Instagram story viewer> @bookmarkyourlife> Posts

Julie Anne Castro ✨

@bookmarkyourlife

456

followers

876

following

Wife, mother of two, teacher, runner girl, traveler. Reading is my passion - life is good!💖📚

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

🦁I Survived The Night of the Lions, 2025 by Lauren Tarshis, @laurentarshis, is her newest I Survived book. And this book is unique because it is her first Wildlife Adventure book! She did the same level of research and meticulous fact checking for this book as she does for her other books.

When I was reading it I felt like I was in the African delta with the characters. I also came to care for what happened to the lion pride. The main boy was so brave when he had to go looking for water to save his sister and the pilot. This one is another winner and will fly off the library shelves!

#lauratarshis #isurvived #thenightofthelions #bookmarkyourlife #middlegradebooks taken in Pleasant Grove, Utah by @bookmarkyourlife

8

3

2 days ago

📚📕📖 The Secret Bookstore Sleuth Society by Lindsay Curie, @lindsayncurrie, is the perfect spooky and moody middle grade mystery for the Fall Season. And who could ask for a better setting?!?! An Indie Bookstore with a mysterious murder?!?! Even with a murder it is still appropriate for this age range of kids. I adored how the Grandma helped the group of friends sort through the clues and the suspects. I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, but you know it will be a good read when Lindsay Currie writes it! #thesecretbookstoresleuthsociety #lindsaycurrie #bookmarkyourlife #middlegradebooks #mysterybooks taken in Pleasant Grove City Library by @bookmarkyourlife

9

0

10 days ago

🐈🐈‍⬛ Licorice by Kara LaReau is the perfect children’s novel for the Fall season. It has moody, spooky, and chilling vibes. I absolutely adored the vibe this book gave and the illustrations took it to the next level. The book cover is also amazing and the slayed edges are beautiful.

The book starts with a kitten being adopted from an animal shelter. Yes, the animals talk in this book, but it is not too childish. I would say an upper elementary aged kid would understand more of the mystery and plot of the story.

Max is the boy that adopts Kitty, and he is super nice, but the rest of the house is not what it seems. There are other pets that lived in the house and they all talk about the last cat Max used to have. This cat was supposedly perfect and Kitty will never be as wonderful as that cat was. But then Kitty notices some things are not right in the house.

I don’t want to give any more of the story away. It is so good and would also make a great read a loud!

🏥 This book helped me get through my second time in the hospital in a matter of months. It took my mind off all of the worry and guilt of not being at school with my new Intern teachers.

🏡 Lastly, the final picture has one of my favorite quotes about “home” from the book.

#licorice #karalareau #middlegradebooks #bookmarkyourlife #fallbooks taken in Intermountain Utah Valley Hospital by @bookmarkyourlife

8

2

18 days ago

🛌 Sawyer Lee and the Quest to Just Stay Home by Zach Weinersmith is a hilarious read for middle grade students. It has a unique format with black and white illustrations, some comic panels, and some traditional paragraphs and chapters.

The writing has a sarcastic feel that will really resonate with upper Elementary School age kids. Sawyer would rather hang out at his best friends house and basically do nothing as the parents spoil him. But when the most important girl in the school (a future president) asks Sawyer to be her partner to help her win the town’s contest he can’t say no. And I can’t tell you more about the contest because it is too funny.

This is a great pick for those reluctant readers in your life or school.

#sawyerleeandthequesttojuststayhome #zachweinersmith #middlegradebooks #bookmarkyourlife taken in Pleasant Grove, Utah by @bookmarkyourlife

8

5

19 days ago

🐱🐈🐈‍⬛ Katie the Catsitter Book 5, Villain Con, is just as fun and adorable as the other books in this series. Colleen A. F. Venable, @colleenaf, has found a way to continue this wonderful graphic novel series for middle readers that is so engaging and entertaining.

Katie and her cats are back and I can’t get enough of all of the cat’s sarcastic and nonchalant behaviors. The illustrations are detailed and colorful and pull you in. Kids will love poring over every page!

With conventions getting more popular with kids and teens I loved how this book had a villain con in it. I could see kids loving seeing all of the “villain’s” costumes in this book and coming up with their own costume for an upcoming event.

This is a solid graphic novel series that I recommend to many teachers and students at my school. I hope to see many more books in this series!

#katiethecatsitter #colleenafvenable #graphicnovelforkids #cats #bookmarkyourlife taken in Pleasant Grove, Utah by @bookmarkyourlife

6

0

2 months ago

⚾️ The Sweet Spot by Elaine Vickers, @elainebvickers, is a realistic fiction book for middle readers. It is a perfect book for baseball fans, but it is so much more than just a sports book.

🧢 The main character Trip is the only boy in his family. All of his sisters dance and can get annoying at times. Trip’s dad leaves on a deployment and Trip is super disappointed that he won’t be around to watch him play baseball.

As the baseball season progresses Trip learns to have more responsibilities with his team but also at home. He comes to appreciate his sisters more, and goes to his Grandpa for advice. He also becomes friends with the only girl on his team. He makes mistakes like any real kid would, but he is also a likable character. This is such a wonderful book!

#elainevickers #thesweetspot #middlegradebooks #bookmarkyourlife #baseballbooks taken in Pleasant Grove, Utah by @bookmarkyourlife

11

2

2 months ago

☀️🌳 All the Sunshine in the World by Caroline Brooks DuBois is a middle grade novel-in-verse bursting with hope and feeling. I am on a roll with these books that use poetry to tell the story, and this one is another winner! It blew me away with how much emotion it conveyed through poems.

