Your PJ Our Way Books for February
PJ Our Way is pleased to present four excellent selections for February. Read about the realistic struggles of a school play, choose your own adventure in 1492 Spain, find out what happens when a girl joins an all-boys wrestling team, or learn about “Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot. Remember to pick your book by February 10th!
Not Your All-American Girl
by Madelyn Rosenberg and Wendy Wan-Long Shang
Ages 10+
256 pages
Lauren’s a talented singer who dreams of being on Star Search. She does a great audition for the school musical, All-American Town, and everyone thinks she should get the lead. But the teacher says Chinese-Jewish Lauren doesn’t look “American” enough for the role and gives it to Lauren’s best friend, Tara, relegating Lauren to the ensemble. Tension grows between the friends, and Lauren finds it difficult to continue in the play, but she finds solace in the music of Patsy Cline plus a new button-making business. Eventually, the girls work together to make things right both on and off the stage.
This is a companion book to This Is Just a Test, but works well as a standalone novel.
The Spanish Plot by Leah Sokol
Ages: 10+
164 pages
This choose-your-own-adventure is set in Spain in 1492. The reader is taking care of young Yitzchak, the grandson of Don Abarbanel, a scholar and financial advisor to Queen Isabella. Don Abarbanel has been working hard to convince the queen not to expel the Jews, but it seems unlikely that he’ll succeed. Meanwhile, the queen wants Don Abarbanel and his family to convert to Christianity so he can continue to advise the queen. When he refuses, the royal court hatches a plot to kidnap and forcibly baptize young Yitzchak. The reader is offered a series of options for responding to the various events surrounding the kidnapping attempts, resulting in a variety of outcomes.
Takedown
by Laura Shovan
Ages: 10+
263 pages
Lev is determined to beat his rival on the wrestling team and make it to the state championships, while Mikayla wants to follow in the footsteps of her wrestling champ father and older brothers. When she joins the Gladiators and becomes Lev’s training partner, he’s not happy to be working with a girl, and some of the other boys don’t want Mickey on the team at all. Eventually, Lev comes to respect her skill and determination to succeed in a male-dominated sport, and he begins to see wrestling in a different light. Told in alternating chapters through the eyes of Lev and Mickey, Takedown introduces kids to a less common sport. It’s also about friendship, responsibility, discrimination, and the price of winning at all costs.
Gal Gadot: Soldier, Model, Wonder Woman By Jill Sherman
Ages: 9+
48 pages
Gal Gadot is the Israeli actress who starred in Wonder Woman, the first ever female-directed superhero movie from a major studio. This is the story of her childhood and career. Kids will be inspired by her success as an international actress who juggles family and career with grace and aplomb.
What do you think of this month’s books? Comment below to let us know.
Iwo745
I wish I would have known and signed up earlier. I've never read a choose your own adventure book, and that sounds cool. I really like DC comics so reading about Gal Gadot would have been cool too.