A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Homeschooling

The Personal Librarian

By Leave a Comment

I listened to The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, a bit back. I still think on it.  I’d suggest you give it a read (or listen) if you have a chance to.  Let me tell you why.  

You’ll find romance, deception, books, and female determination.  A strong matriarch, children divided about loyalties, and solid look into real life history.  Come discover more about Belle da Costa Greene, personal librarian to J.P. Morgan. 

image shows a pile of books text the personal librarian the story of bella da costa greene

The Basic Details for The Personal Librarian

Title: The Personal Librarian
Author: Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
Narrator: Robin Miles (audio)
Publisher: Berkeley
Pages: 368 pages
Intended Audience: adult
Genre: adult fiction, historical fiction, racism, black & African-American women’s fiction, women’s fiction, American history, biographical, 
Available formats: Paperback, kindle, audio, hardcover
Format Used: audio

About the Book and Author

Belle da Costa Greene lived in a time where black women were relegated to jobs such as maids and washer women.  BUT she had lighter skin and a momma determined not to let people know she had African-American blood. This gave her children more freedom in the jobs they could hold.  Enter in the story of Portuguese blood to help explain their darker colouring.  Family fractures happen. 

This story speaks to the hardship of hiding heritage, to the status of women, and the difficulties she faced.  Learn more about how J.P. Morgan conducted himself, the work of a personal librarian, and catch glimpses into her personal life. 

the authors

Marie Benedict is a lawyer who loves to discover stories about women in history and telling their stories.  She loves to dig into history and discover the nuances about these women and bring their stories into the light of day.  Victoria Christopher Murray has an MBA in Marketing, grew up in New York, and discovered her love for writing in 1997.  She has since received numerous awards for her work.  Some of her awards are for work as an African-American author. 

Looking Deeper

I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Bella da Costa Greene.  She was a remarkable lady who learned how to function well as a woman in a man’s world.  She did so with style and finesse. 

Even though I admire all the work she did, and how determined she was to make her way, I didn’t like all the choices she made.  It’s not necessary to like everything about a person and still like who they are overall though eh?  🙂  

I loved that she was able to meet the various expectations of her family, both the immediate and the more estranged.  This was a relief to her as well, albeit at times an added pressure to do well. I have a hard time imaging that one person could be so pivotal in helping their whole family do better.  I wanted at times to shake a finger at her adults siblings (and their spouses) and tell them to do better themselves.  That they shouldn’t expect one person to make it all more bearable. 

I liked the story in and of itself and was happy to to have listened to it.  For those who want to learn about a remarkable woman of history, listen to this story (or go read it).  🙂  You’ll see hard life decisions being made, see the joys of procurement of rare items, and satisfaction of learning the business end of life. Being able to scoop your rivals… fantastic!  🙂 

Author’s Remarks

I did wish that I didn’t listen to the author’s remarks.  Like many author’s remarks I expected to hear how the story was changed.  This was accurate, but then they went to on to say why they wrote it and brought racism into the picture and tied it into life today.  I would rather NOT have heard that part.  It changed the story from one that I enjoyed into “one I should have used to learn hard life lessons.”

That’s not what I wanted. I wanted to learn more about a woman from history.  Being, in essence, forced to consider deeper issues changed the whole impact of the life shown to me. It was a spoiler, not a help.   A help to me is “this is the true story, this is how I revamped it to make it read better”.  Or these things happened, but I changed the order, etc. 

Final Thoughts

So go read The Personal Librarian.  Skip the author’s remarks.  Enjoy the story and let the history of the day seep into your beingness.  Learn, but mostly just enjoy her story. 

The Inquisitive Raven

By Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product The Inquisitive Raven through Douglas & McIntyre. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and it is so much appreciated. 🙂

The Inquisitive Raven introduces us to Rueben.   He’s a smart raven who wants to know everything about everything.  A lover of his community and a teacher of what he has learned, he loves to help as much as he loves to learn. But he is sometimes laughed at, and this bothers Rueben.  Whatever shall he do? 

the inquisitive raven by robert wagamese, a review

The Basic Details

Title: The Inquisitive Raven
Author: Richard Wagamese
Illustrator: Bridget George
Series: The Richard Wagamese Storybook Collection
Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre
Pages: 32
Intended Audience: children, 6-8 years,
Genre: indigenous, Canada, children’s Canada books, children’s growth, creation, indigenous stories
Available formats: Hardcover
Received: hardcover
Reviewed for: Douglas & McIntyre

Book and Author

Richard Wagamese also wrote The Animal People Choose a Leader which I also reviewed.  A member of the Obijway people, he was a gifted storyteller.  Despite being abandoned by his parents and being ill-treated in the foster care system, Richard learned to read. His life was not an easy-one, he was married, divorced, fathered children, and lived his life.  He lived out his calling of being a storyteller with several published works. 

