Karen Lazcano's Book Blog

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. Tor Books. 2020. Linus Baker is a quiet man middle aged man living an uneventful life as a caseworker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth (DICOMY), where he always follows the rules. Every report is turned in on time, he never questions authority, and above all keeps to himself. Even in the comfort of his own home, Linus lives a quiet comfortable life with his cranky cat, Calliope, listening to music and avoiding his nosy neighbor.   Linus’ monotonous life takes a turn when he is summoned by Extremely Upper Management. He is assigned a secret task to visit the Marysas Orphanage in a remote island for a month and report his findings back to Extremely Upper Management. From the looks of the reports Linus is given, the children in Marysas are unlike any he has ever seen.  Upon Linus’ arrival to the island he meets the six children living in the orphanage. Talia, an opinionated garden gnome, is the first of the children ...

Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Media. Candlewick Press. 2018. The beginning of sixth grade in Seaward Pines Academy brings big changes to the life of Mercedes Suarez. First, Merci is asked to join a new student mentorship program called the Welcome Buddies. She begrudgingly joins only to be assigned to be a buddy to a boy, Michael Clark, who moved from Minnesota to South Florida. Right away Merci’s friend group begin to tease her, including her popular and wealthy classmate Edna Santos.  Things at Merci’s home in Las Casitas, a group of houses where most of Merci’s relatives live, are also changing. First, her older brother Roli, a genius in his own right, now has his driver’s license. Although he is not the best driver it is clear he is growing up and soon will be leaving Las Casitas to go to college. Then there is Lolo. Merci’s once enthusiastic and supportive bike-riding grandfather has begun to act like a whole other person. Lolo begins to forget things more and more ever...

  Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. Penguin Group. 2014. “And that is what this book is-my past, my people, my memories, my story.”  Jacqueline Woodson’s free verse memoire Brown Girl Dreaming , details her childhood growing up in Ohio, South Carolina, and New York. Woodson was born in 1963 in Ohio during the civil rights movement . Although her father was hard set on keeping her, her siblings, and their mother in Ohio, in the end when her mother and father separate, Woodson’s mother decides to move with the children to her hometown in South Carolina with their grandmother and grandfather.  However, Greenville is in the deep south and segregation is heavily enforced. Although the children love being in South Carolina with their mother it is clear that South Carolina is not nearly as welcoming of people of color. The children must always use correct grammar, speak clearly, and look everyone in the eye. The Woodson’s will not be made to feel lesser.  Once in...

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. Philomel Books. 2016. It is 1945 during World War II and the Soviets are quickly advancing on Prussia. The lives of four young adults intersect in Salt to the Sea as each of them struggle to survive the brutal war.  We meet one of four narrators, Joana as she travels in a group of fifteen refugees including a lost boy Klaus, a boisterous woman Eva, and a kind shoemaker, Poet. Before the war Joana was a part of a well-off family. She focused on her studies and worked in a hospital where she received some medical training. Now Joana is haunted by the by the guilt she feels for writing a letter to her cousin Lina, that would end in Lina’s family being arrested and deported to Siberia.  Fourteen-year-old Emilia dreams of the life she had before her mother Halina died giving birth to her brother. Emilia’s father sends her to live with the Kleist family in Nemmersdorf, a village in Germany. Although she misses her father, she finds comfort in August...

Bomb! The Race to Build-and Steal-the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin. Macmillan Publishers. 2012 The non-fiction book Bomb! The Race to Build-and Steal-the World's Most Dangerous Weapon details the making of the first atomic bomb including the formation of the Manhattan Project. With World War II still underway the United States races to beat the Soviet Union in the creation of the atomic bomb. Sheinkin’s book includes the stories of multiple scientists entrusted with the creation of the deadly weapon, such as: Harry Gold, Leslie Groves, Robert Oppenheimer and Klaus Fuchs. The stakes are high and the pressure to create the atomic bomb while keeping it all under wraps may prove to be harder than they thought. One of the things I enjoyed most about Steve Sheinkin’s book is the use of text features which are interspersed throughout the book. Text features of, for example, photographs of the scientists or the construction of the gadget really add to the story and ...

Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks by Jason Reynolds. Simon & Schuster. 2019. Jason Reynolds’ book Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks is a collection of short stories told though the eyes of the many students who attend Latimer Middle School and take one of ten blocks to their home after school.  Take Marston ST. for example, here best friends TJ and Jasmine walk side by side talking about…well talking about boogers. Together they walk chatting about what it means to be a booger.  The Low Cuts: John John, Fancy, Trista, and Bit take Placer Street to Ms. Cece Cece’s house. There the kids use the change they stole that day to buy the best candy, then resell it in the nearby pool bar to multiply their investment. Sometimes they buy extra food in school with their earnings other days, like today, they buy ice cream for Bit’s mother to enjoy after her chemo treatment.   Pia Foster rides her skateboard on Bastion ST. where she is sopped by a group of boy...

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Farrar, Straus, & Grioux. 1999. Thirteen-year-old Melinda Sordino could have never guessed that her life would be forever changed the night she attended an end-of-summer party with her best friend Rachel. Melinda cannot believe her luck, an upperclassman from her soon-to-be high school is flirting with her. Andy showers her in compliments and holds her like no one else ever has. Soon after, he takes Melinda away from the party and before Melinda knows what is happening, he is on top of her. Melinda tries to speak, get up, and fight back, but Andy is there with his hand over her mouth, his weight pinning her to the floor. Afterwards a confused and still intoxicated Melinda calls the police for help. She knows that is what you do when a crime has been committed. Her future classmates, including Rachel, can’t understand Melinda’s abrupt decision to call the police. Melinda can’t voice what Andy did to her, leaving her with one option, to speak as littl...