Figurative Language – Page 2 – Unleashing Readers

Invisible Isabel by Sally J. Pla, Illustrated by Tania de Regil

July 9, 2024 by Kellee

Invisible Isabel
Author: Sally J. Pla
Illustrator: Tania de Regil
Published July 9th, 2024 by Quill Tree Books

Summary: In this illustrated middle grade novel by Schneider Award-winning author Sally J. Pla, introverted Isabel Beane learns how she can speak up to help quiet the worries she feels. For fans of Elana K. Arnold and Leslie Connor.

Isabel Beane is a shy girl who lives in a home full of havoc and hubbub and hullabaloo. With five siblings, there is too much too much-ness.

At the same time, there’s a new girl at school who is immediately popular, but she’s also not very nice to one person—Isabel.

Isabel has never felt more invisible. She has so many fears: being abandoned by her old friends at school, having to speak to strangers in public, taking the upcoming Extremely Important standardized test. Her fears feel like worry-moths that flutter in her belly. With every passing day, it seems like they get stronger and stronger. How can Invisible Isabel make people listen?

About the Author: Sally J. Pla is the ALA Schneider Award-winning author of THE FIRE, THE WATER, AND MAUDIE McGINN, as well as the Dolly Gray Award-winning THE SOMEDAY BIRDS and several other popular novels and picture books. Her books have starred reviews and appear on many state awards lists and “best books” roundups. Sally, who is neurodivergent, has appeared on television and radio as an author and autism advocate. She also runs the website resource A Novel Mind (anovelmind.com). Sally believes in kindness, respect, and the beauty of different brains. We are all stars shining with different lights! Visit her at www.sallyjpla.com.

Instagram: @sallyjpla
Twitter/X: @sallyjpla
Facebook: Sally Pla

Review: This book brought up a ton of emotions for me as a mom and as a teacher. I was so mad at so many of the characters that I had to stop, breathe, and I even sent a Tweet to the author. I could not understand how this sweet girl wasn’t understood by anyone around her, and all of these emotions I felt while reading shows you how the style and voice of the book just engulfed me as a reader. Because of the verse and first person point of view, every word written felt like it was precisely chosen to go straight to my heart. I loved Isabel’s voice because although she is so quiet outwardly, she has so much to say, and we, the reader, get the honor of reading her words.

This book adds another amazing story into narratives about neurodivergency, and I truly believe that it will help so many understand Isabel thus leading to more understanding in real life.

Tools for Navigation: The verse in this novel will lend itself so perfectly to mentor texts. I would love to see students read Isabel’s poetry about her worry moths then write their own versions or use her examples of figurative language in their own way.

Discussion Questions:

What were signs that Isabel struggled at home? At school?
How does Monica show that just one person can make a huge change? How about Monica’s dad?
What is the line between pushing someone to do something outside of their comfort zone in a health way versus in an unhealthy way?
Although Isabel’s stomach pains at one point ended up being appendicitis, did her anxiety also cause physical stomach pains? Why?
How did the change in teaching style change how Isabel felt at school?
How did the illustrations add to the book?
What did the backmatter teach us about anxiety/autism?

Flagged Passages: A Worry-Moths Compendium (pg. 21)

Many scary what-if worries made Isabel’s heart thump,
her tongue dry up,
her hands sweat,
and her stomach churn
with moths.
At least, they felt like moths.
Like buzzing, fluttering worry-moths
with evil, anxious wings.
Mam might not think they were real.
But they sure FELT real to Isabel.

Read This If You Love: Books-in-Verse, A Boy Called Bat by Elana K. Arnold, Better with Butter by Victoria Pointek, Tom Percival’s emotion picture books, Jenn Bailey’s Henry books

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Barbara at Blue Slip Media for providing a copy for review!**

Alterations by Ray Xu

June 25, 2024 by Kellee

Alterations
Author & Illustrator: Ray Xu
Published January 30th, 2024 by Union Square & Co.

Summary: This funny yet poignant middle-grade coming-of-age story highlights the struggle of feeling invisible while yearning to be seen by all.

