The book Locked up for freedom by Heather E. Schwartz is a nonfiction text which tells an unbelievable story about a group of girls who survive through the worst times in 1963. They were locked up for fighting for their rights as free women. They only had one shower for more than thirty people. They had overflowing toilets with human feces pouring out but they survived the worst of it to see how their world would change for the better. The book has many photos that tell the story about how it was, it also had captions to help explain the photos. I would rate this book a 5 out of 5 stars (for a nonfiction book) because of how much it pulled me in with the intriguing thought of what life was like for people protesting for their right to be actually free.

Review by Sophie

What would you do if you and your family had to flee the place where you lived, carrying only the things you could fit in a backpack? If you stayed, you would almost certainly be killed, and if you run… you may die anyway. Refugee, by Alan Gratz, is a novel that follows three teenagers who flee with their families from their countries that are torn apart by violence and political turmoil. The reader follows each of the characters as they encounter hardship after hardship, facing insurmountable odds. By the last 100 pages, the reader can’t put the book down, because the situations the characters find themselves in are incredibly dire. Death is on the line, and there appears to be no end in sight.

Refugee is a powerful book for helping readers understand the struggles and dangers refugees and immigrants face as they face horrific odds in order to find a safe place to live with their families. You will feel frustration, anger, and fear… even as you cheer wildly for these characters to succeed. There are moments of loss and grief along the way. Be prepared to feel all the emotions as you set sail with Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud in search for a new homeland.

Review by Elizabeth Cornelious

The American Sign Language teacher at River Ridge High School reviewed this book and found it to be inadequate. She says it very much needs to be accompanied by a DVD that has a person forming the symbols, which the ASL textbook used in high school classes does have.

The book contains units on using sign language with young children, using sign language to manage the classroom and teach social skills, sign language for babies, sign language for toddler, sign language for preschoolers, and sign language for an inclusive classroom. There is also an appendix with ASL picture books, resources, and stories for early childhood classrooms.

This is a novel that will likely be difficult for many students. I found myself disinterested because of the many characters and lack of clarity for the connection between them. The novel follows 5 characters, one of which seems to have the ability to “flicker” from one location to another. Only a couple of the characters have names, the others have been labelled with descriptor such as: “The Freak”; “The Shoveler”; and “CanIHelpYou.”

As typical of A.S. King, the writing in the novel is great, full of colorful description. The plot is very character driven and with so many characters to keep track of it’s difficult to feel invested. By the end of the novel, we understand that the characters are all connected to a single family. We see a couple of different generations and how their individual decisions have come to greatly impact everyone in the in the family. Most of the characters are trying to find their way, trying to feel loved, and trying to make the most of the situation they have been placed in.

I wanted to love this novel, but I just didn’t. I am even struggling to write a summary within the review because it has so many different story lines, making the task difficult. If you are an A.S. King fan already, then this novel may peak your interest, but other than that I’d say this is not one you’d need on your shelves.

I am enjoying this new series of science books for young readers dealing with insects. INSECTS UP CLOSE give amazing photos of the insect in question along with the text in large font. There are usually two sentences per page turn. The sentences have between 4 to 9 words per sentence. The book is divided into three parts : What are Milkweed Bugs?, Life on the Plant, and From Egg to Adult!, prior to the small glossary, website, and index.

This is an insect with which I am not familiar. They are black and orange and live on and near milkweed. The book’s inset shows the milkweed bug’s body to be about 1.3 cm long. Their body changes from egg to adult are not as spectacular as those of a moth, or butterfly, or mosquito.

I am enjoying this new series of science books for young readers dealing with insects. INSECTS UP CLOSE give amazing photos of the insect in question along with the text in large font. There are usually two sentences per page turn. The sentences have between 4 to 9 words per sentence. The book is divided into three parts : What are Mosquitoes?, Mosquito Life, and From Water to Air, prior to the small glossary, website, and index.

