Text Set: Series Books Featuring Strong Girl Characters for Transitional Readers

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I love finding great new books for early chapter book readers. The stage of reading that typically happens in grades 2-4 is such fun and it often the stage where readers discover a series they fall in love with. I love discovering new series and new series book characters that may hook reader at this age. This week's text set focuses on series books featuring strong girl characters. Maybe you'll find a new series or two to add to your home, classroom or school library!

I was so happy to get to know Ryan Hart last year in Ways to Make Sunshine. The second book in this series Ways to Grow Love was just released a few weeks ago.  I could not be happier to see Renée Watson writing for this age. The character is one you'll fall in love with right away. These books are just under 200 pages so perfect for early middle grade readers. 

I have been waiting for Jo Jo Makoons: The Used-To-Be Best Friend since I saw it mentioned by Debbie Reese. From the new Heart Drum imprint, this new character made me smile from the first page.  Jo Jo is in first grade and this book is just 80 pages long with illustrations throughout. Jo Jo is an Ojibwe girl. Author, Dawn Quigley is a member of the Ojibwe nation. I can't wait to read more books about Jo Jo --she is a great new character who had me laughing out loud a few times! 

I heard Erin Entrada Klly ead from this book at a webinar a few months ago so I have been anxiously awaiting Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey that will be part of a series.  Marisol is a great character who is a bit scared of all things. There are plenty of illustrations throughout that add to the story. I love that young readers will be introduced to Erin Entrada Kelly at a younger age and then maybe grow into her other books.  This is one that would make a great read aloud! 

I love anything by Grace Lin and I was so glad to see the new covers on The Year of the Dog and this whole series a few years ago. Pacy is a great character and this series is a bit more difficult than the others on the list.  I had lots of 3rd, 4th and 5th graders who have loved this series.  Again, I love that Grace Lin has a series that might introduce readers to her middle grade books --then they go on to read all of her others.  

I love anything Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham. One of my favorite duos in children's lit. I have loved Princess in Black since the first book was released and I am so happy that it is still going strong. This is the perfect series for new-to-chapter-book readers.  Great stories, just enough humor, amazing illustrations and stories that young readers can hold onto over time.  

This week's books were linked at Cover to Cover Children's Bookstore. If you are looking for a fabulous independent children's bookstore to support, this is an amazing one. We are lucky to have them in Central Ohio!

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Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Such an important book. So thankful that Kimberly Brubaker Bradley made this accessible for younger readers. Della and Suki are characters that will be with me for a long time. If you have a daughter, make sure she reads this.

From the acknowledgements: "...a novel for ten-year-olds featuring sexual assault, a suicide attempt, foster care, homelessness, meth addiction, and eighty-six uses of the word snow." (She uses "snow" as a replacement for curses.)

This was a work of heart for Bradley. It is amazingly well-crafted and age-appropriate. The parallel storyline of the boy in Della's classroom who harasses the girls with "bra strap snapping" and the way Della finds her voice to get the adults to pay attention and to get him to stop...SUCH good modeling for our girls. The actual words about consent that they can use when it happens to them. 

I also loved finding HOW TO STEAL A DOG tucked into the story doing what books are meant to do  (and what Bradley's book does) -- lets the reader know that they aren't the only one. Not the only one who's been homeless and living in their car, not the only one wears free clothes, not the only one who's been sexually assaulted. 

You will want to read this. It's hard, but it's laced with humor and love. 

The Tree Lady

The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever
by H. Joseph Hopkins
illustrated by Jill McElmurry
Beach Lane Books, 2013
review copy provided by the publisher

Even if you don't live in San Diego, you need to meet Kate Sessions.

You need to know her because she was the kind of person whose childhood passions became her lifelong work...in spite of all kinds of barriers that made it difficult to be a woman scientist in the 1800's.

Kate's love of trees and science followed her to the Southern California desert town of San Diego, where she was first a teacher, then a gardener and tree hunter, searching for the kinds of trees that would grow and thrive in San Diego's climate.

Her vision for the city transformed Balboa Park when the Panama-California Exposition came in 1915.

Kate Sessions was a person who lived her dreams and changed her world.

The writing in this picture book biography is exceptional. The repeating phrase, "But Kate did" (and variations thereof), found at the end of every page, adds a solid certainty to the importance of Kate's dream, her passion, and her life's work.

Series Books for 3rd Grade: Violet Mackerel's Brilliant Plot by Anna Branford

I read a review of a Violet Mackerel book and added it to my list of series books that I have somehow missed. Well, I read Violet Mackerel's Brilliant Plot and I am so glad I discovered this series! Violet Mackerel is for sure one of my new favorite characters. I just called Cover to Cover to order the rest of the series.

I fell in love with the book on the very first page.  There were many times in the book when the writing reminded me of Cynthia Rylant, one of my favorite authors of all time.  The story begins like this:

Violet Mackerel is quite a small girl, but she has a theory.

Her theory is that when you are having a very important and brilliant idea, what generally happens is that you find something small and special on the ground.  So whenever you spy a sequin, or a stray bead, or a bit of ribbon, or a button, you should always pick it up and try very hard to remember what you were thinking about at the precise moment when you spied it, and then think about that thing a lot more.  That is Violet's theory, which she calls the Theory of Finding Small Things.

Violet Mackerel is the kind of girl who has lots of important ideas. She is the kind of girl who wears her pajama bottoms under her skirt. She is the kind of girl who creates brilliant plots!

I love Violet Mackerel and can't wait to read more about this great character!