Here in the Real World

Here in the Real World
By Sara Pennypacker
Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2020. 308 p.

Ware is a total introvert. He is excited to spend his summer vacation with his grandma in Florida where she won’t care if he spends long hours alone by the pool doing pretty much nothing. Only when his grandma has an accident and is taken by ambulance to the hospital, Ware is taken home and signed up for a Summer Rec program—which he hates. Instead of going into the community center Ware starts to head to the vacant lot next door after his mom drops him off. There he meets Jolene who is trying to garden and keep all her secrets. Ware loves knights and medieval chivalry, so he tries to transform the church building ruins on the lot into a castle. Meanwhile Ware learns from Jolene (and Ashley who comes and goes through the lot as well) what is fair, what is right, and what happens in the real world. Ware is a good boy with a heart in the right place. He is very shy and doesn’t totally understand how to interact with others, but he does have a heart of gold and tries his best to look for the good and right in the world around him. Readers will cheer Ware on as he tries his best to make the real world the best place it can be.

Comments

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

If there's one book today's kids need to read, it is Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) . The authors provide a fun format for teaching etiquette to children. They discuss proper behavior at home, at school, at other people's homes and in public places. The information is completely up-to-date with cellphone manners and netiquette included. Fun, cartoony illustrations are on practically every page giving the book great visual appeal. This book is perfect for boys and girls in the fourth grade or older. WARNING: Bodily functions are discussed.

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin Illustrated by Leslie Evans Charlesburg; 2009; unpaged Faces of the Moon is a short nonfiction book that describes the different phases of the moon and why the moon appears like it does on certain nights. This book is short and sweet so even the youngest of moon lovers will enjoy it. The layout is simplistic and easy to follow. I don’t know much about the moon so I found it very interesting.

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...

Provo Library Children's Book Blog

Search This Blog