In the 2nd Chicken Little book by Sam Wedelich, Chicken Little still asserts that she is not afraid of anything and definitely not a big bad wolf especially because she has never seen a wolf. One day Chicken Little and the wolf collide and Chicken Little runs away. While trying to decide what she saw and if she is afraid, the rest of the flock is debating fight or flight. Chicken Little decides to investigate why the wolf is always running and discovers that the wolf is just misunderstood and wants to belong.

Written in Spanish and English, a young girl recounts her visits with her abuelo in Cuba. On her visits they sell fruit in the street while singing the names of the fruit. Other vendors are singing about their wares as well. The girl’s favorite visit is on New Year’s Eve where she wishes for friendship between the two countries and more visits with her family. When she returns home she misses her abuelo, but knows that they can continue to sing rhymes through the letters they send each other. The colorful illustrations by Sara Palacios are vibrant. The author’s note at the end talks about Spanglish, travel restrictions between Cuba and the United States, the singing vendors in Cuba, and New Year’s Eve in Cuba.

A young girl and her cat are outside on a dark night when they see a firefly. The night starts to clear and they see stars in the sky. The book then starts to look at natural and artificial light. It introduces vocabulary with bold text and a glossary is included at the back of the book. The text is broken up with diagrams and illustrations. There is a lot of information in the book, but it does not always flow smoothly from one concept to another. It introduces a firefly at the beginning of the book, but does not talk about how a firefly produces light. The book does focus on how light behaves and how we see light. The illustrations complement the text and help further explain the concepts. Overall I think this book is a good introduction for explaining the concepts of light.

Hayden Vargas has the reputation around school of being “experienced“, and she also happens to be extremely attractive. The other girls may be jealous of her looks and hence spread these rumors, but regardless, she is sought out by a wallflower classmate Emmaline Martin, who wants to pay Hayden for lessons in seduction. Coming from a poor family with an alcoholic mother, and a deceased father, Hayden can’t pass up the chance to earn money so takes on the challenge. Emmaline’s handsome, popular jock brother Nolan gets in the way. He doesn’t want his sister’s reputation marred by being seen hanging out with Hayden. Before too long, however, Nolan falls for Hayden. Finally, he begins to defend her.

This story is filled with “slut shaming” of Hayden by the other girls, as well as by the golden-boy jock Nolan. Hayden tries repeatedly to defend herself from this slander but why should she have to? The reader never learns what it is that she actually did to earn this reputation. There is a reference is to making out with a boy in 8th grade. But the rumors have tanked her reputation.

The story is hard to read given the mean girls and the sexist, drunk, vulgar boys. There is also sexually explicit language and images.

Running refers to Marianna Ruiz’ father who is a US Senator running on the Republican ticket for US President. As a 15 year old Cuban American from a family of immigrants, Mariana faces a new reality. Public scrutiny, 60 Minute style tour of their home, tabloids printing doctored photos and made up scandals about the family. Marianna, who has led a sheltered and privileged life to this point, but as tensions rise in her family, Marianna begins to learn things about her father that she did not previously know.

As she learns more about her father’s political positions on environmental issues and immigration, her opinion of him changes. He is not the man she thought he was. It is normal for a teen to disagree with a parent’s views, but iMarianna found it very hard to stand up and speak out against her father with their family in the national spotlight.

Running is a good coming of age story, especially for students who are interested in politics and current affairs.

After the Shot Drops is an contemporary urban story regarding two friends Bunny and Nasir who have been best friends since childhood. But things change when Bunny accepts an athletic scholarship at another school across town, leaving Nasir feeling abandoned and betrayed. It’s not all roses for Bunny, either, as he tries to fit in with his new, privileged mostly white peers. Nasir spends more time with his cousin, Wallace, who is being evicted. Nasir doesn’t understand wonder why the people in their neighborhood are so ramped up over Bunny’s scholarship when Wallace is the one who needs help and support.

Things go south when Wallace makes a sport bet against Bunny, leaving Nasir in a miserable situation. He has to make an impossible, and potentially dangerous decision.

The story is told from alternating perspectives and deals with themes about the responsibilities of great talent, the importance of compassion, the value of friendship, the importance of family, and the need for courage in difficult situations. While basketball may be what hooks in the reader, and there is plenty of basketball in the novel, it is the relationships that make the story. This book will appeal to YA readers who enjoyed Slam, The Hate U Give, Hooper, All American Boys, or The Crossover.