The American dream for Sean Combs has taken him from his Harlem childhood to fame and fortune as a rapper, fashion designer, record company executive, and multimillionaire philanthropist.

Born in 1969 to an aspiring model and a hustler dad, and he was 14 years old when he learned that his father had not died in a car accident, as his mother had told him, but from a gunshot to the head from a criminal rival.  Beginning with that news, this honest biography includes both the bad and the good throughout his life.

His phenomenal success, beginning with producing songs for other groups and then the release of I’ll Be Missing You, his own first album, is told, but so are his connections to gangs, and accusations from other artists who feel he has used their talents to fill his own ambitions.

Both fans and other readers will appreciate this honest look at Combs as an artist, a businessman, and a person who is willing to share his own success by helping others, and the art and culture surrounding rap and hip-hop artists and their music make for interesting reading.

This book is all about St. Patrick’s Day.  There are many fun art projects that can be done in the class room or at home with children.  It starts off with the history of St. Patrick’s Day.  with each craft there is a bit of history of the holiday that goes with the art.  These are easy crafts that are done mostly with paper.  The hat would be great for a child to wear on St. Patrick’s Day.

This is a great book with fun jokes for each holiday.  These are very funny jokes and tongue twisters and there are fun facts about holidays and other  random things.

David Lucas has been named one of the ten Best New Illustrators in the UK and his enormous talent is seen in his creation of  “The Lying Carpet.”  This book is somewhat of a fairy tale, but does not contain the traditional elements of what Americans consider a fairy tale.  It is  a picture book with an intriguing story, with shades of black and white illustrations helping to tell the story of Faith, a marble statue sitting in a library near a tiger skin on the floor.  Still for centuries, Faith begins to awaken, wondering where she is.  She still cannot move, but can talk, and questions the lying carpet.  He spins yarn after yarn about what is real and what is not, what is past and what the future could be.  Faith is hugely frustrated by not being able to move, but feels something important is about to happen.  Sure enough, the exact evening the master of the house passes, she is freed.  A beautifully told story with all sorts of twists and turns.

Most sisters will relate to the relationship between outrageous Emma, who looks approximately 3 years old, and her older and responsible sister whose perspective this collections of poems is from.  Darling illustrations, poems which are not too long or complicated, and the hilarious content ideas for each poem will entertain all of all ages.  It’s guaranteed to have some message for any pair of siblings!  Very entertaining with great illustrations, recommended.

This book by Madonna is a hit with my fourth and fifth grade female students.  The main characters are five girls who appear to be approximately 11 or 12 years old.  The setting is England and in this book, two travel to the United States.  The book is sophisticated in geographical sense and socially, but not offensive or inappropriate by any measure.  The five girls in this tight friendship circle are Amy, Binah, Grace, Nicole, and Charlotte.  What is sophisticated about them is how well they treat each other.  Their loyalty and consideration of each other is a model for girls struggling in their friendships.  Well written, students like it, and I like the subtle message of friendship and the international flavor.

Straight forward facts are presented under 9 headings: boa constrictors, sizes, colors, where they live, where they are found, senses, defense, food, and babies.

There are “many boa constrictor subspecies… They live in a wide variety of habitats.. rain forests… grasslands and semidesert areas… by plantations, agricultural land… found near rivers… They live from Mexico, through Central America, to South America.”  Their blotchy skin coloring helps camouflage them from their few enemies. Boas are not venomous, but do have a painful bite. The photo on page 19 shows a boa constrictor wrapped around the mid-body of a mammal (most likely a rat) with the mammal’s head being swallowed by the boa. The caption under the photo reads, ” Boa constrictors help control populations of rodents and other pests.”

Simple charming art work adorns this simple story of a little girl on Halloween. First carving a pumpkin with her father, then deciding on a costume to wear to her friend’s Halloween party, and finally the party itself with games, costumes, and neighborhood trick-or-treating.

This year the farm pumpkins have decided to have a carved pumpkin contest. They want to see if they can be scarier than the trick-or-treaters. This leads to the brainstorming for ideas.

Professional pumpkin carver- Hugh McMahon provided over 15 different carved pumpkins as the majority of the artwork for this story. Carved orange, white, green, and miniature pumpkins appear as the scaredy-cat, saber-toothed tiger, cobra, mastodon, brontosaurus, triceratops, T. rex, zombie mime, Frankenstein’s creature, Lock (sp) Ness Monster, spiders, skeleton, blood-thirsty bat heads, eyeballs, cannibals, and killer bees.

Along the way the radishes, leeks, parsnips and rutabagas want to join in the fun, but the pumpkins nix their idea. Oh Halloween night the pumpkins are met with giggles by the trick-or-treaters, who are finally scared when the vegetables make their appearance.

