Reviewed by OHS substitute.

The story is gripping from the beginning and gets the reader involved immediately. It’s a combination of romance and action. The novel has young ladies escaping their pasts in Europe to begin a new life in New Orleans in 1872.

Celine is escaping Paris because of a murder she committed there. She and her friend Pippa, from England, were taken in by a convent in order to give them better lives. She meets a mysterious young man who has a profound effect on her. She is enraptured by the city and becomes involved in the underworld where ladies are being murdered by a serial killer. Celine has little fear and Pippa is cautious and fears for her friend, but is still there for her.

It was amazing how quickly the plot was developed. The main characters are: Celine, Pippa, and Sebastien Saint Germaine from New Orleans. It was a romantic thriller, a patent fantasy story. It is a great read and I would recommend it to readers of all genres.

Paris Secord, known as DJ ParSec to the dance/rave scene, is found dead right before she’s about to make it big. Two key figures in her life, Kya and Fuse, who were not friends before the murder are forced to work together because neither of them believe that the police are doing enough or even know what they are doing to find Paris’s murderer. Her fan base, ParSec Nation, work via social media to pull clues for Kya and Fuse. And true to social media form, not all clues lead to the truth.

Lamar Giles provides plot twists and thrill scenes, some of which were hard to follow as the story shifts narrators between the three girls as well as jumping back and for between past and present. As in the best murder mystery writing, the murder is not who you think it might be and will probably keep most teens engaged, especially if they like hip-hop jargon.

This book is like science fiction, what I thought was only capable in Hollywood movies like ANT MAN are now working robots. Robots the size of a penny and robots that can see the small print three football fields away.

The timeline on pages 16-17 has dates from 1914-2014. Military robots clearing land mines, flying rescue missions, dropping bombs, and video recording areas for surveilance.

The book shows what they can do, not how they do it.

The book comes with QR codes, but I watched and read it at popbooksonline.com. This information is more in depth, comes with student activities ( matching and word search), and lesson plans for teachers.

The book Life Sucks: How to Deal with the Way Life is, Was and Always Will Be Unfair by Michael I. Bennett is written by a father-daughter team that discusses the big things in your teenage life that can suck in a no-nonsense way.  They discuss the reality of how personal quandaries such as body image, cultural and sexuality awareness can cause questions just as much as the typical drama with friendship, school, and home life. This father-daughter team has given great examples of what to do or how to deal with lots of situations that come up in most teen’s live.  This book will show teenagers that they are not alone in dealing with these issues and help them to laugh them off. The information is given in a way that seems to guide the young reader and will help them realize that it is ok to talk to their parents and others around them about issues that come up in their lives. This self-help type book contains questionnaires and an answer key –great for individuals who have purchased the book but something to monitor in a school library.  This style makes the book easy to read. One can pick it up to read a page or two at a time if need be. Unfortunately, the information and examples become somewhat redundant over time and might be better suited for a teen in their personal library at home.

Reviewed by OHS Student, Angela C.

This book is about two friends and their life after high school. However, at a young age, they both experience a school shooting, which greatly impacts their lives.

I tried to read this book, but struggled with the pacing. It moved really slowly and after 5 chapters, nothing really happened. The characters were flat and didn’t really have rounded personalities. They just seemed to have one trait. One guy was sad, and the other was sad and had diabetes. That was really it. I cannot fully recommend this book.

Recommended by OHS Student, Brixton N.

The Silent Invasion is a graphic novel.
An investigative reporter named Matt Sinkage has an obsession with UFOs. He finds himself investigating the possible invasion of Earth, communist spies, and government programs in 1950’s America

This is an intriguing, scientific story with fantastic art and an excellent window into the media available to the American public in the 1950s.

Pearl and her robot Pascal are going to Gigaworld Amusement Park. While there Pearl will make comparisons between things in the park and computer coding.

Pearl introduces her readers to: code, variables, loop, if-then-else, and sequence. It all makes sense when Pearl talks about it. This story shows how coding does not need to be complicated. Older readers (adults, especially) will definitely want to read “Pearl and Pascal’s Guide to Coding” after the story is over.

Pearl and Pascal work their way around Gigaworld using tokens (a variable) until they are able to get onto the ride Python Rollercoaster with a short line. A loop is explained while they ride the Ferris wheel. If-then-else is explained as they make up their mind as to what to do next when the line to the rollercoaster is too long, in connection with a variable (Boolean).

It all makes sense when Pearl explains it.

By folding paper back and forth neatly upon itself six different projects are demonstrated, step-by-step in this book.

I found these projects easier than origami projects with a greater success rate, too. Directions are given for a snake, fish, butterfly, pumpkin, pinwheel, and a double picture.

Readers will enjoy and want to make more than one of each project as they hone their paper folding skills.

Netflix has Houghton Mifflin Harcourt publishing a graphic novel version of their television show episodes. This one, The Sticky Rice Caper, is from season 1. The graphic novel follows the TV episode with a few exceptions. The graphic novel has omitted one minor VILE character and the French Interpol agents. The graphic novel has placed the factual information about France and Indonesia at the end of the story line. And Carmen Sandiego’s bio information is at the very beginning, before the new story line begins.

