I get questions all the time about where I find book for my kids. The first place I always start is the Sunshine State Young Readers Award Books published every year by the Florida Association of Media in Education. According to the website, the SSYRA committee is comprised of 20 qualified school librarians located throughout the state of Florida. They publish a grade 3-5 list and a grade 6-8 list. Serious question: How can I get on this committee? Maybe they need a parent representative!! Our local bookstores usually have copies of the lists and a display with all these books placed conveniently in one location. I pull books from the current lists but I also look back at the lists from previous years to see what has been recommended in the past. That’s were I found the Mr. Lemoncello series by Chris Grabenstein. It was on the 2014 list, it looked interesting, and I loved the colorful cover.
The first book in the series is Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library. Kyle learns that a famous gamemaker, Luigi Lemoncello, is designing the new local library and is having an invitation-only lock-in opening night. Kyle is thrilled that he is chosen to attend the lock-in, but when morning comes, he and the other kids, find that they are still locked in. To escape, they have to work together to solve various clues.
Kids will love this book. It’s like Willy Wonka meets the library. It’s fast-paced and energetic. But my favorite thing is that throughout this book, the author mentions several other books that peaked my kid’s interest. And while we love audiobooks, it’s definitely worth it to have the hard copy of this book. There is extra content in the back of the book including puzzles, and a Q&A with the author.
If your state has a recommended school book list that you use drop a comment below so I can check it out. It’s always a great resource for interesting titles. And…..stay tuned…next week I will share some other book award lists where we find great books.
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