Our World: Australia
by Maree McCarthy Yoelu
An Australian family have a perfect day fishing, playing at the beach, grilling out, and playing cricket! In the evening, they visit a food booth to eat traditional food. They fall asleep listening to the kookaburras laughing in the trees.
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Ship of Theseus
by J.J. Abrams, Doug Dorst (Goodreads Author), V.M. Straka (Attributed Author)
This book within a book shows handwritten notes in the margins from Jen and Eric as they read the book text, speculating about the mystery surrounding the author. The main text of Ship of Theseus is the story of a man with amnesia who is shanghaied aboard a strange ship where time seems to move differently than on land. The sailors all have their mouths sewn shut and are unable to speak. The man discovers a vast plot that spans many years, where he becomes an agent trying to stop an evil warlord. Jen and Eric believe that the author, Straka, wrote the story as an allegory to represent certain world leaders and powerful businessmen, hoping to expose their evil deeds. As they get closer to the dangerous truth, they also becomes closer to each other.
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Jo & Laurie
by Margaret Stohl (Goodreads Author), Melissa de la Cruz (Goodreads Author)
In this alternate reality of Little Women, Jo March has just published her first novel and the publishers are clamoring for more stories about Jo and her sisters. They want Jo to write about the sisters meeting young men and getting married. But Jo isn’t even sure how her real life is going or what she wants from life, so how can she write about the fates of all her sisters? Jo and Laurie have always been best friends, but writing her next book brings up some emotional questions between the two of them and their relationship starts to change.
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The Chalice of the Gods (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #6)
by Rick Riordan (Goodreads Author)
5 out of 5 stars
Percy needs three recommendation letters from three gods in order to get into college with Annabeth next year. So he teams up with Annabeth and Grover for a few last quests to earn those godly recommendation letters. Their first task is to find the stolen cup of Ganymede, Zeus’ cup bearer. There are a few likely suspects among the minor gods, and of course Percy will have to battle monsters and outwit immortals in order to find the cup and restore it to Ganymede. All while trying to pass his regular school classes.
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Basil in the Wild West (Basil of Baker Street, #5)
by Eve Titus
Basil and his faithful friend, Dawson, are travelling from Mexico into the American West. They hear about a gang of smugglers who are stealing ancient artifacts from Mexico, smuggling them across the border disguised as ordinary souvenirs, and then selling them on the black market. A desperate hotel owner begs Basil to visit the Grand Canyon where their hotel is being terrorized by a mysterious “Thing”. Basil and Dawson travel through various areas of the Wild West, helping other creatures and solving mysteries along the way.
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Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree (Aunt Dimity Mystery, #16)
by Nancy Atherton
Lori’s father-in-law, William, has just moved into his newly-renovated ancient home, where he discovers an old painting of some sort. He sends it to be restored, and a family tree is discovered hiding under years of grime. But the painting is stolen before any names can be identified on the family tree. Meanwhile, Lori’s neighbor, Sally Pyne, is in desperate need of help and she turns to William, hoping that his expertise as a lawyer will help her out of a pickle. But the whole family gets involved in helping Sally to lie to the entire village! Lori is also very suspicious of William’s new housekeeper and groundskeeper. Could they be hiding something nefarious? Lori will need Aunt Dimity’s wisdom every step of the way!
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The Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame, Abridged by Lou Peacock, Kate Hindley (Illustrations)
I really liked this adaptation of Wind in the Willows. The story is condensed and simplified for a young audience, but still captures the charm of the original and has most of the main plot points. The editor did a great job abridging the story, but still keeping the integrity and grace of the original.
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My First Lift-The-Flap Nursery Rhymes
by Ingela P. Arrhenius (illustrator)
These familiar nursery rhymes are made special by the inclusion of lift-the-flap designs that reveal a cute character or animal behind them. The reader can find Little Bo Peep’s sheep hiding behind a bush. The piggy that stayed at home is reading a book by a cozy fire. An energetic cow jumps over the moon. A spider is revealed inside Miss Muffet’s bowl of curds and whey. An elephant and fox row row row their boat. Humpty Dumpty takes a terrible fall behind the wall on the largest flap.
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Transported: 50 Vehicles That Changed the World
by Matt Ralphs, Rui Ricardo (Illustrations)
This book gives information about 50 amazing vehicles, including boats, cars, planes, motorcycles, chariots, wagons, rockets, and bicycles. It’s really amazing to see how history has changed over the centuries and especially in the last one hundred years just because of mankind’s ability to travel.
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A History of the World in 25 Cities (British Museum)
by Tracey Turner, Andrew Donkin, Libby VanderPloeg (Illustrator)
This book goes through history, giving information about different cities around the world at their height. We start with Jericho and end with Tokyo. There are ancient cities that now lie in ruins, old cities that kept getting renewed and rebuilt through the centuries, and modern cities that are comparatively young.
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Luminous Libro 