Carmen Sandiego is out to foil VILE (Villains International League of Evil) and their new bioweapon which will destroy Indonesia’s rice harvest. Once Vile has Indonesia starving, they will sell Indonesia their artificial rice for a huge profit.

Carmen, the highly capable heroine, defeats VILE once again with the help of her team, her custom gear, and her fighting ability.

Fast paced action the reader will not want to put down.

Early, young readers who want a minimum amount information about Kwanzaa will find two sentences opposite a large color photo dealing with Kwanzaa in this book. If they study the photos carefully they will gain an understanding of the material aspects of Kwanzaa, such as, wearing African dress, the lighting of the kinara (special candle holder), and some of the other seven symbols.

The Adbo Kids Online Free Online Multimedia Resources given at the end of the book include an audible song, downloadable word search and maze, and a coloring page from PBS’s ARTHUR celebrating Kwanzaa.

Reviewed by Joni B.

The Angel Thieves, by Kathi Appelt, tries to intertwine several sub-stories using the Bayou as a character that remembers all the people who have traveled along it.  It reads a bit convoluted.

I think the story would have been better if the author chose one of the stories: either the Slave on the run with her young daughters in 1845, or the young man looking to do something good rather than helping his dad steal marble Angels from cemeteries. Throwing the trapped Ocelot in conveniently  for the character, Cade, to save feels too easy.

I did like the relationship between Cade, his dad, Paul and Mrs. Walker. The forged family worked for me. 

Everything was going along wonderfully until she broke up with Alex! Why do that troupe? In Eileen Cook’s You Owe Me A Murder, Kim is desperate for a friend while on the flight for school trip to London. Her ex-boyfriend Connor and his new romance are on the same trip. When she meets Nicki, a native Londoner, on the plane and divulges her frustrations, Nicki takes note of Kim’s list of “Why he deserves to die”. One day into their trip Connor falls or is pushed into a train. Shortly after, Kim receives contact from Nicki that her part is done and now it’s time for Kim to murder Nicki’s mother –quid pro quo. Why wouldn’t Kim just tell the police? The complications continue as Kim falls head over heels for Alex. Most of this story clips at a fast pace and there are twists readers won’t see coming. Aside from that 2 page part where some editor probably told Cook to have the main characters break up, this book is a winner for those psychodrama-loving teens in your library.

By: Alexander Yates

Reviewed by OHS Student, Chhaya W.

This book is based on a disease that has split the world into two: the wicked and the true. Now it’s up to a young, teenage girl to find out the truth before she, too, is buried beneath the lies of the past. The wicked are immune to the disease and have the key to a cure. The true live in isolated communities trying to keep themselves safe. This science fiction novel moves quickly with an interesting plot

The writer has a great storyline, but I wish he did better with the ending; it felt unresolved. I was also hoping for romance, because of the cover image; there was none. I guess this is an example of why we shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover!

Here are ten scenes between a mother and a toddler as they go through their day noticing the differences between them. The toddler is little while the mother is big. The mother throws the ball while the toddler catches it. The toddler is up on the slide while the mother is down at the bottom of the slide.

While the only words on the page are the pair of opposites, the illustrations make it so easy to create a dialog between the child being read to and the reader.

Alice Melvin’s textured paper cut outs with movable joints bring these scenes to life! They are charming!

“Kakapo [a green New Zealand parrot] was crazy about karate.” She practiced daily at the dojo. The only move she was not able to do was the flying kick, after all, kakapas do not fly. Soon Kakapo was ready for her next karate advancement test. This test was for her black belt. At the test, Kakapo proceeded perfectly through all of the kicks, jumps, and blocks. Her final test would be a flying side kick. She would not even try it. Then, the senseis asked her to do a jumping side kick. Kakapo was puzzled. She had never heard of one before. She reasoned it out. Did it. Then, realized the senseis had tricked her into doing a flying side kick, simply by renaming it. Kakapo had earned her black belt.

Here is a child’s version of “A rose by any other name”.

All of Stacy Curtis’ action karate illustrations bring back my memories as a parent of a student of tae kwon do. Good memories.

Frankie and Maya are in the audience of the town magic show. Frankie had read all kinds of magic books in preparation for the show, even the hard ones. Then, Frankie and Maya practice a few magic tricks of their own before preforming them in front of their families. “In a lot of ways, magic was like inventing. There was a lot of science behind magic tricks. Magicians often came up with new tricks, and they had to test and retest them, like when inventors designed inventions.” (19) In true story book fashion this is leading up to the school’s talent show and Frankie wants to preform a magic act with Maya as her assistant. When the two go to audience, Maya has such stage fright the trick does not work. Mr. Winklesmith, at the magic shop, advises Frankie if you cannot get Maya’s hands to stop shaking, figure out how to do it with hands shaking. Frankie will use her inventor skills so Maya will be able to help with the trick no matter how much her hands shake. Frankie does not reinvent the wheel. She builds upon the apparatus her kindergarten buddy uses, in class, to hold the playing cards needed for their math game. Once Frankie’s new device works for the magic trick, Frankie adds glitter and magical glitz to it. In the mean time, Maya has learned a new mantra from their friend Ravi, “I’m going to be fine.” Repeating it over and over and over again.

