June 2017 Round-Up

Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban

First Stories illustrated by Dan Taylor

Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen

Whose Hands Are These by Miranda Paul and illustrated by Luciana Navarro Powell

I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont and illustrated by David Catrow

The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher by Dana Alison Levy

Slugs in Love by Susan Pearson and illustrated by Kevin O’Malley

This Book Stinks! by Sarah Wassner Flynn

Because of an Acorn by Lola M. Schaefer and Adam Schaefer and illustrated by Preston Gannon

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

The Book that Dripped Bloog by Michael Dahl

I’m Trying to Love Spiders by Bethany Barton

 

Check out my reviews for the month of June! You can find links to all of these reviews in the Index!

Let me know in the comments below what books you want me to review next!

Review: Fish in a Tree

Review:

Fish in a Tree

Author: Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Publisher: Puffin Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2015

Source: Library

Ally Nickerson is called many names: freak, dumb, loser. The truth is that she is simply different, and she thinks she knows why. She has a problem which she tries desperately to conceal even though this secret “is like dragging around a concrete block” (pg. 69). Ally can’t read. No matter how hard she tries, she simply can’t make sense of those squiggly, little symbols.

So far she has been able to fool her teachers, though not without consequences which include regular visits to the principal. When her teacher goes on maternity leave, her substitute, Mr. Daniels – a grad student studying special education – discovers the truth. Ally is dyslexic. Ally begins to realize that different is not stupid.

The intriguing title comes from a quote that reminds us all of this fact: If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its life believing it is stupid.

This book celebrates students with all kinds of abilities. It explores the importance of friendship and family and offers hope to those who struggle academically. At the end of the book is a wonderful set of discussion questions and a journal of sketches of “impossible things.”

Check out Lynda Mullaly Hunt at: http://www.lyndamullalyhunt.com/