I loved this book! With quirky illustrations, these comics tapped into urban legends, campfire stories and other irrational (or so we’re made to believe) fears we already have, along with some new ones spawned during reading The Creeps.
While reading I vacillated between “Me, too!!” and “Oh, I never thought about that before”, the whole time with a potentially creepy grin plastered on my face. I was compelled to read this book from cover to cover as soon as I received it, which unfortunately was in the morning.
My second reading will definitely take place at night in the dark, with only the light of my iPad protecting me from the ghosts surrounding me and the creature under the bed ready to hold my hand during the night if I dare fall asleep with my arm hanging over the side of the bed.
The Creeps is delightfully creepy but it’s also funny, imaginative and sometimes all too real (in a fun way). I’ll be revisiting this book many times and will be recommending it to my fellow eccentrics and everyone I know with a sense of humour.
Thank you very much to NetGalley and Ten Speed Press for the opportunity to read this book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Illustrator, animator, teacher, and comic artist Fran Krause has touched a collective nerve with his wildly popular web comic series – and subsequent New York Times best-selling book – Deep Dark Fears. Here he brings readers more of the creepy, funny, and idiosyncratic fears they love illustrated in comic form -– such as the fear that your pets will tell other animals all your embarrassing secrets, or that someone uses your house while you’re not home -– as well as two longer comic short-stories about ghosts.
Some girls are happy wearing pink dresses with ruffles. Others are ninjas who climb trees and are cofounders of top-secret organisations. Beatrice Zinker definitely isn’t a fan of pink dresses with ruffles.
Beatrice is a middle child. Her older sister, Kate, is just like her Mum. Her younger brother, Henry, is just like her Dad. Beatrice does all of her best thinking upside down and finds it difficult being the only upside down daughter in a right side up family. Even Oliver, the Zinker’s cat, is right side up!
Beatrice meets her friend Lenny on Halloween night in first grade. They were alike and enjoyed playing pirates, ninjas, zombies and knights. Beatrice is now starting third grade at William Charles Elementary and is ready to start Operation Upside with Lenny, a plan Beatrice has been working on all summer.
Everything changes for Beatrice when Lenny walks into the first day of third grade, not wearing her ninja suit, but pink! With sparkles, no less! And Lenny’s made a new friend! Is Operation Upside doomed for failure before it even begins?
This is such a heartwarming story. You feel better about yourself and the world after you finish reading it. Beatrice teaches us the importance of being yourself. She learns that you can turn a confusing day into a good one if you look at it the right way and that there are always things you can do to make a bad day better.
There are plenty of adorable illustrations that add to the story and bring Beatrice’s upside down thinking to life. The quirkiness of the illustrations remind me of Quentin Blake’s illustrations in Roald Dahl’s children’s books.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Hachette Children’s Books, Australia for the opportunity to read this book. Beatrice is funny and spunky, and is soon to make friends with young girls all over the world. She will resonate with so many girls that feel different and she’ll teach them that their differences are special and deserve to be celebrated. I can’t wait until the second Beatrice Zinker book is released!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Beatrice does her best thinking upside down.
Hanging from trees by her knees, doing handstands . . . for Beatrice Zinker, upside down works every time. She was definitely upside down when she and her best friend, Lenny, agreed to wear matching ninja suits on the first day of third grade. But when Beatrice shows up at school dressed in black, Lenny arrives with a cool new outfit and a cool new friend. Even worse, she seems to have forgotten all about the top-secret operation they planned!
Can Beatrice use her topsy-turvy way of thinking to save the mission, mend their friendship, and flip things sunny-side up?
I love Curious McCarthy, the book and the person! I adored Curious before I read a word of this book. From the first glance of her on the cover I knew she was going to be my kind of girl.
Curie (Curious) McCarthy was named after Marie Curie, a famous scientist. She is the middle child in a family with seven children! She has three older sisters (Charlotte, Emily and Anne) and three younger brothers (John Glenn, Benjamin and Edison). Her mother is a full time English professor and her father, a retired engineer, is now a stay at home Dad.
Curious just started fourth grade at a new school, not because her family moved, but because the school district decided to change the boundary lines. All of her friends still attend her previous school. Curious has been a scientist for 6 days, 19 hours and 13 minutes.
In this book we go to school with Curious, we visit the school library and the principal’s office, attend Secret Sister Society (SSS) meetings and sit in on some entertaining dinners. Along the way Curious is learning how to be a scientist by making hypotheses, conducting experiments, and coming to conclusions, while also learning about chain reactions and germs.
Other than Curious’ family we get to know her teacher (Mrs Stickler), her school librarian (Mr Grumpus), her school principal (Mr Cornforth), Aunt Dolly, a likely friend (Lin Tran), and an unlikely friend (Robin Finch).
The way this book was written it felt like Curious was sitting across from you telling you her story. I would have loved this book as a child and would have wanted to be Curious’ friend. I love it just as much as a grown up.
All of the McCarthy kids had distinct and interesting personalities, and from about the middle of the book I could tell which one was speaking just by what they said. Theirs is a lovely family that I want to know more about.
I loved the illustrations and found it particularly helpful to be introduced to all of the characters in this book through the two pages of pictures and descriptions before the story started. In the beginning of the book when I didn’t know who was who yet I could quickly flip back to these pages to remind myself which McCarthy we were hearing about.
I found the science in this book wonderful. It was explained in an age appropriate way and it all sounded like so much fun that I can imagine a whole pile of girls deciding they’re going to be scientists when they grow up after reading this book. I learned some fun facts myself from reading but because it was so much fun it didn’t feel like the drudgery that’s usually associated with learning.
I loved the coloured footnotes. In the back of the book there were some fun extras, including a glossary that explained what the more difficult words in the book meant and how to say them, and a recipe for Oobleck!
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Capstone for the opportunity to read this book. Young girls are going to love this book and their parents are going to love reading this to their girls (or themselves). I enjoyed this book so much I’m going to be purchasing the other three books in the series.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Curious McCarthy, named after the famous scientist Marie Curie, has decided to become a scientist herself. Her first hypothesis: That her mischievous younger brother will get noticed before her proper oldest sister, Charlotte. Using footnotes filled with funny observations, Curious invites readers to read her observations about her first days at a new school with an old-fashioned teacher and her entertaining evenings at home with her six brothers and sisters. A fun experiment brings the science to life and a glossary and discussion and writing prompts provide reader support.
I received a copy of Contribute (book 2 in the Holo series) from NetGalley but I was so interested in the story that I went right ahead and bought Consider so I could read them in order. I am not disappointed!
I was hooked from Alex’s first anxiety thought bubble on the first page. I find that anxious people tend to be quite creative and Alex certainly is with her disaster scenario thoughts, like this gem:
“What if it’s an alien-powered vacuum cleaner and we’re the dirt?”
I love the way Kristy Acevedo writes!!!
The characters were developed well and I loved that substantial backstories were provided for the supporting cast as well as our lead, Alex. I particularly loved the crazy lady without a name and looked out for her throughout the book. Always listen to the crazy people! What can sound crazy can become profound once you know the context of their words. I have my own theory about who crazy lady is and hope to find out for sure in Contribute.
The characters were forced to tackle all of the scenarios and more that I would’ve considered (see what I did there?) important during an apocalypse. I loved that Kristy Acevedo wasn’t afraid of arguing from multiple points of view as Consider explored the comet’s impending impact on such topics as politics, religion, freedom of choice, and what happens to society when there’s a visible clock counting down the time left to make the decision of your life … stay and wait for the comet to go boom or walk through a vertex into the unknown. An impossible choice.
On a lighter note, I would definitely grow my nails for the nail polishes mentioned in this book. Their names are so clever and cute that I want to buy them all sight unseen, although I know my favourite would have to be Blue My Mind.
I highlighted and then highlighted some more throughout this book; sometimes a few words, sometimes a few paragraphs at a time. There was so much to love and I’ve already read most of my highlighted passages to passers by, prefaced with, “Hey, listen to this sentence!” or “Don’t you just love the way this author thinks?”
I guessed the ending around the halfway point but I enjoyed the book so much that I didn’t care that the end wasn’t a surprise. Regardless, hello cliffhanger! I’ve read reviews of book 2 that say it’s even better than book 1. I’m not sure that’s possible but can’t wait to be proved wrong.
I just found another favourite author. Awesome job, Kristy! I’m starting Contribute immediately!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
As if Alexandra Lucas’ anxiety disorder isn’t enough, mysterious holograms suddenly appear from the sky, heralding the end of the world. They bring an ultimatum: heed the warning and step through a portal-like vertex to safety, or stay and be destroyed by a comet they say is on a collision course with earth. How’s that for senior year stress?
The holograms, claiming to be humans from the future, bring the promise of safety. But without the ability to verify their story, Alex is forced to consider what is best for her friends, her family, and herself.
To stay or to go. A decision must be made.
With the deadline of the holograms’ prophecy fast approaching, Alex feels as though she is living on a ticking time bomb, until she discovers it is much, much worse.
Do you want to teach your children table manners and have fun doing it? Just add dragons! I love this book so much! I mean, come on! There’s dragons!
The rhymes make reading aloud lots of fun and the gorgeous illustrations complement the text brilliantly. Whether they’re being read to or reading to themselves, kids are going to love this book. They will be able to clearly contrast the rude behaviour at the beginning of the book with the good table manners shown at the end.
The illustrations are incredible! I really loved seeing the diversity of people (and dragons) shown at the restaurant. The colours throughout the book were beautiful and vibrant, and the expressions on the faces of everyone at the restaurant were priceless.
This is one of those books where everything works well together. You could take away the illustrations and still have a great story. You could take away the text and still understand the story from the pictures alone.
Thank you very much to NetGalley and Capstone for the opportunity to read this book. This book needs to be in libraries and homes everywhere! This is a book I’d still enjoy reading the 100th time. Did I mention the dragons?!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
We know you shouldn’t take your dragon to the library, but what about taking him out to dinner? After all, dragons need to eat too! But with fiery breath, flapping wings, and pointy spikes, that might not be a good idea! Rhyming text and diverse characters bring the importance of dinner manners to a new level in this colorful picture book by Julie Gassman.
So, you think you’re having a bad hair day? Well, you haven’t seen anything until you see Aidan Allen’s hair! It’s got a mind of its own and no matter how much Aidan yells and screams at it, it just won’t behave. Can Aidan find a way to tame his mane?
Hair-Pocalypse is a fun picture book that teaches about hygiene in an entertaining way. I particularly loved the passage where needs are distinguished from wants. Although the focus is on hair in this instance, it is a great lesson that parents can apply to other circumstances relevant to their child.
The story is funny and engaging, and the illustrations are captivating. I loved the personalities that were captured on the childrens’ faces in the illustrations and the use of colours and detail to maintain your attention. Be certain to look closely at the pictures, as it seems the story may not be over for Aidan at the end of the book.
Thank you very much to NetGalley and Capstone for the opportunity to read this book. I want to this book to find its way into homes, schools and libraries. Parents are sure to see their kids in Aidan and kids are going to really like him.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Aidan Allen has angry hair. That’s right – angry hair. Hands down, he has the angriest hair anyone has ever seen. But why is his hair so angry? Why is his hair trying to ruin his life? Why is the sky blue? Two of these three questions will be answered in this comical tale of kid vs. hair. In his debut picture book, Geoff Herbach mixes his fresh writing style with over-the-top situations to help his character through a very hairy situation.
This book is so adorable! With a lovely story and gorgeous, detailed illustrations, it’s sure to be a hit with children and parents alike. While Tortoise just wants to go to sleep until spring, his friends want to include him in their fun winter activities. When Tortoise accidentally joins in he realises that maybe some tortoises do like winter after all.
I loved Tortoise’s teddy bear and I enjoyed seeing all of the different facial expressions of the animals in this story. This story would be fantastic to help teach children about friendship and could also be used to help them understand how people are feeling by their facial expressions.
