As a result of my various committee appointments and commitments I am unable to disclose my personal thoughts on this title at this time. Please see my star rating for a general overview of how I felt about this title. Additionally, you may check my GoodReads for additional information on what thoughts I’m able to share publicly. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this and any other titles you are in charge of.

Give me a book set in a quirky community with wacky customs and oddball characters, and I'm here for it. I love seeing the interactions in a tight-knit village where everyone knows one another and just accepts the weirdness. In The Water Bears, Newt's family is the only Latinx family on Murphy Island, although they have a large extended family nearby on the mainland. This makes Newt stand out, which everyone knows, is the worst thing ever when you are entering middle school. Add to that, Newt is still dealing with trauma (in the form of recurring nightmares) from a bear attack that he suffered a year ago, Newt turns 13 at the beginning of the story, and instead of giving him a bike as he asked for, Newt's dad gives him an old taco truck that he can only drive around the island. All of this piled together causes Newt to want to leave the island, although his affection for it is more clear to the reader than it is to Newt himself. He wants to go to middle school on the mainland where more kids will look like him, he can be near his cousins and grandma, and everyone doesn't see him as the "bear attack kid." Some of the funniest moments in the story center around the taco truck and Newt's attempts to learn to drive it. Newt's best friend Ethan also provides plenty of humor as well as sympathy. Ethan just wants to help his friend return to his old self and is hurt that Newt wants to leave the island so badly. Izzy, the mysterious girl Newt meets at the beach, and Carlos, Newt's older brother, both serve as confidants to Newt as he struggles with himself, his parents, and where he fits. At the center of the story is a wooden bear that has washed up on the beach. Is it magic, like Ethan believes? What does Newt believe, and what will he do about that?
I love the Spanish words that are blended so effortlessly into the text. I liked Newt and definitely empathized with him, but I liked the secondary characters even more. Newt doesn't always appreciate his home and community, which is very realistic and relatable for kids this age. I laughed and cried, which is a big plus for me, and I thought the ending was appropriately satisfying. I would recommend this book for 4th grade and up, the sweet spot probably 6th grade.

All Newt Gomez wants for his thirteenth birthday is a bike. After surviving a bear attack last year, he thinks this isn't an unreasonable request. Instead, his hardworking parents give him a former taco truck to help him get around the wacky island where they live in the Pacific Northwest. And then Newt and his best friend Ethan find a life-sized wooden bear washed up on the shore. Ethan is convinced the bear grants wishes; Newt doesn't know what to think.

Actually, this book would make a wonderful summer read for middle grade school kids!. I thought the premise was pretty neat. The characters were well developed and I think it's terrific to feature a Hispanic boy as a central character. It's a solidly good story I think kids will enjoy and maybe learn from.

I love, love, love this book. Newt won my heart almost immediately. He is a young boy who has lived through a trauma and is trying to heal. He's also trying to protect his loved ones from the pain he is experiencing. He hides his scars from his mom and doesn't share everything with his best friend so that Ethan won't be even more anxious. With all of this protecting going on, Newt is having a hard time trying to heal on his own.

Besides his nightmares and trouble with recovery, he is also tired of the strangeness of their island community. He thinks everyone and everything is just so weird. It's true that gazebos made of old farm equipment and blue bottles are not exactly typical. It's also unique that they have their own lake creature sightings. And of course, most thirteen year olds are not expected to drive around in a used taco truck instead of using a bicycle.

The unique community is part of what I adored about this book. The people take what they have and find ways to use those things in new and creative ways. Newt wants to escape and get to the mainland where his abuela lives and where he believes everything is normal.

Recommendation:
This book is a delight. Newt does go through seriously difficult things, but he has a strong network of people who love and care for him even if they do it in slightly unusual ways. I also appreciated the way that readers get to learn some things that help one heal after trauma. Being with Newt and his family and friends felt like getting a nice big hug.

The struggle to fit in, to feel normal, is a pretty universal plot. Barker has given us a pretty quirky setting, free thinking and artistic. Take that sense of oddness and compound it with a protagonist who is not only an ethnic minority but has also experienced a trauma. So his desire for "normal" is pretty understandable. The magical elements are a bit more of a stretch and the ending was fairly unclear. Still, an enjoyable read.

In short: this book just didn't do it for me, and it wasn't because it's a middle-grade.

First, as an ownvoices reviewer, I want to talk about the latinx aspec of this book, and emphasize that I didn't have a problem with it at all. There was some instances where the Spanish felt weird and not grammatically correct, but I can easily believe it's because none of the characters live in a Spanish-speaking country, and most of them never have. Like, eating "fideo" means you're having one single spaghetti, and it sounds like something a small kid would say, but it's mentioned over and over that the MC's family is the only latina one that he knows of, so I understand that, in isolation, language tends to change.

