Are you between the ages of 4 and 14? Then we want to hear from you! Nominate your favorite book that’s set in the Pacific Northwest or written by a Northwest author. Write or email us the book’s title, author, and two reasons why kids should read it and we should add it to our next NW Book Swap list!
COLUMBIAKids-Northwest Book Swap
1911 Pacific Avenue
Tacoma, WA 98402
Email: columbiakids@wshs.wa.gov
Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything In It
The Jupiter Stone
Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything In It
by Sundee Frazier
Delacorte Books for Young Readers, Ages 9-12
Hardcover & Paperback
208 pages
Ten-year-old Brendan Buckley wonders about a lot of things. He wonders why buffaloes don’t tip, why some people have bad breath, and if it’s true that centipedes really have 100 legs. More and more, though, he’s wondering why his mother won’t talk about the milk side of his "milk chocolate" family: his grandfather.
The one he’s never known.
The one he accidentally meets at a mall.
The one who’s at the center of a painful family secret.
Even though Brendan learns that he shares a love of rock collecting and science with his mysterious grandfather, Ed Debose, there’s something deeper than mismatched skin that separates them. Brendan is sure of it.
With the brain of a scientist and the heart of a Tae Kwon Do warrior, Brendan sets out to discover answers to his universe of questions. He just has to get past a few obstacles—years of hidden anger and hurt feelings that have kept his grandfather away.
Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything In It is packed with suspense, humor, martial arts and cool experiments (I won’t mention what he and his friend Khalfani do with empty Mountain Dew bottles, but you can find out if you read this book). Best of all, Brendan is the kind of guy you’d want to be friends with. He’s smart (but not boring), fun (but not corny), and valiant (but not full of himself).
Author Sundee Frazier’s Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything In It is a bomb diggity book you won’t want to put down. So pick it up and hang on for a cool ride through one boy’s universe.
The Jupiter Stone
by Paul Owen Lewis
Tricycle Press, Ages 4-8
Hardcover Illustrated Edition
32 pages
Ahhh...
Imagine a space rock that falls to Earth and lays buried for millions of years. Picture that strange, striped rock as it squishes under the foot of a dinosaur, rests near the path of a caveman, and ends up in the hands of a boy who wonders where it came from. Thanks to the boy’s curiosity, and with help from NASA, the rock catapults through space to another planet and into the hands of a child who’s just a tad bit, um... different.
The Jupiter Stone is full of that awesome feeling you get when you look at the stars. You know, when the universe seems endless but yet so close. Paul Owen Lewis’s pictures and words will take you on a journey where touching far-away worlds is actually possible.
In a word, this book rocks.