The Stardust Kid - J. M. DeMatteis & Mike Ploog

Cody has always had a special friend named Paul Brightfield. Cody's family and friends feel he spends too much time with Paul, they sense that Paul is not quite what he seems. Paul is special because he is not human even if he can look human. Paul is a magical being, older than time itself. One night an ancient evil, The Woman, awakens in Wilde Park. Cody, his sister and two of their friends are the only humans left who can save humanity. The Woman has decided to remake the world to her liking. The children embark on a strange adventure where time ceases to exist as we know it. They experience fear, betrayal, hope and joy as they search for the Stardust Kid, their only hope in defeating The Woman. Will The Stardust Kid help restore order to the world, or is he going to transform the earth into something else entirely? What is Paul Brightfield's connection to The Woman? The story is exciting and very well-written. The illustrations are fantastic! (See the slide show below for examples of the interior). Appropriate for any age, but does involve a fair amount of reading so I would recommend it for fifth grade and above.

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Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) by Pamela Espeland & Elizabeth Verdick

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Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages. Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

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