This nonfiction book is from the Backyard Wildlife series (Blastoff! Readers) and is all about coyotes. This book is a Level 1 (Emergent), making the text quite simple. The book gives basic information about coyotes such as what they eat, their habitat and physical attributes. The book has great photos and a predictable layout with facing pages of pictures and text.

The animal poems in this book are too ridiculous and sugary and just plain lame, and the illustrations are too juvenile for even second graders to appreciate.  I have enjoyed other books by Karma Wilson and can appreciate her soothing style, but this one not so much.

The History of Latin Music is a great book in the Music Library series by Stuart A. Kallen.  This series would be a wonderful addition to any school library collection for students in Spanish classes, Music appreciation classes or for anyone interested in Latin music.  It is a comprehensive look on how the Latin genre has had a major impact on popular music and how each nation in Latin America has its own unique musical form.  The series does an excellent job focusing in on modern musicians as well as the instruments used and the cultural history of each region.  Each chapter has numerous color photographs, informative sidebars, and annotated bibliographies.   I have truly enjoyed the series I have received and would like to purchase the whole collection.

     Claire’s hum-drum life takes a turn for the better when she is struck by lightning and immediately everything begins to go her way.  She gets the lead in the school play, the boy she likes is suddenly interested in her, math is finally easy for her, and her parent’s relationship begins to improve.  Claire first believes that the lightning has brought a bit of magic to life; as things begin to settle back to normal, Claire realizes you can create your own good luck by believing in the positive.

Lulu was tired of being a little chick. She couldn’t do anything because she was so small, so she decided to go far, far away.  Lulu learned her lesson when she found herself alone and scared. However, Mama found her and Lulu felt much better! Lulu decided the next time she was going far, far away, she was going to take her mama with her. Fun, colorful illustrations add to the story.                          

Little Emmy, who is only three, seems to cause a lot of trouble only to have her brother and sister take the blame. Eventually it catches up to her in the end when her parents finally send her to her room for the mischief she causes.  This story is creatively told in rhyme and has fun watercolor illustrations.

One day, four chickens take the ride of their life when they crawl into the back of a truck to get to the open feed sacks just as the farmer drives off toward town. Once in town, they fall out of the truck and experience the terrifying sights, sounds and smells of the city, all the while asking, “What if we get flattened? What if our brains turn to mush? What if…” The chickens eventually find themselves in the back of the farmer’s truck heading home…safe and sound. This fun, silly story uses many unique and eccentric adjectives and verbs!

Soccer stand-out Jake Stuart faces a new situation when a family move lands him on the worst team in the league.  The coach, noticing his talent, asks Jake to be a “coach on the field” to the rest of the team, helping Jake to realize the importance of good team chemistry.  Jake’s toughest challenge is learning how to become a friend to teammate Kevin, who is suffering the loss of his mother and shutting himself off from the world.  Jake’s own personal challenge is learning how to get better at losing.

As the series title suggests, (Comeback Kids), the book ends with an up-set victory, with Jake, clearly the best player on the team, unselfishly letting Kevin win the game for the team.

In this sequel to “Trading Faces,” twins Emma and Payton get out of detention (for playing the ‘ol twin switcheroo” in book 1) in exchange for tutoring the counselor’s son in math.  The catch:  their own dose of twin antics.  The young tutoree has an identical twin himself.  Having heard about Emma and Payton’s famous switch, Mason and Jason pull the same stunt on the girls, over and over again.  Texting, playing Wii and crushes will help draw middle school girls into the humorous storyline.

12-year old Isabel seems trapped in a world where nothing special ever happens to her.  She dreams of traveling and being noticed for being good at something.  She lives in a small town in Oregon with an insecure mother who wants to open a cupcake shop.  The whole family rallies behind her, lead by Isabel, who shares her mother’s love of baking.  Family love, friendship, and determination to succeed are all themes that run throughout the book.  The happy ending will satisfy the reader who cheers the family on throughout the book.

Students will love reading about funny-man Adam Sandler in this visually-appealing biography.  The book is loaded with photographs that make you smile! The reader learns of celebrities that influenced Adam’s life, the struggles of breaking into show business, and his eventual successes.  My only complaint is that the author occasionally admitted he had heard two different versions of how something in Adam’s life  happened.  It made me wonder how he could write a biography without the full research.

