PIZZA FACE by Rex Ogle and Dave Valeza. Middle grade years can be super difficult without the joy of dealing with acne, but introduce acne into the picture, and as Rex finds out, it takes everything to a new level. Peers can be ruthless, and dare I mention the dislike the person feels every time they look in the mirror at themself? (Does anyone remember those days?) Authors Rex Ogle and Dave Valeza take us right back into the halls of middle school and all the comments that come along with it in their graphic novel Pizza Face. While this is a graphic novel lots of kids can relate to as they go through body changes, there are a couple of items to be aware of. HEADS UP- The book lightly references other changes that happen to the body.  Rex has an angsty friend who has a string of girlfriends that don't know about each other. This comes back to bite him in the end. This friend also looks like he is a smoker, but when he offers a cigarette to Rex you find out that they are just candy. As Rex finds out the boy's true nature, their friendship comes to an end. Rex has an ongoing struggle with his mom. The family is very poor, so she refuses to buy him acne medication and deodorant to help ease the merciless bullying he is dealing with at school. SPOILER ALERT His grandmother steps in and helps out.

NICKY & VERA by Peter Sis This post is going to be a WHAT WE'RE READING and WHAT WE'RE WATCHING post. We recently just finished watching the amazing movie One Life with Anthony Hopkins based on the true story of Nicholas Winton. When the movie was finished my daughter told me she had read this story in a picture book she had picked up for me that was in my TBR pile. I immediately went and looked, and yes, there was a picture book by Peter Sis entitled Nicky and Vera. I pulled it out and read it. Nicholas Winton was somebody who just considered himself to be a normal man. This "normal" man took it upon himself to try and help as many Jewish Refugee children in Czechoslovakia find sponsor homes in England to live until the end of the war. He overcame what seemed to be insurmountable hurdles to make this possible. He ended up helping over 600 children escape before Hitler invaded, but he never knew what happened to them. His story is so moving both in a victorious and heartbreaking way as so many WWII stories are. This is not going to be a picture book or movie for young children. While the book does not go into detail, one of the trains carrying over 200 children never makes it out of the station. In the movie the train is swarmed by Nazis. The movie also shares the brokenness that Nicky feels in his life wondering if the children survived and were reunited with their families. For these reasons, I'm going to go with a 4th grade and up on the book and 8th grade and up on the movie.

LADY TAN'S CIRCLE OF WOMEN by Lisa See Opening in the year 1469 in China, Lady Tan's Circle of Women takes us right to the heart of what it meant to be a woman born in a highly respected, wealthy Chinese Family. Despite the privilege of this, women had one job- to marry well and produce a male heir to carry on the family name and honor. Author Lisa See brings to life the story of Tan Yunxian, a real woman from this time. Tan goes through the process of foot binding, learns the required sayings, develops an attitude of meekness and honor, and prepares to shut herself away and give up her closest friend in order to do what is expected of her when she marries, but she cannot give up the medical training that her grandparents have been teaching her throughout her early life. In China, female doctors are an extreme rarity and male doctors are not allowed to touch their female patients. They must remain behind a screen and use a go between person to communicate with women during examinations. The result of this is very poor women's healthcare. In a culture where women are little more than property, Tan wants to make a difference. Lady Tan's Circle of Women is a beautifully written historical fiction read. It brings to light the culture, education, a bit of adventure, and a little bit of mystery. However there are a few things to be aware of. HEADS UP- While there are no intimate details at all, this book deals a lot with the producing of an heir. Lisa See handles this very tastefully. The reality is that the households were typically made up of a wife and several concubines. If the wife was unable to produce an heir, a concubine could and that child could then be raised by the wife. Concubines were an owned item and used for the pleasure of their owners and guests. Again intimate details are not given, Lee handles the situations very factually. There is also the question sometimes if Tan and her best friend, Meiling, might be gay. They are not. They just have a very close friendship.

THE WAVE by Suzy Lee We've got to squeeze a couple more beachy reads in here before the end of vacation season. Wave is one of them. Wave is an absolutely delightful wordless picture book showing a young girl's play at the beach. There are endearing moments and moments of absolute laughter as you watch the interaction between the girl and the water. The water becomes personified as you watch the interactions between them intensify. It is marvelously delicious! Let's just say that there are points that you can almost feel the water splash off of the page. I would be remiss if I did not mention Lee's artwork in this book. The pictures are composed of black, white, and a cooling ocean blue color. The sketches, while simple, portray childhood joy with every page. Highly recommend!