Kevin Lee is having a really bad week. Although he lives in a crowded Toronto apartment above the family’s alterations and dry-cleaning store, he mostly goes unnoticed. School isn’t exactly an oasis either—being one of the few Asian kids makes for some unwelcome attention. But when Kevin’s class plans a trip to Thrill Planet, a spectacular theme park, will he finally have a chance to turn his life around, or will it just be another day for Kevin Lee?

Fans of middle school graphic novels exploring identity and self-esteem will appreciate the poignant yet humorous journey of finding one’s place in the world, and readers who are looking for Asian representation in books will connect with Kevin’s story of racism, bullying, and the immigrant experience. With its mix of family relationships, friendships, and a thrilling amusement park climax, this inspiring read is perfect for fans of humorous middle grade fiction with diverse characters overcoming obstacles.

Praise:

This is an excellent debut middle grade graphic novel, both funny and full of heart, depicting the lives of an immigrant family.” —Book Riot

“A funny and heartfelt story that beautifully communicates the honest and awkward relationships we have with life and our immigrant parents.” —Dan Santat, Caldecott Medal winner and creator of A First Time for Everything

“Charming, relatable, nostalgic. Love Xu’s subtle and scraggly drawing style paired with his understated, yet deeply affecting storytelling. Brings me back to being a lonely Chinese kid in Toronto.”—Academy Award–winning director and screenwriter Domee Shi (Bao, Turning Red)

“Themes of sacrifice, survival, and love abound in a multidimensional story of navigating the bumpy terrain of family tensions and resilience across generations.”—Horn Book Magazine

“[A] moving depiction of a multigenerational immigrant Chinese family trying to sew themselves back together.”—Bulletin Center for Children’s Books

About the Author: Ray Xuis a Toronto-based story artist for television and feature films. His recent work includes the 2021 Netflix animated hit The Mitchells vs. The Machines; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem; and more. He invites you to visit him online at raymond-xu.com.

Review: This book is about so much more than it seems at first. Is it about Kevin navigating middle school, definitely, but it is also about so much more. Set in the 1990s, Kevin finds himself in the middle of his parent’s divorce with his mother working all the time and his grandmother newly moved into their small apartment where he finds himself fighting with his sister and mom more than being happy. This unsettled feeling bleeds into school where he doesn’t fit in with the primarily white school population and finds himself being picked on for his differences and getting in trouble when he’s truly not doing anything wrong.

It is only through drawing that Kevin finds solace, and we, as readers, get to experience a story he is creating with his favorite superhero. This story runs parallel with Kevin’s life and is how he deals with the conflict surrounding him.

Readers will find empathy for Kevin throughout his story and will want to keep reading and rooting for Kevin to trudge his way out of the bumpy road he is navigating.

(Keep an eye out for some fantasy elements at the end of the book! I found it to be figurative more than literal magic to symbolize just one other way Kevin felt–you’ll have to let me know what you think!)

Tools for Navigation: This book will be read and loved by your graphic novel memoir fans. Although it is not a memoir, it fits in with Sunny Side Up, Mexikid, Smile, and other memoirs set in similar time periods.

Discussion Questions:

How were both Kevin and his sister valid in how they were feeling?
How did Popo both help and add tension to the Lee household?
What does the roller coaster on the cover of the book symbolize?
Do you think it is fair that Kevin is called to the principal’s office for the egg and the basketball incident?
Why do you think Lily stopped being Kevin’s friend? What happened to make her reconsider?
How was the comic Kevin was writing reflective of what was going on in his life?
What do you think is the purpose of the fantastical element at the end of the book?

Flagged Spreads:

Read This If You Love: Graphic novels about school and family dynamics

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Union Square for providing a copy for review!**

Discussion Guide for The Lilies by Quinn Diacon-Furtado

October 25, 2025June 18, 2024 by Kellee

The Lilies
Author: Quinn Diacon-Furtado
Published: April 30th, 2024 by HarperTeen

Summary: One of Us Is Lying meets A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder in this don’t-dare-to-look-away dark academia thriller that explores how secrets can rot an institution–and the people who uphold it–from the inside out.

Everyone wants to be a Lily.

At Archwell Academy, it’s the ticket to a successful future. But like every secret society, there is something much darker beneath the surface … sometimes girls disappear.

When four Archwell students find themselves trapped in a time loop, they must relive their worst memories, untangling the Lilies’ moldering roots and unraveling the secrets at the core of their school … before they destroy their futures forever.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation and Discussion Questions:

Please view and enjoy the discussion guide I created for Cake Creative:

You can also access the educators’ guide here.

Recommended For:

Educators’ Guide for Lila Greer, Teacher of the Year by Andrea Beaty, Illustrated by David Roberts

June 4, 2024 by Kellee

Lila Greer, Teacher of the Year
Author: Andrea Beaty
Illustrator: David Roberts
Published: November 7, 2023 by Abrams

Summary: Lila Greer, Teacher of the Year is a moving story starring the Questioneers’ teacher that’s all about kindness, learning to face your fears, and the profound difference that one brilliant educator can make in a child’s life, from author Andrea Beaty and illustrator David Roberts, the #1 New York Times bestselling creators of Aaron Slater, Illustrator and Ada Twist, Scientist !

Lila Greer is full of worries. Even the smallest things—from cabbages to cardboard—fill her with dread and what-if s. So when her family makes a big change—moving to a new town—the worry and what-if s only grow. What if things go wrong? What if no one likes her?

At first, Lila feels right to be worried. In her new home, everything is strange. The new kids, the new smells. Lila feels alone and invisible. But there’s one person who sees Lila’s teacher, Ms. Kern. Through some creativity, blackboard erasers, and—most of all—kindness, Ms. Kern finds a way to make Lila feel welcome and open to new experiences. A lesson that will resonate with Lila long after second grade.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation and Discussion Questions:

Please view and enjoy the educators’ guide I created for Abrams for Lila Greer, Teacher of the Year:

You can also access the educators’ guide here.

You can learn more about Lila Greer, Teacher of the Year on Abrams’s page.

Recommended For:

Speck: An Itty-Bitty Epic by Margaux Meganck

March 26, 2024 by Kellee

Speck: An Itty-Bitty Epic
Author & Illustrator: Margaux Meganck
Published

Summary: Everything and everyone has a place in the universe, but for a little speck, lost at sea, it will take an extraordinary journey to find it.

Deep in a tide pool, too small to see,
Thousands of tiny specks go forth.
Each one searching
for a place to stay, and grow, and thrive…

The little speck does not know what it is, only that it wishes to find out. And so it embarks on a journey across the sea. From sun-flecked surf to darkest depths, past schools of fish, storm-tossed ships and hungry eels…. Until, at last, it finds exactly what it was looking a place to belong.

In vivid watercolor paintings, Margaux Meganck brings this tale to life, seamlessly shifting perspective to show how even the tiniest creatures—every barnacle, every child, every star in the sky—contributes to something greater than itself.

★ “A poignant, reflective story that’s every bit as relevant to children as it is to adults. . . . Deeply moving.” – Kirkus Reviews (starred)

About the Author: Margaux Meganck spends her days dodging raindrops and drawing from her imagination in beautiful Portland, Oregon. Her author-illustrator debut, People are Wild, received two starred reviews and was named a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year. Her illustration work has earned multiple accolades. Speck is the second book she has both written and illustrated. To learn more, visit margauxmeganck.com.

Instagram:
Margaux Meganck: @margauxmeganck
Knopf/Random House Children’s Books: @randomhousekids
Blue Slip Media: @blue_slip_media

Facebook:
Margaux Meganck: N/A
Random House Children’s Books: Random House Children’s Books
Blue Slip Media: @blue-slip-media

Twitter/X:
Margaux Meganck: @Margaux Meganck
Random House Children’s Books: @randomhousekids
Blue Slip Media: @blueslipper & @barbfisch

Review: This beautiful book is two fold. First, it is a fantastic ocean journey of a speck as it carried along the current and through the ocean, past so many creatures, and to its forever home. The journey is told in poetic verse that will be a great read aloud. Second, it is a story about being lost and figuring out where you fit in the best. Meganck brilliantly combined these two purposes. And the illustrations are another level of the book. They complement the lyrical tale of the speck’s journey, showing the reader all of the sea creatures and ecosystems within the ocean. This is a wonderful book.

