Sarah Ellis
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Review of The Runaways
The Runawaysby Ulf Stark; illus. by Kitty Crowther; trans. from the Swedish by Julia MarshallPrimary, Intermediate Gecko 134 pp.4/19 978-1-77652-33-5 $17.99Paper ed. 978-1-776572-34-2 $11.88The portrait of old age and infirmity in this Swedish import is considerably more unvarnished than we’re used to in books for children. Grandpa is no lovable...
Review of I Am Hermes!: Mischief-Making Messenger of the Gods
I Am Hermes!: Mischief-Making Messenger of the Godsby Mordicai Gerstein; illus. by the authorPrimary, Intermediate Holiday 72 pp. g4/19 978-0-8234-3942-3 $18.99e-book ed. 978-0-8234-4203-4 $11.99Following I Am Pan! (rev. 5/16), here comes Pan’s father, Hermes, the messenger god, eager to tell his own story. This Hermes is handsome, insouciant, impulsive, and...
Review of The Little Barbarian
The Little Barbarianby Renato Moriconi; illus. by the authorPreschool Eerdmans 48 pp.8/18 978-0-8028-5509-1 $17.00The little barbarian strides in, page left. Armed with sword and shield, he mounts his handsome black steed and proceeds through a malevolent world. Spread after spread, he gallops over and under hazards and monsters — a...
Review of Saving Winslow
Saving Winslowby Sharon CreechIntermediate Cotler/HarperCollins 165 pp.9/18 978-0-06-257070-3 $16.99Library ed. 978-0-06-257072-7 $17.89e-book ed. 978-0-06-257073-4 $9.99Creech interweaves the stories of three fragile babies. Two strands are backstories, and one is front, center, present, and loud. Louie had been a premature baby. Now he’s eleven, but the family story of his infancy...
Review of The Book of Boy
The Book of Boyby Catherine Gilbert Murdock; illus. by Ian SchoenherrIntermediate, Middle School Greenwillow 278 pp.2/18 978-0-06-268620-6 $16.99e-book ed. 978-0-06-268622-0 $7.99Secundus is a pilgrim. A child, known simply as Boy, is a goatherd. Together they travel, master and servant, from France to Rome in the Holy Year of 1350. Each...
Five questions for Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Photo courtesy of Catherine Gilbert Murdock.In The Book of Boy (Greenwillow, 9–12 years), we meet a young goatherd accompanying the pilgrim Secundus on his quest for relics, traveling from France to Rome in 1350. Boy is on a quest of his own…and as readers gradually learn (and Boy learns with...
Review of Secret Sisters of the Salty Sea
Secret Sisters of the Salty Seaby Lynne Rae Perkins; illus. by the authorIntermediate Greenwillow 227 pp. g5/18 978-0-06-249966-0 $16.99e-book ed. 978-0-06-249968-4 $9.99Midway through this episodic tale of a family beach vacation, main character Alix and her mother visit a craft store. They are both charmed by the model train scenery,...
Review of The Creativity Project
The Creativity Projectedited by Colby SharpIntermediate Little, Brown 278 pp.3/18 978-0-316-50781-3 $16.99e-book ed. 978-0-316-50778-3 $9.99It’s a good premise. Forty-four contemporary children’s book people each contribute a writing prompt. Then each one responds to someone else’s prompt. The result is a combination anthology and inspiring craft manual. It’s diverse all ’round,...
Review of Wed Wabbit
Wed Wabbitby Lissa EvansIntermediate Fickling/Scholastic 246 pp. g2/18 978-1-338-18527-0 $17.99e-book ed. 978-1-338-18528-7 $10.99This inventive and surprising fantasy adventure begins when Fidge’s little sister Minnie runs into traffic and is seriously injured. Ten-year-old Fidge, who feels responsible for the accident, is then sucked into another world, Wimbley Land, a place that...