Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com Middle-grade novel, historical fiction (1935) 12-year-old boy as main character Rating: Can you say WOW!? Short, short summary: Moose Flanagan lives on Alcatraz Island because his dad is a guard for the prison. The author, Gennifer Choldenko, lets us know with a great note at the end of the [...]

Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com Young adult novel, contemporary 17-year-old guy as main character Rating: It’s hard to put down! Short, short summary: Leon Sanders wants a girlfriend, dreams of a girlfriend, and well, pretty much thinks about it day and night. His dream girl is Amy Green, a cheerleader who doesn’t really notice [...]

Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com Picture book (early preschool through Kindergarten, some first graders) Animals are the main characters. Rating: You got to love a classic! Short, short summary: Brown Bear, Brown Bear is a great classic book for classrooms or for home. Basically, each animal is asked what they see, and they just [...]

reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com Chapter Book (ages 7-10) Third-grade girl, main character Rating: Laugh out loud funny! Short, short summary: Clementine is the funniest third-grader I know, but she’s not having a very good week in her debut novel. Maybe she shouldn’t have cut Margaret’s hair and then drawn it back on with [...]

Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com Young adult novel (probably for high school students) 17-year-old girl, main character Rating: Beautiful verse that leaves you thinking for months Short, short summary: Ellen Hopkins knows what it is like to have a daughter addicted to crystal meth. She knows how to write a captivating and haunting story [...]

Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com Picture book for pre K-2nd grade Young boy as main character Rating: Great rhyme; cute and useful concept for young children Short, short summary In Dream Hop, nightmares plague a young boy. But he quickly learns how to get away from his bad dreams. He just yells, “Dream hop!” [...]

Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com Chapter Book, Fantasy Three Main Characters–older elementary school age–twin boys and older sister Rating: How fast can I get book 3? (So, in other words, it’s great!) Short, short summary: Jared, Simon, and Mallory Grace wrote a desperate letter to author Holly Black and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi. With the [...]

Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com Young adult novel, contemporary fantasy 17-year-old girl, main character Rating: Can’t put this book down, or buy the sequel fast enough Short, short summary: Bella moves to Forks, a town on the Olympic Peninsula, to live with her father and help her mother’s “new” relationship. Once in Forks, Bella [...]

Review by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com Picture book for preK-2nd or 3rd grade Main characters: Dinosaurs! Rating: A great “lesson” book but kids will never know it/ fantastic illustrations Short, short summary: Unless you’ve been away from children’s books for a while, you’ve probably seen several of these How Do Dinosaur. . . books. This [...]

Review by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com Middle-grade historical fiction 11-year-old boy, Samuel, main character Rating: A page turner with great hooks Short, short summary: Samuel is a slave in Kentucky in 1859. He runs away with another older slave, Harrison, and they travel on the Underground Railroad to freedom. Samuel uncovers secrets and meets many [...]