In The Inquisitive Raven we learn about Rueben.  He’s such a smart, inquisitive bird, sticking his beak into everything.  He wanted to know as much about his world as he could, and he shared his knowledge with his community.   One day he noticed an eagle soaring high above and watched how the other animals respected the eagle.  He also wanted to be respected, and so we get to read of his experiences.

Looking deeper into The Inquisitive Raven

Oh, the artwork in The Inquisitive Raven helps to bring the story to life.  It has a very indigenous feel to it. You can see the beauty in his coat, and the intelligence in his eyes.   He seems like a very likable chap not wanting to miss an iota of life. 

page from the inquisitive raven book

Some pages are full colour images and others only have an image on part of the page.  Lots of white space to allow for ease of reading. 

Large font makes it easy to read to a group of children.  Wouldn’t it be fun to read with a group and stopping once in a while to ask questions?   Thinking about the story you are listening to and building anticipation.  What will Rueben learn through all of this?  Can we learn together you think? 

You’ll find that it’s a beautiful hardcover tome.  It done up so nicely with a slightly rough texture making it very easy to handle/hold.  The Douglas and McIntyre of have done a wonderful job of presenting Wagamese’s story.  Rueben learned so much in this story, won’t you come and see the learning?  

You will love this story and the artwork.  It gives a good touch to First Nations language and history.  Learn with Rueben. Accept what you have and who you are!   

The Teachings of Mutton: A Coast Salish Woolly Dog

By Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product The Teachings of Mutton: A Coast Salish Woolly Dog through Harbour Publishing. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and it is so much appreciated. 🙂

Are you interested in the First Nations people of Canada?  Want to take in a unique perspective?  Enter in The Teachings of Mutton: A Coast Salish Woolly Dog.  I never knew that woolly dogs were a thing for our First Nations people… DID YOU?  Well, if you are like so many of us (I asked my colleagues at work and they too were surprised), come along for the adventure eh? 

The Teachings of Mutton

Basic Details for The Teachings of Mutton

Title: The Teachings of Mutton: A Coast Salish Woolly Dog
Author: Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa with Coast Salish Contributors
Publisher: Harbour Publishing Co
Pages: 264
Intended Audience: high-school, young adult, adult, 
Genre: indigenous stewardship, weaving and textile arts, native american biographies, history, northwestern North America,  
Available formats: Kindle, Paperback, 
Received: Paperback
Reviewed for: Harbour Publishing

About the Book

Did you know that there used to be a woolly dog?  It was an integral part of the Salish Community.  In this read by Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa we are privileged to learn more about this dog and the people it was part of.  The woolly dog was bred for thousands of years for its woolly fibres.  These fibres were woven into traditional blankets, robes and regalia. Despite careful efforts to protect this breed by the by Coast Salish peoples, by the 1900s, the Woolly Dog had become so rare it is now considered extinct.

About the Author

Formerly the Director of Research Services, Liz Hammand-Kaarremaa is now retired and spends her time researching the Coast Salish peoples. She holds a Master Spinners Certificate and the textiles of the Coast Salish peoples are naturally a focus for her. Liz was instrumental in identifying a rare blanket in the Burke Museum to be made of Woolly Dog hair.

The Teachings of Mutton

Looking Deeper

Eleven chapters round out this educational read that is filled pictures, illustrations, and maps. As we progress through the chapters we get to see how the wooly dog came to be.

