including a bald eagle, a western meadowlark, a black-footed albatross, a turkey vulture and an American robin. They venture from Alaska to Hawaii, over the Pacific to the Rocky Mountains, crossing the Great Plains, into the south, up through the midwest and, finally, touch down in Washington, D.C. When they return back to their clubhouse, they reminisce about the excitement of their first birding trip. They’re hooked! “Let’s wing it,” says Eggbert, the Super Birder, “and follow in the famous footsteps of Roger Tory Peterson.” Eggbert, Bing, Lulu, Uno and Sammi set out to do exactly that in The Blues Go Birding at Wild America Shores. Their itinerary includes Newfoundland, Chesapeake Bay, the Everglades, Dry Tortugas Islands, Isla Coronado Mexico and the Pribilof Islands in Alaska. Eggbert, especially, is on the lookout for an elusive loon. After successfully returning from wild America, it’s no wonder that The Blues team decides to expand their horizons and tackle a birding trip around the world. The third book in the series, The Blues Go Extreme Birding, finds them scaling a skyscraper in New York City, summiting Mt. Everest, snorkeling in Antarctica, whitewater kayaking in South America and more before returning home to their clubhouse. On this quest, they seek record-setting birds, including the peregrine falcon, the bar-headed goose, the emperor penguin, the superb lyrebird and the sungem hummingbird. The series has received endorsements from the American Birding Association, Bird Watcher’s Digest and Cornell Lab. Each book received the Mom’s Choice Award Honoring Excellence and Birding Across America was a Colorado Book Awards Finalist. + All The Blues books are available in portable paperback editions from your bookseller of choice or at alparts.com.
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The River Between Hearts
by Heather Mateus Sappenfield Review by Lexi Reich
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s a lifelong resident of the Rocky Mountains, Heather Mateus Sappenfield loves adventure, but she says her toughest trials arise in the writing of stories. A runner up for the Kraken Book Prize, her newest novel, The River Between Hearts, explores grief, loss, compassion and friendship. The characters in this book are the type that stick with readers for a long time. The heartfelt story takes place at the start of summer break when third-grader Rill Kruse’s dad goes missing in the Colorado River. The journey leads to her befriending a Mexican immigrant named Perla; the two young girls — despite being from different countries and different cultures — explore their similar experience of loss and grief together. In the end, what Rill discovers nudges her and those she loves towards healing. Targeted to middle-grade readers, The River Between Hearts — the author’s fourth book — was released in 2022. heathermateussappenfield.com
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