This fantastic, fast-paced book is full of quirky, fun characters that will pull readers through to the very end.  Jane Doe is an average ten year old in the town of Remarkable, which, understandably, is full of interesting and talented people.  She cannot even claim to be remarkably unremarkable since her grandfather holds that distinction.  But when pirates start converging on the town of Remarkable, followed by a number of other mysterious events, Jane must find her self-confidence to save the day, the town, and Remarkable’s own lake monster.  The storytelling is wonderful, and the program opportunities for classrooms and libraries abound.

Packaged like a “Picture Book”, I was surprised to see that this title is actually chocked full of information and activities about witches.  It begins with a story about two kids who received an urgent letter from their Aunt Amarga, instructing them to come to her house where they learned that she is the last witch on earth.  She wanted to tell the children some of the secrets of witches so none of the information would be forgotten.  The next page begins the Witches Handbook where you can learn about Flying Styles, Potions and Spells, Famous Witches and Warlocks, as well as do a Bewitching Word Search (bad idea for a library book), or make Spell-removing Pancakes.  The handbook is such an odd concoction of this and that…not unlike a cauldron filled with “Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog.”  Visually, it has “Primary” written all over it…yet the amount of text and sophisticated vocabulary makes me think…”Intermediate”.  What comes across most is FUN!

Jessalynn, an older lady, has been helping abused animals as well as foster children for years. Although she tires from the challenges of the past cases, she accepts another broken horse as well as a broken girl, all in the same night. Each of the three tell their story in turn, alternating chapters. Pieces of Night’s world emerge, how he was an amazing race horse who was finally sold away to a new owner. Bits of Shiloh’s world emerges, of how her mother’s boyfriend would torment. Parts of Jessalynn’s life and feelings arise of not being able to reach either one, until the three lives crash together one night. This story brings intrigue to the reader, wanting to know more about each of the characters.

This interactive, choose-your-adventure style of book is great entertainment! You, the reader, travel in a small plane with the pilot when you are forced to parachute in the jungle alone. Life threatening decisions need to be made. Do you drink the water from the stream? Make a raft and float the river? Set up camp or search the jungle for the pilot? Make a shelter or make a fire? Beware of the caiman, jaguars, stinging ant nest, snakes and so many more dangers that lurk around you! This book has photographs that give the reader a realistic element to the story!

Hurray…another gorgeous, large-format book by Steve Jenkins.  The stunningly rich and vivid illustrations entice the reader in.  Then you are hooked by the impeccably researched wealth of information.  “Line up every kind of plant and animal on Earth…and one of every four will be a beetle.”  There are even forest fire beetles with special heat-sensors that can detect a fire more than 20 miles away!  Once at the fire area, they lay their eggs in charred wood, now free of predators.  Black silhouettes, on the bottom of the pages, show actual sizes of the beetles on that page.   Atypical back matter includes a list of beetles, and page numbers, Latin names, and locale.  I would say this publication was accessible to a wide audience, however, grandparents, reading to grandchildren may be visually challenged by the teeny hand-written styled font.  You will, certainly, want to get this fact-packed beetle bonanza for your library!

Teddy lives at Fun Jungle and is very suspicious when Henry the Hippo is murdered. When the police decide not to investigate, Teddy decides to investigate Henry’s murder himself which puts him in all kinds of danger. There are many people who could have wanted Henry dead, and it could cost Teddy his life trying to get to the bottom of this mystery! This book is full of fun, intrigue and is a little disgusting as well!

Buddy the dog is so lucky to be able to go to the school sleepover with his owner, Connor. However, there is talk about a school ghost. Connor gets secret notes, holds secret meetings with school mates, and with Buddy’s help, attempts to crack the case of the school ghost. In this book, Connor and his friends make a home-made Ouija Board to try to contact Agatha, the ghost.

During Josh’s quest for the Blank Book, he experiences many mysterious situations such as strange notes, floating books, and people turning invisible before his eyes. At the end of his quest, he finds himself at the home of his favorite author, Simon Skull, where he learns that the author has been dead, and his shadow has been writing and causing all the mystery. This book catches the reader’s attention from the very beginning and keeps it all the way through each chapter. Although this book contains six chapters, its vocabulary is controlled, and the number of words on a page is low, making this book very interesting to students who read at a level below their grade level.

Ulf, a young boy, and Dr. Fielding and a fairy go on a quest to the haunted Howlhammer Castle because there is trouble there. Ulf is forced to take on an army of zombies under the direction of the evil Baron Marackai. With the help of his friends Marackai is defeated, and Ulf is given the title of Knight of the Realm. Zombie lovers will enjoy this adventure.

Here is the story of child ‘proddity’ – Rico- who solves his friend’s kidnapping by Mr. 2000 , a serial child kidnapper. Because Rico is a child himself and Oscar is his friend, he picks up on clues an adult police officer would probably overlook. Steinhofel’s two quirky main characters keep the story moving and the mystery unfolding at a nice pace.

A child ‘proddity’ in Rico’s own words, “… means that I think a lot but not particularly quickly… that doesn’t mean I’m stupid…Sometimes a few things go missing from my brain, but I don’t know when and where until it happens.”

Written for a middle school audience with character details :”…people stare at Mom …She looks fantastic… wears short skirts and low-cut tops. High-heeled, silver or gold strappy sandals… (page 9) , divorced lady -Rico’s babysitter- drinking whiskey (page 2) , and “But mostly he’s just drunk and it’s the booze talking” (page 77) or for a European audience. Translated from the German  by Chantal Wright.