BAN THIS BOOK by Alan Gratz Well known author, Alan Gratz, took a 90 degree right turn from his usual historical fiction style when he wrote Ban This Book. I typically would have left this one on the shelf, but since it was Gratz, I decided to give it a go. Our story opens with Amy Anne Olinger going into her school library to check out her favorite book, From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. She is absolutely devastated when she finds out that due to a fellow classmate's mother, that book, along with several others, are no longer available for check out. They have been banned.  I'm going to rabbit trail for a moment and tell you that I recognized several of the books that are mentioned in this story from my childhood, and even owned some of them, so I was surprised about some of the books Gratz was specifically mentioning in this story. I then googled each title that was mentioned, and yes, every book he mentions has been banned at some point somewhere. Amy Anne decides to take some action. She collects copies of the banned books through friends or purchasing or stealing the copies out of the school library that have been pulled, and she quietly opens a B.B.L.L. or Banned Book Locker Library of which she is the head librarian. Needless to say, word gets around the school quickly and peers are constantly borrowing the books and secretly making references to the banned stories. As the book continues, our "problem" parent continues to bring lists of more banned books to the library that she has had approved through school board meetings with zero pushback, so Amy Anne's locker library continues to grow. The books are banned for reasons as far apart from each other as inducing a child to run away from home to sexual content. There is one book in particular that Gratz references that the kids are a bit embarrassed talking about until one girl explains that she has a copy at home that her mom reads through with her. That is the only one that the kids talk about with sexual content. Ultimately, Gratz feels that books should be available to kids and with their parents help, they together should make the decision about what to read or not read. So what do you do with a book like this? Well, depending on your stance on the whole issue you can: 1.) let your child read it, 2.) stay away from it, 3.) either sit down and read it with your child or each read it separately and then talk together about banned books and your views. HEADS UP- As mentioned above, Amy Anne starts "dealing" the books out of her locker. This, of course, goes against current school policy, and she does end up getting in trouble. She also lies to her parents about several things. When it comes out, her parents are very surprised and disappointed as she is the one at home that always "gives in" when there's any disagreements. As the story progresses Amy Anne begins to blow up at home in a few situations with her parents. Also, as mentioned above, there is reference to a book that has been banned for its sexual content. SPOILER ALERT Amy Anne ends up finding out that one of the banned books is a book that the "problem" parent checked out and read as a child. She confronts the parent at a school board meeting and then we see policy change regarding banned books.

SUMMER READING PROGRAM Want to finish the summer strong with reading? Create your own "Summer Reading Program " for your kids customized to fit them! Mommas- as you can see I am not a typesetter, so don't make this difficult for yourselves at all. I will share with you what I did for my kids from the youngest all the way up to my college age to promote more reading and some good old fashioned competition in the house. On my created sheet I have made 4 rows down with 7 small graphics (swirl) in each row. I used a rubber stamp for my swirls. Each swirl stands for 30 minutes of reading time. As they complete 30 minutes they cross  off a swirl. At the bottom of each row I listed the prize they get when they have completed 7 swirls or 3.5 hours of reading. I will share my prizes but SET THINGS THAT WOULD MOTIVATE YOUR CHILD! They can cost money but they don't have to! My four prizes are ice cream at a fun local place, movie pass where they can stream a movie with parents' approval, bubble tea or coffee drink at a great coffee shop, and the big prize Lego set, stuffed animal, shirt, sports gear, horse equipment, etc valued at around $30-35 dollars. Some other suggestions - picnic lunch, tea party, knock out basketball with mom or dad, favorite dessert or meal prepared, book, overnight with a friend, gift card, fingernail polish, earrings. You fill in the blanks. I gave my kids a start and stop date of 4 weeks to complete. By the way, it is possible to make one for yourself if you are wanting to up your reading game! Maybe a good soak in the tub, a new plant from the greenhouse, ice cream, lunch with a friend, etc. Happy reading!!

JUST ONE LITTLE LIGHT by Kat Yeh. Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault You may have noticed that I added this picture book to the MIDDLE GRADE BOOKLIST and YA BOOKLIST. I actually just purchased this book for one of my older daughters who is going through a difficult situation right now. I sat down on her bed with her and read it to her. I don't have any silly notions that this book is going to fix everything, but this book encourages the reader that when you are walking through darkness in life, you have a small light. When looking at that small light you may wonder how it will ever be enough to do anything, but that one light,while not enough to light the whole sky, is enough to light your path to begin moving forward. Our kids are going to face hard, challenging times in their lives. That's a given. Despite these hardships, you can still take a chance, face fears, take a step forward. We all need to be reminded of that, no matter our age!

