Blog Archives

A Handful of Stars by Cynthia Lord

7/13/2020

👍👍👍
🤔

Scholastic Inc., 2017

Summary:
When Lily's blind dog, Lucky, slips his collar and runs away across the wide-open blueberry barrens of eastern Maine, it's Salma Santiago who manages to catch him. Salma, the daughter of migrant workers, is in the small town with her family for the blueberry-picking season. After their initial chance meeting, Salma and Lily bond over painting bee boxes for Lily's grandfather, and Salma's friendship transforms Lily's summer. But when Salma decides to run in the upcoming Blueberry Queen pageant, they'll have to face some tough truths about friendship and belonging. Should an outsider like Salma really participate in the pageant -- and possibly win?
Mrs. Lopez's Take::
This book was a thought provoking story about identity and understanding prejudices by changing perspective. This was an interesting story of a developing friendship, with interesting characters. However, I do think it oversimplified the idea of overcoming prejudice by just scratching the surface of the issue.

7/13/2020

👍👍👍👍
🙂😬😭

HMH Books for Young Readers; 2006

Summary:
Ten-year-old Comfort Snowberger has attended 247 funerals. But that's not surprising, considering that her family runs the town funeral home. And even though Great-uncle Edisto keeled over with a heart attack and Great-great-aunt Florentine dropped dead--just like that--six months later, Comfort knows how to deal with loss, or so she thinks. She's more concerned with avoiding her crazy cousin Peach and trying to figure out why her best friend, Declaration, suddenly won't talk to her. Life is full of surprises. And the biggest one of all is learning what it takes to handle them.
Mrs. Lopez's Take:
This is a beautiful story with a fantastic main character that you cannot help but fall in love with. Comfort has a very witty take on life and the events around her. I found myself laughing at loud at some parts of the story.. Be warned! I sobbed like a baby and needed to take a break from the book at one point. I'm not a fan of books that make me sob, but because the rest of the book was so wonderful and well written, it was worth the twisting my heart and my stomach painfully.

7/13/2020

Scholastic Inc., 1938
👍👍👍👍👍
😁

Summary:
More than 60 years have not dated this wonderfully absurd tale--it still makes kids (and parents) laugh out loud. Poor Mr. Popper isn't exactly unhappy; he just wishes he had seen something of the world before meeting Mrs. Popper and settling down. Most of all, he wishes he had seen the Poles, and spends his spare time between house-painting jobs reading all about polar explorations. Admiral Drake, in response to Mr. Popper's fan letter, sends him a penguin; life at 432 Proudfoot Avenue is never the same again. From one penguin living in the icebox, the Popper family grows to include 12 penguins, all of whom must be fed. Thus is born "Popper's Performing Penguins, First Time on Any Stage, Direct from the South Pole." Their adventures while on tour are hilarious, with numerous slapstick moments as the penguins disrupt other acts and invade hotels. Classic chapter-a-night fun
Mrs. Lopez's Take:
This is a timeless, fun and funny story you are sure to enjoy. A must read!