My Beauty is a great book to help girls look their best.  The book listed many beauty secrets to shine from the inside out.  I was glad to finally learn how to determine different face shapes based on measurements.  The illustrations and page layouts were interesting and colorful.  I especially liked the page a girl could photocopy in order to keep a log of makeup looks she creates.

The author, Marlene Wallach, is founder and president of Wilhelmina Kids and Teens modeling agency.  It is obvious she cares about the well-being of kids as this is not a fluffy, how-to-be-a- model book, but a solid book of information for anyone seeking to look their best.  (By Jamie Kenny)

What an unexpected delight!  I almost didn’t pick this book up because I thought the title and cover art were too silly, but I reluctantly did, and I am so glad I did.  The format is somewhat of a graphic novel for the very young, some pages are whole pictures, some are halved, some are quartered, just enough to keep it interesting and not too busy.    ‘Bah’ is a goat who found a sock, who immediately takes it to ‘Beep’, a robot.  Beep decides they must find it’s match and off they go on an adventure to find the missing sock.  They traipse all over hill and dale asking every animal they come across if the sock belongs to them.  After they’ve been everywhere, including underwater, they finally reach the end of the road, where there is a sign pointing ‘Go Back.’  So….Beep decides they’ll never find the matching sock and they’ve reached the proverbial ‘end of the road.’  They  turn around to go back, and there’s the sock, stuck to the side of Bah, the goat.  We’ve just never seen it because it’s on the wrong side, and they’ve been going in one direction.  It’s so unexpected and funny and kids get it!  It has simple language and crazy colors, and the boxed pictures tell the story well.  What a treasure!

Without seeing his name on the cover, McDermott’s books are recognizable.  His use of bright, vivid colors, texture, pattern and design make his books eye-catching.  The voice as heard through the playful monkey and deadly crocodile are easily identified as McDermott’s.  This ‘Monkey’ tale originates from India and is the last of six books in this series.  The art is a collage of cut and torn paper from the area.  Although this isn’t my favorite book of the six, I would recommend adding this to your McDermott collection.  Students love his storytelling style and will enjoy this book.

King George III was the strict king of Great Britain and Ireland (1760-1820) and of Hanover (1814-20).  During his reign, the American colonies were lost after a seven-year war.  King George once stated, “I wish nothing but the good.  Therefore, everyone who does not agree with me is a traitor and a scoundrel.”  Maybe if this king were a little more flexible he wouldn’t be known as “the king who lost America!”

In the Scholastic’s series, A Wicked History, students will devour these biographies which look at the lives of some of the malicious leaders in history.  The author does a fine job of consolidating information in a logical readable way to produce an engaging and definitely NOT boring biography.  Chapters are short and easily digestible.  The authors in this series always leave the reader with the question:  “Wicked?” –  A great way to spark discussion and debate.  The illustrations are well-chosen.  Each book has a Timeline of Terror section, a glossary, a Find Out More section, an index, and an Author’s Note and Bibliography.  I highly recommend this book and this series (I have read many) as a quick research resource for intermediate, middle school and high school students AND for anyone interested in a well-done informative entertaining biography.  NOTE:  As an adult reader, I personally find this series to be an extremely informative and enjoyable quick read; definitely not dry and dull.

Two teen sisters, Kit and Fancy Cordelle, are daughters of a convicted murderer.  The sisters take on their father’s homicidal traits.  As the sisters grow apart, Fancy discovers her ability to “project” mental images of the present and uses this power to literally plant her victims in a mental projection that she likes to call her “Happy Place”.  Fancy, after a talk with her divine and dead ancestor, Cherry, decides to use her powers for other people’s murder requests  and kills only those who “deserve it”; she decides not to follow her father’s footsteps in getting caught.

This fantasy novel grabs the reader with the excitement of the Cordelle sisters’ twisted tale.  The author acts as the narrator of the story mostly telling Fancy’s point-of -view.  The ending was anti-climatic – a little disappointing which betrayed the amazing plot.  This story will satisfy readers who crave a twisted tale without the confusion of interpretation.

— Tyler Z.

“Alien Investigations” explores UFO sightings, landings, crashes, aliens, and, admittedly, some hoaxes, based on interviews and photographs.  Beginning with the first UFO report filed with the U.S. military in 1947 near Mineral, Washington, the book is organized by spacecraft shape, landings, alien types, and hoaxes.  Some cases in other countries are included, but most were reports from the U.S. The illustrations were a down-side for me.  Drawings of spacecraft and the whimsical alien cartoon characters don’t give credibility to the topic.

As Joe and his very loquacious father begin to run errands one Saturday, he notices his dad has forgotten to zip his fly.  Joe tries many times in many ways to tell his father, but he cannot get a word in edgewise.  Artist Nancy Carlson includes many clever details as Joe and his father go from place to place: pop fly at the ball field, the car license plate XYZ PDQ, picking up zip ties at the hardware store, even a little house fly that accompanies them on their errands.  Finally, at their last stop in the grocery store, Joe comes up with a creative way to get his father’s attention.  Zippers and flies are certainly the theme of this colorful book.  This could be a good resource on polite ways to talk about embarrassing or awkward subjects.

Large, colorful photographs show up-close details about the interesting home of beavers.  One learns about how lodges are built, how many beavers live in them, where they are commonly found, and how they keep beavers safe.  The layout is pleasing, the font is large, and photographs are well-matched with the text.  This book on beavers is a good introduction to nonfiction for young readers.  It contains a table of contents, a glossary, an index, a couple of resources for more information, and a Facthound internet site.  Both resources appear to be appropriate for young readers.   Other titles in the series show a look inside a bee hive, an ant nest, and a robin’s nest.

David Catrow is a terrific illustrator.  Not only do his illustrations depict the story, but from the vivid colors to the dogs’ expressions, his attention to detail makes each page a masterpiece.  This book is about a dog show that have become so popular.  Max is in the show, but seems to be a ‘hot’ dog, too.  He has to be different in some way.  Kids love dogs and they love Max!

The Brave Puffer Fish is a level 3 reader, meaning that it has full paragraphs, higher word count, and a high-interest topic.  This book really is perfect for beginning readers; easily readable, interesting, colorful illustrations, and interesting facts set in a Disney-like story.  Kids will enjoy learning to read with this book.