Review: Las Cajas de Berta (In Spanish)

Berta, compartmentalizes all of her feelings in four separate boxes: yellow, red, blue and green. If she gets “too sad” she opens up the blue box and fills it with tears. Too happy? No problem. Opens up the yellow box and fills it up with springing jumps. Once she’s done expressing herself, she closes the boxes tightly.

REVIEW: A World of Mindfulness

In these uncertain times, this book felt so grounding to me. The book is probably more suited towards the 3-8 year old crowd, but the words and illustrations were soothing enough and a great reminder to anyone, regardless of age that living in the moment, breathing, feeling, and finding your calm is not only a faint possibility, but within all of our grasp in one way or another.

REVIEW: Sing Like No one’s Listening

With a charming cast of characters like flamboyant and gorgeous dance phenom Alec, cruel dance teacher Millicent Moore, singer/songwriter Fletch, mean girls Natasha and Jade, and terrifying martinet Cecile Duke, the plot moves along in a way that is comforting if a little predictable. Fans of Singin’ in the Rain will know exactly where the story is going, but they will enjoy getting there tremendously.

Review: A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow

As the youngest daughter of a Cuban family living in Miami, Lila Reyes has everything she could possibly want. She has spent her life learning to make all of the recipes her grandmother taught her while working at their family bakery, La Paloma. Cooking and baking are Lila’s heart and soul; they are the passions that drive her dreams and fuel her goals. The recipes her grandmother taught her go far beyond the kitchen where she spends so much of her time; they are the very beat of her heart.

Fault Lines in the constitution: The Framers, Their Fights, and the Flaws that Affect Us Today

There are people who carry a pocket US Constitution in their, you know, pocket. This book is not for those people. In my experience, the folks with the slim black copy of the Constitution in their jacket pocket tend to take the document as an unchanging lodestar, practically perfect in every way. I suspect they wouldn’t like this marvelous book aimed at middle grade Con Law scholars , because the authors present a more sophisticated, nuanced, and dare I say, correct view of the matter, one that shows us where the Framers got the Constitution right, and where they just got it written. And you know what? It’s a serious page turner.

OFF THE SHELF REVIEW: The Halloween Tree

Everyone knows most young saplings dream of becoming Christmas trees. But one grumpy, old tree who doesn’t like lights, decorations, or people is determined to be different.

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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