  1. Finding Mutton : The ancient story of Swuq’us
  2. Mutton’s journey to the Smithsonians: The Dog Children and the Original Occupations
  3. The Woolly Dog: The teachings of Fibre
  4. The Wool: The Cultural Importance of Blankets
  5. Where are all the Blankets: Misunderstanding our relationships with the Woolly Dog
  6. Mutton’s Ancient Origins: Connecting to our Ancestors
  7. Other Dogs: The care and Feeding of Dogs
  8. The Diet of Woolly Dogs: The care and Feeding of Dogs
  9. Processing Wool: The impact of Colonialism
  10. What did Woolly Dogs Look like? : Fur Beings and Woven Visions, Connecting with Musquem History
  11. An Ending and a Beginning

I appreciated how as part of the forward she mentioned how she wanted to respect the Coast Salish people.  Recognizing that she has her own preconceptions so hopes to let the Coast Salish people speak with their own words as much as possible.  Recognizing the Mutton may have been the name of this particular Woolly Dog, but wasn’t a name respected by the Coast Salish people. 

A scholarly read

This is a scholarly read, filled with illustrations, pictures, and maps to bring the text to life.  For instance, without this map I wouldn’t have clearly understood the range of the Woolly dog (the yellow area).  For such a niche breed, I didn’t expect that.

Native art featuring the Woolly Dog has a prominent place.  I just loved this inclusion.  Made everything so much better you know? Makes me regret that the Woolly Dog is no more.  It looked like a fun little dog to have around.  Not too big, not to small, and very useful besides! 

These dogs were such an integral part of their community, rather cool to learn about. 

My recommendation

If you want to take an unique look at indigenous peoples of Canada, check out The Teachings of Mutton.  You will find loads of information about the textiles, the geography, and the history of this helpful little dog.   It’s kinda too bad that their usefulness waned.  Technology and imports isn’t always a good thing when it comes to a niche population. 

Seeing the quality of the blankets they made with their wool, makes me wonder if they can use DNA from the blankets to somehow bring them back.  What do you think?

A useful book if studying the First Nations people of British Columbia.  A fascinating book if you love textiles and their history. A wonderful look into a type of dog I’d never heard of before.  Give it a look see,  you won’t regret it! 

A Kid’s Guide to Plants of the Great Lakes Region

By Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product A Kid’s Guide to Plants of the Great Lakes Region through Harbour Publishing. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and it is so much appreciated. 🙂

MAN…. Sometimes I wish I had a child to homeschool again.   If I did, when going through Canada, and particularly Ontario, A Kid’s Guide to Plants of the Great Lakes Region would be EVER so useful!  Loaded with activities, tons of easily accessible information, descriptive photos and so much more. You need to check out this delightful book that helps children and youth access the plants growing around them. 

kids guide to the plants of the great lakes region

The Basic Details for A Kid’s Guide to Plants of the Great Lakes Region

Title: A Kid’s Guide to Plants of the Great Lakes Region
Author: Philippa Joly, contributing author Danielle Gehl Hagel
Publisher: Harbour Publishing Co
Pages: 224
Intended Audience: grade 3-4, 6-12 years
Genre: plants, Great Lakes, kid’s guide, Nature guide, Botany, homeschool, kid’s activity book, 
Available formats: Kindle, Paperback, 
Received: Paperback
Reviewed for: Harbour Publishing

About the Book and Author

As a clinical and community herbalist, Philippa Joly has her hands in many pots.  She works with individual clients, leads workshops and classes for children and adults, draws nature based pictures, and writes books.  She uses her skills in a variety of ways just like all of us!  🙂   A fellow Canadian she spends her time out in British Columbia. 

A Kid’s Guide to Plants of the Great Lakes Region is a middle-school friendly introduction to the plants of the Great Lakes Region.  You’ll discover outdoor activities, games, activities and quizzes that make learning about nature fun.  Dig up some roots!  Make some jam! Create a salve to cure an itch.  Discover new berries to eat and to definitely NOT eat!   Foster a love of the outdoors, increase attention spans and physical well-being, learn about the plants the surround, and connect with nature.   Contributing author is Danielle Gehl Hagel.

Looking More Closely

So let’s take a closer look at the treasures you will find in this lovely guide.  Eight chapters as well as a chapter dedicated to parents and educators.   Learn about the original peoples of the area, the regions covered, and so much more.   You’ll see plant profiles (of some 50 plants), learn about some invasive plants and learn the do’s and don’t of wildcrafting.  This reminds me of a facebook group I’m part of where people talk about the mushrooms they are harvesting from the wild.  The encouragement is always to do no damage, but to harvest thoughtfully. 

