FTC Disclosure: *This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. Opinions shared are mine.

It’s time for you to shine bright in chic new arrivals from Stella & Dot! I’m in love with rose gold everything, and this collection has so many lovely items to consider. Take a look at some of my favorites!

Shop the Ultimate Edit Collection on Stella & Dot Today!

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. Opinions shared are mine.

Many Halloween moons ago, my daughter went trick-or-treating dressed up as a capital letter A. I worked for hours on that costume…and she wore it for about 10 minutes. It was worth every hot-glued-finger moment for this sweet memory.

The Upper Case: Trouble in Capital City has a fun vibe kids will love! The word play and punctuation fun becomes a game. Older children will love the advanced-level words such as “ampersand” and “asterisk.” Encourage young readers to look closely at the illustrations, where they’ll find even more charming details. This sweet book would be at home in a classroom just as much as your home library’s bookshelf.

About the Book:

Title: THE UPPERCASE

Author: Tara Lazar & Ross Macdonald (Illustrator)

Pub. Date: October 15, 2019

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Pages: 32

Just when Private I thinks all is calm-now that he’s cracked the case of 7 Ate 9-Question Mark storms into the office.

Mark is worried. All the uppercase letters are M-I-S-S-I-N-G! But that’s absurd. This is CAPITAL City!

Private I is the last letter standing. Will he solve his BIGGEST mystery yet, the UPPER CASE, before it’s too late?!

Filled with the same humor, wit, and quirkiness of the hit 7 Ate 9: The Untold Story, comes another laugh-out-loud whodunit.

About Tara:

Street magic performer. Hog-calling champion. Award-winning ice sculptor. These are all things Tara Lazar has never been.

Instead, she writes quirky, humorous picture books where anything is possible.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher. Opinions shared are mine.

It’s so important for kids to know that Greek mythology isn’t the only mythology that exists. I recently double-shared Latin America mythology series with you. Now it’s Africa’s turn! Tristan Strong Punches the Sky is going to take middle school readers by storm!

Disclosure: I received discounted product. Post contains affiliate links; I may earn commission if you make a purchase. Opinions shared are mine.

Chargers are at an all-time premium in the Savings in Seconds house these days. We each have multiple devices that must be charged on a regular basis. I try to keep a couple of charging cords in the car, but they keep disappearing into the kids’ hands! My husband, who never buys himself anything, has one single charging cord for his Samsung Galaxy smartphone. I was grateful to find this charging cord pack which I’ll gift to him on his upcoming birthday.

Disclosure: I received discounted product. Post contains affiliate links; I may earn commission if you make a purchase. Opinions shared are mine.

A few weeks ago during a cleaning spree, we unearthed one of my daughter’s sketchbooks from her early years. It was full of mermaids as only a 7 year old could imagine! It was a treasure, and I hope my daughter continues to save her sketches. She’s currently participating in an Inktober art challenge. Someday those sketchbooks will evoke wonderful memories for her. To encourage her to enjoy her art even more, I gave her this #iMustech watercolor pen set.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book from the publisher. Opinions shared are mine.

If there’s anything middle school kids love more than sarcasm, it’s witty almost-humor. My students pretend to groan at my corny puns, but secretly they love it. I mean, you remember middle school, right? It’s that point in life when everything seems like a cosmic joke. Elizabeth Webster has this attitude down pat!

There’s something to be said for a book that has positive messages while still being kid-appealing. Elizabeth’s friends are funny and smart, and her little brother Peter is as charming as can be. I love the strong theme topics of friendship and family that resonate through the story. There are a lot of funny one-liners, too, that might stir up some eye rolling from the teens in your life. Some grown-up issues are mentioned, but mostly seen through Elizabeth’s point of view…so not too descriptive.

I liked this book so much that I plan to listen to the audiobook with my own personal kids. Complete with haunted house and muttering ghost, it’s the perfect book to listen to during the Halloween season.

About the Book

Title: ELIZABETH WEBSTER AND THE COURT OF UNCOMMON PLEAS

Author: William Lashner

Pub. Date: October 15, 2019

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Pages: 320

Welcome to Elizabeth Webster’s world, where the common laws of middle school torment her days . . . and the uncommon laws of an even weirder realm govern her nights.

Elizabeth Webster is happy to stay under the radar (and under her bangs) until middle school is dead and gone. But when star swimmer Henry Harrison asks Elizabeth to tutor him in math, it’s not linear equations Henry really needs help with-it’s a flower-scented, poodle-skirt-wearing, head-tossing ghost who’s calling out Elizabeth’s name.

But why Elizabeth? Could it have something to do with her missing lawyer father? Maybe. Probably. If only she could find him. In her search, Elizabeth discovers more than she is looking for: a grandfather she never knew, a startling legacy, and the secret family law firm, Webster & Son, Attorneys for the Damned.


Elizabeth and her friends soon land in court, where demons and ghosts take the witness stand and a red-eyed judge with a ratty white wig hands out sentences like sandwiches. Will Elizabeth’s father arrive in time to save Henry Harrison-and is Henry the one who really needs saving?


Set in the historic streets of Philadelphia, this riveting middle-grade mystery from New York Times best-selling author William Lashner will have readers banging their gavels and calling for more from the incomparable Elizabeth Webster.

About William:

William Lashner is the New York Times Bestselling creator of Victor Carl, who has been called by Booklist one of the mystery novel’s “most compelling, most morally ambiguous characters.” The Victor Carl novels, which have been translated into more than a dozen foreign languages and have been sold all across the globe, include BAGMEN, KILLER’S KISS, FALLS THE SHADOW, FATAL FLAW, and HOSTILE WITNESS. He is also the author of GUARANTEED HEROES, THE BARKEEP, which was an Edgar Award nominee and a Digital Book World Number One Bestseller, THE ACCOUNTING, and BLOOD AND BONE.

Writing under the pseudonym of Tyler Knox, Lashner is also the author of KOCKROACH, described as “roaringly entertaining,” by Publisher’s Weekly, and “an energetic tour de force,” by USA Today. As Tyler Knox he has written a number of book reviews for the Washington Post Book World.

Lashner was a criminal prosecutor with the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. before quitting the law to write fulltime. A graduate of the New York University School of Law, as well as the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he lives with his wife and three children outside Philadelphia.

William Lashner Photo © Sigrid Estrada

Disclosure: I received free product samples. Opinions shared are mine.

For years I’ve ordered coats online so I could easily pick out my kids on the playground (thanks to Mini Boden for their bright prints). Similarly, my kids like to have distinctive backpacks and lunchboxes. This donut lunch bag from BigMouth Inc. fits the bill!