Frankie and Maya’s magic tricks are a big success at the school talent show. And two of Frankie’s former teachers ask her to make them the same device for use in their their classrooms.

After the story, there are two sections to help with STEAM /STEM projects. The first one is “The Design Process- Something Old into Something New” and the second one is “Your Turn to Be the Inventor”. Both are child friendly bits of advise on how to get the inventive juices running.

Frankie Sparks, Third Grade Inventor is a new series to get young readers, especially girls, interested in STEM.

Frankie’s teacher announces, ” ‘we are going to research different kinds of animals, because we are going to get a class pet.’ ” (10) Frankie already knows the perfect animal because her Aunt Gina is a rodentologist. Frankie knows the class pet should be a rat. Now Frankie needs to state her case to her class. Ms. Cupid, Frankie’s teacher, insists the entire class go through the research process. This irritates Frankie because she KNOWS she already has the perfect pet and grudgingly does the research.

When Maya, Frankie’s best friend, does not agree with a having rat as the class pet, feelings are hurt. How come everyone else in the class does not agree with Frankie’s knowledge, especially Maya?

Then, Frankie comes up with an obstacle that could rule out having a rat. One of the parameters for the class pet is it must be “able to be alone for the weekend” and rats need/want fresh food daily. Here is where Frankie’s talent as an inventor excels. She invents a food storage system the rat will be able to open on its own so the rat will have fresh food daily over the weekends. Frankie’s first model does not work correctly, but she continues to work on it until it does.

Frankie’s parents and friends help her to see her other classmates’ points-of-view, but it is not easy.

Third grade emotions run the gambit, making this a very believable story.

After the story, there is a short section on the ‘design process’ and “Your Turn to Be the Inventor!”.

Abigail Haas weaves a web with past and present narration of days in Anna Chevalier’s life, surprising readers with the twisty roads during Anna’s trial for the death of her best friend, Elise. Anna is on a spring break trip with Elise and others when Elise is murdered. Haas plays on readers’ empathy for the main character during the flashbacks thrown between accounts in the trial. She keeps readers second-guessing who the murder is — could it really be Anna after all? What teens will like is the mystery, the lies and the love triangle. My hunch is that the love triangle had more time devoted to it but editorial cuts were taken as Haas’s focus is on Anna’s psyche overall. Can she handle the pressure? Does she deserve to be on trial? Ominously re-titled from its original Dangerous Girls published in 2013, I’ll Never Tell’s new cover will probably hook new readers who like mystery.

Ollie couldn’t wait to go outside to play with her toy bunny. Finally the rain stopped and they went out to splash in the puddles. A wind came and a petal landed on the bunny’s nose which twitched and the bunny came alive. Ollie chases her bunny through the story on a great adventure until at last it is finally time to return home and her bunny becomes a toy again.

A chick wants to join the rocket club, but the sign says no chicks allowed. As she walks through the book, we meet the hippie chick, maker chick, baker chick, cool chicks and nerdy chicks. They all come together to build a rocket and send her to outer space because when we work together and include everyone, anything can happen.

Hector and Louie are best friends and they are writing a book together telling all the things they like to do. Throughout the book they keep starting the book over, until one friend lets a secret slip out and a fight starts. Now their book is about the worst friends in the universe. Hector and Louie soon realize that they miss each other and want to be friends again. I thought the beginning was cute and fun, but the end seemed too simplified of now we are friends again.

This rhythmical jazzy book is a biography of Sonny Rollins. Students might not be familiar with some of the references in this book, but it could be paired with other books on this topic (while reading it two instantly came to mind) and with the music itself. Sonny needs to take a break from the jazz scene, but he wants to keep playing his saxophone. He can’t find a place to play and finally plays on the Williamsburg Bridge. This inspires his next album called the bridge.

A new girl named Zola moves in next door. The narrator saw a big box being moved in and knows that Zola has an elephant in that box. She imagines all the things that Zola would be doing with her elephant and those are the reasons that she can not go over to Zola’s house and be friends with her. We also can see what is actually happening at Zola’s house and Zola looks sad and lonely. The stunning illustrations add to the story about friendship.

In this book based on the well known song, a young girl finds a ball of string, throws it and then follows where it goes. We see a wide variety of settings, animals, and people of a variety of cultures playing together with the string. The illustrations are color and vibrant and tell the story to the simple text. At the end, the music is included as well as a piece about the song and the artists inspirations.

This book about Presidents’ Day gives a few reasons why we might celebrate Presidents’ Day. There is also information about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, as well as a page about why we might not celebrate the day. The book includes many text features. It felt like a really brief overview with a small George Washington and Abraham Lincoln included.