HONEY BUTTER by Millie Florence Wow, wow, wow! Where do I start with this book? Another TOP PICK for 2024!!  Author Millie Florence (who was 13 years old when she wrote this book- yes, you heard me right!) brings us smack dab into the world of Jamie Johnson. Jamie is an outgoing girl who has a unique hobby. She collects paint cards. You know what I'm talking about right? The paint swatches that you pick up from Lowes or Home Depot that have a sample of a paint color along with an absolutely marvelous name. (For us adults those names take us back to our Crayola Crayons days, don't they?!) She keeps all of her cards in a shoe box that goes everywhere with her, and as she encounters people and the world she associates them with colors in her collection. But Jamie has a problem in her world. It's her older sister, Erica. Erica and Jamie share a room, a family, and an intense dislike for each other, but they're still sisters. When Jamie overhears Erica telling her friends that she hates her, Jamie at first is devastated, but ups the game and confides to her best friend, Laren, (that happens to be homeschooled) that she hates her sister as well. But Laren's got a story for Jamie about siblings, hate, and tragedy that just might make Jamie rethink her relationship with her sister. Oh just one more little thing for you all! I like to check out my authors sometimes, so I went to Millie Florence's website. She offers Honey Butter as a free EBook or Audiobook there. I'm including the link for you here! (This is purely of my own doing. I receive no commission from this author!) https://millieflorence.com/

MAISIE DOBBS by Jacqueline Winspear I am not going to do a specific post about Winspear's Maisie Dobbs book #18, The Comfort of Ghosts. It would be too hard not to spoil things if you haven't read the series. Instead, for those of you who are up to book 18, I will just reassure you that Winspear doesn't disappoint in this last adventure. For those of you who have never given this series a chance, they really are great reads. The series begins with Maisie at the age of 13. In the beginning, Maisie is a maid at Belgravia House to Lord and Lady Compton. When she is caught reading in the library of the house, a series of opportunities open before her that eventually lead her to becoming a detective. It's not just her natural gifting and inquisitive nature that land her in this role. No, she is trained, and it includes studying the science of psychology and the human mind, how to focus and how to notice things. All of this is threaded into the backdrop of WWI initially and then moves into WWII and eventually post WWII. Throughout it, Maisie grows up both in body and in mind. Despite being a mystery, the story is calm and gloriously told. There is honor, overcoming, healing, and the meshing together of social structures. Once it hooks you, it draws you back time and time again. I highly recommend it. HEADS UP- There is a nod to Eastern Religion in these books. Maisie does practice meditation, for example and throughout the series she has mentors who instruct her in some of the ideology. However, I feel that this is only one strand of the ball that makes up the personage of Maisie and what is covered in these books. While it is there, it is not the crux of the story or the events brought to light in a wartorn world. I am trying to think back over the series, so forgive me if I forget anything, but regarding sex this is a clean series. We know at one point she lives with a man. We know she has a one night stand with another, but it's like Agatha Christie where you are told it happened without the details.

AT HOME IN MITFORD by Jan Karon I will link the interview that I read that Karon gave in 1998 at the bottom of this post for those of you who would like more info. My next post on Mitford will be on the first 2 chapters and will be posted Thursday, May 3. That means it's time to dig in and start reading At Home in Mitford! Yay!! In the interview Karon talks about a time in her life where she knew things were "terribly, terribly wrong." As I wrote yesterday her early life was not typical. By 17 she was divorced, raising her daughter, and only had 8 years of school education. She references Pascal's illustration of the "God-shaped vacuum" we all have inside. Desperately trying to fill the hole, she began experimenting with multiple religions including Eastern religions and Judaism, but the hole remained. Growing up hearing about Christ, but never really understanding , she decided one night to give Him a try. She was 42 years old and unsure if she was "doing it right." She asked Him "to take it easy on her" as she found her footing. Little by little He revealed Himself to her in very real ways. According to the interview her life was very "frazzled" in the advertising world, so trusting Him, she walked away from it all. She went from high living to cutting her lifestyle in half, and it was a "blow to her pride." She didn't know how everything was going to end up, but she did know the Lord kept asking her to follow Him, and she did. The journey was hard and there were times of bitterness, but the Lord was faithful, and today she says that God didn't waste a single bit of that time. He was teaching her the whole way through. The books have given Karon the platform to share her faith in so many arenas both through the written word, but also through her physical encounters with the public. I have to say that before reading this interview I admired her greatly because of her writing. I didn't think it possible, but my admiration just tripled. https://aredeemedlife.wordpress.com/.../on-the-road-with.../

AT HOME IN MITFORD by Jan Karon Only 2 chapters in and Jan Karon has absolutely laid a banquet before us of topics to discuss! I hope that not only have you been reading Karon's words, but seeing it all in your mind. She is a master of imagery! I think before I dive in and comment, I would like to open the floor to you all! So take it away! Talk to me about Father Tim, Barnabas, Esther, the townspeople, the possible Vermeer, the way news spreads in a small town, Marge and her pregnancy at 50, etc. Can you relate to any of these people or situations? I am from small town Ohio and attend a country church. While they may not have the same names, I know several of these people personally! How about you? Comment away!

AT HOME IN MITFORD by Jan Karon Oh my goodness you guys! From diabetes and taking up jogging, to shopping, to bathing Barnabas to dinner parties I am loving these chapters. So many laughable moments but so many that speak of deep things. (Anyone else wanting more of Miss Sadie's Paris story?) Feel free to comment in any direction you would like, and I'll follow!