In this installation of the Boxcar Children, the Aldens are gearing up for Halloween by doing some decorating.  That grandfather of theirs has many friends, one of which owns a pumpkin farm and needs help to solve a mystery.  It seems that their farm is haunted, causing employees to quit.  The owners, an elderly couple, are unable to work the farm on their own and don’t want to sell to a local developer who wants to build lots of news houses on the land.  The Aldens help with the farm, the haunted hayrides, and selling produce from the stand, along with solving who the ghost is.  Interesting enough to make me wish it was October rather than Memorial Day weekend.

The Maltese Mummy is the second installment of the graphic novel series Chicagoland Detective Agency, a new agency made up of a computer nerd, a teen girl who considers herself a haiku poetry expert and a talking dog.  Business is slow, in fact, it’s nonexistent.  Megan wants Raf to attend a concert with her starring Sun D’Arc, a popular teen idol of whom she is a big fan.  Raf is ill and Megan takes William, an acquaintance, instead.  At the concert, Sun D’Arc is rude and invites William backstage.  Come to find out, Sun D’Arc is actually an Egyptian mummy who is cursed and needs a body substitute to take his place in the sarcophagus, and William is just the right size.  The story starts slow and builds nicely, with kind of an abrupt finish.  But that is the beauty of graphic novels–pictures are worth a thousand words and readers can fill in between the dialogue.  Book is on the thin side and I believe readers would like a longer or meatier story, however, this should keep them satisfied until number three comes out.  I just wish Megan had better manners.

There’s a new kid in town; actually, it’s a new second-grader named Sam, who doesn’t play well with others.  Sam is a large imposing force to be reckoned with and a bully to the first-graders who begin to fear recess.  But when Henry goes shopping with his mom, he sees Sam being forced by her mom to try on a frilly dress.  At school, Sam threatens Henry not to tell anyone of her embarrassment, and when Henry says he would never do something like that, a light bulb goes on for Sam.  Sam realizes her bad behavior towards Henry and his friends would warrant retaliation, but that friends shouldn’t act like that towards one another.  Friendship blossoms!  Carlson gives the characters life with her brilliants choice of colors.  Plus, she has a keen understanding of how to explain things, life situations, to young children in ways they can understand.

Elizabeth is a lively, happy, and curious child who loves to play and dress up.  Her exuberance causes her to bump into another child, knock him, who in turns knocks over someone else, and so on.  Just like dominoes. The last person knocked over is angry and the person who knocked them over, who in turns blames the person who knocked them over, and so on.  Elizabeth sees the havoc she has wrecked and apologizes.  They are all friends again!  A good story for kindergarten and young first graders to see how their actions affect others.

This installment of Gertrude Warner’s Boxcar Children, very much focuses on Benny’s love to eat–especially cupcakes!  Who doesn’t?  Mama Tova’s cupcakes are so good and so unique, she opens up her own store and sells nothing but cupcakes.  They are so popular, people wait in line outside an hour before she opens in order to get one of the limited morsels.  The owner of a local bread company is interested in expanding and wants to buy Mama Tova’s secret recipe, but she won’t sell.  He decides to hold a cupcake competition to determine the best baker in town.  When Mama Tova mischievously whispers that her secret recipe is under a flower, her store is ransacked.  The Alden children make their requisite list of suspects and methodically go through each one.  This storyline is cohesive and interesting and will make a great mystery novel for young readers.

This is a story of a little boy who has to be at his aunt’s charity party.  He is sleepy and finds an armchair, when he falls asleep and has a wonderful dream that makes the party fun and exciting.

The pictures are wonderful and fun to look at.

A jun rebus story.  The story is simple, fun, and has yummy pictures.  It is an easy read for beginning readers.  A great book to get children involved in reading.

This was a wonderful story dealing with problems most children face at times.  it was fun to read, and teaches how too deal with cheating.  the pictures are full of character, and are fun to look at.  This is a great story for kids first through fourth grade.  i think most kids would identify with one of the characters.

Meet Hank Greenberg, two-time MVP for the American League, five-time all star, first Jewish Hall of Famer, 4-time World Series player.  This biography will appeal to baseball fans who will find themselves cheering on the young Jewish baseball player, playing at a time of great prejudice.  At 6′ 3″ and Jewish, Hank turned to sports as a way to try to fit in.  The New York Yankees wanted Hank on their team, thinking it would broaden their fan base to include more Jews.  “Hammerin’ Hank” had some struggling years, but with hard work and determination, came within two home runs of tying Babe Ruth’s home run record.

The Alden children get involved in the community recycling center by volunteering and trying to figure out who keeps breaking in.  But things aren’t what they seem.  The break-in must be linked to the recent burglary at the local jewelry store.  Keeping track of the clues, the children solve the case.  Yet another Boxcar Children mystery, this time with an updated, contemporary cover.  The story, however, is weak and somewhat boring.  I would not deem this a necessary purchase.