Candy Bunny Reader

I liked most of these. See any you recognize?  

  I haven't made one of these in several months! But here's part 19. You can look for previous parts in the Navigation page.  1. Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour -Emi, an aspiring movie set designer, and her best friend Charlotte, track down and find the grandaughter of a famous Hollywood actor named Ava. After they meet and work together on Emi's movie, they fall in love. 2. A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard -Steffi has selective mutism and communicates mostly in sign language. She falls in love with the new boy in her school, named Rhys, who is deaf. Steffi is then able to feel more comfortable with who she is and find her place in the world. 3. Ferris by Kate DiCamillo - Our main character named Ferris has an unforgettable summer with her friends and family, mostly involving a supernatural mystery with her grandmother. 4. The Very Last of the Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews --yes, another book by the famous actress (the first one I shared was Mandy ). Thi...

    This is the third book in the Norendy  Tales series by Kate DiCamillo . Each book is a standalone story, but all set in the same world. You can read the reviews of the the first two books in this series here: (one is The Puppets of Spelhorst , the second is The Hotel Balzaar .) Lost Evangeline is the tale of a shoemaker who dreams of being a sailor. One day he finds a tiny girl (tiny like Thumbelina!) in a boot, and he decides to adopt her and name her Evangeline. The shoemaker loves telling stories about the sea to Evangeline. Evangeline also likes to sings and play games with her father. All is well at first, but... One day the servant of a sickly rich woman hears Evangeline singing, and he decides to trade the shoemaker's wife for her, thinking her singing will cure the sick Madame. He offers hundreds of gold coins. Evangeline's mother, the shoemaker's wife, jumps at the chance to send her tiny daughter away while she is asleep, as she believed Evangeline brought a...

                                                  (Made in Canva by me. Photo of book found on Google Images) Note: this is the second book in the Norendy Tales series, the first book being The Puppets of Spelhorst, which I read and reviewed last year. You can read that review here . Yes, another great Kate DiCamillo book! The Hotel Balzaar is set in a hotel and follows a girl named Marta and her mother, who is a worker at the hotel. Marta's mother always tells her to stay out of trouble and stay of of sight. Marta usually entertains herself talking to the doorman, looking at a painting of an angel, and watching a grandfather clock with a cat chasing a mouse on it. All the while, she wonders when her father will return from the war going on in the background.  One day, a mysterious old woman and her pet parrot come to stay at the h...

  I think I have found Kate DiCamillo 's most underrated book! Ferris is about Emma Phineas, or "Ferris" as she is nicknamed because she was born at a fair near the Ferris wheel. She is about to have the most unforgettable summers of her life before fifth grade. Ranging from her Uncle Ted's mysterious art project, to her little sister Pinky wanting to be a thief, and her grandmother Charisse's conversation with a ghost. All of these seemingly random events actually do come together gracefully and unexpectedly.  This book is different from most of Kate DiCamillo's books because it's more on the contemporary, slice-of-life side, even though there is a magical realism element with the ghost only Ferris's grandmother can see and talk to. It's a great story about all kinds of love--from family love, to friendship love, to romantic love.  I gave it 5 stars ! So far I've read two Kate DiCamillo books this month that I love! I am very lucky.

Yay! Another great book by Kate DiCamillo ! The Beatryce Prophecy is quite similar to one of the author's previous books: The Magician's Elephant (I read a reviewed that book here ) .  They are both books about a prediction of the future, and the different characters we follow all come together that make the prediction true. This book is set in a medieval setting and mostly follows a girl named Beatryce, a girl who has no memory of her past. But she mostly has a memory of something traumatic that happened to her that she is trying to forget. Beatryce is found by a goat named Answelica and a monk named Brother Edik. Beatryce becomes friends fast with the goat Answelica, and Brother Edik lets her live in his monastery where she can write and read freely, but she has to pretend to be a boy and be mute so no one finds out she is actually a girl, as in this setting it is forbidden for women to learn and know how to read and write. Beatryce is eventually summoned to write something...

  Of course I got more books to gush about! Here are the first 3 parts in case you missed them: Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 Let's see if our reading tastes are still similar! 1. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle 2. The Wayside School series by Louis Sachar 3. Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa 4. The Mothkeeper by Kay O'Neill 5. The Witch's Boy by Kelly Barnhill 6. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo 7. The Morrigan Crow series by Jessica Townsend 8. The Last Cherry Blossom by Kathleen Burkinshaw 9. The Serafina series by Robert Beatty 10. My Life in France by Julia Child 11. She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick 12. Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee

  Welcome back! Today we will talk about bestselling author Kate DiCamillo! The first book I read from her was The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane , way back when I was in third grade. This book was sooo beautiful, it instantly became an all time favorite, and it's still my favorite DiCamillo book. The second book I read from her when I was in fourth grade was the popular Because of Winn-Dixie . I actually watched the movie years earlier and enjoyed it, and I liked the book, too.  But I didn't pick up another DiCamillo book until I became an adult. The book I picked up was The Magician's Elephant, which I reviewed back in 2023 (link here ). I loved it, too! I plan on watching the movie sometime. I then read The Puppets of Spelhorst , which was also fun (link to review here ). A sequel for it came out recently, and I have it on my TBR. Unfortunately, I DNF The Tiger Rising . It was too sad for me. Now the rest of her books are on my TBR. I did actually watch the movie fo...

