When you are only one and a half millimeters tall, a tree can seem like the whole world, and ants, birds, and even rain drops can pose a big threat. The world is even more dangerous for Toby. A whole army of crooks is out looking for him, and with his parents held hostage and his friends turning on him, he quickly ends up alone.  Toby discovers that criminals are taking over the tree and exploiting all its resources. How can Toby save the tree and its people without getting caught?

The world Fombelle creates is delightfully creative and entertaining. Toby is constantly getting himself into scrapes that seem almost absurd from our height, but require bravery and ingenuity for tiny Toby to survive. 

Toby Alone by Timothee de Fombelle

Erica's Picks
4th - 6th Grade
Tags: Adventure, Fantasy, Humor

The Lady Lamorna wants a beautifully hideous new dress. A dress with skulls all along the hem and a motif of poison ivy with blood-red petticoats. There is only one problem: her supply of gold is running a bit low. So she conceives of a wonderfully awful plan to turn the princes of the neighboring kingdoms into frogs and then charge their parents for her potions to  return them to their royal selves. But people keep messing up her perfect plan: trueheart Gracie Gillypot, Gracie's evil stepsister, a fast-talking bat, and even one of the princes. Lamorna will make them regret interfering.  

I love the dark humour of this book and its fairy tale feel.  Fans of Lemony Snicket  will love this funny, fantastic series

The Robe of Skulls by Vivian French

Erica's Picks
3rd - 5th Grade
Tags: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Horror, Humor

Watching a stranger take his dying breath would scar most eleven year old girls for life. But Flavia de Luce is not your average eleven year old. Flavia isn't frightened by the corpse in her backyard, after all the summer had been pretty boring. A mystery is exactly what she needed. Without wasting any time she uses her chemical knowledge to see if she can determine the cause of death and takes off on her bike to uncover clues in town.

This aspiring chemist with a love of poisons and hatred of being called 'dearie' will worm her way into your heart as surely as a large dose of arsenic will stop it. The tongue-in-cheek humor had me laughing throughout and the details about stamp collecting were surprisingly interesting. Overall it was a superb quick mystery.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

Erica's Picks
6th - 8th Grade
Tags: Humor, Mystery

One summer Jane decides that she is ready for some adventure in her life, so she prays for adventures to come--one hundred of them to be precise. What follows is an unforgettable summer that changes her life forever. From hot-air-balloon rides to all-night car trips adventure follows her wherever she goes. Unfortunately, so does Trouble. 

This charming novel reminds me of the old Oscar Wilde quote: "When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.”  A great book for anyone looking for a realistic story full of summer adventures.

My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath

Erica's Picks
4th - 6th Grade
Tags: Character Driven, Contemporary Fiction, Family Life, Summer Vacation

Misaki has just moved to Tokyo, but she's already involved in the craze that's sweeping the city: Angelic Layer. These advanced robots born from eggs are far more than toys to those in the know. A headset transmits its controller's will to the robot, which determines how it fights in the ring. Misaki is new, but with the help of a mysterious scientist and her natural battle instincts she takes the world of Angelic Layer by storm. But who is her strange benefactor, and how long will her natural talent and luck last? In the layer, anything is possible. 


This series is full of great characters, fast action, humor, lessons about teamwork, and robot fight scenes with elaborate costumes. What more could you ask for?

Angelic Layer by CLAMP

Erica's Picks
5th - 8th Grade
Tags: Comics, Fast-Paced, Humor, People of Color, Science Fiction

Zeina was born into a civil war, and it is still raging on. Beirut is divided into the Christian East and the Muslim West, and Zeina lives in an apartment overlooking the demarcation line between them. She is used to the sounds of shelling and the constant blackouts. This day is different though. Her parents have gone out to visit her grandmother, and they haven't returned. It's not far, and it should be an easy trip, but even the simplest trip can turn deadly when snipers who fire at civilians are stationed on the roofs of the buildings. Her neighbors have gathered around to wait with her for her parents to return, and in the midst of tragedy they chat and laugh and live their lives. 

