Spirit Animals: Fall of the Beasts #3: The Return by Varian Johnson reviewed by Debra Gantz

Summary: If you like longer series with riveting characters, action, danger, adventure, and majestic animals, this Spirit Animals series is for you! Follow Conor, Abeke, Meilin, and Rollan as they seek to stop the Wyrm that is taking over humans and spirit animals with only destruction in mind. There are many characters to meet along the way and many communities to learn about. Be sure to check that map at the beginning of the book for a better understanding of your journey. (Though the online game is no longer supported since 2025, the books do stand alone as engaging stories to enjoy.) 

Straight Talk for Librarians: First: the online component is no longer available, but that does not negate that this book and the series Fall of the Beasts is well written. Secondly, the Spirit Animals series as a whole seems to have waned in popularity. The connection of the books to a game online was huge for a bit. Since I am not drawn by online gaming, I focus only on the books themselves. The characters are consistent book to book despite the series being written by different authors. Varian Johnson is stellar at the scenes of violence and danger. He manages to expose the character flaws at just the right time for the heroes of the story to save the day. These would make great read alouds. I love the map included for reference. I have some students who won't read a Fantasy book without a map. Though the animals are not all cute and cuddly looking like the Panda on the cover art, they are all cunning, loyal, and fascinating as support characters to the young warriors as they continue their quest to defend and save the Evertree. I am trying to figure out why this series is not as popular as it once was and after having read Fall of Beasts, I will have to book talk it, again. It is a great adventure with interesting characters and animals bonded to them. There is literally nothing to not like.

Alice Jones: The Impossible Clue written by Sarah Rubin and reviewed by Debra Gantz

Summary: This is a fabulous mystery for elementary or middle schools where the genre is needed. The main character is teased by a classmate and another classmate fawns on her and neither are classmates she wants to hang with, but the mystery requires it. (The way that becomes clear is itself fascinating.) Her father is a news writer and allows her to work through a missing person in their town (as long as he gets the scoop, of course). The danger is real, the money involved in the scandal of a missing scientist is massive, and the loyalty of the sleuth to her classmates is palpable. 

Straight Talk for Librarians: Mystery genre is a big one in my elementary schools. I have trouble finding mysteries that my students will engage with enough for the unit taught. I now will be checking out all of Sarah Rubin's mysteries as this one worked so very well. Alice Jones is a likeable character with very real feelings about middle school and her classmates. She loves to solve mysteries. She does not have time in her life for nonsense, including spit balls thrown by others at her. Alice is a twin, but her twin lives with their Mom while Alice lives with their Dad. Her twin is an actress and they butt heads whenever they are together. Since her twin is there for the summer, Alice is feeling all her feelings. It does not take long for Alice to recognize that the villain in this mystery may not be the person who kidnapped the scientist. Uncovering the information puts Alice and her family and friends in grave danger. I especially liked that the conclusion is not perfectly orchestrated as solutions to big problems rarely are neat. I could not put this one down.

The Willoughbys Return written by Lois Lowry and reviewed by Debra Gantz

Summary: The kids from the original book have grown up. They think very little about their long missing parents and know nothing about how their parents have somehow thawed out. In a bit of a parallel story readers see how Richie, son of the eldest Willoughby, Tim, is not managing well the failure of the family chocolate company and his father needing to slow down on buying him whatever he has ever wanted. Next door to them is a family named Poore who is quite poor. The husband is traveling west to sell his outdated encyclopedias and to gather rocks for his daughter who loves rocks. The stories begin to intermingle when Mrs. Poore takes on the thawed Willoughby couple and feeds them poisonous leaves as salad. She has no phone, so she has to go to the mansion when Tim lives to use that phone and get medical help. The antics of the thawed Willoughbys who have missed 30 years of advancements in technology and communication as well as those of Mr. Poore who takes the term bumbling idiot and makes it seem complementary are quite amusing. I believe students would love the frustrations about technology advancements and it would offer great opportunity to extend that study to any decade, so students better understand the changes in lives due to technological inventions. 

Straight Talk for Librarians: Truth be told, I struggled with the first book. Perhaps I could not fathom the amount of dry wit in a book for kids. For whatever reason, I never book talked it in my 2 elementary school libraries. This sequel reads similarly to the original book but went so much more smoothly for me. The language use, as expected in a Lowry book, is exceptional and often the dry commentary of the adults and the wit of the children produce great laughs. The first book has a movie, but no movie has been made from this 2020 sequel. I could easily see English teachers use this book to talk about expressive written language and to increase vocabulary in both oral and written language for their students. The social commentary is also unique and may appeal to many subject level teachers. Just think if the government banned candy and how it would affect our world! Think about if global warming could thaw out the absurdly quirky Willoughby parents who froze while climbing a mountain? That could lead to some wonderful writing about what else could regain life after being frozen. My students love I wonder if kinds of writing and this book certainly gives them much to think about. Finally, the technical advancements in the 30 years that the Willoughbys have been frozen are astronomical and I am certain my students will find their shock and amazement quite amusing. I have never liked a sequel more than the original book before now. I should not have been shocked that Lois Lowry penned the first sequel that I like better than the original story.

Ten: A Soccer Story written by Flint Shamini and reviewed by Debra Gantz

Summary: Maya is 11 years old and obsessed by soccer. In Malaysia where she lives, soccer is for boys. Maya is not okay with that. She knows the national teams. She watches all the games, not just the World Cup games. She has a favorite player. Yes, Zico, her favorite player does not make a penalty shot that could have kept his team playing, but she still thinks he is the best. Maya and her brother Rajiv know something is amiss at home with their parents. They are terribly sad when it becomes clear they were right. So, Maya now has to create a girls soccer team, get them the support they need for uniforms and field time, and save her family. 

 

Straight Talk for Librarians: First up is the soccer fanaticism which will appeal to many students since we just had another World Cup in 2026. Secondly the race/cultural issue: Maya lives in Malaysia in a very small town. Her town is very patriarchal, she goes to a religious school where she stands out, her parents are a mixed race/culture marriage, and her grandmother is always going on how the kids and that marriage embarrasses her. Books including many races and cultures can be quite appealing to students wanting to understand others around them. Finally teen angst: both Maya and Rajiv have feelings of duty to their families, but Maya also has a strong frustration with her place in society. She does not want to stay quiet and meek as her grandmother seems to want her to be. She wants to be a soccer player, though she has only watched it on TV. She wants to learn to speak up for her dream, encourage others to join her, and find a way to be taken seriously. That is very much the thinking process in middle grade books. How can kids be true to themselves despite family, school, and society norms? Maya finds herself in this story and it is lovely to join her on this ride.