Every book on this list was 5 stars! I'd love to know what your favorite books this year have been so far. Links to each book's Goodreads pages are provided if applicable. Here we go... One Piece Volumes 17,18, 20 and 21 by Eichiro Oda Avatar: The Rift Volume 1 by Gene Yang Witch Hat Atelier Volume 11 by Kamome Shirahama Akane-Banashi Volumes 2 and 3 by Yuki Suenaga They Called us Enemy by George Takei The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo Avatar North and South Volumes 1, 2, and 3 by Gene Yang Avatar Imbalance Volumes 1, 2, and 3 by Faith Erin Hicks If You Still Recognize Me by Cynthia So The Sprite and the Gardener by Rii Abrego Toph's Metal Bending Academy by Faith Erin Hicks If You'll Have Me by Eunnie Unfamiliar Volumes 1 and 2 by Haley Newsome

I only read 5 books last month, but they were all highly rated! I hope you found a new favorite book in April, too. 1. The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo. This is the first of a new series by Kate DiCamillo. It follows 5 sentient puppets: a girl, a boy, a kind, a wolf, and an owl. They used to be owned by an old sailor with the last name Spelhorst. The puppets get donated and bought by two rich young sisters named Emma and Martha. They decide to write and perform a play with the puppets, but a series of mishaps happen that get in the way of play being performed, but when it gets performed, it turns out to be a success. Very whimsical and fairy-tale like short book. Gave it 5 stars . Full review here .  2. Avatar North and South Part 1, 2, and 3 by Gene Yang. Still continuing on with the Avatar graphic novel sequels, this time set in Katara and Sokka's homeland, the Southern Water Tribe. All 5 stars ! 3. Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech. Another top favorite of mi...

Another great book by Kate DiCamillo ! The Puppets of Spelhorst is about 5 sentient puppets: a boy, a girl, a king, an owl, and a wolf. They get bought by an old sailor with the last name Spelhorst. After the sailor dies, the box gets donated, bought, and gifted to two young rich sisters--Emma and Martha. They decide to write a play for the puppets that they can perform, but before they can, the puppets get into some mishaps in and around the girls' house. Eventually the play is performed, and the puppets find out what their true purpose is. I love the whimsical style the story was written in. It felt like a modern day fairy tale. I'd say this book is like a mixture of DiCamillo's two other most popular books: The Magician's Elephant and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. They are both short books with a huge emotional impact, and they are both about sentient toys.  Apparently this is also the first in a series. I can't wait to read more! It is a pure 5 star ...

  Well, what do you think? More book I barely see anyone online talk about that need more love!  Three of these I read this year and one I read last year. There will be links to full reviews and to the authors' websites too, if applicable. 1. Flip the Script by Lyla Lee . Hana is a Korean-American teenage actress who lives in South Korea. She gets to be the lead role in a new K-Drama, and she gets to act alongside Bryan, who is a popular teenage K Pop star. He plays the love interest in the story. However, the initial ratings for the show don't look so good, and the company president wants them to fake date, thinking it will boost ratings. They're reluctant at first, but Hana and Bryan agree to it. Eventually, things get more complicated when the director decides to add a love triangle to the K Drama, and the other love interest gets played by none other than veteran K-Drama actress Minjee. Minjee is also Hana's best friend, and Hana has secretly had a crush on her for ...

  My third Kate DiCamillo book (the first two I read were Because of Winn-Dixie and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane waaaay back when I was elementary school. This one was also great! The Magician's Elephant is about Peter, an orphan living with an elderly soldier named Vilnia Lutz, finds out his little sister Adele is still alive after hearing it from a fortune teller. The fortune teller tells Peter that an elephant will lead him to his sister, but Peter doesn't know where to find this elephant.  Meanwhile, Adele (yes, she's alive!), is living in an orphanage, and she keeps having dreams of an elephant visiting her.   At the same time, a magician is in the city and he performs a magic trick at one of his shows that goes wrong. Instead of summoning a bouquet  of lilies, his accidentally summons an elephant. The elephant lands on a noblewoman named Madama LaVaughn, leaving her paralyzed. The magician is put in jail for destruction of property. The eleph...

  The last post I made about underrated books was back in April of this year. Granted, I didn't read a whole lot of books that I thought were "underrated" by the online bookish community standards. Or at least considered underrated by the people that I follow (on both bookstagram and booktube). But two of these are books I read as a kid that I don't see a lot of people talk about online. So here are 4 more underrated books that I love that you need to read, too! 1. Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech . I read this book earlier this year and so far it's my favorite book from this author. Ruby Holler is about twin brother and sister Dallas and Florida who have grown up living either in a run down orphanage run by a cruel and greedy couple, or with foster families who mistreat them. Then they are taken in by an elderly couple named Tiller and Sairy, who live on a farm called Ruby Holler. Tiller and Sairy have been saving up money to go on two separate trips (Tiller a cano...