​Good in the Midst of Evil
Written by Dana Fast and Yvona Fast

If you’ve wondered what it’s like to live in the Ukraine, first with the Russian invasion, and now amidst the fog of war, you need to read this book. It’s not about the Ukraine. It’s about what happened in Poland in 1939 when the Nazi’s invaded, and afterward when they conquered and controlled the country.
 
It’s an unusual book, written by the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. This is her mother’s story, of how she escaped danger over and over again. It stalked her, no matter where she hid. Imagine changing your name, your personality multiple times as a child, to hide, so that you could survive.
 
The Ukrainians are paying a huge price for their defiance. Dana Fast told her daughter about the price she paid to survive, and eventually to thrive. It opened my eyes to the history of the past, and to how it’s repeating today.

​Lola Levine
Written by Monica Brown
Illustrated by Angela Dominguez
Age Level: 6 - 10
Grade Level: 1 – 5

Lola Levine is such a great character! Part Jewish; part Peruvian. She writes in a journal and plays soccer. She’s a big sister who doesn’t get along with her little brother, but she helps him with his hair and his kindergarten girlfriend.
 
So who said Lola was mean? The mean girls at school, all because she took out a boy in a soccer game. Sometimes that happens! My favorite part, Lola doesn’t ask for help. She even writes mom a note saying she’ll take care of it herself, and she does. Lola is a great character!
 
PS- This is Book 1, and now there are 8!

​Critical Thinking: Activities for Kids
Written by Taylor Lang, M.ED.
Age Level: 6 - 8
Grade Level: 1 – 2

I flipped through this book and loved what I saw…six chapters broken into themes for kids, like zoos. Each one has critical thinking activities. Here’s an example from the chapter on outdoors. Can your child divide a square into nine boxes, using only three shapes to form a diagonal? Your job is to use only those three shapes, but you can’t put the same ones into one row or into one column. Tricky! This book is a great tool to keep your kids thinking, no matter the season.

​Take a Shot, Kipp (Ellie & Co.)
Written by Lee Y. Miao
Age Level: 8 - 12

​I’ve read and reviewed the other two books in the Ellie & Co series. They’re good, but this is my favorite. The author has a great middle grade voice, but Kipp is her best character, so far. His voice is spot on. He’s a kid who is SO into lacrosse. I’m not, but I learned a lot about the game. My favorite scenes, the ones where Kipp interacts with his parents and sister. They are SO good! Kipp even checks out one of those Dummy books; this one is for kids who want to understand their dads. What a great plot idea! Kipp’s big problem, he wants to join a lacrosse travel team. Will he or won’t he make it? You’ll have to read to find out!

​Rebellion 1776
Written by Laurie Halse Anderson
Age Level: 10 - 14
Grade Level: 5 –9

I was expecting a book about the Revolution, but not one starring a 13 year old main character, Elsbeth. I didn’t expect that smallpox would have a starring role in this story either.
 
It begins as the Siege of Boston ends. General Knox dragged in cannons and begins firing on the British. Within days they leave, and so does Elsbeth’s father. He fixes the sails on ships, and his daughter doesn’t know what happened to him. As for the rest of her family, they all died from the smallpox. Elsbeth is the only survivor. Her father already had it so he has immunity.
 
Elsbeth is working as a maid-of-all-work for a Loyalist, then a jailed Patriot. She survives at age 13 by working hard and making good decisions. As the story develops, she finds herself working for a large family of Patriots. Smallpox epidemics raged in those days, but Boston invites doctors in to inoculate anyone who wants it done.
 
The How—Doctors  used something like a knife, a thread, a bandage, and fresh pus from a wound. (I know, gross, but this was 1776.) Then you waited for the infection to take hold. That’s where Elsbeth comes in again. With immunity, she can care for the whole family without fearing for her own health. If you’d like to know how this story turns out, you’ll have to read it for yourself.

