Tag Archives: realistic fiction

#BookFaceFriday “The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise” by Dan Gemeinhart

Posted on April 21, 2023 by Aimee Owen

Fasten your seat belts, it’s #BookFaceFriday!

Get ready to hit the road with this week’s #BookFaceFriday! Looking for the next great read for your middle grade book club? The Nebraska Library Commission’s has book club kits in multiple genres for a wide range of reading levels, including historical fiction, mysteries, adventure stories and more! How about this realistic fiction title, “The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise” by Dan Gemeinhart

(Henry Holt and Co, 2019)? Both a 2019 Parents’ Choice Award Gold Metal Winner and a School Library Journal Best Book of 2019, it’s available as a book club kit, as well an eBook and audiobook in Nebraska Overdrive Libraries.

 This week’s #BookFace and other middle grade titles can be found on the NLC Book Club Kit webpage; you can search by grade level or by genre. This service allows libraries and school librarians to “check out” multiple copies of a book without adding to their permanent collections, or budgets.

“Coyote’s bold, engaging voice pops off the page…Gemeinhart infuses the story with moments of lyrical writing and folksy wisdom served up with a dollop of girl power.”

— The New York Times

Book Club Kits Rules for Use

  1. These kits can be checked out by the librarians of Nebraska libraries and media centers.
  2. Circulation times are flexible and will be based upon availability. There is no standard check-out time for book club kits.
  3. Please search the collection to select items you wish to borrow and use the REQUEST THIS KIT icon to borrow items.
  4. Contact the Information Desk at the Library Commission if you have any questions: by phone: 800/307-2665, or by email: Information Services Team

Love this #BookFace & reading? Check out our past #BookFaceFriday photos on the Nebraska Library Commission’s Facebook page!

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Friday Reads: Ten Thousand Tries by Amy Makechnie

Posted on October 14, 2022 by Aimee Owen

The other players on the team looked at me funny when I borrowed a ball to take this photo at the end of their practice, but my kid just rolled his eyes and smiled. “Yeah, my mom does stuff like this all the time.” Being a a recurring #BookfaceFriday model has jaded him to the weird things I do with book covers. (He’s even better at lining up the shot than I am now.)

This book is also about a boy whose parents spend a lot of time with him on the soccer field. Golden Maroni’s dad was a pro soccer player, and now coaches the local high school team. His mom coaches Golden’s middle school team – she’s referred to as Coach or Mom depending on the chapter’s setting.

The title refers to Malcolm Gladwell’s assertion in his book “Outliers” that it takes 10,000 hours to achieve mastery of a skill. While Amy Makechnie specifies in her end-of-book acknowledgements that this rule doesn’t apply to sports, our hero Golden is sure that 10,000 hours of soccer practice will make him as phenomenal as his idol Lionel Messi. But off the field, things aren’t going as well.

Lucy, his team co-captain and best friend (and maybe more?), will move soon if Golden can’t drive away her annoying future stepfather. His older sister Jaimes certainly needs another 10,000 hours of driving practice before Golden feels safe riding with her. And worst of all, a year and a half after a surprising diagnosis, Golden’s dad is losing his battle with ALS; no amount of positive thinking and hard work can stop the progression of this terrible disease. It feels like Golden’s whole world is crashing down around him. The Maroni family motto is “We do hard things.” They work hard, play hard, and never give up on each other. But this year will be different, and Golden must learn that letting go isn’t the same as giving up.

This book was chosen as one of the 10 nominees that young adults across the state will read and vote on for the 2023-24 Golden Sower Novel Award next school year.

Makechnie, Amy. Ten Thousand Tries, ‎ New York, New York : Simon & Schuster, 2021.

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