If you were born in the sea, and lived your whole life by the sea, surrounded only by those quirky characters who are somewhat broken and can only exist by the sea, then it seems that your whole belief system, what you know to be true,  is based on the fractured lives of those around you.  So it is for a 10-year-old girl, born in the sea by a laughing, footloose and fancy free young woman, named Meggie Marie.  Meggie Marie is irresponsible and irrepressible, and when her daughter is three, she swims off, literally, yelling to her housemate, “Keep her!”  Signe, the housemate, is a mere 18 years old and suddenly becomes mother to the girl, now known as ‘Keeper.’  Signe came to live with Meggie Marie as a 15-year-old runaway, who needed freedom from her family.  She was there at Keeper’s birth.  Trying her best to do right by Keeper, Signe perpetuates the myth that Keeper is a ‘merchild,’ born in the sea, and her mother, a mermaid.  Keeper listens and learns all about sea lore from neighbors and friends, and believes she herself has a special connection to the sea.  On a day when everything in the world seems to go wrong, Keeper sets out, with her dog, in a small boat to go to the sandbar where she believes her mermaid mother waits for her.  Things continue to go wrong; the tide, the waves, the darkness, the time, until Keeper experiences memories and fears when she realizes her mother wasn’t a mermaid, she has no special connection with the sea, and that her mother abandoned her.  She realizes it is really Signe who is her real family.  Exhausted and unable to stay awake any longer, Keeper succumbs to sleep.  While dozing, a merman (with a connection to one of those quirky neighbors) pushes her small boat to safety and rescues her dog.  Appelt does a good job with character development, and although the story moved at a decent pace, it took pages and pages for it to do so.  It is 399 pages, however, half of those are pretty much white space.  A poignant story of how we should not fabricate stories of lost loved ones.  The truth, no matter how painful, is necessary in order to survive.

This 1989 picture book story tells of mother, father, and young daughter traveling to a small farm in autumn to pick a bushel basket of apples from the orchard and a pumpkin from the vine for Halloween. As the story ends, mother is giving the apples* away to trick-or-treaters, while on the following page the daughter is given a candy bar for her trick-or-treating fun.

Simple illustrations with just enough detail to please the eye of young and old alike.

* I enjoy fresh apples, but does anyone give them out for Halloween anymore?

The first 16 pages of this small book (7.5″ x 6.5″) for small hands with small vocabularies has a 5.5″ x 5.5″ color photo in combination with one sentence. (Example sentences: “Leaves grow on stems” from p. 6, “Some plants have small leaves.” from page 12, “Pine trees have leaves like sharp needles.” from page 14)

Includes 6 photos entitled, “All Kinds of Leaves” on pages 18-19: Leaves with one blade, Leaves with more than one blade, Leaves that change colors, Leaves that stay green, Big leaves, & Small leaves.

pages 20-21 randomly lists 8 “Facts about Leaves”.

This is one of six biographies from the Thinking Girl’s Treasury of Real Princesses, each focusing on a powerful princess from history.  The others in the series include:  Hatshepsut of Egypt, Isabella of Castile, Nur Jahan of India, Qutlugh Terkan Khatun of Kirman, and Sorghanghtani of Mongolia.  This series appeals to our student population due to the engaging writing style, interesting topics, and engaging visuals.  The maps, illustrations, and pictures are excellent and the page layouts add to the flow of the text.  In this volume, the author focuses on the time period of the Persian Wars in Greece when Artemisia proved a wise regent queen and admiral in a time when women were generally powerless second class citizens.  Although the author makes a point that there is no information available about Artemisia’s early years, there is no mention of the later years of her life.  It seems likely that after playing such an important role in the Persian empire, there would be some record of the rest of her life.  I would have liked to read more about her.

This is non-fiction book about the Aztec Empire from Scholastic’s “True Book” series.  The author provides a general background about the Aztec culture, rise to and fall from power, language, diet and way of life.  The pictures and illustrations in the book are interesting, colorful, clear and enrich the text.  The writing was easy to understand and should appeal to an audience of 3rd to 6th graders.  I would have liked a bit more detail about this rich culture, but it is enough to be interesting.

