Fans of the other Scaredy Squirrel books will be drawn to the illustrations, which are very much in line with the character of the other books, but I am afraid they may be disappointed as they start reading, because there is no actual story to this one.  It is instead a Christmas manual, written from the perspective of Scaredy Squirrel, filled mostly with lists, outlining his views on mistletoe, fruitcake, gifts, etc. Visually appealing, but lacking much in the way of substance.

South Dakota is one in the completely revised America the Beautiful series. This book is divided into 9 chapters before the projects, timeline, glossary, fast facts, biographical dictionary, and resources found at the vary back of the text.The nine chapters include: 1- Land, 2- First People, 3- Exploration and Settlement, 4- Growth and Change, 5- More Modern Times, 6-People, 7- Government, 8- Economy, and 9- Travel Guide.

“FARMING AND RANCHING ARE STILL BIG BUSINESS IN THE STATE, BUT THE AVERAGE WORKER IS MORE LIKELY TO BE FOUND IN A FACTORY , OFFICE BUILDING, OR STORE THAN ON A FARM.” Banking and credit cards are big business in South Dakota because of the changes in the state banking laws.

South Dakota has the Black Hills with its gold, Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary, and Mount Rushmore National Memorial. South Dakota, also, has numerous museums and memorials for Native American history, mining,  and air and space.

This book is filled with charts, graphs, maps, and photos which will aid students in attaining the Common Core Standards .

The Indigo Spell is the third book in the Bloodlines series, following the very popular Bloodlines and The Golden Lily.  Fans of the series will find familiar characters as well as new ones in this suspenseful adventure.  As with the previous books, The Indigo Spell features the paranormal with witches, vampires and Alchemists. Themes of friendship, romance and betrayal will keep the reading rapidly flipping the pages.

Steamy romance and danger will thrill the reader and have her watching the calendar for the release of the fourth book, The Fiery Heart, due out in November, 2013.

Tennessee is one in the third series of AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL books. This book is divided into 9 chapters before the projects, timeline, glossary, fast facts, biographical dictionary, and resources found at the vary back of the text.The nine chapters include: 1- Land, 2- First People, 3- Exploration and Settlement, 4- Growth and Change, 5- More Modern Times, 6-People, 7- Government, 8- Economy, and 9- Travel Guide.

There is a great combination of vivid detail and a dense, concise overview of facts and information on Tennessee*. Tennessee’s history is a microcosm of the early history of eastern North America / United States. I found it interesting to read about this area in time in relation to one of the thirteen colonies. Tennessee is unique in having had the State of Franklin, the Watauga Association, the Trail of Tears, and the Civil Rights Movement’s death of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Author Barbara A. Somervill’s prose flowed keeping my attention to the end of the paragraph, before venturing off to read the added side bars.

* contributed by T.K. Owens

“You’re traveling through another dimension not only of sight and sound but of the mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s the signpost up ahead–your next stop, the Twilight Zone!”  This book is an adaptation from Rod Serling’s original script. Read the book and then watch the episode on HULU !

On a flight from London to New York, there are a few passengers exchanging pleasantries and small talk, when for some unknown reason the plane begins to accelerate. Then Rod Serling, sitting in a passenger seat on Flight 33, says, “The plane is simply going too fast, and nothing within the realm of knowledge…or at least logic… can explain it.”  The plane lurches and is still accelerating, fasten your seat belts sign goes on, the captain makes a calming and reassuring intercom announcement, navigation and radio are both out, one passenger is oblivious, one passenger is sensing danger, and another passenger is clowning around with impossible scenarios. The pilot descends below the cloud cover to look for landmarks. Finally they are in contact with Laguardia, BUT this plane has traveled back in time to 1939. The pilot retraces his steps and the plane travels even further back in time to the days of dinosaurs. Once again, the pilot retraces his steps, this third time (is not the charm) they arrive in the future… a fourth try to get back from the ‘Twilight Zone.’

Here is a story dealing with the complexities of friendship. Two friends both sign up for the BIG RACE. They both want to win. How wiill Sox honestly help his friend Tab improve Tab’s running time when the outcome could cause Sox to loose the race. At the story’s beginning Sox is the faster runner.