It just might be a tie as to which is worse- a mosquito in real life or a giant enlarged one in a photo. The colorful compound eyes and spikes on legs and antennae will keep the readers attention glued on the photos. There are also photos of mosquito pupae and larva.

I am enjoying this new series of science books for young readers dealing with insects. INSECTS UP CLOSE give amazing photos of the insect in question along with the text in large font. There are usually two sentences per page turn. The sentences have between 4 to 9 words per sentence. The book is divided into three parts : What are Termites?, Life in the Nest, and Growing Up, prior to the small glossary, website, and index.

The reader will see a termite queen, workers, soldiers, and nymphs. There is also a nest with termites and a huge termite nest taller than a person.

I am enjoying this new series of science books for young readers dealing with insects. INSECTS UP CLOSE give amazing photos of the insect in question along with the text in large font. There are usually two sentences per page turn. The sentences have from 4 to 9 words per sentence. The book is divided into three parts : What are Moths?, Moth Life, and From Caterpillar to Moth, prior to the the small glossary, website, and index.

Moths have scales on their wings, but the photo of the scales clarify this concept. The moth’s feathery antennae, which help it to smell, are shown along with their (what looks like a) furry body. The reader is also treated to close-up of a cocoon beside a moth, as well as, an insert showing an outline of a io moth’s actual size.

Simply amazing! I will never look at moths the same way again.

With the prophecy of the end-of-the world in three months and the expected Departure of the New World Society followers, a tender story of sibling love and individual persistence is woven in Come November, Katrin Van Dam’s first young adult novel.  Rooney’s mother is an avid follower of Everett, leader of the New World Society, which believes that humans have destroyed the overpopulated Earth through climate change and overconsumption. Extraterrestrials beings will come on November 18th to take believers to a new planet to start a more pure society.

Rooney’s senior year angst of college and a boyfriend is minor to her anxiety about money for food or her embarrassment about her “crazy” mother.  Real life issues are a heavy responsibility for a young woman who just wants to dream of a better life in the normal world. The sense of love and duty to her brother and the hope of a different life are the sustaining themes of this book.  It is an entertaining, valuable read for a young adult navigating the challenges of daily life with the possibility of creating their future through perseverance and education. Rooney’s mother’s situation is unusual but Rooney’s role of responsibility and struggle is very relatable for teenagers today.

What happens to a person when the negative side of their personality does everything in its power to overtake the side that barely keeps the person sane? Ella Black suffers from dissociative identity disorder. Bella, her evil twin, comes to life when Ella gets stressed. Bella has progressively made Ella do more violent things, which scare Ella each time. When her parents whisk her away from school mid-day to temporarily move to Rio, she assumes it is because they have figured out she has this disorder which she has been hiding from everyone. But more lies and truths will unfold in this fast-paced, unpredictable novel, totally ingratiating the reader until the last comments at the end. Ella is a believable character, which makes the story all the more twisted. Speaking of twisted, the last few dramatic scenes hit hard, literally. This reader thoroughly enjoyed Emily Barr’s writing and will look to pick up a few more of her works.

It’s the start of a new school year and Kate Bailey is hesitant to be in her podcasting class that she signed up for just because her best friend Alana wanted her to. Sure enough, super shy Kate is picked by the teacher to be one of the co-hosts for the podcast which will focus on giving advice to people who email or call in anonymously. While she discovers that she’s pretty good at giving advice, she also discovers that she likes the guy her best friend is crushing on even though Kate is trying hard to get them together. While readers will see this developing way before the characters themselves, Kasie West also throws in a few other twists to keep readers wondering. Will the text message from Kate’s ex-boyfriend make a difference? Will the sudden interest from Kate’s nemesis change the course of Kate’s feelings? Slightly oh-my, this flirty girl novel will definitely find fans in the 7th – 10th grade level.

