New Books

Hello,

I have a couple of great new books for you this week.

First, one of my favorite authors for students in grades 3 – 6 – Andrew Clements. I first read his book “Frindle” about 20 years ago. My son and I went to the public library in Cleburne, Texas and stocked up on reading material. I saw a book on display titled “Frindle” with a hand holding a pen. It looked interesting, so I put it with my pile. On the way home, my son picked up that book and asked about it. I told him to start reading it out loud so we both would know. The library was less than 20 minutes away from home, but by the time we got home, we were both loving this story and laughing. We had a play argument about who would get to read it first, and decided that we would only read it together. While I fixed supper, John read to me, then later on I read to him. It is still a favorite.

Andrew Clements comes out with a new book every couple of years. Most of them are school stories about children that are usually in 5th or 6th grade. This year his book is titled “The Losers Club”. I thought it was going to be a book about bullying. Although there is a little bit of bullying, it is not about bullying, but about reading and the bullying resolves itself.

The Loser’s Club by Andrew Clements. Random House, 2017.

Alec is a reader. He reads so much that he has a reputation with all the teachers at his school. Alex pretends to be doing his work, but instead is hiding a book and ignoring the teacher. He is sent to the principal on a regular basis, but this year, things are different. Alec’s parents and the principal have laid down the law. If he is sent to the office for reading instead of doing his assignments, he will be required to attend a special study skills program in the summer. This means he cannot visit his grandparents at their lake cabin with all the lake activities he enjoys. Also, this year Alec and his younger brother will be attending the after school activities program. Each student must sign up for a club and participate. All Alec wants to do is read, especially since he cannot do this in class anymore. He starts a club of his own that is just for reading. He names it “The Loser’s Club” hoping by that name no one will want to join. This way he can just read alone. Things turn out a bit differently than Alec plans, but they end up working out in a great way.

The Year of the Garden by Andrea Cheng. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing 2017.

Thought this book is new, it is actually a prequel to the other books. This is the story of Anna Wang, a Chinese American girl and her friends and family. Anna gets a copy of The Secret Garden and that inspires her to grow a garden.

School Library Journal says that the Anna Wang series “deals deftly with a range of thorny adoption and ethnic stereotyping issues.” This series is a great start for younger readers that are ready for chapter books. The font is slightly larger than most, illustrations are scattered throughout, and the books are a slightly smaller size. There are four other books about Anna. The Year of the Book, The Year of the Baby, The Year of the Fortune Cookie, and The Year of the Three Sisters. I highly recommend all of them.

I hope you enjoy these books. I’ll have more for you next week.

Audrey