The honest, evenly balanced research and writing of Denver Nicks in Private Bradley Manning, Wikileaks, and the Biggest Exposure of Official Secrets in American History is refreshing.  Nicks assessment of situations, inferences from thousands of both email transcripts and personal interviews, and wry writing style give a fair critique of both t Manning and the U.S. government’s responsibility for the leak to happen at all.  Woven throughout this battle, of course, is the entity of Wikileaks itself, with Julian Assange at the helm.  Readers will not only get a history lesson, but two biographies to boot.  Nicks braids the story of Bradley Manning, from his entry into the Armed Forces to his detention at Quantico and beyond, with that of Assange, a hacker turned self-righteous solicitor of information and money, though his rule over Wikileaks ironically turns out to be more autocratic than one would think Wikileaks would allow.  Much interesting information is given about the positive connotation of the hacker community in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.  Had Bradley Manning been born 20 years earlier and had found a safe haven with his sexuality, his intelligence would have gotten him much farther in the “Information should be free” world.  But Manning has manic periods brought on by so many reasons, all of which are fairly and tastefully explored by Nicks. And his choice to pursue a military career is the perfect storm.  This text holds a wealth of information and should be in all college and public libraries.

This is an amazing true story.  I enjoyed the beautiful pictures, and the way the story helps you feel the emotions of Emily.  what a beautiful,  comforting story.  It would be fun not only to read, but to have it read to you.

Simple informative read for young readers. I liked how it told about flying and planes as they are now, and then included some of the history of airplanes and flying.  There is a fun experiment to demonstrate a jets thrust at the end of the book, and a great glossary.

Beautiful rendition of The Owl and the Pussycat.  Lovely illustrations by Robert Ingpen, sketching and paint.  This would make a beautiful updated copy of an old classic tale.

Pinned presents a refreshing twist on the girl meets boy theme – overcoming disabilities.  Autumn is the only female on the wrestling team.  Autumn has no confidence in her academic ability and is working below grade level.  Autumn’s parents take her off of the wrestling team because her grades. She can pin an opponent in a wrestling match but she faces opposition from Adonis, the team’s manager and an honor student who is wheel chair bound, when she tries to pin him down for tutoring, friendship and romance.   In addition to this dynamic, Sharon Flake brings in other realities, such as the wealthy, well educated parents of a friend of Autumn’s expecting so much of their child that she cheats her way to good grades vs. Autumn’s parents who try to show her that her education can allow her to achieve more than the hard life they have been living.  Autumn is a strong female character trying to do the right thing throughout the story.  Flake’s award winning realistic narrative writing style thrusts this plot line even further.  Many students will enjoy Pinned.  It is highly recommended!

“The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole fighter jet. It Is flown by the United States Air Force and Air National Guard.”(page 5) So begins this 32 page, 13 chapter book by John Hamilton. The photography will amaze the reader with every turn of the page. Photos taken of the F-16 flying in formation and solo, photos taken from inside the cockpit – both looking towards the pilot and giving the pilot’s view, and photos taken from below and from above the jet while in flight. The text speaks in generalities for the first few chapters and becomes more specific as it goes into its origins, pilots, cockpit, Fire-by-Wire, engine, and weapons.

Includes an eight term glossary with longer than usual definitions, and an index.

Boys will want to look through this book of action packed close-up photographs of military helicopters set in front of graphic navigation/ targeting  backgrounds. The three short chapters include: Apache Helicopters; Crew, Parts, and Weapons; and Apache Missions. Each page turn has from 3 – 5 sentences.  The jest being “Apaches are mainly used to destroy enemy vehicles. They also escort other aircraft and give air support to ground units.” (page 17)

Glossary, www.factsurfer.com, and index are included.

In this cross between a Dr. Seuss and George Jetson world where numerous diversified multiple body part (eyes, ears, mouths, arms, noses) beings live and work together, a young boy(?) receives his first flyary (diary) from his oldpop (grandfather) for his dropday (birthday). He is to use his flyary to scrib (write) about his first spaceship. The plot then revolves around his four trips to “Wurpitz Hoolo’s Spaceship Repair, Wash and Fillerup Station”.

The reader must decipher the space-age talk, often derived from synonyms we use today, but sometimes only by context clues, before the reader is off to discover the plot. I found the space-talk, though clever, makes this a slow read. How many young readers will be willing to read it several times to get to the actual story?

It’s got large, full-color photos for visual appeal, and it’s purposely written simply for early readers, but when each two-page spread is dedicated to a different food group, and only has 2-3 sentences to say about it, the information provided is so skimpy it hardly seems to justify the price.

A sweet book for dog-lovers, it tells the story of Duffy’s day, from his own perspective, hitting such highlights as his before breakfast nap, his after breakfast nap, his late morning nap, etc.  Not surprisingly, when the day ends snuggled up for a bedtime story, Duffy doesn’t find himself to be the least bit sleepy. The fun illustrations are full of personality, and bound to make dog lovers go, ahhh… Clocks scattered throughout the book tracking the time of day could be used for math practice for kids learning to tell time.