THE FIRM by John Grisham Before taking the dive into John Grisham's newest novel, The Exchange, it was time for a refresher on The Firm. Fresh out of Harvard Law School, Mitch McDeere is actively sought after by a small, prestigious law firm in Memphis, Tennessee by the name of Bendini, Lambert, and Locke. Making him an offer too good to refuse, Mitch and his wife Abby move to the area and are quickly enveloped in the family-like atmosphere that the firm insists on. But things aren't adding up. First there is a surprising number of accidental deaths among the associates for the size of the firm. Then Mitch is approached by the FBI looking for insider information. Suddenly what looked like a dream job is turning into the ultimate nightmare. What is going on at Bendini, Lambert, and Locke, and can Mitch and Abby escape it in time? While there are definitely some "heads up" moments to be aware of, Grisham does an amazing job telling the story in this law firm thriller. How fun it was to discover part of the setting for The Firm is along the Florida Panhandle where I was sitting on one of the beaches while reading this book! HEADS UP- There is some language to be aware of (no F bombs). There is a lot of sexual type situations. No intimate details, but it definitely gets spicy!

A HORSE NAMED SKY by Roseanne Parry A Horse Named Sky is Rosanne Parry's third nature type middle grade reader showcasing a particular type of animal and told from the animal's perspective. In this case Sky is a mustang horse born into the Nevada Highlands. The book opens with Sky's birth. As he ages we get an in depth picture of the workings of a herd and the different roles of the horses. For example, the book explains the role of the stallion and what happens when he is challenged, the struggle of finding food and water, what happens to colts as they age, etc. But we also deal with the interference of man. Set in 1860 this story coincides with the Pony Express. While this could be a fun element to the story, man equals fear and the ending of how a horse is meant to live according to the tone of this book. Sky lives to escape from his owners and return home to his family, and that becomes the main focus. With all this being said, the mustangs in history have had a difficult past. There was a time that they were rounded up and sold for pet food or shot to save water and grass for cattle. That is no longer the case. In 1971 an Act was passed to protect the mustangs that is still in effect today. To keep the herds to manageable levels, roundups are held and the horses sold. HEADS UP - Where I struggle with books like this is the attitude that man's domestication of certain types of animals is bad. (This doesn't seem to apply to dogs and cats!) In my mind there will always be a line between caring for animals by giving them a good home and the idea that we are abusing animals by taking them out of their natural habitat. While it makes the story interesting being told from Sky's perspective, it can also be misleading for a child that horses think like this. They do not contain the ability to think logically the way a human can. So would I let my child read this book? The answer is yes, but it would be with a conversation. There is a small amount of evolutionary content in the large amount of Author's Notes included at the end. Update- I forgot to include the fact that the horses thank the earth such as the water after they drink.

WRECKER by Carl Hiaasen I am 60 pages into your newest book, Wrecker, (just released), and I am sorry to say that I am about to dump it in the trashcan. (I hate wasting $20.) The idea of your story is a fun one - the excitement of searching boat wreckage and shady men doing who knows what in their continual boat runs along Key West. But if I read one more reference about COVID and getting the shot, your book is going in the trashcan. It really doesn't even matter which side of the issue I'm on. We all lived COVID for too long and our "fun reads" don't need to take us back there. I can guarantee that's about the last topic my kids would want to read about! Please stick to topics kids WANT to read about instead of agendas.

THE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN by E.B. White E.B. White's The Trumpet of the Swan is the often forgotten book of White's children's literature trio, until recently. Often overshadowed in times past by Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, the delightful tale of Louis and his quest to be heard and his desire to right a wrong committed by his father done to help his son have a voice teaches young readers character lessons that will last a lifetime. Interwoven in this story is the growing up of Sam Beaver, Louis's human friend, who often wonders what he will become and is a true friend to Louis in times of need. One of the amazing gifts this book offers is the opportunity of discussing with your children the topic of disabled individuals. Louis often considers himself to be "defective" due to his lack of a voice. But as the book teaches in a story form, Louis is capable of great things in spite of his handicap. The application that readers can take away is the ability to see disabled people in a new light. Despite the difference there is value in the individual, capabilities that are frequently overlooked, and missed opportunities for friendships. This book is highly recommended and is a great one to do in a literature class or book club setting!

