Crash is the story of a girl, Gloria, who on her flight home from losing an important music competition, crashes in the middle of the Arizona desert. Some of her fellow passengers are dead; others injured. Some head across the dessert looking for help. Faced with the realization that all of her technical ability at violin will not help her in this desperate situation, she must rely on her survival instincts, as the chance of rescue is remote.
While this is not the best written novella (there are some awkward sentences and some mildly unrealistic plot turns), the story is action packed. There is a certain amount of gore, a bit of romance, and the story will appeal to readers who enjoy adventure. The reading level is such that it is an appropriate book for both middle and high school students.
Crash is part of the Survive series, but the titles are stand alone.

Stolen Secrets is a contemporary story of a teen girl, Livvy, and her alcoholic mother who has that has kept a Holocaust secret from Livvy. What is the family secret? Is grandmother a Holocaust survivor? Is she from a Nazi family? This book has multiple plot lines and themes, and switches point of view repeatedly from the memory of grandmother as a young girl decades ago in Nazi controlled Germany, to Livvy in current day San Francisco. Topics addressed are what it’s like for Livvy to be a new girl at school; homesickness for friends; alcoholism; family secrets, neo-Nazis; predatory elder care; armed robbery; and a romance.
This novel is a page turner. You won’t be able to put it down.

Every night wishes are sent to the rabbit on the moon. The wishes as stars to the sky. Rabbit has a wish. He wants friends, so one night he takes a wish and comes to earth. He has a great day with new friends, but at night there are no stars in the sky. Rabbit realizes he must say good-bye and return to the moon. The text is lyrical with only a sentence on a page. The illustrations are beautiful and complement the text.

A little pup cannot go to sleep. He tries counting sheep, counting stars, chewing on a bone. The moths and butterflies tell him to go to sleep. A fox and a badger tell him to go to sleep, but the little pup cannot sleep until his mom covers him with a soft blanket. The text is rhythmic and engaging for young children, but I think the illustrations steal the show. The colors are vibrant, yet the illustrations are soft.

Kristen Hall relates how bees collect nectar, pass on the location of the flowers and a brief look at the rolls of different bees from spring to spring through a rhythmic lyrical text. Readers may not realize they are learning information about honeybees until they dive deeper into the story.

The colors of the book mainly focus on the golden yellow, orange and black with a few muted other colors in the background.

The text seems to be geared towards younger readers, but information at the back might be for the slightly older student.

Houses can be in the treetops or underground. They can be made of bubbles, sticks or clay. This book goes through different animal dwellings. Giving a brief description of how what type of animal lives in that home and what it is made of. The watercolor illustrations add a softness to the page.

Some animals are familiar, while some animals readers may not have heard of before. Some of the animals included in this book are beavers, rock-boring urchin, common swift, termites, and Mexican book beetles.

The information is brief on each page and at the back their is a short paragraph on each of the different animals in the book. This would be a good introduction to different types of animal homes.

A young Japanese American, Katherine Tasaki, turns in her library card and books to the librarian. She tells the librarian, Clara Breed, that she will be moving soon like all of the Japanese. Clara gave Katherine a stamped postcard and asks her to write so that she knows where they are. Clara went to the train station as the families are leaving and handed out books and more postcards.

The story is told partly through the postcards the children write to Miss Breed. They discuss where they are, things that happen and the living conditions. They also thank her for the books that she sends to them.

An author’s note at the end includes more information about Clara Breed, notable dates in her life, selected history of Japanese People in the United States as well as a bibliography and resources for further reading. The end papers include photos of Japanese Americans on their way to or at internment camps.

Max Patkin wanted to be a professional baseball player, but due to injuries he ended up being a baseball clown. Before there were team mascots, baseball clowns would entertain baseball fans. It started after Joe DiMaggio hit one of his pitches and Max chased him around the bases while making faces. When he could no longer play baseball, he took to entertaining the crowds.

An interesting look at a different side of baseball history. The illustrations are colorful and add to the fun of this true story. The author’s note at the end includes photographs of Max Patkin, information and a bibliography.

This is the 40th Anniversary Edition of this title- All Kinds of Families. It is in picture book format, but can and perhaps should be used for all age levels. “Children need grown-ups who take care of them.” Almost every kind of family imaginable is in this book in one place or another: big , little, new, old, multi-generational, grandparents, two mothers, two fathers, aunts and uncles, adoptees, step sisters and brothers, people with different last names, multi-racial, and on and on. The important thing is that people “living together, sharing good times and bad times… growing together.” Families are ever growing and expanding with marriages, births, and deaths. When families get together for holidays, birthdays, weddings, and sad times stories are told and retold.  “Their family feelings keep people close, like a strong, invisible circle.”

This book is a wonderful jumping off point for discussions on what family is for you and others. Illustrator Sarah S. Brannen has done her part to positive provide families from different ethnic and culture groups, as well as, different age groups. Very well done!