This fictional chapter book was written by one of the great child authors of her time, but who didn’t live to see the completion of her work.  Eva Ibbotson died at 85 while working on her last book, One Dog and His Boy.  Her writing is easy to follow and pulls the reader along through the chapter book with ease.

The main character Hal, wants a dog more than anything.  Finally, his parent relent.  Or at least appear to.  He’s allowed to select a dog from “Easy Pets” for his birthday, but unwittingly selects one named Fleck that will need to be returned to the pet rental agency after the weekend.  When Hall comes home Monday after school and finds his dog missing, he sets out on an adventure with his friend to retrieve his beloved pet.

As is typical with the newer nonfiction books, this is a 24 page book with pictures and text geared for elementary level students. The text is fourth grade level vocabulary, but with approximately three paragraphs per page.    Includes captions with photos, index, glossary and suggested websites.

This nonfiction book is best suited for primary elementary grades with every other page a full photo of an unusual weather phenomenon.  As is typical of most nonfiction books, the reading level is aimed at fourth grade with vocabulary, but even younger with amount of short text per page–approximately one paragraph.  This is a high interest book that is only 24 pages total, including the index.

Yes, I gave this book a R** rating; one star just wasn’t good enough.  This is Sue Cowing’s first novel and it is absolutely brilliant!  I can’t say enough good things about it.  Parker is an 11-year-old boy who lives with his mom.  He tries to get along and do what he is supposed to do, but the thing is, he really doesn’t know what he wants; he’s easily influenced by others.  Parker and his best friend, Wren, are bicycling through a junkyard when Parker finds an ugly hand puppet and, on a lark, puts it on.  Funny thing is, he can’t get it off.  No matter how hard he pulls, the puppet squeezes painfully tight and won’t come off.  Then the puppet begins to talk to him.  His name is Drog and he has lived many lifetimes all over the world.  He loves to reminisce about previous times and is quite an attention getter and lover.  That’s when Parker’s trouble really starts.  At school, Drog comments and talks back and makes questionable remarks.  Parker is sent to the principal’s office, who, along with Parker’s mom, decides he needs to see a therapist.  The therapist is okay, however, it’s when Parker meets Sensei that he finds someone to help him.  Sensei invites Parker to join his Aikido class and that is where Parker learns how to understand what he wants.  He learns how to talk to others and understand how they feel.  He has made a real breakthrough and, apparently, what has been troubling him is his relationship with his father.  His father moved to another city for a job, divorced, and now has a new wife and daughter.  Parker didn’t know how he fit into his dad’s life anymore, but Drog and Sensei together, gave Parker the courage to make the first step towards building a relationship.  Even at the end of the book, I didn’t know if Drog was really magical or if it was Parker using him as an alter ego, which is what everyone else thought.  No matter because it was a terrific story.  My only complaint is that the book jacket art is ugly and almost stopped me from reading this book.

This is a cute rhyming book.  The cat is tired of the noisy farm so he changes the voices of the animals.  The next morning the rooster says, “squeak, squeak,” the pigs say,” cluck, cluck,” the hens say,”oink, oink.

The farm animals decided they needed to do something so cat would change them back.   They chased cat up a tree and made so much noise that cat said,”you win.”  “With a flick of his tail, the spells were undone.” But every morning the cat wakes up saying, “cock-a-doodle-doodle-doo.”

The illustrations are wonderful, bright and colorful.

This beautiful and interesting non-fiction book is about the adventures of two men (the Author and Photographer) who spent seven days in an small underwater laboratory to study the sea creatures at Conch Reef.  The small capsule these men worked from was described, how they trained before beginning, what they experienced while working underwater, and what they learned.  The text is clearly written and the photographs are engaging and related to the text.  Students will enjoy reading about this adventure and will learn more about what it is like to work as an undersea scientist, diver, or photographer.

This is a cute book about a boy who buys a rhinoceros.  But the rhinoceros doesn’t do any thing so the boy calls an expert.  The expert tells him that the rhinoceros can do two things, pop balloons and poke holes in kites.  “How pathetic.”

But when the boy takes his rhinoceros to the park he doesn’t pop the balloons or poke holes in the kites, until they see two robbers flying away.  One in a balloon and one in a kite.  The boy points to the balloon and says,”Pop!” and the rhinoceros pops the balloon and the robber falls to the ground.  Then the boy points to the kite and says,”poke a hole,”  and the robber in the kite falls to the ground.

