine). Follow Roan's first year of middle school through his journal entries, doodles, comics, and lists. And "do or do not, there is no try" -ing to understand Master Yoda!

Read Also:

Frank Cammuso's series Knights of the Lunch Table is the story of King Arthur enduring middle school. Loved it!

Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale.

Stickman Odyssey by Christopher Ford is The Odyssey in stick figures and doodles. The series wasn't for me, but it is funny.

"I Really Like Slop!" - Mo Willems

Mo Willems is really good for having a deep underlying lesson to his stories while keeping the actual story and text very simple. In this one, the lesson is to not judge another culture by what is deemed "normal" in one's own culture. What I appreciated was the ending where we don't have to like everything about a culture, but if we've given it a chance, at least we can give an informed opinion, without insulting the other culture.

Piggie wants Gerald, the elephant, to try his slop. Gerald thinks it smells awful and is sickened by the flies buzzing around it. But Piggie REALLY loves his slop and wants Gerald to try it. Because they're friends, Gerald does. Gerald still doesn't like it but he's glad he tried it because of Piggie..

Read Also:

Same, Same but Different by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw is about 2 boys living in America and India and how their lives are similar but different.

A classic, Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.

And for the connoisseur in your life, Tales for Very Picky Eater by Josh Schneider.

"Monty the Hero" - Steve Smallman

Cute moles, hedgehogs, mushroom helmets, and dandelions...*sigh* Cute little heroes.

Monty is bored at home. He wants to be a hero! ...and fight a monster and find a magic wand to grant wishes and... One night, he does.Monty and his hedgehog friend, Herbert, embark on an adventure involving all of these.

Read Also:

Disney Infinity: Toy Box Heroes by Christy Webster is an easy reader story involving Toy Story characters.

Jo Witek's Brave as Can Be.

I How to Be a Hero by Florence Parry Heide. Everyone needs a manual.

"Denton Little's Deathdate" - Lance Rubin

Morbid. Always said I was.

Okay, so this was an extremely irreverent book about death. I'm ashamed to say I laughed out loud! It had more bad language and crude situations than I needed, but the author played this one well. No soon-to-be-classic, but sometimes, a little light reading is what you need.

In a world where one's deathdate is known right after birth, Denton Little knows he will die on the day of senior prom. The catch: no one knows what time. So Denton spends his last day making mistakes, learning about himself and others, breaking up with his girlfriend, getting back together, [repeat], almost dying (multiple times) and being a nice guy. How packed can one day be when every second could be your last?

Read Also:

Stacey Kade's The Ghost and the Goth was awkwardly funny and cute.

Penelope by Marilyn Kaye (book of the movie) has a humorous twist on causing death.

"Every Cowgirl Goes to School" - Rebecca Janni

She's a true blue cowgirl. But the new girl in her class is making fun of her, throwing food and paint all over her, and stealing her best friend away. Or is she...? She'll never be friends with such a mean girl. Or would she...?

Read Also:

My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay by Cari Best

Mo Willem's My New Friend is So Fun from the "Elephant & Piggie" series.

"Independent Study" - Joelle Charbonneau

Okay. So... This author knows how to write! Engaging. Plausible (to a certain extent). Proper cliffhangers at the end of every chapter. Honest! I had to stop mid-chapter because I knew I wouldn't stop at the end. A real study in government, societies, people, communication, and all through the eyes of young adult girl, Malencia.

It's like a Civics lesson cleverly disguised as a novel for teens.

Also, Charbonneau manages to avoid the problem of first-person novels -the reader remaining ignorant- by having the character actually go out in search of answers. Malencia is rather superhuman in her memory and reasoning skills; but you forgive that in order to know what is going on.

Book 2 in "The Testing" trilogy, this book escapes the pitfalls of many trilogies. It is not book 1 again. It is not a filler book, situations progress and you can't skip it.

Malencia has now entered the University in her respective field of study. She meets her classmates, her country's leaders, and learns of a rebellion. There's another boy-interest (it is a YA novel).

Read Also:

The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins of course. All these "test" trilogies came out after its success.

The Legend series by Marie Lu. (Have not read but is on the "To Read" list).

Eh, any dystopian Young Adult trilogy out there.

And because I haven't said enough about this book, Thomas Paine's Common Sense.

