Saint Louis Armstrong Beach - Brenda Woods

Saint Louis Armstrong Beach by Brenda Woods
Saint Louis Armstrong Beach lives in New Orleans with his parents. Saint's a natural clarinetist and he earns money playing on the Quarter for tourists. This was before Hurricane Katrina. The novel opens with Saint talking about his before and how the after keeps getting better. Saint begins his story with his best day pre Katrina, which was one week and two days before it hit.

The novels strengths lies in Saint's voice. Woods does an excellent job with it, along with Saint's relationship with his parents. Saint's love of music shines through. My favorite secondary character was Miz Moran an older woman who refused to evacuate, Saint finds himself spending a lot of time with her. I did feel the ending was a bit rushed one minute Saint's in danger after an impulsive act, the next he's with his parents again. Though overall this was an enjoyable read.

Read an excerpt

Dog Whisperer:Storm Warning - Nicholas Edwards

Dog Whisperer:Storm Warning by Nicholas Edwards
Emily has a special connection with Zack, her dog she helped rescue. Zack can always sense when someone is in trouble and when that happens the two go running to help because they can read each others minds. When a storm hits their small Maine town, Emily and Zack are quick to lend a hand and a paw (ha ha ha) but seriously I loved the first book "Rescue" and I was glad to finally see another book come out in the series. Emily and Zack take a lot of risk to come to the aid of others, the author builds the suspense well. While the first one is my favorite this was still a good read. I really like how the author is not limiting Emily's ability to connect only to Zack, instead Edwards is stretching the boundaries of Emily's gift allowing her converse with different animals. As this series continues it will be interesting to see how this skill develops. Dog Whisperer is just a fun series for anyone who love dog stories.

excerpt

Zapato Power - Jacqueline Jules, Miguel Benitez

Zapato Power : Freddie Ramos Zooms to the Rescue by Jacqueline Jules illus. by Miguel Benitez
Freddie's specially designed purple sneakers give him super speed and can even out run a train. He keeps his superhero ability a secret and is always looking for ways to come to the rescue. A rogue squirrel that finds its way into the school, is covered in paint. Freddie is determined to find who is responsible. The mystery behind the painted squirrel was fun and I really enjoyed Benitez playful illustrations. This is the third Freddie Ramos adventure and its just as much fun as the last two. Each story works very well as a stand alone. Though together there is a great connection. The author is doing an excellent job keeping the reader interested in Freddie, his super power and his world.

Lottie Paris:Lives Here - Angela Johnson - Scott M. Fischer

Lottie Paris:Lives Here by Angela Johnson illus. by Scott M. Fischer
This is a wonderfully fun story about Lottie Paris. It's very text light with no more than a few sentences per page. The story has a great rhythm from beginning to end

"Ooookay, those aren't Lottie's feet. They're Papa Pete's. But Lottie is the short one wearing his boots, cause Lottie Paris is ready to walk."

I love Fischer's very colorful illustrations. He's given Lottie a lot of personality. The text and illustrations are a perfect fit. Sometimes I forget along with her YA novels, Johnson also writes picture books which is a shame because they are very good. Lottie Paris:Lives Here is my favorite so far. I loved it.

A Little Otis Redding... Because

I just finished Sara Zarr's latest YA novel How to Save a Life , reading Zarr makes me happy not because the subject matter is light, its never that but the author handles everything with such care and I am always moved by the strength of her writing. How to Save a Life has received five starred reviews An excerpt

One of the main characters, Jill MacSweeney has fond memories connected to Try a Little Tenderness, giving me a great excuse to share some Otis Redding



And I couldn't resist the urge to include my favorite scene from Pretty in Pink