JAMES TO THE RESCUE by Elise Broach. Illustrated by Kelly Murphy. After reading the first Marvin and James book, I wanted to continue on with this great series. These early chapter books are so cute, showcasing the friendship between a boy and his beetle. So far, with the two books that I've read, it is not necessary to read them in order. In James to the Rescue, Martin is so excited to be apart of "collecting." Collecting is where some of the beetle family members go around to different parts of the house looking for useful things. It is a beetle's dream combo of adventure and treasure hunting. This time, however, things don't go according to plan. There may just be a bit of jealousy that happens and one of the team gets hurt. Martin's going to have to step up and put his desires aside to help someone else.

THE RUNNING DREAM by Wendelin Van Draanen One of my older daughters brought this book to my attention, and since we've got a track runner in our home, we gave it a go as a read aloud. I'm so glad we did! Jessica loves running, and she's really good at it. A great future is stretching out in front of her, and she's ready for it. That is, until the accident. Coming back from a track meet, a guy hauling a load of wrecked cars to a local junkyard misses a turn and hits the school bus throwing track team members all over the place. One girl dies instantly, and Jessica...well, her leg is utterly destroyed and can't be saved. Suddenly, her school year is unfolding in a way she can't understand. Running? That's a laugh. She's got to learn to walk again. Going to school? Anytime she thinks about it, her body goes into panic mode. But her parents, her friends, her coach, and her teammates aren't going to let her quit. In the end Jessica just might learn that there are still dreams that can be accomplished even if they aren't the original ones she was shooting for. The Running Game is a squeaky clean read! Highly recommend!!

AVERAGE BOY'S ABOVE-AVERAGE YEAR by Bob Smiley Bob Smiley (AKA Average Boy) is exactly that - your average middle school boy. Athletic ability- not the best. Grades - somewhere in the middle. Coolness level - not rocking it with the elites, but not hanging with the nerds. You know - average. But when the youth pastor announces a competition and a new game console is the prize, Average Boy decides he just might have to up his game a bit. What does he have to do to win it? Stand up for God. Each week the kids in the youth group vote on who stood up for God the Most that week. At the end of the summer, the kid who has the most votes wins the game console. That can't be that difficult, can it? This read took me a few pages to get into, but once I did, it was great! There are life lessons taught wrapped in situations many of us can relate to with a great dose of humor thrown in. Recommend!

THE KEEPER OF HIDDEN BOOKS by Madeline Martin I have read some really great books recently, and this book from Madeline Martin is one of them! A couple of years ago I read Martin's The Last Bookshop in London which was absolutely outstanding. Nestled in the midst of that wonderful story were references to The Count of Monte Cristo, which I did as a book club on here with several of you. It was a long read, but oh was it worth it! Fast forward a bit and I read Martin's The Library Spy, which is really good, but not quite as good as The Last Bookshop in London. That brings us up to present. I just recently finished Martin's The Keeper of Hidden Books, and it is fantastic! Set in Poland during World War II, The Keeper of Hidden Books follows Hitler's quest to rid the world of many literary works and replace them with his propaganda. Working at the library, Zofia finds herself caught up in the constant incoming orders of lists of books that are to be pulled and trucked out. The books are slated to be destroyed. Surely, there has to be a way to save at least some of these beautiful books, many of which contain Poland's history and heritage. The books aren't the only things that need saving in Poland. Zofia's best friend, Janina, is a Jew and is relocated to a fenced in ghetto area specifically for Jewish people. No one is allowed in to visit, and rumors are flying that people are disappearing. What's keeping Zofia and her friends sane in their upside down world? One spark of light in the midst of all the darkness is their little bookclub devoted to reading books Hitler has marked for destruction, but they must be on guard. If they are found out, it could mean death. Be prepared to recognize several of the titles. Highly Recommend!

HUMMINGBIRD by Nicole Davies. Illustrated by Jane Ray. I've noticed a lot of chatter on Facebook about Hummingbirds recently as this is the time they typically begin their migration south. Hummingbirds are magnificent, but ferocious, little creatures created by God. Appearing as if covered in jewels with their iridescent feathering, these beautiful, flying gems are as brave as a lion when it comes to protecting their territory. More amazing than all of this, though, is their migration journey. These little balls of energy have been known to fly 500 miles without taking a single rest as they make their way across the Gulf of Mexico to Central America. Davies' book, Hummingbird, begins with a grandmother and granddaughter watching a hummingbird in their garden somewhere in Central or South America. Both the granddaughter and the hummingbird will be moving north soon, but the hummingbird becomes an ongoing connection between the grandmother and granddaughter as it continues its migration journey. ALONGSIDE ACTIVITIES- Google maps of hummingbird migration. You can label states and countries that they pass through and where their final destination is. -Did you know that there are 365 different species of the hummingbird? (One for every day of the year!) The United States is home to 15 different species although 9 others are spotted periodically across our borders. -Plant flowers or offer feeders with sugar nectar (make sure your nectar does not contain red dye - you can find easy online recipes to make yourself) for these energetic little birds. Our hummingbirds love trumpet vines and hanging baskets filled with impatien flowers. I will occasionally catch them swooping through the zinnias. -examine their fascinating beak and tongue as they hover over flowers, Google heart rate, and how many beats per minute on average the hummingbird moves its wings. -Look up information on their nests. What are they typically constructed from? What is the general size? How many eggs do they lay, etc.

THE MINATURE WORLD OF MARVIN & JAMES by Elise Broach. Illustrated by Kelly Murphy. If you have a child that loves bugs, this cute, introduction to chapters book is for you! James (the human) and Marvin (the beetle) are best friends. When James goes away for a week on vacation, Marvin has to stay at home. While he's away, James makes a new friend, and that causes Marvin some concern as he wonders if he and James will still be friends when James returns. However, while James is gone, Marvin has some of his own adventures that lead to a little bit of trouble. This fun, beginning chapters read is full of great black and sepia illustrations that will keep your budding reader fully engaged.

THE RANCH TABLE by Elizabeth Poett I've got a senior this year in our home. She isn't my first senior, she's my third. Senior year I set up space for my teens to try and experience a taste of something they're wanting to pursue in life. This one's a horse lover ( so we've got a couple of specialized classes dedicated to furthering her knowledge of horses). When I came across this ranch oriented cookbook, I thought it would be a fun edition to her cooking portion of Home Ec class. Author Elizabeth Poett is a seventh generation rancher on a 14,000 acre ranch out in California. I can't tell you if all the recipes are delicious yet or not. (I can tell you the Campfire Cookies are to die for! ) I just know that I am looking forward to ranch grub in our meals and diving into some of my senior's loves with her!

30,000 STITCHES by Amanda Davis. Illustrated by Sally Wern Comport If you can get your hands on this inspiring picture book, you're going to want to do it! 30,000 Stitches is the moving, true story about a flag that was flown above the wreckage in New York City days after the 9/11 tragedy occured. Within just a few weeks, the flag became very dirty and torn. It was taken down and put away in storage. Six years later, when a tornado came through Greensburg, Kansas, a group of volunteers came from New York to help the town. The residents of the town requested that a memento from the World Trade Center be brought to be placed in a memorial park they planned to construct. The flown flag was the memento that was brought. When the residents saw the flag, they came up with a different idea. Instead, they repaired the flag with bits of flags from their town that had been destroyed in the tornado. From there an even greater idea began to take shape. Send the flag on a trip with a stop in each of the 50 states. At each stop, people from all walks of life could add stitches to the flag to help restore her. This is a beautiful story, that is worth sharing!

AIRBORN by Kenneth Oppel Airborn is a super, fun read if you are into pirates, adventure, and a little bit of fantasy all set on an airship. Matt Cruise is a cabin boy on the beautiful airship, The Aurora. A luxury liner catering to the wealthy, The Aurora has become his life ever since the death of his father. Life is full of movement and predictable until two events occur. The first is the rescue of a balloonist whose dying words are about a race of beautiful winged creatures that he's discovered. The second is the surprise attack by the dreaded pirate, Szpriglas, that sends the giant airship crashing onto a deserted island. But is it really deserted? This fun adventure book is full of action that will hook you in and not let go until the last page! HEADS UP- There are 3-4 profanities (no f bombs). There is 1 time where one of the pirates mumbles, "Who the feck are they?" There are fights and there is death, but nothing gory.

TRULY, MADLY, SHEEPLY by Heather Vogel Frederick If you are not familiar with Heather Vogel Frederick's Pumpkin Falls Mystery Series, you will want to be! It is hands down fantastic and a favorite! Truly, Madly, Sheeply is Book 4 in the series. This is a series that is important to start at the beginning so you really get a good understanding of the family, how they end up in Pumpkin Falls, and past adventures that have happened. Truly, Madly, Sheeply  is set during the season of fall, and just like the other three books, there are some mysterious things happening in Pumpkin Falls. For starters, someone is stealing all the carved pumpkins that business owners have made for the upcoming yearly competition. Then there's the strange activity happening around Aunt Truly's new sheep farm. Is it a boggart on the loose or is someone trying to sabotage the place? Truly (yes, both the protagonist and her aunt have the same name, but you'll have to read the book to find out why!) and her detective friends have their work cut out for them this time before there's some serious damage done.

AIRBORN AT THE END OF THE EARTH by Nate Gordon This is a wonderful collection of stories from the twenty years Nate Gordon and his family spent as missionaries in Papua New Guinea. Nate was a missionary pilot, and he recounts the difficulties of creating runways on the sides of mountains (and landing on them), transporting desperately ill people from remote places to hospitals, carrying livestock, bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the deepest parts of the jungle, and more. For the past couple of weeks, I've been ending my days with a few of these stories before turning in for the night. I have truly looked forward to bedtime reading.

THE YELLOW BUS by Loren Long Even if you homeschool, don't pass over this super sweet book, The Yellow Bus. OHIO author and illustrator, Loren Long, does start with the traditional job of the school bus, to carry children to the local school, but then the book moves past that job. We see the bus become a refuge for homeless folks, a house for goats, and more. Each job that the bus does brings her joy. All of this was created in the mind of Long from running along a bike path close to his home and daily passing an abandoned bus in someone's backyard. The bus had become a goat shelter. He found himself wondering about the old bus, and what she had seen. He says in his end notes that, " All of this got me thinking about purpose, and the passage of time, about how we feel when we do things for others." I would be very remiss if I didn't talk for a moment about Long's fantastic artwork. Primarily done in black and white with pencil and charcoal, Long's small amount of color additions are mainly in the yellow family. The yellow bus is easy to spot in the haze of life around her. She is sunny and joyful, willing to do her job and give her all to the task before her. You won't want to miss Long's extensive notes at the end of the book. He shares more details about how his idea of The Yellow Bus came to be. Then he talks about the process he went through to do the artwork. He built an amazing 3-D model of a town and the bus. From these he made his sketches. The pictures are super fun to see!