“The whole family heaved a sigh of relief. Siesta meant they could all go inside to their bedrooms. Turn on their cold air conditioners. Lie down on their cool, soft beds and close their hot, dusty eyes.” page 38
Good Luck Anna Hibiscus! by Atinuke, illustrated by Lauren Tobia. Kane Miller, EDC Publishing, Tulsa, OK, 2011. (First published in London, 2009.) Realistic fiction, 112 pages. Lexile: 590L . AR Level: 3.7 (worth 1.0 points) . NOTE: This is the third chapter book in the Anna Hibiscus series.
Anna Hibiscus and her large, loving family are back with four more stories in this third installment.
Good Luck, Anna Hibiscus! by Atinuke, illustrated by Lauren Tobia.
As I typically do with short story collections, I’ve commented on each piece below before including my thoughts on the book as a whole.
“For the rest of the day, Apollo seemed upset. He walked back and forth all over the house. He was worried about something. Astrid felt sorry for him.” page 32
Astrid and Apollo and the Puppy Surprise by V.T. Bidania, illustrated by Evelt Yanait. Picture Window Books, Capstone, North Mankoto, Minnesota, 2021. Early chapter book, 64 pages. Lexile: 490L . AR Level: 2.7 (worth 0.5 points) .
Twins Astrid and Apollo are about to have a birthday and they are each working on a surprise for the other. Astrid is sure that Apollo’s making her something just like the custom t-shirt she’s designing for him, but is he?
Astrid & Apollo and the Puppy Surprise by V. T. Bidania, illustrated by Evelt Yanait.
I’m so thrilled about this series. It’s one of the worst feelings to have a student request books about a kid like them and you can’t meet the request because the books literally haven’t been published. In most cases something similar can be found, but for one Hmong student, it was so challenging to find anything at all, let alone something at the right level and with good production quality and of interest to that particular child. When you add in the budgeting and invoicing and approval systems librarians have to go through to add unique books to their libraries, it wasn’t a great situation.
“Occasionally, I had let them down and apologized for doing so. However, most of the time their anger was obviously misplaced. That made it easier for me to learn the difference. Even though it was directed at me, it usually had everything to do with what happened to them in the past.” page 177
Dancing with a Porcupine: Parenting Wounded Children without Losing Your Self by Jennie Owens. Forever Homes Publishing, Kennewick, WA, 2019. Adult memoir, 238 pages. Not leveled.
The story of an adoptive mother’s journey parenting children with significant trauma.
Dancing with a Porcupine: Parenting Wounded Children without Losing Your Self by Jennie Owens.
Well. This book was recommended to me by a mental health professional a few years ago, and I dutifully added it to my TBR, but it wasn’t available in the library system and there wasn’t much information about this book online yet. So there it sat for years until I came across it again and decided to give it a try.
The book has a forward by Sherrie Eldridge, who wrote the classic 20 Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew decades ago. There is also an introduction by Kristin Berry, who has some books relating to foster care as well (although I haven’t read or reviewed any of hers yet).
Colorful Book Reviews 