"Nugget & Fang" - Michael Slack

Nugget, a minnow, and Fang, a shark, are friends, glubbing everywhere together. Until Fang goes to school where he is taught that sharks are dangerous. Unfortunately, Nugget begins to believe the "propaganda." Only when Fang rescues the minnows from a fishing net are they set straight on who (or what) is dangerous.

A nice story on not believing everything you're told just because "everybody knows it."

Read Also:

Peanut Butter and Jellyfish by Jarrett J. Krosoczka. Friends have fun together, but play is dampened by Crabby.

I'm a Shark by Bob Shea. The shark is very intent on the ocean knowing he's not afraid of anything.

"Finding Nemo" by Disney. Who doesn't love a shark with a mantra?

Super Hair-O and the Barber of Doom - John Rocco

My goodness! I read dozens of picture books a week but I don't have time to post them all. However, I didn't expect to go the whole month without posting again. Well here's one that I thought was terrific:

Rocco has the craziest hair going on! He and his friends get their superpowers from their hair. But when Rocco is taken to the barber, how will he escape its evil clutches?! When he returns to school disgraced (with a haircut), he faces his friends only find they have also been sheared. When a teddy bear is in trouble, Rocco and his friends rise to the occasion and the save the day, learning their superpowers don't come from their hair but from within.

This was such a cute story! My favorite character was, of course, the kid who says "dude" to everything.

Read Also:

Zorro Gets an Outfit by Carter Goodrich has a dog feeling like a legendary hero.

Torando Slim and the Magic Cowboy Hat by Bryan Langdo.

"Henry and Mudge: The First Book" -Cynthia Rylant

The Henry & Mudge series are a staple among beginner reader books. Finally got the first one!

Henry wants a pet. When he goes into the pet store, there's the perfect dog: Mudge. A little pup that grows to a big, loveable dog. When Mudge gets lost, Henry goes looking and gets lost.

The artwork is cute, the characters are happy, the stories are charming. There really isn't a downside to this series.

Read Also:

Cynthia Rylant's "Annie and Snowball" series.

Erica Silverman's "Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa" series.

Shirley Mozelle's Zack's Alligator.

"While Irish Eyes are Smiling" -Suzanne Supplee

Young Adult romances can be simpler love stories; this one fits the bill. It takes place in Ireland during a Study Abroad program.

Delk Sinclair decides to go to Ireland instead of hanging around Nashville, TN. She's running away from her debutante ball, step-mother, and memories of her mother's death from illness. While in Ireland, Delk makes friends, meets Pather, a boy who's also lost his mother, and confronts herself and her relationships at home, all while traveling among the beauty that is Ireland.

I was slightly impressed by this book. It's still a "cheap" paperback but Delk's character development was surprising. She is presented as shallow but not mean or dumb. Her growth is believeable, especially since the "terribleness" she attributes to her life is the normal exaggerations of a teenager. All in all, cute!

Read Also:

It turns out I don't read a lot of contemporary YA fiction but an oldie (and I mean the 80's) Tough-Luck Karen by Johanna Hurtwitz is about a girl who has a lot of things going wrong in her life. She'd go crazy if it weren't for her love of cooking.

Linda Crew's Children of the River is about a girl from Cambodia making her way in America.

The Grand Plan to Fix Everything by Uma Krishnaswami.

"The Grand Plan to Fix Everything" -Uma Krishnaswami

I was excited to read this book. I'd compiled a list of books for a girl at the library based on her interest in Ivy & Bean. This and its sequel came up.

Dini and her friend Maddie love Bollywood films. When Dini finds out her family is going to India for 2 years, they plan for Dini to meet their favorite star, Dolly Singh. What follows is a lot of movie "bloopers" as Dini maneuvers her new world of Swapnagiri, India.

The writing style is not so good. Krishnaswami writes the main character, Dini, as if she's planning a screenplay. I can see how it would be cute but it didn't come off that way. After a while, it made reading a little confusing.

Read Also:

Ivy & Bean by Annie Barrows, of course.

Jane Birdsall's The Penderwicks: a summer tale of 4 sisters, 2 rabbits, and a very interesting boy.

"The Dolls Christmas" -Tasha Tudor

Kickin' off the Christmas Season...

Just a simple story of 2 girls who create Christmas for their dolls and their friends' dolls.

Read Also:

Elvira Woodruff's The Christmas Doll.

Cynthia Rylant's Little Whistle's Christmas about a mouse celebrating the holidays.

"Red Wagon" -Renata Liwska

Lucy the fox has a new wagon and her mom wants her to go to the market for her. That's no fun! But lucy goes, and with her other forest friends, they play pretend all the way to and from the market.

