A Girl Named Misty: The True Story of Misty Copeland

Growing up, Misty Copeland was a shy girl who loved to dance. Ballet opened up a whole new world where Misty was able to shine. Because she is African American, Misty faced barriers to becoming a dancer. Through a lot of hard work, determination, and incredible talent, Misty became a star at one of the top ballet companies in the world and helped change the face of dance.

The story chronicles Misty’s life from when she was in elementary school. Unlike most dancers, Misty didn’t start ballet until she was thirteen. In the beginning, Misty felt awkward and insecure, but she continued to work hard and improve.

Misty eventually moved to New York City and became a member of the American Ballet Theatre (ABT). During her time with the theatre, Misty was the first African American dancer to be cast in a part for a major ballet company. However, she was devastated when she was injured and had to take a break from dance. Despite this, she overcame the obstacle and became the first African American woman to be the principal dancer at ABT.

Misty’s life is described through text and large, full-color illustrations. Each two-page spread has a full-page illustration and one page of oversized text. Dancing terminology appears in bold letters and a glossary is included at the back of the book. The end of the book also has a timeline of Misty’s life, with four pictures of Misty performing. There is also a short article about another amazing girl, Alexa Narvaez, who sings and posts her videos on the internet. Even though the book’s format will appeal to younger readers, they may struggle with the difficult vocabulary. However, short chapters make A Girl Named Misty a good choice to read aloud.

A Girl Named Misty shows how hard work and dedication made Misty a successful dancer. Her motivational story will encourage girls to reach for their dreams. Even though the biography teaches about Misty’s life, the text doesn’t contain any direct quotes from Misty.

Even though Misty’s life revolved around dance, anyone who has ever faced an obstacle will relate to her. Misty’s story will teach readers that many obstacles can be overcome with hard work. In the end, “Misty, the shy little girl with the big talent, had become the star she was always meant to be.” Strong elementary readers looking for dance books will also want to read Out of Step by Jake Maddox.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

The Legend of the Shark Goddess: A Nanea Mystery

Ever since the war started, Nanea has done her best to follow all the new rules. When she meets a boy named Mano in her grandparents’ market, Nanea is shocked to hear him admit to breaking some rules—and bragging about getting away with it.

When things start to go missing from the market, Mano is the first person Nanea suspects. Nanea is determined to protect her grandparents, but Mano, whose name means “shark” in Hawaiian, seems to be hanging around the market more and more. What can Nanea do to keep her family safe from this dangerous boy?

Nanea’s story focuses on the effects of World War II in 1941. In a kid-friendly way, The Legend of the Shark Goddess illustrates some of the discrimination that Japanese Americans faced. Even though the story takes place after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the story also revolves around Nanea’s efforts to discover who is stealing from her family. As the mystery evolves, Nanea realizes it is difficult to tell if someone is a “good shark or a bad shark.”

Nanea is obsessed with following the rules, which is one reason she focuses on her first impressions of others. For example, when Nanea meets Mano, she is convinced he is the thief because he breaks curfew. Nanea is so focused on proving that Mano is a thief that she never really considers that anyone else could have taken the items. While most of the suspects are not well developed, the story provides enough mystery to keep readers entertained.

The Legend of the Shark Goddess does an excellent job describing Hawaii during the 1940s. Readers will learn many facts about this time period as well as several life lessons. The story focuses on two main lessons: don’t spread rumors and don’t judge others. The repetition of the lessons is a little tedious, but the conclusion helps reinforce the story’s lesson in a surprising way.

Readers who love mysteries may be disappointed that Nanea doesn’t do much sleuthing and there are no clues to follow or riddles to solve. Instead, the story relies on Nanea’s impressions of others to build suspense. However, Nanea’s story is interesting and many middle school readers will relate to Nanea. At the end of the book, readers will find a glossary of Hawaiian words and facts about Nanea’s world. Even though The Legend of the Shark Goddess lacks mystery, readers will still enjoy spending time in Nanea’s world. Readers who like history with a dash of fantasy should also read The League of Secret Heroes by Kate Hannigan.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Nanea often thinks about the shark goddess Ka’ahupahau, “who guarded the entrance of Pearl Harbor with her brother, Kahi’uka. . . She was born a human with fire-red hair. But as a shark, her body could take many forms. She could become a net, difficult to tear. And with her net body, she captured man-eating sharks that entered her harbor.”

Disney’s Moana: Pua and Heihei

Moana helps get ready for a feast. She finds a shell and decides to make her dad a gift: a bracelet. Heihei the rooster keeps making trouble, he pecks holes in the leaves that the villagers use to wrap food in. Moana drops the bracelet and it lands on Heihei. Pua the pig wants to find the bracelet for Moana. Both Heihei and Pua get trapped in a fishing net. Moana untangles the net and finds the bracelet. Moana is happy that her dad loves the gift.

Young readers will need help reading Pua and Heihei. The story uses basic vocabulary and short sentences but is intended for children who are familiar with words on sight and can sound out new words. Each page has 1 to 3 simple sentences that are printed in large text. The action is illustrated with large pictures that show all of the accidental mischief that Heihei and Pua get into.

Pua and Heihei uses familiar characters and full-page illustrations to engage young readers. The story is intended for preschool through kindergarten readers, but older readers will also enjoy the story. The plot is easy to understand and the colorful illustrations will help readers understand the story’s events. Fans of Disney will enjoy stepping into Moana’s tropical world and laugh as Pua and Heihei cause all sorts of silly trouble.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Fish Girl

Who is Fish Girl?

She lives in a tank in a boardwalk aquarium. She is the main attraction, though visitors never get more than a glimpse of her.

She has a tail. She can’t walk, but she can speak. She can make friends with Livia, an ordinary girl, and can yearn for a life that includes yoga and pizza. She can grow stronger and braver. With determination, a touch of magic, and the help of a loyal octopus, Fish Girl can do anything.

When Livia meets Fish Girl, she is determined to get to know her new friend. Due to Livia’s curiosity, Fish Girl learns the truth about her origins and the falsehoods that Neptune, her captor, has told. Livia’s friendship gives Fish Girl the inspiration and courage to go against Neptune’s rules.

Fish Girl’s journey comes to life in beautiful watercolor illustrations, drawn in blue hues. While most of the conversation appears in white quote bubbles, Fish Girl’s thoughts appear in square boxes, which helps readers distinguish the speakers. Each page has 6 or fewer sentences, which are written with easy-to-understand vocabulary.

This graphic novel beautifully portrays the power of friendship. When Fish Girl is in danger, the octopus helps protects her. In addition, with Livia’s help, Fish Girl realizes she has the power to free herself from her captor’s grasp. The amazing illustrations of Livia’s underwater home show an array of sea creatures. Fish Girl’s facial expressions will also help readers understand her emotions.

Fish Girl will appeal to many readers because of the high interest in mermaids. The themes of friendship and freedom will also resonate with readers. Fish Girl’s compelling story, coupled with beautiful illustrations, makes Fish Girl a wonderful book to read. The simple plot and vocabulary will appeal to reluctant readers and the heartwarming conclusion will put a smile on readers’ faces.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Fish Girl goes to the boardwalk. A man begins to follow her, and he grabs her hair. He says, “You’ve got nice hair. . . C’mon. Let’s get out of here—” Fish Girl breaks free and runs.
  • A fisherman gets angry with Fish Girl and begins yelling at her. Her octopus friend grows larger and holds the man so Fish Girl can escape.
  • Fish Girl asks the ocean to destroy the aquarium. In response, the octopus grabs ahold of the building and pulls it towards the sea. “The ocean rises up, and sets the sea creatures free.”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • When Fish Girl is in danger, the octopus grows into a giant like the kraken.
  • Fish Girl asks the ocean to destroy the aquarium in order to set the sea creatures free. After it’s destroyed, she says, “It’s dying down. You listened. Thank you, ocean.”

Spiritual Content

  • The fisherman who owns the aquarium pretends to be “Neptune, god of the seas and storms.”
  • The fisherman tells the Fish Girl that “the muses were lovely. They had the form of women and their voices were sweeter than anything anyone could ever dream of.”

 

The Cruel Prince

Jude, her twin sister Taryn, and half-sister Vivi lived a normal life until their parents were murdered by Madoc, Vivi’s war general faerie father. Despite killing their parents, Madoc takes the three sisters to live with him at his estate in Faerieland. While Vivi is half-faerie, Jude and Taryn are outsiders to their new world and some of the only well-treated mortals in the land. However, being the high general’s “children” does not grant them respect. At school, Taryn and Jude find themselves the butt of many jokes and are tormented by Cardan (a faerie prince), Nicasia, Locke, and Valerian. Jude often feels powerless against the fae and is subject to their glamours and compulsions. Plus, her mortality makes her vulnerable to their cruel jokes.

However, Jude’s life begins to change when she becomes a spy for Prince Dain, Cardan’s brother and next in line to be the High King of Faerie. Given a geas by the prince, which prevents compulsion, Jude begins to stand up to Cardan and his friends. She also begins a romance with Locke, who is the only one of Cardan’s friends that had ever shown her compassion. Jude’s mortality allows her to slip into Hollow Hall (Prince Balekin’s residence; Dain’s main competition for the throne) unnoticed and gather crucial information for Dain’s cause.

