Tag Archive | France

H is THE HOUSE OF FOUND OBJECTS mystery and Matisse in Paris! by Jo Beckett King (MG fiction) #A2Z

Apr9
In front of a Parisian antique shop, a chic French teen girl with black short hair and a red-haired American girl wearing flowered pants and sneakers look at a map on the book cover of middle-grade mystery The House of Found Objects, by Jo Beckett-King.

The beauties of Paris!
A long, long family feud!
Oh, no! Thief on the loose!

Dad and his brother never stopped arguing, so this is the first time that 12-year-old Bea has ever visited her aunt and grandmother in France – a few weeks for the New Jersey tween in the City of Light away from her parents.

The family antique store has been downsized greatly now, packed with merchandise and memories; Mamie is especially proud of a sketch by famous artist Matisse – that suddenly goes missing!

When envelope addressed to “la jeune fille” arrives on her doorstep, Bea enlists the reluctant help of her chic 13-year-old cousin Celine to puzzle it out and get to the location of the next clue.

Five clues to solve in four days to get the Matisse sketch back and save Mamie’s store from being sold!

The girls race to puzzle out scrambled words, codes, and tricky riddles, Bea using her math logic skills and Celine with her cultural savvy, as they crisscross Paris to reach the next clue.

Who made all the clues for this treasure hunt?
Why would they steal from an old lady?
How can Bea ever tell her proud parents that she didn’t make the Mathlete Team at home?

Riddles and puzzles galore in this first book of the Bea Bellerose Mystery series. Look for The Lost Jewels of Room 713 in July 2026!

What’s your favorite kind of secret code?
**kmm

Book info: The House of Found Objects (Bea Bellerose Mystery #1) / Jo Beckett-King. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2025. [author site https://www.jobeckettking.com/] [publisher site https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-House-of-Found-Objects/Jo-Beckett-King/A-Bea-Bellerose-Mystery/9781665967174] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

G is GALAXY MAPPER: the Luminous Discoveries of Astrophysicist Helene Curtois, by Allie Summers & Sian James (Picture Book) #A2Z

Apr8
Near mountains and forest, a girl looks up into the night sky, seeing stars and galaxies and mathematical diagrams overlaid upon the aurora borealis, on book cover of Galaxy Mapper: the Luminous Discoveries of Astrophysicist Helene Curtois, by Allie Summers.

“Helene observed.
Helene questioned.
Helene had ideas.”

Growing up in the French Alps, Helene Curtois loved to look at the night sky through her binoculars – and wondered what was beyond the moon.

At university, she studied astrophysics, the science of how natural objects in space (like the moon) begin, grow, and interact. When she was ignored because she was a woman, Helene remembered the brilliant women scientists who’d made discoveries before her and decided to go even further.

She fell in love with galaxies seen through the university’s professional telescope and decided to map these swirling islands of stars and dust in the night sky, to become a cosmographer.

Traveling to the best telescopes around the world, Helene and her scientific team observed and mapped thousands of galaxies and discovered they were all moving toward one place, a supercluster of galaxies!

What is beyond the moon? Now we -and Helene- know.

Includes a timeline of Helene’s life (ongoing!), glossary of galactic terms, notes on other fiercely intelligent women in astronomy, selected bibliography, and “where is a good location to build a professional telescope.”

Want a quick intro to a subject that’s completely new to you? Grab a non-fiction picturebook!
**kmm

Book info: Galaxy Mapper: the Luminous Discoveries of Astrophysicist Helene Curtois / Allie Summers; illustrated by Sian James. MIT Kids Press, 2025. [illustrator site https://www.sianjames.com/ ] [publisher site https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/787573/galaxy-mapper-the-luminous-discoveries-of-astrophysicist-helene-courtois-by-allie-summers-illustrated-by-sian-james/] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

L is for the Statue of LIBERTY – inspiration, symbol, promise! by Julian Voloj and Jorg Hartmann (YA graphic novel) #A2Z

Apr14
Book cover of Liberty, written by Julian Voloj, art by Jorg Hartmann. Image of top-hatted sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi on platform of Statue of Liberty's upraised lit torch in French workshop during construction.

Lady Liberty welcomes all,
her light held high above the harbor –
a symbol that almost didn’t arrive!

