OFF THE SHELF REVIEW: The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt

Ghosts are supposed to be sheets, light as air and able to whirl and twirl and float and soar. But the little ghost who is a quilt can’t whirl or twirl at all, and when he flies, he gets very hot.

He doesn’t know why he’s a quilt. His parents are both sheets, and so are all of his friends. (His great-grandmother was a lace curtain, but that doesn’t really help cheer him up.) He feels sad and left out when his friends are zooming around and he can’t keep up.

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Review: The Voting Booth

Enter Marva Sheridan, the young Black heroine of The Voting Booth, who will tell you that some people don’t have the luxury of not being involved. The novel is set on Election Day, in an unnamed year, although the issues discussed throughout might give you a clue as to where Colbert’s mind is. Marva is so excited to be voting in her first election. For the past two years, she has been canvassing, registering voters, and even getting her beloved cat to encourage civic participation on Instagram. Her parents, while proud, wonder if Marva is a little too intense.

You see, Marva has been interested in politics since she was 7, when she summarily informed her teacher that she wanted to become either Secretary of State, an environmental attorney, or a Supreme Court Justice.

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Review: Vote for Me

A hilarious political satire by the creator of the bestselling Narwhal and Jelly series. Hey, you! Yes, you with the dazzling smile! The donkey wants your vote. So does the elephant. And each will do just about anything to win your support. Brag?

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REVIEW: This Train Is Being Held

Isa is a dancer, but her mother doesn’t approve of ballet as a career. Alex is a pitching prospect who wants to be a poet.

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Review: Beetle & the Hollowbones

At the center of the novel is the relationship between Beetle and Kat, caught in a will-they or won’t-they scenario. These are funny, assertive, girls who, like most kids their age, engage their feelings before their minds–resulting in avoidable, but true-to-life situations.

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OFF THE SHELF REVIEW: The Little Witch’s Book of Spells

Spells and activities include Best Friends Forever Spell, Jump Rope Protection Spell, Get Well Soon Elixir, Blanket Fort Magical Fortress Spell, How to Make a Magical Fairy Garden, and Mermaid Bath Spell.

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Review: Marching with Aunt Susan (Susan B. Anthony and the Fight for Women’s Suffrage)

So why am I so thoroughly disappointed in this book? It comes down to a few choices made to erase Anthony’s racism in the supplemental materials included in the back of the book.

While it is actively noted that Anthony and her friend/fellow activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton started the suffrage movement in conjunction with their involvement in the abolition movement, there is no mention of the subsequent rift between the two movements over Anthony’s bitterness that the Fifteenth Amendment was making greater headway than women’s suffrage. No mention of the racist speeches Anthony made, or her chosen alliances with George Train (“Woman first and negro last.”), or avowed white supremacists like Belle Kearney.

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Review: The Dragon Slayer (Folktales From Latin America)

Using simple, exaggerated drawings and clear, unembellished writing, Hernandez tells the stories of: a kitchen maid v. a seven headed dragon; a woman who marries a mouse; and a slacker who has leaf cutter ants do all his work.

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Review: Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything

I would steer the book away from Middle Grade readers and put it squarely in the hands of a Young Adult audience and above. The themes are strong, the writing is strong, and although very funny at times, things can get pretty intense:

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