The book is about Tolly, the only remaining child in her home after her sister, Sunny, died in a car accident. Tolly loves to talk and fears she caused the accident by distracting her sister with too many texts that day. Tolly’s parents are also taking the e death pretty hard and not communicating with Tolly in the way she needs.

Lucky for her she has a wonderful school counselor that helps her get a club started that ends up helping her in so many unexpected ways. I don’t want to give too much away about this club, but it really made my heart happy.

You need to check out this book!

#allthesunshineintheworld #carolinebrooksdubois #bookmarkyourlife #middlegradebooks #novelinverse taken in Pleasant Grove, Utah by @bookmarkyourlife

7

1

3 months ago

🐶🚌 Fifth Grade Top Dogs by Jerry Spinelli is the perfect school life book for kids. It is a shorter chapter book with fantastic illustrations sprinkled throughout. Jerry Spinelli is best known for his books-Stargirl and The Library Card, amoung others.

“Suds” is about to start 5th grade and be the oldest class in the school so he is planning how to do that with his best friend. He obviously makes a ton of mistakes and I love how he confides in his mom to help him talk it out and process. She is great! And his sister is pretty funny too. She plays a prank on him the first day of school that had me laughing out loud. He has a chance to help her out from a bully later in the book and it is really sweet.

Oh! Also, Suds and his friend don’t make the best decisions at school and get in trouble often as they try to find a balance between being cool and still being good. By the end of the book there is a scene that could really happen in a school and I was so proud of them for thinking quickly and helping a teacher of a class in the younger grades!!!

This is a short gem of a book and great for reluctant readers or even struggling readers.

#jerryspinelli #fifthgradetopdogs #bookmarkyourlife #middlegradebooks #kidlit taken in Pleasant Grove, Utah by @bookmarkyourlife

5

1

3 months ago

🪵🪾Anna - Jane and the Endless Summer by Paige Classey, @paigeclassey is a wonderful new novel - in - verse book for middle grade readers. I have come to really enjoy this style of book, and Anna - Jane is now a new favorite because it was that good! If you like books about summer camps, friendships, and survival then this is book you need to check out.

This book starts with Anna - Jane excited to see her best camp friend Amaya. Anna - Jane likes going to camp because no one knows she is poor and there on scholarship. It is not far into the story when things start to go wrong and they realize that there has been some kind of pandemic out in the real world. Some parents make it fast enough to pick up their kids, but most kids are left at the camp with no news of what is happening in the cities.

Without giving too much away, I really liked the descriptions of how the campers worked together to survive being left at camp for so long. How they learned new skills and helped each other as they went through hard times. There were also some scary parts that made me shiver and think about what if something like this really happened?!?!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I can’t wait to recommend it to students at my school.

#annajaneandtheendlesssummer #paigeclassey #novelinverse #bookmarkyourlife #middlegradebooks taken in Pleasant Grove, Utah by @bookmarkyourlife

12

2

3 months ago

😴💤🛌 Sleepless by Gordon Korman, @gordankorman is his newest book for middle readers. I will read anything by this writer! I do not know how he completes so many engaging books, but someone he does it.

Sleepless is another hit- it may be my favorite book of his in recent years! The concept is so thought provoking and the characters are ones you connect with right away. I kept thinking about what I would do with my extra hours of if I didn’t sleep at night. Would I study and finally start my PhD? Or train like crazy to do well on my next half marathon? It was fun to read about what each kid decided to do with their extra time and how their lives end up connecting. Such a fun book!

#gordankorman #sleepless #sleepingproblems #middlegradebooks #bookmarkyourlife taken in Pleasant Grove, Utah by @bookmarkyourlife

7

0

3 months ago

🤖🦾🦿 The Second Life of Snap by Erin Entrada Kelly, @erinentrada, is her latest book for middle grade readers. You may know her best for being a 2x Newberry Award winning author for “Hello, Universe” and “The First State of Being”.

However, I now have a new favorite book-this one! I know it will be a hit with kids. They are going to love it so much! It is a little shorter of a chapter book and the personality of the robot is so great and funny without being too much. I was pulled in from the very beginning of this book and the dystopian world this rag tag group of kids live in.

And I know other people are loving it too because it has already received 6 started reviews from publishing houses. You need to read this gem of a book!

#thesecondlifeofsnap #erinentradakelly #middlegradebooks #bookmarkyourlife #robotsinbooks taken in Pleasant Grove, Utah by @bookmarkyourlife

6

1

3 months ago

🔥 Styx and Stones by Gary G. Schmidt and Ron Koertge is a fun mix of Ancient Greek Mythology and modern day kid issues. Gary D. Schmidt is one of my favorite authors for kids and this book had a lot of his signature writing style in it. One part I really enjoyed was when Simon ends up in Middle School in the modern world and explains a little too much about Greek Mythology. The teacher gets excited and his new friend Zeke tells him to stop talking or he will give it away that he is not from this time period. Overall, a fun read that I enjoyed a lot.

#styxandstones #garydschmidt #middlegradebooks #bookmarkyourlife #greekmythology taken in Pleasant Grove, Utah by @bookmarkyourlife

3

0

3 months ago