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1 week ago | 
commonsensemedia.org | Kate Messner |Joly Herman
age 10+ Poetic form suits moving book about a teen's grief. Parents need to know that The Trouble with Heroes, by award-winning author Kate Messner, is a novel in verse from the point-of-view of a 13-year-old boy named Finn Connelly whose father has passed away. Finn acts out in anger, damaging property, and recounts the consequences he faces in this story.
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
publishersweekly.com | Kate Messner |Rebecca Stead |Kyle Lukoff |Deb Caletti
Kate Messner. Bloomsbury, $17.99 (288p) ISBN 978-1-5476-1639-8After sullen seventh grader Finn Connelly is detained for damaging the headstone of late local hero Edna Grace Thomas, who once corresponded with and encouraged climbers of the 46 Adirondack peaks, Finn sees the event as further proof that he exists in stark contrast to his deceased fireman father, whose heroism on 9/11 was captured in an iconic photograph.
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Nov 11, 2024 | 
kirkusreviews.com | Shelley Rotner |Kate Messner |Mark Siegel
In this illustrated book, the author pairs rhyming passages about international travel with whimsical illustrations by Kasha. “Did you know that your mind can travel and wander to any magical place within space and all over the world?” the narrator asks at the outset. Zivkov tells readers that their minds are “magic” and can transport them anywhere. As a boy launches paper airplanes on a grassy hill, the author urges, “Now let’s try it! Let your mind take flight.
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Sep 24, 2024 | 
kirkusreviews.com | Thor Hanson |Sandra Markle |Kate Messner
Zeroes in on a delightful, quirky aspect of the famed composer’s life. Mozart makes beautiful music with Star, a starling who can imitate many kinds of sounds. In Vienna, even when unusual pets were all the rage, local birds like starlings weren’t very popular. But the story goes that in the spring of 1784, Mozart heard a starling in a pet store sing out one of his own compositions.
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Sep 18, 2024 | 
shepherd.com | Caroline Fernandez |Kate Messner |Falynn Koch |A T Balsara
Why am I passionate about this? I find Plagues to be fascinating, especially having lived through COVID-19 (with masks and distancing and fear of catching an unknown sickness!). The Plague of London in 1665 especially interests me because it brings in the well-known character of The Plague Doctor. This iconic character is feared and admired (and still a very popular Halloween costume).
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Sep 13, 2024 | 
slj.com | Kate Messner |Nancy Hawkins
. (History Smashers: Bk. 9). Aug. 2024. 224p. Tr $12.99. ISBN 9780593705285. COPY ISBN Gr 4-9–The Salem Witch Trials is the subject of the ninth installment of the acclaimed nonfiction “History Smasher” series. Messner uncovers the myths about this tumultuous period in American history. Some of these include the practice of “burning witches at stake” and how solely women were part of the Salem Witch trials.
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Aug 2, 2024 | 
slj.com | Kate Messner |Cat McCarrey |Karen Jensen
by (text) & illus. by Christopher Silas Neal . Aug. 2024. 56p. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9781797210872. COPY ISBN Gr 2-6–Swamps may have a murky reputation, but Messner flips the script, presenting an idealized wetland bursting with possibility. A girl and her grandmother explore the swamp, for as the grandmother says, “down in the swamp is a wild, wet world—a secret kingdom.” Indeed, together they peel back layers to show the incredible diversity in one spot.
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Jul 19, 2024 | 
slj.com | Kate Messner |Tracy Cronce |Ouisie Shapiro |Chelsea Clinton
PreS-Gr 4–Fascinating and captivating, Messner’s latest nonfiction book encourages elementary readers to keep digging, crafting, deconstructing, building, reading, and moving to find out more about themselves and the world around them. The book opens with a request to name the “world’s greatest scientist.” Readers then discover that there is not one greatest scientist, but many, many who have contributed to the betterment of the world.
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Jun 27, 2024 | 
montrealgazette.com | Grace Lin |Kate Messner |SARA O’LEARY |Beth Kephart
The Little Books of the Little Brontës recounts how the famous siblings found inspiration; Books Make Good Friends will have young readers searching for old favourites and new titles to explore. Author of the article: • Special to Montreal Gazette • • You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through our links on this page.
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May 10, 2024 | 
schoollibraryjournal.com | Kathy Ishizuka |Daryl Grabarek |Terry Hong |Kate Messner
We’re pleased to feature on this month’s cover: Gilbert. Alex Willan, the goblin’s creator, accepted the assignment from Mark Tuchman, SLJ’s creative director. This time, the author/illustrator of the picture book Unicorns Are the Worst! altered his own creation, tacking modesty shorts onto the character, who, as originally rendered, appears in the buff. It’s an absurd notion yet all too real.