Two students who are on the school newspaper staff, are frustrated that their adviser only allows them to print articles that show their school in a good light.  Zebbie and Amr start an underground, online newspaper called “The Truth About Truman” meant to be a true and honest newspaper about middle school life.  Anyone in the school can submit articles, and have their written guarantee that nothing will be censored.

The online newspaper quickly becomes a platform for bullying when a popular girl, Lilly, gets trashed by anonymous posts.  First, a picture of Lilly is posted from younger, chubbier days; next it’s announced that she’s a lesbian (though she isn’t), and finally a place to enter a “Why I Hate Lilly Clarke” essay contest, where the winner of an essay wins $5.

The vicious bullying leads to Lilly running away from home.  A great discussion book about people’s feelings, slander, and how to treat others, “The Truth About Truman School” is told in alternating character’s voices to give a perspective of bullying from all sides.

In true, Lois Lowry style this is a different sort of chapter book! This is the story of the four Willoughby children that try to actually become orphans because their parents are so dreadful. Little do they know, their own parents are trying to get rid of them too. When their parents set out to explore the world, the children are left alone in the care of a nanny. With a dropped off infant at their doorstep, an old single man and a story with numerous references to literary heroes and themes in children’s literature, this is such a fun book. I loved that the story is like a puzzle that pieces together perfectly at the end. While I loved it, I just don’t know how kids will take to it. It is confusing at times and written in an old fashioned style. It would be a fun read aloud because kids could get a lot out of it with a little help and explanation by a teacher.

At first glance, this looks like a fiction picture book about dinosaurs and butterflies. With its paper collage illustrations and bright colors, this book is very attractive to young children. This book is really neat because it actually is a nonfiction book about the other things that were alive during the time of dinosaurs. It talks about how butterflies, plants, insects, small mammals and reptiles were alive at the time of dinosaurs and survived after their extinction. The book presents information in an easy to read format and has a time line at the end of the book showing kids how it all fits together. I thought this book was really informative, fun and great for the little kids that want to learn about dinosaurs, but the traditional books are too difficult. I also liked that it makes us think about more than just dinos during prehistoric times. Not many books discuss the other plants and animals that were alive at the time of dinosaurs.

In this delightful picture book, baby raccoon wants mama to pick her up and be the baby, but then she wants mama to put her down and be thebig girl. The paintings make this a really beautiful book. The pictures of the raccoons are really cute and the colors are just soft and sweet which is just the theme of the entire book. In one phrase, baby is asking  to be picked up and in the next she asking to be put down and the story all in rhyme. My only issue with this book is it is directed toward toddlers, making it a little young for even the elementary library. It sure is sweet!

On Februrary 1, 1960, the Greensboro Four, David, Joseph, Franklin and Ezell were the first student demonstrators at the Greensboro Woolworths’ Food Counter where they peacefully sat, ordered a donut and coffee, and waited to be served.  Their goal?…to end segregation.  These four began a ripple effect of similar sit-ins from south to north to west across America, where 70,000 blacks and white, men and women, young and old joined in through August of 1961.  Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King’s call for nonviolent action, these four showed the true meaning of peace.  Written and illustrated by an award winning husband and wife team whose lyrical language and energetic illustrations make for a powerful read-aloud!  Back matter includes a Civil Rights timeline, additional background information on the story content, plus books and websites for further enjoyment.

This well-paced novel about Eddy, a middle-school boy, helps you to understand the struggles of living with Autism.  Eddy has a brilliant mind for science.  He knows the scientific Latin name for all plants and animals.  He has an incredible memory for facts — the story is interrupted often with “Random Access Memory of Edison Thomas” facts.  When Eddy makes mistakes, as middle schoolers often do, he recites the period table to calm himself down.

Eddy becomes obsessed with the fact that a traffic policeman loses his job, causing an unsafe crossing intersection for pedestrians.  To deal with his stress, he puts his inventive mind to work, taking parts of various pieces of machinery and a garden hose and devising a traffic-calming device.  Proud of Eddy one moment, and embarrassed for him as  he deals with bullies the next, the reader easily gets caught up in the emotions of Eddy’s life.

Set in West Virginia in the 1940’s, Jimmy Cannon is from a family that has been in the railroad business for generations.  Jimmy himself is looking forward to joining his father and older brothers one day, after he completes high school.  Each chapter is dated “All Hallows’ Eve” one year later, so we watch Jimmy in this coming-of-age story and the relationship he has with his father, but anyone with a fascination with railroads will enjoy this book.