Here is a book for young students needing to find information about a foreign country for a school report. The table of contents lists: Land’s end, location, landscape and climate, wildlife, people, communities, customs, school and work, play, food, celebrations, timeline, Ireland facts, glossary, to learn more, and index.

Having never been off of the North American continent myself, I asked a friend who visits Ireland regularly for her thoughts on this informational book. She was pleased with the choice of photos the book held to represent Ireland, especially the one on page 14 showing the Irish country side, for most of the population lives outside of large urban areas. The photos sent my friend into stories of her Ireland experiences which matched the information being conveyed in the text.

Neither of us liked timeline’s format. It is unfriendly for the user. The three orange lines being directed from the ‘informational index cards’ to the place on the timeline is confusing (especially when they cross from the left page to the right page) when a simple diagonal line would suffice.

Here is a book for young students needing to find information about a foreign country for a school report. The table of contents lists: Munich Marvels, location, landscape and climate, wildlife, people, communities, customs, school and work, play, food, celebrations, timeline, Germany facts, glossary to learn more, and index.

Having never been to Europe, let alone Germany, I asked a school parent from Germany what she thought of this book. Here is her edited reply,

“Oh Mrs. Mary, I’m loving this read. So, so true.

Little things have changed, like the weather, in the

mean time we do have pretty warm summers.

Also, we have lots of immigrants now, because of our

great health care system. Community and customs

are right on point. We do take our time building
friendships for sure …

And we do love order and structure. School, work

and play, absolutely right about all of it. And so

funny, I totally forgot about this childhood game,

eating chocolate : ))

Oh, and the food and celebrations, …

I think it’s a wonderful book to add to your library…” (A. C.)

Neither of us liked the timeline’s format on pages 26-27 . The three red lines running from the ‘index card’ to the place on the timeline are not user friendly.

The website (www.factsurfer.com) listed in the TO LEARN MORE section had two good sites for more information or information stated slightly differently. Neither of the two sites agreed with the book or each other on the area or the population of Germany.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Grand Escape:  The Greatest Breakout of the 20th Century by Neal Bascomb.  This book details the life of prisoners of war kept by Germany in World War 1 and their attempts to escape prison camps.  What makes this book entertaining is the range of characters with their shenanigans who tended to treat these escapes like a game.  One was even disappointed when he was returned to his own country before the war was over because he wanted to see if his escape plan devised with two other prisoners would work.   It is noted that many of the prisoners were very intelligent and adventuresome, as it tends to describe officers, including pilots who were shot down and then surrounded by Germans.   So given their sudden confinement, these prisoners tended to act like mischievous children with plans that included using molasses that resulted in solitary confinement, and stealing tools to help them in their endeavors.  They also found productive ways to spend their time such as learning new languages which aided in escaping. To make escaping Germany even more difficult, the German people were encouraged to turn in suspected escaping prisoners.  Other tactics by the Germans was to send captured escaping prisoners to different camps and to use strict military officers to oversee them. The illustrations contain actual war souvenirs such as telegrams, photographs, and propaganda.  If I could change one thing about this book, I would have put the map of Germany and surrounding areas at the front of the book rather than on page 217. The book ends with what happened to the British prisoners when the war ended, including reunions and teaching younger military recruits how to cope in case of capture.  Overall, this book made it easy to understand the actual lives of military men kept as prisoners during wartime on a very personal level. I highly recommend this book for all types of students.

Set in Seattle, Washington, Rachel Lynn Solomon’s young adult novel Our Year of Maybe tracks the lives of two teenagers whose lives have always been entwined as best friends, and maybe, Sophie thinks, eventually something more. She cannot imagine life without Peter, and so, when she turns out to be the one match for the kidney he needs, she does not hesitate…she donates one of hers.

This selfless act generates in Sophie a picture of the future in which Peter and she are in love and together forever. For Peter, however, while deeply grateful to Sophie for saving his life, it’s not a cut and dried determination that they will be lovers. With his new lease on life, Peter sees his future as one in which he is now free. Then he finds himself attracted to Chase as more than a friend, a development that surprises him, and certainly one that Sophie cannot even imagine.