Finally, Hugh McMahon gives a pictorial tutorial in 11 steps on “How to Carve Your Own Scaredy-Cat Pumpkin” and instructions for roasting pumkin seeds.

Fun for all ages. Children will enjoy the story and the artwork. I can see adults wanting this book for a seasonal coffee table book.

Author Patricia Byers and illustrator Tamsin Ainslie have collaborated to bring young people 9 visual representations of singular, plural, and then the collective name for the noun group.

Examples: sheep, sheep, flock :   goose, geese, gaggle:   elephant, elephants, parade:   butterfly, butterflies, kaleidoscope

Children in cute playful costumes, with and without hand puppets, and stuffed animals stroll / prance around each page on an all-white background giving a visual definition to each set of related words.

Ainslie’s style is vaguely similar to Mary Englebreit.

This is a well written book about spying and double agents.  There is a lot of information for such a small book.  You learn what it takes to become a spy.  Why people become double agents.   What espionage is and you learn about some very famous spies.  It is hard to believe that someone would betray their own country to be a spy.  If a spy is caught their punishment is usually death.

If you like the reality shows such as Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Real Housewives, Run’s House, or others that show off the wealth of pop culture icons, then Spoiled is just up your alley.  Authors Heather Cocks (former producer for America’s Next Top Model) and Jessica Morgan (producer of Growing up Gotti), take their knowledge of the rich and powerful lifestyle of Hollywood and create a fun, slightly far-fetched, tongue-in-cheek story about two newly acquainted sisters and their longing for fulfillment amidst the expectations, glamour and trash in celebrity life.  Brooke has grown up all things couture and she knows how to play the game that her father, Brick Berlin (notice the alliteration) has taught her too well.  Enter Molly, love child of Brick some sixteen years ago.  Molly’s mother died of cancer and lifted from the fields of West Cairo, Indiana, Molly is plopped into the false world Brooke and Brick create.  Brooke’s dismay at her new competition for her father’s fleeting affection begins the drama of this soap opera of a story, but Molly soon learns how to play her hand as well as Brooke’s.  Trust, love, loyalty, and friendship are simple themes amidst the name dropping of fancy shoe labels, restaurants and other celebs.  The ending hints of a sequel and just like the cliffhangers of Bravo TV shows, I’m longing for more.

14-year old Mike, who is afflicted with dyscalculia, (a math disability) is being raised by a brilliant father who continually tries to cultivate Mike’s love for math and engineering.  While he goes off Romania for work, Mike’s father sends him off to rural Pennsylvania to live with distant relatives Moo and Poppy.  This small town, of quirky characters, (a great-uncle who never talks, a near-blind great aunt, a punk rocker, a homeless dude, and the “three stooges”) happens to need someone to “engineer” the project of raising $40,000 in three weeks.  Mike rises to the occasion, giving you the happily-ever-after story you seek.

The stick-figure book cover will draw the attention of your Wimpy Kid audience.  The humor and eccentric characters will appeal to those middle schoolers still reading elementary-level books.  Weaknesses of the book include the overwhelming number of characters who happen to be grieving the loss of a loved one and moodiness of the main character.  Plusses include the title (brilliant!) and the clever introduction of math terms at the beginning of each chapter.

I enjoyed this book with the rescue stories, but after the Thirtymile Fire story the others seemed not so exciting.  I liked the survival facts that were given.  They would be of great help if put in those situations.  Each story had good information for anyone to know, information that could save your life.

There is a list of words in the back, Words to Survive By.   There is a list of books that you might like to read and web sites that would have more information.  Also an index.

This is a very cute book about a bear, Lucy, who wants to keep a child as a pet.  Mother bear tells Lucy that children make terrible pets.  But Lucy is allowed to keep the pet, Squeaker.  Lucy and Squeaker are inseparable.   But Squeaker does not train well and ruined the furniture.   Then one day Squeaker disappears and Lucy is very sad. But Lucy saw Squeaker with his family and realized that Squeaker needs to be with his family.

This book has a fun ending that is not expected and the children love.  Great pictures and a fun idea to be a pet to a wild animal.

The South has its own fantastical, mythological history, from debutante balls to African-American folklore.  When the two mix, one great story can emerge.  Twists and turns ripple the story in Katie Crouch’s The Magnolia League.  Alexandria Lee is the nail on a chalkboard as she is whisked into Savannah, Georgia after her mother’s tragic and sudden death.  Raised in a hippie commune in California but now in the care of her affluent and aristocratic grandmother, Alex’s dreads, vintage t-shirts and pot smoking clash head on with everything her grandmother expects of her to become before her coming out opportunity at the Christmas ball.  Alex’s journey of the heart is like that of most teens; rebelling, asking for forgiveness, realizing one’s own worth, and learning to put others before self are all lessons she encounters.  Lust and true love are mixed with hoodoo magic as friendships are tested.  When Alex learns more of The Magnolia League’s past and her mother’s involvement in it, she has to decide what her path will be.  The mysticism of southern culture tied with teen honesty will draw readers into Alex’s story.  No doubt a sequel is coming.

