Shamu…. is a graphic novel about the life of an orca whale, it habits and behavior, and finally, about the captured orca trained and starring at Seaworld in San Diego.  The original Shamu died in 1971 after six years in captivity.  Seaworld keeps Shamu’s legend alive by calling their performing orcas Shamu and Namu.  Interesting, but not new information and the graphics detract from the story.

Kids love to read non-fiction about cats and dogs.  This book does a fine job of helping to choose a cat and pet owner responsibility.  Matching an owner with a pet is important.  Information is pertinent and photos are clear and attractive.

The Hindenburg Disaster recounts the historical disaster of the airship bursting into flame and killing 31 people on board.  The book tells about how the ship was built, how it was flown, materials used in building, how to actually travel, and length of trips.  The story is 75 years old and there isn’t any new information; same old photos.  History of how air travel evolved is interesting, but I’m not sure why they would be publishing new books about an old topic.  These air ships were short-lived and dangerous.  Most students won’t find this interesting, only those who thrive on disasters, which are few and far between.

The Hardy Boys are back, but not as full of brotherly love as in the original series.  In Break-Up the boys are undercover on a TV reality show, something like a combination of Fear Factor, Amazing Race, and Survivor.  The show features sibling couples who compete with other couples in very dangerous activities.  The show ‘takes pride in sending contestants to the hospital.’  Yikes!  On top of already being dangerous, it seems the stunts are also rigged for failure and accidents.  The producer of the show, Ms. Hunt, has the job of keeping the action dangerous and secret, better for ratings, of course.  The Hardy Boys think she may be behind all the sabotage, however, she turns up murdered.  Lots of mystery and intrigue.  The story line is fine, however, I find the graphics of Frank and Joe disturbing.  On the cover, they’re at fisticuffs and teeth are bared, snarling at one another.  Why do they have to become enemies?  Kids will like the familiar reality show vibe plus all the action.

A Look at Forces gives simple sentences together with an explanatory photo to describe science.  The pages are brightly colored and show vigorous action.  The examples both in words and in photos does a good job in modeling the concepts.  This book should be useful in explaining science concepts.

All about Matter is a science book for young readers explaining what matter actually is and gives beautiful examples of the three states of matter.  The language is simple and elegant, yet so easily understandable.  The accompanying photos speak volumes.  A must-have for all elementary libraries.

Job Site shows how machines do the work of many people.  From lifting heavy objects, to digging holes, to moving piles, there are machines that are made specifically to do it.  Interesting perspective of shading by the illustrator.  Many young kiddos love machinery and this book will fit their needs.

Funny Cars is a very interesting book–I had no idea it was so expensive to participate in such a sport.  Funny cars race at excessively fast speeds for short distances, such as 330 mpg in 1,000 feet, which takes about 4 seconds.  The car bodies are light, about 90 pounds, the there is much protection for the driver built in.  The tires and engines don’t last long and need to be frequently replaced or rebuilt.  Car racing is a popular sport and this book will give a race fan more information in which to understand the high stakes.

Remember going on a road trip when you were a kid? Now?  I remember having a bunch of excuses why I couldn’t go or can’t go, depending on when, but then after all the procrastinating, I had the best of times.  Here, Pig Pig has been invited to go on summer vacation traveling around with Aunt Wilma and Uncle Fred (Fred and Wilma? sound familiar?).  Of course he doesn’t want to go, but does so reluctantly.  The simplest of things can be such glorious adventures, like a rock shaped like an elephant–when would you ever ride an elephant? Not too many words, as the pictures do a fine job of telling the story.

Nobel Genes, as in being conceived from a Nobel price winner sperm bank donor, is what this teenaged boy believes he has. When his scholastic abilities don’t match expectations, he beings to question the story that his single mom has told him throughout his life. The unnamed boy in this 1st person narrative has unanswered questions which he is afraid to ask out loud: who is father is, why he has no known relatives, and why aren’t the Nobel genes kicking in to make him the brilliant student his mother expects him to be. He also has the daunting responsibility of caring for his mother who suffers from mental illness, alcoholism, prescription drug abuse, and suicidal tendencies.

This is a disturbing and emotionally dark story, poignant and wrenching, but with  hopefulness that the boy will learn to control his own destiny, regardless of his genetic make up.

Spoiler Alert: a scene of incest; implied not graphically shown.

Susan Patron’s historical novel set in Bodie, California at the height of the gold rush era includes a mystery, a ghost who actually appears, and lots of fast action.  These elements should make it popular with young readers, but they also make it a bit different from other books in the Dear America series.

Behind the Masks is the diary of Angeline Reddy, daughter of the town’s attorney-at-law.  Angeline’s father has been declared dead, though she and her mother believe he is still alive.  Angeline’s mother has taken to her bed after a 1880’s style tooth extraction.  Plus, the town is being terrorized by vigilantes.

Patron’s careful research gives Angeline’s diary the true feel of an 1880s town.  We see a school, an undertaker’s establishment, a masked ball, vigilante justice, women’s clothing, cleaning the kitchen floor, and much more.  The book kept me interested from beginning to end.

One needs to be diligent when reading  the chapter where the villains are confronted during the masked ball, and Mr. Tucker reveals why the ghostly figure in the red cape cannot find rest.  It has so many elements I had to read it twice,  and  I wondered how the heroine could remember it all to include it in her diary.  Historical notes are included at the end of the book.

