On his way home from band practice, Oliver missed the bus, people started screaming which confused Oliver. Then he discovered he was a werewolf. As he finds out all the wonderful thing he can do, he realizes his mom will be upset that he is late. Would his parents be mad for being late or would they be afraid of Oliver?

Knock Knock is a hilarious book about a bear getting ready to settle down for his yearly hibernation. His friends all dropped by and throw him an impromptu party but all Bear wants to do is sleep. The book is full of knock knock jokes that will entertain the audience.

At the town’s Valentine’s Day Bash, the monsters give Frankenstein a hard time for not being “monster” enough. At the bash, though, Frankenstein receives a secret valentine. Follow along to find out which monster likes Frankenstein just the way he is. It is well illustrated with bright colors. An easy reader with a subtle moral.

Jack B. Ninja is a new twist on the nursery rhyme Jack Be Nimble.  Using a ninja theme, Jack needs to find the treasure chest. There is a surprise ending. It rhymes and flows easily. I found it to be a good read aloud book.

With apologies to 12th century romantics Abelard and Helouise, Laura Creedle’s The Love Letters of Abelard and Lilly is a romantic story that skims the surface of complicated issues such as ADHD, Autism, divorce and possibly depression.  Unrealistically, Abelard and Lilly end up in the principal’s office after breaking into a classroom at their school.  After a passionate kiss while awaiting their detention sentence, the two students who have known each other since elementary school obviously are following their loins.  Eye-rolling high school aged drama slowly carries the story until Lily has to decide to have a surgery or run away from home with Abelard.  The mother’s decisions at the end are even more far-fetched and leave this reader wondering how an editor led the author down this path.  This story will be pulled because of its title but I’m don’t think teens will really enjoy it’s trite writing.

The Stand-In features Brooks, a kid from a working class family with a dead beat dad, who is desperate to get out of town and attend an Ivy league school. Having no money, he volunteers to be a stand-in for a schoolmate’s cousin who got stood up for Homecoming. He planned to do this for free, as a favor, but when he receives a $300 tip, he decides he can earn college money escorting other rich 1% girls in the area. With the potential to earn this kind of money, he’ll be able to hire a tutor to help raise his SAT scores. Columbia University might be within range, after all. His escort business booms, but to keep up the momentum, he makes some minor deceptions, and cuts a few moral corners. And then he meets the unhinged Celia, and the captivating Shelby.
The Stand-In has a young male as the protagonist, which is unusual for many YA novels., and this male POV may appeal to male students.
This fast-faced, hilarious story is a fun read.

Two Summers tells two stories of one summer. In one story, Summer Everett fails to answer a phone call from her father as she prepares to catch a plane to France, where her dad is living the artist life. Upon arrival, she discovers that he’s gone to Berlin and she is left with his friends who are house sitting.
In the other story, Summer answers the phone before getting on the plane, and realizes her summer is Paris is off. Disappointed, she resigns herself to a summer at home.

We see two perspectives: Summer in the French countryside, among sun-kissed fields of lavender. And another Summer in upstate New York, amid familiar settings, but facing a real surprise.

In each version of her summer, she falls in love and discovers new things about herself, including a terrible family secret.

This is a fun read.

Crash is the story of a girl, Gloria, who on her flight home from losing an important music competition, crashes in the middle of the Arizona desert. Some of her fellow passengers are dead; others injured. Some head across the dessert looking for help. Faced with the realization that all of her technical ability at violin will not help her in this desperate situation, she must rely on her survival instincts, as the chance of rescue is remote.
While this is not the best written novella (there are some awkward sentences and some mildly unrealistic plot turns), the story is action packed. There is a certain amount of gore, a bit of romance, and the story will appeal to readers who enjoy adventure. The reading level is such that it is an appropriate book for both middle and high school students.
Crash is part of the Survive series, but the titles are stand alone.

