Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th President of the United States, is remembered for his War Against Poverty, his struggles to both win the war in Vietnam and to end it, and for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.   Johnson’s failures and frustrations as well as his successes are included, making this biography a lesson in living that will appeal to young readers.

His own experiences shaped many of Johnson’s political views.  As a young teacher in Cotulla, Texas, his students were the children of  poor Mexican immigrants.  “I had my first lessons in the high price we pay for poverty and prejudice right there,”  Johnson said later, when explaining his ideas for the Head Start program.

Quotations used throughout the book make historical issues understandable, and help readers to see how complex the difficulties a president faces can be.   Johnson’s sense of humor, and use of Texas “hill country” wisdom, show up in much of what he said.  Frustrated by what he considered unfair media coverage of the Vietnam War, Johnson said,  “If one morning, I walked on top of the water, across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read, President Can’t Swim.”

With a timeline, glossary, and bibliography, this book is a nice addition to the Presidents and Their Times series.  It gave me a far greater appreciation of Lyndon Johnson’s dedication to what he believed was right, and of his efforts to make life better for Americans.

The snowboarding competition is stiff, and rivals Tony and Jack don’t like each other on or off the halfpipe.  But when they are caught in an avalanche, they have to rely on each other’s skill to survive.  This graphic novel from Sports Illustrated Kids will likely be popular.  The color, paper, and binding are of high quality and should stand up to heavy use.  One plot hole, though, seems to put our two heroes out-of-bounds at the ski resort (although they are ostensibly competing, there are not spectators or judges).  SI Kids would have done well to include a discussion in the afterword regarding safety on the mountain.

In striking black and white, the layout of this book is simple and approachable.  Historical photographs with captions in green boxes don’t detract from the double-spaced text, while occasional human interest stories are set apart with white text on a black background.  The information is easy to find and easy to follow.  The narrative sets out the history of child labor, profiles those who sought reform, and explains the laws that were finally enacted in the U.S. to protect children and guarantee their schooling.  Very well done and a great addition to a middle school library, particularly for CBA research.

One of the series “America at War,” this title excels in photography.  The layout is busy and contains all the “text features” that we remind students to use.  The text is short and choppy, but readers may not mind as they take in the historical images on glossy paper.  This one is definitely aiming for the high-low market, but will serve the young researcher as well.

Rex is a little dinosaur who is always being referred to as, “Little Rex.” However, Rex tells everyone that he is, “Big Rex,” with his pointy teeth, sharp claws and scary growl. Soon Rex’ little siblings hatch out of their eggs which changes his opinion of himself to “Little Rex, Big Brother,” not wanting to scare them. The illustrations are cute and colorful.

The hardback front and back covers add up to a greater thickness than the pages of this very short, but glossy narrative of Desert Storm.  At 32 pages, this book may leave a discerning reader with more questions than answers.  The photography dominates each page.  Text is short and choppy, with helpful vocabulary terms in bold type and defined in boxes at the bottom of each page.  Despite the two-page spread entitled “Liberated,” the text ends abruptly with the fact that troops remained in Iraq “in the summer of 2010 and beyond.”  A scanty index is included at the end.  This book may hold more appeal to young readers interested in “war” than those doing serious historical research.

Life as a Gladiator is yet another installment in the “Interactive History Adventure” series, an attempt to combine the excitement of the old “Choose your own Adventure” books with social studies topics.  Told in breathless second person point of view, the book allows readers to take on the role of a gladiator in ancient Rome.  Depending on one’s choice, the reader might join Spartacus in a rebellion, outrun the eruption of Vesuvius, or take on an opponent in the amphitheater.  Each book in the series does provide quite a bit of good information and gives the reader a chance to walk in another’s historical shoes (or sandals, in this case.).  These books may work better in 4th and 5th grade, but they do not move very well in my middle school library.  With some more energetic promotion, however, they might launch a few kids into reading for pleasure in the 900 DDC.

Book 2 of the Blade series by Tim Bowler is geared toward the reluctant readers.  Fast-paced, violent, with super-short chapters, the slang is so thick, I had a hard time following the plot. (“He’s no dumflush dreg like Paddy’s gobbos.” — p. 29) Blade is a teen assassin, streetwise with a sarcastic attitude.  Because I hadn’t read book 1 — “Playing Dead”– I was especially confused , though as the book progressed, I realized that is Tim Bowler’s intentional writing style, to keep you wondering what will happen next.  The fact that the text is written in incomplete sentences was a turn-off to me, but may appeal to young readers.

Burglaries in Venice send teenaged geniuses from the British CIA STORM team to investigate. The three teens explore a remote island and find that Caspian Baraban, another teen genius, is behind the burglaries. With his invention of the teletransporter, Caspian plans to transport to a STORM meeting and blow up the attendants and leaders. This book is filled with many intense adventures including a high-speed boat chase, underground tunnel explorations, and remote controlled shark transportation. Alex Rider fans will eat this up!

Fadi and most of his family escape from Kabul to California only a few months before the events of 9/11 will make every American aware of his tiny country.  But in the chaos of the escape, Fadi lost hold of his little sister’s hand, and she was left behind.  He holds himself responsible, although we find out from overheard conversations that each member of the family holds himself responsible as well.  The family soldiers on, with father, a PhD in agriculture, driving taxi, and Fadi and his sister trying to fit in at school.  Fadi’s only consolation is his camera, and he is determined to win a photography contest which will allow him to travel to Pakistan with a team from National Geographic.

Fadi’s guilt over the loss of his sister is moving, and any reader will feel sympathy towards him and concern for the young girl.  Issues of prejudice in the wake of 9/11 are brought up through Fadi’s harassment by fellow students.  The major drawback to the story is the way in which the author attempts to fill in young readers’ gaps in their knowledge about Afghanistan and the Taliban.  Information is clunkily shared through conversations among adult Afghani immigrants discussing politics and current events.  The result is inauthentic, as Fadi’s older relatives would not need to hold these lengthy discussions about things they would already know, and the dialogue is clearly a vehicle for conveying necessary background knowledge.

For a more gracefully written story of pre-9/11 Afghanistan, look to The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis.  This is an additional title for upper elementary or middle school.  Includes a glossary and suggestions for further reading.