Thank you very much to NetGalley and Capstone for the opportunity to read this book. I adore everything about this book and hope it finds its way into homes and libraries everywhere. I’ll be revisiting this book many times. It’s one of those books you read with a smile on your face.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Every year Tortoise sleeps through winter. He assumes he isn’t missing much. However, his friends are determined to prove otherwise! Will Tortoise sleep through another winter, or will his friends convince him to stay awake and experience the frosty fun of winter? Best-selling author Katy Hudson’s charming picture book, now in a board book format, will convince even the biggest winter grouche that winter can be magical if you have friends by your side.
If Parallel and Free to Fall were 5 out of 5 books for me, then All Things New has to be a 6. While Lauren Miller’s first two novels were exceptional, I found extra depth in All Things New. Anxiety, written well, by someone who understands it! Now, this is a combination you don’t see very often. Thank you so much for writing this book, Lauren!
Because Lauren gets it, Jessa’s internal voice is authentic. As someone who is all too familiar with this dragon and coincidentally has also experienced long term effects from a car accident, I went on this journey with Jessa. I empathised with Jessa recounting how it felt when her friends ditched her after her panic attacks started. I cheered internally when Jessa’s courage to let her walls down was rewarded instead of punished. I felt anxious for her when she was anxious for her friends.
I loved how real the supporting characters felt to me and cared about what happened to them. I admired Jessa’s father for how hard he worked to build a relationship with his daughter. I appreciated that Hannah wasn’t a cliché, that she got snippy when she was frustrated by something or herself. Mr I. … what can I say except I wanted to curl up on a comfy couch somewhere, probably next to a roaring fire, and listen to him explain philosophy to me all day. (By the way, I get so excited when a book I love includes references to other books. Oscar Wilde and Descartes are definitely getting added to my scarily high TBR pile.)
And frustratingly optimistic Marshall. I adored him despite myself and would like to put an order in for a Marshall please (albeit an age appropriate one for me). Maybe he’s got an older cousin? The banter between Jessa and Marshall was so much fun! Because I read a snippet of a review that compared this book to John Green’s The Fault in our Stars, I spent most of this book anxiously muttering, ‘Please don’t let Marshall die! Please don’t let Marshall die!’
I was fascinated by the concept of the internal world that we often hide from others, sometimes more so from those closest to us, being made visible to Jessa. I loved Jessa’s interactions with the other characters and watching some relationships growing stronger as others faded into the background. While life isn’t a fairytale in the end, Jessa has, through her experience, learned to see and be compassionate to the internal struggles of others and her own.
We spend so much time hiding our true selves from the people around us that sometimes I wonder how much we ever really know anyone. There are entire worlds playing out inside our heads and if only we shared those with each other I’m positive we’d find out how alike we all are. Sure, everyone has their own pain and their own struggles but when it comes down to it, pain is pain. We get so afraid of rejection that we hide behind our walls, thinking we’re protecting ourselves when really we’re preventing ourselves from bring able to give and receive the support and validation that comes with knowing you’re not alone in your experience.
I found a Hallmark card about a decade ago and bought every one I could find at the time, dispensing them in the years since to those I felt would benefit from or appreciate its message like I did. This book reminded me of the writing on that card – “Daylight will peek through a very small hole. That’s how hope gets through, too.” No matter what we’re going through, there is hope, even if the hope is that things won’t always be this way. OK, stepping off my soapbox now!
This was one of those books that made me sad that you only get to read it for the first time once. However, I’m sure there’ll be a second time coming fairly soon. If I did have the chance to read it for the first time again I think I’d highlight the passages that don’t resonate with me instead of the ones that do. As it stands, because I did the opposite, my highlighter would have run dry before I got to the halfway mark if I’d been reading a paperback. Instead I wore out my index finger constantly highlighting passages on my Kindle.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Three Saints Press for the opportunity to read this book. I’d recommend this to young adults and adults alike, to anyone who has experienced anxiety or anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of those who do, or to those who simply want to read a great book. I don’t care what you write about in the future, Lauren, but please keep writing. I’ll be reading anything you publish!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Jessa has always felt broken inside, but she’s gotten very good at hiding it. No one at school knows about the panic attacks, the therapy that didn’t help, the meds that haven’t worked. But when a severe accident leaves her with a brain injury and visible scars, Jessa’s efforts to convince the world that she’s okay finally crumble — now she looks as shattered as she feels.