Stolen Secrets is a contemporary story of a teen girl, Livvy, and her alcoholic mother who has that has kept a Holocaust secret from Livvy. What is the family secret? Is grandmother a Holocaust survivor? Is she from a Nazi family? This book has multiple plot lines and themes, and switches point of view repeatedly from the memory of grandmother as a young girl decades ago in Nazi controlled Germany, to Livvy in current day San Francisco. Topics addressed are what it’s like for Livvy to be a new girl at school; homesickness for friends; alcoholism; family secrets, neo-Nazis; predatory elder care; armed robbery; and a romance.
This novel is a page turner. You won’t be able to put it down.

Ranger Red Fox takes the reader on a tour of the Grand Tetons National Park in Wyoming.  Information includes the basic history of the park, including the geology of how the areas were formed, as well as Native American original inhabitants and early explorers. Ranger Red Fox then describes the scenic sites and activities, and flora and fauna in the parks.  At the end of the text, there is a field guide of animals, wildlife by the numbers, a map and map challenge, wildflower tracker, glossary and index.

Stunning photographs support the text.  Animated Ranger Red Fox livens up the telling. A fun engaging read.

This title in the Strange and Wonderful series is a VERY detailed nonfiction book about spiders.  Information includes species classification, anatomy, different habitats, webs, reproduction, hunting techniques.  Specific details are provided about different species, highlighting the diversity of spiders.  The tone comes across as somewhat conversational, including suggestions on overcoming arachnophobia. While using scientific terms and detailed illustrations, the lack of a table of contents or index makes it less useful for research.  Recommendations in the “To Learn More” section include materials that range in interest level from preschool to adult.

A sure hit with kids interested in spiders and other creepy crawlies.

An in depth history of the Cassini satellite launched in 1997 to study Saturn and its moons. Begins with the basics of the planet, then describes the satellites long 7 year journey.  Cassini satellite provided the most detailed images of Saturn ever seen.  It then  observed Saturn’s rings and moons for more than a decade. Includes details on the Titan Huygens Probe, the first landing on a moon in the outer solar system.  In 2017, as its nuclear fuel was running out, scientists gave it Cassini one last mission; send as much data as possible as it plunged into Saturn’s atmosphere. 

Highlighted ‘extreme facts’ on each page are high interest. Colorful photographs and diagrams

Memorial Day is explained in simple text with both historical and current photographs. The book focuses on the origins and traditions associated with the celebration of Memorial Day. Concepts are covered at a developmental level that corresponds with the target audience.  Vocabulary words found in the glossary are in bold.

Included are directions on how to make a tissue paper poppy to honor fallen soldiers.

With simple text and colorful pictures, this title provides young readers an introduction to President’s Day.  The book starts by describing President’s Day and who celebrates it.  Also included is information on the origins and traditions of President’s Day as well as directions on how to make George Washington’s wig.

Dry, sparse information and complex concepts without adequate explanation makes this title less appealing for young readers.

Introducing the season of spring through the colors of plants, animals and weather.  Color words in the text appear as that color.  The descriptions of spring are interrupted 3 times to explain coloring techniques; texture, shading, and symmetry.  Text is supported by colorful photographs and drawings.  End-papers includes names of the colors used in the text, glossary, Learn More, and Index.

Crayons are part of every child’s early years of school.  Using crayons and color to describe the characteristic features of spring make this a child friendly title on the subject.

Strawberry Shortcake’s friend, Orange Blossom has a problem – her store is packed with fans no one will buy because the weather is still cool.  Raisin Cane offers to use her expertise to help promote the store through social media. Orange Blossom’s performances become increasingly complex and time consuming and her followers on social media keep asking for more.  Unfortunately none of her efforts actually sell any fans, it just keeps her out the store.  Bosley Bookworm tracks Orange Blossom down looking for some olive oil from her store. Orange Blossom realizes that her fixation on selling fans has hurt her business.  Giving up on her social media campaign is a relief – and the arrival of warmer weather is good for the fan business.

In graphic novel format.  Includes an additional story, “A Haunting in Berry City.”  Sure to be a hit with Strawberry Shortcake fans.

