Throughout my lifetime, libraries and bookstores have been happy places to me, places to find characters like me, to read about people different than me, and to find stories that open up my world from the comfort of my home. But, in all the time I’ve spent in book-laden places, I also would intentionally scour […]
Can you believe it’s already February? January flew by in a flash and now we are all getting ready for Valentine’s Day and longer holiday weekends. Which means more time to read, of course. This month there are three great picks for Family Book Club, with expanded details and insight about each book author. Younger […]
When I think about my favorite heroes in the middle grade stories I love, I find myself drawn to the same trait in all of them—they frequently put others before themselves, often at their own peril. Here are ten inspiring heroes who genuinely care about others: Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus is […]
Aven, the heroine of Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus, by Dusti Bowling, is used to people asking her what happened to her arms, and she has a string of tall tales ready to answer them with. In truth, though, she never had any arms to lose, having been born without them. Her parents, […]
Author Dusti Bowling’s lovely forthcoming middle grade novel, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus, tells the story of Aven Green, a young girl who was born without arms. When her father takes a job running a theme park out west, Aven worries that starting over at a new school is going to make […]