A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Middle School

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

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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.

Jawbreaker

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Disclosure: I received this complimentary product Jawbreaker 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. 🙂

Braces, bullying, and reporting.  This fair sums up the themes of Jawbreaker by Christina Wyman. Max is a typical teenager in so many ways.  She wears braces, and tries to figure out life.  Hanging out with friends and managing school.  It would all be so much easier without the bullies!   How will Max find her way through?  I’d tell you but that would destroy the fun of reading her story! 

Jawbreaker by Christina Wyman

The Basic Details of Jawbreaker

Title: Jawbreaker
Author: Christina Wyman
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Pages: 320
Intended Audience: 8-12 Years
Genre:  bullying, friendship, middle school, siblings, family, braces, dental work, 
Available formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Audio, paperback
Received: ARC Paperback
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books

jawbreaker by christina wyman

About the Author and the Story

Author Christina Wyman takes a moment of her life, her middle school years dealing with dental issues, and turns it into a story of courageous determination to become better. She doesn’t mitigate the pain of dealing with the bullying and family situations, but at the same time shows a light of hope.  This Michigan teacher has shed her tiny bedroom as a child for a home with hubby, rescue cats, and various wandering wildlife.  She wants more rescue cats and chocolate as she continues her dream of being an author. 

Her story Jawbreaker walks us into the first person experience of seventh-grader Max.  Living with her sister and parents on a paycheck to paycheck basis.  She deals with family dysfunction, bullying, teachers who just don’t understand, and a desire to be something more!  She loves reporting the news and writing opinion pieces.  Will her life ruin her love of reporting? 

Digging Deeper into Jawbreaker

One thing you’ll notice in this ARC version I received is the art work is not complete.   You’ll find placeholders for each chapter.  This did not detract from the story for me, but rather helped me to not pay attention to the non-essentials in pursuit of a solidly good read. 

Max is a solidly real person, battling the angst of friendship, school, and family.   It’s not easy to be the one being bullied over something you can’t fix.  Only time is the answer, but that’s hard to see when you are in middle school you know?  Wyman does an excellent job of drawing us into the lives and actions of Max, her family, and her friends. 

This is a very readable, and relatable story.  My sister grew up having to wear braces, and a head piece, and she had to be so careful about what she ate. So Jawbreaker gave me a bit more of a glance into her life.  Being part of a family of six she came into her own amount of teasing, but then, so did I with wearing glasses.  We weren’t downright mean to each other though, so spared that! 

Jawbreaker would make an excellent story for any child (braces or no) experiencing bullying.  Not everything comes out excellent in the end, but it does come out better.  Through Max and her family, perhaps some reader will feel some hope, or at least some kinship, and know in the end, it will come out better. 

A Kids Guide to Plants of the Pacific Northwest

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Disclosure: I received this complimentary product for A Kids Guide to Plants of the Pacific Northwest through Harbour Publishing. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated. ðŸ™‚

I ADORE books that seek to teach in practical ways as well as educate.   A Kid’s Guide to Plants of the Pacific Northwest is a fantastic book, complete with teacher’s guide filled with cool facts, activities and recipes to delight the reader.  Reading through this paperback makes me wish they had one called “Plants of Ontario!”  Although, observing the layout and activities I’m sure it could be adapted!  🙂 

a kids guide to Plants of the pacific Northwest

The Basic Details for A Kid’s Guide to Plants of the Pacific Northwest

Title: A Kid’s Guide to Plants of the Pacific Northwest
Author: Philippa Joly
Publisher: Harbour Publishing
Pages: 192
Intended Audience: 6-12 years, grades 3-4
Formats Available: Paperback
Genre: Pacific Northwest, Plants, Flower and Plants book, Children’s plant books, Environment and ecology, children’s activity books,
Reviewed for: Harbour Publishing
Copy Received: Paperback

Author

Running an outdoor school for children, and leader of workshops, Philippa Joly uses her education and a clinical and community herbalist, paramedic and outdoor educator to open up nature to children.  She lives in British Columbia with her plant-savvy daughter and cat.  Ms. Joly delights in helping people understand the healing properties of the plants around us while teaching about ethical wildcrafting.  You will see her knowledge brought out in A kid’s guide to Plants of the Pacific Northwest

This Resource

Encourage your children to get outside and enjoy the weather and nature as they take in the world around them in the Pacific Northwest. 

