Book Review: The Burning Maze

The Burning Maze by Rick Riordan

The Burning Maze (The Trials of Apollo, #3)
by Rick Riordan (Goodreads Author)

4 out of 5 stars

Zeus punishes Apollo by turning him into a mortal human. Apollo must complete various trials and serve a demigod named Meg, so that he can regain his godly status. But Meg has a complicated relationship with her stepfather, the evil emperor Nero. In this third book, they are travelling with Grover the satyr to find the oracle imprisoned in the burning maze that is part of the Labyrinth. Anyone who enters the maze will fall into fire traps, but the fire is also burning aboveground in some places and causing wildfires throughout Southern California. The dryads and other nature spirits are suffering from drought and fire, and Grover vows to help them. They enlist Jason Grace and Piper McLean to help with their quest, but Jason and Piper have their own problems.

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Book Review: The Stolen Songbird

The Stolen Songbird by Judith Eagle

The Stolen Songbird
by Judith Eagle (Goodreads Author), Jo Rioux  (illustrator)

3 out of 5 stars

Caro is forced to stay with her strict Great Aunt Mary, who does not allow pets at her house. Caro smuggles in her adorable pet rabbit, but doesn’t realize that she has also smuggled in a stolen painting hidden in her mother’s old suitcase. The news is full of a gang of thieves operating around London, and Caro begins to suspect they might be after the painting. Caro and her friends vow to keep the painting safe and try to return it to the rightful owners. Horace is obsessed with fashion design, and Albie can knit anything, even a rabbit hutch or a rope ladder. Together they hope to track down the thieves, but Great Aunt Mary won’t let them leave the house without adult supervision. Caro plans to run away and have her own adventures without Great Aunt Mary frowning over her shoulder. But Caro discovers that she will need the support of all her family and friends if she wants to outsmart the gang of thieves.

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Book Review: Lizard Boy 2

The Most Perfect Summer Ever by Jonathan    Hill

The Most Perfect Summer Ever (Lizard Boy #2)
by Jonathan Hill 

5 out of 5 stars

Tommy has a secret. His family are actually lizard people trying to blend in with the human world. Tommy has to wear a human skin over his green lizard face.
It’s difficult trying to fit in, but Tommy has other non-human friends who have the same struggles. One of his human friends, Dung, is a Vietnamese boy who is dealing with culture shock and trying to learn English. They bond over their differences, discovering that you don’t have to be the same species to find something in common.

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Book Review: The Accidental Stowaway

The Accidental Stowaway by Judith Eagle

The Accidental Stowaway
by Judith Eagle (Goodreads Author),Kim Geyer (Illustrations)

3.5 out of 5 stars
Patch is a little girl who is roller-skating around town with Arturo, when he steals candy from a shop. While they are running from the cops, Patch follows Arturo onto a steamship right before it sets sail, and she accidentally becomes a stowaway. She makes friends who help to hide her aboard the steamship so that she won’t be caught by the steward and forced to work for her passage across the Atlantic. Patch quickly realizes that some of the other passengers are not exactly who they seem to be either. She and her friends must unravel the mystery of RMS Glorious before they reach New York in five days, or some dangerous criminals could get away.

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Book Review: Ruby Holler

Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech

Ruby Holler
by Sharon Creech

4 out of 5 stars

Dallas and Florida are called the “trouble twins” at the orphanage. When an elderly couple takes them in for the summer, they find a loving home where they are allowed to run and yell and play, unlike the abusive foster homes they have had in the past. The twins were planning to run away on the next freight train, but they gradually settle into the rhythm of life at the old cabin in Ruby Holler and discover that they are truly home.

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Book Review: The Lost Library

The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead

The Lost Library
by  Rebecca Stead, Wendy Mass (Goodreads Author)

4.5 out of 5 stars

Evan is intrigued when someone starts a Free Little Library and the books all appear to be old books from the library that burned down years ago. Evan begins to investigate who could have started the library fire and why these particular books were the only ones that survived the fire. He soon learns that many people in the town are unwilling to talk about the old library fire, and he wonders what they could be hiding.

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Picture Book Reviews: Our Marvelous Memory and Our Incredible Imagination

Our Marvelous Memory by Helena Haraštová

Our Marvelous Memory (How Your Brain Works)
by Helena Haraštová

5 out of 5 stars

Different parts of the brain work together to create our memories. Some memories are saved for the long-term, and some things we forget within minutes or days. Memories of physical motion are stored in the cerebellum, and the amygdala helps to store memories of emotions. There are explicit memories like facts and dates, and implicit memories like how to swim. The more often you recall a memory, the stronger it will be and easier to recall the next time.

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Picture Book Review: This Book is Too Quiet

This Book is Too Quiet! by Cristina Cubells

This Book is Too Quiet!: You add the noise…
by Cristina Cubells, Joana Casals (illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

In this book about sounds, the reader has to add all the sound effects! We visit a busy kitchen where cooks are whisking and popping corks and slurping spaghetti. A plate breaks, the water faucet gushes, and the reader has to create all the sounds!
We make sounds for rainstorms, fireworks, insects, and animals. But some of the sounds have to come from our own imagination. What would a fantastical cloud factory sound like? What would sound be like in outer space?

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Book Review: The Fire-Breathing Duckling

The Fire-Breathing Duckling by Frank Cammuso

The Fire-Breathing Duckling
by Frank Cammuso (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars

A dragon egg ends up in the nest with the duck eggs. When the baby dragon hatches, the mother duck raises him along with all the other ducklings. But this odd duckling can’t swim. He wonders if he might be more of an “oinking” duckling, so he tries to wallow in the mud with some pigs. He wonders if he might be a “mooing” duckling or a “clucking” duckling, so he tries to do what cows and hens do. When a predator threatens his family, this little dragon discovers that he is actually a Fire-Breathing Duckling!

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Book Review: Dragon of Cripple Creek

The Dragon of Cripple Creek by Troy Howell

The Dragon of Cripple Creek
by Troy Howell

3 out of 5 stars

When Kat falls down a mine shaft during an Old West tour in Colorado, she discovered a hidden cavern where a dragon is living on a pile of gold. She pockets a nugget of gold, but feels guilty about stealing from the dragon when he was so kind to show her the way out of the caves. Her family have called the police and rescue workers to search for her in the mines, and when they find her safe and sound, she accidentally drops the golden nugget in front of all the reporters. The story gets blown out of proportion and a new Gold Rush begins. Kat is afraid that she has put the dragon in danger, now that everyone wants a piece of the gold.

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