MADreads Reviews

This picture book is based on a traditional Hawaiian story of an event that took place more than 700 years ago. The story of the healer stones of Kapaemahu has multiple versions and is a mix of history and legend. The picture book Kapaemahu is based on the earliest recorded version, written in Olelo Niihau and English.  

Lee knows big sisters. His big sister Zora is the boss. “I go wherever she goes, and we are home before dark. Those are the rules.” And today, Lee and Zora are going to the library… but not to get on the computer or to check out books, they are going to learn to sew from Ms. C, the librarian. There is a LOT to love in this book.

There are lots of ways to be strong. When Rob Kearney was a kid he was STRONG. He was able to lift heavy boxes and open jars with the tightest lids. He tried activities that tested his strength. His favorite sport was weightlifting and he felt mighty and powerful like a superhero!  In fact, he had dreams of becoming the strongest man in the world. 

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started Mirrorland for a recent Lakeview Mystery Book Group discussion other than it would likely be a dark suspenser - and it is that.**  But it's also a twisty puzzler of a book that keeps the reader off balance from first to last page.

Gigi's Ojiji, her grandpa, is coming from Japan to live with them and she could not be more excited. She has so many plans to do fun things together including playing tag, reading books and spending time with the family dog, Roscoe.  Unfortunately, things don't work out quite the way she imagined.

Azra and her family are having a regular evening when her father comes racing into their home, saying the whole family must leave immediately. Violence and turmoil have gotten out of control in their part of India because of colonial division wrought by the British. In their haste, they leave behind everything they own, including Azra's beloved doll, Gurya. Will she ever see her again? This story, suitable for elementary school children, sheds light on a time in Indian history that even parents and school teachers might not know a lot about.

I know you're out there. All those readers who helped make Travis Baldree's Legends & Lattes the biggest thing to hit fantasy fiction last year. If you're one of the many (like me) who ended that book with a sigh of delight and immediately began searching for other cozy fantasy to sustain you? Then look no further than Rebecca Thorne's entry into the sub genre, which has much (a lot, actually) in common with Baldree's novel.

Though Ann Leckie's new novel involves larger issues of political intrigue and is set in her Imperial Radch universe, the story is a more intimate one of self-determination and how identity is formed.

Molly is going to the park with her 2 moms and little brother Seth. Molly loves the park!! It’s pretty much her favorite place to go. Her excitement builds as she starts listing a few of the things she can’t wait to do once they get there. As they leave the house Molly is stopped dead in her tracks. Her neighbors the Credenzas have spotted her moms and now they are all going to start talking!! AHHH! This clever picture books is oh so relatable for any parent of a 3-6 year old. A 5 minute conversation with the neighbors can feel like an hours long ride on the boring train for little Molly.

Grandma is coming to visit at 2pm, but the house is a mess! Quick, everyone gets assigned their tasks, spelled out on the fridge with brightly colored alphabet magnets. Dad is in charge of dishes and mowing the lawn, Bobby has to mop the floor and rock the baby, Sarah needs to sweep the mat and feed the fish, and Daddy has to mow the lawn and ... bathe the cat.

In an era where thinking about the future is an increasingly depressing task, A Psalm for the Wild-Built was just the story I needed. This novella by modern-day sci-fi superstar Becky Chambers presents a wonderfully optimistic view of a future where humanity has learned to live in harmony with nature.

Told through the perspective of various family members Calling for a Blanket Dance follows the life of Ever Geimausaddle. Cherokee, Kiowa, and Mexican, Ever negotiates the many identities and perspectives in his family. From his father’s brutal beating at the hands of police to the quilts his grandmother hand sews to show her love, Ever learns to navigate a legacy of cultural trauma as he struggles to raise a family of his own. Oskar highlights native voices in this thoughtful and moving debut novel.

Mika Moon pretends to be a witch in her social media videos and enjoys the sense of community she has with her followers. But unbeknownst to those she's met online, Mika really is a witch. And no one can know. Primrose, the woman who raised Mika is very firm on the rules for witches. And rule number one is tell and show no one. That rule has led to a peripatetic life and no long-term connections for Mika. Until now. She’s received an email: Witch Wanted.

“All of us do things we wish we hadn’t done,” reads the first line of The Best of Iggy. Especially when we are 9 years old. Some things really aren’t so bad… we just wish we hadn’t gotten caught. Some things aren’t so bad… buuuuut we probably shouldn’t have taken things quite so far. But some things. Some things we just really really wish we hadn’t done. Iggy does all of these things, with all the hilarity you might expect. (This is a snort-laugh out loud while reading in public sort of book - be warned!)  But also with the humility and remorse that comes after.

Elena lives in Utuado, Puerto Rico with her Abuela, her Papi, and her younger brother Benito in the shade of a mango tree where she picks fruit for a snack and listens to the coquí frogs each night: 

CO-QUÍ, CO-QUÍ, CO-QUÍ

This adorable picture book series is about feeling like you are one thing when you may look like another. Kitty is sweet and little and fluffy and pink and feels like a unicorn. Nobody else thinks Kitty looks like a unicorn and this makes Kitty very sad. Until she meets a unicorn who thinks they look like a kitty! And so begins a friendship of mutual respect, understanding, and support about recognizing each other for who they are and seeing each other for what they want to be.

Also in this series:

"The kid is born with two shadows"

In spare, poetic language Marisa Crane draws you in from the first sentence and then holds your heart in their hands until the last page. They explore what it means to parent under the figurative shadows of loss and grief and the literal shadows imposed on their characters by a totalitarian government in this dystopian debut.

This picture book about the life cycle of a sunflower is beautiful in its simplicity. Each spread has just a few words - starting with "a seed falls" - accompanied by vibrant illustrations that take the reader from seed to flower and back to seed. A surprise fold out page halfway through mimics the height of a sunflower, and the back matter includes more details about the different parts of a sunflower seed and its plant, as well as what the seed needs to sprout.

"When Grandma walks to her special garden, we know to follow.This is the place where wonder grows and stories blossom."

I get some of the best book suggestions from the people who come into the library. I was helping a lady the other day who had a charge on her account for a lost book. Don't worry - she had just put it in the book return. She knew it was overdue, but her little one loved the book so much that they just couldn't stop reading it. With a recommendation like that - I just had to read it myself.

After reading Sometime Cake I understand why they had trouble returning it!