When I was teaching, I loved using picture books as teaching materials. The students were so entertained by the stories that they didn’t realize I was sneaking in important concepts! With these mysteries for young readers, teachers can show students how to pay attention to details and how to use organized problem-solving methods to get answers to questions and to solve mysteries. And kids will have lots of fun while learning about these methods – I guarantee it!
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Fans of The Great British Bake Off love Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith and their encyclopedic knowledge of all things baking, and with their new cookbooks, “Bake: My best ever recipes for the classics” by Paul Hollywood and “Bliss on Toast” by Prue Leith, we can join in on the baking and fill our homes with aromas of the delicious treats contained in the pages of these books.
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“Bad Day Breaking” is author John Galligan’s latest entry in his popular Bad Axe County series. While the title of the novel is “Bad Day Breaking,” the novel actually covers several really bad days for the local county head of law enforcement, Sheriff Heidi Kick. She is a native of the area, and that means that most everyone knows her troubled background. But now she’s married with children and loves her job as sheriff, even if the county board in charge of the sheriff’s department has saddled her with a deputy sheriff who is, at best, incompetent, and at worst involved in some extremely unsavory business. As the novel opens, that person is manhandling the “prophet,” a person leading what locals are calling a cult. The House of Shalah, as they call themselves, and the man leading them, whom they all call “father,” all live on land they purchased; the prophet and his wife in a motor home, the followers in a storage facility on the property. There is no running water or heat.
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We often read in the most salacious of news pieces that the scions of the ultra wealthy are prone to arrogance and delusions of grandeur. They act entitled, as if the laws and rules that apply to “normal” people don’t apply to them. And very often, they are correct. Those who fill our prisons aren’t necessarily those found guilty of criminal behavior but rather those who couldn’t afford top-notch legal representation to defend them in court. In “Overkill,” we see the result of being a criminal in a family so wealthy that they consider flying on their private jet the only way to travel. That criminal is Eban Clarke, the son in a filthy rich Atlanta family; and author Sandra Brown effectively contrasts him with the two main characters, Zach Bridger, a former pro football player who lives in a secluded home in the mountains of North Carolina, and Kate Lennon, an assistant state’s attorney on a mission. Zach and Kate, for reasons that will become clear, butt heads over the fact that Eban Clarke has been released precipitously from prison, and sparks ensue.
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If you enjoy learning about real historical events through gripping fiction, read “One Woman’s War: A Novel of the Real Miss Moneypenny” by Christine Wells. It’s about the famous WWII espionage operation called Operation Mincemeat. I first read about it in a children’s nonfiction book about spy stuff, and Netflix has a new movie, Operation Mincemeat, about that same scheme. The premise seems so outlandish that it’s brilliant. Take a dead body, dress it in a military uniform with identity papers, and handcuff a briefcase filled with real-looking secret documents about the Allied plans to the corpse’s wrist. Make sure Spanish officials will find the body with the fake documents, and the Germans will be sure to be informed. (For more on German involvement in the Spanish Civil War see also “The Girl from Guernica.”)
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With her latest novel, “Furysong,” the last fantasy in the trilogy that began with “Fireborne” and continued with “Flamefall,” author Rosaria Munda has claimed her place as a first class writer who can plan, plot, and execute a series of books wherein each approaches 500 pages—not one page of which feels unnecessary. Yes, the novels are lengthy, but they are chockfull of fascinating characters with whom we empathize, nonstop action, unexpected twists, heartbreaking turns, and dragons who bond to their specific humans. Be forewarned that if you start with the first one, you will probably want to read all three books in a row, and this situation might affect your performance at work or school.
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I love the concept of “Killers of a Certain Age,” perhaps because I am “of a certain age.” Deanna Raybourn certainly writes authentically about women in their 60s and these particular women who have been assassins for decades, working for an organization nicknamed “The Museum.” Their job has been killing bad guys, beginning with Nazi escapees; then when those were mostly dead either from natural causes or murder, assassinating drug overlords, crime bosses, and other really bad people. Now the four women, who trained together in their 20s, are taking the first steps toward enjoying a well-deserved retirement by embarking on an all-expense-paid cruise courtesy of their former employer. But what happens when they realize, on that very cruise, that instead of the cruise being the beginning of the rest of their lives, it’s intended to be the end of their lives?
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True to form, “Santa’s Little Yelpers” features not only a myriad of doggie characters, but also David Rosenfelt’s favorite wants-to-be-retired lawyer, Andy Carpenter. This is the 26th mystery featuring that self-deprecating, wise-cracking, extremely dog-loving attorney who really doesn’t want to work anymore. Most of the mysteries in this series are more thriller than legal procedural, with a hefty dose of humor on the side, and in this novel we meet a former lawyer, Chris Myers, wrongly incarcerated for a crime he didn’t commit. Now he is being accused of another crime, a murder, that he also didn’t commit. And just as in many of the mysteries in this series, Andy Carpenter must begin the trial for this defendant with no idea of how he will prove his client is not guilty.
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In her second novel, Jean Meltzer continues writing about something she’s rather an expert on: Jewish life. “Mr. Perfect on Paper” is a charming tale of finding love where you least expect it, and while it’s a romance, it’s also a glimpse into the lives of people who are struggling, but keep their struggles private. Her delightful main character, Dara Rabinowitz, is ridden with self-doubt, suffers from GAD, general anxiety disorder, and is very candid about it. Because of her disorder, Dara prefers to live life close to her bubbe, Miriam, spending time with her and otherwise working from home while running her extremely successful and lucrative business, a Jewish dating app called J-Mate. Her mother died, and Dara is also close to her sometimes-pushy sister.
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Usually I review books or write about animals and shelters. But I just had an experience that left me feeling taken advantage of and I want to share that so others might be warned. So this is about Calamigos Ranch in Malibu, California. We stayed there for one unforgettable night. Unforgettable because of how incredibly overpriced—and disappointing—our room was. Details below.
Let me say from the start that the rooms at the Calamigos Ranch are waaay out of my price range. Normally, I would never consider spending over $1400 for a one-night hotel stay. Ever.
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In her newest novel, “Odder,” we see why children’s writer Katherine Applegate is a Newbery medalist and New York Times bestselling author—it’s because her writing touches readers’ hearts, fills us with emotion, and often shows us a new way of observing the world around us. In “Odder,” we meet a sea otter whose antics fill us with happiness as she dances and twirls and dives joyfully in her ocean environment. At the same time, we glimpse the danger that otters face, and the greater danger that imperiled them in the past—humans. Now, aside from terrible storms, their greatest foes are hungry sharks.
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Good teachers and librarians know that literature can help inform children about social justice and other issues around the world. And there are many authors and many thoughtful middle grade books that open readers’ minds about such problems. Here are some excellent choices that should be a part of classroom and school libraries.
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