Growing Bookworms Newsletter: March 1: #KidLit Reviews, Historical Fiction and Eliminating #Homework

Today, I will be sending out a new issue of the Growing Bookworms email newsletter. (If you would like to subscribe, you can find a sign-up form here.) The Growing Bookworms newsletter contains content from my blog focused on growing joyful learners, mainly bookworms, but also mathematicians and learners of all types. The newsletter is sent out every two to three weeks.

Newsletter Update:  In this brief issue I have four book reviews (picture book, early reader, and middle grade) and a post about a school that eliminated homework, and our own recent experience with homework. I also have one post with links that I shared recently on Twitter (I was on vacation the other week). 

Reading Update: In the past two weeks I read one middle grade and three adult novels. I read/listened to: 

• Philip Kerr: The Most Frightening Story Ever Told. Knopf Books for Young Readers. Middle Grade Fiction. Completed February 15, 2017. Review to come. 
• Sue Grafton: W is for Wasted (Kinsey Millhone). G. P. Putnam's Sons. Adult Mystery. Completed February 15, 2017, on MP3. This is the first audio I've listened to in this series in quite some time, and I enjoyed it. 
• Deborah Crombie: Garden of Lamentations. William Morrow. Adult Mystery. Completed February 24, 2017, on Kindle. This book was closely tied to the previous book, and I wished that I had read them closer together. But I did enjoy it. 
• Rhys Bowen: In Farleigh Field: A Novel of World War II. Lake Union Publishing. Historical Fiction. Completed February 26, 207, on Kindle. This is a standalone historical novel by the author of multiple historical mystery series. Set during World War II in England, before America joined the war, this book presents a nuanced view of people's thoughts and fears, as well as glimpses into the work of British spy agencies. I thought that it was fascinating, and hope that Bowen will produce a sequel. 

I'm currently listening to X by Sue Grafton and reading Amberwell by D.E. Stevenson (not having quite gotten enough of a British historical novel fix). My daughter did not get very much reading done over the past week or so, because we were on vacation in Disney World. She pretty much crashed as soon as she got back to the hotel room every night. She did spent some time writing journal entries on the trip, though, and I am certain that she will appreciate reading those later in life. Since we've been home we've been dipping into a mix of old favorite and newly arrived picture books. You can find her 2017 reading list here. 

Thanks for reading, and for growing bookworms. 

© 2016 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook.