Have you ever wondered what it was like for the civilians of France during World War II? I have.  The Bicycle Spy gives us glimpses of the ordinary day-to-day life in France, in 1942, along with the focal story of secret resistance to the German occupation army.

Marcel discovers his parents, town bakers, have him delivering bread to his aunt and uncle with a written coded note inside it. Resistance?

The Tour de France has been canceled due to the war but the school boys still race their bikes with each other. At school, the new girl, Delphine, talks her way into Marcel and Arnaud’s bicycle race after school. She wins. Delphine and Marcel become bicycle riding buddies. Delphine brings a scrap book of the Tour de France to the old barn where she and Marcel meet after bicycle rides. Later, in the barn, Jewish and Resistance secrets are shared between the two of them after German soldiers have shown up at their school.

The plot thickens as Marcel’s family help Delphine’s Jewish family escape from France. As much as Marcel’s parents want to keep him safely in the dark from their Resistance work, it is not possible. Marcel delivers messages for them on his bicycle under stressful conditions : carrying notes past German check-points, unfamiliar routes, a time sensitive message that arrive too late, and his bicycle getting a flat tire. All the while Marcel keeps his tired legs pumping the bicycle pedals comparing his efforts to the ordeals of riding a bicycle in the Tour de France.

Then one day, Delphine and her family are gone. Months later, a letter from Portugal arrives. No message, just a picture of a girl riding a red bicycle with a cat in the basket torn from a magazine.

“While inspired by real events and historical characters, this is a work of fiction…”

It includes a time line of World War II in France, a short history of the Tour de France, and a glossary of terms – mostly French.

This zebra book isvery thorough in covering the very basic facts about zebras such as their habitat,their body size and stripes, their food, and their babies. Their is an additional fact page in the back along with a glossary, index, and an online address link. Large, beautiful photographs accompany each page spread and support the information found on the page.

John was ten years old when his dad brought a baby orangutan home from Indonesia. John loved Raja like a little brother, but soon his parents divorced. John and Raja were separated for years until his father went bankrupt, having his home reposessed which meant Raja could no longer live with him. John decided to fly out to see Raja before he was sent to a zoo, only to find a very large, strong, and depressed Raja that had been locked up in a trailer in his father’s back yard. Raja was then taken to a zoo where he was locked up in a small cage. John takes an opportunity to break Raja out of the zoo, and find a way to escort Raja back to Indonesia. Unfortunately, John finds out the protected land there has been put in danger by the crooked government, which leaves John with a very large decision. Should he leave Raja, free to live in his natural habitat, where corporations are burning multiple acres and the food sources necessary for Raja’s survival, or allow him to be caged and depressed for the rest of his life? The author, Eliot Schrefer, traveled to indonesia to research the problems that orangutans face in their homeland. Readers will have many questions answered from this fictional book that has truths woven throughout. They will also be left with many more questions regarding a serious world issue.

Callum Hunt has been imprisoned due to the wide spread fear most have developed once the people realized that the Evil Lord, Constantine Madden, continues to live inside of Call. Under the control of an evil follower, Call is being forced to use his powers to bring back the dead. Unfortunately, the only results anyone has gotten in attempting this task is creating a kaos ridden, until Call realizes the missing step in the process and raises his friend from the dead. Soon following, a large battle breaks out, and Call must find a way to to use his powers to stop the evil leaders and their kaos ridden in order to cease the battle while keeping himself alive… if that is even possible. This intriguing book is the fourth in the Magisterium series.

Tiddler is late for school everyday and everyday he has a story to tell about why he was late. Each story is outlandish and the others do not believe him except for Little Johnny Dory who tells it to his granny, who tells it to someone else. One day Tiddler is caught in a net and he ends up far, far away. He found his way back by tracing those who had heard his story.

With the title of “…. Cried Wolf”, I was expecting the moral where it is not good to tell lies/tall tales, but this was not the case in this story. Even with this, I thought it was a cute story.

Cy is a cyclops who loves to build and create things. The one thing he cannot make is a friend. He really wants a friend so he practices making eye contact, watches how his dog makes friends, practices making conversation, and tries to look like a friend. Cy builds a chariot to share with his friend. Cy sets out to find a friend to share his chariot with. The creatures in the story are from Greek mythology and there is a glossary of mythological creatures in the front of the book and labels the creatures in the back of the book. A great book for how to make a friend.

Dean Bob’s and Lou Tweet’s announces that they are going to have a class pet show. Dean and Lou are very excited to perform, but are worried their families will embarrass them.

The entire book is written in rhyme and I felt that it bogged down the book. This is book two and I had not read book one and I was several pages in before I had figured out that Bobs and Tweets were their families. I thought that this was a struggle to read and the readers that would be attracted to the cover of this book would struggle too.

Percy and Piper are on their family’s pirate ship when a storm starts up. Piper starts to tell Percy about the legend of the Sea Spirit. The storm picks up, so their parents send them below deck. They decide to hide in the closet, but Percy believes he sees a ghost and it is the Sea Spirit. The ghost turns out to be their dad’s pirate coat and hat. This book is written with short chapters with color illustrations on every page.

Tell the Wind and Fire’s title comes from a Charles Dickens’ quote from A Tale of Two Cities: “Tell the wind and fire where to stop…but don’t tell me.” This novel is a modern day retelling of A Tale of Two Cities, and begins with “It was the best of times until it was the worst of times,” a variation on the opening of Dickens’ novel.

This novel is a mixture of fantasy and romance set in a dystopian society in what was once New York City. NYC is now a city divided between extreme luxury (the Light side) and oppressive poverty (the Dark side). The main character is a courageous young woman, Lucie Manette, who was born in the Dark half of the city, but managed to create celebrity status in the Light side. Unfortunately, her name and face were easily identified, as were those of her boyfriend. When she is so distracted by happiness and loses track of time, and has to ride home on a public train, she and her boyfriend find that their fame is a detriment. Her boyfriend is captured by guards and accused of being someone / something that shocks and terrifies her.

Will Lucie be able to save him? When both halves of the city go up in smoke, and the revolution is in full force, will she be able to survive? And if she can’t save him, will she want to live even if she can survive?

This is an action packed story with pacing that is almost too hard to sustain. Recommended for those readers who like strong female characters, action, romance, fantasy, and dystopia. And for those who enjoy Dickens.

In this semiautobiographical novel, Jim Murphy feels his teachers are always out to get him. He is determined that this year will be different, but on the first day of sixth grade he is already in trouble. His teacher is always humiliating him, including having him assist the 2nd grade onstage where he has to dress up as a banana. He and his friends set out for revenge to embarrass his teacher.