Title: Flight of the Puffin
Author: Ann Braden
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Published: May 4, 2021
Triggers: Bullying, Racism

Summary:
This is the story of four kids and how one act of kindness leads to a chain reaction of hope. Libby's family are all bullies and Libby struggles to break this cycle and how everyone perceives her. Jack lives in a rural area and attends a two-room K-8 school  which the local town is considering closing due to problems with the facilities and Jack wants to do anything he can to save it while also struggling with the grief of losing his brother. Vincent loves triangles and is the target for a group of bullies and at home his mom isn't always supportive of his differences. T and their dog are  homeless and struggling just to survive from day to day. Chance encounters and a love of art bring all four of these kids together in an unexpected way which helps them find the courage to be themselves. 

Review:
I adored this book and its message of kindness without the expectation of receiving anything in return. Each of the characters had their own stories to tell and the author developed each of them using a different voice and style. Libby is misunderstood, artistic, and reminded me of so many different people and how society often judges people based on their families and appearances and not on who they are as individuals on the inside. You first meet Libby painting a sunrise on a wall of the school which quickly leads to her sitting in the principal's office and hearing him saying, "Are you going to be just like your brother? And your dad?" (p. 2). Libby tries to do the opposite of her family but always seems to end up in trouble. After being grounded at home, Libby finds inspiration in a stolen rock and art supplies, borrowed from school, to draw inspirational cards. She leaves the cards all over town for others to find and even mails one to a boy in Seattle who likes puffins. 

Jack is helpful, strong, and resourceful. He is mourning the loss of his brother and now has to worry about losing his school after someone from the state education department visits and decides it doesn't meet the state standards. After being misunderstood at a school board meeting, Jack begins to make sense of things about his brother that a year ago he was too young to understand. He receives a message from Vincent that helps him see what he has to do to make things right in his little part of the world.

Vincent is smart, lonely, and brave. He loves triangles and looks for them in everything. He is bullied at school and often ends up shoved inside a locker. Vincent's mom buys him clothes that she hopes will help him fit in better and not be bullied as much. So when Vincent finds a shirt with a puffin on in, he decides to wear it because he loves triangles and puffins have lots of triangles. The people who surround him don't seem to understand or accept who he is and he feels all alone until he receives a postcard in the mail that says, "Fly free! We're right behind you. Because YOU are amazing" (p. 134). This helps him realize what he needs to do.

T is homeless and scared. Their part in the story is written in verse so you only receive a little bit of information so their story is the least well developed. You learn that they don't consider themselves to be a boy or a girl and that they ran away from home so they could be themselves. Vincent meets T and helps them in different ways but mostly just by seeing T and listening. T also helps Vincent with his bullying problem at school. 

The book carries themes of bullying, hope, being true to yourself, kindness matters, and compassion. Flight of the Puffin takes place in various cities across the United States and what they are isn't really important to the story--it is more important to understand that you can have an impact on other people's lives no matter where they are, if you only try. 

We need more stories in our world like this one.  To be honest, we need more people in this world like these children. 

​Read Alikes: You Go First by Erin Entrada Kelly, Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff, Paper Things by Jennifer Jacobson, Starfish by Lisa Fipps, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling, or Forget Me Not by Ellie Terry

​⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️​

Title: The Last Cuentista
Author: Donna Barba Higuera
Genre: Dystopia, science fiction
Published: October 12, 2021
Awards: John Newbery Medal, Pura Belpré Award
Triggers: genocide, death of a family member

Summary:
In The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera, Petra Peña is young girl who is going on a journey after a meteor has destroyed Earth. The government has chosen a few hundred scientists and their children to leave Earth to travel to a new planet hundreds of years away. Each person on the journey plays a specific role in the future with some staying awake to care for those who will be placed in suspension to awaken at journey's end. But something goes wrong when the port is attached to Petra and she doesn't get all of the programming that she expects when she is put in stasis. When she awakens, she realizes quickly that something changed and she is the only person with memories of Earth because a group known as "The Collective" has taken over and erased everyone else's memories. Petra remembers the stories of her grandmother and hopes to use these stories and science to create a better society. But can she overcome all of the obstacles The Collective puts in her way?

Review:
This is the first Newbery winner in a long time that I truly enjoyed and would not be surprised if a sequel comes out. Petra was brave, smart, and compassionate main character. The other Zetas aren't as well written and fully developed but they were a strong supporting cast for Petra. The Mexican folklore was woven effortlessly into the story and helped bring the story to life. The descriptions of the planet Sagan and the spaceship were vivid and brought the setting to life. If I had to complain about something, it would probably be that there wasn't enough of a back story on the Collective to help explain their extreme views. The themes of embracing differences, the dangers of conformity, and remember your family history are all relevant to today. 

This science fiction and dystopian book was a page turner full of suspense and emotional intensity. I enjoyed learning the Mexican folklore and how familiar it is to many of the stories in my own folklore. I can only hope that Petra survives and thrives on the planet Sagan.

If you enjoyed reading this book, you might like The Giver by Lois Lowry, Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk, The Canyon's Edge by Dusti Bowling, or Amira & Hamza by Samira Ahmed.

​​⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In The Barren Grounds by David Robertson, Eli and Morgan are members of an indigenous tribe who have been placed in a home with an affluent white family by the foster care system. They discover a secret room in the attic and with the help of Eli's drawing skills, a portal to a very cold world opens. They are met there by a fisher named Ochek who explains that "man" visited before and stole something from them that has caused the green-time to go away. Ochek and the children, along with a squirrel named Arik, go on a quest to find the missing items and help heal the land.

Morgan is a 13 year old indigenous young lady who struggles to control her anger. She ran away from her last foster home and is struggling to discover who she really is as a person in this new foster home. Eli is a 12 year old indigenous young man who has been placed in the foster system after his father died. He draws beautiful, realistic pictures which sometimes seem to come to life when Morgan is around. Ochek is a fisher in the land of Aski. He holds the survival of the village on his shoulders as he does the hunting for the entire village. Arik is a squirrel who is caught stealing food from the traps set by Ochek. Arik convinces Ochek not to eat her by explaining that she knows where the stolen items are being held. Each of the characters is well developed and you can't help routing for each of them in turn. The sarcastic and humorous interactions between the characters helps cast some brightness and lightheartedness into what is sometimes a gloomy novel. 

Misewa is a village located in the land of Aski which is connected to Earth through a portal in an attic and it is hinted that other portals are located in other parts of Aski as well. The land is dying because something was stolen by a "man" which led to the Green Time disappearing from the land. In turn, this led to the plant life dying and animals unable to survive either.  When Morgan first enters the land, it is described as, "An endlessly barren landscape. The wind was severe, kicking up snow and spinning it around in countless miniature tornado." You can just feel how cold this land is and want to learn more about it.

This fiction book with fantasy elements and indigenous characters is a powerful read and you will be left wanting to know what happens to these characters and Misewa next. I enjoyed reading this book and really appreciated the humor that Arik brought to the novel which helped lighten up some of the darker parts of the story. 

If you liked The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, you will definitely enjoy reading this book. 

If you have found this page on my website, welcome and I'm glad you came to visit. I've added this blog because it is time for me and my new Library Advisory Club to start creating new media for the benefit of the rest of the middle school community. In the next few months, you should find this blog to be full of book recommendations, videos we love, and fun websites to check out. 

In the meantime, enjoy this video I found on a topic near and dear to my heart: Media Literacy.