Plants surround us wherever we are, and using them we can boost our children’s self-confidence, increase their attention spans and their physical well-being.  This book helps our children appreciate the world in which they are growing up in. 

a kids guide to Plants of the pacific Northwest

Looking More Closely

I have enjoyed walking the trail near my house, figuring a berry I would eat regularly were some type of raspberry.  In reading through A Kid’s Guide to the Pacific Northwest I learned these berries are blackcap raspberries.   Fantastic to learn eh? 

Discover within, recipes, games, mysteries, personal anecdotes, crafts and so much more.   You can even learn how to make your own salves!  Plantain grows all around where I live so this would be rather cool to try don’t you think? 

The font is easy to read. The copious use of images and photos makes it so easy to follow instructions or to learn what the plants are you are learning about.  Latin names, pictures of leaves and berries, wildlife you might see around, and so much more. 

a kids guide to Plants of the pacific Northwest

Personal anecdotes add such a nice touch, drawing out stories from the reader itself.  Drew to mind a time when I was out walking in the bush and came across a youngish possum hiding in a stump.  The sheer amount of noise coming from such a small critter.  You would have thought it was a small bear!  🙂  I thought for sure it would play dead but it chose to hiss and hiss at me.   

Plant profiles are divided into seasons, spring is probably the biggest section.  You’ll also find chapters dedicated to the indigenous peoples of the area, the regions covered, the dos and don’ts of wildcrafting, plant families and guilds, poisonous plants and invasive plants.   

At the close you’ll find a glossary, a plant quiz, suggested readings and comprehensive index. 

What do I think of a Kids guide to Plants of the Pacific Northwest?

A Kid’s Guide to Plants of the Pacific Northwest is a fantastic resource for teachers, or parents, wanting to ensure their charges/children learn more about plants in this area.  With interesting facts, a variety of activities and yummy recipes, this book is sure to please!  With all the work done for you it makes it easy to review, gather supplies, and let your children learn. 

Don’t think this book isn’t helpful if you don’t live in the Pacific Northwest.  Many of these plants grow in a wider area.  I live in Ontario, not in British Columbia through to California.  And just think of the ideas you will get!  And the fun you will have with your children learning the value in the plants around you.  🙂   Add this resource into your bookbag as you conduct your nature studies. 

Oscar From Elsewhere

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

When two worlds collide in order to save the lives of an entire race, you’ll find the story of Oscar from Elsewhere come to life. Oscar is your typical American boy who loves skateboarding.  When through a slip in the grass finds himself in a world of magic.  Why is he there?   He soon discovers he’s there to help save a world…. It’s a world of figuring out who to trust and solving a mystery.  Come on, let’s take a look! 

oscar from elsewhere

The Basic Details of Oscar from Elsewhere

Title: Oscar From Elsewhere
Author: Jaclyn Moriarity
Pages: 400
Publisher: Levine Querido c/o Chronicle Books
Intended Audience: 10-14 years
Formats available: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback
Reviewed for: Raincoast books
Received: ARC Paperback
Series: I think it’s part of the Kingdoms and Empires Series

About the Author

Jaclyn Moriarty, you may remember her from The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst, writes intriguing fantasy for middle school. An Australian by birth, she currently lives in Sydney with her son.  A lover of chocolate and blueberries, you’ll find a list of recommended authors on her website.  

About Oscar from Elsewhere

During a sleepover, a letter comes to five children begging for the urgent assistance of Esther, a newly-realized Rain Weaver; she must arrive before 10am on Monday to save an entire town of elves. When they arrive, the children find two incredibly odd things: first, the town of elves, buried under layers of silver; and second, a regular-size boy who, soon after seeing the children, dies.

Oscar is that boy who skipped school in our world on Monday to skate, and found himself in the city of the elves at just the wrong moment: He fled as fast as he could, but not fast enough because the silver wave struck him and he fell down dead.

