This book follows four ordinary children, Eric, Hans, Kate and Ruby (& one dog) as they grow up and find their lives intertwined in the years leading up to and during World War II. Eric and Hans come from Berlin, so the reader sees what life was like leading up to the war in Germany. Kate and Ruby are from Britain. All struggle through pretty normal bits of childhood set in a time of approaching conflict. I loved the book once it got going, though I found it a bit slow and confusing to keep track of the various characters at the beginning of the book. Once the book caught its stride and various characters met each other, it was not a problem, and the action pulled the reader along. Seeing family life from the two countries will help readers understand that war is made of regular people – not all evil or good Just ordinary folks caught in extraordinary times. The book has one of those satisfying endings that lets the reader know what happened to characters years after the main conflict is over. At least I always like to know that! The author also gives some background information at the end of the book of some historical facts about the world the children have inhabited. There is also a family tree at the end, indicating some of the characters may have been in another book by this author, The Skylark’s War.  (Perhaps keeping track of all Kate’s family members would have been easier if I’d read this earlier book.) Definitely one to include for students interested in historical fiction about WWII, especially because it includes a look at both sides of the war.

Based on the novel by K.A. Applegate & Michael Grant, adapted by Chris Grine

This is the second volume in the new graphic novel adaptation of Katherine Applegate & Michael Grant’s popular series Animorphs, adapted by Chris Grine. Having never read the original series, I did read the first graphic novel to get the gist of the big problem, namely the alien ability of the 5 main characters, Jake, Marco, Cassie, Tobias, and Rachel, to now turn into animals. Their new abilities will help them fight the Yeerks, an alien race trying to take over Earth while our planet waits for the good aliens, the Andalites, to come join the fight. In the second volume, Rachel agrees to go undercover in a cat form to discover what they can from their assistant principal, Mr. Chapman, who has become a host to the main Yeerk. Illustrations are bright and bold. The transformation scenes are clever as we see part human and part animal morphing. Text bubbles are different when characters are talking vs when they are using mind reading, adding a visual element to inner dialogue. If the first book in the series is popular, students will definitely enjoy the second. And, if like me, you never experienced the original series, I think the animal element and the high action will appeal to new audiences. Some scenes might be visually scary for younger audiences, though I think this will be fine for upper elementary and middle school level readers.

Fall into the weird world of dreams and nightmares with this graphic novel. Under the guise of a hospital that helps victims of debilitating nightmares, Estaban and Tristan journey into patient’s bad dreams to help them solve the root cause of the dreaming. There is also more to discover about the hospital and the head doctor, Tristan’s father. Who is the creepy non-sleeper locked away in the basement? Why has the doctor adopted Estaban, a young man who has amnesia? I liked the way the story unfolded. The nightmare worlds the children navigate are weird and metaphoric, giving us a glimpse into our own dreams and fears. The graphic style showing the world both in and and out of the dream is clever and clear for the reader. Characters’ faces are large eyed & expressive with a light Goth style that includes plenty of detail. Students will definitely enjoy this first book of this new series. I can already tell I’ll be looking for future additions!

An absurd collection of animal drawings that have only been seen by the now-missing Professor O’Logist. A tongue-in-cheek book of drawings and scientific descriptions of the craziest collections of animals you’ve never seen, but that doesn’t mean they might NOT exist! Professor O’Logist even created his own classification system for organizing the animals, including the soft animals, the disgusting animals, and the not-useful animals, to name a few. Many of the animals remind me of creatures you might encounter in a Roald Dahl book, the drawings are charming and the writing is both serious and silly. This is a book I think students will have fun giggling over as they flip through the bizarre taxonomy and then find inspiration to discover rare animals themselves. For a middle school library, I imagine this probably more of a display book, rather than one that gets checked out much unless it’s by budding artists.