Reminiscent of Clementine by Sara Pennypacker, Just Desserts is a sweet little novel about an 8 year-old character nick-named Dessert.  Dessert is the oldest of 4 children in her family and feels tormented by her younger siblings.  Finding that her friends at school are like-minded about their siblings, she forms a club called The Annoying Siblings Club.  Dessert charges a joining fee and gleefully begins spending the money on hot lunches and other treasures.  At first this club seems like the answer to all of Dessert’s problems but it soon backfires as members become dissatisfied with her advice.  The setting of the story alternates between school, home and the family’s gourmet restaurant.  The characters are believable and fun.  Dessert’s quirky teacher Mrs. Howdy Doody is a particular crack-up.  This second book the the Dessert series follows Dessert First but works just fine as a stand-alone.   I enjoyed this little novel and would recommend it for 1st gr. through 4th grade readers.

Older teenager, Nola, travels from Massachusetts to Maine for a summer job.  Nola is seeking to find herself because she has been the caretaker of her little sister who has cancer.  On her way to Maine, she meets another girl on the bus, Carly, and they quickly become friends.  Is Carly really who she says she is?

This is a book about finding one’s true identity.  The author has written a very unpredictable story sure to capture the reader’s attention.  Teens can easily relate to the characters.  Readers are guaranteed drama and conflict.  Readers are left with a strong message about self.

— Briana W.

This is an amazing story!  Reading this story with children from countries where they go to beautifully furnished, comfortable buildings is an eye opening experience.  They learn of children in a country where their school is built by the children and teacher out of natural materials they are able to gather.

The pictures and story are full of love for learning.  It opens your eyes to how much some people do for the priviledge of learning.

This story is an easy read.

This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of a pioneer family traveling in a covered wagon to the Oregon Territory.  The main character is young Cora whose mother died on the trail in childbirth.  Cora’s father asked the baby’s aunt to raise her and she agreed.  Sadly, Cora’s aunt was going to California and they parted ways along the trail.  Before they parted however, Cora made a quilted cloth book for her baby sister Susan, featuring memories from their wagon trip.  The story flashed forward several years to find Cora as a young school teacher down in California.  As she meets her students, she asks them to bring in books from home.  One young student named Susan came forward with her quilted cloth book, the same one that Cora had made her years before.  Sisters were reunited!  This book was a delight to read and is perfect as a read-aloud to our 3rd grade students who study the pioneers.

This delightful version of  popular Aesop fables was fun to read and easy to understand.  The author, Bob Hartman, retold these fables in a way that emphasized the moral lesson without lecturing.  The writing flowed well and the story shop theme neatly tied all the fables together.  The illustrations were beautifully detailed with vibrant colors.  This book will be a wonderful resource to students studying fables or who simply enjoy reading these timeless stories.

I learned a LOT about iguanas by reading this little non-fiction book.  Topics include size, diet, where they live, physical features, how they reproduce, and the history of keeping iguanas as pets.  The focus of this book, however, is the reality of having an iguana as a pet such as:  how to buy them; creating a safe environment and habitat; caring for the iguana; concerns and problems that cause people to give up their iguanas; and safe handling.  There is a glossary, index and table of contents as well as a page that lists books and web sites to learn more about the topic.  The pictures and illustrations in this book are engaging, detailed and compliment /reinforce the text.  A great addition to the pet section of our library.

This contemporary story, based on the tale called,  The Three Billy Goats Gruff, has a contemporary twists which is congruent with it’s contemporary illustrations.  In this tale the goats are the antagonists who are rude and intimidating to the cute baby troll who is just beginning his role as an ogre under the bridge.    The language and theme have been updated and it would make a good accompaniment to the original version.  Nice addition to an elementary library.

Jan Brett has done a wonderful job with this African version of The Three Little Pigs.  The vibrant and detailed illustrations bring the story alive and include Ms. Brett’s characteristic inset illustrations which peek the reader into other settings of the story.  In this story, three dassie sisters come to the foot of the mountains in the Namib Desert.  Upon arrival, they are greeted by Agama Man, a wise lizard, who warns them of the eagle family.  The sisters build their respective homes and are whisked one by one to the eagle nest to be supper for the eaglets.  Fortunately, Agama Man saves the day by rescuing the dassies and leading them to safety in a stone house.  When the eagle tries to enter the stone house through the chimney, her feathers are scorched, blackening her all over.  The last page of the story explains that the dassies still live in the Namib Desert, nested in stone houses with an agama lizard keeping watch for the black eagles who hunt the dassies to this day.  I highly recommend this book and plan to read it aloud for elementary story time.

This little non-fiction book about tarantula spiders gives a digestible amount of information for 3rd to 5th grade students who are studying this topic for a report or simple interest.  Each chapter is two pages in length and features large, full-color photographs of the spiders.  Topics include:  an introduction, sizes, shapes, colors, where they live, senses, defense, food and babies.  There is a glossary and index.  Readers are directed to the ABDO web site where additional related web sites are listed for more information.  I would prefer if the author just listed the additional related web sites to save the reader the time of completing the extra step of researching the ABDO web site.   On the shapes page, there is a very clearly labeled diagram featuring all the parts of the tarantula body.  Unfortunately there is also a typo that says “The abdomen hold’s the spider’s heart.”  Overall, the information is interesting and clearly presented.  The captions relate well to the photographs and provide additional facts that keep the reader engaged.

Filled with engaging photographs, this biography of Tina Fey does a nice job bridging Tina’s youth to the hard-working, talented celebrity she is today.  We got a nice glimpse of her personality in middle school (studious, obedient, and active in activities) and her clean-cut high school years (AP nerd, didn’t party), yet admittedly jealous of the popular girls.  A talented, witty writer, Tina Fey has the distinction of being the first female head writer for Saturday Night Live.  After reading the non-fiction book “Queen Bees and Wannabes” about adolescence cliques, Tina used this self-help book as a basis for the successful movie “Mean Girls.”  With impressive credentials, Tina went on to write and star in “30 Rock,” her current project, which has earned seven Emmys.  The author is fair about reporting the disappointments and failures of this actress, too, earning a rating of “R” from me!