Sophia Grace and Rosie decide to sign up for the talent show together. Then they decided they have to make their performance a showstopper. They secretly let their classmates in on the plan. When the talent show begins and the two girls step on stage, they sing their song about lions, eagles and other animals. That is when all of the girls’ classmates enter the stage dressed as different animals. The audience loved it. The winner of the talent show was EVERYONE! The illustrations are very attractive for young readers. The authors, Sophia Grace Brownlee and Rosie McClelland, are two young British girls.

Ruby brings home a little kitten which causes Lovebird to get quite jealous. When Valentine’s Day arrives, both the kitten and Lovebird try to outdo each other to show Ruby how much they love her. Valentine’s day gets very messy until Ruby explains that there is room in her heart for two. This is a cute story about a friendship triangle that turns into love for all. Illustrations are very sweet and very pink!

A lonely little boy talks to the moon asking the moon many questions as if to find something they have in common. Soon, the boy asks the moon if it ever gets lonely and then consoles the moon telling it not to ever get lonely because he is available to to talk anytime it wants. Then they both fall  asleep. This story is very sweet with cute, colorful illustrations.

Ten years ago, I’d say this novel would not be on the shelves of my high school library.  Boyfriends with Girlfriends is the story of two sets of boy and girl friends: Sergio and Kimiko are best friends that will be juxtaposed with Allie and Lance.  Each has character flaws that make them real teenagers dealing with their sexual identity.  Even today, I’m a little hesitant to add it to the collection, but here is why I will.  Alex Sanchez created characters with such unique identities.  And I’m not talking just sexual identities.  Lance is proud of being gay but doesn’t believe someone could be bisexual.  Despite his confidence, he’s never been in a relationship…yet.  His best friend Allie is in a lengthy relationship with  her boyfriend Chip, but she is starting to feel like it doesn’t right.  Kimiko is sure she’s a lesbian, but hasn’t come out to her parents and also hasn’t been in a relationship…yet.  Finally Sergio knows he is bisexual, was tragically dumped by his previous girlfriend, and is afraid to get into a relationship again.  Yes, the sexual identity issues are a huge piece of the story, but the reality is they are for every teenager.  Should I get into a relationship?  How far am I willing to share myself both physically and emotionally?  These are questions on every teenagers mind, despite their sexuality.  Add in the pressures from parents and school and this is very much a mainstream young adult novel.  Still, librarians need to know there is tension as the teens do explore each other physically.  In particular a scene between Sergio and Lance with very heavy petting.  But Sanchez gives voice to a group of students in our schools who are not represented in literature.  American society is becoming more aware of LGBT issues of late.  If you have a LGBT group that meets in your school, then this book should be on your shelves.

Strange things are happening at Suburban High School. Celia Balustrade is a shy, “not-it” sophomore, friendless in a new school.  With inclusion in the mysterious group, The Rosary, Celia finds security and acceptance by dressing in black, acting aloof and hanging with the select group.  Dangerous accidents begin happening to girls on the day before their sixteenth birthday.  Celia questions the coincidences and uncovers a conflict between the supernatural forces of the Kind and the rising power of the Unkind. Is Celia the cause of the curse or the does she have the special power to stop the accidents?  Romance, intrigue, danger and a death occur as Celia discovers her special gifts. Imaginative powers such as being able to travel through the pages of a book are an unusual twist  in this enjoyable read from Nathan Kotecki.  Recommended for high school and public libraries.

Kids are interested in robots, especially young boys.  This book specifically addresses some of the robots used in the space program, and there are many.  At the end of the book are questions for critical thinking skills which use the common core, a great help for teachers.  The text is simple and directly explains the photo on the accompanying page.  I hadn’t realized Voyager 2 has been travelling through space for over 35 years–it’s amazing.  Students will enjoy this book and it’s photos and, who knows, it may lead to the creation of a future space robot.

Brach is a famous magician who owns and performs in the Abracadabra Hotel. However, the Great Theopolis challenges Brach to a magic contest, and the winner gets ownership of the Abracadabra Hotel. The Great Theopolis does an extreme magic trick, and if Brach can’t figure it out, then he will lose his hotel. With the help from Charlie and Ty, Brach gets the help he needs to keep t

The book is factual, but in a random way. The premise for the story is Ms. Patel’s primary grade class is going to have a visitor from a raptor center at school that day. Ms. Patel introduces her class to eagles by using a one dollar bill. The students are familiar with the U.S. symbol of an eagle in the Great Seal on the back of the dollar bill. From there, chapter one is more about symbols than about eagles themselves. Chapter two is about the eagle visitor in the classroom from the raptor center. It also answers the title question by saying,” ‘Didn’t you say he was bald?’… The bald part of its name comes from the word piebald. It means ‘having white marks. ‘ ” (p.15)  Chapter three has the class learning  “bald eagles live only in North America.” (p. 18)

The story text is written in an irregular font to represent a person’s handwriting. The sidebars , which give most of the factual information in this book, are in a test font, much like TIMES.

This should be a hit with your dinosaur lovers who have a sense of humor.

“Dear Santa, What did you use to pull your sleigh before you had reindeer?  Love, Jilly   X   X   X, ” so begins this humorous, totally preposterous account of Santa using dinosaurs to pull his sleigh before the days of reindeer. With each of the twelve page turns a different type of dinosaur is hitched up to Santa’s sleigh, while displaying comically a characteristic of said dinosaur. Dinosaurs include: Triceratops, Parasaurolophus, Pterosaurs, Velociraptors, Giganotosaurus, Tyrannosaurus rex, Maiasauras, Styracosaurus, Stegosaurus (my favorite- with their back plates strung with Christmas lights and tinsel garland ), Gallimimus,

Apatosaurus, and Ankylosaurus, Zephyrosaurus, Nodosaurus sharing the last page.

Young readers will learn pictorially and through easy text the difference between ‘before’ and ‘after’ in this part of the Exploring Opposites series.

Two or three sentences appear on the 9″ X 11″ left page opposite the full page photo on the right hand page. This occurs seven times, then the reader is given two attempts to correctly fill in two blanks using the word ‘before’ or ‘after’ in the four pages entitled – “You Try It: Before and After?”

Includes: facthound.com

word count:116