As you continue to work your way through, you’ll discover some easy crafts to make and activities to do.  Have you ever thought of playing Burdock tag? Sounds like a sticky situation eh?  🙂 

Make Plantain Salve to ease the pain of insect bites. Dig into some wild leek pesto!  Find out how to measure a Bracken fern.  Dish up some juices, oils, lotions, and jams from plants you discover. 

Learn about all sorts of plants.  I have to admit that I knew most of these, but would middle-schoolers?  Probably not!  Descriptive text written for the target age range, with a sense of humour.  🙂 Be prepared to discover interesting little tidbits and to read responses from other middle-schoolers.  Learn some Latin.  Observe illustrations and photos.

The Parents and educators section is filled with tips for making the best use of nature study.  Not just tips for using this book in the best way, but more on how to introduce wildcrafting, and various skills.  Skills such as handling a knife for cutting samples or making wood carvings. 

My Over-all Thoughts

Should you add The Kid’s Guide to the Plants of the Great Lakes Region to your library?   Yes!   Find it, borrow it, give it a good read.  Be inspired and watch your children/students be amazed at everything around them!  

The plethora of illustrations, photos, and descriptive text make this an engaging tome. The engaging activities and crafts add a fantastic hands-on component that helps to hammer home what they are learning (and it’s fun!). 

I do wish the invasive plant section had been a bit larger.  But I can understand the brevity, the focus is on the plants of the Great Lakes Region, not on the invaders that don’t belong.  One does not wish to create a massive book that would then be unwieldy.   

This kid’s guide is just the right size to provide variety in activities and help provide assistance in learning regardless of where you are in the Great Lakes Region.  That is what makes this book so valuable.  It is a helpful resource whether you are living in city, town or country.

Gold Rush

By Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product Gold Rush through Quarto. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and it is so much appreciated. 🙂

Did you know there was some controversy over who first discovered the gold that started the Klondike Gold Rush?   I didn’t!   Granted, I had no idea who or what started it, but definitely didn’t consider there would have been any argument about it.  So was it a first nations woman or was it some guy?  This story explores this story from the viewpoint it was started by a first nations woman.   Come along on this trip of discovery.  Loads of illustrations, complete with explanatory text, showcase this tale.  Let’s Go!

gold rush by Flora Delargy

The Basic Details for Gold Rush

Title: Gold Rush
Author: Flora Delargy
Illustrator: Flora Delargy
Series: Hidden Histories
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Pages: 80
Intended Audience: 7-11 years
Genre: First Nations, Gold Rush, Picture Book, Indigenous, history, American History, Women & Girls Issues
Available formats: hardcover
Received: hardcover
Reviewed for: Quarto

Author and Story

Flora Delargy comes from Belfast and has written a couple of children’s books.   She not only writes them but illustrates them as well. In 2019, she was selected for the Illustrators Exhibition at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.  She attained a master’s degree in Children’s Book Illustration. 

In Gold Rush, Delargy brings us into the discovery of gold in the Yukon.  She makes excellent illustrations showing the forbidding mountains, rickety railway tracks, dogsledders, and the beauty of the Yukon countryside.  She walks us through all the steps to getting the gold in the Yukon.  Supply lists, who the adventurers are, the treatment of First Nations people, and so much more.   Learn the legacy of the Gold Rush! 

gold rush by Flora Delargy

Looking Deeper

Wow!   You can really tell Delargy spent some time in art school.  Her illustrations really help to tell the story.  Can’t you just see yourself struggling up this mountain pass?   Both women and men struggling through snow and ice all in the search for gold. That climb could make or break you couldn’t it?

There is SO MUCH information contained within these pages.   Six chapters

  • Kate Carmack (Shaaw Tiaa): the Discover
  • Martha Black: The Stateswoman
  • Belinda Mulrooney: The Boomtown Entrepreneur
  • Nellie Cashman: The Prospector
  • The Beauty of the North
  • The Impact of Kate Carmack

Within each of these chapters we’ll learn about supplies needed, places to live, how to mine for gold, impact on First Nation folk, those who stayed after the gold rush was over, and everything in-between. 

I so enjoy the artwork found within. The period dress, the action, the animals, and the natural beauty of the northlands. 

So my one big complaint about Gold Rush is the text.  It is SO small.  The headlines are a reasonable size font for reading, but the text is done in what I think is an 8 maybe a 10 point font.  Not good to read if you want to share with a group, and difficult enough to read yourself just for enjoyment. 