HOPEFULLY THE SCARECROW by Michelle Houts. Illustrated by Sara Palacios Hopefully the Scarecrow by Ohio author Michelle Houts (can I hear a woot-woot) is a precious story of worth and care. Listen to these opening lines. "A scarecrow stood in the garden. Tall, proud, smiling. Like most of us, he didn't remember the very beginning of his days. He only knew he was created with loving hands. Carefully crafted. Wonderfully made." Aren't those beautiful words to pour into a child's soul? After all, they are the beginning story of each one of us! So begins the story of a sweet little girl and her love and care for the garden scarecrow. The scarecrow's name comes about in the innocent way so many meaningful childhood happenings occur. The little girl's constant desirings for the scarecrow begin with the word "Hopefully." Hopefully he'll enjoy the stories she reads to him. Hopefully he'll keep the birds away. Hopefully. After every harvest, the girl tucks him into the shed to wait for spring. One day she doesn't return, and it's another's hands that put him up in the garden where he is forgotten about and has to battle discomfort and storms. But the scarecrow holds on to what he knows and one day all is made right! Sara Palacios' illustrations are a perfect match for the story. Full of oranges, reds, golds, browns, and muted greens you feel as though you have stepped right into a well loved garden! ALONGSIDE ACTIVITIES- I love this Haystack recipe by Mel's Kitchen Cafe! They are super easy to make and delicious! https://www.melskitchencafe.com/mexican-haystacks/

HOMECOMING by Kate Morton Kate Morton's Homecoming is a spellbinding tale uniting a family's past and present. Set in a lush area of South Australia on Christmas Eve 1959, Isabel Turner and her children go down to the creek for a picnic desiring to escape the heat. When their neighbor discovers them later, he thinks he's stumbled upon the family sleeping. A closer examination reveals a steady stream of ants crossing the bodies, and he knows that this isn't the picturesque scene he thought it was. Flash forward to 2018, when Jessica Turner-Bridges receives word that her tough grandmother, Nora, has had a serious fall. Jess leaves England and heads back to her childhood home in Australia to be with her. While sitting by her bedside, Nora begs Jess not "to let him take her." She also says the word "Halcyon." These words catapult Jess into a story from her family's past that was purposefully hidden from her. This story is breathtaking. Morton is a master at painting descriptions so real with her words that you feel as if you are experiencing the story firsthand. HEADS UP- There are a couple of sexual relationships mentioned but there are no intimate details given.There is 1 profanity.

PAX: JOURNEY HOME by Sara Pennypacker. Illustrated by Jon Klassen The story begins with two separate threads. We return to following the life of Pax and the life of Peter individually.. Pax and Bristle are about to have kits. Little by little Pax is acclimating himself to the wild, learning the needed skills for survival. War continues to encroach upon their territory, and Bristle is anxious to move due to the bad experiences she has had with humans. After the kits are born, Pax sets off on a journey to find a new home but doesn't realize at first that he is followed by his little vixen kit. As they travel the little kit begins to get sicker and sicker, and Pax is unsure what is happening to her. Peter's story begins with the fact that he has chosen to live with Vola, but he is beginning to feel trapped. His father has recently died in the war. Things have stayed too unresolved for him, and he desires to return to his roots and spread his father's ashes at their old homestead. He can't make the journey alone so he teams up with the Water Warriors. The Water Warriors are a group that tries to repair damages the war has done to the environment. One of their missions is to help decontaminate water that has been poisoned. Peter teams up with two others and begins his journey not only to heal nature, but hopefully himself as well. HEADS UP- Like its predecessor, this book also deals with a lot of sadness and loss and really the continued possibility of loss. The bond that I spoke about in the first review (duality) continues into this book as Peter and Pax experience a deeper level of understanding than a traditional boy and his pet. (If you didn't read the review on Pax, I talked a bit about the Buddhist ideology of duality.) This book ends with steps moving towards healing. We get a peek at decisions made that begin to heal wounds. No long term effect is drawn out for us, but we are given enough that our imaginations can take over and finish out the story. One other small thing to note, the two people that Peter travel with are a couple (male/female). You get the feeling that they live together. They do get married along the way.

