Nancy Drew has never been to summer camp and Nancy needs a vacation. Nancy’s best friend Bess talks her into being a camp counselors at Bess’s old camp. Chapter one ends, “Please don’t let there be a mystery to solve at Camp Cedarbark!” (14)

It’s Nancy Drew, so, of course, there will be a mystery. The mystery revolves around a camper who drowned about 5 years ago. One of the new counselors (Bella) wants to hold a seance, after dark, with her ouija board, to keep the drowned girl’s spirit away. Nancy takes the ouiji board away from Bella saying she will tell the new camp’s owners if the seance is held. Next, during the counselors’ swim test of treading water, both Deborah and Nancy are yanked under the water by their ankles. A few days later, the counselors’ training period is over. “Even though the past two nights had been filled with creepy, ice-cube-down-the-spine moments, it was hard to recall those feelings when the sun first shone into our cabins. Even more so now, when our cabin was full of giggling, smiling campers.” (83)

The incidences at the lake set the tune, but Nancy’s up beat spirit keeps this chilling story from becoming too scary. Nancy works with the camp’s new owners to solve who is out to sabotage the camp. Is it one of the campers, one of the counselors, or someone from the small nearby town who is out to close the camp? This story has as many twists and turns as one of the camps’ trails.

I have been at camp as an adult chaperone and this book brought back the wonderful feelings of being at summer camp.

This ‘Carolyn Keene’ writes in the present with references to Netflix and smart phones. This is not a reprint of a former Nancy Drew.

This book is more visual than text oriented, with usually two sentences per page. Those young readers who want military books will enjoy the live action photography.

Official United States military photos from the United States Department of Defense and U.S. Army fill the pages with planes and helicopters both on the ground and in the air. Troops are shown walking into the back’s of open carriers, as well, and repelling out of helicopters. Page ten shows the interior of a C-17 Globemaster (most likely) filled with four rows of 22+ troops in full army gear waiting to get to their destination.

There are specially trained people to load the various transports. Planes are used for equipment, such as, tanks and vehicles, as well as for moving troops. Helicopters are used for moving weapons, fuel, and rescue missions. “Huge ships carry thousands of soldiers. The ships can hold thousands of tons of cargo.” (14)

“Transport is the first step in many military actions!” (20)

The www.factsurfer.com at the end of the book did not seem to take this reader to any more sites.

Hal is a Hoist and Lift forklift. Hal works very hard at the warehouse moving crates all day.( Author / illustrator Ken Bowser has labeled those crates with: silly string, bumble bees, tarantulas, snow skis, kite string, toilet paper, marbles, and monkeys among other things.) When Hal gets to the last crate to move that day, ” ‘ What is this?’ he thought. Automatic Robotic Forklift the label read. Hal was puzzled. ‘A new fork lift?’ he worried. ‘Huh?’ ” (16) Was Hal’s job on the line?  Then, Foreman Frank tells Hal, ” ‘Al’s here to assist you and you’ll be his boss!’ …He could NEVER replace you, Hal! You know this place better than anyone!’ ” (22)

Young readers who enjoy Disney/Pixar’s CARS will enjoy this book, too.

The last page asks four “Big Questions” to help the reader fine tune his comprehension of this story.

Snail and Slug is a  tale of friendship between a slug and snail. Snail invites Slug into her very large home (which has a cellar, a sink, and a dishwasher) because it is so hot outside. The two develop a friendship even though they have differences. While on a picnic, Slug stands up to a bully (a banana slug). Snail and Slug become such good friends that Snail asks Slug if she would like to share her home. The illustrations are bright and colorful and the expression on the character’s faces add to the story.

The story of how three young girls: Maria Merian, Mary Anning, and Maria Mitchell changed science. The stories are told separately, occur at different time periods, and are written in verse. Maria Merian observed and painted pictures of the life cycle of insects. Mary Anning looked for fossils. Maria Mitchell mapped the night sky. All three were doing things that were deemed unladylike, but they persevered and influenced science. There is an author’s note at the end discussing how and why she wrote this book. Although this is a work of fiction, she also includes a bibliography about each girl and notes the books that were written for young readers.