You probably know that the Statue of Liberty in New York was a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States and is now a national monument (https://www.nps.gov/stli/index.htm).

But what about the backstory of this American icon as its creator struggled for years to get it financed, built, and installed?

Displaced by war in Europe, renowned French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bertholdi sojourned in America during the 1870s. He traveled from coast to coast by train and envisioned his dream of a monument celebrating the historic connections between both countries.

Where? Philadelphia for the 1876 Centennial? Ah, Bertholdi’s extensive search finds Bedloe’s Island in New York harbor, confirmed by the U.S. Congress as the statue’s future home.

Now, back to France, so the sculptor can build “Liberty Enlightening the World” with money from rich donors and many thousands of everyday French citizens.

The arm and torch were ready in time to exhibit at the Centennial! Americans flocked to see it and climb inside, learning that it’s part of a larger statue to come.

Oh, the cost of shipping and installing Liberty is quite high! How will the money be raised for that?

Deeply researched and intricately illustrated, this graphic novel brings us the statue’s inspiring history, as well as its enduring symbolism of welcome for all.

Have you visited the Statue of Liberty?
**kmm

Book info: Liberty / words by Julian Voloj, art by Jorg Hartmann. Nobrow/Flying Eye Books, 2024. [illustrator site https://www.instagram.com/joerg_hartmann/] [publisher site https://nobrow.net/book/liberty/] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

They’re seeking SPELLS FOR LOST THINGS, like hearts… by Jenna Evans Welch (YA book review)

Aug29
book cover of Spells for Lost Things, by Jenna Evans Welch. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers | recommended on BooksYALove.com

How can Willow’s aunt be dead? Mom doesn’t even have a sister!

Willow’s parents divorced two years ago, Mom took her from Brooklyn to LA, Dad remarried and had triplets. Only being in Paris with best friend Bea feels like home, but Mom won’t let her go there to finish high school…

Now Mom has inherited a witch’s beautifully renovated house from her twin sister, so they’re in Salem to sell it. Bur Mom won’t even go in the front door! Willow adores Bell House – can’t they just stay here?

Mason bounced through foster care for years as his mom’s addiction worsened. Now he’s in Salem, with her high school best friend Emma, her husband, and their blended family – they became foster parents just for him?

After an awkward meeting on the Bell House roof (telescope, Mason, stars, of course), the teens try to unravel the mystery of Lily Bell retold in the spell book kept by Mom and Aunt Sage as teens.

Why didn’t Willow know she had great-aunts who are witches?
Does Emma know where Mason’s mom is?
What is this feeling growing between Willow and Mason?

Told in alternating chapters by Willow and Mason during the summer before their senior year as they try to find a solid place to land in their lives’ uncertainty.

Available in paperback today, 8/29/23! By the author of Love & Gelato (I recommended it here), Love & Luck (more here), and Love & Olives (here).

What family tale was most surprising to you?
**kmm

Book info: Spells for Lost Things / Jenna Evans Welch. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2022, paperback 2023. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

AudioSYNC brings us thieves’ tales – to read with your ears! (audiobook recommendations)

May25

Clever, devious – it’s time for some sneaky stories with this week’s AudioSYNC free audiobooks.

Remember to download either or both audiobooks into your Sora shelf by Wednesday 31 May 2023. All your AudioSYNC downloads are yours to read for 99 years, as long as you keep them on your Sora shelf.

You can sign up for a free Sora account and see the entire AudioSYNC season here.

Let’s see what these scofflaws are up to…

CD cover of Arsene Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes, by Maurice Leblanc | Read by David Timson. Published by Naxos Audiobooks

Arsene Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes (Arsene Lupin, book 2) (free Sora download 5/25-5/31/23)
by Maurice Leblanc | Read by David Timson
Published by Naxos Audiobooks

Gentleman thief Arsene Lupin is the prime suspect in the disappearance of a blue diamond, leading famous English detective Herlock Sholmes and his assistant Wilson to Paris. Can they catch this master of disguise and recover the jewels?

https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/187516/arsene-lupin-versus-herlock-sholmes-by-maurice-leblanc-read-by-david-timson/

swirling lines clipart from http://www.clipartpanda.com/clipart_images/mondays-throughout-the-day-17164159
CD cover of Mask of Shadows, by Linsey Miller | Read by Deryn Edwards. Published by Dreamscape