A is for Arrr! is an ABC book telling all about pirates using photographs (they don’t look too scary and may even be from some movies they’ve seen), illustrations, and drawings.  The author was able to use every letter of the alphabet.  The back of the book includes some interesting tidbits plus the usual glossary and index.  This book will make a nice addition to the pirate section of the library.

This is the story of two 13-year-old girls, each on different ends of the spectrum.  Aphrodite, “Dytee,” is a genius and at the age of 13, has already graduated with a master’s degree from Harvard in math.  Mindy, also 13, is in remedial math in eighth grade, and must pass or else will be held back.  Dytee has a theory that everyone can be a math whiz if just given the correct instruction.  Mindy and her co-hort of classmates have been labeled as ‘boneheads’ and don’t think they can learn anything, although they’re desperate to try.  Dytee comes back to her hometown, her home school, and is the new math teacher for the ‘boneheads.’  A 13-year-old teaching other 13-year-olds.  As you can imagine, she has no control over them whatsoever.  She was never part of that group of kids who skipped classes and was so disrespectful to the teachers and who never did any homework.  Just the opposite, she was a ‘good girl,’ well behaved, never truant nor disrespectful.  She dressed like an old lady and acted like an old lady.  After many weeks of torture, for all of them, Dytee was able to strike a deal with the ‘boneheads.’  She knew they wanted to pass math so they could go to high school, and they were desperate.  She entered them in a math challenge bowl as a team.  If they could at least make a respectable showing, she would pass them, for she truly believed that they were competent but were living up to their reputations because it was easier that way to fit in with the cliques.  Each student presented a math project which was designed to exemplify what they wanted to do in life, showing how math was important.  They formed study groups and met each day after school.  Dytee tutored Mindy in math.  Mindy also tutored Dytee in how to be a 13-year-old and to act accordingly, especially in her dress styles.  Needless to say, everyone was an ugly duckling and became swans.  This book would make a great Disney movie.  Snappy dialogue, fast action, but no surprises, in fact, very predictable.  I think girls who are a little like Dytee or like Mindy will enjoy this book.

This book has a lot of play-on-words, which are great!  Some of them are a bit over the heads of children but are great for adults.  It might be fun to explain the meaning of the different play on words.

There seems to be quite the trend these days to capitalize on children’s fascinations with the gross and disgusting.  Many of the books I’ve read in this line have either failed to live up to being as icky as it proclaimed, or else hyped the ew without delivering any real information.  This one really was delivering honest-to-goodness scientific information, and it really was icky enough to make me squirm.  Illustrated with a combination of photos and cartoons.

Bernie Bridges attends Rotten House Boarding School, and he is definitely rotten. However, Bernie has decided to change his ways to impress April May June, the coolest, hottest girl in school that gave Bernie one week to be a better student than Sherman Oaks, a spoiled rich kid. Well, Bernie runs into trouble with Headmaster Upchuck, Jennifer Ecch, the girl who wants to take Bernie to the dance, and Mrs. Heine, a teacher. Unfortunately, Bernie’s’ efforts are in vain. Crazy, rotten things happen in this book! The illustrations are descriptive and show unique expression. Great for reluctant readers.

The problem with trying to write a book about the unexplained is that when you’re writing about something about not much is known, you don’t have much to say.  So what’s the point?

This book packs in a lot of information, and does so in a well-organized manner.  The font and the layout and the plenitude of color photos keep the information from becoming overwhelming for young scholars.  The words from the glossary are highlighted in bold, and “words to know” sections along the way provide the definitions without requiring students to turn to the back of the book.

A topic of high-interest to many, this book draws on a wide variety of sports to complete its alphabet.  Some of the words selected are specific to one sport or another; others are general terms that apply to many sports.  Each page is dominated by a large full-color photo supporting the brief text explaining the given word.  A good tool for early readers with an interest in sports, though not heavy on information.

There’s always time for one of these brief folk tales.  Each of the ten stories begins by telling the tradition from which it comes.  It is then re-told in an engaging yet compact manner.  Besides the time benefits of these short re-tellings, the spare nature in which they are told leave room for inference as to the morals of the stories, thereby providing a springboard for discussion about the stories.