Lemons by Melissa Savage

A girl named Lemonade goes to live with her grandfather after her mother's death, and meets a Big-Foot obsessed boy, Tobin.  Tobin inducts Lem into his Big Foot Detective Agency and as they search for the illusive creature, they work through the bigger issues in their own lives.

This was a pretty typical "orphaned girl in a new home" book with a little cryptozoological twist.  All through the book the reader is never sure if Big Foot is real in this world or if the kids are just chasing wild stories.  Lemonade and Tobin are both quirky and endearing and their slowly developing friendship is fun to watch.  It was a cute book and I will likely recommend it to a few of the humorous realistic (kind of) fiction readers I know who come into the library. (2017, 308 p.)

Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy

Moose and Rabbit are just hanging out in the forest when they find an alien space ship.  Moose, who is super paranoid, shoots the space ship with his laser vision.  (Yep, for some reason, the moose has laser vision.)  Rabbit, who is an incurable optimist,  approaches and aliens and discovers they are friendly, so Moose and Rabbit help them repair their ship.  That is the first story in this rather silly and random comic book.  I don't even remember why I checked it out.  It isn't on my "starred" graphic novel list.  Even though it was silly, it could appeal to a 7 or 8 year old reluctant reader.  The stories and the characters are simple and mildly amusing.  The pictures are in color and communicate the stories really well.  So, sure, why not have a moose who can shoot lasers out of his eyes? (2016, 142 p.)

Tumble and Blue by Cassie Beasley

Blue Montgomery is taken to his grandmother's house in the Okefenokee  swamp and unceremoniously dropped off by his race car driving father. The Montgomerys each have an unbreakable fate, either good or bad, and Blue's is that he always loses.  Once every 100 years an opportunity arises for one of the Montgomerys to change their fate, and Blue is determined he will be the one.  While waiting for the appointed day, Blue meets Tumble, a girl who is obsessed with being a hero.  When Tumble discovers Blue's curse, she is determined to help him break it.  Things are not as straight forward as they seem, and soon both children find themselves in more danger than they could have imagined.

This book is getting starred reviews all over the place.  It is by the author of Circus Mirandus, which got a lot a attention a few years ago.  It is an interesting fantasy with very complex emotional elements.  It explores the nature of good and evil, fate and self determination, and emphases that there are always reasons behind other's behaviors.  Like Circus Mirandus, I wasn't completely pleased with the ending, but I can see the genius (maybe evil genius) behind it. This is a great book for a parent/child book club because it is entertaining but also rather deep.  I don't really see it winning the Newbery, but it could be an honor. (2017, 390 p.)

The Door in the Alley by Adrienne Kress

Sebastian loves to follow rules and always does his best to please his parents and his teachers.  Then one day he sees a door in an alley and a pig with a little hat that intrigue him.  Meanwhile, an orphaned girl, Evie, is enduring another dinner with two of the most boring people Evie could imagine, when they are attacked by some frightening thugs.  Right before the house she is in explodes, one of Evie's hosts gives her a letter from her grandfather whom Evie thought was dead.  The letter is a cry for help.  Both Evie's letter and the pig with the little hat lead the two children to the Explorer's Society, a mysterious organization that holds the key to finding Evie's grandfather.

This was a fun and lighthearted adventure with kid appeal.  Kress's writing is quirky and has a lot of personality and humor.  Sebastian and Evie are likable characters as are the unique adult members of the society.  Of course, this is the first in a series, and it is entertaining enough I might read the next. (2017, 305 p.)

Ada's Ideas by Fiona Robinson

This is a fun little picture book biography I read about Ada Lovelace.  She was the estranged daughter of Lord Byron.  Her mother, Lady Wentworth, left Lord Byron soon after Ada was born, and raised her daughter to be well educated so she wouldn't end up like her flighty father.  Ana was good at math, and as a young person was introduced to Charles Babbage.  There was a great deal of mutual respect between the two, and when Babbage created his mechanical general purpose computer, he asked Ada to create the algorithm for it.  As a result, some consider her to be the first "computer programmer" even though she lived more than a century before modern computers were created.

It is always good to get new biographies of women in the sciences.  One thing I like about Ada is that she made her contribution and raised a family as a proper English lady.  The book has engaging illustrations and would work as a read aloud or as something for a child to read on their own.  It is not really a "report" type biography, but it is a good introduction to an interesting person.  (2016)

The Sand Warrior by Mark Siegal et alii

Oona is the least proficient of all the sand dancers.  Her aniforms are always getting away from her.  While chasing one she overhears a council meeting and discovers that her world is in great danger.  The "Chosen One" needs to relight the five beacons before they all parish.  Oona believes her long lost sister is the chosen one,  and with the help of some unlikely friends,  she goes on a desperate quest to find her and bring her back to Crystalia.

This is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel fantasy.  It got some starred reviews and will be popular with the "Amulet" crowd.  There is nothing terribly original in the plot line, but somehow we never get tired of the stories of the underdog who discovers hidden potential and uses it to save the world.
 (2017, 248 p.)

Hello Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly

Virgil comes home from the last day of school totally dejected.  All year he has been trying to get up the courage to talk to a girl in his class, but was just too shy to go through with it.  At the same time, Valencia, the girl in his class, is struggling with bad dreams about loneliness.  Meanwhile Kaori, a self proclaimed psychic, can feel a stirring in the universe.  Fate, with the help of a guinea pig named Gulliver and a bully named Chet, aligns to bring the three lonely children together and give them the courage to make a difference in their own lives.

This is a darling book.  If you want a light realistic fiction that will make you feel good, this is the book for you.  Virgil, Valencia and Kaori are just such darling kids and the reader is hoping so much that they end up all getting together.  Even Chet is a little bit adorable. The fact that Valencia is deaf, and Virgil has a learning disability, but still they are really good and likable kids is an added plus.  I enjoyed this as much as anything I have read this year.  That said, I don't think it is a Newbery quality, but still, it was a really fun read. (2017, 313 p.)