Mr. and Mrs. Green, an alligator couple, make plans for going camping.  First they think of all they want to take along – food, clothing, tents, and a map.  Then Mr. Green begins to get worried about the dark, strange spooky sounds, and mosquitoes.  Mrs. Green bravely leads the way.  Hiking along, they pass many familiar places.  When Mrs. Green finally decides to stop, Mr. Green looks closely at the map.  Mrs. Green had led them around the neighborhood back to their own comfortable backyard!  Mr. Green relaxes, knowing he could now enjoy their night out camping.  Bright acrylic illustrations include the variety of items packed, their journey around local blocks, and their relaxing site at home.

Most of the stories in A Matter of Souls are snapshots, of an event, a character, a time in the lives of African Americans. Patrick does a remarkable job infusing each story with the hope, courage, and despair of the characters who are faced with relentless prejudice. Some of the characters defeat it, some are defeated by it, but all of them have something to teach us. One, a woman considered “simple” by the community, defends her husband from attackers and calculates how to use the law to their advantage. Another, a young woman who desperately want to be beautiful which to her means to be light-skinned, almost kills herself trying to attain her ideal but learns what is important in the process.  The stories are incredibly moving although librarians and readers should be warned that some are violent. This will be an excellent addition to a school library.

The cat with seven names is told from the viewpoint of six lonely people in an urban community.  This large, obviously over-fed cat wanders into each home and is welcomed as a stray.  Each person gives him a different name as they enjoy the cat’s company for a while.  One day, the cat is almost hit by a car – the driver of which is in search for her missing cat!  As each of the neighborhood people gather to check on “their” cat, they begin talking to one another and new friendships are made.  Davenier’s pastel illustrations add many details to the story throughout the book.  The front end-pages show everyone going about their separate lives.  As the cat enters each home, different neighbors can be seen in the background.  By the final end-pages, the individuals are involved in friendly conversations as the cat calmly watches from the side.

Two true/false questions are posed on the first page of the books in this series, the answer to which is found within the chapters.  (The last page indicates which is the true fact.)  Beginning with three distinct types of birds – penguins that swim, hummingbirds that fly, and ostriches that run – many commonalities are presented.  Although all birds have characteristics related to flight, not all birds fly.  Information comparing wings, feathers, beaks, and habitats vary, depending on their use.  All birds lay eggs, so the chick can develop outside the mother’s body as the added weight would prevent her from flying.  Global warming, vanishing habitats, and human pollution are some of the factors affecting the survival of many species.  Photographs are large, colorful, and captioned.  A migration map, a life-cycle diagram, and a quick facts chart provide additional data.  The migration map, while interesting, is small and hard to read.  Overall, the quality, accuracy, and presentation of material is well done.  This book is a fine resource for reports or simply reading for pleasure.  Glossary, index, and a page about the author are included in the back.  Additional resources include two books, one written at a similar level, one for younger readers, and an excellent website provided by Scholastic.

Spunky cowgirl Nellie Sue is charged up and ready for a brand-new school year.  Her teacher has sent her a bag to fill with items to describe herself during show-and-tell.  Instead of starting out smoothly, Nellie Sue is faced with one little disappointment after another: no hats at school, her best friend Anna sitting with the new girl, Maya, and having to sit between the irritating J-twins in class.  As the day continues, other problems develop: having to wear tennis shoes in gym and falling face-first into the sand pit.  A final indignity results with Maya’s drawing of Nellie Sue looking like a cow!  Embarrassed, Nellie Sue runs from the classroom.  Maya follows her out to explain she didn’t mean to hurt her feelings – she simply thought cowgirls liked cows!  Returning to class, Nellie Sue decides to take charge of her day and give it a positive spin.  When she shares the contents of her bag, Nellie Sue extends her cowgirl hospitality and includes Maya’s picture.  Lynne Avril’s expressive ink, watercolor and gouache illustrations are a great match for Nellie Sue’s active and emotional first day of school.  Fans of Nellie Sue will enjoy this 4th book of “Every Cowgirl” adventures.