At the coronation, Taryn reveals that she is to be married to Locke, shocking everyone, most notably Jude, who believed herself to be Locke’s girlfriend. While Dain is being crowned, chaos breaks out and Balekin, Dain’s brother, challenges Dain for the throne. Madoc, who is secretly working with Balekin, kills Dain, and shortly after, all of Dain’s siblings have been killed or committed suicide—except for Cardan, who is nowhere to be seen. While scrambling for shelter from the bloodshed, Jude stumbles upon Cardan, and decides to take him hostage and use him as a bargaining chip with Balekin and Madoc. While holding him hostage, Jude discovers Cardan’s reason for hating her, which is that he cannot stop thinking about her and shamefully desires her.

Jude becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and discovers her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

Told from Jude’s point of view, The Cruel Prince explores the triumph of an outsider. Although the characters feel believable, at times, it can be difficult to root for them, or even like them, because they are cruel. The novel pushes the point that cruelty only begets more cruelty, and that betrayal and ruthlessness are essential in the pursuit of power. The plot is rather complex, and the book is chock-full of events that all seem to be very important. Although some events seem superfluous at first, their relevance is revealed by the end of the novel. The dialogue, at times, can feel a little convoluted and antiquated, but this seems to fit with the holier-than-thou air of the fae. Altogether, The Cruel Prince is an engaging, fast-paced novel showcasing a strong female lead.

Sexual Content

  • Vivi is revealed to have a girlfriend in the human world. “Vivi is in the photos, her arm draped over the shoulders of a grinning, pink-haired mortal girl. Maybe Taryn isn’t the only one who has decided to fall in love.”
  • Vivi “kisses Heather,” her mortal girlfriend.
  • After being forced to consume faerie fruit, which is like a drug to humans, Cardan and his friends convince Jude to take of her dress, until all she is wearing is “mortal underclothes—a mint-and-black polka-dotted bra and underpants.”
  • Jude begins a romance with Locke, Cardan’s friend. At Locke’s house before a party, she thinks, “I want his mouth on mine, blotting out everything else.”
  • Jude sees Cardan at a party with a girl. “A horned girl I don’t know is kissing his throat, and another, this one with daffodil hair, presses her mouth against the calf of his leg, just above the top of his boot.”
  • While Jude is holding Cardan hostage, she realizes that Cardan desires her. Jude leans “toward him, close enough for a kiss. His eyes widen. The look on his face is some commingling of panic and desire.”
  • After realizing she has power over Cardan, Jude kisses him. “But kissing Locke never felt the way that kissing Cardan does, like taking a dare to run over knives, like an adrenaline strike of lightning, like the moment when you’ve swum too far out in the sea and there is no going back, only cold black water closing over your head . . . Then his hands come up, gentle as they glide over my arms. If I didn’t know better, I’d say his touch was reverent, but I do know better… He doesn’t want this. He doesn’t want to want this…He kisses me hard, with a kind of devouring desperation, fingers digging into my hair. Our mouths slide together, teeth over lips over tongues. Desire hits me like a kick to the stomach. It’s like fighting, except what we’re fighting for is to crawl inside each other’s skin.”

Violence

  • Madoc confronts Jude’s mother who faked her death. Madoc says, “The bones of an earthly woman and her unborn child in the burned remains of my estate were convincing.”
  • Madoc kills Jude’s mother and father as an act of revenge. Madoc is particularly violent when he kills Jude’s father. “The man plunged the sword into Dad’s stomach, pushing it upward. There was a sound, like sticks snapping, and an animal cry.” The scene is described over four pages.
  • When a faerie doesn’t bow to Cardan, he “grabs one of his wings. It tears like paper. The boy’s scream is thin and reedy. He curls up into himself on the ground, agony plain on his face.”
  • Madoc is a redcap, meaning that “after every battle, he ritually dips his hood into the blood of his enemies.” In one scene, the cap is described as, “stiff and stained a brown so deep it’s almost black.”
  • When Jude is awarded a ruby-studded pen from Madoc, one of her classmates becomes angry. “This threw Valerian into such a rage that he cracked me in the back of the head with his wooden practice sword.”
  • When she was a child, Jude was bullied because she is human. Jude mentions that “when I was nine, one of Madoc’s guards bit off the very top of the ring finger on my left hand.”
  • After being catcalled by a human in a visit to the mortal world, Jude attacks the catcaller, “I am turning before I can think, my fist cracking into his jaw. My booted foot hits his gut as he falls, rolling him over the pavement. I blink and find myself standing there, staring down at a kid who is gasping for air and starting to cry. My boot is raised to kick him in the throat, to crush his windpipe.”
  • After answering a question right in school, Jude is harassed and a classmate “slaps [her].”
  • After sneaking into Cardan’s house, Jude sees Cardan and his brother practicing swordplay. “Balekin brings down his staff hard, smacking him in the side of the head. I wince at the sound of the wood against his skull.”
  • After Cardan and his brother spar, Balekin punishes him for failure and has a servant whip him. “The servant strikes twice, the slap of the leather echoing loudly in the still air of the room.”
  • One of Cardan’s friends tries to get Jude to kill herself because she is embarrassing him. Jude retaliates, however, and “pull[s] the knife from my little pocket and stab[s] him in the side. Right between his ribs. If my knife had been longer, I would have punctured his lung.”
  • Jude tries to take a human servant that she had saved back to the human world. However, the servant, Sophie “tilts to one side, let’s go of the steed’s mane, and lets herself fall.” She falls into the ocean after filling her pockets with stones, committing suicide.
  • After finding out that Jude has stabbed Valerian after Valerian attempted to kill her, Dain, Jude’s spymaster, begins to question her loyalty to him because she has revealed her inability to be glamoured, putting the whole operation at risk. Because of this, Dain tells her to stab herself and prove her loyalty. Jude’s eyes were “on him, I slam the knife into my hand. The pain is a wave that rises higher and higher but never crashes.”
  • Angry with Jude for besting him, Valerian sneaks into Jude’s house and attacks her. As he chokes her, Jude retaliates. “Despite his fingers against my windpipe, despite the way my vision has begun to go dark around the edges, I make sure of my strike before I drive my knife into his chest. Into his heart,” killing him.
  • When Jude shoots a faerie spy, “the creature topples over, a flailing arm sending a pyramid of golden apples spilling to the dirt.”
  • At the coronation, while Dain is being crowned, “Madoc thrusts his sword through Dain’s chest with such force that the blade emerges on the other side. He drags it up, through his rib cage, to his heart.”
  • At the coronation, Jude takes Cardan hostage and “press[es] the tip of the knife against his skin so he can feel the bite.”
  • It is revealed that “Dain poisoned his own child, still in the womb.”
  • Locke has been secretly dating both Jude and Taryn. When Jude finds out, she challenges Taryn to a fight. Afterward, Madoc questions Taryn, “Did she thrust a sword into your hand and make you swing it? Do you really think that your sister has no honor, that she would chop you into pieces while you stood by, unarmed?’”
  • Jude challenges Madoc to a duel, and they fight for about 5 pages. Jude feigns “left and then land[s] a clever slice to his side. It’s a shallow hit, but it surprises us both when a line of red wets his coat. He thrusts toward me. I jump to one side, and he elbows me in the face, knocking me back to the ground. Blood gushes over my mouth from my nose.” She knows that she cannot win the fight, but she poisoned Madoc and just has to outlast him until the poison takes effect.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • There are many instances where people drink wine at faerie parties and also at dinner. At parties, people are described to, “drink themselves sick and numb themselves with poisonous and delightful powders.”
  • At the first revel Jude attends, Cardan is drunk. “His breath is heavy with the scent of honey wine.”
  • At dinner, Madoc and his wife, Oriana, “drink canary wine,” while the children “mix [theirs] with water.”
  • At one party, Jude is glamoured by a faerie to drink. “So [Jude] drank; the grass-green faerie wine slipping down my throat like nectar.”
  • Faerie fruit is dangerous for humans to consume. It “muddles the mind, which makes humans crave it enough to starve themselves for another taste, which makes us pliant and suggestible and ridiculous.”
  • When first introduced to Dain’s spies, Jude is offered a drink. The Ghost, one of Dain’s spies, “pours out four shots.” Then he says, “Have a drink. And don’t worry . . . It won’t befuddle you any more than any other drink.”
  • Jude talks about the various poisons that exist in Faerieland. Jude read “about the blusher mushroom, a pale fungus that blooms with beads of a red liquid that looks uncomfortably like blood. Small doses cause paralysis, while large doses are lethal, even for the Folk. Then there is deathsweet, which causes a sleep that lasts a hundred years. And wraithberry, which makes your blood race until your heart stops. And faerie fruit, of course, which one book called everapple.”
  • Jude begins to poison herself to build up immunity to poisoning. She consumes “a leaf of wraithberry from the palace garden. A petal from a flower of deathsweet. The tiniest bead of juice from the blusher mushroom. From each, I cut away a tinier portion and swallow. Mithridatism, it’s called. Isn’t that a funny name? The process of eating poison to build up immunity. So long as I don’t die from it, I’ll be harder to kill.”
  • While at a party, Jude and Locke “drink pale green wine that tastes of herbs out of massive goblets that Locke finds in the back of a cabinet.”
  • Jude worries about going to a party, but Locke reassures her by saying, “They’ll quickly be too drunk to notice.”
  • While in someone’s study, Jude notices that he has various herbs, and “a few are poisonous, but most are just narcotic.”
  • During Dain’s coronation, Jude sees Cardan, “unsteady on his feet and with a wine-skin in one hand. He appears to have gotten himself riotously drunk.”
  • Jude tricks Madoc into drinking a glass of poisoned wine. Jude gives “him a quick smile, pouring two glasses of wine—one light and the other dark. I am careful with them, sly-fingered. I do not spill a drop. . . I offer them both up for Madoc to choose between. Smiling, he takes the one the color of heart’s blood. I take the other.”
  • While at a coronation, Cardan drinks “directly from the neck” of a bottle of wine.

