From the Blastoff! Readers, this book is all about space shuttles. It teaches students what space shuttles are, how space shuttles launch, orbit and land. There is also a glossary, to learn more and index. The book has a very nice layout with bright colored pages, great photographs and accompanying text with bolded words that are found in the glossary, as well.  All in all, a nice nonfiction book that young readers will enjoy and be able to learn a lot about space shuttles.

This is the second book in The Buddy Files series. It was a fun little chapter book about a dog, Buddy that is trying to solve two mysteries. First, he is still trying to find his first family and figure out what happened to them, making him end up at the pound. (This was the premises for the first book.) In this book, along with still trying to solve the mystery of his missing family, he is presented with a more urgent mystery. Two pugs were switched at the dog park and he is the only one (with a little help from his dog friends) who can solve this mystery and fix the situation. This is a fun series for younger grades that are quick and fairly easy to read with a little adventure and mystery.

This book is a lot like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but from a middle school girls point of view.  There is alot of drama-such as one would find in middle school.  I think the kids will enjoy reading this book.

I didn’t like the “OMG” through out the book-it offends me.

This is a fun and different version of a well known story.  The art is colorful and interesting.  This duckling has fun encounters not only with other animals but humans as well.  The African setting lends a new flavor to this old story.  It’s fun.

This book is written as a rhyme.  it is a wonderful walk through history.  I enjoyed reading the family letters as they went back and forth across the country by different means as time moved forward.

I think young readers would find this interesting, especially when you think about today’s instant communication.  It’s a fun way to study our history.

Jane in Bloom, is the story of a twelve year old girl, Jane, who loses her sister Lizzie to anorexia on the day of her twelfth birthday. This novel does not follow the typical story line of a battle with anorexia, instead it focuses on Jane and how she comes to realize that she cannot stop living because Lizzie did. The novel follows Jane as she starts to grow up, find friends, and maybe even a potential boyfriend! Jane had always felt as if she was only second best compared to her sister and when her mom leaves to “take a break” Jane thinks she was right all along. Jane and her father are on their own for the summer and when he leaves her for a business trip Ethel, his retired secretary, stays with Jane and helps her cope with her sister’s death. Ethel not only helps Jane learn to grieve and to understand her pain but move past it.  This novel explores the other side of things, what it is like to have a sibling with anorexia and how to move on.

This novel is a great pick for someone who does not want a love story or one filled with pain and sadness, but one with a touch of reality. Jane in Bloom is a fast read that is easy to get into, anyone who wants to read about the other side of anorexia should read this book!

The book Positively is a gripping story of a 13 year-old girl who is HIV positive.  Emerson Price (Emmy) has been HIV positive ever since she was born.  The book opens with Emmy coping with the recent death of her mother who was also HIV positive.   The character of Emmy is well-developed and is an honest look into the life of a teenager afflicted with HIV.  In the difficult months following her mother’s death, Emmy often feels like there is no point to live and to take her daily meds.  She has just lost the most important person in her life and is forced to live with her dad and her step-mom.  When her dad forces her to attend a camp for girls who are HIV positive she feels utterly betrayed like he is just getting rid of her for the summer.  She soon makes friends at Camp Positive and learns that she is not alone.  Emmy comes to the realization that her life is worth living when one of her new friends leaves camp unexpectedly because of health concerns. This is a valuable addition to any high school or junior high library collection because it discusses a complex issue with very realistic, human fears.

I was confused in the beginning as to what was happening.  I also didn’t understand (as the character Griffin didn’t know) how she was going to make the wishes come true.  I had to work at finishing the book.  I just couldn’t see how it was going to work out.  It didn’t make sense to me.

This book is all about caves. It is an amazing book with lots of information and great photographs. The book starts out discussing these landforms, before talking about the shapes and sizes and the three different types of caves (solution caves, lava tubes and sea caves). It also has additional information boxes, extra facts, important words, web sites and index. This is a great book with a really nice layout, photos and presentation of facts.

From the Life Cycle series, this book follows chickens from eggs to adults. The book starts out by introducing chickens, then discusses the egg, chick and adult stages. The book has a great, colorful layout with simple text that elementary students can easily understand. I really like the large, high quality photographs. A very appealing, nice addition to the farm animal section.