Ellen Hopkins’ best selling book Crank will give every teenager, parent, administrator or mentor to teens the gut-wrenching experience of how easily methamphetamine can turn a life upside-down.  Kristina is a perfectly normal, good kid.  She’s done everything her mother has expected of her, yet she seeks to find out about her father who lives in Albuquerque.  A drug-abuser himself, Dad barely has his life together and Kristina is not impressed.  But away from home, she is taken away with a boy who introduces her to “The Monster”.  When she’s high, Kristina creates an alter-ego named Bree.  Bree is more sexual, more risky, more outspoken.  As the summer closes, Kristina hasn’t lost her virginity, but that will change in the months to come.  Returning home, “The Monster” will keep its grip on Kristina as her mother and step-father struggle to figure out what has changed her.  Poetic license with concrete and free verse form, Hopkins fast-moving story explores the psychological side of the drug’s effects more than the physical.  There is no happy ending here, but the awareness of the drug’s torture on the user and his/her family and friends is the lesson in itself.

Set in Sudan, A Long Walk to Water is based on the true story of Salva Dut who, in 1985 at the age of 11, was separated from his family and endured horrific trauma trying to escape war torn Sudan.  After escaping first to Ethiopia and then Kenya, Salva finally immigrated to the U.S. as one of the ‘Lost Boys’ and was adopted and raised by an American family.

As an adult, Salva returns to Sudan and is reunited with the family he thought he had lost. He begins humanitarian work with ‘Water for Sudan’, an organization that drills well in areas where people never before have had access to water without walking many hours a day to carry water back to their villages.

It is Salva’s well drilling that connects his story to that of Nya, a young girl when the reader is introduced to her in 2008. Nya struggles daily to walk many miles in the blazing sun to haul water for her family. Her daily struggle for survival intersects with Salva who, a generation earlir, also was a struggling child in the deserts of Sudan.

This true story is engaging and gripping. The ending is poignant and unexpected.

This is a simplified, easy to read overview of America’s involvement in World War II. The pluses of the book include an index, timeline, glossary of terms (by chapter), short chapters, many photographs, and a visually interesting lay out.  The minuses are that it is too simplistic to be a serious reference source. In the chapter ‘America at War’, there is no mention of the war’s affects at home: there is no mention of rationing, women working on the bomber assembly lines, and no mention of the Japanese internment camps.  In ‘Weapons of War’ there is no mention of the bombing of Dresden and other devastation caused by these new weapons. In ‘War in the Pacific’ the Bataan Death March is not mentioned by name, and there is no reference to the large number of U.S. casualties at Iwo Jima. The ‘D-Day’ chapter also fails to mention the U.S. casualties suffered in that invasion. ‘Victory’ shows a sanitized photo of post-atomic bomb Hiroshima.

Overall, this book is too simplified and short on key elements of the affect of America’s involvement in World War II for it to be of much help to students doing anything but the most cursory review of WW II.

Simple in formatting and color choices, the series Buddy Books First Biographies by Abdo Publishing offers Walt Disney as one of seven American who might be of interest to children.  Name recognition alone will probably carry children over the bland color pallet of stark white with minimalistic blue and red accents.  Maps of the U.S. are helpful to give student perspective of places where Disney lived.  Pictures are both black and white as well as color, some of which take up a full page.  Large simple font make this the classic 2nd grade biography book.  An additional purchase at best.  Could be purchased for ELL students at upper grades because the name recognition will draw interest.

Secret Saturdays takes place in the Red Hook Projects of Brooklyn,  New York,  the home neighborhood of the author, Torrey Maldonado.  His intimate familiarity with the location resonates throughout the book.  The language of the book  has a genuine, honest quality that will appeal to readers looking to understanding of the pressures of teenagers growing  up and the challenge of maintaining a friendship when trust is broken.

The main character, Justin, is best friends with the coolest guy in school, Sean.  Sean the Man is mad popular with his ability to rap the best  “dissing”.  The best disser is king of the hill and is respected and not hassled.  Sean and Justin share a talent for rapping as a way to express feelings and ideas.  But their friendship is tested as Sean hides where he goes on Saturdays, which is to visit his father in jail.

Maldonado’s language choice is true to the setting of the book and the age of the characters.  Even though the age of the boys is 12, the voice will ring true to older students.  It is lively and colorful, interspersed with rapping and jive talk.  The desire to be successful in school and to have a close relationship with their moms is an uplifting aspect to the book. Introspective dialogue about the  difficulty for young men to be emotionally sensitive gives the book a dimension beyond the story line.

