Dario and his mother travel from Brazil to Cape Cod each spring so that she can work. Atlantic right whales travel up to Cape Cod early each spring in search of food. This book is about the friendship between Dario and a young right whale. They notice each other at the beach and strike up an unlikely, but sweet relationship. When Dario whistles, the whale spouts. When Dario waves, the whale breaches. Their friendship lasts through the spring. One day, Dario cannot go to the beach, because he has a cold. When he returns to the beach the whale seems to be gone. A young girl tells him that the whales migrate in May and that they are gone. Dario is upset, but jumps up to see his friend just offshore. He enters the water and the whale comes closer than it ever has before. They exchange greetings (whistle/spout, wave/breach) and when Dario asks the whale if he has to go, the whale blinks his large eye. Dario asks if he will return and the whale slaps the water with his huge tail in response. And, Dario knows that the friends will reunite next year.

Portuguese words are scattered throughout this story of two migrants that form a beautiful and enduring friendship. Information about Atlantic right whales at the end of the book will give students solid facts about these mammals. This is a very sweet story with lovely pictures that students will thoroughly enjoy. Highly recommended.

Part of the Mars Bound series, this book recounts three teens’ perilous journey to Mars after the death of the crew assigned to take them there. In addition to the deaths of the crew, a fellow teen has destroyed their radio, so they have no verbal contact with the Mars station. As they pull closer to the station, they realize that they are not allowed to enter the station, the doors are not opening. With little fuel or food, Gabriel makes the decision to force the Mars crew to open the doors by going full speed toward them. At the last moment they are allowed in and as they leave their spaceship and walk into the station, they are held at gunpoint. Gabriel tells the leader, Sheena (third in command of the space station), about their trip from Earth and the troubles along the way. At that point, she shares the news of the station – an earlier space vehicle from Earth had arrived and attempted to kill the colonists in order to return to Earth. The colonists were suspicious of Gabriel’s ship, because they didn’t respond to radio messages. The book ends with Sheena welcoming Gabriel and his two shipmates to the space station.

This book is part of series called Mars Bound and the reader will feel like this particular book is a chapter in a larger story. The writing is accessible and the pictures are retro. The story is short and at a second grade reading level, so struggling readers who enjoy science fiction should do well with this book. The teens are multicultural and the story is intriguing enough to entice the readers to check out the rest of the series.

Beginning with an introduction detailing an event in pro wrestling rivalry ‘history’, this book goes on to detail ten great rivalries in countdown fashion. Loaded with pictures and text boxes with extra details, this book is sure to excite young pro-wrestling fans. This title is part of a series of six books on pro wrestling. Rabid fans might not learn anything new, but the accessible writing and colorful photos should keep this book in circulation.
Typical nonfiction features are included: table of contents, glossary, index and a page detailing websites and more books for further exploration. If you are looking for some pro-wrestling books, these should be popular choices. Buy it if you have some extra money.

Ben Putter is on a mission. He must go to Augusta, Georgia, from his home in Alabama to spread his father’s ashes on the 18th hole of Augusta National, the world’s best golf course. His daddy told him to do so from the urn that holds his ashes and eleven year old Ben feels that it might be the only way to get rid of the golf ball sized lump that has been in his throat since his father died. So, he decides to go to Augusta without telling his mother, travelling with a secretive runaway named Noni. She has some unfinished business in that direction and together they go by bus, train (on the coal car) and in a truck (Ben driving it) to fulfill some promises. Ben talks to his dad’s urn along the way and the reader learns that their relationship was not the best while dad was alive. But, the trip is a healing one for Ben, who wants to connect with his father this one last time. His new-found friend, Noni, completes her journey to Augusta with him in a surprising ending that reveals some secrets and brings closure to the characters and the reader. Students who pick up this story might end up with their own ‘golf ball sized lumps in their throats’, but will be happy they made the journey with Ben and Noni.

Set in 1972, the story also touches on racism, desegregation and life in the deep South. The author does a fine job of describing the time and place, giving a rich view of a girl, a boy and his daddy’s ashes as they journey toward the best golf course in the world.

Jess and her mother make a living in Victorian England as fake spiritualists, ‘helping’ grieving people connect with their deceased loved ones. Jess and her mother discover that Jess can actually communicate with the dead – she is a mesmerist. Her mother contacts an old friend, Balthazar, who turns out to be rather magical himself and they tell Jess about her father, who died fighting an evil man who could raise the dead for his own terrible purpose of taking over the world. Her mother, father and Balthazar were the League of Ravens, who had fought the magical evil that inhabited the world unbeknownst to mere mortals.

Jess joins Balthazar and two other magical children to battle the evil man, Mephisto, before he can wreak supernatural disaster on the world. Along the way, they must fight ghouls and monsters and the plague!

Dark and scary, this book will appeal to children who like to huddle under the blankets at night with a flashlight and a good horror book. It is fast paced and the heroine is a strong and brave leader.

Phoebe and her sister older sister, Alice, aren’t getting along and Phoebe can’t figure out how to fix their relationship. One day, she buys an antique Cartier compact at a flea market in Paris and finds a letter written in World War ll from a girl to her younger sister who had been evacuated from London and was away from the rest of the family for safety. In the letter, there is a ‘spell’ that will bring the sisters back together.

Phoebe decides to follow the clues through London in order to make the spell work for Alice and her. So, she and her friend, Ned, traverse London on a quest to make the spell happen. Along the way, the reader will learn about all the wonderful parts of London and find out at the end if the spell works.

This book is light and sweet and will appeal to fans of realistic fiction.

William and Alice, two children from two very different families and lifestyles, make friends with each other on the maiden voyage of the Titanic in 1912. William’s family has a luxurious suite and has access to many wonderful parts of the ship, while Alice is in third class berthing with her mother and must stay in certain areas. While exploring where she shouldn’t, Alice and William become friends and that friendship opens up access to William’s world onboard. We know what eventually will happen and when the ship hits the iceberg, William bravely runs to find his friend and she and her mother join his family in a lifeboat. Interspersed within the story are boxes with text and photos with information about the ship and its eventual discovery in 1985. A timeline rounds out this nice little book about a very big ship. Highly recommended.

Any joke is a great joke to the young crowd, but many of these jokes will have the them laughing out loud. Jokes are arranged in boxes – darker colored box is the question and lighter colored box is the punch line, which makes it nice for young comedians to know when to pause for the greatest laugh. Illustrations are simple, but effective companions to the jokes and kids will enjoy comparing the joke to the picture. My only complaint is that the jokes are about all manner of sports, many of which children may not understand – everything from golf to wrestling. But, that should encourage some discussion about the sports or even further reading!

Nelson Mandela presents an accessible biography of one our current history’s important figures. Information is presented in one to two sentences per page with large, crisp photos to accompany them. ‘Key Dates’ and ‘Quick Stats’ pull together a great deal of information in just two pages near the end. And the glossary tackles tough words like ‘activist’ and ‘apartheid’ quite well. The content is quite suitable for younger readers, yet does tell of his long jail time and introduce the words noted above in a way that children will understand.
Recommended

This biography is a great place to start for young readers interested in history. With a few sentences per page and bright, appealing illustrations, the life of Benjamin Franklin is succinctly described. “Quick Stats” and “Key Dates” give the information necessary for beginning reports. The glossary, index and table of contents reinforce good non-fiction elements. Recommended