Bubble by Stewart Foster

11 year old Joe has never lived outside of the hospital.  He lives in a climate controlled bubble room in the hospital.  His life consists of electronics, the medical team that cares for him and visits from his sole surviving relative - his sister.  His life is consumed by monitoring the room temperature, air quality and his heart beat.

When a new nurse joins his medical team, Joe thinks he might be crazy.  He talks of alien visits.  Is he just being funny or does he believe aliens are coming?  Regardless, he's something new and exciting in his life.  But then the nurse constructs a plan to take Joe outside and he needs to decide if his new nurse is serious and if he can be trusted.  

I really enjoyed Bubble.  I loved all the characters.  It was fun and sad.  Bubble is being released May 2, 2017.  I will definitely be buying this book for our school library.

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

The Wild Robot has been my most favourite read aloud that I've done this year.  I found myself always looking forward to seeing my grade 4 class because I couldn't wait to read more about The Wild Robot.  I think the students enjoyed it as much as I did.  I can always tell because if no one moves the light sensors turn off in the library and every single week the light sensors went off.  No one wanted to miss it.

There is a boat full of robots that crashes and sends crates of robots crashing with the waves into an island.  Only one robot survives - Roz.  Roz starts making her way around the island and scaring all the animals.  What is this monster they all want to know.  Roz watches and observes the animals in their habitat.  She soon learns how to speak to each of the animals and survival instincts from watching the animals adaptations.

When Roz finds an egg one day she knows exactly what to do from watching the other birds.  Soon Roz is a mother to a baby gosling - Brightbill.  The two form a mother and son relationship like no other.

This is a fantastic read aloud for a grade 4 class.  There is a sequel coming this fall.  The Wild Robot has also been chosen as the global read aloud.  I've never participated in this before but I'm motivated to join in this October.

I Found You by Lisa Jewell

I Found You by Lisa Jewell is NOT another Girl on the Train.  Sure, it's a mystery.  The only similarity is going to be that everyone is going to be talking about it - it's that good.  

I Found You tells three separate stories in alternating chapters.  Readers will not want to put the book down so they can read how it all comes together.  In one story line we have a man sitting on the beach for hours not moving.  It begins to rain and still he doesn't flinch.  Alice watches from the window and finally ventures down to find out what's going on.  There she discovers a man with no memory.  

Then there is a newly married couple.  Lily's new to London.  She doesn't know anyone except her adoring husband, Mark.  When Mark suddenly goes missing one night after work she doesn't know who to turn to.

There is also a flashback to 1993 where a family is vacationing.  They meet a man named Mark that begins obsessing over the family's young daughter.

The story has many likable characters and many twists and turns.  I Found You is very unpredictable.  You won't be able to sleep without one more chapter.  The book will be released in Canada on April 25th, 2017

Also, check out Lisa Jewell's The Girls in the Garden.

Phoebe Sounds It Out by Julie Zwillich

Phoebe thinks her mom made a mistake when she wrote her name on her backpack.  Phoebe obviously starts with the letter 'F' not a 'P'.  There is no 'O' sound in her name either.  At least Phoebe and her mom can agree on the 'B'.  But she's seen her friend Nicky spell his name and the ending sounds the same as Phoebe's so it seems her mom made another mistake.

Such a cute story about learning to sound out the letters and learning to write and spell.  It's so tricky!

The Secret Life of Squirrels - A Love Story by Nancy Rose

Have you ever had a chance to interact with an author?  Whether it be in person at a book signing/talk, a little back and forth on Twitter or maybe an email exchange?  I LOVE when I get to chat with an author about their work.  I have visited many book conventions and had some amazing interactions.  My youngest son was so fortunate to get a large drawing from Dav Pilkey of his signature toilet from Captain Underpants.  It's framed on his bedroom wall and he treasures it.  This week Veronica Roth was coming to our local Chapters.  I have no idea how the store pulled off getting such a big name - well done!!  I recommended to a few people that they should go and the feedback was amazing.  Their teenage children walked away in awe and inspired.

All this does relate to Nancy Rose and her The Secret Life of Squirrels series.  Nancy Rose is a talented author and photographer from Canada.  If you have a young person in your life - kids LOVE her books!!  Her books lead to great discussion on 'Do you think the squirrels are real?' and 'Do you think the squirrels can really talk?'  or 'Do you think the squirrels really sit at tables to eat?'  It's a great book for fiction vs. non-fiction talks.  Nancy Rose's latest book is The Secret Life of Squirrels - A Love Story.  I've been hiding this book from my students for a couple of weeks waiting for Valentine's Day.  As expected as soon as they saw the cover there were shouts of excitement.  Needless to say they were not disappointed with the latest Mr. Peanut's story.

When we were done one of her biggest fans asked if she might create a St. Patrick's Day story.  I thought this was highly unlikely.  St. Patrick's Day would be a bit tricky to write a whole story around.  But I took the time to message Nancy Rose the request anyway.  She very quickly responded with some personalized photos of Mr. Peanuts for my student.  I'm so excited to give them to her!!  This is exactly why I say don't hesitate to reach out to an author and tell them how much you enjoy their work.

Himself by Jess Kidd

This book had so much wrapped all into one book.  It was funny.  There was a murder mystery.  Himself has romance.  A child searching for answers to who his parents were.  There are ghosts.  It's so much all wrapped up into one.  I wasn't certain where it was going when I first began and the first few pages I wasn't sure it was a book for me.  But I'm so glad I stuck with it because it was definitely a book for me.  I really enjoyed Himself.  The quote on the cover indicates it's original and it certainly is.  Himself is a book that draws no comparisons.

Himself is available in Canada as of today - March 14, 2017.

Spurt by Chris Miles

Spurt by Chris Miles was a book written for a teenage boy that is eagerly waiting for puberty to arrive.  Spurt is definitely not written for a 40 year old woman who is the mother of a teenage boy waiting to grow like his friends.  After reading page one I knew this book belonged on a night stand down the hall from mine.

Spurt is the story of Jack Sprigley.  I grade 8 boy that is eagerly awaiting puberty to hit.  After avoiding his friends for two weeks at winter break he was really hoping that this might have been his chance to grow.  A quick glance down his pajama bottoms reveals nothing has grown.  Soon after a plan hatches to fake that puberty has hit.  His excuse for not seeing his friends over break - he spent the two weeks masturbating.

I wasn't able to obtain a copy of the cover but it's a young boy's chest with a single hair taped to his chest.  Spurt is a funny book about the pangs of being a young teenage boy.  I'm sure with the right audience it could be a hit but the target audience is not a 40 year old mom.

Spurt is published by Simon and Schuster and will be in stores (and libraries!) early February 2017.