Susan Hood is the author of many Pup and Hound adventures written for beginning readers.  Six of these stories are collected in this volume.  They can be read a separate stories or one after the other for a longer tale.  Each story is told in simple, rhyming sentences with large font and plenty of repetition.  The older, wiser Hound keeps a loving eye on the energetic Pup as they romp around the farm.  Linda Hendry’s colorful, humorous illustrations on every page are a perfect match for Pup and Hound’s exploits.  Each of the six stories are written at a beginning first grade reading level.  This Big Book of Stories is an ideal choice for young readers venturing into more independent reading.

Beginning with a question, books in this series simply and clearly define the sport.  The text is basic and repetitive, gives information about equipment, rules, and includes “fun facts”.  A complete diagram of a court is plainly labeled.  Words to know are in bold font and also defined in the glossary.  Index also included.  Colorful photos show young boys and girls demonstrating each term. With so many books written about basketball, it is a pleasure to see one entirely directed toward adolescent readers and players.  Other books in the series include baseball, dance, football, soccer, and swimming.

Twelve year old Chase Masters and his father follow natural disasters and are currently in Mexico where the Rossi Brothers’ Circus went missing after a massive earthquake.  Separated from her family, Nicole Rossi is anxious to find them and check on the animals.  Chase, Nicole, and a few remaining circus members form a team to locate and provide assistance.  A volcanic eruption is imminent, a tiger is loose, thieves intercept them, roads are blocked, equipment fails, and the air is filling with ash.  Much action fills this third book of the Storm Runners series.  Although this is the final book in this adventure, one does not have to have read the previous books in order to get caught up in the fast-paced action.  This series will most certainly attract reluctant readers.

Zander, LaShonda, Kambui, and Bobbi go to the DaVinci Middle School for the Gifted and Talented in Harlem.  They created an alternative newspaper called, The Cruisers.  This third book in the series generated many thought-provoking questions and situations sure to prompt discussions.  Zander writes a play called Act 6, that looks at several of Shakespeare’s characters in the future.  LaShonda is recognized as a creative designer and is offered a chance to attend college.  She and her autistic, younger brother live in a group home.  She won’t consider leaving her brother, even if it means she cannot continue school to better their lives.  The many middle school situations are realistic, the voices of a multicultural community are believable, and this close group of friends have each others’ backs as they address contemporary issues.  Walter Dean Myers does not shy away from challenging subjects: Speedy track team member Sagal, from Afghanistan, will not remove her traditional clothing to wear a track uniform in order to race.  An upcoming topic for the debate team is “Are Wars Necessary?”.  Zander’s parents are divorced and now his father wants to be part of his life.  Although this book is part of a series, it reads well as a stand-alone.

Mr. Mosely is just a dog – a large, clumsy, loving, loyal dog who only kind of knows one trick.  Yet this special dog is just what Corey’s family needs.  Mr. Mosely’s story is told in short, journal-like chapters by Corey.  Part Great Dane and part Dalmatian, Mr. Mosely is mostly white with a large heart-shaped group of spots on his chest, a small tear-shaped spot near his eye, and part of one ear.  Although the focus is Mr. Mosely, details of Corey’s family relationships and turmoil are revealed.  The tone is funny, sad, ridiculous, tender and does not shy away from the rewards and risks of loving, whether pets or family members.  This is an honest telling of life with a beloved pet for anyone.  A great read!

