Welcome to Windows & Mirrors, where we feature books that provide us windows to lives outside our own and mirrors to our shared common human experiences. I’m happy to be able to talk about ONE TRUE WAY by Shannon Hitchcock. This is the story of Allie Drake, a middle school girl figuring out how she fits into the world. Welcome to Daniel Boone Middle School … Continue reading Windows and Mirrors: ONE TRUE WAY
Welcome to Windows & Mirrors, where we feature books that provide us windows to lives outside our own and mirrors to our shared common human experiences. Today we are featuring Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed. Amal lives in a quiet, ordinary Pakistani village. An excellent student who dreams of being a teacher one day, she loves school and hanging out with her family and friends. But … Continue reading Windows & Mirrors: AMAL UNBOUND
You might remember Wendy from an interview last year when her debut IT’S A MYSTERY PIGFACE! hit the shelves. Well, she’s at it again with book two, THE FRAME-UP. How did you know that the idea for THE FRAME-UP was your next book and how did it all come about? I struggled a bit to decide what I would write next, and one night, … Continue reading THE FRAME-UP with Wendy McLeod MacKnight
Today we’re featuring The Heart and Mind of Frances Pauley by April Stevens This novel does so many things well (see reviews below), and there are many layers to explore, but a particularly wonderful one is what it’s like to have an extra-inquisitive, quirky mind. I taught in a classroom for highly gifted children, as well as a regular education room, and the label “gifted” … Continue reading Book Recommendation: The Heart and Mind of Frances Pauley
Welcome to Windows & Mirrors, where we feature books that provide us windows to lives outside our own and mirrors to our shared common human experiences. Today we’re featuring Front Desk by Kelly Yang! Fifth-grader and immigrant Mia lives with her Chinese parents in a small room at the Calivista Hotel. When they arrived in America, they expected to work hard but they had … Continue reading Windows & Mirrors: Kelly Yang’s FRONT DESK
Dear The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher, I’ve been working on a series of posts on books that shaped me, and this month, I want to highlight Dana Alison Levy’s THE MISADVENTURES OF THE FAMILY FLETCHER. The Fletchers are a two-dad, four-son, two-to-four-pet household. The brothers are all adopted. Two are white, one is African-American, and one is Indian. The best part is that all … Continue reading Dear The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher
The gorgeous cover of THE INVENTORS AT NO. 8 by debut author A.M. Morgen pulled me in immediately. Imagine my delight when I realized it was a middle grade #STEM historical adventure fantasy starring Ada Lovelace and written by a NC author! Like a moist, delicious piece of chocolate cake, I ate it up much faster than I wanted to! The Inventors at No. 8 publishes … Continue reading Interview with debut author A.M. Morgen: The Inventors at No. 8
No matter who you are and where you live, you have to admit there are problems in every country and the world. They are individual and global issues, and each one affects us differently. You may be passionate about gun violence, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, Black Lives Matter, poverty, war, global warming, or hundreds of other issues. Even looking at just one and what it … Continue reading Book Recommendation: How I Resist: Activism and Hope For the Next Generation
I’ve been a fan of Stacy McAnulty’s picture books and chapter books for years now. Last September, I got the opportunity to read the manuscript for her latest book, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl. I set aside the other books I was reading and devoured it in exactly 1.0000 sittings. Lucy, a.k.a. Lightning Girl, is a once-struck-by-lightning middle-school math savant with a serious case of OCD. … Continue reading Stacy McAnulty Interview: The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl
Welcome to Windows & Mirrors, where we feature books that provide us windows to lives outside our own and mirrors to our shared common human experiences. Today we’re featuring Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes. Jewell Parker Rhodes is the author of now five wonderful middle-grade books. Ninth Ward, a Coretta Scott King honor book, Sugar, winner of the Jane Adams Peace Association book award, Bayou … Continue reading Windows & Mirrors: Ghost Boys
Publisher’s Description Will didn’t plan to eat a stinkbug. But when his friend Darryl called new kid Eloy Herrera a racial slur, Will did it as a diversion. Now Will is Bug Boy, and everyone is cracking up inventing insect meals for him, like French flies and maggot-aroni and fleas. Turns out eating bugs for food is a real thing, called entomophagy. Deciding that means … Continue reading Recommended: BOY BITES BUG by Rebecca Petruck
April is National Poetry Month, so Windows & Mirrors is back with another great list of books by under-represented voices. This time, in verse. The Poet X This new release by Elizabeth Acevedo is taking the publishing world by storm, debuting on the New York Times best seller list. This story about a young poet who dreams of performing all the poems in her notebook … Continue reading Windows & Mirrors – Celebrating National Poetry Month