Mask of Shadows (free Sora download 5/15-5/31/2023)
by Linsey Miller | Read by Deryn Edwards
Published by Dreamscape

Of course, Sal steals that audition poster – they want to be right in the middle of the group auditioning to be one of the queen’s assassins. Not to become a member of the Left Hand – but for revenge!

https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/131498/mask-of-shadows-by-linsey-miller-read-by-deryn-edwards/

What’s your favorite good story about a person choosing to live on the wrong side of the law?
**kmm

divider clipart http://www.clipartpanda.com/clipart_images/mondays-throughout-the-day-17164159

Can she be both HEALER & WITCH without peril? by Nancy Werlin (MG/YA book review)

Dec15
book cover of Healer & Witch, by Nancy Werlin. Published by Candlewick Press | recommended on BooksYALove.com

A family of healers,
an unlooked-for skill,
now her future is uncertain…

A healer relieves pain with herbs and treatments – wouldn’t removing a painful memory from the mind also be healing? But this action in 1531 France will definitely not be seen as a gift from God!

Soon after her beloved grandmother’s death, 15-year-old Sylvie leaves her mother as lone healer for their village, departing to seek a teacher to help her tame this new skill.

Martin decides to travel with her, having no skill at his family’s trade – now Sylvie has to feed a growing young boy and keep them both safe.

In the market town, they find a healer who knew her grandmother and tells Sylvie where she might find a teacher – a long, dangerous journey away.

Of course, the healer’s friend Robert whose caravan is going to Lyon is the same young man that Martin insulted at the market…

Can the merchant’s caravan avoid robbers on the way?
Will this Madame du Bois help Sylvie learn to contain her gift?
What’s the connection between Robert and Madame and…the archbishop?

The divide between being a healer or a witch is thinner than one of Martin’s red hairs, and Sylvie must decide for herself where to make her stand. Read the first chapter here free, courtesy of the publisher.

Have you ever wished to see inside another’s mind?
**kmm

Book info: Healer & Witch / Nancy Werlin. Candlewick Press, 2022 [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image by Jade Zhang courtesy of the publisher.

Ah, France as you’ve never seen it before – journey there with free audiobooks!

Jun3

This week’s free audiobooks from SYNC take us to an alternate City of Lights, then south to the wonderful tastes of Lyon – read with your ears and dream of travel…

Get your Sora app set up (FAQs here) and download either or both of these complete audiobooks FREE before Wednesday June 9, 2021. Then you can listen anytime you like as long as you keep them on your Sora shelf.

CD cover of audiobook Rook, by Sharon Cameron | Read by Caroline Feraday. Published by Scholastic Audiobooks | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Rook (download free 3-9 June 2021 on Sora)
by Sharon Cameron
Read by Caroline Feraday
published by Scholastic Audiobooks

After the earth’s magnetic poles shift, technology is useless and the world is in turmoil. Among the power struggles of ruined Paris, 18-year-old Sophie works in the shadows to save the helpless from the Razor’s terrors, leaving behind a red-tipped rook feather as her calling card

But can she save herself from a loveless marriage arranged to keep her family from financial ruin?

audiobook cover of by Mayra Cuevas | Read by Jennifer Jill Araya. Published by Blink | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Salty, Bitter, Sweet (download free 3-9 June 2021 on Sora)
by Mayra Cuevas
Read by Jennifer Jill Araya
Published by Blink

From her Cuban grandmother’s kitchen in Kansas to staying with her father’s new family in southern France for an elite cooking school challenge, Isa finds herself balancing old hurts and new feelings.

I recommended Salty, Bitter, Sweet earlier on BooksYALove – read more here!

What other books set in France would you recommend?
**kmm

Secrets abound at A SCHOOL FOR UNUSUAL GIRLS! by Kathleen Baldwin (book review)

Jun30
Book cover of A School for Unusual Girls, by Kathleen Baldwin. Published by Tor Teen | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Torture or merely draconian discipline?
Surely her parents won’t make her stay…

High society frowns on girls who prefer chemistry to needlepoint or whose frequent migraines are really visions of disaster – shutting them far, far away from the cotillions and balls of Regency London.

