Beneath by Roland Smith

I've talked about Roland Smith before. He is an excellent author for middle grade and young adult students. I just finished Beneath, book one of the Beneath Series. Published in 2015, Beneath tells the story of Pat O'Toole, a boy who has idolized his older brother Coop. Coop digs a tunnel that collapses, and after a fight with his parents, he leaves home. A year later, Pat gets a package from Coop with a recorder and a message that is cryptic. 

Pat find a way to go to NYC on his own to find his big brother. This story will force Pat to confront his fears in order to save his brother from beneath the streets of NYC. Apparently there is a whole city down there.

Smith is a writer I trust for kids. The chapters in the book are short, the text is well spaced, and there is plenty of white space on the page. This fast paced story is a good Hi/Lo book with the Lexile HL610. 

I liked the character development in this story. I found the characters believable and capable of change.

Book two is titled Above , but I have not yet read it. 

We've had two donations to our NICU book project this week.

Some nice person dropped these cute little board books off at my mom's work recently. They are just the right size for small hands. Thank you, whomever you are. We appreciate your generosity. 

My sweet mother donated 100 two gallon zip bags for us to make packets. These bags keep the books safe during transport and while parents are at baby's bedside during their often lengthy hospital stays. Thank you, Momma.

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Another way to help our project is to purchase books from this Usborne link as we are currently using the hostess benefits to help buy books for the babies. You buy books that are delivered to your house for your children or grandchildren - or as baby shower gifts, and the hostess rewards help us get books for our NICU babies - a win win for all. 

Read to a child today even if that child is you.