In the early 1800s, Molly Williams was a cook for Mr. Aymar and his volunteer firefighters.  One winter, when many volunteers were ill with influenza, a house caught fire.  Molly rushed out, gathered boys to warn others, and raced to the equipment shed.  She put on a helmet, gloves, and “splatterdashes”, assisted the struggling men pull the pumper to the fire, fill it with buckets of water, and pull burning wood away from the house.  Molly is known as the first female volunteer firefighter.  There is an author’s note and some frequently asked questions and answers in the back.  Both author Dianne Ochiltree and illustrator Kathleen Kemly attempted to portray Molly and the early firefighters as accurately as possible.  There is an extensive list of books to read, websites and links, places to visit, and a bibliography included.  Many historical facts are included in the story and represented in the illustrations.

The first three-fifths of this book about social networking is devoted to methods of communication – how Americans historically have formed communities. It begins with cave painting and wampum and eventually moves to the printing press and the telegraph. But it is only the last 20 or so pages that talk about what our students would recognize as social networking. And 20 pages is hardly adequate for a thorough discussion of media fandom, gaming, the World Wide Web, the Information Superhighway, blogging, YouTube, and devices such as smart phones. The title is misleading and students will be disappointed if they expect much information on what they consider social networking.

Bold and colorful paintings of animals and trees of the Kalahari Desert help tell the tale of friends Ostrich and Lark.  Ostrich and Lark spend each day together, wandering under the African sun.  Lark sings and flits as Ostrich remains silent.  One day, Ostrich surprises Lark and the veld by booming his own powerful voice.  Marilyn Nelson begins the book with a note about the !Kung San, one of the many indigenous people of South Africa.  The paintings are done by six members of the Kuru Art Project of Batswana.  Broad, colorful strokes in vibrant oranges, reds, greens, blues, and browns create vivid images which complement this simple tale.

What a fun introduction to rules and routines in a kindergarten classroom!  A little girl loves school and one day invites her mom to stay.  She is shocked when her mom enthusiastically joins in – blurting answers, being messy, not following expectations…  She constantly reminds her mom how to behave and be appropriate so all children can learn and share.  Mom admits that kindergarten is hard work and that she should probably stick to doing big-people jobs.  Her daughter gave her a hug and told her she was really good at being a mom – then gently reminded her to get in line so the class could be dismissed.  Mike Lowery’s expressive cartoon-style illustrations are a perfect match for the many classroom activities in kindergarten.

Lena Blackburne wanted to play baseball and become famous.  He played on many professional teams but was just an ordinary player.  He did, however, become famous.  As a coach, he learned that new baseballs were too shiny to throw and too hard to see.  Different methods used to break them in were unsatisfactory.  One day while fishing, he stepped into some soft, gooey mud that was slightly gritty.  He rubbed the mud on baseballs and let it dry.  When he rubbed it off, the baseballs had lost the shine and were not soft or smelly.  The “new” baseballs were easy to throw and see.  Lena Blackburne’s baseball mud mad him famous.  To this day, Lena’s mud is the only substance allowed on major-league baseballs.  Although Lena Blackburne never made it into the Baseball Hall of Fame, his mud did!  A short author’s note adds more information about the famous mud but not the secret to what makes it work.  Illustrations by Oliver Dominguez are large, colorful and depict the energy and emotions of the sport.

Merle is 18 and ahead of her time in 1978.  Head strong but a drifter at heart, art school seems like the perfect path out of her isolated Appalachian upbringing.  But she flounders, drops out, lives in poverty and steals spray paint to graffiti her Radiant Days tag around town.  Her sexuality is explored, but is not the intent of the novel.  Instead, readers are introduced to Arthur Rimbaud circa 1870– Merle’s cosmic twin.   Hand switches to writing in 3rd person as readers look through a window into the poet’s turbulent teen life.  Chapters then switch back and forth between Merle’s 1st person voice and Rimbaud’s 3rd until the two finally meet.  Driven together by a magic key and a lock house, the two learn about each others art and ultimately about themselves in the course of one night in which they cross between 1978 and 1870.  Leaping through that mystic void of time allows each to see that they have a purpose in their own lives that will focus their art.  Hand’s writing is very lyrical and allows for introspective opportunities for the read as well.  A daunting novel to attempt, this is a heady work that artsy high school students will grapple with and most likely enjoy.

I remember the red poppies sold by Veterans ever since I was a child but did not know the significance of the flower.  After WWI, in France, thousands of soldiers who sacrificed their lives for freedom lay and each spring are covered in a blanket of red poppies.  Moina Michael was a patriotic professor at the University of Georgia, and near the end of WWI, determined to remember those fallen heroes, made the red poppy the ‘miracle flower’, a remembrance of those who were gone.  Veterans for decades have sold the flowers near Veterans and Memorial Days, the proceeds going towards helping veterans and their families.  Sadly, after reading this book, I looked online for more information about Moina Michael and on a website from the UK found almost the whole story verbatim that was written in this book.

Well, Albert Pujols is a good-looking guy, born in the Dominican Republic and plays terrific baseball.  That’s all this book tells you.  Since Pujols is a current major-leaguer, I don’t mind having this book on the shelf.  However, guys this good usually earn mega bucks.  So what does Pujols do with all that money?  Most guys have a foundation or charity or kids club they are involved in, but there is no mention at all of anything personal about Pujols in this book.  Not one single personal factoid.  Usually guys like this are role models for kids, but what has he done other than play baseball.  Also, a minor gripe, but a separate caption mentioned that lots of boys growing up in the Dominican Republic play baseball–couldn’t you have included a map to show where DR is located?

The youngest in your school will immediately recognize that Eddie does NOT know how to get ready for school.  This book pretty much illustrates all the things you’re not supposed to do on a school morning.  Great conversation starter for parents.