Also, as an advanced psychology student, I have no complaints about the trauma and PTSD portrayed in this book. Though I would've liked it more if the flashback dreams weren't cured by magic and we got to see a therapist in action, but fiction tends to hate us for whatever reason lol

The plot and the magical realism elements, though... they didn't convince me. I like when there's no explanation as to how magic works in a story, but this was told in such a way that it was possible that magic didn't even exist at all, that it was just some annoying kid's idea, and the rest of the plot wasn't strong enough to stand of its own if this was the case.
The bear statue was interesting at the beginning, but then it spent the rest of the book sitting in the back of a taco truck and maybe doing something but we're not sure, so if you believe that it's doing nothing it turns into a boring plot point and that's it. The mission they go on at the end to retrieve it wasn't high stakes at all, and it didn't even feel like an adventure as much as the book wanted us to believe it was. Like, I'm not saying the 12 year olds should be in risk of getting murdered or something, but it's said that there's no way that their parents catch them, no other adult will snitch on them, the "bad" guy (really, I finished it and I still don't know what his problem is) doesn't want to hurt them, they can safely get to his house and back... it's like you're telling me they're going to Target.
And there was a Loch Ness monster situation going on, but every time it was mentioned the MC would start rambling about how annoying it was that people believe it exists, so I got annoyed to every time someone brought it up, and it didn't really add anything to the story? Maybe to the island's atmosphere, but I didn't really feel like it was well developed in the first place.

Oh and I can't commit to the suspension of disbelief this book asked of me when it told me "an adult, coherent man gives his 13 year old son an old and semi-broken taco truck that he can drive without a license as a birthday gift"

I think kids will love reading about Newt. Its not often that books are written about kids surviving animal attacks; I can't think of any in my current library so I can't wait for my students to read this. The Water Bears is about believing in magic and growing up, making our own paths.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Full disclosure, my students and I are huge fans of Kim Baker and her first novel, "Pickke: The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School." For this reason I had to jump at the chance to review her new book "The Water Bears." which will be published on April 21, 2020 by Wendy Lamb Books.

This book is full of humor which Baker seems to excel at. The main character is Mexican-American and it is part of his identity not something he is fighting to understand. A great coming-of-age middle grade novel about trying to run away from your problems and learning they just follow you.

Highly recommend!

The publisher generously provided me with a copy of the book upon request on NetGalley. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

This book is a sweet, if sometimes slow moving story, of a thirteen year old dealing with trauma, and growing up things.

Newt was attacked by a bear and the story opens with him wishing for a different place where he is not reminded constantly of the thing that happened to him. He wants to leave the island, wants a bike, wants a lot of different things that keep working not quite like he hopes.

I loved the way the story took these imperfect circumstances and tosses them around so they come out working beautifully. Newt learns different ways to create resilience in his situation, there is magic, but also not. And I really enjoyed the ways things moved together.

The weak point of this book maybe was that it does move slowly, but I didn't mind it terribly, myself. There were enough things happening and I felt like those slowly laid pieces early on did have payoff in the end and it worked for me.

Thank you to the publisher for letting me get a copy of this book on NetGalley.

The premise was interesting and it sounded really good but for some reason it fell flat for me. It was humorous at times and definitely heartfelt but I just couldn't get into it. Perhaps it's because I couldn't find one thing with which to relate to the character. Despite this, I think middle graders will enjoy this book. It was also well-written.

The Water Bears by Kim Baker is a story of survival and finding oneself.

In this book, you will meet Newt. Newt life is a miracle after he happened to survive a bear attack. But now, Newt is at a crossroads. He isn't sure what he is supposed to do next, and he is not sure how someone moves on after such a traumatic experience.

The Water Bears is a story about overcoming challenges and figuring our who you are. Throughout the story, Newt struggles to fit in, acknowledge his Latin culture, and move on after being attacked by a bear. The story had many heartfelt moments, and it ended with a great outcome for Newt.

My one complaint about The Water Bears is that it did seem to drag at certain points. I would have loved more emotion for the bear attack.

The Water Bears by Kim Baker is a heartfelt story about a boy who lives with the consequence of being attacked by a bear. After a slow start to the story, the tale is packed with adventure as he learns to drive his own taco truck, brave dangerous weather to save a friend, and seek to solve several mysteries on the small island where he lives. The setting is unique and provides a window to an island culture. His family and friends are woven into the story in a unique way. Science about tiny water bears, Latin culture, and friendship all play a strong role in this story of overcoming a traumatic event.