Language

  • Profanity is used rarely. Profanity includes bitch. For example, when Jude fights a stranger, the stranger’s friend screams, “Bitch. . . Crazy Bitch!”

Supernatural

  • Supernatural elements play a large part in the novel, as it takes place in Faerieland, a place ruled and inhabited by the fae.
  • Vivi, Jude’s half-sister, who is half-fae, is described as having a “split-pupiled gaze” and “lightly furred points of her ears.”
  • Jude describes the precautions that humans must take in Faerieland, and how her housemaid, Tatterfell protected her. “It was Tatterfell who smeared stinging faerie ointment over my eyes to give me True Sight so that I could see through most glamours, who brushed the mud from my boots, and who strung dried rowan berries for me to wear around my neck so I might resist enchantments. She wiped my wet nose and reminded me to wear my stockings inside out, so I’d never be led astray in the forest.”
  • When Tatterfell is doing Jude’s hair, she notes, “’I put in three knots for luck.”
  • One of Madoc’s spies is “a wrinkled creature with a nose like a parsnip and a back hunched higher than her head.”
  • While attending a faeire party, Jude describes the folk who are in attendance. “There are dozens of the Folk here, crowding around the entrance to the vast throne room, where Court is being held—long-nosed pixies with tattered wings; elegant, green-skinned ladies in long gowns with goblins holding up their trains; tricksy boggans; laughing foxkin; a boy in an owl mask and a golden headdress; an elderly woman with crows crowding her shoulders; a gaggle of girls with wild roses in their hair; a bark-skinned boy with feathers around his neck; a group of knights all in scarab-green armor.”
  • Prince Dain, a faerie, has “hooves and deer legs.”
  • Cardan has a tail, “with a tuft on the end! It coils up under his clothes and unfurls like a whip.”
  • As Jude and Taryn walk to school, they “spot mermaids and merrows sunning themselves near craggy caves, their scales reflecting the amber glow of the late-afternoon sun.”
  • The Lake of Masks is a magical lake, that “doesn’t reflect your own face—it shows you someone else who has looked or will look into it.”
  • Jude describes some of the fae. “There are hobs born with lined faces like tiny, hairless cats and smooth-limbed nixies whose true age shows only in their ancient eyes.”
  • Jude is compelled by a faerie to drink and dance at a party. Jude isn’t able to stop of her own accord because a stranger “compelled me to drink, and so I drank; the grass-green faerie wine slipping down my throat like nectar. He danced me around the hill. It was fun at first, the kind of terrifying fun that makes you screech to be put down half the time and feel dizzy and sick the rest. But when the fun wore off and I still couldn’t stop, it was just terrifying. It turned out that my fear was equally amusing to him, though.”
  • Vivi can summon beings called ragwort ponies and, “They look a little like sea horses and will ride over land and sky, according to Vivi’s command, keeping their seeming for hours before collapsing back into weeds.”
  • After rescuing a human servant, Jude explains the world of Faerie. The girl responds, “I always wanted there to be magic. Isn’t that funny? I wanted there to be an Easter Bunny and a Santa Claus. And Tinker Bell, I remember Tinker Bell. But I don’t want it. I don’t want it anymore.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Sara Mansfield

 

 

 

 

Mayflower Treasure Hunt

The Hunt is on! Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose are spending Thanksgiving in Plymouth, Massachusetts. They can’t wait to see the sights and have a Thanksgiving dinner just like the Pilgrims would have eaten. Then the kids learn about a sapphire necklace that went missing on the real Mayflower. Could the 400-year-old treasure be hidden somewhere nearby? And will someone else find it before they do?

Mystery lovers will learn history as they follow Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose through the streets of Massachusetts. The three kids’ journey focuses on historical places connected to the Mayflower. The simple plot is fast-paced and contains enough suspense and mystery to keep readers interested. While the three friends do not follow a trail of clues, they use historical information to help solve the case. In addition, when the kids find the necklace, they never consider keeping it for themselves. Instead, they donate the necklace to the local museum.

Mayflower Treasure Hunt’s short chapters and black and white illustrations make the story accessible to readers. Large illustrations appear every 2 to 4 pages. Many of the illustrations are one page and help readers understand the plot. Plus, readers can hunt through the pictures to find a hidden message.

One negative aspect of the story, is that when Dirk believes someone is following him and his friends, they do not seek out adult help. Instead, they try to hide from the person and end up in a situation that could have been dangerous. Parents may want to discuss the importance of seeking an adult if they feel they are in danger.

Mayflower Treasure Hunt will get a peek into the Pilgrims’ world. For instance, readers will be surprised to learn that the Pilgrims had a village jail. “Being lazy, not sharing, not attending church” were all crimes. Stealing a pig or a hen were also jail-worthy crimes. Mystery-loving readers will enjoy the adventurous story. The A to Z Mysteries Series will hook chapter book readers. Plus, the series has over 26 books to keep readers entertained.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • One of the Pilgrims “was in jail in England before the crossing. Oh, he was a mean ‘um. Mudgett used to kick the dogs and the children if they got in his way.”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Heck is used once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

DC Super Friends: Shark Attack!

When a space probe falls into the ocean, Batman and Aquaman try to recover it, but the villain Black Manta gets there first. Black Manta uses a device to control the sharks. Aquaman tries to talk to the sharks, but the device stops him. While a great white chases Batman, Aquaman hides in the sea grass. Batman and Aquaman are able to save the day and get the device. The Coast Guard fish both the space probe and Black Manta out of the ocean.

Superhero fans will cheer for Batman and Aquaman when they defeat the Black Manta. Each full-page illustration shows the action, which includes being chased by sharks. Even though Black Manta is the villain, Aquaman asks the sharks not to bite him. Even though the reader knows that Batman and Aquaman will be victorious, they will enjoy the fast-paced action as they learn a few shark facts.

Young readers will need help reading Shark Attack! The story uses basic vocabulary and short sentences, but is intended for children who are familiar with words on sight and can sound out new words. Each page has 1 to 3 simple sentences that are printed with large text. The action is illustrated with large pictures which often include various types of sharks. As the superheroes battle the Black Manta, the violence consists of the sharks bumping but never biting.

Shark Attack! uses familiar characters and full-page illustrations to engage young readers. The story is intended for preschool through kindergarten readers, but older readers will also enjoy the story. The plot is easy to understand and the colorful illustrations will help readers understand the story’s events. Superhero and shark-loving readers will enjoy seeing Batman and Aquaman take a bite out of crime in Shark Attack!

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • “The great white bumps Batman. It circles back to take a bite.”
  • The great white also bumps the Blank Manta.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Snail and the Whale

When a tiny snail wants to travel to far-off lands, he makes a “silvery trail that looped and curled” asking for a ride. The snail meets a humpback whale and the two travel together to far-off lands. It’s a dream come true for the snail, who has never left home before. But when the whale swims too close to shore, will the snail be able to save his new friend?

The Snail and the Whale is a wonderful adventure about two unlikely friends who connect over their desire to travel. The vibrant, full-page illustrations use hues of blue to paint the sea, and splashes of color to create the different “far-off lands.” The two friends visit the penguins that live in “towering icebergs,” monkeys who live where there are “fiery mountains and golden sands,” and other wild places.

The beginning of the story focuses on the beauty of nature. However, the whale ends up going too close to the shore where “there are speedboats, running a race, zigging and zooming all over the place.” The confused whale ends up on the shore. Even though the snail “felt helpless and terribly small,” she didn’t give up. Instead, she crawls into a classroom and makes “a silvery trail saying, ‘Save the Whale.’” With the help of the town, the whale and the sail make it safely back to sea.

The Snail and the Whale is an engaging story that is perfect to read aloud. With rhyming lines, alliteration, and descriptive imagery, readers will want to hear the story again and again. Each two-page spread has 2 to 10 lyrical lines that are intended to be read aloud to a child, rather than for the child to read independently.

Adventure-loving readers will enjoy traveling with the whale and the snail. The satisfying conclusion highlights the love of travel as well as how two friends can help each other. The “snail with an itchy foot” takes the reader on a wonderful adventure, full of beautifully detailed illustrations. Ocean-lovers will also enjoy Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea by Jan Peck.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Who Was Ferdinand Magellan?

