Peak by Roland Smith…why haven’t I written about it?!?!

I am appalled at myself for not having written about this series.  Now, I know I have written about Roland Smith before but somehow I have missed talking about this series.  In Peak, the adventure starts with Peak, yes that’s his name.  A 14 year old who is a little bored, a little mischievous and a lot in trouble.  Peak likes to climb, but, he lives in NYC.  There are no mountains to climb in Manhattan so what does Peak do?  He climbs a skyscraper and gets caught.  He has a choice now. Spend time in juvie, or go live with the father he really doesn’t know, Joshua Wood.  Joshua owns a climbing company and he himself loves to climb.  Part of his job is to help other summit mountains all over the world.  But could Joshua have something else in mind for his son?  Will their relationship grow through this adventure?

    I forever thought this would be a stand alone  but much to my surprise, The Edge shows up about 8 years later.  Peak has returned home and has become a non-skyscraper climbing 15 year old, who loves spending time with his younger twin sisters.  He hasn’t climbed since Everest (ooops, could be a small spoiler:-) but when he is approached by some old climbing friends with a chance to become part of documentary he contemplates his choice of climbing again or staying with all feet on the ground.

    Just when I couldn’t be any happier about a sequel, there’s a threequel (yes it’s a word, look it up:-)  In Ascent, Peak visits a girl he has met.  A girl he kind of likes.  A girl who just happens to be the daughter of a French Ambassador.  She also loves to climb.  Sounds like a recipe for happiness.  Peak has been invited to climb Hkakabo Razi, one of the most isolated mountains in the world, to determine the true elevation of this illusive mountain.  Once again, filled with action, friendship and climbing this was the perfect ending to this series.

   Ahhh, just kidding.  Descent will be the final book of the series.  But it doesn’t come out until the beginning of 2020!!!  Well, it isn’t an 8 year wait!

 

 

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Oregon Battle of the Books

If you aren’t in Oregon then hopefully students in your state will have some kind of reading competition they can participate in. OBOB is Oregon’s version of this competition.  I am a coach for the 3rd-5th grade division as well as the 6th-8th grade division.  There are 16 books on each list so I have a lot to keep me busy this summer.

   Stef has become embarrassed of Tia Perla.  She is unhappy when Tia Perla picks her up at school, and when Tia Perla shows up at soccer.   It was not always that way though.  Tia Perla really isn’t an auntie, but a food truck.  An old food truck that Stef’s dad owns.  Stef isn’t allowed to walk home alone yet, so how does she get picked up?  The food truck.

This is a story of family, growing up and fighting for what’s right.  This was the first book I read off the list (3rd-5th grade) and it was a great start.

 

What would you do?  What do you do for your family and loved ones?  What if you didn’t have enough money to pay for life saving medicine?  Would you steal?

Timothy knows that his family has very limited money ever since his dad left. He also has a very sick brother.  Opportunity and timing present itself to Timothy and he makes a decision that forever changes his life.

This is on the 6th-8th grade list for this year..  A read for everyone in your house.

Oh Me Oh My…..

It has been way too long since I  have posted anything.  I’ve been reading….lots, but other things in life happen as well and sometimes the things you love most take a backseat to whatever you have going on.  I’m going to try my best to keep up but the only guarantee I can make is that I am absolutely reading something good…..

 

A red dragon, an ugly dumpling and Malala…..

Red is a Dragon written by Roseanne Thong and illustrated by Grace Lin

is a delightfully rhythmic story of colors.  Great illustrations and definitions in the back make this a fantastic choice for storytime.

 

The Ugly Dumpling written by Stephanie Campisi 

and illustrated by Shahar Kober

tells the story an ugly dumpling who doesn’t get eaten and just can’t figure out why.  Enter the cockroach and the story turns toward acceptance and friendship.

 

Last, and certainly not least, is Malala’s Magic Pencil.  Malala Yousafzai has written a picture book about her childhood.  Every night she wished for a magic pencil.. a magic pencil that didn’t arrive.  Malala soon learned that using her voice was just as powerful as a magic pencil.

It’s been a long long time…..

2017 was a terrible year…well I shouldn’t say terrible, I should say bad.  My father passed away unexpectedly just 5 days in to 2017 and with that came turmoil and stress beyond belief.  I hardly read a book let alone review any.  I had just started reviewing for a website and had to let that go.  I had finished writing my first picture book (which needs an illustrator) and let that go.  My head hurt, my heart hurt but I had to pick myself up and push forward.  It sucked.

Now I am more clear headed, physically a wreck and I know I need to get back to what I love.  So, today, Jan 14th, 2018, I start anew with the hope that 2018 doesn’t suck worse than last year.

Karl Newsom Edwards

I previously reviewed “Fly” by @karledwardsart about a year ago.  I had found in on Edelweiss and fell completely in love with it!  Now Karl is on a roll and has a few more picture books coming out.  His blog has information about Hugely Wugely (which I have NOT read yet…hint hint Karl) but I have read I Got A New Friend which is due out in May (so.far.away).  In this story a little girl and a puppy become new friends….they play together, they eat together, the get messy together…the illustrations are great and the text is sweet and will make a perfect storytime reading!

Bears and Rain and Skates…oh my!!

Il Sung Na  who has written A Book Of Winter, A Teacup in the Storm and many others, has a new title coming out in March of 2017.  Thanks to Edelweiss and Knopf Books for Young Readers  for advanced access to this new book, Bird, Balloon Bear.  Bird is new to the forest and wants to make a new friend.  He sees Bear and decides to approach when just at that moment Bear makes a friend in Balloon.  Bird feels left out and wants to join in.  When Balloon disappears (pops actually), Bird and Bear then become friends.

 

Raindrop Plop! by Wendy Cheyette Lewison and illustrated by  Pam Paparone is a counting book told in rhyming text.  The little girl journeys outside and the counting goes from 1-10…..until it rains too much then she runs inside and the counting goes backwards.  A fun story I am looking forward to reading at storytime!

 

Little Red Gliding Hood by Tara Lazar  and illustrated by Troy Cummings is a “fractured fairytale”…or in my words a fairytale twist…..Super great illustrations and fun text tell the story of Little Red who wants to take part in an ice skating competition but she doesn’t have a partner.  Her Granny makes all kinds of suggestions and then one day Little Red meets Wolf out on the ice.  Will he eat her?  Will he follow her back to Granny’s house?  Will they become friends?  This is a little wordy for me to read at a storytime but it is worthy of getting added to the the collection at school!