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Showing posts from August, 2019

Three Bird Summer

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by Sara St. Antoine Lexile:  720 Genre:  Realistic Fiction Adam knows that this summer on Three Bird Lake is going to be different.  His parents have gotten divorced which means his uncle and cousins won't be there to hang around with.  He will be alone with his grandma and his mom for the whole summer.  Things also feel different because he can sense that his grandma is changing.  She no longer drives her car and seems to be having a hard time remembering things.  And then the little notes start to appear...first Adam thinks that he just didn't notice them before, but then he begins to suspect that his grandmother is leaving them for him.  But what do they mean?  He enlists of the help of his new friend, Alice, to see if together they can figure out the mystery.

Alma and How She Got Her Name

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by Juana Martinez-Neal 2019-20 Star of the North Nominee Alma Sofia Esperanza Jose Pura Candela has the longest name in the world!  Why did her Daddy give her so many names?  Her Daddy explains the meaning and the person behind each of her names so that Alma can understand who she is.  But he has no story for the name Alma, because she is the first Alma in their family and she will get to write her own story.  What is the story of your name?  What story would you like to tell?

The Day You Begin

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by Jacqueline Woodson Illustrated by Rafael Lopez 2019-20 Star of the North Nominee There are lots of reasons why children might feel different when they walk into school.  Maybe it's the clothes they wear, the style of their hair, the language the speak, or what they've packed in their lunchbox.  It's not easy to be different, but this book celebrates those differences.  Differences can bring us together as we learn and grow and share our stories.

The Good for Nothing Button

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by Charise Mericle Harper 2019-20 Star of the North Nominee Hey look!  Yellow Bird has a button.  What does his button do?  NOTHING!  Red Bird presses it.  Blue Bird presses it.  What good is a button that does NOTHING?  Read this story and find out!

Crash, Splash, or Moo!

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by Bob Shea 2019-20 Star of the North Nominee It's time to play Crash, Splash, or Moo!  This game show style book has you guessing...will each action stunt result in a crash, splash or moo?  Guess right and you win a banana!  If you guess them all correct you will win the amazing secret prize...read this book to win!

The Honeybee

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by Kirsten Hall and Isabelle Arsenault 2019-20 Star of the North Bzzzzz....what is that noise? It's getting louder and louder and coming closer and closer...why, it's a honeybee! What is it looking for?  Flowers and sweet nectar.  The bees drink and drink until they've had their fill and then off to the hive they go.  The bees are busy at work all day long.

Drawn Together

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by Minh Le Illustrated by Dan Santat 2019-20 Star of the North Nominee When you don't speak the same language as someone, you have to get creative if you want to communicate.  Television isn't working, speaking isn't working, but what about drawing?  Grandpa and his grandson finally find something they can communicate through.  As their art comes to life, they realize that they have more in common than they first thought!

Bowwow Powwow

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by Brenda J. Child Translation by Gordon Jourdain Illustrations by Jonathan Thunder 2019-20 Star of the North Nominee Windy Girl has quite the imagination.  She loves to think about the stories that her Uncle has shared with her about long-ago traditions.  Uncle takes her to a powwow where she is able to watch the dancers, listen to singers, and taste the amazing food.  The powwow wears her out and she falls asleep and has the most incredible dream...

John Deere That's Who!

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by Tracy Nelson Maurer Illustrated by Tim Zeltner 2019-20 Star of the North Nominee Have you ever wondered who changed the way farmers work?  John Deere, that's who!  He spent years working hard to build a successful life for his family.  First he started as a blacksmith and spent his time fixing pots, and pans, and plows.  He kept fixing plows over and over again.  Surely there could be a better way to design a plow that wouldn't break as often?  John worked and worked, tried many different designs until finally...success!

We Don't Eat Our Classmates

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by Ryan T. Higgins 2019-20 Star of the North Nominee It's Penelope the dinosaur's first day of school and she can't wait to get there!  She has a new backpack and a lunch box filled with 300 tuna fish sandwiches.  Penelope is worried about making friends, especially when she shows up and school and finds out that all of her classmates are CHILDREN!  Children are so tasty, but Penelope's teacher tells her she is not allowed to eat her classmates.  Will Penelope be able restrain herself?

Can I Be Your Dog?

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by Troy Cummings 2019-20 Star of the North Nominee Arfy is a dog out on his own looking for a forever home so he writes letters to everyone on Butternut Street to see if someone would be willing to take him in.  But letter after letter is returned with the answer of "No."  Poor Arfy....will he ever hear "Yes" and find his forever home?

Chester Nez and the Unbreakable Code: A Navajo Code Talker's Story

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by Joseph Bruchac Illustrated by Liz Amini-Holmes 2019-20 Star of the North Nominee As a young boy, Chester Nez was sent to a boarding school where he was instructed to use only English and to forget his native Navajo language because it was useless.  Chester struggled with this as he felt strong ties to his Navajo language and culture.  He did his best to navigate both worlds and both languages.  When the United States entered WWII, the military needed a new code to communicate with its forces around the world. They needed a code that could not be broken.  After many unsuccessful attempts, someone suggested using the Navajo language.  Chester became a code talker and he and others in Platoon 382 helped win WWII.

Crunch

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by Leslie Connor Lexile:  490 Genre:  Science Fiction No one was prepared for the Crunch, least of all Dewey Marriss and his family.  The Crunch has resulted in a fuel shortage and now his parents are stranded out on the road and Dewey and his siblings will have to figure things out on their own.  Dewey's dad runs a small bike shop out of their old barn, and now that no one can use their cars, the bike shop is suddenly overwhelmed with customers.  Dewey and his brother do their best to keep things running, but as the Crunch goes on day after day, things are getting tougher.  Supplies are running low, items are mysteriously disappearing...is the Crunch bringing out the worst or the best in people?