Completely Full Bookshelf

Due to several time-consuming events that are all happening this and next month, I won't have a blog post for the next several weeks. I should have an MMGM post for Memorial Day (Monday, May 28), and I will also be holding a summer signed book giveaway, so be sure to check back soon!

For MMGM, I am recommending Snow Lane  by Josie Angelini. Here's the publisher's description: By turns harrowing and heartbreaking, this middle-grade novel tells a story of a family of nine kids and one very dark secret. Fifth grader Annie is just like every other girl in her small suburban town. Except she’s starting to realize that she isn’t. Annie is the youngest of nine children. Instead of being condemned to the bottom of the pecking order, she wants to carve out place for herself in the world. But it’s hard to find your destiny when the only thing you’re good at is being cheerful. Annie is learning that it’s difficult to be Annie, period, and not just because her clothes are worn-out hand-me-downs, and she suffers from a crippling case of dyslexia, but also because there are secrets in her life no one in her family is willing to face. In Snow Lane , Josie Angelini presents a story about a resilient girl who, in spite of many hardships, can still find light ...

For MMGM, I am reviewing Nightfall  (the sixth book in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series) by Shannon Messenger. Here's the publisher's description: Sophie and her friends face battles unlike anything they’ve seen before in this thrilling sixth book of the  New York Times   and  USA TODAY   bestselling Keeper of the Lost Cities series. Sophie Foster is struggling. Grieving. Scrambling. But she knows one thing: she will not be defeated. The Neverseen have had their victories—but the battle is far from over. It’s time to change tactics. Make sacrifices. Reexamine everything. Maybe even time for Sophie to trust her enemies. All paths lead to Nightfall—an ominous door to an even more ominous place—and Sophie and her friends strike a dangerous bargain to get there. But nothing can prepare them for what they discover. The problems they’re facing stretch deep into their history. And with time running out, and mistakes catching up with them, Sophie and her al...

After being sick one week and having a crazy Easter the next, I finally have a review! This week, I am reviewing The Magic Mirror  by Susan Hill Long. Here's the publisher's description: The twisty-turny journey of a girl searching for her heart’s desire—glimpsed in a magic mirror. Perfect for fans of Rump or Catherine, Called Birdy A foundling girl with a crooked leg and a crutch doesn’t expect life to be easy. Indeed, Maggie’s dearest wish is to simply not feel so alone. So when she spies a man behind bars in a magic mirror said to show one’s truest desire, she feels sure he is the father she’s always longed for—and she sets off on a quest to find him. Along the way, Maggie meets both kindly pilgrims and dastardly highwaymen. She discovers she bears a striking resemblance to the princess Petronilla. Their connection is so remarkable that Petra believes Maggie must be her lost sister who fell from the castle wall and was swept downriver as a baby. What a turn o...

I'm sick for the third time this year! :( Therefore, I don't have any posts for this week. I hope to be back with a post the Monday after Easter, so be sure to check back!

Just after its new movie adaptation has been released, I am recommending A Wrinkle in Time  by Madeleine L'Engle for MMGM (and including a bonus movie review below!). A Wrinkle in Time  revolves around a young girl named Meg Murry, whose father, a scientist, vanished several years before the book's events. When her younger brother, Charles Wallace, befriends three strange women (who turn out to be magic), both of the kids, along with a kind classmate from Meg's school named Calvin, end up going on a quest across the universe to find their father. I loved this book when I read it as a young kid (I was only about 5 or 6), and I still love it now! One of the best parts of the novel is how it is not like other fantasy or sci-fi books. Instead of filling the book with tons of background information about the universe and its workings, L'Engle instead gives just enough information to understand how the characters are traveling across the universe (or "tesseri...

For MMGM, I am recommending The Boy on the Porch  by Sharon Creech. Here's the publisher's description: Fans of Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech's Ruby Holler will love her latest tween novel about finding family when you least expect it. When a young couple finds a boy asleep on their porch, their lives take a surprising turn. Unable to speak, the boy Jacob can't explain his history. All John and Marta know is that they have been chosen to care for him. And, as their connection and friendship with Jacob grow, they embrace his exuberant spirit and talents. The three of them blossom into an unlikely family and begin to see the world in brand-new ways. The Boy on the Porch is a singular story about opening your heart and discovering home in unexpected places. I am a fan of several other books by Sharon Creech, and this novel did not disappoint! The "parents" in the story, John and Marta, do not have kids, so they are caught completely off gu...

For MMGM, I am recommending Tell Me  by Joan Bauer. Here's the publisher's description: Award-winning author Joan Bauer's latest novel is full of warmth, humor, hope, and a healthy dose of suspense The unofficial town motto is “Nothing bad ever happens in Rosemont” where twelve-year-old Anna has come to stay with her grandmother, Mim, hoping to forget her worries about her parents’ troubled marriage.  She’ll be busy with the town’s annual Flower Festival, a celebration with floats and bands that requires weeks of preparations. But before long, Anna finds herself involved in a very big problem. When she observes a girl her own age who seems to be being held against her will, Anna can’t forget the girl’s frightened eyes and she is determined to investigate. “When you see something, say something” she’s been told—but what good does it do to speak if no one will listen? Luckily, a take-charge girl like Anna is not going to give up. Told with Joan Bauer’s trademar...

For MMGM, I am recommending Rain Reign  by Ann M. Martin. Here's the publisher's description: From Newbery Honor author Ann M. Martin, who wrote the Baby-sitters Club series, comes a New York Times -bestselling middle grade novel about a girl, her dog, and the trials of growing up in a complicated and often scary world. Rose Howard is obsessed with homonyms. She's thrilled that her own name is a homonym, and she purposely gave her dog Rain a name with two homonyms (Reign, Rein), which, according to Rose's rules of homonyms, is very special. Not everyone understands Rose's obsessions, her rules, and the other things that make her different—not her teachers, not other kids, and not her single father. When a storm hits their rural town, rivers overflow, the roads are flooded, and Rain goes missing. Rose's father shouldn't have let Rain out. Now Rose has to find her dog, even if it means leaving her routines and safe places to search. L...

I have had to read yet another classic novel for school, so I've decided to review it this week. For MMGM, I am reviewing The House on Mango Street  by Sandra Cisneros. Here's the publisher's description: The best-selling coming-of-age classic, acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught in schools and universities alike, and translated around the world. The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Told in a series of vignettes—sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous—Sandra Cisneros’ masterpiece is a classic story of childhood and self-discovery. Few other books in our time have touched so many readers. Pros: The characters.  One of the best parts of The House on Mango Street  is the characters. The main character and narrator, Esperanza, is a true-to-life combination of a girl who tries to have fun...