Original story by Mary Downing Hahn. Adapted by Scott Peterson, Meredith Laxton, and Russ Badgett A while back, I reviewed the original novel Wait Till Helen Comes, though when I first became aware of the title, it was as a graphic novel at a book fair. So of course I had to check out the […]
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Now that school’s out, I’m catching up on posting reviews of some of the easier reads I’ve read over the school year. I try to preview books that my daughter might be interested in reading. Having grown up in the age of dinosaur computers that ran The Oregon Trail game, this book appealed to me, […]
I picked up this book in a classroom one day while substituting for another class, and it was a super easy and fast read, but with complex themes that would be good for a reader in the coming-of-age years, someone confronting the drive to be independent of parents and their beliefs and someone examining their […]
Last year, this was the Loudoun County 1book1community pick, and I grabbed a copy after we had excess in our school library. I had forgotten about it until now. It’s about a seventh grader, so that gives you an idea about the target age range. To me, it was odd to choose a book for […]
I’ve wanted to read this book for a while now. The fictionalized film version of this story is one I’ve enjoyed, so I was glad to finally pick up this book that was written in the 1970s and has achieved bestseller status. The title refers to the events that happened in West Virginia in the […]
I received this book years ago as part of a promotion—it came with the purchase of another book which I cannot now remember. It’s a novella by Stephen King that also includes another short story called “Mortality.” The novella is told through a frame structure of an old-timer in a nursing home. He goes by […]
I came upon the graphic novel version of this story at a book fair at my kid’s school. When I went home to research it, I saw that it was originally a novel, so I gave it a shot. The novel is middle grade—meant for ages 8-12 or so—and tells the story of a blended […]
Like last week’s book pick, I chose to read this one after someone mentioned that it involved journalism. I thought it might be a good read to integrate into my journalism classes, at least in part. While that part of my hope fell short, it was a fun, quick read, even though the genre is […]
Sure, Christmas is over, but according to this book, as early as December 26, you can start planning your Christmas jar for next year. I learned about this book in the fall, when my daughter’s swim instructor heard I was an English teacher and invited me to hear a visiting author at their church. I […]
While shopping for holiday gifts for a raffle basket, I came across this book randomly at Walmart of all places. I read the first several pages while my kids were choosing books for the gift basket, and I fell in love with the artwork and the strong emotional hook (spoilers in the next paragraph, but […]