The Water Bears is a phenomenal story that immerses the reader in its magical setting. It explores universal themes often addressed in middle grade- friendship, belonging, growing up- in new and fresh ways that will engage readers. Highly recommended.

Three-star reviews are sometimes the trickiest to write, but for me, WATER BEARS was a quintessential example of what a 3-star book looks like. The writing was lovely, the characters were endearing, the setting was magical, and yet ... the pace was painfully, painfully slow.

You know how the blurb mentions the truck & bear getting stolen? That happens at the 71% mark. It's preceded by what feels like a case study of Murphy Island and its inhabitants, with very little change of plot or stakes to speak of. We see Newt worrying about which school to attend, peppered with trauma from his attack, but that's kinda it. As much as I loved meeting Murphy's inhabitants and getting to know Newt's family, I kept waiting for SOMETHING to happen and shift the gears. And to be honest, even when the storm hits and the truck IS stolen, there is very little sense of increased urgency. The pace is uneven, chopping in and out of subplots, and I didn't fully buy into Newt's character growth. For me, slower books are fine when there's an emotional arc to follow instead, but that arc felt similarly stagnant. I'm uncertain that MG readers would have the patience to stick through until the end, especially with no real payoff.

This being said, it's a masterclass in setting. Who wouldn't want to read about an island with magicians, nocturnal squirrels, and a potential lake monster? It's quirky & fun, and I loved all the description (especially the Mexican food!) There were some beautiful scenes and conversations - crab-haired Izzy discussing the likelihood of mists caused by microscopic birds, Newt's mom paddleboating onto a midnight lake with goats for company, and of course, the water bears. I would've happily lived on that island forever, and it made me all the more disappointed that Baker didn't string together a tighter plot.

So would I recommend? Thanks to the setting, yes, with a warning about the slow pace. I think it's going to be the type of book that appeals to certain readers far more than others. But if you love your islands strange and your magic with a big question mark beside it, you might just fall in love with WATER BEARS. 3/5.

Newt lives in a small community of a island, and not only is he the only Mexican-American boy in his class, but the only boy who has been attacked by a bear. Newt wants to be known for something other than a bear attack, and so wants to leave the island to find a new community to belong to.

And then he finds a magic wooden bear.

Or at least all his friends think it is magic.

This is the most common story of wanting to belong, with a good, well done voice of a young man feeling out of place. It was slow to start, but once it got going, it was interesting to see where it was going to go.

There are some lovely lines in there, when Newt is trying to explain his world, to a newcomer.

<blockquote>"They freak out the squirrels that live int he attic pretty bad."
"You have squirrels in your attic?"
"Yeah, they're nocturnal. Only on Murphy Island. Nobody knows why."</blockquote>

Although the publisher says if you like "Unusual Chickens" you will like this book, I'm not so sure. The magic in this book is more subtle, and we aren't quite sure if it is real or not. In "Unusual Chickens," we have fire breathing hens, so we darn well know the magic is real.

Recommended for the second half of the book, once you get past the first part.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.

I requested this book because I knew the author was a Las Musas author, and I would like to read more stories by Latinx authors this year. I'm also drawn to stories where "quirky" is used to describe it, and that's an excellent word for THE WATER BEARS by Kim Baker.

Newt and his family live on a small island in the Pacific Northwest. He's recovering from a traumatic bear attack that leaves him with nightmares and draws looks of sympathy from the townspeople. He wants to move to the mainland to go to school and live with abuela, but his parents and best friend, Ethan, don't want him to leave Murphy. Things start to get interesting when Newt gets a former taco truck for his birthday, finds a magical bear he names Huxley, and meets a new visitor to the island. Newt needs to decide he's ready to leave the island, and everything that goes along with it, behind me.

There are a lot of humorous moments in this story, but what I enjoyed most was watching Newt start to find pleasure in his life again after such a traumatic event. As his desire to leave the island becomes stronger, so does his connection and ties to it, and I love to watch that sense of peace start to re-emerge in him. I also loved that his Latinx family is an important part of the story, and yet it's not an "issues" book but simply a part of who he is. I was so drawn in by uniqueness of Murphy that I wish that it was an actual place that I could visit and explore; the author really made it come to life for me.

The release date is April 21st, and I would definitely recommend adding it to your TBR list.

A strange, sometimes mystical coming of age book. The plot moves along quickly, although there are certain moments where you have to stop and wonder what on earth Newt's parents are thinking. The author did a good job of depicting a quirky island culture that could be simultaneously appealing to some and utterly unappealing to others, which made Newt's feelings about wanting to leave as believable as those of his friends which wish to stay.