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Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
Black Enough edited by Ibi Zoboi
Bo at Ballard Creek by Kirkpatrick Hill
Clayton Byrd Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia
Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott
Edible Colors by Jennifer Vogel Bass
The Extremely High Tide! by Kir Fox and and M. Shelley Coats
Fearless Mary by Tami Charles and Claire Almon
Fire Storm by Andrew Lane
The Hollow under the Tree by Cary Fagan
The Horse in Harry's Room by Syd Hoff
I Date Dead People by Ann Kerns and Janina Görrissen
In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
The Misfits Club by Kieran Mark Crowley
The Missing Magic by Kallie George
My Life as a Diamond by Jenny Manzer
My Little Pony Micro-Series: #7 Cutie Mark Crusaders by Ted Anderson
My Little Pony: Micro-Series: #8: Princess Celestia by Georgia Ball
The Poisoned House by Michael Ford
The Ropemaker by Peter Dickinson
Rust: Soul in the Machine by Royden Lepp
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The Similars by Rebecca Hanover
Snake Bite by Andrew Lane
SOS at Night by M.A. Wilson
Tintin in Tibet by Hergé
The Uncertain Places by Lisa Goldstein
Under the Jolly Roger by L.A. Meyer
Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (January 07)
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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (January 21)
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FF6666: orphan going offroad towards home

FF6633: orphans going home along the Blue Highway

FF6600: Orphans looking for home on the Interstate

FF33FF: orphans in rural places surrounded by cornfields

FF33CC and FF3399: rural orphans in the maze and labyrinth

Road Narrative Update for December 2018

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The Hollow under the Tree: 01/08/19

The Hollow under the Tree

The Hollow under the Tree by Cary Fagan is set in Toronto in 1925. It begins with a poorly maintained circus train, a tight schedule, and the inevitable derailment.

From there it moves to Sadie, a girl living in Toronto who is the daughter of a pie maker. She happens upon Sunny the lion, now hiding in High Park. The rest is her story of how she attempts to care for the lion and ultimately finds people who can rescue it from the park before too many dogs are eaten or anyone is hurt.

The author includes a chapter where he recounts hearing the source of the book as a story told to him by his grandfather. Whether the story is true or not is left up to the reader.

For a middle grade fiction, it's a short book. It's really more of a novella than a full on novel. It's 128 pages and the book's dimensions are tiny. There are no wasted words on excess description, filler, or even adverbs. It's the sort of book that could be read aloud by a teacher to a class in a couple after recess sessions. Although short, it is entertaining and memorable.

Four stars

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