Are you looking for a new book to read?
Lucky you, I have some here for you to read up on!
Every Friday I recap what I’ve read during the week.
(Yes, I know this is Saturday. Better late than never!)
I post the picture of the book
that I took when I finished reading it,
and underneath, my thoughts.
This week was fun.
LOTS of writing.
I’m almost up to 40K!
Honestly, I’m not sure how I even FOUND time to read.
But I did.
WILL & WHIT
By Laura Lee Gulledge
Wilhelmina Huckstep
has a gift for creating new art out of old things.
She gets inspired by the antiques shop she helps her Aunt run, and turns treasures she finds into one of a kind lamps. She’s afraid of the dark,
and the story at the start gives hints
as to why she’s trying to keep the darkness at bay.
She is having a great summer with her friends
Autumn and Noel, and is making new friends too,
but she still can’t shake those shadows of a tragedy
that happened to her.
Then a storm called Whitney rolls into town,
and the power is out.
Her lamps can’t hold back all the darkness, and she eventually has to come to terms with what happened.
This is such a great graphic novel! It’s all black and white, which really helps play up the light/dark aspect, and all the shadows. I LOVED the shadows and how looking at them in the illustrations gives us clues as to what happened to Will. She and her friends feel like real life teens; but teens you would totally want to be friends with. They bake and make things and perform and get involved with a sort of circus performance!
I really loved that this book was about a Will coming to terms with what her life really looks like. Yes, there was a little bit of romance thrown in, but it’s really about the growth of Will and her friends. The illustrations will draw you in, guaranteed, from the first page. I LOVED the graphic novel PAGE BY PAIGE by the same creator, so I had a feeling this one would be awesome too. Check it out!
BONE GAP
By Laura Ruby
Sean and Finn are brothers who live in Bone Gap. Sean almost left, but when their mother did, he couldn’t leave Finn. Finn’s a junior, and believes as soon as he’s out of school, his brother will leave to continue studying medicine.
One day, a beautiful girl turns up in their barn. Roza’s english is not the greatest, but it’s clear to see she’s hurt and scared. She stays with the boys and soon she and Sean fall for each other.
The story starts after Roza is gone; Finn saw a man take her but can’t really give a good description of the guy. Everyone knows Finn is a dreamy kid; they think maybe he was just seeing things or making up a story. They think Roza just left. But she didn’t. There was a man that took her, and a good reason that Finn can’t identify him.
Sean’s given up. Finn is heartbroken and feels like he’s lost his brother. He’s determined to get to the bottom of the whole thing, and gets help from a mysterious black horse and a girl Petey, who starts out as his friend but becomes something more.
The chapters alternate between Finn and Roza’s POV; a few times another character will lend their POV to a chapter. I really liked weaving the story together and figuring out what happened. I loved the characters and their relationships too, and the magic in the book. A lot was going on but it all was woven together seamlessly. I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters for a few days. A great read.
THE ADVENTURES OF ARNIE THE DOUGHNUT:
BOWLING ALLEY BANDIT
by Laurie Keller
Oh man this book is so fun! Arnie is a donut, a chocolate donut with sprinkles to be specific, who was bought by a human, Mr. Bing, who fully intended to eat him until Arnie protested. Arnie is now his pet donut and loves accompanying Mr. Bing on adventures.
Mr. Bing is a great bowler; his bowling group, the Bing Bats, are first in the league! Mr. Bing is bowling well with his new bowling ball but suddenly starts throwing gutter balls. What gives? Arnie and his friend Peezo, a greasy piece of pizza who lives at the bowling alley, investigate. Will they figure it out in time to save the Bing Bats?
This is such a fun chapter book! It’s highly illustrated and highly hilarious, with lots of puns, silly jokes, and random asides. I love Arnie and kids will too! 
THE ADVENTURES OF ARNIE THE DONUT:
INVASION OF THE UFONUTS
By Laurie Keller
Arnie and Pizzo are back, and this time people are being scooped up by weird aliens…and their donuts are getting abducted! Arnie is shocked, but Mr. Bing doesn’t believe it. WORSE, Pizzo thinks Arnie might be an alien donut!
He and Pizzo get into their first fight, and Arnie fears Pizzo may have been eaten. When he goes out to look for him, Arnie gets abducted by the Ufonuts! What do they want with the donuts of earth? You will never guess, but let me tell you, it’s pretty fun.
Laurie knocks it out of the park again with this book! Highly illustrated, hilarious, and keeping you guessing the whole time. I LOVE the alien language the Ufonuts have too. So much fun! Loved this chapter book!
THE ADVENTURES OF ARNIE THE DONUT:
THE SPINNY ICKY SHOWDOWN
By Laurie Keller
Arnie, Pizzo, and Mr. Bing’s FAVORITE game show is coming to town, and Arnie and Pizzo are going to be on it! If they win, they get a huge trophy with their names on it! They are confident they’ll be great, that is unless they have to wrestle Nick Pumpernickel, the strongest arm wrestler you’ve ever seen in dough form!
The prep for the show is hilarious, and the events are wacky and wild. The showdown with Nick Pumpernickel has to happen, but when it does it feels really unexpected and fresh! Another great highly illustrated chapter book. Arnie and Pizzo are characters I could read about all day! I’m happy to see there will be more adventures for Arnie! 
Have you read any of these?
I’d love to hear what you thought of them!
See you next Friday with more books!
Bye for now,
KE
P.S. Full disclosure: The links above go to Indiebound and are affiliate links. If you buy at Indiebound, I’ll get a little kick back. That would of course be nice, but really I’m happy to be linking to an Indie site 
