A March Bride. Rachel Hauck. 2014. 99 pages. Zondervan Books. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] What girl doesn’t dream of marrying a prince and becoming queen in a faraway kingdom? It’s literally the fairy tale most girls dream of from the time they’re old enough to speak. That wasn’t quite what Susanna, a girl-next-door from Georgia, thought she was getting when she started dating Nathaniel. However...
Prairie Anna. Peggy House. 2012. 112 pages. JourneyForth. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] Prairie Anna is a historical fiction novel that has Anna as its protagonist. She is the daughter of Russian immigrants who are trying to build a life in the prairies of Dakota. At only ten years old, Anna has a great deal of responsibility in helping her family survive, and throughout this book, she sees a great deal of hardship, incl...
Change the World Before Bedtime. Mark Kimball Moulton, Josh Chalmers, Karen Good. 2013. 32 pages. Schiffer Publishing. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] This book reminds me of the quote “Be the change you want to see in the world.” It is a story that shows what kids (and adults) can do to make the world a better place by engaging in small tasks that impact the people and community around them. Some lessons incl...
Maybe Baby. Andrea Smith. 2014. 500 pages. Meatball Taster Publishing. [Source: personal copy.] I wanted to like this book, but it fell short in a lot of ways for me. The premise was intriguing for me – Tylar has a strained relationship with a mom who was more interested in her own romantic life than the well-being of her child; her father was never in the picture. Now, she’s on her own and pursuing her dreams in equine scie...
Ladybugs Have Lots of Spots. Sheryl and Simon Shapiro. 2013. 24 pages. Annick Press. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] This is a cute and fun read for younger readers that focuses on shapes. It’s good to read to your child, but is also a fantastic start for emerging readers to try on their own. The rhyming scheme also helps with sounding out words they may not be familiar with....