As they work through these awakenings, their stories explore themes of first loves, expectations, indebtedness, outdated old beliefs and the changes that come with confronting things honestly. Like dandelion fluff, nobody knows where these understandings will be blown, but hopefully, well-rooted friendships will mature and survive.

Recommended.

A turbulent ride into the future with traces of the “Rusties” past littering the Victoria landscape is in store for readers of Scott Westerfeld’s Imposters. Put on something comfortable from your “hole in the wall”, grab your “crash bracelets” and step onto your hoverboard with your fully charged “pulse knife” and “cyrano”. Maybe secure a couple of plasma guns just in case for this plot line. Westerfeld quotes Chinese general Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War, on the title page of Part 1: “Regard your soldiers as your children and they will follow you into the deepest of valleys.” This may not be pretty.

Sir Walter Scott said “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!” Frey, posing as her twin sister Rafi, encounters Col, the heir apparent to the city of Victoria. Here the twists and turns begin. Is the danger from without or within? Are the twin sisters like-minded though one raised a dignitary for the city of Shreve and the other was raised as her absolute secret body double — and as a trained killer? Throw in the love factor and Frey must decide if Col can be trusted with the truth, allowing her to become her own person. This is a page turner as Westerfeld weaves an intriguing tale pitting good against evil, love versus power, conservation over greed in the opposing neighboring cities of Shreve and Victoria. Recommended, as with all other Westerfeld titles.

A baby bird discovers his wings, perches on the edge of the nest and flings himself off the edge. He plummets to the ground into a puddle. Now he’s soaking, dinged up, and rather forlorn. Then he discovers worms! He grabs a worm and launches himself back up to the nest. His nestmates great him with a song and he flies loops of joy.

This story it told through pictures and only a few words. And each of those words ends with -ing; wings, clings, flings, stings, dings, things, brings, springs, sings, rings, zings. Even with only a handful of words, the reader can feel the adventure and sense of accomplishment.

The story offers wonderful opportunities for word play or student retelling and elaboration.

Mary Downing Hahn has done it again! She knows how to tell a bone chilling story and keep the reader on the edge of their seat.

This old Virginia house, Oak Hill, was built in 1786, but has not been lived in since 1885. Shortly after that is when the ghost story began. Now Jules’ father, who specializes in restoring historic houses, begins his work on the house while they live in a much newer side-wing. Jules does not know it yet, but the family who owned Oak Hill, in the 1880s, was murdered here. What Jules does know, or thinks she knows, is that she has seen someone upstairs in the third floor window.

Back and forth between Jules on the ground and Lily on the third floor the story is woven with bits and pieces of Lily’s memories which are slowly coming back to her. Lily has been locked in that third floor room since her mother told her not to come out. That was the night in 1885, when the robbers on horseback rode up to the house and took her parents away.

Jules and Lily are somehow connected as Lily watches Jules from the safety of her locked room. Jules at times can see Lily’s past life as though it is currently happening. Eventually, Jules and Lily will meet and talk.

Jules meets a girl, Massie, at the public library while doing research on the house and its former occupants. They become friends and Jules invites Massie over to the house for a sleepover. Then Massie and Jules help Lily leave her room because the workers restoring the house will be on the third floor in the morning. A surreal alternate world collides between the past and the present as Lily leaves her room after so many years. An alternate world and Lily’s history changes.

Review submitted by OHS Student, Randy N.

The main character, Veronyka, sets out to become a phoenix rider: legendary warriors who rode on the backs of birds of fire. She wants this badly enough that she even disguises herself as a boy. Just as she is starting to find her purpose, her sister finds her any breaks down everything that Veronyka worked hard to build. The sibling rivalry is strong in this book.

If you like the Eragon series then you’ll enjoy this book.

It is book one in a new, fantasy series.