Do not misunderstand me, this an issue for me with the size of the text, not with the quality or quantity of the written material.

Recommendation

If you are studying Canadian History, learning about the Gold Rush, or curious get this book.  I love how it covers the Klondike Gold Rush so thoroughly, and broaches on issues other books generally don’t.   My consideration has never before been how the Gold Rush would have affected the native population.   I knew they used the people as porters (so some good income could be made for a while), but never thought of it would be culturally or just even short-term with the congestion and lawlessness. 

Flora Delargy did a good job pulling all her research together into an easily accessible resource.   Gold Rush does an good job of teaching (and showing) it’s readers about this part of history. 

Medici Heist

By Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product Medici Heist through Raincoast Books. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and it is so much appreciated. 🙂

Take a trip into the past with Medici Heist.   Back into Italy in the days of the Medici brothers and political upheaval, where revenge, friendship, and family are all put to the test.  Secrets abound, and difficult situation raise ugly heads, and through it all, a bit of history is revealed. Medici Heist keeps you on your toes wondering who will win out in the end. 

Medici Heist by Caitlin Schneiderhan

General Info for Medici Heist

Title: Medici Heist
Author: Caitlin Schneiderhan
Publisher: Square Fish
Pages: 432
Intended Audience: grade 9-12, 13-18 years
Genre: Renaissance Historical Fiction, Young Adult, LGBTQ, Historical Romance
Available formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Audio, Paperback
Received: ARC Paperback
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books

Author and the Story

Ms. Schneiderhan loves Terry Pratchet books and grew up on them as a 13 year old.  They remain as part of her adult library (I don’t blame her at all).  She’s also an writer for the TV show Stranger Things. 

In Medici Heist she brings us into the world of Florence in 1517.  The Medici brothers rule Florence getting richer while the poor get poorer (with the church taking part in the wealth distribution). Into this world of opulence and intrigue drops in Rosa Cellini, a con woman with a mission.  She wants to steal the money back!   She assembles a rather motley crew of skilled misfits including a tinkerer, a fighter, and a master of disguise.  Artist Michelangelo even plays a role.  But the Medici’s have their own crew, and this crew has it’s own problems.  What will happen?   You’ll have to read to find out!  🙂 

Medici Heist by Caitlin Schneiderhan

Taking a Closer Look

Mystery presented to us within the historic world of the Medici brothers in Florence, Italy.  We know the Medici brothers are wealthy, and wanting to become more wealthy and getting more money through the church would be helpful to them.  Helping the church sell indulgences may be part of their biggest pay out yet!

But we have a small problem.  There’s a lot of political unrest, more guards are needed to keep the people under control, and unbeknownst to the Medici brothers there’s a lady out for a payout of her own with… just a touch of revenge mixed in.  She’s assembled a crew and as the story progresses we get to hear them all. 

Clear up warning… some of the stories are hard to listen to.  Brutality and hardship abound in the lives of the crew.   Pain is managed and not always talked about, until it is. 

Character Development Pivotal

Relationships within the crew are flexible and not always as clear cut as one might wish.  Same gender relationships are part of the mix.  I was admittedly surprised by one of them.  

Good character development and lots of history is included.  One can well imagine being in the heart of Florence in 1517.   

I do have to admit I didn’t quite get all of the Michelangelo stuff.  He was an important figure but I had too many unanswered questions about him.  Part of that is of Michelangelo’s historic relevance right?  You expect bigger things and more details about him and his work.  It’s kinda hard to explain, but of all the characters, I found his development the weakness.

Ms. Schneiderhan’s writing style is easy to read, with a compelling desire to find out how the story ends.  Will Sarra’s prediction that her tinkering skills will be needed with the wagon?   Khalid’s past… will it catch up to him in a solidly bad way for him?  Does the life Giacomo lived through prevent his future from becoming a reality?  Will Rosa get her revenge or will that desire jeopardize everything?   These questions will fuel the desire to finish the story.   You need to know the answers eh? 🙂

I received an ARC copy to review, so I don’t know if the greyscale artwork will remain as such in the final review copy.  There are three distinct parts of this tale with the artwork remaining consistent for each part.

Should you read it?