Looking Deeper

The story of Oscar alternates between Oscar and Imogen, one of the six children who came to Oscar’s rescue.  I loved how Ms. Moriarty gave these two characters very different voices. 

These children face a number of obstacles and have a quest to finish… with three known clues and six hidden clues.  They are also faced with people they don’t know if they can trust. So the quest is hard but… should they complete it, a whole people group will be saved!

Each section is one more day in their quest.  They only have six days to complete this quest.   So each day’s chapters walk us through specific adventures.  As they seek out the answers we get to learn more about each of these unique youth.  Each has their own unique abilities and perspectives. 

I didn’t get a final version, but I found myself intrigued by the story line and wondering if they finish this quest completely by the time the book is done.  (no, I haven’t quite finished it yet!).  But I can easily see a sequel happening simply due to the diverse nature of the participants.   AH AH… I skipped ahead so I could see if the story continues on.  This is a complete story line.  Be prepared for surprises!   ENJOY the surprises it’s part of the fun of this read.  🙂 

Get it?

Keeping in that I have not read the entire book, but what I have read I have thoroughly enjoyed, I will recommend it.   I love the variety in the characters, the surprises along the way, and how overall these are just nice kids.     Learning to not believe lies from their past, working to help others not related to them, and how these youth have to work together to problem-solve.  

Oscar from Elsewhere is a fun fantasy read that will be fantastic for middle school youth to read.  An intermingling of worlds where skill-sets from each help save the elves. 

These Unlucky Stars

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Isn’t it nice when you finish a book and you think to yourself… I’m glad I read that!   These Unlucky Stars left me feeling like that.  So glad that I took the time to read it through.  I’d love to tell you all about Gillian McDunn’s touching middle school novel.   Affiliate links will be used in this review. 

These unlucky Stars

Annie is such an unlucky girl, who has learned to keep people away, and yet… people keep intruding.   Can she learn to trust anyone?  To let a door into her life crack open… just a bit?  Enter into.. sticky situation.  What will Annie do?  And thus the story unfolds as Annie works to solve her problem and learns a few things along the way. 

I loved seeing her heart…. Through all 288 pages, Gillian McDunn unwraps Annie’s character showing us her angst as she tries to do what is right, even when she knows she should have done better. Well-developed additional characters help to round out the story, each with their own struggles.   The whole community gathers around building a parade showcasing the rosy maple moth. 

Published by Bloomsbury books, I am reviewing on behalf of Raincoast books.  I received an advanced readers copy.  Geared for middle school, it is being released as a hardcover. 

What I liked

BUT Annie makes an error in judgment… and solves the problem.  Therein we find Gloria and her weird dog.  And yes… the dog is a tad bit weird. But Gloria is interesting, and watching the relationship between Gloria and Annie (as an adult reader) develop is just fun.  Thinking as a middle school reader, I think kids would see themselves in the awkwardness between the two.  This is a fun book to read, there were times when I laughed aloud.  Thoroughly enjoyable. 

I’m actually finding it hard to write this review because I enjoyed it and think most middle schoolers would as well.  It would be easy for them to see themselves in the story.  It’s hard to not tell you the whole story.

The characters were interesting, the back-stories made them so real. The way the community worked together and recognized the gifts of each other was heart-warming.  The struggles that Annie had are real ones, that could totally happen to any child.   

There was artwork scattered throughout.  All was just roughed in since I received an ARC.  Annie is a young artist, and it is her artwork featured. 

Should you get These Unlucky Stars?

Yes!  If you have middle schoolers who like to read real people stories where individuals their age solve problems in a realistic way.  Annie in These Unlucky Stars,  didn’t solve her problems in isolation, she had a community around her.  She needed to learn who to depend on and what errors in judgment she had made. Others around her also needed to learn this as well.  It was all-around well done and worthy of reading.   I would have liked to see more of the illustrations done so I could better tell you about them. I didn’t see anything objectionable within the covers. 