Miss Mallard and her companions face many dangers on their trek to the lost city of Kimbu Tacka.  Disasters follow them from a collapsing bridge to a leaky canoe.  The greatest danger is the headless demon that protects the ancient site.  The frightened expedition members are willing to turn back without exploring Kimbu Tacka until Miss Mallard discovers that the headless demon is one of their party disguised to frighten everyone so he can steal the Kimbu Tacka treasures.

Large type and short simple sentences make this a readable choice for students transitioning to chapter books.  The start of the story is rather abrupt and hard to follow.  Bold text throughout the story is used either to identify vocabulary found in the glossary or to show emphasis.  Sometimes both purposes are found on the same page.

Written by J. Patrick Lewis, the Children’s Poet Laureate of the United States, this is a cute collection of Halloween poems.  The poems are each 4 lines celebrating an aspect of the holiday; from parties to costumes and pumpkins to trick-or-treating.  Each poem has a 2 page spread with the poem on the left and a digitally modified photo on the right.  Each spread includes an interesting fact about Halloween that supports the poem topic.

End papers include spooky celebrations around the world featuring fall holidays in 6 different countries; a brief description and history of the holiday of Halloween; and a glossary and index.

I found the use of lowercase text for the Table of Contents and poem titles to be a potential distraction for young readers and writers who are just beginning to recognize and use proper capitalization.

Every night wishes are sent to the rabbit on the moon. The wishes as stars to the sky. Rabbit has a wish. He wants friends, so one night he takes a wish and comes to earth. He has a great day with new friends, but at night there are no stars in the sky. Rabbit realizes he must say good-bye and return to the moon. The text is lyrical with only a sentence on a page. The illustrations are beautiful and complement the text.

A little pup cannot go to sleep. He tries counting sheep, counting stars, chewing on a bone. The moths and butterflies tell him to go to sleep. A fox and a badger tell him to go to sleep, but the little pup cannot sleep until his mom covers him with a soft blanket. The text is rhythmic and engaging for young children, but I think the illustrations steal the show. The colors are vibrant, yet the illustrations are soft.

In her memoir, March Forward, Girl, Arkansas public school’s integration pioneer Melba Pattillo Beals offers an important perspective on racial oppression in the 1940’s and 50’s American south.  Seen through a child’s eyes, the picture she presents is at both shocking and inspiring as she describes her life leading up to the moment she enrolled in the 1957 all white Little Rock Central High School as one of the “Little Rock Nine”.

Simple prose, detailed events, child’s point-of-view as honest and frank are highlights of this appalling oppression and mistreatment.  Written for readers from 7th grade and up, this is an adult looking back at her childhood that shaped her immensely.  Witnessing a lynching at the age of five, an abduction by the KKK at the age of eleven and escaping an attempted rape are terrible highlights of her narrative.  The subject matter is jarring, which should sadden readers with the reality of our nation’s past.  Lower level ore reluctant readers will be drawn in by the subject matter and accessibility of the writing while more advanced readers will find plenty to ponder.

Kristen Hall relates how bees collect nectar, pass on the location of the flowers and a brief look at the rolls of different bees from spring to spring through a rhythmic lyrical text. Readers may not realize they are learning information about honeybees until they dive deeper into the story.

The colors of the book mainly focus on the golden yellow, orange and black with a few muted other colors in the background.

The text seems to be geared towards younger readers, but information at the back might be for the slightly older student.

Houses can be in the treetops or underground. They can be made of bubbles, sticks or clay. This book goes through different animal dwellings. Giving a brief description of how what type of animal lives in that home and what it is made of. The watercolor illustrations add a softness to the page.

Some animals are familiar, while some animals readers may not have heard of before. Some of the animals included in this book are beavers, rock-boring urchin, common swift, termites, and Mexican book beetles.

The information is brief on each page and at the back their is a short paragraph on each of the different animals in the book. This would be a good introduction to different types of animal homes.