Read Also:

Dr. Seuss' And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street.

Nicholas Oldham's Making the Moose Out of Life.

"Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" -Chris Grabenstein

Stuck in a library over night. The goal is to get out. The prize is fame.

Kyle loves board games. When the new library is finished being built, he along with 11 other 12-year olds are chosen to experience the library first. It turns out to be one giant game as each kid tries to solve the puzzle and "escape".

I really enjoy books that have puzzles and riddles in them. I'm not very good at them but the creativity boggles my mind.

Read Also:

Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms by Lissa Evans is about a boy and his friends puzzle solving as they follow the clues to some old-fashioned magician's equipment.

The Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stewart is about 4 friends traveling around the world solving puzzles and saving the world from an evil mastermind.

Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game.

"Penguin and Pinecone" -Salina Yoon

As usual, I picked this book for the illustrations: thick bold lines, subtle winter colors, cu-uute penguins!

Penguin finds a pinecone and befriends it. They do all kinds of winter sports together but the pinecone can't handle the cold. Penguin takes it to a warmer place and leaves a scarf. The pinecone grows to a tree and drops more pinecones, which become friends with other penguins.

Read Also:

Jan Thomas' books are similar in illustrations, thick lines, solid colors.

From the same authors as Curious George, Margaret & H.A. Rey's Whiteblack the Penguin sees the World has more penguins!

"In the Tree House" -Andrew Larsen

I judge books by their covers, I openly admit it. In the Tree House is not a book I would pick up for the bland title or hem-haw artwork. However, the cover caught my attention and the story taught a wonderful lesson about community and sibling friendship.

A boy and his brother move into a new house and they build a tree house. As the brother hangs out with his friends, the boy entertains himself. When the power goes out, the brother returns to the tree house to rediscover the fun he had hanging out with his brother.

Read Also:

Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown, a tale of 2 brothers who become friends again after a change in their lives.

"Twelve Kinds of Ice" -Ellen Bryan Obed

Almost poetry, slightly biographical, Twelve Kinds of Ice presents winter in what may be the best possible light without referencing Christmas. Each ice is described in composition and uses.

Obed is so joyful and detailed in her text that the reader can feel, yet not despise, the biting cold. And still a hint of longing for the next winter.

Read Also:

Douglas Florian's Winter eyes, one of a set of seasonal poetry books.

Charlotte Otten's January Rides the Wind is another book of poems about the months and what a child looks forward to in each.

I've only just discovered Tasha Tudor! Her picture book Around the Year covers the joys of each month.

"Ivy + Bean" -Annie Barrows

Ivy + Bean was recommended to me by a library patron. Ivy, a clean, well-behaved, new girl and Bean, a tom-boy, become friends when they collaborate on casting a spell on Bean's older sister.

Not always a fan of the causing trouble merely because sisters misunderstand each other, but there is some depth to Ivy and Bean's characters. There's also some compassion and forgiveness which makes it a much better read.

Read Also:

Beverly Cleary's "Ramona" books with the annoying older sister and the creative mishaps.

Lissa Evans' Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms is about a new boy in town who teams up with some triplets to brighten up a dull summer.

What Happened on Fox Street by Mo Wren.

"Tiberius and the Friendly Dragon" -Keith Harvey

The cutest wittle mouse ever!

Tiberius is on his way to the village when he comes upon the town meeting where they're discussing how to get rid of the scary red monster. In a "brave little tailor" gesture, Tiberius agrees to investigate.

Read Also:

Disney's cartoon, "The Reluctant Dragon" is about a dragon who writes poetry and is woeful over others being scared of him.

Oliver Chin's The Year of the Dragon has all the animals of the Chinese zodiac working together.

"Red & Yellow's Noisy Night" -Josh Selig

Nothing like a huge grin and a scowl to make a book look interesting...

Red wants to play his guitar and Yellow wants to sleep. Watch how they display their sides and compromise to a solution.

I chose this book because of grinning Red and the "don't talk to me" look on Yellow. It had to be cute, right? It was a great book about disagreements and resolutions. The artwork was fun and vivid. The Olive Branch is part of the Little Light Foundation whose goal is to promote conflict resolution.

Read Also:
The Berenstein Bears - (despite problems with Mother Bear) this 1980's series of books focuses on different areas of life and how a family and each individual in the family need/can help the situation be better. Love'em!