Primary grade readers who like dogs will enjoy the photos and descriptions of Basset Hounds in this Blastoff! Readers 2 book. The large print conveys the information in one or two sentences per page. The Table of Contents covers: What are Basset Hounds, Colorful Coats, History of Basset Hounds, and Happy Hounds. Followed by a Glossary and Index.

Basset Hounds came from France where they were hunting dogs.Their droopy ears help waft an animal’s scent to the Basset’s nose. Bassets are scent driven.

Bassets are short stocky dogs with long bodies. They come in two or three colors mixed with white: black, brown, and Lemon ( a light tan).

Check out the www.factsurfer.com feature “basset hounds” after reading the book.

In this third book in the Craftily Ever After series, Maddie and her school friends will soon be learning all about the 1960s at school. Meanwhile, Maddie’s mother has been commissioned by the mayor to “create a custom-tailored suit for him to wear to the unveiling of the new town hall.” (8)

Maddie and her friend will be tie-dying in their craft work space at Emily’s house. They are all gathering white cotton fabric for the project. When some of the friends could not find any fabric for the project, Maddie goes into her mother’s sewing room, without asking first, to pick up some scraps. Maddie stuffs everything into a shopping bag from the sewing room and hurries off to begin the project with her friends. The next day after school, the fabric is unbound and hung up to dry revealing a dress shirt no one recognizes. The dress shirt has monogrammed cuffs. Using the computer, they discover the monogram initials match those of the mayor. Oh, no! First the group tries to remove the dye, which does not work. Now, how will Maddie get enough courage to tell her mother. The friends let Maddie know they will go with her to tell her mother, but Maddie says, “No.”

The next day, the mayor is at Maddie’s house, after school, for a fitting. Then and there Maddie admits to what has happened. The mayor is not angry. He likes the shirt. He was a child of the 1960s. The mayor will wear the tie-dyed shirt with the new suit. Maddie’s mother adds a tie-dyed pocket square to complete the look. The Mayor’s event is a success. Maddie and her mother are mentioned in the newspaper the next day in one of the articles about the event.

This book is full of realistic emotions and feelings.Illustrator Xindi Yan’s wide eyed characters, on almost every page, add to the enjoyment and understanding of the readers.

Directions for how to tie-dye follow the story, plus a sneak peek to book #4.

For first time airplane riders, this book written for very young flyers will take them step by step through their paces from the time they check in at the kiosk upon arrival, through the TSA check point, to walking up the stairs into the plane itself, to buckling their seat belts, to take off (gorgeous photo taken from on the runway looking up at the plane with the snow covered Rocky Mountains in the background), to looking down at the ground out the window, to choosing between reading a book or watching a movie or playing a video game, to being served a beverage and possibly a snack, to finally disembarking the airplane. The only thing the book does not mention is possibly using the rest room.

There are two or three sentences, in large font, per two-page spread accompanied by an appropriate photo. There are two inset critical thinking questions, one on page 6 – “Why do you think bags need to be checked at the airport?” at the TSA check point and on page 9 “Why do you think bags have to go in bins?” inside the cabin of the plane. I hope the young reader does not know about terrorists and extreme air turbulence. This book makes flying look happy and fun. I’m feeling a little jealous that I do not currently have a trip planned for the immediate future.

Page 22 entitled “Flight Supplies” includes five photos of labeled items you might want on a trip: travel bag, books, snacks, travel pillow, and blanket. While page 23 entitled “Picture Glossary” includes four photos from the book with the word and a short definition: board, checks, flight attendants, and runway.

Signing Day is the story of friends, football, and the future. The story line is straightforward and realistic. Characters are believable and authentic. The plot is compelling. Readers will sympathize with Iggy when he is forced to choose between his playing football with his best friend or accepting the offer from his father’s school. Readers will root for Iggy to follow his dream of playing football for his father’s alma mater.  Give this book to a reluctant sports reader.