Tools for Navigation: Because this book has a science and an social emotional learning aspect, it would be a wonderful inclusion into a classroom or library program because it can lead to all sorts of conversations including journeying into the ocean (pair with other ocean books, listed below) and then move to the theme and how the speck’s journey is an extended metaphor for our life.

Discussion Questions:

What creatures did the speck encounter along its journey?
Why do you think the author titled the book an “epic?”
What lesson can you take from the speck into your life?
Based on where the speck ended up, what sea creature was it?
What other specks are there in the sea?
How is the speck’s journey similar to life?

Flagged Spreads:

Read This If You Love: Puff: All About Air by Emily Kate Moon, Whale Fall: Exploring Ocean-Floor Ecosystem by Melissa Stewart, Kind by Jess McGeachin, In the Night Garden by Carin Berger, The Universe in You: A Microscopic Journey by Jason Chin, Over and Under the Waves by Kate Messner

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Blue Slip Media for providing a copy for review!**

Educators’ Guide for The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo

February 6, 2024 by Kellee

The Puppets of Spelhorst
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Illustrator: Julie Morstad
Published: October 10th, 2023 by Candlewick Press

Summary: From master storyteller Kate DiCamillo comes an original fairy tale—with enchanting illustrations by Julie Morstad—in which five puppets confront circumstances beyond their control with patience, cunning, and high spirits.

Shut up in a trunk by a taciturn old sea captain with a secret, five friends—a king, a wolf, a girl, a boy, and an owl—bicker, boast, and comfort one another in the dark. Individually, they dream of song and light, freedom and flight, purpose and glory, but they all agree they are part of a larger story, bound each to each by chance, bonded by the heart’s mysteries. When at last their shared fate arrives, landing them on a mantel in a blue room in the home of two little girls, the truth is more astonishing than any of them could have imagined. A beloved author of modern classics draws on her most moving themes with humor, heart, and wisdom in the first of the Norendy Tales, a projected trio of novellas linked by place and mood, each illustrated in black and white by a different virtuoso illustrator. A magical and beautifully packaged gift volume designed to be read aloud and shared, The Puppets of Spelhorst is a tale that soothes and strengthens us on our journey, leading us through whatever dark forest we find ourselves in.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation and Discussion Questions:

Please view and enjoy The Puppets of Spelhorst educators’ guide I created for Candlewick Press:

You can also access the educators’ guide here.

You can learn more about The Puppets of Spelhorst on Candlewick’s page.

Recommended For:

Educators’ Guide for Nothing Interesting Ever Happens to Ethan Fairmont by Nick Brooks

January 23, 2024 by Kellee

Nothing Interesting Ever Happens to Ethan Fairmont
Author: Nick Brooks
Published: October 4th, 2022 by Union Square Kids

Summary: Something cool happening in Ferrous City? Not a chance.

Until one day . . . when self-proclaimed genius inventor Ethan Fairmont runs into an abandoned car factory to avoid a local bully and accidentally stumbles across his ex-best friend Kareem, new kid Juan Carlos, and an extraterrestrial visitor. Cheese (the alien) is stuck on Earth in need of some serious repairs, spicy snacks—and absolute, total secrecy. That’s easier said than done when mysterious agents descend on Ferrous City to search for Cheese. With time running out and their family and friends in potential danger, can Ethan, Kareem, and Juan Carlos pull off an intergalactic rescue before they’re all found out?

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation and Discussion Questions:

Please view and enjoy the educators’ guide I created for Cake Creative Kitchen:

You can also access the educators’ guide here.

Recommended For: