Ana Shen, half chinese and half black, cringes when people say that she has a marvelously biracial, multicultural family. At her graduation ceremony from junior high, just as she is about to give her salutatorian address, the water main of the school bursts filling the football field with water. And if that isn't bad enough, the principal has to cancel the dance scheduled for later that evening. Ana is devastated. She's dreamed of dancing with her crush, Jamie for such a long time. When Ana sees Jamie after the ceremony, she impulsivly invites Jamie and his dad over to dinner with her family. Ana can't believe she actually asked both her grandmothers to cook. They've only cooked a meal together a few times, all with disasterous results. So it's off to a Chinese grocery store with her mom and grandma to get ingredients for her grandma's Chinese food. Her dad takes her other grandma to a store for her gumbo ingredients. Being in the house and helping both grandmas cook is beyond stressful for Ana! Her grandmas collide with their different bags of rice leaving Ana to pick it up off the floor so they don't waste good rice. The food ends up turning out well but Ana is shocked when she sees an uninvited guest at her door, Amanda, her classmate who also likes Jamie. However will Ana deal with a whole dinner of Amanda making her moves on Jamie? And what embarrassing things will her grandparents say? This book successfully portrays a biracial family with just the right combination of humor and matter-of-factness.

Reviewed by: jb

Date read: 8/7/2012

ISBN-13: 9780385734172

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Oliver's 3rd grade class is studying the solar system, and everyone will get to look through a real telescope to see the planets on their space sleepover. How can Oliver convince his over-protective parents to let him sleep over too? Oliver feels left out just like Pluto, until he finds an ally in his diorama partner, Claudia.

Similar authors: Barbara Parks, Mary Pope Osborne, Beverly Cleary

Reviewed by: donna

Date read: 3/23/2010

ISBN-10: 0374334870

ISBN-13: 9780374334871

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Miguel's move to a farmhouse in Vermont from New York City is complicated by a visit from his Tia Lola from the Dominican Republic. Already, kids in school call him 'Gooseman,' a deliberate mispronunciation of his last name, Guzman. Tia Lola speaks only Spanish, dresses in bright floral prints and insists on kissing him at every opportunity. Miguel is sure that, when the other kids meet her, he will be a laughing stock. Tia Lola wants to learn everything about his new life and even gets involved in his baseball team, designing uniforms and making the Dominican version of a frozen fruit drink. All Miguel wants is to return to New York City and for his parents to get back together, or at least to be considered a regular guy.

Similar books: Heat by Mike Lupica

Awards nominated: 2013 Bluestem Nominee

Reviewed by: vfv

Date read: 5/19/2012

ISBN-13: 9780440418702

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Willimena is starting third grade when she finds out she'll be in Mrs. Sweetly's class. Mrs. Sweetly is the meanest teacher at the Harriet Tubman School. Willimena decides that to avoid trouble, she will be the best, nicest student Mrs. Sweetly has ever known. The plan is working until Willimena loses the class guinea pig. How will Willimena cope with Mrs. Sweetly now that she's no longer the perfect student?

Reviewed by: emc

Date read: 9/10/2010

ISBN-10: 0786813229

ISBN-13: 9780786813223

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According to an Aesop fable, the one about the hares and the frogs, 'There is always someone worse off than yourself.' Well Georgina Hayes figures that Aesop must have been stupid, because there was no one worse off than she. After her dad left the family with not enough money to pay the rent she, her mom, and her little brother had been living in their car. They cleaned up in the mornings in the bathroom at McDonold's or the drugstore or the pancake house and then went to school in wrinkled, dirty clothes. So when Georgina sees an old tattered sign offering a $500 reward for the return of someone's dog, she thinks she has the answer. After all stealing someone's dog to get a reward is OK if your really, really desperate. Or is it?

Awards nominated: Blue Stem Nominee 2011

Reviewed by: caroll

Date read: 5/5/2010

ISBN-10: 0312561121

ISBN-13: 9780312561123

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