Author: Cierra Bland

Discussion Guide: A Game of Fox & Squirrels

A Game of Fox & Squirrels by Jenn Reese

Andre Norton Award finalist Jenn Reese explores the often thin line between magic and reality, light and darkness in her enchanting middle grade standalone.

After an incident shatters their family, eleven-year old Samantha and her older sister Caitlin are sent to live in rural Oregon with an aunt they’ve never met. Sam wants nothing more than to go back to the way things were… before she spoke up about their father’s anger.

When Aunt Vicky gives Sam a mysterious card game called “A Game of Fox & Squirrels,” Sam falls in love with the animal characters, especially the charming trickster fox, Ashander. Then one day Ashander shows up in Sam’s room and offers her an adventure and a promise: find the Golden Acorn, and Sam can have anything she desires.

But the fox is hiding rules that Sam isn’t prepared for, and her new home feels more tempting than she’d ever expected. As Sam is swept up in the dangerous quest, the line between magic and reality grows thin. If she makes the wrong move, she’ll lose far more than just a game.

Perfect for fans of Barbara O’Connor, Lauren Wolk, and Ali Benjamin, A Game of Fox & Squirrels is a stunning, heartbreaking novel about a girl who finds the light in the darkness… and ultimately discovers the true meaning of home.

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Rethink Your Junk, Join the Scrapkins Builder Club!

Join Brian Yanish, author of Scrapkins: Junk Re-Thunk, for a special earth day edition of the Scrapkins Builder Club!

This Wednesday at 12:30pm EDT on Facebook Live, Brain will show us how to build a Monster Truck from a juice carton!

Here’s what you’ll need: 

  • 1 clean milk or juice carton
  • 3 drinking straws
  • some thicker cardboard from a box
  • colored scrap paper
  • a pencil
  • Tape
  • Glue
  • Scissors
  • Stapler
  • markers

Download the Monster Truck Patterns here: https://cutt.ly/iywaSdE

For more, check out the Scrapkins Builder Club videos on Youtube and tune in every Wednesday at 12:30pm EDT on Facebook for a new activity!

Activity Guide: Friday Night Wrestlefest

Friday Night Wrestlefest by J. F. Fox; illustrated by Micah

Bedtime has never been more fun! Friday Night Wrestlefest is inspired by WWE professional wrestling and is sure to wear kids out before they are gently tucked into bed.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s Friday night, and these kids are ready to wrestle! Join Dangerous Daddoo as he dishes out some serious moves to get the kids ready for bed. But what happens when Flying Mom Bomb gets home from work? Are the kids toast?

From writer J. F. Fox and illustrator Micah Player comes a charming and quirky family story that will teach you a new Bedtime Blitz that everyone will enjoy.

Download the activity guide here →

Teacher’s Guide: Last Pick

Last Pick by Jason Walz

In this first volume of Jason Walz’s dystopian graphic novel trilogy, the kids last picked are humanity’s last hope.

Three years ago, aliens invaded Earth and abducted everyone they deemed useful. The only ones spared were those too young, too old, or too “disabled” to be of value. Living on Earth under the aliens’ harsh authoritarian rule, humanity’s rejects do their best to survive. Their captors never considered them a threat—until now.

Twins Sam and Wyatt are ready to chuck their labels and start a revolution. It’s time for the kids last picked to step into the game.

A YALSA Recommended Reading Great Graphic Novel
A 2020 Texas Maverick Graphic Novel

DOWNLOAD THE TEACHER’S GUIDE HERE →

Teacher’s Guide: A is for Elizabeth

A is for Elizabeth by Rachel Vail; illustrated by Paige Keiser

This new chapter book series spinning off of the Justin Case books, stars Justin’s little sister, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth is in second grade. Class 2B! It’s great! Friends, recess, homework! Even a big project: Make a poster of your name. Yayyy! Hang on. The name Elizabeth has a bajillion letters in it!

The name Anna has only four letters. Plus, Anna’s first letter is A, which is also the first letter of Alphabetical Order. But Anna can’t always be first! That’s not fair!

In A is for Elizabeth, Elizabeth makes more than a poster. She also makes some important choices—about fairness, rules, speaking up, and glue. But the most important thing she makes is…a friend!

With copious line art by Paige Keiser, this first book in a new series—spun off from Rachel Vail’s beloved Justin Case series—is sure to delight fans of Judy Moody, Junie B. Jones, and Clementine.

DOWNLOAD THE TEACHER’S GUIDE HERE →

Teacher’s Guide: Quintessence

Quintessence by Jess Redman

Quintessence is an extraordinary story from Jess Redman about friendship, self-discovery, interconnectedness, and the inexplicable elements that make you you.

Find the Elements. Grow the Light. Save the Starling.

Three months ago, twelve-year-old Alma moved to the town of Four Points. Her panic attacks started a week later, and they haven’t stopped—even though she’s told her parents that they have. She’s homesick and friendless and every day she feels less and less like herself.

But one day she finds a telescope in the town’s junk shop, and through its lens, she watches a star—a star that looks like a child—fall from the sky and into her backyard. Alma knows what it’s like to be lost and afraid, to long for home, and she knows that it’s up to her to save the star. And so, with the help of some unlikely new friends from Astronomy Club, she sets out on a quest that will take a little bit of science, a little bit of magic, and her whole self.

DOWNLOAD THE TEACHER’S GUIDE HERE →