How often did young men( pre-Viet Nam) think going off to war would be glorious? A soldier’s frustration and optimism of being at war are well balanced in this book . Chris Lynch writes this first book in his World War II series about a young man, Roman, who lives and breathes baseball, as a member of the minor league Red Sox team, that his going off to fight the Nazis will have to down sides to it. Roman enlists, even before Pearl Harbor and the United States involvement is declared. The town’s people have a send off for the baseball players who have enlisted, as this is the last game of the season.  Roman is so gun ho. Then comes the many long months of training. “But I still couldn’t help feeling that, as much as we were learning in Louisiana and East Texas, in Kentucky and the Carolinas, it wasn’t nearly as much as the Nazis were learning in Poland and Czechoslovakia, in France, in Norway and Denmark, and the Soviet Union.”  (p. 48)           Why can’t they get to the actual fighting.  “While I’ve been training, practicing, maneuvering for the better part of a year, the Nazis have been playing for real, dominating, spreading carnage and rewriting maps, with what seems to be feeble resistance along the way.”    (p. 51)   These first four chapters that make up Part 1 of the book are full of foreshadowing.   Part 2 begins with more training, but this time in Northern Ireland. Then just two pages short of the middle of the book, Roman gets his first taste of battle- all the months of maneuvers couldn’t prepare them for this. Roman is a tank driver in North Africa. There is still down time, but now it is often due to waiting for the other squads to all aline before the battle can begin. There is down time traveling from one location to another, too, weeks of driving the tank cross country. Then, there are the actual battles. Landing on a beach, being shot at by the German Luftwaffe, seeing an enemy tank driver being burnt, having his tank partner loose his hearing due to the enemy bullets and shells hitting the outside of their tank, the retreating from the German, and later getting surrounded Germans and having their tank’s turret shot off along with three of its company while he survived.

The book is never graphic in its descriptions, but Lynch gets the point across. Roman learns of the mortality involved in war, but also knows that the Nazis must be stopped. This book ends with Roman and the only other living member of his tank comrades in Italy.

Stephen Gilpin’s manga style illustrations, with its big eyes, skinny arms and legs, will grab the readers attention before the story begins, because in this case, the reader should judge the book by its cover! The  black and white illustrations continue two or three times in each of the eleven chapters, too.

Flo (short for Florence – but don’t call her that) and her mother move around a lot since her father died. They are moving into yet another apartment building. This is the fourth in four years. Flo knows her mother is trying hard, but this isn’t much of a place, maybe they won’t be here long enough to unpack Flo thinks.  After dinner, Flo goes to investigate who stole her entire box of Popsicles from the grocery bag in the hall, while they were unloading the  rest of the groceries in the kitchen. Flo asks the new neighbor across the hall where the ‘underwear boy’ is? (Illustration on page 22 is priceless.) The grandmother tells Flo he’s down in the basement laundry room. Flo decides to not take the rickety elevator to the basement , but used the stairs instead. The stairs are filled with webs and big white fuzzy balls. Yuck. The ‘underwear kid’  is indeed doing the laundry. The kid’s name is Ferdinand, Furry for short. Furry asks Flo, ” Want to see something awesome?… It’s a crack in the floor…The light shining from the crack bathed his face in an eerie blue light.     And just like that, Flo forgot all about the Popsicles.”  (pg. 48-49) As it turns out, the building’s retired ‘maintenance guy’ informs Flo and Furry the apartment building was “built a long time ago on top of an ancient seal…. A seal like a plug… It was built to seal off a doorway into another world.”  (p. 71)   Furry and Flo work their way back up to their apartments on the 17th floor. A little while later, Flo hears Furry leaving his apartment and he has her box of Popsicles! Flo follows Furry up to the roof where the full moon turns him into a werewolf. The Popsicles are to help keep him cool in all the fur, hence only the ‘tightie whities’ (illustration on p. 83). Flo steps on one of the big white fuzzy balls on her way to the roof. It turns out, it is actually a giant spider egg and the mother spider is now after them. Back to the basement they go. They stop the giant mother spider by putting her eggs into the crack in the laundry room floor.  “As Flo headed back upstairs to her new home, she got to thinking. Sure Coran Towers were dumpy and kind of creepy, but they were growing on her. And having a werewolf as a friend certainly didn’t hurt.    At least I won’t be bored, Flo thought.  (p. 120)

Flo has 3 questions to ask the readers to guide them into a deeper understanding of her character. Then Furry has 3 writing prompts for the readers. Finally there is  sneak peak at Furry and Flo’s next book –  The Problem with Goblins.

