November 2021 - Page 12 of 15

Judy Moody: In a Monday Mood
by Megan McDonald (Author) and Peter H. Reynolds (Illustrator)
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Booktalk: Judy Moody is Monday-morning mopey. Another week in her same-old seat at her same-old desk in her same-old school. Even worse, there aren’t any days off from school for ages. But when she steps into Class 3T, Judy’s Monday frown turns upside down. Pop! Pop! Pop-pop-pop! Mr. Todd is making Monday special by celebrating Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (no lie)! This gives Judy an idea that just-might-maybe turn her week around: why not make every day of the week a holiday? But after she and her friends come up with a week’s worth of wacky celebrations, from feeding ninja squirrels to honoring National Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day, will the weekend be one big letdown?

Snippet: When she woke up on Monday morning, she, Judy Moody, had the blues. The Monday morning blues. The Monday morning blahs. Another week of school. Another week of spelling. Another week of Grouchy pencils.

Call Me Athena: Girl from Detroit
by Colby Cedar Smith (Author)
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Booktalk: In this novel in verse is loosely based on the author’s paternal grandmother, Mary is the American-born daughter of Greek and French immigrants living in Detroit in the 1930s. Mary lives in a tiny apartment with her immigrant parents, her brothers, and her twin sister, and she questions why her parents ever came to America. She yearns for true love, to own her own business, and to be an independent, modern American woman–much to the chagrin of her parents, who want her to be a “good Greek girl.” Written from the perspective of three profoundly different narrators, Mary’s story is peppered with flashbacks to her parents’ childhoods in Greece and northern France. Their stories connect with Mary’s as they address issues of arranged marriage, learning about independence, and yearning to grow beyond one’s own culture.

Snippet:

A 2021 Cybils Poetry nominee