Review: What Fell From the Sky

By Adrianna Cuevas

New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2025. Fiction. 291 pages.

Pineda is used to feeling different from everyone around him as the only Cuban-American in his small Texas town in the 1950s. So when he encounters a blue-skinned humanoid alien girl that he names Louisa, he knows that he has to help her find her parents and get back home. The big problem? His town has been overrun by soldiers simulating a Communist take over. The soldiers are pretending to be enemy soldiers who overthrow the city government to test how citizens would respond to a hostile takeover.

This book has something for everyone, an interesting blend of science fiction with historical fiction. So whether your child would like to hear about Cold War-era tensions or just wants to know how to hide an alien from everyone around them, this book will be loved by all. If you were a fan of last year's Newbery winner The First State of Being, this book is a natural read-alike.

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Painting for Peace in Ferguson

Painting for Peace in Ferguson By Carol Swartout Klein Treehouse Publishing Group, 2015. Nonfiction. When the city of Ferguson was overrun with so much hate and despair that homes and businesses had to be boarded up to protect property, citizens of the community decided to bring a message of hope by painting the boarded windows. Klein’s rhyming text supports the photographs of the hundreds of artists and volunteers and their artwork as they bring the messages of peace, hope, love, and that by being united they can make a difference. A great book to show children how a community rallied to make a positive change and that even a small gesture can make a huge difference. A great discussion opener on how we should treat each other.

Dragon Run

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Review: We're All Gonna Die-Nosaur!

We’re All Gonna Die-nosaur! By Kon Tan New York: Disney Hyperion, 2025. Intermediate. 157 pages. Pterry (the “p” is silent) pterodactyl is a worry wart. Pterry is worried about flying (he doesn’t how to fly yet), dinosaurs going extinct (he had a scary dream), and how to protect his family (he has a little brother who hasn’t fully hatched from an egg yet). Even though there is a lot of feels for Pterry, this is actually quite a funny book. Pterry tries to learn how to fly with kites as his “training wheels” and his brother who is inside an egg is quite the adventurer. This is a funny, heart-felt comic-like intermediate fiction book that will be great for many readers. If kids love dinosaurs, this book is for them. If kids like funny graphic novels, this book is for them. If kids want to read something about facing fears and doing things even though they don’t always want to, this book is for them. Plus, even though Pterry does a lot of things on his own, he still has s...

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