#VickPicks: July 2020
Time for some book love! Here are my PB/MG/YA/adult #VickPicks (yes, I just made that up) for July! Picture Book: We adore THE SECRET RHINO SOCIETY by Jonathan E. Jacobs and Samantha Cotterill — and check out this darling printable craft to go with it! Middle Grade: A WISH IN THE DARK, a gorgeous Les […]
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An Interview with Agent and PRINCESS JUNIPER Author Ammi-Joan Paquette
I’m thrilled to welcome my incomparable agent, Ammi-Joan Paquette, for an interview on the book birthday of her newest novel, Princess Juniper of the Hourglass. I got to hear Joan read an excerpt from this book recently, and now I’m devouring the rest. It’s wonderful, just like Joan herself! First, a little about the book, then on to […]
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Backyard Book Club: James and the Giant Peach Overview
The Backyard Book Club is back in action! For this month’s meeting, the kids read James and the Giant Peach, thanks to a request by one of our members. (Click here for the book spotlight with online resources and other ideas.) We started with a quick talk about what the kids loved best in the book, then went straight […]
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James and the Giant Peach
About the Book: When James accidentally drops some magic crystals by the old peach tree, strange things start to happen. The peach at the top of the tree begins to grow, and before long it’s as big as a house. When James discovers a secret entranceway into the fruit and crawls inside, he meets wonderful new […]
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The Ellie McDoodle Diaries: Have Pen, Will Travel
About the Book: One girl. One sketchbook. One week with the world’s most annoying relatives. When Ellie McDougal’s parents go out of town, she’s forced to go on a camping trip with her aunt, uncle, cousins, and baby brother, Ben-Ben. Ellie can handle mosquitos and poison ivy, but sharing a cabin with her crazy relatives? No […]
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Zero Tolerance
About the Book: Seventh-grader Sierra Shepard has always been the perfect student, so when she sees that she accidentally brought her mother’s lunch bag to school, including a paring knife, she immediately turns in the knife at the school office. Much to her surprise, her beloved principal places her in in-school suspension and sets a hearing for her expulsion, citing the […]
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Ida B
About the Book: Ida B. Applewood believes there is never enough time for fun. That’s why she’s so happy to be homeschooled and to spend every free second outside with the trees and the brook. Then some not-so-great things happen in her world. Ida B has to go back to that Place of Slow but Sure […]
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The Witches
About the Book: This Roald Dahl classic tells the scary, funny and imaginative tale of a seven-year-old boy who has a run-in with some real-life witches! “In fairy tales witches always wear silly black hats and black cloaks and they ride on broomsticks. But this is not a fairy tale. This is about REAL WITCHES. REAL […]
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Okay for Now
About the Book: As a fourteen-year-old who just moved to a new town, with no friends and a louse for an older brother, Doug Swieteck has all the stats stacked against him. So begins a coming-of-age masterwork full of equal parts comedy and tragedy from Newbery Honor winner Gary D. Schmidt. As Doug struggles to be […]
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Framed
About the Book: A few things to know about Dylan: He is the only boy in his entire town—so forget about playing soccer. His best friends are two pet chickens. His family owns the world’s only gas station/coffee house—their pies are to die for, but profits are in the hole. Criminal instincts run in his family—his […]