Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle by Christina Uss

⭐⭐⭐ Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle is an upper elementary book for grades 3 - 6. A three year old girl is left at the Mostly Silent Monastery in Washington D. C. with no clue as to her identity or who left her there. Sister Wanda reluctantly takes her in and she is given the name Bicycle because of the shirt she was wearing when she was found. As Bicycle grows older, Sister Wand becomes concerned that she doesn't make friends and decides to rectify that by sending her to a camp, The Friendship Factory. Bicycle has no desire to go and decides she will make friends her own way and sets out, on her bike, to meet her bicycle hero Zbig Sienkiewicz who will be in America for the blessing of the bikes in San Francisco. 
Why I picked it up? This was on the 2019 Texas Bluebonnet list and I try to read most of these. I like to listen to audio books and this one was available so I decided to listen to it.
How did you feel when you read it? The book started out a little silly and that isn't something I enjoy. I love books that will make me laugh, but silliness doesn't do that for me. I wondered if I would finish it, but when Bicycle started on her trip and the adventure began, I found myself really liking it. Bicycle is a good person and wants to help others. I enjoyed seeing that come out in the story.
What did you think about the book? It was easy to follow and not too many characters to keep up with. It felt a little slow at first but the author had to build Bicycle's background so you would understand the kind of person she is and why she does the things she does.
Who would you give it to? A more mature reader would find this an enjoyable read. It isn't riveting but more like a journey that you want to see how it will end.

I never thought I'd write a blog!

I am a school librarian and have been one for 17 years. I love my job! I truly do. I'm sitting at my desk and it is a little past 6:00 PM. I should leave. I still have to stop by the grocery store but instead I sit here, gazing out my office window at my magnificent library with its collection of popular books, and walls painted in a castle decor. The PTO brought in a muralist a few years ago after the library went through a major renovation. The walls had all been cream and now they reflect storybook characters, flying pigs, dragons, and quotes about the journey you can take with books.

It is beautiful and I'm lucky that I get to work here.

We are a K - 4 school and I have been teaching the students about reviewing the books they read. The reviews need to be more than "This book was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!".
I think some students would feel a need to add even more exclamation points. Basically, they were writing reviews that told their classmates nothing useful about the book they had read or why someone else should pick it up and read it. I searched around and found tips in various areas and created a cheat sheet for them to use to help them write better reviews.

I have taught this to all six 4th grade classes and will teach it to seven 3rd grade classes by the end of this week and it got me thinking. I believe the advice I have given the students to be sound but how do I really know unless I try it for myself?

And if I'm going to spend after school time writing reviews, I might as well put it out there for others to read.

So here I am, creating a blog. Something I never thought I'd do!

For the reviews I use a 5 star rating:
⭐- Did not like it
⭐⭐- It was okay
⭐⭐⭐- I liked it
⭐⭐⭐⭐- Really liked it
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- It was amazing!

After a brief summary, I'll answer a few questions about my reading experience such as:
Why did I pick it up?
How did I feel when I read it?
What did I think about the book?
Who would I give it to and why?