Izzy is different sort of girl in a family that includes a busy, perfect sister and a mom who aspires to greatness in politics. Dad believes in her and Grandma Bertie and Aunt Mildred provide some fun comedy to the family dynamics.
The story begins as Izzy heads to middle school and all the social upheaval it entails. She longs to belong, yet her combat boots, eclectic wardrobe and lack of interest in boys make her an outcast. What she really wants, though, is to be part of the elite rowing team, which is full of the most “popular” girls in school. She deserves to be there, but she gets in trouble with everyone, including her driven mom, who is running for mayor. After Izzy gets sent to the principal’s office yet again, her parents enroll her in a correspondence charm school, Mrs. Whipple’s Earn Your Charm School. Letters arrive with charms, tasks to be completed and the promise of a wonderful prize at the end. Things go pretty well for Izzy until she makes a huge mistake with one of the tasks. She needs to fix her mess and she has some new friends that will help. Is it enough to make it on the rowing team? And, will she finally be accepted in middle school?
Told in Izzy’s voice, the story is a wonderful piece of realistic fiction. The reader will empathize with Izzy as she navigates through school, family, charming disasters and new friendships. Recommended

A day in the lives of two ballerinas, one a little red-headed beginner and the other a young accomplished African American woman. Their activities mirror each other, beginning with waking up and eating breakfast before ballet lessons. While Emma’s mom drives her to ballet, Julia takes the bus by herself. But, upon entering their dance studios, they both put away their coats and bags and begin lessons with their beloved teachers, who make them both work hard at their respective levels. As the day progresses, the reader is reminded of how much these two characters love ballet and they finally meet that evening when Emma attends the ballet in the city with her family and Julia is the principal dancer. After the performance, Emma shyly asks for Julia’s autograph backstage and receives an encouraging hug as well. Emma states that one day she will dance onstage like Julia and Julia replies that once she dreamed of being a ballerina just like Emma. And, the end feels just right. The artwork is lovely and the details on the pages draws the reader into the lives of the ballerinas. Young ballerinas will enjoy the parallel story of two dancers who love ballet. Recommended.

Penny and her dog,Jelly, are SO excited! An invitation to a sleepover under the stars at the local recreation center comes in the mail and they can’t wait, until…Jelly unrolls the invitation and Penny sees the bottom words “No Pets”. Suddenly, the sleepover doesn’t sound as fun, unless Penny can make a substitute Jelly to take along. She tries to construct a dog out of paper, yarn, marshmallows, vegetables, recyclables and many, many other versions. But, none of them are as perfect as Jelly. Penny packs her backpack and heads for the door as Jelly looks on sadly. But, wait! Penny can solve this problem another way and it works out beautifully for everyone. Penny, Jelly and all their friends (of varying ethnicity and species) end up having a great time all due to Penny’s thinking outside the box to solve the problem. Readers will be impressed by Jenny’s tenacity as she works hard to include Jelly (or, initially, some form of Jelly) in her sleepover plans.
Artwork is realistic and the reader will notice the characters’ emotions as they read through the story. Recommended

(Blue)Squirrel and (Red)Rabbit are new to their neighborhood and each longs for a friend. They wander through the pages of the story, always missing each other as they search a friend. Each is accompanied by tiny caterpillar that offers to help, but is not heard. And, while Squirrel is busy doing things like lugging some nuts over a bridge or rowing a boat, the reader (and the little caterpillar) see Rabbit engaged in his solo activities. Rabbit is equally oblivious to Squirrel in the background as he plays golf or plays in the creek under the bridge. In the end, all is well as the two literally run into each other and become friends. The caterpillars are there, too, commenting that Squirrel and Rabbit should have listened to them. But, “perhaps they don’t speak bug!”. Endpapers are worth a look, as they detail the places Squirrel and Rabbit visit in their quest for friendship and the paths they took while barely missing each other.
Young readers will enjoy this sweet book about finding friends and will delight in knowing what the main characters can’t see right in front of them. Sharing secrets with the caterpillars adds to the fun! Recommended.

It is a grey, dreary day outside. But, it is a different story inside the house, where three friends are deciding what to play…shall they be princesses? or fairies? Why don’t they play ballerina? Each girl is determined that the group play her suggested role=playing game and each girl has very valid points to make about her idea. Discussion gets somewhat heated and compromise seems unlikely until they look out the window at the frogs (who were part of of the story throughout the book) playing in the rain and they decide to play together outside.