Yet the science experiment that burned down Father’s stable may be a blessing in disguise for Georgiana as the teen finds herself not in a reform school for rebellious girls, but a secret spy school!

Under the direction of Miss Stranje and Madame Cho, several young ladies with highly unusual talents are honing their skills in self-defense and espionage in the fight against Napoleon.

Georgie’s secret ink may give England the upper hand, if she can perfect its formula, if she can keep her heart safe from young Lord Wyatt, if they can keep French agents from stealing it!

Set in an alternate 1814 where Napoleon successfully returns from exile, this first book in the Stranje House series is followed by the equally adventurous and properly romantic Exile for Dreamers (centered on Tess), Refuge for Masterminds (Jane’s story), and Harbor for the Nightingale (Maya’s tale).

Where might your unusual talents take you?
**kmm

Book info: A School for Unusual Girls (Stranje House, book 1) / Kathleen Baldwin. Tor Teen, hardcover 2015, paperback 2016. [author site] [publisher site] Personal purchase; cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Unwise love and unforgivable secrets to read with your ears! (audiobook reviews)

May28

Forced together by circumstance, forced apart by society, choosing to remember…or forget.

This week’s pair of audiobooks bring us a mother and daughter’s modern then-and-now story and a fantasy enemies-to-lovers (maybe) tale.

Download either or both titles to your phone or tablet using the links below so you can listen whenever you like through the Sora app.

These are available on the AudioSYNC site free through Wednesday evening 3 June 2020. If you miss the free download for any of these featured audiobooks, check your local library or school library.

CD cover of In Search of Us, by Ava Dellaira. Read by Adenrele Ojo. Published by Brilliance Audio | recommended on BooksYALove.com

In Search of Us (free download 28 May- 3 June 2020)

by Ava Dellaira. Read by Adenrele Ojo. Published by Brilliance Audio.

Mom says her black father died before Angie was born, but new information about him sets the mixed-race teen on a road trip to California, with her ex-boyfriend!

Marilyn’s own love story as a teen in the 90s derailed her career as actress and photographer, but what brought her and baby Angie to New Mexico?

CD cover of Serpent & Dove, by Shelby Mahurin. Read by Holter Graham & Saskia Maarleveld. Published by HarperAudio | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Serpent & Dove (free download 28 May- 3 June 2020)

by Shelby Mahurin . Read by Holter Graham & Saskia Maarleveld. Published by HarperAudio.

Escaping her coven, Louise tries to survive in the city by her wits alone. “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” guides Reid as he hunts them down.

When Lou and Reid are caught in a compromising position, they must marry or else!

When is it time to let secrets remain secret?
**kmm

More than meets the eye – read with your ears & AudioSYNC!

May7

Thursday equals a pair of related new titles in the AudioSYNC program, both free for you to download before Wednesday night, 13 May 2020.

For each audioSYNC book you choose, be sure to hit ‘Borrow’ on the Sora app (downloaded on your phone or tablet). Then it will be checked out to you for 35,996 days or 100 years – enough time to listen to all 26 selections of summer 2020!

CD cover of Secret Soldiers: How the US Twenty-Third Special Troops Fooled the Nazis, by Paul B. Janeczko, Read by Ron Butler. Published by Brilliance Audio | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Secret Soldiers: How the US Twenty-Third Special Troops Fooled the Nazis (info here)

by Paul B. Janeczko | Read by Ron Butler | Published by Brilliance Audio

Sound effects, inflatable war machines, pyrotechnics, and camouflage – the U.S. “Ghost Army” made up of actors, set designers, audio specialists, and painters fooled German forces during World War II.

Their 20 missions made the Nazis see and hear non-existent troop maneuvers from the Normandy invasion to crossing the Rhine, ensuring Allied victory.

CD cover of Picture Us in the Light, by Kelly Loy Gilbert, Read by James Chen. Published by Dreamscape | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Picture Us in the Light (info here)

by Kelly Loy Gilbert | Read by James Chen | Published by Dreamscape

A year after his close-knit group of friends ruptures, Danny worries about his future as an artist after high school. When the California teen discovers a box of secrets in Dad’s closet, everything his immigrant family has told him comes into question, too.

How do we camouflage our true intentions from others?
**kmm