This comic is about people trying to live normal lives in extraordinary circumstances.The war is inescapable. It permeates every aspect of their lives in incredible ways. At one point someone takes out their wedding photos and describes how everyone had to run to the church amid sniper fire. The artwork is simple black and white drawings, but wonderfully creative and expressive. It's easy to read about a war and forget about the civilians and the children, committing acts of bravery all the time just by living. I'm glad that Abirached shared their story and hers with us.

A Game for Swallows: To Die, to Leave, to Return by Zeina Abirached

Erica's Picks
6th - 8th Grade
Tags: Biography, Comics, Family Life, Issues Fiction, People of Color

Tom's father died fighting for the Union Army and now Tom has to find a job to support his family. A small, thirteen-year-old like Tom can't afford to be picky, so when he's offered a job building a new ironcald ship under Captain Ericsson he takes it, even though everyone thinks Ericsson is crazy. No one can see how a ship made of metal could float. But the longer Tom works there, the more faith he has in Captain Ericsson and his ironclad ship. And he's not the only one--spies are coming at him to try and steal their technology. Should he take their money and betray the Union his father died fighting for, or should he risk sailing on the iron ship and hope that he doesn't end up on the bottom of the sea?

Iron Thunder is full of fascinating details on the building of the Monitor and its famous Civil War battle against the Merrimac. Pages of headlines provide context and actual photographs and drawings from that period are mixed in with the illustrations for the story.  

Iron Thunder by Avi

Erica's Picks
3rd - 5th Grade
Tags: Adventure, Historical Fiction

After Will leaves his deaf school for a mainstream one, he has plenty of trouble just trying to fit in. So he stays on the sidelines, lip-reading from afar to see what the cool kids are talking about and writing it down with his own snarky commentary in a notebook. Then one of his classmates dies on a field trip. Was it a jealous friend? A jilted admirerer? A hired hitman? Will's notes and lip-reading abilities become valuable assets in his investigation. Will and his new friend are a far cry from the Hardy boys, but together they just may be able to find the killer--if they don't get killed first. 

Will is great a character.  It's easy to empathize with his outsider perspective and appreciate his snarky take on the conversations of the cool kids. Fans of the Hardy Boys who  are looking for something a bit darker will enjoy this novel. 

The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin by Josh Berk

Erica's Picks
7th & 8th Grade
Tags: Contemporary Fiction, Friendship, Humor, Mystery, School Stories

Ash should have known better. Perhaps she would have if her mother had lived long enough to teach her the old ways. But her mother did not live and Ash did not hear her warnings,  so she spent nights by her mother’s graveside, attracting the attention of fairies. Fairies may be beautiful, but they can also be deadly. Ash doesn’t care though. When her father died soon after her mother, she was sent to live as a servant to her stepmother and stepsisters. When life is barely worth living, you don't mind a little danger. Then, Ash meets someone who makes her glad to be alive. She risks it all for one night of happiness, for a ball.

Reading Ash was like discovering the Cinderella story all over again. The world was similar to the classic fairy tale setting, but far richer. I'd give this to fans of fairy tales retold.

Ash by Malinda Lo

Erica's Picks
6th - 8th Grade
Tags: Character Driven, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, LGBTQ, People of Color, Retellings, Romance

World War I marked the beginning of modern warfare, but its commanders still used the old war tactics. The results were disastrous. Soldiers were stuck in mud-filled trenches full of disease, afraid to lift their head above the edge for even a second for fear of being struck down by a sharpshooter. The two sides would exchange grenades and fire and occasionally be ordered out on doomed charges. Yet surrounded by death and violence, peace triumphed for a brief period. On Christmas Day 1914, hundreds of thousands of soldiers defied orders and laid down their arms to meet their enemies in the no-man's land between the trenches and celebrate together.

Murphy details the events leading up to World War I in a clear way. His descriptions are compelling and it is an excellent read all around. The ample excerpts of letters and photographs from the time help to give an authentic sense of the events.  I'd give this to kids looking for a narrative nonfiction book with an interest in history.


Truce: The Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting by Jim Murphy

Erica's Picks
4th - 6th Grade
Tags: History, Nonfiction