I loved Hummingbird because it is a wonderful middle-grade tale of hope, courage, adventure, and discovery.
The lyrical language and fresh metaphors sing from the pages as Olive sets out to live her dreams and forge new friendships along the way. Soaring, taking flight, singing, and other “bird” metaphors give a poetic and ethereal quality to the prose, making us cheer for Olive’s efforts and discoveries about herself and the world around her.
I love her intelligence and indomitable spirit. I also love the quirky names and personalities of supporting players: Jupiter, Hatch, Uncle Dash, and Kester.
From the bestselling author of A Snicker of Magic comes a heartfelt story about a girl who -- armed with her trusty, snazzy wheelchair -- refuses to let her brittle bone disease stand in the way of adventure
Twelve-year-old homeschooled Olive is tired of being seen as “fragile” just because she has osteogenesis imperfecta (otherwise known as brittle bone disease) so she’s thrilled when she finally convinces her parents to let her attend Macklemore Elementary. Olive can’t wait to go to a traditional school and make the friends she’s always longed for, until…
What does it mean to be a neighbor? What is it like to “wear the skin of another creature” and experience what they experience? Will the experience make one nobler, kinder, more generous? Or not.
This wonderful, magical story answers these questions and many more.
This is a story of greed and fear. Of suspicion and ignorance. But it is also a story of love and hope, kindness, and generosity. A story with an evil dragon, a kind and generous ogress, and a town full of people in need of a lesson on how to be good neighbors. A lesson a house of orphans and a murder of crows are determined to teach. There is so much to be learned in this amazing book.
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER from the Newbery Medal winning author of THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON
Stone-in-the-Glen, once a lovely town, has fallen on hard times. Fires, floods, and other calamities have caused the townsfolk to lose their library, their school, their park, and all sense of what it means to be generous, and kind. The people put their faith in the Mayor, a dazzling fellow who promises he alone can help. After all, he is a famous dragon slayer. (At least, no one has seen a dragon in his presence.) Only the clever orphans of the Orphan…
This middle-grade story is a clever and engaging page-turner that had me hooked from the first sentence: “You’ld think spitting up frogs would be a lot like the worst stomach flu you’ve ever had, but it’s surprisingly different.” Who wouldn’t want to read on after that hook?
There is so much that is fresh and original in this ghostly tale of power, charm, curses, and magic. The use of gemstones and their properties as chapter titles adds another layer of intrigue and originality to this kid-friendly and delightful story. Will there be a sequel? Sure hope so.
The Addams Family meets The Westing Game in this exhilarating mystery about a modern magical dynasty trapped in the ruins of their once-grand, now-crumbling ancestral home.
***Three Starred Reviews***
Twelve-year-old Garnet regrets that she doesn’t know her family. Her mother has done her best to keep it that way, living far from the rest of the magical Carrefour clan and their dark, dangerous mansion known as Crossroad House.
But when Garnet finally gets summoned to the estate, it isn’t quite what she hoped for. Her relatives are strange and quarrelsome, each room in Crossroad House is more dilapidated than the…
Jack misses his Dad, who is MIA in Vietnam. The last thing he wants to do is spend the summer with his grandparents.
Jack expects the worst summer of his life. The first summer without Dad, without friends, without his room, and all the things that remind him of Dad. Welcome to a summer of fishing, camping, bullies, and a fish who grants wishes. A fish that could be the answer to Jack’s problem. But when Jill makes wishes of her own, things don’t turn out the way they expected. Every wish has a consequence.
Will the fish grant Jack’s biggest wish? Will Jack be brave enough to ask?