Ferdinand Magellan lived during the 1480s. His family lived in Portugal. When Ferdinand turned twelve, he went to the capital to be a page. He loved to go to the harbor and watch the ships come and go. Even though Ferdinand was poor, he dreamed of one day having his own ship.

In order to import spices, Portugal wanted to find a way to travel to India without going through Africa. When the Arab navy attacked, Ferdinand volunteered to go to war. He had hoped to gain enough wealth to become a ship’s captain. Because Ferdinand was unpopular though, no one would help him buy a ship. The King of Portugal rejected Ferdinand’s pleas for funding so Ferdinand decided to leave his country.

In desperation, Ferdinand went to Spain to seek funding. Spain’s king funded Ferdinand’s travels and with four ships, Ferdinand set out to find el paso, a straight that would allow Spain to travel to India over water. During the long trip, Ferdinand faced many hardships, including his men trying to mutiny several times. In the end, Ferdinand died in a strange land. However, his ship became the first one to circle the globe.

Ferdinand’s determination to become a ship’s captain is inspiring. Despite many obstacles, he never gives up on his dream. Because of his gruff manner, the other ships’ captains threatened to mutiny, but Ferdinand used his brains to stop them. Even though Ferdinand was a devout Christian and a bold explorer, many people disliked him because he kept his distance, and was a “gruff man who never seemed to laugh.”

Who Was Ferdinand Magellan? teaches about life in the 1400s and the conflict over the spice trade route. The book has an easy-to-read format with large font. Large black-and-white illustrations appear on almost every page. Many of the illustrations show maps, people, and objects from the time period. For example, there is an illustration of a knight’s armor, a crossbow, and a shield. Scattered throughout the book are one-page infographics that tell more about the time period, such as giving information about ships of the day. The end of the book includes a timeline of Magellan’s life and a timeline of the world.

Even though Magellan was not a likable person, his journey will inspire readers to persevere. Who Was Ferdinand Magellan? would be a good book to use for research. Additionally, anyone who wants to learn more about the time period will enjoy reading about Magellan’s journey. The wide array of illustrations and the short chapters will help keep readers’ interest until the very end.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • The Portuguese and Arabs fought for control of the spice trade. When Ferdinand went to war, “he was wounded so badly that he was in a hospital for close to five months.” When he went back to war, “a lance wounded him in the knee.”
  • Two Spanish captains try to mutiny. “One of Ferdinand’s men grabbed him [a captain] and stabbed him to death. As the rebel captain’s body was hung up for all to see, the crew of the Victoria surrendered.” Both captains were beheaded.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • One reason spices were so important is that they were used to make beer.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Ferdinand had a deep faith in God and “believed his destiny was to go to sea.”
  • Ferdinand went to war because “he believed God would protect him.”
  • As Ferdinand looked for el paso, he was convinced that “God would help him locate it. He declared it was just a little farther south. Then he prayed silently that it was true.”
  • When Ferdinand and his men thought they found the straight, they prayed.
  • For 98 days, the sailors were at sea. When they finally saw land, one sailor said, “Praise God, land! Land! Land!” All of the sailors prayed.
  • When Ferdinand and his men come to an island, the natives welcome them. Ferdinand “believed that it was his duty to bring God and Christianity to the natives. He felt driven to save souls and preach about Jesus.” Not all of the natives converted to Christianity so Ferdinand and his men attacked. The natives “knocked off his [Ferdinand’s] helmet with stones. Then a spear came out of nowhere and sliced into his face. . . He collapsed face down in the surf. So many natives fell upon him that he disappeared from sight.”
  • Ferdinand was an intolerant man. “His religious beliefs had to be everyone else’s beliefs.”

Shine

What would you give for a chance to live your dreams?

For seventeen-year-old Korean American Rachel Kim, the answer is almost everything. Six years ago, she was recruited by DB Entertainment—one of Seoul’s largest K-pop labels, known for churning out some of the world’s most popular stars. The rules are simple: train 24/7, be perfect, don’t date. Easy right?

Not so much. As the dark scandals of an industry bent on controlling and commodifying beautiful girls begin to bubble up, Rachel wonders if she’s strong enough to be a winner or if she’ll end up crushed…especially when she begins to develop feelings for K-pop star and DB golden boy, Jason Lee. It’s not just that he’s charming, sexy, and ridiculously talented. He’s also the first person who really understands how badly she wants her star to rise.

Get ready as Jessica Jung, K-pop legend and former lead singer of Korea’s most famous girl group (Girls’ Generation) takes us inside the luxe, hyper-color world of K-pop. The stakes are high, but for one girl the cost of success—and love—might be even higher. It’s time for the world to see: this is what it takes to SHINE.

Life as a trainee is not glamorous. Instead, the girls’ daily weight checks are belittled and they are treated harshly. For example, one of the trainers yells at Rachel. “Look, if this is too hard for you, go home. You think giving me attitude will make you a better dancer? Get your head out of your ass and try harder. If you can’t even get these dance steps, you’ll never get anywhere.” All of the girls take the abuse because they are afraid that speaking up will cause them to be kicked out of the training program.

In the K-pop world, men and women have different standards. Women get lower pay, aren’t supposed to date and are treated badly. One K-Pop singer says, “All they [her agents] care about is making us into perfect K-pop machines that will do everything they say and rake in the money for them.” Shine puts a spotlight on the sexism in the K-pop world as well as in the girls’ families. Even though women are treated differently than men, the women never come together to work to improve their situation.

Even though the narrator, Jessica, is self-centered, acts rashly, and is sometimes mean, readers will get caught up in the drama of the K-Pop world. Jessica’s erratic behavior keeps readers on the edge of their seats. Unfortunately, all of the characters have flaws that will leave readers wondering why anyone would subject themselves to the abuse of training. Jessica leaves the reader with one thought, “When we feel like we cannot do this any longer, we remember that we already have, and we will again.” If you’re up for a fun, romance-based Korean comedy, add I Believe in A Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo to your must-read list.

 Sexual Content

  • Rachel sees two people she knows with their “lips locked.”
  • Right before a concert, Jason “cups one hand gently against my face, and I let my eyes close as I lean in. I feel his lips press softly against mine. Warmth floods through my entire body as he moves his hand to the back of my neck, sparking in my stomach and out to my fingertips.”
  • While at a party, Jason kisses Rachel. “When he finally turns toward me, his face lit up in the familiar Jason way, it feels like a thousand tiny fireworks going off in my heart. . . I throw my arms around him and kiss him.”
  • Rachel overhears trainees talking about a love triangle between a K-pop star and two girls. The girl says, “I heard she’s [Rachel’s] pregnant with Minjun’s love child. . .”
  • A boy comes over to Hyeri’s house, one of Rachel’s friends. “Hyeri throws her arm around him and presses her lips against his. Juhyn and I cheer as Daeho wraps his arms around her and kisses her passionately back. . .”

Violence

  • Rachel sees Akari, a trainee, being yelled at by her trainer. “Her voice cracks on the high note and the trainer bends over, slapping her hard in the gut. Akari winces through the blow but doesn’t stop singing. . . the trainer hits her again. Harder.”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • When a trainee was let go “rumors had run rampant that she had a drug problem and she owed thousands of dollars to her dealers.”
  • Rachel goes to a party at the trainee house. “I trip over more than a few empty beer cans as I march toward what looks like the bar area. . .”
  • Rachel and other people at the party drink. “People are dropping shows of grapefruit soju into beer glasses and downing the whole drink.”
  • While at the party, Rachel gets drunk and then one of the trainees puts something in Rachel’s champagne. Later, Rachel wonders, “What the fuck did Mina put in that drink?”
  • Rachel goes to a hotel buffet and sees “a young couple sharing a bottle of wine with their salmon dinner.”
  • Jason and Rachel go to a restaurant for dinner. While there, they see three girls. “One of them is clearly wasted, chugging soju straight from the bottle.”
  • Rachel and Jason go to dinner with Jason’s aunts, who order wine.
  • Rachel and Jason go to a party, where alcohol is served to minors.
  • Rachel goes to her friend’s house and they have “alcohol bottles lined up neatly on the table, all ready for the twin’s predrink.” Upset, Rachel grabs “the bottle of tequila and pop[s] it open. . . I take a big gulp straight from the bottle.” All three of the girls get drunk.

Language

  • “Omg,” “God,” and “ohmygod” are occasionally used as exclamations.
  • Profanity is used often. Profanity includes ass, asshole, badass, bitch, crap, damn, fuck, hell, holy shit, piss, and shit.
  • Rachel says “thank god” several times.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Charlie Thorne and the Lost City

Charlie Thorne is a genius. Charlie Thorne is a fugitive. Charlie Thorne isn’t even thirteen.

After finding Einstein’s last equation and going incognito, Charlie’s ready to take it easy in the Galapagos Islands. That is until she’s approached by the mysterious Esmerelda Castle, who’s on the hunt for a legendary treasure and has a code only Charlie can decipher.