As it turns out, friend helps friend to be his best. First, Sox helps Tab train for the race.  Then, Tab helps Sox make it to the finish line after Sox is injured in a fall during the race.

Includes discussion questions and an activity.

Young Scooby-Doo fans will enjoy solving this mystery by studying Duendes del Sur’s illustrations. They will also enjoy seeing Velma, Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, & Scooby-Doo, plus 15+ other words in rebus form during the reading of the story.

The gang is out in the field helping Velma’s Uncle Ted find dinosaur bones for the museum when the previously discovered bones disappear. Scooby-Doo to the rescue!

Lost in the River of Grass, the story of a two teenagers lost in the Everglades, is an absolute nail-biting, breath holding page-turner.

Written by a native Floridian, Ginny Rorby, this young adult novel appears on the Truman Award final nominee list for 2013-14.

The adventure story of how a local boy, and an urban girl ostracized by her field-trip classmates, survive four days in the Everglades with nothing but a knife, a can of Spam, and half a bottle of Gatorade, while wading neck high in swamp water and fending off alligators, wild boars, fire ants, cottonmouth, water moccasin and rattlesnakes, will keep the reader’s heart racing. An excerpt from chapter 13 provides a example of the suspense:

I raise my head to look at the gator, estimating the distance between us to be only about ten yards. It has closed its eyes, but there is something else moving through the grasses near the trail…Whatever it is slides slowly beneath the flattened grasses…”There’s another, Andy!” I grab his arm. My cry startles the gator, but it’s too late. Like a flash of lightning, a giant snake strikes the side of the gator’s face. “Holy Christ.” Andy jumps up and jerks me to my feet. I bite my fist to keep from screaming. Blood whooshes in my ears. Minutes ago, Andy and I walked right past that snake.

Issues of class, bullying, and race make this more than just an adventure story. However, this book is so suspenseful that the reader will be tempted to read the entire 255 pages in one sitting to discover whether the teens (and the orphaned ducking the girl rescues) will make it out unscathed.

Thirty four action filled baseball stories by authors including Zane Grey, James Thurber and Garrison Keillor, make up this expanded edition of Baseball’s Best Short Stories. Featured stories begin with the famous baseball poem from 1888, Ernest Thayer’s ‘Casey at the Bat’ and continuing with stories from the early 1900’s, into the 1920’s, through the 1940’s and 50’s, and into modern times with Brendan DuBois’ 2001 ‘A Family Game.’  This collection reflects the best stories of American’s favorite past time and will be enjoyed by any baseball fan.

Chasing Evil is book two in this Beast Quest series, and as such, it does not stand alone; it is necessary to read book one in order to understand what drives Tanner and how Gwen came to the story.  The legend has it that whomever wears the Death Mask will control the five magical beasts of Avantia and, therefore, control Avantia.  After the death of the last Death Mask wearer, the mask was broken in four pieces and hidden throughout Avantia.  An evil army is now on the march to retrieve all the pieces of the Death Mask and thus rule Avantia.  Apparently the evil tyrant who last wore the Death Mask has a trace of mortality left and needs the Death Mask to become whole again.  Similar to Voldemort not being all there in the first few Harry Potter novels.  Tanner is revealed as the first ‘chosen rider’ to have a magic beast and is on a quest to find the other pieces.  The last words of his dying grandmother send him to a mapmaker of a nearby village who will help him.  There he meets Gwen, the second ‘chosen rider’ whose beast is a wolf.  Gwen’s jealous, competitive twin brother turns traitor and gives the evil General Gor the locations of the mask pieces.  This is all in book one.  Then, in book two, the one reviewed here, much of the beginning goes about explaining in a not so exciting way, the story from book one.  Here, Tanner and a disbelieving Gwen, go to rescue her twin brother, Geffen.  As they come to another village which has been destroyed by General Gor, they meet Castor, the third ‘chosen rider,’ who beast is a lion.  The three of them team up to go on the hunt for Geffen and the mask pieces.  Where they find him and events surrounding his rescue are exciting, there isn’t really quite enough in this book to give the reader a reason to keep going onto books three and four.  I am curious as to how the beasts play a part in Avantia, but it sure is taking a long time to get to the point.  Many, many battles with unkillable army leaders.