I turns out that the rhinoceros can fly too!

The illustrations are wonderful.

This is a great book about quilts.  It has information about the history of quilts.  Quilts have been a social part of the art of quilting, with the quilting bee as a way to help each other with their project and a way to talk with their friends.

Quilts have been essential to the survival of many people through the ages. Quilting is an art form and is very much alive today.

In this realistic sports novel, the semi-final March Madness basketball game is detailed while the stories of the players are told as well.  The game between the Michigan State Spartans and the Trojans of Troy University is the epitome of college basketball with it’s exhilarating and fast-paced action.  Meanwhile, the backgrounds to all the important players are told, including the author’s portrayal of an ancient battle between real Spartans and Trojans.

This exciting novel leaves the reader cheering for more.  I particularly liked the format: a few minutes of the game followed by a story from a player’s past, an interview from a few days before, or a sports commentary from a cable news network.  This book will have the reader constantly switching which side they will root for in this epic game for the championship.

— Michael S.

This book is about a young girl, Trisha, who moves to a new school and finds that she is in a class called “the junkyard.”  She didn’t want to be in a special class anymore but her teacher Mrs. Peterson is a wonderful person.

Trisha learns that she and the other misfit students have great abilities.  When they go to the junkyard and find what ever they think can be made into something new.

Working together with the other students “the junkyard,” students build an amazing project for the science fair.

This is a great book that shows what real genius is.  And shows that there is potential in everyone.

These True books are a real deal for a school library, only $6.95 for a hard cover volume.  The text is engaging and clearly written and the pictures are good quality, relevant, and interesting.  This book is about the Pueblo people.  From the earliest known communities to the present, the history, traditions, and Pueblo ways of life are explained.  There is an Accelerated Reader test for this title (level 5.7, .5 points).

This is one in a series of six books about food.  The other titles include:  Food as Fuel:  Nutrition for Athletes; Food Buzz:  Nutrition in the News; Food Culture:  Celebrating Diverse Traditions; Food Options:  Following Special Diets; and Food Safety:  Avoiding Hidden Dangers.  This book is written by a Registered Dietitian (RD) and is current on USDA’s dietary recommendations.  The MyPlate recommendations are clearly explained as are other government resources such as Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign.  The author explains calories and energy, nutrients, food labels, serving sizes, how exercise factors in, and the value of healthy living.  All of this information is clearly written, easy to understand, and is given in context of being a child or adolescent.  There are relevant tables, diagrams and illustrations.  The photography is clear, relevant, excellent quality, and engaging.  Overall, students will learn a great deal from this book about eating for a healthy body.  There is an Accelerated Reader test (level 4.9, .5 points).  I highly recommend this book.

This is one in a series of six books about adrenaline adventures.  The other books in the series include:  Mountain, Rock, and Ice Climbing; Auto Racing; Dogsled Racing; White-water Rafting, Canoeing, and Kayaking; and Surfing.  This book is library bound and is of very high quality construction.  The photographs are full-page, sharp and clear, bright, exciting, and relevant.  Definitely engaging the reader to the text, these photographs are mostly taken by an aerial skydiving photographer.  This book explains the types of skydiving, necessary training, various classifications of experience, required equipment and resources, expenses and risks, not to mention the thrill of the ride.  There is an Accelerated Reader test for this title (level 4.8, .5 points).

The Handy Psychology Answer Book may be the the most approachable, fun to read text book one will ever find. While divided into sections by topic, it’s hard to not just read cover to cover because the guide book is so interesting.

Dr. Cohen, a licensed clinical psychologist and associate professor of clinical psychology has written more than 70 articles in professional journals and 14 book chapters, and in writing this guidebook, she has excelled in explaining human behavior.

There are many photographs that help increase interest. A fun example is in the section on Pavlovian conditioning where she features a photo of a bull dog puppy keenly focused on a bowl of food.

Famous (or infamous) individuals / organizations are used as examples of various elements of psychology, including Patty Hearst (victim of torture, kidnapping), and O.J. Simpson (perpetrator of domestic violence) for Psychology of Trauma; Ted Bundy (mass murder) and the Enron executives (fraud) for Psychopathy;  Bernard Madoff (Ponzi scheme) for rationalizing immoral behavior; and Kelly Micahels (child molestation) for Forensic Psychology.