This is a story especially for those youngsters who work as part of a family business. A mother, father, and young son run the diner at a truck stop, while his uncle runs the service garage. The mother, father, and son begin work long before daylight hours. The young boy catches his school bus from the diner, in the morning, after his job of squeezing the fresh orange juice. The diner has regular customers: the eighteen wheeler, the silver milk tanker, the moving van, the flat bed, and the tow truck. The family knows each trucker’s breakfast order by heart. This morning the old green pickup does come. Everyone begins to wonder where he can be. Off on the school bus, the boy asks the bus driver to radio in the location of the green pickup which he sees has broken down.

Melissa Iwai’s illustrations are done in bright paint and cut paper. There are 16 different types of trucks inside the front cover and repeated inside the back cover.

Linda Glaser takes this well-known classic tale and adds all new charm to it by setting it in the fictional Jewish village of fools- Chelm.

“You know what we say at Passover,” the stranger proclaimed to the people in the square. ‘All who are hungry come and eat’.”   The town’s people, of course, try to shoo the stranger away. Then, he shows them his stone that can make delicious matzoh ball soup. Little by little the stranger coaxes the villagers to bring out first the salt, then the onions, followed by garlic, carrots, celery, and chicken.  The stranger is called to task for not having matzoh balls in the soup.  His stone can make matzoh balls so heavy they will stay in your stomach for a week. To this the Chelm villagers bring out their famous light matzoh balls and put them into the soup. Then, “it took four men to lug the pot into the synagogue– the only place where everyone would fit for the Seder… The stranger spread his arms wide and proclaimed, ‘ All who are hungry, please come and eat!'”

On the page turn, the reader will learn about “A Little about Passover”, “A Little about Chelm”, and “A Little about Stone Soup”.

In this the 21st Mallory book, there is all the drama of pre-teen girls, but with more than the usual maturity level in the end to solve the problem.

It all begins when a new neighbor girl moves into the house across the street from Mallory. She looks incredibly like Mary Ann – Mallory’s BFF. Mallory is jealous immediately of the attention the new girl Chloe Jennifer (and her family) is getting from Mary Ann and is feeling left out. ” I just don’t like that having  her around makes everything with Mary Ann different. It’s like Mary Ann has forgotten that we’re supposed to be best friends.”  (p. 66)  Mary Ann over compensates for Mallory’s coolness towards Chloe Jennifer. Mary Ann gets very bossy to the point she has Mallory cutting Chloe Jennifer’s hair. OOPS! Grounded. Chloe Jennifer has to get a new shorter hair style. “From the minute she moved to Wish Pond Road, I was so worried that she would mess up my friendship with Mary Ann that I didn’t really give her a chance. ” (p. 121)  Mallory is able to get ungrounded to give Chloe Jennifer a chance. Also, Chloe Jennifer’s tells her side of the story about being the scared new girl to Mary Ann and Mallory.

Even though this is #19 in the Mallory series, it is my first time reading one. I found it quite enjoyable because it is so naturally believable and full of energy. This one begins, ” My favorite TV show, hosted by my favorite TV hostess, Fashion Fran, is about to have a fashion design contest for kids.”

( p. 7)   Both Mallory and her best friend Mary Ann enter, they always do everything together. Mallory wins the contest. How will she keep her pinky swear promise to take Mary Ann to the TV show in New York? Mallory and Mary Ann convince their mothers to make this trip for 4 into a trip for 2 mothers and 2 daughters. WOW! [This trip is pretty amazing, because on two different pages the word “WOW! is repeated 10 times.]  BUT rules are rules, so Fashion Fran’s assistant says only Mallory can be on the show.  Now Mary Ann is mad and not talking to Mallory while they tour New York’s Statue of Liberty, Time Square, Central Park, and Johnny’s Famous Pizza. It’s the day of the Fashion Fran Show. Mallory whispers to Mary Ann how they can both be on the show. First Mallory will model and then Mary Ann will after the commercial break, by exchanging clothes in the restroom. They look so much alike, no one will notice. The difference between a right-handed wave by Mallory and a left-handed wave by Mary Ann at the end of the runway tips off Fran to the switch.  ” ‘I don’t like being fooled,’ says Fran.’ But I understand the situation, and applaud you both for finding such a creative solution.. ‘.”  ( 129)