Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis

It took me a little while to get into the story, but once I did, the story flew by. Emma-Jean is a very intelligent, logical reasoning, good-hearted seventh grader. She doesn't catch some of the nuances of others which can result in humorous situations.

Genre: realistic / contemporary

Topics: friendship, single parent, school, mean girls, boys

Audience: 6th or 7th grade girls

Mrs. Beckwith's Rating: 4.5 of 5

Amazon Reviews

Masterpiece by Elise Broach

Masterpiece is a great story. An adventurous beetle named Marvin befriends James, a lonely human boy. James gets a pen and ink set from his father for his birthday. Marvin experiments with the pen and ink set and discovers he has great artistic ability. James' parents discover the drawing and think James is the artist. This starts a series of adventures that leads to uncovering a major art thief. The book is well written and engaging.

Genre: fantasy / mystery

Topics: art, divorce, friendship, forgery, thieves

Mrs. Beckwith's Rating: 5 of 5

Amazon Reviews