PAX by Sara Pennypacker. Illustrated by Jon Klassen. Pax by Sara Pennypacker is not your traditional story of a boy and his pet overcoming an obstacle together in life and living happily ever after. Instead it is a series of hard, heart-wrenching situations that culminate with trying to right the opening chapter's wrong. The story opens up with the sad scene of a boy, Peter, being forced to take his pet fox, Pax, out into the wild and release him. As the story progresses we learn that Pax has no idea how to live in the wild, but Peter is being forced to leave him there because his father is going to war, his mother is dead, and his grandfather's home is no place for Pax. The story then splits into two paths that the reader follows. The first follows Peter and the decision he makes to travel approximately 300 miles to find his fox. The second tracks Pax and all the hardships he endures as he struggles to learn how to survive in the wild. Both journeys are fraught with loss and harm. Many times humans are blamed for the difficulties that arise. HEADS UP- This book really does have a sad overall tone/mood to it, so be aware of that for those that have sensitive kids. There are some war situations and there is injury that occurs to two foxes. There is one other element that one of you members brought to my attention. There is a connectedness between Peter and Pax that goes beyond friendship. In fact, it's a Buddhist concept called non-duality. It's where things that appear separate aren't really separate. This member sent me a part of an interview with Pennypacker where she shares that she includes this Buddhist idea in her story. It's the idea that we can relate to things because we are connected.

THE MAPLE FESTIVAL by Poppy Green. Illustrated by Jennifer A. Bell. If you have a child that loves baking and loves fall then this easy chapter book will be a perfect fit! The Adventures of Sophie Mouse : The Maple Festival by Poppy Green is Book 5 in the series. You won't need to read the other 4 first to fall in love with Sophie Mouse and understand her sweet heart. Sophie loves the Maple Festival. Her mother bakes lots of wonderful treats to sell, and Sophie asks if she can help her this year. When some challenges arise Sophie jumps in and is quick to help come up with solutions. This book level would be similar to Magic Treehouse. It is packed full of great character traits such as honor, problem solving, hard work, thinking of others before yourself and more!

A RIVER IN WORDS/HOW TO WRITE A POEM I am a huge fan of Melissa Sweet's illustrative work! When I found two picture books by her that both focus on poetry, they went into my pile immediately. I'll start by talking about the picture books themselves and then dive into Melissa Sweet's work a little deeper! A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams by Jen Bryant is the beautiful story of a man whose days from his boyhood to adulthood were always packed full. In the early years it was school and track practice and in adulthood it was his medical career. Despite all of this, he always left room for his love of poetry and constantly scribbled lines down wherever he could. In the beginning he tried to fit the accepted ideas of rhyme and meter, but he often found that the words that came to him did not fit the normal patterns. So, he created his own style. This book is a tribute to taking something you love and creating your own path within that love. It is a delight to read celebrating the possibilities of doing things in life that resonate with you! The second book, How to Write a Poem, by Kwame Alexander and Deanna Nikaido is the abstract journey of examining your senses, feelings, and imagination and combining them with observations of the world around you into a poem. This is not your traditional 1, 2, 3 step formula book. Instead it helps you examine what things move you inside. So- what am I going to do with these two books? I'm going to read them both out loud to my kids and then we'll all sit down and do some poem writing together! Yes, even me! Let's talk about Melissa Sweet for a moment! She is a master of multiple art mediums, and she unites them into amazing collages. In A River of Words she takes a box of discarded library books and works parts of them into her wonderful illustrations. In How to Write a Poem she takes sketches and pairs them with vintage and handmade paper circles and wheels. The color and movement is a delight to the eyes!

CIVIL WAR BOOKS

TH ONE AND ONLY RUBY by Katherine Applegate The One and Only Ruby by Katherine Applegate is the darling story of a little elephant named Ruby who is scared to face her Tuskday, Tuskday is a coming of age celebration for elephants, but for Ruby it is a hard day to celebrate. Ruby was born in Africa. Even though she is young she remembers the time spent with her herd, and she clearly remembers the day her mother was killed by poachers for her tusks. This started Ruby on a long journey that has had some good spots but also some very hard spots. Now she finds herself wondering how she can celebrate the very things that cause so many elephants to be killed and calves to be orphaned? This book focuses on friendships and the people (or animals in this case) that help us through the hard times in our lives. It also helps us look at each day and answer two questions: 1- What gifts did the world give you today and 2- What gifts did you give to the world? Coming from a Christian viewpoint I would change the questions to be 1- What were the blessings in your life today that you are thankful for and 2- How did you bless the people you encountered in your life today? I had to include my daughter's three stuffed animal elephants in the picture, because they cuddled up with us for every read aloud time of Ruby! HEADS UP- As stated earlier this book does deal with poaching and the stealing of and selling of young elephants. There is not a lot of intense detail, but be aware if you have a sensitive child.