Skip to main content

Display: Starred Children's Fiction 2016


All the books in this display received starred reviews in 4 or 5 different national review sources during 2016.

5 stars: 
The Girl Who Drank the Moon 
By Kelly Barnhill
Algonquin Young Readers, 2016. Fiction. 388 p.
An epic fantasy about a young girl raised by a witch, a swamp monster, and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon. Together they must unlock the powerful magic buried deep within themselves.

The Inquisitor’s Tale, or, the Three Magical Children and their Holy Dog 
By Adam Gidwitz
Dutton Children’s Books, 2016. Fiction, 363 p.
Crossing paths at an inn, thirteenth-century travelers tell the tale of a junior monk, a Jewish refugee boy, a psychic peasant girl and a loyal greyhound who join forces on a chase through France to escape persecution.

Garvey’s Choice 
By Nikki Grimes
Wordsong, 2016. Fiction 108 p.
Garvey's father has always wanted Garvey to be athletic, but Garvey is interested in astronomy, science fiction, reading--anything but sports. When his only friend encourages him to join the school chorus, Garvey's life changes. Through chorus Garvey finds a way to accept himself, and a way to finally reach his distant father.

When the Sea Turned to Silver 
By Grace Lin
Little, Brown and Co. 2016. Fiction, 370 p.
Pinmei, a storyteller's granddaughter, must find the Luminous Stone that Lights the Night to rescue her grandmother, who has been kidnapped by the Tiger Emperor.

Wolf Hollow
By Lauren Wolk
Dutton Children’s Book, 2016. Fiction. 291 p.
Twelve-year-old Annabelle must learn to stand up for what's right in the face of a manipulative and violent new bully who targets people Annabelle cares about, including a homeless World War I veteran.

4 Stars:

The Wild Robot
By Peter Brown
Little, Brown and Company, 2016. Fiction. 279 p.
Roz the robot discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island with no memory of where she is from or why she is there. Her only hope of survival is to try to learn about her new environment from the island's animal inhabitants.

Raymie Nightingale 
By Kate DiCamillo
Candlewick Press, 2016, Fiction, 272 p.
Raymie Clarke decides that if she can win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition, then her father, who left town two days before with a dental hygienist, will see Raymie's picture in the paper and (maybe) come home.

Full of Beans
By Jennifer Holm
Random House, 2016, Fiction, 195 p.
In the 1930’s ten-year-old Beans Curry, a member of the Keepsies, the best marble playing gang in Key West, Florida, engages in various schemes to earn money while "New Dealers" from Washington D.C. arrive to turn Key West into a tourist resort.

The Best Man 
By Richard Peck
Dial Books for Young Readers, 2016. Fiction. 232 p.
Archer has four important role models in his life--his dad, his grandfather, his uncle Paul, and his favorite teacher, Mr. McLeod. When Uncle Paul and Mr. McLeod start dating, Archer's sixth-grade year becomes one he'll never forget.

Pax 
By Sara Pennypacker
Harper Collins, 2016. Fiction. 276 p.
After being forced to give up his pet fox, Pax, a young boy named Peter decides to set out on a quest to get his best friend back.

Ghosts 
By Raina Telgemeier
Scholastic, 2016. Comics. 239 p.
Catrina and her family have moved to the coast of Northern California for the sake of her little sister, Maya, who has cystic fibrosis. Cat’s life becomes complicated when she is told that her new town is inhabited by ghosts, and Maya sets her heart on meeting one.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Five Faves: Mysterious High-Low Intermediate Books

Intermediate Mystery books are a gold mine. High-low books refer to titles that are of high interest to readers, but contain low level vocabulary. These titles are clever, action-packed, and have several books in the series to keep the mystery alive. These intermediate mystery books are the first in their series and are sure to appease any mystery loving reader. The Ghost Tree Written by Natasha Deen Illustrated by Lissy Marlin New York: Random House Children's Books, 2022. Intermediate. 95 pages. With a dash of paranormal mixed with mystery, this book introduces Asim, a Guyanese American fourth grader who moves to a new town. After a visit to a graveyard, an evil spirit is unleashed. Asim works with new friends, Rokshar and Max, to save their town. With scarily cool illustrations to accompany this text, this book is great for any amateur sleuths who love a touch of creepy. Detective Duck: The Case of the Strange Splash Written by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver Illustrated by Dan San

Display: Dino-mite Reads

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs By Mo Willems New York: Balzar + Bray, 2012. Picture Book. "Once upon a time, there were three hungry Dinosaurs: Papa Dinosaur, Mama Dinosaur . . . and a Dinosaur who happened to be visiting from Norway. One day--for no particular reason--they decided to tidy up their house, make the beds, and prepare pudding of varying temperatures. And then--for no particular reason--they decided to go . . . someplace else. They were definitely not setting a trap for some succulent, unsupervised little girl. Definitely not!" --Editor Smart Vs. Strong! Written by Jill Esbaum Illustrated by Miles Thompson New York: Simon Spotlight, 2021. Easy Reader. 64 pages. "When Thunder gets stuck in quicksand, Cluck uses his smarts to free his friend." --Editor How Dinosaurs Went Extinct Written by Ame Dyckman Illustrated by Jennifer Harney New York: Brown and Company, 2023. Picture Book. "When a child in a museum asks how dinosaurs became extinct, Dad co

Review: The Enigma Girls

  The Enigma Girls By Candace Fleming New York: Scholastic Focus, 2024. Informational. 371 pages. If you have an interest in little known aspects of history or in World War II in particular, this book is for you. The Enigma Girls tells the story of 10 young women who worked at Station X at Bletchley Park in England helping to break ciphers during World War II. Each of the girls grew up in different circumstances, and thus, each worked at in a different part of Station X cracking codes. The reader learns about how Station X worked through the stories of each of the girls. Whether it was transcribing the Morse code messages that the Germans were sending to their armies or decoding, translating, or paraphrasing messages, each girl had a part to play. The stories of the girls are intermixed with plenty of photographs as well as special chapters about how to decode various types of ciphers. Learning about Station X through the eyes of the girls that worked there helps the reader gain a huma