In 1835, Charles Darwin diverted the HMS Beagle’s journey to go on a secret solo expedition in South America. When he returned to the ship, he carried a treasure that inspired awe and terror in his crew. And so the treasure vanished, never to be seen again. . . but Darwin left a trail of clues behind for those brave and clever enough to search for it once more.

In a daring adventure that takes her across South America, Charlie must crack Darwin’s nearly two-hundred-year-old clues to track down the mysterious discovery—and stay ahead of the formidable lineup of enemies and CIA agents who are hot on her trail.

In an epic Amazonian adventure, Charlie teams up with Milana and Dante as they try to solve the clues and find Darwin’s “treasure.” They must outmaneuver the Castellos siblings who have teamed up with a Russian spy. The groups try to outsmart each other and the bad guys are willing to use any means necessary to find the treasure. The fast-paced action will have readers at the edge of their seats as they try to guess who will betray who.

Even though Charlie and the others are trying to decipher Darwin’s clues, these messages take a back seat to the story’s action. However, readers will gain insight into some of the Amazon’s plight including the loss of habitat. But the real treasure in Charlie Thorne and the Lost City is the introduction to the Amazon’s flora and fauna. Another interesting aspect of the story is when the group finds a creature that would prove that evolution is a fact. While some believe that the creature should be introduced to society, Charlie believes that the only way to keep the creature safe is to keep its existence a secret.

Middle school readers who are ready for a more realistic mystery that has cruel villains will enjoy Charlie Thorne and the Lost City. While most of the action revolves around Charlie being chased, the villains make it clear that they will kill anyone who stands in their way. The story also explores the idea of evolution. Fans of the Theodore Boone Series by John Grisham will enjoy Charlie’s winding trip through the Amazon and her courage to do what is best for the creatures that remain hidden deep within the Amazon’s depths.

Sexual Content

  • Dante took Charlie’s advice and “kissed Milana Moon.”

Violence

  • When a strange man and police appear looking for Charlie, she sets a booby trap so she can escape. “The resulting explosion blew the policeman off his feet, throwing him across the tiny kitchen. The cabinets all burst open spilling glass and plates, which shatter on the floor.” No one is seriously injured, but one policeman’s “eyebrows had been scorched off his face.”
  • While looking for Charlie, Ivan goes to the Darwin research facility to question an employee. When he doesn’t get the answers he wants, Ivan “spun Luis around, wrenching the young man’s arm behind his back so that he cried out in pain.”
  • Charlie attempts to get out of town unnoticed but Ivan gives chase. Ivan “clipped two cars and sent them skidding. More cars crashed into those, and a terrific jam blossomed instantly.”
  • There is a multi-chapter chase where Charlie’s group tries to avoid being killed by Esmerelda and her brothers. By plane, Esmerelda and her brothers follow Charlie into the Amazon. Esmerelda’s “brothers’ bullets only hit the water. Gianni got caught up in the excitement and lobbed a stick of dynamite as well. . . The blast had been close enough that she, Dante, and Milana had been soaked by the plume of water.”
  • Trying to avoid being shot, Dante was “weaving back and forth across the river. . . Milana had her gun out, ready to fire on the approaching plane.” Milana’s bullet “caught the guy on the pontoon in the arm, making him drop the machine gun, which plunked in the river.” During the chase, Milana is hit with “a piece of red-hot shrapnel” but is not injured badly.
  • Charlie swims to a barge and sets a trap. “As Esmerelda approached the barge, Gianni took the remaining submachine gun, stepped out onto the pontoon, and prepared to shoot. . . Charlie ran as fast as she could while the plane closed in on her. Gianni opened fire. Bullets sparked off the metal skins of the oil tank. . . And then the world erupted into flame.”
  • The tanker explodes. Esmerelda’s “plane was directly above the first tanker when it blew apart like an enormous firecracker. The blast tossed the plane like a toy, while a ball of fire and smoke enveloped it. . .” The plane catches fire. “Esmerelda and her brothers leapt from it, their clothes on fire too. Just after they dove into the water, the plane blew up.” Everyone survives, but Esmerelda and her brothers are “badly burned.”
  • Esmerelda and her brothers join Ivan, a Russian spy. Ivan holds Charlie, Milana and Dante at gunpoint. In order to escape, Dante and Milana “targeted the Castellos first. . . Dante and Milana made quick work of them.” Charlie runs.
  • Milana, Dante, and Charlie try to escape the bad guys in a multi-chapter chase. Each group is trying to capture a creature. Someone shoots the creature, who “shrieked in pain and tumbled across the wet ground, then rolled back to its feet and scampered away into the cover of the rain. . .”
  • After someone shoots a creature, its friends attack. “Then the creatures’ assault was quick and well coordinated. And while their weapons were rudimentary, only rocks and sticks, they wielded them with terrifying skill.” The man shoots and hits a creature. “It crumpled into the mud, whimpering in pain.”
  • Charlie helps a creature. “It was bleeding from it’s leg where Oz’s bullet had struck it and was in obvious pain.”
  • Someone shoots Dante. “Dante turned to see who had shot him, but his vision was already going blurry. His mind was clouding. His strength was ebbing.”
  • A snake attacks one of Esmeralda’s brothers. “It moved with startling speed for such a big creature, first sinking its teeth into Gianni’s torso and then coiling around him. . . He was certainly hurting now—and he was terrified.” When Gianni’s brother tries to help, “the snake responded by wrapping its tail end around Paolo as well.”
  • Esmerelda sees her brothers. “The anaconda had already killed them both. Gianni’s body was floating facedown in the creek, while the giant snake was actually consuming Paolo. It had unhinged its jaw and begun the long process of swallowing her brother headfirst.”
  • Ivan and Esmerelda capture Charlie. In order to escape, Charlie throws a bullet ant at them. “Ivan felt the sting first. . . It felt as though every nerve ending in his body had suddenly caught fire. It was so intense that it leveled him. . . Esmerelda went down next. . . She sank to the floor as well, gripped by convulsions.
  • Charlie and Esmerelda fight. “Charlie intercepted her attack, catching Esmerelda’s arms in her hands. She used her fingernails as a weapon like Milana had told her, digging them deep into Esmerelda’s skin. . .” Charlie had put poison on her nails.
  • Esmerelda “lunged for Charlie with the knife. . . [A creature] slammed into Esmerelda, sending her reeling backward into the cockpit. . .” Charlie escaped but Esmerelda and “the helicopter plummeted into the gorge, crashed into the river. . . and exploded in a ball of fire.”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • While in America, Ivan, a Russian spy, helped support the illegal drug trade.
  • While at a lodge, “The adults were drinking beer” and Dante “had brought another beer back to the room from the bar.”
  • Someone shoots Dante and Milana with a tranquilizer dart.
  • After an expedition into the Amazon, Milana and Dante finally make it back to civilization and they both have a beer.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Darwin makes an incredible discovery, but others think it is “an affront to God.”
  • When a group of creatures attack, they chase a man. “He had to get away from the ones that were chasing him and pray that there weren’t others ahead.”

 

One on One

Chloe Gordon is super excited to attend summer soccer camp with her soccer sisters and fellow Breakers team members, Makena Walsh and Val Flores—even though she’s not quite as skilled as the other girls and her parents would rather her be spending her time practicing ballet.

When Chloe arrives, she discovers that the Breakers’ arch rival, Skylar Wilson, is rooming down the hall. Chloe worries that her camp experience will be more stressful than fun. Will the soccer sisters be able to band together and ignore Skylar’s bullying? Can Chloe overcome her fear of not being good enough in time for the big inter-camp match?

Former soccer player, coach, and motivational speaker Andrea Montalbano creates a fast-paced soccer story that teaches the value of determination. Readers will relate to Chloe, who is being targeted by Skylar, who has learned how to hide her bullying behavior. Besides the bullying, Chloe also struggles with self-confidence. After all, her mother doesn’t think Chloe should be on the team because “If you can’t be the best, why bother doing it at all?”

Even though One on One has a stereotypical plot, readers will enjoy its fast pace as it combines soccer and bullying into an engaging story. Told from Chloe’s point of view, One on One doesn’t just focus on the game; the story also gives a glimpse of Chloe’s home life, which adds humor and depth to the story. Chloe is a likeable character who has relatable conflicts both at home and at soccer camp.

One on One teaches about Brazil’s culture. Flavia, a camp counselor from Brazil, agrees to help Chloe with her soccer skills. When Chloe doesn’t make the team, Flavia is upset because Chloe doesn’t understand that winning isn’t always the most important thing. Flavia is also frustrated that the campers do not realize how privileged they are. Instead, “all you girls complain if the water is too warm or if you can’t win or if the field is not perfect. You have everything right in front of you, but yet you cannot see it.” Flavia shares her story, which gives Flavia’s cultural perspective as well as highlights the discrimination that girls in Brazil face. For example, in Brazil girls are expected to play with dolls, not soccer balls.

