Kiki Book Club!

by Laura Rush

Here are the latest entries into the Kiki Book Club! Whether fiction, factual, or just plain fun, these reads are Kiki-approved, bona fide barn burners guaranteed to quench your literary thirst!

The Magical Ms. Plum

Author: Bonn Becker
Illustrator: Amy Portnoy Knopf

Students who were in Mrs. Plum's third-grade class never gave any specific information (their lips would close up or they would blurt out crazy things) but they always that satisfied, secret smile. Mrs. Plum's new class quickly begins to realize that there is something special about her closet—and about themselves. Each student takes a trip into the closet to get something for their beloved teacher (and eraser, chalk, markers, etc.) and come out with a myriad of magical things—tiny unicorns, talking ravens, miniature moneys with wagons of sweets—and they learn that what they’ve always wanted is a bit different than they anticipated. The Magical Mrs. Plum evokes Mrs. Frizzle and her magic schoolbus and Wayside School's wacky antics. It’s a magical tradition that reminds everyone that learning is fun and can really change you if you let it.

Whatever! The Complicated Life of Claudia Christina Cortez

Author: Diana G. Gallagher

Claudia is the star of her own series of books, each with a complication and a list of things she needs to do to fix her problems. In Whatever! Claudia has to figure out how solve her club’s problem—Adam only votes to do what he wants, which is pretty problematic when their only rule is that they have to agree on the club’s activities. Whatever! is written as Claudia’s diary, has tons of doodles, and tells a story that anyone with friends who are different from each other can totally understand.

Dynamic Women Dancers

Author: Anne Dublin

Dancing is an art—one that many people begin as children, but few continue to into adulthood, even fewer succeed at a professional career in any kind of Dance. However, there are some women who not only achieved great success as dancers, but who used their success to educate the world about the art, and encourage social change. Dynamic Women Dancers looks at some of these women, from Anna Pavlova, one of the world's greatest classical ballerinas, to Geeta Chandran, a master of Indian Bharatanatyam, and the ways that they changed the world through dance.

Leadership for Students: A Guide for Young Leaders

Authors: Frances A. Karnes, Ph.D. and Suzanne M. Bean, Ph.D

You’ve got goals—we all do. Most of us want to have a positive effect on the world around us. But its not always easy to figure out how to do that. Leadership for Students is a great way to understand exactly what it means to be a leader, and is full of great ideas to get active and establish yourself as a person who gets things done. You’ll be amazed at the places you can go and the things you can do that seem small, but really help people out—and the satisfaction you’ll get from knowing you did a great job.