Welcome to the CSLA Blog Monthly Book Review! I’m sure everyone is in the process of preparing for the start of school soon. We are all trying to figure out how to get books in the hands of our students, with many of us beginning in distance learning. Each month I will post two reviews – a fiction and a non-fiction book.
In the spirit of summer reading, I’d like to introduce “The Midnight Hour”, by Benjamin Read and Laura Trinder. This debut novel is both part fantasy and part mystery. The book begins with our heroine, Emily being sent to bed without dinner after a fight with her mother. When she wakes up the next morning, her mother has disappeared. After a week with no word, Emily’s father leaves at midnight to find her. Left alone, frightened and confused, Emily makes plans to search for her parents armed simply with snacks and a sleepy hedgehog friend in her pocket. The post office where her father works is only open at midnight. Soon Emily finds herself in a magical world, set in Victorian London, where it time is frozen at midnight. A magical Big Ben is all that prevents the enchanted creatures from this world from entering Emily’s present day London world.
In her search for her parents, Emily teams up with magical creatures, including a policeman with a secret of his own. Along her journey, Emily fights evil creatures, and fights to save her parents, and discover family secrets, including one of her own. This book is light-hearted, fun, with action-packed adventure, magical creatures, friendship and love. This book is a great addition for any library serving grades 4th through 8th grade.
My non-fiction pick of the month is “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You: A Remis of the National Book Award-Winning Stamped from the Beginning”, by Ibram X. Kendi, adapted by Jason Reynolds. If you haven’t read this book, you must. If it’s not in your library, go get it. Award-winner Jason Reynolds speaks at an easy level to which young readers can connect. He begins the book immediately by informing his audience that this is “not a history book”, connecting to his readers and pulling them in. The book makes clear what it means to be anti-racist, and proceeds to walk through history from the time of slavery, through present day. He explains the difference between assimilation and anti-racism and connects with readers as he takes a complicated topic, and relates it to both past and present, helping to make clear to readers the relevance and importance of this topic today.
This book is an essential read for any middle or high school student.
A little about me. My name is Jamie Baxter. I have worked at Tierra Linda Middle School/Mariposa Upper Elementary School in San Carlos for three years. In addition, I have been pursuing a Masters in Information Science with a concentration in School Librarianship online through Rutgers University. I am in my final semester and will then transfer my teaching credential to California and pursue the next phase of my journey. I love Middle School and hope to continue to serve this age group. I live with my three kids, a Tonkinese cat and my King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, Athena. When not reading, I enjoy needlepointing, teaching my daughter to quilt, and spending time with friends and family (socially distanced right now of course!)
If you have any books or topics you would like to see featured, please email me at mrsblibrarian@gmail.com. Feel free to suggest books or write your own review to be included. Make sure to include your name, school or location and anything you want to share about yourself or your library.
Jamie Baxter
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