Rachel Reads & Reviews

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Tag: #lowergrade

  • Stars, Saddles and Stripes

    This short-lived series by Deborah Kent caught my eye from the cover alone. In real life, the title is with gilt, and the hardback cover makes it feel sturdy and luxurious. The semi-realistic illustration just adds to it. The stories are good too, getting the balance between horse girls and historical fiction. Each one have…

  • Girls Survive

    I found this at my summer, and if you’re into historical fiction or action-packed disaster, then this is the series for you. Initially I thought this was a rip-off of the ultra-popular I Survived series by Lauren Tarish. They have a lot of the same premise of a kid surviving a famous or underrated event…

  • Book Highlight: Goddesses

    As I mentioned in a previous post that part of quarter-life crisis is finding and reading books from my childhood, this is one I never had read but I remember being intrigued by the cover long long ago. Finally, I have read it. Three goddesses, banished to earth by their dad, Zeus (yeah, that Zeus)……

  • Series Highlight: I Survived

    Funny story. Even though I have seen this series around for years (it was first published around 2009), it was placed next to the “Choose your own adventure” series and like an idiot, I judged it by the cover and thought it was another one of thsoe with cooler covers. Fast forward to last month,…

  • Book Highlight: What Jews Look Like

    Too many Jews have been told: “You don’t look Jewish!” It begs the question, “What does Jewish look like?” Well, there are over fifteen million Jews in the world, which means there are more than fifteen million ways to look and be Jewish. It can look like setting out menorahs on tribal land, adding kimchi to the seder plate, organizing for…

  • Star Power

    As part of my nostalgia year, I decided to finally look at a series that keeps popping up on Goodreads suggestions when I filter Hollywood, celebrity etc. It was for lower schoolers in the vein of Hannah Montana and such. After all these years of reading the summaries I had to find out what they…

  • Latinx History Month

    This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan No, this has nothing to the controversial Blake Lively movie. I’d actually argue it is more well-written than that storyline but I digress.

  • Top 5 Caroline Years

    After reading Laura Ingells Wilder’s classic Little House on the Prarie series, and then the sequel inspired by her daughter, The Rose Years. It’s only fitting to go back in time to mid 19th century to see the coming of age of Caroline Quiner, the beloved Ma of America’s famous pioneer family.

  • Author Highlight: Wendy Mass

    In small-town Willow Falls, nothing is a coincidence. It’s all thanks to octagerian resident, Abigail whose distinct duck-shaped birthmark and her perchant for appearing everywhere, all at once throws the lives of these kids into a tailspin on their birthdays. For instance, Leo and Amanda, best friends literally from the day of their birth experience…

  • Magic Tree House: Merlin Missions

    I have finished my mission to read all the Merlin Missions. And the series except for the latest book because it has a long waiting list as it should. Some series don’t stand the test of time much less resonate with a new generation (usually by retconning the old which makes no one happy) but…