Though the cover does consent that this is the Unofficial Story of Drake’s musical career, author Dalton Higgins definitely knows the rap scene and provides infinite details about the handsome Canadian rapper Drake.  Born to a father who himself was a musician, Drake was primarily raise by his mother after a divorce when he was 5.  Keeping Drake involved in activities and off the streets of Toronto was a priority and Drake participated in a variety of the arts.  At first, theater rose to the top of his successes.  His break into stardom comes during 8th grade with a TV show titled Degrassi: The Next Generation and from there the ball begins to roll.  His life as as a TV star kept rapping as a chance for release.  But Drake did record and release music starting in the early 2000’s.  Those in the rap scene were skeptical at first but quickly rose to respect his lyrics and style.  The clean cut edge and being from Canada made him different too.  And according to this biographer, Drake had a knack for connecting with the right people and the right time.

This biography is chalk full of minute details.  For the hard core rap fan who know the names and places in the history of rap, it will be an interesting read.  While the overarching structure is chronological, Higgins jumps back and forth throughout a chapter, making reference to events in 2010, 2011, or 2012 and then jumping back to the early or mid 2000’s.  This reviewers head was spinning at times and could only read a few pages in each sitting.  For this reason, Far From Over is an additional purchase for most libraries.

The Campaign by Elizabeth Karre is part of The Opportunity Series of books targeting young adult, reluctant readers.  Using the premise of a teenager getting their “dream job”, the series has ordinary teens in real career situations. “The Campaign” involves the dilemma that arises for Destiny, a senior in high school with financial concerns  limiting her hopes to attend college.  During her summer job as an intern reporter, she discovers false video tapes are being made to discredit a mayoral candidate.  Is Destiny being  paid to be a reporter, paid to uncover political shenanigans or paid to keep quiet?  With a surprising twist at the end, the expected plot is thought provoking  and  realistic..  By using hip language, realistic social situations, teenage romantic crushes, responsibility for younger siblings and money problems, the book is honest.  It could be a recommended read for a reluctant reader that is that is also facing “real” life after high school.

Seven Billion and Counting is intriguing  from the cover with the sub text of “the Crisis in Global Population Growth” to the final page with discussion of possibilities for a sustainable future.  The use of colorful photographs,  charts  and graphs show the hugeness of population numbers in the billions.  A grasp of this many humans on the planet is then discussed in the needs of these people as individuals.  For the planet to provide the basic, life sustaining  requirements, such as adequate food, water and shelter , decisions must be made beyond the boundaries of separate countries, regions or nationalities.  This book gives a clear, graphic presentation of viewing the planet as a whole organism to be nurtured and sustained in order to provide for a magnitude of human beings. Real solutions are recommended through education, public awareness, population control  and  sustainable farming.  This is a pressing problem that needs discussion and action on many different fronts.  Additional purchase for middle and high school libraries.

Andrew Jenks as a young boy felt awkward, shy and out of place. Observing life from behind a camera lens became how he could participate in life yet not have to “do anything”.  Growing up around the world, from Nepal to Belgium to New York City, he clung to family, basketball and a video camera for stability.  After making a short, humorous film to celebrate the graduation of his high school basketball team, Jenks decided that filmmaking was his passion and dream career.  This autobiographical book chronicles his journey  from boredom and depression in college to frustration with the rejection of his first  off-beat, early film projects to the realization of his dream when he is hired by MTV.  Jenks’ goals stay true to his early desire “to do something right for the world”.  His films want to deal with the real stuff that is happening to his generation: homelessness, mental illness, aging and loneliness, poverty, abuse, addiction.  As he states it: “My plan was to tell engaging and substantive stories about important issues, masked as entertainment.”  Using photos, graphics and decorative text, the message that art is a powerful medium to inform and enlighten society is reinforced.  This is an excellent book on many levels.  Highly recommended for all high school and public libraries.

The book offers primary readers an opportunity to accompany a variety of animals to the local fair which culminates in a monster truck show.  The monster truck show features one of their friends driving his own monster truck in the finale.  This cast decides they have some time to kill before the big show and set off to explore the fair and all its rides.  When the time arrives for the big monster truck show, Franco ( the large dog assigned to drive the truck) breaks his glasses.  The crisis is averted when the hamster and friendly mice step in and drive for Franco.