​The Endling #1 – The Last
Written by Katherine Applegate
Age Level: 9 - 11
Grade Level: 3 - 7

If you love fantasy, you’ll love this novel! When I read it, only Book 1 existed, and I remember wanting more. I’m glad it’s now part of a series of three novels.
 
Book 1 is a classic quest with three hooks to reel you into the story. The first, a dog-like species who have been hunted to death and might go extinct. Byx thinks she’s the last of the Dairnes so she goes on a quest to see if it’s true. That’s the second hook. She’s heard a rumor some are hidden away. And the final hook, the friends, allies, and enemies Byx meets as she searches through a war-torn kingdom for another Dairne. Another creature who looks like her.

​The Door by the Staircase
Written by Katherine Marsh
Illustrated by Kelly Murphy
Age Level: 7 – 12
Grade Level: 3 - 7

If you like folk tales, check out this story. Baba Yaga is a famous Russian witch who decides to come to America. She’s changed her mode of operation, a little. She now adopts orphans, leaves them in the woods to scare them, and then eats them for dinner. That changes when she meets Mary Hayes, an orphan, who’s more than a match for Baba Yaga. This story is full of Russian flavors, including the food!

​Why Longfellow Lied: The Truth About Paul Revere’s Ride
Written by Jeff Lantos
Age Level: 8 -12
Grade Level: 3 – 7

​This is an interesting read…except I’d change the title…How Longfellow Decided to Retell Paul Revere’s Story. The first one is catchier; that’s why Jeff Lantos used it. That’s what Longfellow did when he shared Paul’s story. He kept the story moving, with great page turns. He didn’t worry about accuracy. He cared more for the words.
 
Jeff cared for all of the above, and he took an interesting approach to his version of Revere’s story. The prologue grounds you in dates like April 1775 when Revere took his ride, and April 1860 when Longfellow started writing. In the rest of the book, Jeff breaks the poem apart section by section. Then he tells you what’s true, what’s not, and why Longfellow made the choices he did. Personally I found Jeff’s factual retelling more compelling than Longfellow’s. If you want to learn more about Lexington, Concord, and the men who took part in those battles, check out this book!

My Brother Sam is Dead
Written by James Lincoln Collier
                                    & Christopher Collier
Age Level: 10 – 12

If you want to travel back in time to the American Revolution, check out this book. It comes at the war from a different angle – the home front. When Sam, the oldest son comes home from college, he’s wearing an American uniform. His father is a staunch loyalist. After a heated argument, Sam runs off to war, taking the family gun with him. His little brother Tim and their mother are stuck between them.
 
The story follows their effort to survive the year following Lexington and Concord, the Declaration of Independence, and the British invasion of New York. A cattle drive to Verplancks Point on the Hudson River turns into a nightmare. His father is kidnapped. Sam has to make it home alone with the wagon and oxen. He and his mother must run the family tavern together. As for Sam, he’ll meet his end in a tragic way. No one escapes war – not those on either side. Or the ones stuck in the middle. If you want to picture what their life was like during those fateful days, this is the book for you. Check out the back matter to discover the research that went into its pages.

​The Red Umbrella
Written by Christina Diaz Gonzalez
Age Level: 10 - 13
Grade Level: 5 - 7

When I saw the red umbrella, I thought Mary Poppins, but this story is so different, yet so relevant for kids today. Lucia and her little brother live in Cuba. Their story begins as Fidel Castro and the Communists come to power. The changes Castro made were not positive, especially for children. I was horrified by them. They were so terrible that Cuban parents sent their children out of the country, alone, without a chaperone. I can’t imagine as a parent of three, and now a grandparent, how hard that choice must have been. The program’s name, Operation Pedro Pan.

This story starts in Cuba, but as conditions worsen, Lucia’s parents find a way to send them to America. Most of the story takes place here, in Florida where the kids go first. Then in Nebraska, where they’re ‘adopted,’ until their parents can finally get out of Cuba. I won’t tell you how it ends, but I can tell you there’s a happy ending, my favorite kind!