In this fourth installment of The Faeries’ Promise, Alida, the faerie princess, helps the nearby villagers, thereby breaking Lord Dunraven’s law that states no contact between humans and faeries.  In order to feed his increasing army, Lord Dunraven exacts a larger toll on the villagers by forcing them to give up half of their food.  Worried that the villagers will starve over the winter, Alida uses her magic to hide half of the food for the villagers.  In turn, the villagers find out that the faeries have returned to their nearly home and invite them to their Winter Feast at the first full moon.  The humans and faeries learn to trust one another again.  However, Lord Dunraven, whom everyone fears, both villagers and faeries both, and his daughter are stranded in a winter storm and Alida’s compassion rescues them.  In doing so, Alida has forged a friendship with Ellen Dunraven who promises to change the law when she takes over from her father.  Again, an interesting story which should be popular with girls.

Wishes and Wings is book #3 of The Faeries’ Promise series, so there was some background that was necessary to understand the story.  The story revolves around Alida, a faerie princess, whose mother is the queen of all the faeries.  Alida had been recently reunited with her family after being kidnapped and spending years locked away in the human lord’s castle tower.  She became friends with a human boy, and together they were able to escape the wicked lord’s castle.  The boy, Gavin, joins the faerie realm and together they all move back to their original homeland, through a long and treacherous journey.  Once there, the faeries work on rebuilding their community but the difference from before is that the lord’s soldiers are looking for them.  They must use their magic to conceal their existence, only Gavin knows.  Their work is interesting and there are a couple of times when the soldiers are close to catching them.  It isn’t too difficult to catch up on the previous two installments of this series, but it is difficult to read this as a stand alone novel.  As a series, it is worthy of having in the library and I have already ordered books one and two.

This book is about a boy named Jacob who was a trouble maker especially for substitute teachers.  He has a friend Dexter and Sarah.  After causing a disaster in the classroom and getting kicked out of school, his mother picked him up and took him home.

When Jacob and his friend Dexter and Sarah were in the back yard they spotted a spaceship and the spaceman wants to trade the ship for a corn dog.

Then they travel into space and have many more adventures there.

This book was hard for me to read, there were so many things going on I got confused.  May a fourth or fifth grader would like to read it.  and it was way to silly for me.

In this suspenseful crime novel, teenage Oz tries to prove his brother’s innocence after a dead body is discovered in the family’s restaurant freezer.  Oz learned that his father, a nuclear scientist for the U. S. government, was actually selling secrets to the Russians prior to his dad’s death.  The dead body is that of the magazine reporter who broke the story of Oz’s father’s traitorship.  Oz’s brother is quickly connected to the crime.  Oz won’t rest until he proves his brother’s innocence which leads to the uncovering of a massive conspiracy on all levels of government.

The author writes this story from Oz’s point of view; the reader will want to put themselves into Oz’s shoes and make decisions for him.  The characters are very well-developed.  The plot has many twists and turns that the reader will not see coming.  One will be able to put the pieces of the crime puzzle together only to have to reassemble them on the next page!  An exciting read with unexpected events at every turn of the page.  Readers will be enthralled with this page-turner!

— Cameron L.

A visual delight for children to take this “abecedarian journey” through our planet’s ecosystems, geological wonders and weather phenomena. Enlarged, captivating watercolor drawings rivet your eyes, as the side bar text informs and instructs. A poem accompanies each letter to ground your mind to the subject. I appreciated learning about an unusual geological landform called karst, which is dissolved bedrock making underground passageways and caves. Oversized format makes it ideal for group sharing. Back matter includes a discussion…What Does Climate Change Mean? Words appear to be explained in the text, in lieu of a glossary.

Nocturnal life in the forest is brilliantly illuminated throught poems, compelling linoleum-block print artwork, and detailed notes of the subject on each double-page spread. The poetic forms are quite varied as nine creatures are featured…snail, primrose moth, great horned owl (Dark Emperor), orb spider, baby porcupette, cricket, wandering red efts (newt, salamander)…plus the oak, mushrooms, and the moon. The closing “Moon’s Lament” is in the medieval style known as an ubi sunt…that laments the loss of heroic, beautiful things.
“Where are my ghostly shadows,
my pools of of molten silver,
poured with such extravagance?
Where has it all gone-
my glory,
my radiance-
now that day as come?
Alas. Another eternity of sunbeams to wait.”
Final Glossary aides the reader with science terminology. A gem of a book appropiate across curriculums. (Listed in Boston Globe’s Best Books of the Year 2011.)

Utilizing both novel text and graphic novel, this historical fiction may appeal mostly to reluctant readers. Based on the late 1970’s where, in California, a drought caused most swimming to be emptied, skateboarders honed their skills “in the deep end”. A surfboarding store, in Venice Beach, (Zephyr Productions) joined with a skateboarding team (Z-Boys) to promote their business. One team member, Tony Alva, eventually wins 1st World Champion of Professional Skateboarding, and features in the plot. The protagonist, Skip, a gifted skateboarder, moves from California to Ohio. He wants to be included but gets connected with the wrong gang/bullies. Eventually he enters a skateboarding tournament with the “good guys” and Tony Alva scores him a 10. The story abruptly ends there, leaving open opportunities for the reader to “discuss” what happened next. With a Time Line, Discussion Questions, and Writing Prompts as part of the back matter, this book lends itself to reading with a supportive adult. The manga-ish graphic flash cover and illustrations, plus simple text, may be just what you need for a specific reader.

This book is full of bright watercolor illustrations to compliment a story line featuring Sebastian and his friends on a camping trip.  Along the way, they discover they are missing some of their equipment, setting up subtraction problems.  The readers can work together to solve the math problems and learn more about fact families.  This combination of math and literature combines disciplines in a way that makes learning fun.

This book describes the operation and professionals who work at TV stations.  The text is a bit dry, although informative.  The glossary and index at the back of the book are very brief and the illustrations are ok, but not particularly good quality or very interesting.

Set in the late 1590’s, this book follows Shakespearean Actors in London.  What is theater life like, for novices up to experienced actors?  What happens when the plague hits London and the show must hit the road?  These topics are explored in fascinating text and cartoon-style drawings in the first half of this book.  The second half focuses on Shakespearean life in London after the famous Globe theater is built.  There is a glossary and index.  The Accelerated Reader test is level 5.1, .5 points.  This series presents information in a understandable, interesting and comical format.