Dr. Cohen uses folk psychology (‘When the cat’s away, the mice will play’, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained’), as well as the classic suspense film Psycho,  to explain the basics of psychology.

Cohen discusses current trends in mental illness such as the increase in the number of cases of autism and Asperger’s syndrome.

In addition to providing answers to more than 800 questions pertaining to psychology, Cohen’s answer book also includes a glossary, index, and comprehensive bibliography.

This book consists of 26 stories of heroines whose volunteerism and humanitarianism had critical effects on the war against the Nazis during WWII. The stories of espionage, sabotage, resistance and rescue are set in Germany, Poland, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Great Britain, and the United States.

While most war histories focus on men, Women Heroes of World War II focuses on heroic women, some who were still teenagers. The stories are intriguing, exciting, harrowing, and inspiring.

The book contains photographs, a glossary, notes, a bibliography and an index, and will make an excellent addition to a library’s WW II collection.

Israel, from the Enchantment of the World series, is a comprehensive look at the state of Israel today through 2012.  Color photos throughout enhance this typical country report book.  With about a 70% text to 30% picture rate over a two page spread, the author, Nel Yomtov, is still able to give a very balanced look at an unbalanced region.  Yomtov carefully gives equal time to each of the three religious groups, their historical connection to the land and their political influence today.  Because of it’s rich and turbulent past, when one begins to read about the economy and culture that make up the cities and rural life, it’s not surprising that tourism is its leading industry.  To go there is to see Israel at its core, with its industrial as well as farming side of life, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Druze and other faiths comingled in this country the size of New Jersey.  It is a worthy addition to any school or public library.

Although the story in Spin the Bottle centered around the Monroe Middle School Drama Club, there was little drama in the book.   This is refreshing to me.  The narrator, Phoebe, has been looking forward to middle school and joining the drama club.  She did not plan to have her first crush though, and thankfully, this did not develop into a boy crazy plot.  The story line of friendship was center stage in this book.  The setting of backstage and play rehearsal will appeal to anyone who has performed in a play or has aspirations of being a star.  (By Jamie Kenny)

In the “rags to riches” biography, we read about Tyler Perry who raised himself up from an abusive childhood to a playwright/actor/ movie producer who helps others cope with life struggles.  So strongly did his faith nudge him to help others who were abused, that Tyler Perry wrote his first play, I Know I’ve Been Changed, in 1992 as a gospel musical, urging others to use the power of God to help overcome problems in their daily lives.  Perry poured all his money into the play, and when it failed, he was left homeless.  Perry believed so deeply in his work, he gave the play one last chance with a heart-to-heart conversation with God.  The play sold out that night, which was the beginning of turning his life around.  More plays, mostly about the struggles that plague African-Americans, followed with more success, and then eventually movies.  Tyler Perry is now a millionaire, but claims he doesn’t continue his work for the money — he does it to help spread the message that you can take your problems to God.  Whether you’re a fan of his Madea movies or not, this biography is sure to inspire.

Each book in this series of six focuses on the life of a legendary and powerful female leader from history.  This Dastardly Dames biography about Cleopatra is full of engaging and fascinating pictures, illustrations and text.  The full color picture book format is very readable with text boxes inset throughout featuring side notes that compliment the text.  The text itself is clearly written and easy to follow, yet includes enough rich detail to keep the biography thorough and interesting.  Related history from the Roman Empire and it’s leaders at the time, is woven in to include the political setting and Cleopatra’s primary relationships.  I highly recommend this series and find that students at my school request these books specifically.

This biography about Catherine De’Medici is one of six in the Dastardly Dames series which also includes:  Cleopatra, Agrippina, Mary Tudor, Marie Antoinette and Cixi.  These biographies are in picture book format with engaging illustrations and photographs including paintings and artifacts of the period.  The text is full of interesting facts as well as rumors of royal intrigue which surrounded Catherine throughout her lifetime.  The pictures are well annotated to give additional information and further engage the reader.  These biographies hold the interest of my students at school and have them back asking me for the rest of the books in the series.  I highly recommend the entire series.