One on One’s high interest topic, advanced vocabulary, and short chapters make the story accessible to proficient readers. While One on One is the third installment of the Soccer Sisters series, each book can be read as a stand-alone book. While the story focuses on sports, the snippets of family life and drama off the field make One on One a book that all readers will enjoy. The book ends with questions, information on soccer in Brazil, a glossary of soccer terms, and a short biography on Olympian Brandi Chastain. Through Chloe’s experiences readers will learn lessons in sportsmanship as well as the importance of practice, determination, and keeping your word.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Skyler attempts to take down another player, Val. “At the last possible second, just as Skyler launched herself into the air, Val pulled the ball back. Skyler’s legs reached out for Val, but Val was too quick. Skyler flew through the air and landed with a thud.”
  • Chloe attempts to hit the ball into the goal, “but at the last second, another player got in front of her, knocking her to the side and clipping her above the eye with an elbow.” After the jab, Chloe has a black eye.
  • A food fight erupts in the cafeteria. “Chicken cutlets started flying. Pizza missiles landed on the wall… Edible pandemonium reigned. It was like a scene from an old movie Chloe’s father would have liked.”

 

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • “OMG” is used six times. When the girls get to camp, someone says, “OMG, this place looks like Hogwarts!”
  • Heck is used five times. For example, someone asks Chloe, “What the heck is going on here? Are we going to play some soccer or what?”
  • Skyler calls three girls losers several times. She also makes snide remarks at Chloe, such as calling her a princess.
  • Someone calls Skyler an idiot.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • When someone calls three girls losers, Chloe “prayed Makena wouldn’t take the bait.”

Swap’d

After her Click’d catastrophe, Allie Navarro is determined to redeem herself. So when the class gets an assignment to create a mobile game from recycled code, Allie pairs up with Courtney, her best friend from CodeGirls camp, to create the perfect app: Swap’d. After all, kids buy, sell, and trade stuff at school all the time, including candy, clothes, video games, and slime. So why not make a fiercely competitive, totally anonymous, beat-the-clock game out of it?

Once Swap’d is in full swing, Allie is certain that it’s the answer to all her problems. She’s making quick cash to help Courtney buy that really expensive plane ticket to come to visit her. It’s giving her an excuse to have an actual conversation with her super-secret crush. And it looks like she might finally beat her archenemy-turned-friend, Nathan. She’s thought of everything. Or has she?

Allie’s story picks up where Click’d left off. Similar to Click’d, Allie’s new app leads to a situation where Allie has to make tough decisions. Allie and her friends come up with a scheme to get Marcus’ attention: auction off Spanish tutoring in the hopes that Marcus will bid. During the bidding process, Allie ensures that Marcus wins by shutting down the auction several seconds before the end time. Then, when Allie finds out that selling items on campus is illegal, she has to decide whether to shut down Swap’d or wait until she has enough money to help purchase Courtney’s plane ticket.

Swap’d mostly revolves around Allie’s new app, the items that are being sold, and the need to make money. For the most part, Allie is a likable character, but her ability to create a complex app in a short amount of time is unrealistic. When it comes to her coding skills, she’s a little too perfect.

One positive aspect of Swap’d is the positive adult interactions. Allie’s computer teacher, Ms. Slade, praises Allie for making the right decision. In addition, Allie confides in Ms. Slade, who helps Allie come up with a solution. Allie collects the items that were sold and returns them. She also has to give the money back to who it belongs to.

Middle school readers will enjoy reading about Allie’s friend group and her crush. Throughout the story, some of Allie’s conversations appear in texting style with green quote bubbles. Some of the items for sale and the users’ avatars also appear in green. The fun format, the friendships, and a surprising twist will appeal to readers. Readers looking for a similar book should also check out the Girls Who Code Series by Stacia Deutsch.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • “Oh my God” is used as an exclamation twice.
  • Allie’s friend calls her a chicken twice. For example, when Allie won’t talk to a boy she likes, her friend calls her a chicken.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

A Girl Named Rosa: The True Story of Rosa Parks

When Rosa Parks was a young girl, she had to walk to school. Only white children were allowed to ride the bus. Every day, Rosa saw how African Americans were treated unfairly. Everything was segregated—schools, churches, even drinking fountains. During this time, Rosa’s grandfather “taught her to not be afraid of the dangers or hardships she might face.”

When Rosa grew up, she became a part of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She wanted to help change unfair laws. Then, when riding a bus she was told to give up her bus seat to a white person. She decided the time had come to stand up for fairness by staying seated. What happened next changed America.

A Girl Named Rosa shows how a peaceful protest can lead to important changes in the world. Rosa’s courage helped other African Americans speak up. Rosa’s refusal to give up her seat encouraged others to boycott the bus system, which eventually leads to the end of bus segregation. While the biography teaches about Rosa’s life, the text doesn’t contain any direct quotes from her.

Rosa’s life is described through text and large, full-color illustrations. Each two-page spread has a full-page illustration and one page of oversized text. Some words appear in bold letters and are in a glossary at the back of the book. The end of the book also has a timeline of Rosa’s life, pictures of Rosa and boycotters, and a short article about a girl named Marley who searches for books that portray black girls in a positive light.

Everyone can take inspiration from Rosa’s story. In today’s world, Rosa’s story of courage can help inspire others to demand justice for all people, regardless of their race. Rosa’s story shows that injustice can be overcome. Even though the book’s format will appeal to younger readers, they may struggle with the difficult vocabulary. However, the short chapters make A Girl Named Rosa a good choice to read aloud. Older readers who want to explore more books about racial injustice should read A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When Rosa was a child, “there were white groups who used violence to frighten, and sometimes hurt, black people. In Rosa’s community, gangs of white men wearing robes and masks sometimes attacked black people, setting fire to their churches, schools, and homes.”
  • While walking to school, some of the white kids “threw things at Rosa and her friends from the bus windows.”
  • While Rosa was walking down the street, “a white boy tried to knock her down. Rosa shoved him back. . . the mother threatened to have Rosa put in jail.”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Lovely War

In a hotel room in Manhattan in the midst of World War II, the Greek gods Aphrodite and Ares are caught in an affair by Aphrodite’s husband, Hephaestus. Hoping to understand Love’s attraction to War, Hephaestus puts Aphrodite on trial. Her defense is to tell the tale of one of her greatest successes, the intersecting love stories of Hazel Windicott and James Alderidge, and of Aubrey Edwards and Colette Fournier. Aphrodite’s witnesses are Ares (god of war), Apollo (god of music), and Hades (god of death). Each contributes their own different, but overlapping, perspectives to the proceedings.

The story begins as piano player Hazel and soldier James meet at a parish dance and fall into instant, dizzying love, only to be separated three days later when James is sent to the front. Desperate to distract herself from anxiety about her soldier’s well-being, Hazel joins the YMCA where she meets Colette, a singer who lost her whole family in an attack on her home in Belgium. There, they happen upon ragtime musician Aubrey, a Black soldier who desires to make a name for himself on stage and on the battlefield. Aubrey and Colette bond over their music and realize their affections go beyond an appreciation for each other’s talents.

While the story addresses dark and violent subject matter due to its historical period, the frame narrative allows for light moments as well. The banter among the gods, and their respective belief that their part of the story is the most memorable, allows the mood to lift as needed. The darker moments hold meaning within the larger narrative and the smallest joys are heralded as gifts from the gods.

The human characters hold their own amongst their immortal narrators. Each character is likable and humorous in his/her own way. Over the course of the war, Hazel emerges from her meek demeanor, learning to stand for what she sees is right, while not losing her innocence and goodness of heart. James is goofy and sincere, making his experience in combat all the more tragic, as he must reconcile that what he does on the battlefield does not have to mean a loss of himself. Colette is strong-willed and a fierce defender of her friends, though internally she fears that anyone she loves is destined to die. She opens up, however, to the charming dreamer Aubrey. Aubrey’s experiences with racial violence show that the enemy to their happiness is not only the German soldiers they encounter on the battlefield but also those who perpetrate violence and discrimination against black Americans within their own neighborhoods and war camps.

Teenage readers who enjoy romance, Greek mythology, and historical fiction may enjoy this book. It is recommended that readers proceed carefully, as the book does address racism and racial violence as well as the terrors and destruction of war. Despite the hate and violence which surround them, the couples find their way back to love amidst it all. Their fragility as mortals in wartime allows for precious love to shine, as even the impermeable gods come to admire. After Aphrodite reminds Hephaestus that the mortals die, he responds, “They do. But the lucky ones live first. . . The luckiest ones spend time with you.”

