They’re called ‘freaks’ because they’re unusual and look unusual.  The main character is Sheba, who doesn’t have any family and grew up in a shanty on a rambleshack pier not far from London in the 1850’s.  She is sold to Mr. Plumpscutte, the proprietor of a traveling carny or freak show.  Sheba’s unusualness is that she has hair all over her body, including hands and face.  The older she gets the more she looks like a wolf-girl and is able to channel the snarling and gnashing teeth of a real wolf.  Other freaks in the show include Monkeyboy, self explanatory, Mama Rat and her trained rats, Gigantus, again self explanatory, and Sister Moon, an Asian girl with awesome Ninja skills.  This is the first ‘family’ that Sheba has known.  She is only required to sit and have paying customers come and stare at her.  One such customer was a small eight-year-old girl, stinky and filthy, who was fascinated but not frightened by Sheba.  The girl, Till, gave Sheba a broken marble, but it was the first thing anyone had ever given her and she was touched by the friendship.  Shortly afterwards, Sheba learns that Till has disappeared, as have other poor children who work along the riverfront.  Sheba and her ‘family’ set out to find her and the others, even as it becomes apparent that the people responsible for the missing children are willing to kill to keep their secret.  Larwood does an excellent job with characterization as well as the setting.  I actually thought I was beginning to smell the river’s waste.  The action is exciting as Sheba and her friends close in on the villains.  A well-rounded debut novel.

Shocking Sharks has a cover showing the head of a shark with it’s mouth open and it’s large, sharp teeth.  Also on the cover is a blurb stating, Walk on the Wild Side.  Altogether, the title, the picture, and the blurb are leading you to think that this will be a scary-in-a-good-way book.  But it’s just a ploy to get you to open the book.  In it you’ll find a pretty tame information with nice photos about sharks.  Nothing shocking or wild about it.  Kids all love shark books so this will make a nice addition to a school library.

Bone by Bone does a fine job of comparing the human skeletal structure to other animals and seeing the similarities and differences.  All vertebrates have a skull, ribs and a spine.  The differences come from the length or placement of our bones.  In thinking about the addition or removal of bones lets students picture different types of animals.  An interesting book with clear illustrations.

This is a graphic novel which is quirky, fantasy, humorous, and a touch manga, delivers information to the reader which engages them beyond just the plot of the story. The setting is the city of Chicago and the main characters are really quite innocent, which is refreshingly different than many of of past and current graphic novels.  The boy, Raf, is hoping to create an app which deciphers his dog’s language so they can communicate.  Space aliens, high-stakes dog show, scientists using animals as specimens,  visit to the animal shelter each have something to communicate to the reader.    I really liked the contemporary plot, and the illustrations were free from sexualizing the female characters.  Appropriate for elementary school aged readers.

This nonfiction book has a sense of humor!  Which can be refreshing when reading a biography.  Cartoon captions are throughout the book with humorous references to difficulties or obstacles facing Sir Issac Newton.  Well done account of his youth and struggles in school and finally into world of science, even at the expense of contradicting his religious faith.  Accomplishments, discoveries, and honors are described in this intermediate, elementary level book.

As Book One ended, Opaline had finally gained her super powers, but was using them for BAD! As Book Two begins, Opaline’s three former besties are determined to change Opaline back from the dark side. The Ultra Violets (UVs)  begin to plan a surprise birthday party to win Opaline back to them – Operation Get-O, not Ghetto. But the UVs plan gets derailed when Opal plans her own 12th birthday party inviting everyone, except the 3 UVs. Opal is planning on shocking the entire 6th grade class, at her birthday party, “INTO HER ELECTRIC ZOMBIE SLAVES!” (pg. 193) The UVs are crashing Opal’s party in a spaceship disguised as a cloud, “like the Greeks rode in on the Trojan Horse!” (pg. 218) ” The Ultra Violets foiled Opaline’s plot to reprogram their Chronic Prep class…”( pg. 307) And now, as Book Two comes to an end, the mayor has asked that an UltraViolets signal be made [much like the Bat Signal] , which is a good thing because Opaline has not given up the idea of taking over the students in her school, but the entire city, too, if her mother has her way.  STAY TUNED for BOOK 3!

All printed in purple ink.

This is a great counting book.  The pictures are great with lots of color.  This is the best counting book I have ever seen.  It was a lot of fun and the story was interesting.

I love the “How Do Dinosaurs…” books and this is a good one too.  This book is really a lot of fun.  It’s very informative.  My brain couldn’t understand the title, so I started reading the book.  I got pulled through quickly.  I was entertained and amused and I now know how to behave for Chanukah.  The pictures are wonderful.