Other than the one surprising to me same gender relationship that kinda spoiled the ending for me, I enjoyed this read.  I loved the history, the mystery, and the interplay between not only the main characters, but the little add-on ones as well.   

As a former homeschooler I would want my highschooler to see just how accurate the author was in depicting Italy and the Medici brothers in 1517.   I don’t know my history well enough to tell you how accurate it all is.  🙂  But the sights and sounds feel historically accurate. 

I enjoyed the story of Medici Heist, the stories of the crew drew me in, then the events they were going through swirled around me.  Their life stories brought the struggles and dangers they were to life in a tangible way.  Well-written and interesting. 

Farther Than the Moon

By Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product Farther Than the Moon through Raincoast Books. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and it is so much appreciated. 🙂

Did you know that I used to work with CP kids?  They are SO MUCH FUN.  Granted not all the time, sometimes life with CP kids is hard.  Helping them control their bodies, helping them to show their intelligence to those around them, helping people see more than their physical limitations, and helping them deal with the pain of life.  It’s not always easy for them, OR their families/caretakers.  Farther Than The Moon by Lindsay Lackey gives some insight into that WHILE showcasing the abilities of another family member.  Family and friends learning to work together.  It’s a VERY good read and suggest you run out and get it now!  🙂 

farther than the moon

The Basic Details for Farther Than the Moon

Title: Farther Than the Moon
Author: Lindsay Lackey
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Pages: 336
Intended Audience: 10-14 Years
Genre:  children’s books, epilepsy, Jr Astronauts, children’s sibling books
Available formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Audio, Paperback
Received: Hardcover
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books

About the author and the book

Californian Lindsay Lackey grew up with big curly hair, and is the proud owner of two small dogs.  Growing up in Colorado, where most of her stories are based, she was (and still is) an avid reader.   Never wanting to be a story writer, she always wrote books making construction paper books as a wee child.   Her encouragement to aspiring authors is to keep at it.  Only we can tell our own stories!   A bonus!!   Lindsay has a jr. astronaut program on her website!   

About Farther Than the Moon

Thirteen-year-old Houston Stewart wants to become an astronaut. His dreams feel like they’re finally coming true when he’s accepted to the highly-competitive Junior Astronaut Recruitment Program.  Problem though, he’s made a promise to his younger brother. 

Ever since their dad left, Houston and Robbie have been inseparable. It’s hard to tell where Houston’s love of space ends and where Robbie’s begins. But Robbie’s cerebral palsy and epilepsy mean he needs medical attention at home, so Houston is forced to take this giant leap for the two of them all on his own.

At camp, Houston is quickly drawn into the orbit of new friends, cosmic adventures, and a long-lost grandfather. But can he keep his promise to his brother Robbie?  Will his idea work?  What if Robbie doesn’t like it?  Then what?  Can he make the right plan using his new friends and family? Can he and Robbie still shoot for the stars?

farther than the moon by lindsay lackey

Digging Deeper

I love a book that shows youth learning, growing, and following their passions.  Houston does all these things.  He learns and does so much it’s just a fantastic read.  Ms. Lackey did an excellent job of bringing the insecurities and devotion of a 13 year old to life.  She showed the determination that teens have to following their passions… in this case to be astronauts! 

Houston has SO much work to do that JARP (Jr.Astronaut Program), assignments to complete, a grandfather to get to know, and working in group situations with people who are difficult.  Life became just a wee bit complicated.  Lies, truths, equipment failure, lack of confidence, bullying, and worry over his brother… it was all a bit much.  Will advise from his astronaut grandfather help?   

Part of the learning that Houston had to do was discovering what it means to make promises to his brother.  It’s hard to be a person with limitations, and it’s even harder when promises are made that seem impossible to keep.  Hurt feelings abound on both sides of the equation.  Houston and his teammates struggle to find the solution. 

I love how Ms. Lackey showed all these intense emotions and thought processes.  Each member of the team felt like real people.  The adults adulted well, which I find is an important part of middle school fiction. I love how mom admitted to struggles in the past but through changing her perspective onthose events (now as an adult) decided she could change the present.  

I love how it was not just Houston who needed to learn, grow, and change, but all the members of the his team learned new things.  Such a nice well-rounded book to encourage young teens to follow their passions and be better people in the process.   Farther Than the Moon is well worth reading whether young or old!