Dialog is color-coded to match each girl’s outfit, so young readers will have no difficulty following the interchange of words. Illustrations are soft and sweet and the added glitter on the cover will be a big hit. This story about friendship and playing together will resonate with younger students. Recommended.

This second book about two friends and their adventures together is told in a gentle dialog between the snail and worm. There are three short stories and young readers will delight in the misconceptions of the mundane (feather, penny and the snail’s shell), which become much more to these darling creatures. Each character has a signature “voice” color in the story, so that young readers will know that Snail is speaking when the words are brown and Worm is speaking the purple words. Illustrations are simple, yet nicely convey the emotions of the two characters (hint:watch Snail’s eyes!). This book is perfect for fans of Elephant and Piggie and kids will be eagerly awaiting the next adventures of Snail & Worm. Highly recommended

This book really begins on the title page, as we see an endearing little pup gazing out of a cage. He is picked up by human hands and rides in a car, ending up in a new home (we know that because, the person attached to the arms we see in the illustration state that it’s Frankie’s home). But, there could be a problem…this place is already home to Nico, a dog that doesn’t like to share. Every time Frankie moves toward something (ball, bed, bone, etc.), Nico is there to lay claim. Frankie finally gives up and scrounges for items to call his own, until he hears his name and runs to a room loaded with Frankie’s new stuff. He is thrilled and wallows in his new possessions. Soon, Nico comes in, looks at Frankie’s frog and asks “Nico’s frog?” as Frankie looks askance. What will happen? Will Frankie share and Nico finally share? The story ends with the new housemates sharing happily sharing toys.

This is a lovely book with very few words, but does a wonderful job of conveying the story of two new doggy siblings and the notion of sharing. The reader will sympathize with Frankie as he looks for something to call his own as ‘big brother’ Nico continually shuts him down. The happy ending shows that sharing is the most fun for all. Highly recommended

This book is an introduction to ghost sightings in hotels. There is not much text and dark, scary pictures will give chills to the younger ghost-hunting reader. It ends without definitively stating whether ghosts are real or not, leaving that up to the reader. The final pages include a glossary, index and ‘more information’. Historical notes and maps with plotted locations round out a short, adequate visit to ghostly hotels. Buy this book if you need to update your 133 section or replace worn books.

This lovely little book is written by J. Patrick Lewis, Children’s Poet Laoureate. There are eight two page spreads with an informative poem on one page and a photo with a fact box on the facing page. Language is accessible, with a glossary at the back as well as a few pages of facts to correspond to the animals/habitats featured. This is a nicely done nonfiction book, with the combined poetry/fact writing working well together. Students will enjoy the playful language and the information presented, learning some facts along the way. Recommended.

The Curse of Time is #3 in the Time Twisters series about Luis, Casey, and Tyler and their travels to 1920 Egypt with their robot cat, Steel. They use Nikola Tesla’s Time Twister as they try to help Uncle Cyrus, who is trapped in time and leaves clues along the way. The three adventurers encounter a curse, a mummy, Anubis and an archaeologist intent on fame along the way. This adventure is well-written and leaves the reader wondering what is next when the last sentences of the book say “Smoke drifted from Steel’s ears. His eyes glowed red and a voice whispered Luis’s name.” Oh, my gosh…the story can’t end this way…what is next?
This book is a fun, fast paced read for struggling readers and will keep them in suspense along the way. Cartoon-like illustrations enhance the text. Recommended

Clydesdale Horses provides a short history and attributes of that breed. Each two page spread contains a large well-done photo and two to three simple sentences that correlate to the picture. Highlighted words are defined in the glossary. “More Facts” is a nice addition to the information in the body of the book. Typical nonfiction features include: Table of Contents, index and glossary. Young horse enthusiasts will enjoy this book as well as the others in the Abdo Kids Horses series.

A cook book that has recipes for “charred zombie-skin snacks” and “popped brains” is a book that will not stay on your library shelves. This book, part of Little Kitchen of Horrors series, begins with a discussion of kitchen safety, tools and metric conversions. It moves into setting the scene for your yucky (yummy) snacks and then moves into the nine recipes. Despite the disgusting names, many of the snacks use fairly normal ingredients and sound quite tasty. Directions are numbered with several illustrations. It is fair to say that Halloween will be a lot more fun after eating “booger sticks” washed down with “slime cocktails”. Buy this book and watch the kids giggle and gag their way to the kitchen!

Buzz reads a ninja story to Fly Guy on Christmas Eve and as they prepare for bed, he mentions that the next day is Christmas when Santa brings gifts and they exchange presents. Fly Guy can’t sleep after receiving this information, because he doesn’t have a gift for Buzz. What will he do? He flies downstairs to search for a suitable present, finds cookies and milk and decides to stop for a snack. Suddenly, a stranger in red surprises him and Fly Guy launches into a ninja attack! Unfortunately, he knocks down Santa and the tree. But, Buzz hears the noise, comes down the help clean up and they finish up by sharing the cookies and milk. After Buzz heads back to bed, Fly Guy admits to Santa that he doesn’t have a gift for Buzz. Santa helps and they boy and his fly exchange some some lovely gifts!

Once again, Tedd Arnold puts together a funny easy reader that will enthrall kids with ninjas and Christmas. It will be a great addition to libraries, where kids might want something a little silly to add to their holiday reading lists. Highly recommended.

Any book that can get kids outside is a book that should be in every library. Outdoor Math details math games for every season, using materials found outside. Whether it is making shapes while holding hands with friends or collecting pine cones and adding up the group’s collection – this book will keep young mathematicians busy as they enjoy the outdoors. Some of the winter activities use snow, which may be a problem in those locations without the benefit of snowy winters, but most of the activities are very accessible. What kid wouldn’t want to be outside while learning math?

Dario and his mother travel from Brazil to Cape Cod each spring so that she can work. Atlantic right whales travel up to Cape Cod early each spring in search of food. This book is about the friendship between Dario and a young right whale. They notice each other at the beach and strike up an unlikely, but sweet relationship. When Dario whistles, the whale spouts. When Dario waves, the whale breaches. Their friendship lasts through the spring. One day, Dario cannot go to the beach, because he has a cold. When he returns to the beach the whale seems to be gone. A young girl tells him that the whales migrate in May and that they are gone. Dario is upset, but jumps up to see his friend just offshore. He enters the water and the whale comes closer than it ever has before. They exchange greetings (whistle/spout, wave/breach) and when Dario asks the whale if he has to go, the whale blinks his large eye. Dario asks if he will return and the whale slaps the water with his huge tail in response. And, Dario knows that the friends will reunite next year.

Portuguese words are scattered throughout this story of two migrants that form a beautiful and enduring friendship. Information about Atlantic right whales at the end of the book will give students solid facts about these mammals. This is a very sweet story with lovely pictures that students will thoroughly enjoy. Highly recommended.

Part of the Mars Bound series, this book recounts three teens’ perilous journey to Mars after the death of the crew assigned to take them there. In addition to the deaths of the crew, a fellow teen has destroyed their radio, so they have no verbal contact with the Mars station. As they pull closer to the station, they realize that they are not allowed to enter the station, the doors are not opening. With little fuel or food, Gabriel makes the decision to force the Mars crew to open the doors by going full speed toward them. At the last moment they are allowed in and as they leave their spaceship and walk into the station, they are held at gunpoint. Gabriel tells the leader, Sheena (third in command of the space station), about their trip from Earth and the troubles along the way. At that point, she shares the news of the station – an earlier space vehicle from Earth had arrived and attempted to kill the colonists in order to return to Earth. The colonists were suspicious of Gabriel’s ship, because they didn’t respond to radio messages. The book ends with Sheena welcoming Gabriel and his two shipmates to the space station.

This book is part of series called Mars Bound and the reader will feel like this particular book is a chapter in a larger story. The writing is accessible and the pictures are retro. The story is short and at a second grade reading level, so struggling readers who enjoy science fiction should do well with this book. The teens are multicultural and the story is intriguing enough to entice the readers to check out the rest of the series.

Beginning with an introduction detailing an event in pro wrestling rivalry ‘history’, this book goes on to detail ten great rivalries in countdown fashion. Loaded with pictures and text boxes with extra details, this book is sure to excite young pro-wrestling fans. This title is part of a series of six books on pro wrestling. Rabid fans might not learn anything new, but the accessible writing and colorful photos should keep this book in circulation.
Typical nonfiction features are included: table of contents, glossary, index and a page detailing websites and more books for further exploration. If you are looking for some pro-wrestling books, these should be popular choices. Buy it if you have some extra money.

Ben Putter is on a mission. He must go to Augusta, Georgia, from his home in Alabama to spread his father’s ashes on the 18th hole of Augusta National, the world’s best golf course. His daddy told him to do so from the urn that holds his ashes and eleven year old Ben feels that it might be the only way to get rid of the golf ball sized lump that has been in his throat since his father died. So, he decides to go to Augusta without telling his mother, travelling with a secretive runaway named Noni. She has some unfinished business in that direction and together they go by bus, train (on the coal car) and in a truck (Ben driving it) to fulfill some promises. Ben talks to his dad’s urn along the way and the reader learns that their relationship was not the best while dad was alive. But, the trip is a healing one for Ben, who wants to connect with his father this one last time. His new-found friend, Noni, completes her journey to Augusta with him in a surprising ending that reveals some secrets and brings closure to the characters and the reader. Students who pick up this story might end up with their own ‘golf ball sized lumps in their throats’, but will be happy they made the journey with Ben and Noni.