The Way Past Winter

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Grit, determination, and just a little bit of magic fill the pages of The Way Past Winter.  An old enemy plays his hand.  Can the survivors find a way to put an end to it all? Affiliate links will be used in this review, held on behalf of Raincoast books. 

the way past winter

The Basic Details

Kiran Millwood Hargrave is the author of this Chronicle books published middle school read entitled The Way Past Winter.  Youths grade 5 and up will be delighted with the bravery of Mila as she faces her greatest foe.   A mage Rune helps her along the way.  It is a page-turning adventure the shows the resilience of family, magic and friendship.   Will it be enough to see them through the end?   Will it see them past to the end of winter?    I received an advanced reader’s copy of this 284-page book.

The Way Past Winter

Based on Slavic folktales, this children’s sibling book from Chronicle books is a fast paced novel guaranteed to keep the reader interested in what will happen next.  As an adult reader I finished it in about an hour (mind, I am a fast reader).  

You’ll find five different images delineating each chapter heading, they show the progress in the story.  Scattered art work also help introduce the different sections of this tome based in fantasy and magic.  Since I received an ARC copy I don’t know if the images will be in greyscale in the final copy.

sample page, the way past winter

Font size was larger, making it an easy fast read.  Very comfortable for a youth 10 and up to engage with. 

the way past winter

I really liked the variety in the girls characters, so very different from each other and yet very focused on helping each other. It was in essence… family being family despite their differences.  This makes for a good read.  🙂   

Should you get it?

Yes.  I think so. 

I enjoyed it although the story went in a different direction than I thought it would.  My thought was it would all be about respecting the earth and the things of the earth. It was less about that, and more about family and combatting the things which made life difficult. 

The Way Past Winter shows the resilience of family and friendship. A determination from three unremarkable girls to make things right again. 

It would be interesting to use it as a character study as each of their girls, their brother and the mage are quite different.  Or as a way to jumpstart a conversation about how to care for the earth, or looking into Slavic folklore and how it influences different genres of books.   It’s a good story to just stand on its own as a fantasy novel. 

 

BenBee and the Teacher Griefer

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One of the things I talk about on my blog frequently is how our perspective changes what we take away from a situation.   Our perspective helps us to see the good, or helps us understand another viewpoint, or teaches us something new.  Perspective matters.   In BenBee and the Teacher Griefer we get to see the perspective of four distinctly different youths and their summer school experience.   Affiliate links will be used in this review. 

BenBee and the Teacher Griefer

The Basic Details

K. A. Holt in conjunction with Chronicle Books brings us a 344 page non-fiction read for youth aged 8-12.   One youth identifies as other than their birth gender.  Three boys, one girl, each having issues affecting their ability to learn easily within the school system.   Summer school has been deemed the answer.  BenBee and the Teacher Griefer is part of The Kids under the Stairs series featuring Ben Bellows. 

K. A. Holt also wrote KnockOut, another book I reviewed.    Reviewed for Raincoast books I received an Advanced Readers Copy. 

BenBee and the Teacher Griefer, what you get

Each chapter goes through the four different perspectives of each of the youth involved in the under the stairs summer school class.  Four youth, one teacher, one goal, learn to read.   How will they reach that objective?

Enter in Sandbox.  A game all four youth like to play.  Enter a deal with their teacher.  Can they find a way to make it work?  You’ll have to read this intriguing book yourself!  🙂 

Four Students: BenB, BenY, JordanJ and Javier.  Each with their own style of communicating, through poetry, prose, or pictures.  Each with their own home situations, learning challenges, and needs.  

Through each student, despite how they communicate, the story progresses.  

I loved how the book starts and ends with a report card.  You can see their challenges, and through their conversation, by the end, see how their divergencies helped each. 

Even as they played Sandbox, and got their teacher to play, we saw their growth as individuals.   

Should you get it?

I thoroughly enjoyed reading BenBee and the Teacher Griefer.  I loved reading the inner thoughts of the youth and then seeing their interaction with each other and their teacher.   Ms. J was just what these youth needed, and they are just what she needed. 

By the end, we saw how divergency can be something to celebrate, and therefore be turned into a strength.  With that difference, we see self-esteem levels rise dramatically for each of these marginalized children.  Well done by  K. A. Holt. 

Other Books by K. A. Hold