This book is set in late winter 1955 in a small farming community in South Dakota.  As winter progressed, extreme weather set in with repeated heavy snowstorms which closed roads and stranded families on their farms.  The main characters are composed of one such farming family with three girls ranging in age from middle school to high school, dad and pregnant mom.  The book is a delightful and exciting snapshot of their lives during these winter-time challenges.  Themes of family, perseverance, patience, hard work, friendship, helping others and coming of age are all prevalent.  I enjoyed this novel set in more innocent times and will recommend it to my students.

Susan Shaw’s Tunnel Vision can catch a reader in the first three pages.  Liza’s mom is dead and Liza is the next target.  But why?  Immediately rushed into the U.S. Marshall’s protective services, Liza and her dad are on the run from being on a hit list.  Moving from the east coast to the mid-west and back again, Liza must hide her bright red hair and her fear as she feels everyone knows who she is.  It doesn’t help that the mainstream media caught their “story” and made it national news, broadcasting their picture over and over.  While the story is a little far fetched, the “what if” scenario makes a reader keep going.  The minor characters aren’t given much time to develop and be an integral part of the story.  Only one comes back into the picture.  Overall it has an interesting premise but would be a good additional selection for high school and public libraries.

Photos of Veterans Day celebrations tell the story as much as the text does in this book. Parades, speeches, school visits by soldiers in uniform, and flowers on graves of veterans and at memorials are some of the ways we thank our veterans for keeping us ‘free and safe’ on this day in their honor.

Includes: What you can do-an activity, Learn More, and web sites.

Father Ghost is coaxed into telling Franny and Frankie a bedtime story. One story becomes two, and then three. Each story has a twist of a scary ending.

The Haunted “Hamburger had two round eyes as green as pickles… a wide, squiggly mouth as yellow as mustard… [and] wet bloody cheeks as red as ketchup.”

These three tricky stories are a Halloween treat for their readers.

Paul Meisel’s wide-eyed ghost children with dark circles around their shallow sleepy eyes are a delight.

Little Ollie, the gosling, and his siblings dress-up for Halloween and wander around the farm on a dark windy night before eating treats of cracked corn.

Soft earth-tone drawings have  just enough detail to pull the reader into the scene.

“Story time with signs and rhymes”

American Sign Language (ASL) is used to give an added activity to the counting of 1 to 10 using Halloween trick-or-treating door bell ringing creatures: warty witch, creepy cats, scary skeletons, wild werewolves, moaning mummies, playful pumpkins, zany zombies, spooky spiders, ghastly ghosts, and haunted houses.

Elementary school age temper painted pictures.

Includes: American Sign Language (ASL) glossary for the numbers 1-10 with picture and description, ASL alphabet handshapes, fun facts about ASL, and two signing activities.

Nothing spreads faster than an outrageous rumor!  Here a young boy tells, “I’m sure I saw a dinosaur and I’m sure that he saw me.” Soon the whole town, plus the army, air force, and scientists have taken over the beach site. Whether they will see a dinosaur or not is yet to be determined, but the young boy’s father is doing a booming business of selling ice cream in this the beach’s off-season.

“A collage is a picture made by sticking different things on to paper, canvas, or cardboard.” ( p. 4)

This beginning how-to book of collage includes 14 different collages spread over the course of 24 pages. Each page usually includes 2 sentences, in large font, dealing with the creation of a collage or the collage on that page.

Title headings include: What is a collage?, Where can I see collages?, What do people use to make collages?, How do people use shapes in collages?,  What can collages show?, How can collages show feelings?, What other types of collages are there?, and Start to make collages!

This book will appeal to true lovers of the game of baseball.  The setting is 1899 and the team, called The Traveling Nine, are going from New Orleans, Louisiana, north as far as Minneapolis, and east as far as Baltimore, looking to play games and earn money to pay off the Payne family’s debt.  As they travel from city to city, it’s up to them to find a team to play, a place to play,  to advertise the game, and to stir up enough interest to get people to pay to come see them play.  The rules of who exactly can play are pretty loose, as there are mature adults, kids, and women all playing for the same team.  At the time, they had a ‘magic’ baseball.  Perhaps the ball wasn’t so much magical but when they used it, they all played and felt as though a super force was with them.  Nothing could go wrong.  Until Guy Payne, the dad of the family, the team’s catcher and star player, disappeared, believed to be dead.  Guy’s brother, Owen, loses the ball and ends up dead, killed by the power-crazed city manager, who steals the ball and wants to steal the glory of winning.  Turns out, Guy isn’t dead after all, and The Traveling Nine gets ready to play the team owned by the magic baseball thief. Turns out the ball wasn’t magical at all, but the power of prayer and the power of good thoughts is a strong motivator.  The story was difficult to get into as it was book six and I am not familiar with the others.  The illustrations were detailed and amazing.  Definitions, explanations and historical notes are in the margin, giving some instruction as to terminology of the game.  I have true baseball nuts in my family, four baseball fantasy lovers.  And that might be my downfall.  I wanted more of the ‘real’ baseball weird stuff to be in the story, not so much magic, or perceived magic, I should say.  The historical part was interesting, however, and I think it’s interesting that not so long ago, baseball players weren’t treated as royalty.

This book provides some history of famous cowboys and the cowboy trade in the late 1800’s primarily in the West.  Cowboy life in pioneering days was exciting and dangerous and this book brings that fact to life, providing an overview of typical cowboy experiences.  Information is sometimes repeated and I would have liked to see more and better photography.  Thus improved visuals and tighter editing would have brought my rating up from “additional”.  Still it is an interesting book and I think students will enjoy reading about American cowboys.