Fleeing from her old life in Los Angeles, Jessa moves to Colorado to live with her dad, where she meets Marshall, a boy whose kindness and generous heart slowly draw Jessa out of her walled-off shell and into the broken, beautiful, real world — a place where souls get hurt just as badly as bodies, and we all need each other to heal.
All Things New is a love story about perception and truth, physical and emotional pain, and the messy, complicated people we are behind the masks we put on for the world, perfect for fans of All the Bright Places and The Fault in Our Stars.
I adore this book! Written in a conversational tone, this book would be perfect for parents to read to their younger children and for older children to read to themselves. With enough information to capture your interest but without the information overload that leaves you bored, A Bear’s Life would be a fantastic resource to assist children writing school reports and will be sure to teach their parents new information as well.
Following a year in the life of British Columbia’s black bears, grizzly bears and spirit bears, the words are complemented by spectacular photography. You almost feel as though you could reach out and touch the bears in some of the images. The changes in layout and the scatterings of bear paw prints throughout the book work together, unlike some children’s nonfiction books where the layout on each page remains the same and becomes stale by the end. There’s a great balance between words and images, and there aren’t any pages that look cluttered.
Thank you very much to NetGalley and Orca Book Publishers for the opportunity to read this book. I’d recommend this book to children and parents alike, and imagine it being used in classrooms, as well as public and school libraries. I’ll be looking out for more books in this series.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Black bears, grizzly bears, and spirit bears all make their home in the Great Bear Rainforest. A Bear’s Life uses Ian McAllister’s stunning photographs to follow these beautiful animals through a year in the British Columbia wilderness–catching fish, eating berries, climbing trees and taking long naps.
A Bear’s Life is the second in the My Great Bear Rainforest series.
This book is perfect for anyone who’s ever dreamed of being a superhero and for anyone who’s ever felt, or been made to feel, not good enough. So, basically everyone.
I really enjoyed the storyline and the positive messages that shine through between the non-stop action and laughs. There was something to love about every character, even the villain. Max Brunner (author) and Dustin Mackay (illustrator) complemented each other so well to bring the story and graphics together it would be easy to believe that one person was responsible for both the words and pictures. Their collaboration on this book was seamless and I hope they team up again for future projects. The choice of fonts was in keeping with the style of book and the illustrations were brilliant. I loved the mix of black and white with selected areas of colour to make details pop.
This would be a fantastic gateway book for kids who aren’t usually a fan of reading as they’ll experience firsthand how much fun reading can be. If you buy this book for your child make sure you steal it from them to read it yourself as well. The laughs aren’t just for kids. As I was reading I could easily imagine this book being made into a movie.
Thank you very much to NetGalley and Running Press Kids for the opportunity to read this graphic novel. I’d recommend this book both to the young and the young on the inside, and I’ll be rereading it again very soon. I really hope there’ll be a sequel. There’s no way the Defectives only have one story to tell!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Once Upon a Blurb
Laser vision isn’t so hot when you’re cross-eyed, and supersonic flight’s a real downer when motion sickness keeps you grounded.
Twelve-year-old Marshall Preston is a Defective – a person with superhuman abilities that are restricted by some very human setbacks. While other kids are recruited to superhero teams, Marshall’s stuck in seventh grade with a kid who can run at super speed but can’t turn a corner, another with a radioactive peanut allergy that turns him into a swollen Hulk, and a telepath who reads everyone’s thoughts out loud.
Defectives like Marshall aren’t exactly superhero material, but when he uncovers a plot to destroy one of the greatest superhero teams of all time, Marshall and his less-than-super friends set out to prove that just because you’re defective doesn’t mean you can’t save the day.
Schizanthus Nerd 