Sexual Content

  • Two characters are briefly described as having an affair. “In an instant they are in each other’s arms. Shoes are kicked off, hats tossed aside. Jacket buttons are shown no mercy.” Their kisses are “like a clash of battle and a delicious melding of flesh, rolled together and set on fire.”
  • Athena and Artemis are called, “Those prissy little virgins.”
  • Some of the gods make brief jokes about paying attention to women’s bodies.
  • Hazel’s attraction to James sparks “a series of little explosions” which “began firing throughout her brain and spread quickly elsewhere.”
  • Stéphane admires Colette’s spine and thinks that “he could run his fingers along her back.” He does not act on his thought.
  • Colette is attracted to Aubrey’s musical talent, saying, “It was sexy. And so was its athletic high priest at the piano bench.”
  • During an attack on Aubrey, a racist soldier implies that Aubrey is after white women. Aubrey retorts asking if the man has “ever been with a black girl.” When the soldier laughs, Aubrey “had no illusions about her being a willing participant.”
  • Joey assumes an encounter between Aubrey and Colette was sexual in nature. He asks Aubrey, “Did you . . .?” Aubrey informs him, “It’s not like that,” and then scolds him for presuming that Colette is a “hooker.”
  • Aubrey hides so as not to be seen by a supervisor and realizes “he was free to ogle Colette from the shoulders down just at that moment, and he took advantage of it.”
  • Colette tries to understand Hazel’s fear about meeting up with James. Colette assumes that Hazel’s fear might be due to the possibility of one of them “taking advantage” of the other. Hazel admits that “if anyone found out, there’d be such a scandal.” She explains, “When I’m around James, I do the most outrageous things.”
  • Colette recognizes that being “alone in the dark” could lead to “dozens of ways a young man could try to take advantage of this situation,” although nothing comes of it.
  • A couple says goodbye, and “the brief kiss she gave him at the door was filled with neither passion nor desire, but sweetness, affection, gratitude.”
  • Hazel removes her stockings at the beach, and it is said, “The sight of her bare feet was just about enough to give poor James a stroke there on the spot.”
  • Hazel is pushed into James’ arms and, “The feel of her body pressed against his went through him like an electric shock.” They hold each other for a moment, spinning in circles.

Violence

  • There are multiple instances of racial violence perpetrated against Aubrey and his bandmates. There are also third-party historical sources referenced. Words such as “darkie,” “coon,” “negroes,” and “colored” are frequently used by other characters to address these men. At one point a southern soldier states, “An ape’s an ape.” Other racist comments permeate the experience of the black soldiers at home and abroad.
  • The black soldiers face fears of waking to a “lynch mob.”
  • The narrator describes an instance of police brutality. “A white police officer had entered a black woman’s home without a warrant, searching for a suspect. When she protested, he beat and arrested her, dragging her from her home though she wasn’t fully dressed. When a black soldier saw this and tried to intervene to defend the woman, the white policeman pistol-whipped the black soldier, seriously injuring him.” She then briefly mentions the “shooting that followed” which killed many people.
  • When addressing the possibility of looking at white women, Aubrey states, “No pretty face is worth swinging from a tree.”
  • The “Rape of Belgium” is described in detail over five pages. The narrator notes that German soldiers “pulled men from workplaces and homes and hiding places and executed them in the streets. Women, children, and babies were executed too. As old as eighty-eight. As young as three weeks.” Later, Aphrodite goes on to reference “the stories of women raped, children crucified, nailed to doors, of old men executed. . .”
  • The story frequently finds itself in the midst of trench combat. There are descriptions of the training process, of learning how to kill another man with minimal remorse, and of soldiers often encountering death and the bodies of those lost in battle. The men learn about the effects of gas attacks and how “those poor buggers in the first gas attacks drowned in their own blood.” At one point the trenches are described as “slick with blood.”
  • James imagines his own brother ending up the way his fellow soldiers have. “He saw Bobby’s burnt and blood-soaked body lying in the mud at the bottom of a trench.”
  • The soldiers travel “past live horses and dead horses and trucks and motorcycles.”
  • Multiple racially motivated murders take place in the camps. Two men are “strangled” and the discovery of one body is described over 6 pages. Aubrey and Lieutenant Europe come to the realization that “that was blood on the snow. His head. His face. His bloated, blackened face.” They assume the killers “beat his face in with their rifles.” They note, “You almost wouldn’t know it’s him” and they “gently [close] his gaping lower lip to hide the horribly broken jaw.”
  • Aubrey is held at gunpoint by a racist soldier who says, “We ain’t gonna let you Negroes get a taste for white women.” Aubrey took the man’s gun and “pressed the cold muzzle of the revolver against his victim’s temple.” Then, Aubrey warns his attacker not to mess with the Black soldiers again.
  • The narrator cynically describes how little detail is provided in the notifications of soldiers’ deaths, explaining, “They never said, ‘hung for hours on a barbed wire fence with his bowels hanging out, pleading for rescue, but nobody dared go for fear of hostile fire.’”
  • James partakes in trench warfare. He is a sniper and frequently must shoot German soldiers. After he shoots a man, “a red throat pours blood down a gray uniform.” James actively tries to not think about what he is doing in order to protect his friends.
  • A flamethrower is used in combat. The soldiers try to distinguish the fire, and the narrator notes that “the smell of flesh on fire reminds James of food, of cooking meat.” Ares goes on to narrate that “Chad Browning has stopped his screaming. His clothing is half melted away, half fused to his skin.”
  • Hazel is sexually assaulted by a prisoner of war. The attack is thwarted quickly but not before, “He licked her lips and teeth with his foul tongue, then forced it inside her mouth.”
  • Multiple explosions occur throughout the text. For example, after one explosion “the smoke lifted, and James scrubbed the grit from his eyes, Frank Mason wasn’t there anymore. Just a fire, a helmet, a torn pair of boots, and a little charred prayer book.” It is later implied that there would not be a body to bury.
  • Later, another explosion occurs. “The engine and the first two cars were annihilated. The cars beyond buckled and crashed into one another. Soldiers and war workers were thrown all about the cars. Shards of glass from shattered windows flew like shrapnel. Colette emerged unscathed, for Hazel had thrown her body over her friend’s.” James must treat Hazel’s injuries. Hades goes through the necessary course of action to “apply pressure to the bleeding and summon a medic. Clear airflow, release tight clothing.”
  • Hazel receives a blood transfusion. She notes the “tubes of red blood dangled from jars mounted to a metal frame and ran, Hazel realized, into a needle injected into her arm.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • A character jokes about how the soldiers of the 369th “were knocked on their backs by the routine daily allotment of wine for French soldiers.”
  • While under treatment for shell shock, James is given sedatives.

Language

  • The narrator quotes real news articles about the 369th infantry; these include racist comments and one censored use of the n-word.
  • Offensive terms for opposing soldiers are often used. These include “Jerry,” “Russkies,” “Fritz,” and “Boche.” They refer at one point to Kaiser Wilhelm as “Wee Willie Winkie.”
  • Audrey calls the racist behavior of another soldier “shit” twice.
  • A trainer tells soldiers that in the event of a gas attack, “‘If you’ve lost your mask, you still stay calm. If all else fails, piss on a hankie and breathe through that.’” He warns that they will “break out in damnable sores everywhere” and that they “hurt like hell.”
  • Joey calls Aubrey a “jackass.”
  • Men are called “bastards” twice.
  • Aubrey calls his own behavior “damnably stupid.”
  • There is one use of the oath “Chrisssake.”
  • Emile regrets not being injured sooner, saying, “But non, you stayed away, leaving me healthy and sound, so the Germans could piss on me with their shells and bullets year after year…”
  • Aphrodite calls her husband a “blooming ass.”

Supernatural

  • Spirits occasionally observe their loved ones from the afterlife. At one point, James feels Frank’s presence and begins speaking to him. James wonders if he is going mad.

Spiritual Content

  • The story is told from the rotating perspectives of four Greek gods. Their influence and powers are often employed as catalysts for plot developments.
  • Hades comes dressed as a Catholic priest, as that is how he presents himself to humans.
  • Many of the human characters are Christian and are described praying, visiting churches, and lighting votive candles. They also reference Christian stories and practices.
  • After losing everyone she loves to the war, Colette struggles with her faith. She believes herself to be a “plaything to a vindictive god.” She calls god “it” and explains that “a loving god would never allow this. And if there was no god at all, surely chance would occasionally favor me, non?”
  • After standing up to an authority figure, the narrator says that Hazel “wasn’t a Catholic, but at the rate she was going, she probably needed a priest to take her confession. Before she was struck by lightning and cast down to hell.”

by Jennaly Nolan

 

14+    480   4.7   4 worms   AR   hs  (World War I)

Diverse Characters, Strong Female Character

 

 

 

 

 

Charlotte the Scientist Finds a Cure

A mysterious malady has swept through the forest, making the woodland creatures sick. Luckily, Charlotte the Scientist is on the case! She’s determined to find a cure using science. But the grownups don’t take her work seriously, and examining animals of all shapes and sizes with upset tummies can be, well. . . challenging.

In the second installment of the Charlotte the Scientist Series, Charlotte’s big bunny family gets even larger when Grandpa moves in. Grandpa helps and encourages Charlotte in her scientific endeavors. When the forest animals get sick, Charlotte is determined to discover the cause. When the adults begin examining patients, they tell Charlotte, “Run along, little one. This is grown-up work.” Charlotte is discouraged, but when she thinks back to her grandpa’s words, they give her the courage to continue looking for a cure. In the end, “Charlotte realized she didn’t need to be the oldest or smartest. She had stopped the sickness, cured the carrots, and saved the forest!”

Charlotte the Scientist Finds a Cure moves away from Charlotte’s family life and shows how Charlotte makes a difference in her community. The story’s illustrations bring the forest to life by using bright colors. Charlotte’s large family and a host of forest animals crowd the scenes, which brim with activity. However, Charlotte is easy to recognize because she always has a white lab coat. Even though the story focuses on a serious topic, many of the illustrations are humorous.