Middle school and high school students will relate to the language of this book  as well as a  compassion for the challenges that face young people today.  Recommended for middle and high school and public libraries.

Ethan Zohn and David Rosenburg have an amazing book series on their hands if they continue the journey to other countries in Soccer World.  Soccer is a world-wide sport that can open conversations to learn about a country’s culture.Rosenburg’s beautifully formatted, full color cartoon-like drawings work very well with Zohn’s 1st person narrative as he takes the reader on a visit to South Africa.  Both make this non-fiction text much more interesting than the standard non-fiction texts.   Beginning with the flight, readers’s arrive with Ethan in South Africa.  Chapter by chapter they see people, places, geography and animal life.  Step by step art and science projects draw more interest into the country.  Every chapter also has words2know which are then in bold when used in context.  80% country study to 20% soccer, this book will sell itself to soccer lovers who will find themselves reading for pleasure while learning about the country at the same time.  The only downfall is that chapters are only numbered in the table of contents.  In the text itself, numbers are not used – only the chapter title runs across the top of the right hand page in the header.  With a portion of every book sale going to Zohn’s Grass Roots Soccer Organization and to the Craig Willinger Foundation, which works like the Make-a Wish organization, this book will be an excellent addition to any school  or public library.

This is a superb resource for students grades 7 – 12.  Excellent organization and layout makes for easy use.  Primary source text is in bold font and illustrations are outline in bold color.  Maps, charts, time line, glossary, bibliographic sources and index support the text.  For studens who seek additional information, they can also make use of the resources given in the chapter notes.  This book, or any lone chapter from it, would partner well with the novel or film The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.  Both touch the soul in making individual victims come to life for today’s youth who are so distant from this historic period.  They will readily see that such horrible events could happen to them, to us, to all–even today.  This is perfect for any student who needs help to use primary sources in a paper or presentation.

A wonderful addition to her Young Royals series, Carolyn Meyer reveals a new tender side to Marie-Antoinette in The Bad Queen: Rules and Instructions for Marie-Antoinette.  Once Austrian Princess Antonia Hapsberg, she was the 12th child of a commanding mother who arranged her marriage to Louis-Auguste Bourbon, the process of which changes her name.  Meyer presents the voice of a 12 year old child, forced to dental extractions, French lessons and rules of etiquette from her mother that become the foreshadow-laden chapter titles in the book.  France is already physically and mentally deteriorating when she arrives to marry the shy, fat Dauphin.  While she is given beautiful things to wear and attends outlandish parties, the marriage leaves Marie-Antoinette confused more than satisfied as neither Marie or Louis know how to make a baby — the purpose of the marriage.  Most readers will probably like how Meyers paints Marie as a true companion to Louis, as she works to build the relationship by learning how to ride horses so she can accompany him on hunting trips — the only passion in his life.  In this light, one sees that this loyalty to Louis is the shining jewel in her crown, even when she had the chance to love another man passionately and also escape France with her children and her life.  Instead the rules for Marie switch to “Instructions for Madame Royale”, as Marie gives instructions to her daughter and the voice switches to Marie-Therese-Charlotte de France to finish her mother’s story to the guillotine.   Historical references such as visits from Ben Franklin add to this more positive account of the French Queen, despite the title’s implications and her lavish lifestyle.  This is highly recommended for both public and high school libraries.

The Spanish Missions of California by Megan Gendell is the most detailed of the 3 books in A True Book series I’ve read.   Focused more on the who, what, why, when, and how of the people living and working in the mission than the political ties to them, 6 of the 21 Californian missions are given a page each with a picture and text to highlight the differences in architecture between them.  The “Find the Truth” critical thinking questions presented before the table of contents both focus and bring wonder to the topic.  Answers are given at the end of the text along side other statistics. Unlike another book in this set titled Spanish Missions, this book does a great job providing maps of the locations of the missions. Full color with pictures on each page, the resources, glossary, and index pages complete this book that is recommended for upper elementary or ELL students.

With an elementary audience in mind, Spanish Missions by John Perritano would work well in secondary libraries for ELL and struggling readers.  Perritano’s 3 -4 page chapters cover the beginning of missions, Texas missions, California missions and the closing of missions.  The influences on Native American culture is discussed presenting both sides in a positive light.  No primary source material except the full color pictures  on each page.  A map indicating where each mission is located would have been useful.  The pronunciation of Spanish names and words is provided which will help readers unfamiliar with Spanish.  The “Find the Truth” critical thinking questions presented before the table of contents both focus and bring wonder to the topic.  Answers are given at the end of the text along side other statistics.  Resources, glossary, and index complete this recommended book.