The Telling, by Alexandra Sirowy, is a murder mystery and a coming of age story, which deals with social issues confronting today’s teens sensitively.  Lana McBrook divides her life into “before” and “after.”  Before includes her stepbrother, Ben; after does not.  Ben was murdered under suspicious circumstances; then others involved with Lana and Ben are also murdered.  This story is tightly written, with believable characters having realistic interactions.  There are interesting plot twists, and very good storytelling.  However, Lana does tend to go on a bit with some of her descriptions. The author is in no hurry to delve into the murders, prefering to establish the main characters and their relationships first.  The main thrust, besides the murders, is in exploring interactions among the main characters.  Lana was never part of the “in-group,“ keeping to herself along with her best friend.  After Ben’s murder, she is welcomed into this group and devotes a lot of time in learning how to resolve the sudden change.  There are elements to attract audiences of different types of literature.  There is a murder mystery, a ghost story, high school tensions, the meaning of the changing aspects of friendship, and, above all, courage in the face of adversity.  A murder mystery with surprising twists, an element of otherworldlyness, high school social angst, and personal growth for the main characters, The Telling will draw the reader into its web from the very first sentence.  Highly recommended.

This graphic novel for young readers introduces a new series dealing with how fairies come to learn of their own existence. BUT on a deeper heavier topic, it lets children know about how hard it is when parents split up.

Page one shows Cici and her father crying in front of his packed boxes and suitcases as he moves out. This happens just days before Cici’s tenth birthday. Hazel is having a hot tub party of Cici’s birthday which quite a few students want to attend, even Cici’s good friend. Since Cici’s father won’t be home for her birthday, Cici decides  to go to Hazel’s party. Meanwhile, Cici’s Abuelita comes to live with her, her mother and little sister.

The morning of Cici’s birthday, suddenly she has fairy wings. SURPRISE! So does Abuelita! Abuelita revels, ” In our familia , there have always been fairies. First, your wings grow in. Then, little by little you discover your powers.”(21) Cici’s first fairy power is the power of fairy sight. She sees people for who or what they truly are. Her mother has as many arms as an octopus, which are always busy. The girls at Hazel’s party are all chickens. Distraught by what she is experiencing at the party, Cici finally tells her friend about her father’s moving out. Her friend is not sympathetic and stays at the party, becoming another chicken.

The next morning, Cici must choose to believe in fairies or loose her fairy sight forever. Abuelita tells Cici, ” Your wings are a symbol of your powers. You must be careful who you share them with. Once you decide, you will be able to control when your wings are seen. If you give them up, however, you also give up the power to believe. You will never see wings on yourself or anyone else ever again.” (45)  Cici states, “I choose to believe.” (47)

Just as rainbows silently appear this book begins slowly building filling with falling rain until the rainbow finally shows.

It is a book of few words, but those words matched with the illustrations by John Wallace prove the old saying- a picture is worth a thousand words, especially to young readers. The two page spread of the bright rainbow up above with the small young children in yellow rain slickers pointing up to it down below a dark bluish grey sky show the wonder and awe of a rainbow. Then, the next two pages are filled with the brilliant seven bands of color as the rainbow’s spectrum of colors are listed. Followed by a two page diagram of sunlight going through a giant raindrop which bends the light into what we know as a rainbow.

Now the reader will see a double rainbow, followed by an “upside down” rainbow (20-21), followed by a rainbow at a park fountain, and at a waterfall. Then, it is revealed rainbows are full circles if you can view them from up in the sky, so there are no ends and no pots of gold. Finally, the important fact of needing to have your back to the sun is revealed. The illustrations end with that bit of information, but the very last page states five more “Facts about rainbows” not previously stated in the book.

A very readable, very informative biography of Benjamin Franklin, it includes discussion of his role as one of America’s Founding Fathers, but focuses on his role as scientist, in an era when the word scientist was not even yet in use.  It tells about his curiosity and inquisitiveness, about his lack of formal education, but his constant pursuit of understanding through reading and experimentation.  It shares how much of his experimentation stemmed from the desire to solve real-world problems, from the invention of a better stove to help folks stay warm, to the invention of bi-focal lenses so that he didn’t have to keep changing glasses.  It shares how his fame as a scientist opened doors to him in his role as ambassador.  It shares enough to give the reader a real sense of knowing him as a person, not just as a list of accomplishments.

A solid little early chapter book for beginning readers.  In four chapters, it tells the story of animal-loving Lulu trying to bring her less-than-enthusiastic grandmother around to her way of thinking, when a large, cantankerous cat is found left in a bag on Lulu’s front porch, while her parents are away.  The first time the cat runs away, grandma is thrilled, but after it find’s its way back into their lives through Lulu’s open bedroom window, when reeks all sorts of havoc, and still manages to leave even grandma sad when she disappears again.  When she’s found again, with a new batch of kittens, it’s reluctant grandma who agrees to take them in and find them homes.