Set in 1972, the story also touches on racism, desegregation and life in the deep South. The author does a fine job of describing the time and place, giving a rich view of a girl, a boy and his daddy’s ashes as they journey toward the best golf course in the world.

Jess and her mother make a living in Victorian England as fake spiritualists, ‘helping’ grieving people connect with their deceased loved ones. Jess and her mother discover that Jess can actually communicate with the dead – she is a mesmerist. Her mother contacts an old friend, Balthazar, who turns out to be rather magical himself and they tell Jess about her father, who died fighting an evil man who could raise the dead for his own terrible purpose of taking over the world. Her mother, father and Balthazar were the League of Ravens, who had fought the magical evil that inhabited the world unbeknownst to mere mortals.

Jess joins Balthazar and two other magical children to battle the evil man, Mephisto, before he can wreak supernatural disaster on the world. Along the way, they must fight ghouls and monsters and the plague!

Dark and scary, this book will appeal to children who like to huddle under the blankets at night with a flashlight and a good horror book. It is fast paced and the heroine is a strong and brave leader.

Phoebe and her sister older sister, Alice, aren’t getting along and Phoebe can’t figure out how to fix their relationship. One day, she buys an antique Cartier compact at a flea market in Paris and finds a letter written in World War ll from a girl to her younger sister who had been evacuated from London and was away from the rest of the family for safety. In the letter, there is a ‘spell’ that will bring the sisters back together.

Phoebe decides to follow the clues through London in order to make the spell work for Alice and her. So, she and her friend, Ned, traverse London on a quest to make the spell happen. Along the way, the reader will learn about all the wonderful parts of London and find out at the end if the spell works.

This book is light and sweet and will appeal to fans of realistic fiction.

William and Alice, two children from two very different families and lifestyles, make friends with each other on the maiden voyage of the Titanic in 1912. William’s family has a luxurious suite and has access to many wonderful parts of the ship, while Alice is in third class berthing with her mother and must stay in certain areas. While exploring where she shouldn’t, Alice and William become friends and that friendship opens up access to William’s world onboard. We know what eventually will happen and when the ship hits the iceberg, William bravely runs to find his friend and she and her mother join his family in a lifeboat. Interspersed within the story are boxes with text and photos with information about the ship and its eventual discovery in 1985. A timeline rounds out this nice little book about a very big ship. Highly recommended.

Any joke is a great joke to the young crowd, but many of these jokes will have the them laughing out loud. Jokes are arranged in boxes – darker colored box is the question and lighter colored box is the punch line, which makes it nice for young comedians to know when to pause for the greatest laugh. Illustrations are simple, but effective companions to the jokes and kids will enjoy comparing the joke to the picture. My only complaint is that the jokes are about all manner of sports, many of which children may not understand – everything from golf to wrestling. But, that should encourage some discussion about the sports or even further reading!

Nelson Mandela presents an accessible biography of one our current history’s important figures. Information is presented in one to two sentences per page with large, crisp photos to accompany them. ‘Key Dates’ and ‘Quick Stats’ pull together a great deal of information in just two pages near the end. And the glossary tackles tough words like ‘activist’ and ‘apartheid’ quite well. The content is quite suitable for younger readers, yet does tell of his long jail time and introduce the words noted above in a way that children will understand.
Recommended

This biography is a great place to start for young readers interested in history. With a few sentences per page and bright, appealing illustrations, the life of Benjamin Franklin is succinctly described. “Quick Stats” and “Key Dates” give the information necessary for beginning reports. The glossary, index and table of contents reinforce good non-fiction elements. Recommended

Four girls dream up a wonderful surprise for their moms, but first they have to prepare…and hats are a big part of the plan! Emily, Ashley, Kaitlyn and Claire visit the local street fair to see the hats at Chez Chapeaux and have the most wonderful time trying on hats, hats and more hats. They finally choose rather plain ones to take with them and we wonder why…The end of the story shows their wonderful creations that they have made to present to their mothers at their mother-daughter tea. Fans of Fancy Nancy will love this book. And, it may just encourage some creative play along the way.
Recommended.