The story opens shortly after the fatal car crash of a wife and mother to three boys.  The father deals with his grief by selling their house and buying a 30-foot sailboat.  He announces to his boys that they’re going to sail around the Bahamas for a year.  The protagonist is 15-year old Ben, the oldest, who is grief-stricken and angry with his dad for pulling him away from his friends at a time he needs them the most.  In close quarters with no where to go pout, this sea adventure becomes a story of survival when their father disappears (whether intentional or accidental) and a great storm has the young boys fighting for their lives as they’re forced to battle the waves alone.  Stranded on an island for 3 months, the boys learn to live off the land, encounter sharks and a life or death situation which binds the brothers together in a way that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.

Slow moving at first, readers need to stick with this book to the page-turning end.

15-year old immigrant Vospop Vsklzwczdztwczky writes letters to his friend Meero back in Slobovia in very broken English in this outlandish tale (Donut try to pronounce me).  The comic-book-like storyline is filled with adventure of the extreme kind as Voss uncovers a sinister hospital for immigrants — actually containing a Shock Chamber to kill the patients and sell their vital organs for big money.  The humor overshadows the gore, making this book a good choice for readers who enjoy off-beat humor.

This is a little nonfiction book from the Pebble First Guide series. I always like the set up of these books. This book focuses on nocturnal animals such as bats, crocodiles, eels, fireflies, frogs, etc. Thirteen nocturnal animals are introduced in a basic field guide format. Each animal is showcased in facing pages with 2/3 pictures, a map, and characteristics (length, weight, what it eats, where it lives and some facts). These are great little books, easy for little ones to read with the format and have great pictures. I just always wonder about the size. They are pretty small and they get lost in the shelves pretty easy.

In book 4 in the Winnie Years series, best friends Winnie, Dinah, and Cinnamon head to a camp in South Carolina to help save the population of sea turtles.  With a houseful of other teens, the boy-crazy trio make new friends and deepen their relationship with each other.  While Dinah and Cinnamon find boyfriends this summer, Winnie feels insecure about her boyfriend, Lars, at home in Atlanta.  While mostly a funny, summer romp of a story, I would caution elementary school that there is talk of erections and bare boobs.  Cleverly, the author has eighth grade Winnie making up a “To Do Before High School” list — subsequent chapters are named after items on this list.  Readers cheer Winnie on as she is able to one-by-one cross off items from the “To Do” list.

Impressive was the life of Indira Gandhi, daughter of the Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India.  As a matter of fact, during political strife, Nehru was in and out of prison, yet a series of letters between father and daughter allowed him to continue to shape his daughter’s beliefs.  Eventually, Indira served as Prime Minister, too.  Though she believed in Democracy, she herself ruled as a dictator.  She suffered from a difficult marriage, the death of several close family members, and was eventually assassinated herself on a day she strayed from the norm and didn’t put on a bullet-proof vest (because she was appearing on TV and did not want to appear heavy).  Written at a fifth-grade level, this book has more politics in it than may interest the typical middle school student, but that background was important to include in a biography of her life.

Frequent, harsh language and the rape of a foreign exchange student make this book a “High School only” soccer story.  Our protagonist is Jonny, a second-rate soccer player dealing with unpopularity, abandonment by his father, and the death of a former girlfriend.  Jonny is constantly falling short of his friend Kyle, who is athletic and smart.  As often happens in books, as in real life, we learn that the popular students who seem to have everything going for them, have their weaknesses revealed by the end of the story.

This book is all about soccer! The book discusses the World Cup, great matches, shocking results, great goals, penalty heartaches, World Cup madness, and World Cup stats. Each chapter has  facing pages focusing on one aspect of the World Cup. The book gives a nice start with the history of the World Cup starting in 1930 and about the current 2010 World Cup. Going into great matches next such as, England Vs. West Germany in 1966 fun facts and statistics are given and so forth. The book has LOTS of information, an attractive layout and great photos. I especially liked the yellow additional info and stat boxes. I found the book to be little text heavy, but I really liked the World Cup stats graph and records at the back of the book. There is also a find out more section, glossary and index. Every soccer fan will like this book and it would be perfect to showcase when the World Cup is going on.