The tale reinforces sizing, sequencing, and includes the young reader in a series of choices connected to the day at the fair.  Readers becomes another friend accompanying the animals to a day at the fair and monster truck event.  It stresses how things can be categorized, such as that rides that are fun, rides that are fast, rides that are both, and offers a variety of food that enables the reader to engage in more choices.  The illustrations reinforce the choices for both the reader and the characters.  Through the illustrator’s vision, primary children have a door that they can enter and spend a day at the fair and monster truck show.  The author and illustrator invite the young reader to accompany the animals on their journey through the fair.  Children are constantly included in making choices, problem solving, and what can be accomplished when all of us work together.  I would highly recommend this book for those working with pre-K and K age groups.

This well written and illustrated biography chronicles Joe Dimaggio’s legendary streak of hits in 1941.  Juxtaposing World War 1 and a world rapidly changing, America’s pastime and legendary Joe Dimaggio’s streak of hits comes alive for upper elementary readers.  The impressionist inspired illustrations transport the reader to this era and the writing weaves mere facts into a captivating story.

This  author highlights one man’s accomplishments in baseball.  In spite of the looming war and the loss and recovery of his favorite bat “Betsey Ann”,  Joe Dimaggio manages to set a record hitting streak that ended with a total of 56 games.  The writer brings history alive for the readers and what could be a list of dry facts becomes one man’s struggle to become the best baseball player he can for his team.  Figurative writing accompanies the dream-like drawings blending a tale that will capture a ten and eleven year old imagination.   Yet the author’s note, annotated source notes at the end  and quotations on the end pages remind a reader that this is in fact non-fiction and could be used as a source for a research report in elementary schools.  Recommended for school and public libraries.

This is a beautiful book.  I love the illustrations and the story.  This is a story of Alfonso who loves Ida, but Ida doesn’t even look at him she is always reading.  He decides to bake her an apple cake.

Alfonso makes the cake and puts it in the oven to bake and Ida looks up to see what smells so good.  Together they eat the cake.

There is a recipe for Apple Cake in the back of the book.

This book will fill the ‘outlier’ spot in the primary grades COMMUNITY units.

Three reasons are stated for why homes move and not just the people: “so  their animals can find food” ( p.5), “to sell things in different places “ (p. 6), and “to see new places.” ( p. 7) These moving homes shown inside and out include: house boats, mobile homes, and tents- both past and present.

There are one or two large font print sentences beneath each photo on each page.

Last but not least from page 24, there is a list of countries of where these photos /homes are from: Kerala, India; Turmi, Africa; Daraw, Egypt; United States; Kashmir, India; Marseille, France; Russia; Omnogov, Asia; Khovsgol Province, Mongolia; Kyrgyzstan; Tunisia; Canada; County Mayo, Ireland; and Bamiyan, Afghanistan.  ... “Discuss how homes provide us with a place to eat and sleep, and keep people and their things safe from the weather.”

Wow, I need to get out and see more of this world!

This is a counting book for PreK- through first grade. There are no facts or descriptions of the animals in this book.

Full-page photos (7″ x 6″) are on the left page and a 4.5 inch tall baby blue numeral with the number word and name of the animal superimposed on top of it are on the right page. The name of the animal is enclosed inside a bubble on the left page: humpback whale, crab, clownfish, sea lion, starfish, African penguins, brown pelicans, octopus, sea nettles (jellyfish), and stingray.  There are ten pages of this.

Example ( Humpback whale)   1   one whale,  (Crab) 2 two claws,(Clownfish) 3 fish, (Sea lion) 4 four flippers…

Only the sea nettles does not have its name inside a bubble on the left hand page.

The animals fill the space nicely and the parts are easy to see for counting.

This 7.5 ” x 6.25 ” book captures 6 different Arctic animals. Each animal is presented with a fact or two in large font print followed by an addition sentence. The number of  animal(s) on the left page are added to the number of animals on the right page for six consecutive page turns.

caribou 1+3=4, Arctic foxes 1+1=2, Arctic wolves 2+3=5, fur seals 2+2=4, polar bears 1+3=4, and walruses 2+4=6

This book supports the national science standards, too.

For those readers who want more the NOW TRY THIS! page asks the reader(s) to find pictures of animals in magazines or online to create their own animal number sentences.