The forest animals’ illnesses help incorporate the scientific method and introduce scientific vocabulary. In addition, to discover the cause of the sickness Charlotte collects and analyzes data. This is how she finds the “funky forest fungi” that is making everyone sick. Charlotte also cures the carrots, conducts a clinical trial, and is able to “mend the malady.” While it’s unrealistic that one scientist could accomplish all of that, Charlotte’s activities allow her to be the story’s hero.

Even though Charlotte the Scientist Finds a Cure is a picture book, readers will need an adult to read the story to them. The story is packed full of alliteration that makes reading aloud fun. Each page has 1 to 4 sentences, but younger readers may have difficultly understanding some of the scientific vocabulary. In the back of the book, readers will find a glossary of scientific words. While the solution to the forest animals’ “malady” is complex, it gives the story many topics that parents or teachers could discuss.

Charlotte the Scientist Finds a Cure uses humor and a determined bunny to teach readers about illnesses and the process that takes place to find a cure. While the plot is ambitious, young readers will be enthralled with Charlotte and her world. Charlotte the Scientist Finds a Cure would be an excellent addition to your library, whether you’re looking for a fun book to read to your children or you want a book that is a springboard to teaching about illness.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Hannah

Hannah wants to be normal, but she’s not. The sea calls to her, and she can see a delicate tracing of scales on her legs. Billowing waves soothe her, but flat land makes her sick. She knows there’s something wild in her that’s different, wrong, and deeply thrilling.

Only one person seems to know who—or what—Hannah is. He’s a guest in the house where she works as a scullery girl and his fascinated gaze follows her. She doesn’t understand his terrifying allure, or her longing. But even as the mystery deepens, Hannah is sure of one thing. A sea of change is coming.

The first installment of the Daughters of the Sea Series focuses on Hannah, who doesn’t know that she is a mermaid. Much of the story focuses on the class distinction during the time period and the relationship between the serving class and the wealthy Boston family. While the running of a household is at times interesting, the story has little action. Instead, Hannah is trying to figure out why she is different than others and why the sea calls to her.

Readers looking for a book that explores the world of mermaids will be disappointed with Hannah’s story. There are too many plot points that are left unanswered. Hannah’s background is never explained and when Hannah meets a merman, the interaction borders on sexual harassment; at one point, the much older merman grabs Hannah and forces a kiss on her. While Hannah is occasionally an interesting character, some readers may find it difficult to relate to her struggles.

The long-winded descriptions, lack of plot development, and dysfunctional family dynamics make Hannah a difficult book to get through. Readers who enjoy historical fiction and want to learn more about the late 1800s may enjoy Hannah. However, if you are looking for a peek into the magical world of mermaids, you should bypass Hannah altogether.

Sexual Content

  • Lila has a crush on Mr. Wheeler. Lila’s sister says, “Lila wants to wear something that Mama says is much too daring for a girl her age. You know what I mean, Hannah, very naked-looking. I think she wants to look almost naked for Mr. Wheeler.”
  • Hannah goes out into the forest. When Mr. Wheeler follows her, she yells at him. “He suddenly stepped toward her. He wrapped his arms around her, pressing her to his chest. . . He was kissing her lips, crushing his face against hers. She was lost. She was adrift. She was happy.”

Violence

  • When her cat goes missing, Lila hits her sister and makes her bleed.
  • Lila goes into Hannah’s room at night. Hannah tries to lead her back to her room. “Lila’s eyes were wild. She was scratching at Hannah’s face and the cat suddenly came to life and pounced on her back. Hannah could feel the claws digging into her shoulders, close to the neck of the nightgown. . . The strings of Hannah’s pouch were cutting into her throat, and she was gasping for air. . . “
  • After Lila and her cat attack Hannah, Hannah runs into the ocean. Lila’s sister, Ettie, follows Hannah. When she sees the cat, Ettie throws a rock at it. Lila points to “a clump of blood-soaked sea lavender where Jade was sprawled. The cat’s head was twisted at an odd angle to its body. One side was bashed in and there was a mangled mash of fur and protruding bone.”
  • After Ettie kills the cat, Lila “exploded and hurled herself across the grass, knocking down her sister. His hand was reaching for a rock when Mr. Marston ran up and dragged her off Ettie.”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • One of the workers asks the butler if he can “add two bottles of the sweet sherry to the wines and spirits order.”
  • Three men share some sherry.
  • While getting the summer cottage ready for their employers, the workers “slid the miniature wine bottles into the racks in the wine cellar.”
  • While serving dinner, the butler goes into the kitchen to get “two more bottles of wine.”
  • Lila is given a sedative: laudanum. The butler says, “Administered properly, it alleviates anxiety and induces sleep.” However, the cook disagrees with him and says, “Drugs, pure and simple. They might as well have sent her to an opium den.”

Language

  • Damn is used six times, usually referring to the cat. For example, the workers do not like the house cat. One of the workers says, “I’d like to wring that damn cat’s neck.”
  • My God is used as an exclamation once.
  • Someone says that Lila’s cat is “mean as cat’s piss.”
  • Someone calls Lila a “hell hag” and her cat a “hell cat.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Occasionally Hannah prays. For example, when Hannah is taken away from Boston, she becomes sick. Hannah says, “I have prayed to God every night. I must go back. This land is not good for me.”
  • While applying for a job as a maid, Hannah prayed, “Let me just seem normal. Let me fit.”
  • While helping serve dinner, Hannah prays, “God do not let me spill this.”

 

 

02/01/2011   12+    336      5.3    3 worms    AR

The Hunters

Hal and his fellow Herons have tracked Zavac across the ocean, intent on retrieving the stolen Andomal, Skandia’s most prized treasure. Even though a fierce battle left Zavac and his fellow pirates counting their dead, the rogue captain managed to escape right through the Skandians’ fingers. If they hope to bring Zavac to justice and reclaim the Andomal, the Herons must take to the sea. But the challenge ahead is a dangerous one that could very well take out Hal’s entire crew.

In the first installment of the Brotherband Series, it was difficult to keep track of all of the characters. However, the main characters are now well-rounded individuals and their unique traits are beginning to shine. Hal has grown into a confident skirl, who knows his crew, which allows him to assign each person a job that is best suited to his/her talent. Even though Lydia is a girl, during battles she contributes because her skills are extremely useful. Readers will enjoy the interplay between the Herons and laugh at some of their mischievous ways.

While the second installment of the series, The Invaders, was slow and uneventful until the end, The Hunters has the perfect blend of suspense, character development, and battles. The Herons work as a team and show the importance of hard work, friendship, and loyalty. One of the best aspects of the series is that everyone has a valuable skill and that skill does not have to revolve around fighting. For example, Edvin cooks, knits, and steers the Heron. Even though the crew teases Edvin about his knitting, in the end, even Edvin’s knitting is used to benefit the entire crew.

The Brotherband Series brings to life the sea-faring warriors of Skandia, while teaching important lessons about working as a team and valuing others. The Hunters quickly captures the readers’ attention and keeps readers hooked by introducing interesting characters and conflicts. Even though all of Flanagan’s books end in an epic battle, each battle is realistic, unique, suspenseful, and told without gory details. The book’s conclusion is both heartwarming and humorous. After finishing The Hunters, readers will be eager to pick up the next book in the series, The Slaves of Socorro.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Thorn and Lydia go after Rikard, who hears them and jumps to his feet. Lydia reacts and “her arm whipped forward and the long dart hissed away through the morning air. It flashed at knee level between Rikard’s legs, tangling between them.” Rikard falls “flat on his face.” Torn “hauled the pirate to his feet, then hit him with a thundering left, sending him crashing back to the ground once more.”
  • A pirate overhears a man talking about his pirate ship. The pirate walks into the man. “Nobody noticed the thick stiletto that he slid into the old man’s side. Pegleg’s gasp of pain was lost in the tavern’s bubble of shouting, drunken voices.”
  • When a pirate sees Rikard walking down a dark alley, he “stepped forward and rammed his knife up and under the other man’s ribs, shoving and twisting until it reached, and stopped, his heart. Rikard shuttered briefly. . . his hands went to the blood welling from the terrible wound.”
  • A sentry detains the Heron. Upset, Thorn “stepped toward the guard. His left hand flashed out to grip the spear at its midpoint, thumb down. Then he twisted his hand and the spear upward in a half circle and jerked backward, all in one rapid motion. . . Thorn had leveled the razor-sharp point at the captain’s throat.” The Herons are eventually allowed to pass.
  • Doutro has the Herons’ crew arrested. In order to get Hal to reveal where the crews’ valuables are hidden, Doutro has Hal beaten. “Hal tried to duck the first blow, but the man behind him held him still. The big fist exploded off his cheekbone. He grunted in pain.” Hal is beaten until he is unconscious. The description of the beating is described over several paragraphs.
  • Doutro has Lydia taken to his house because he is thinking about selling her as a slave. As Lydia tries to escape, a young man tries to stop her. She knocks him off balance and then “hit him on the side of the jaw with the heel of her open hand, fingers spread to increase its rigidity.” The man blacks out.
  • The Herons are put in a prison cell with another man. When the Herons escape, Stig hit the other man “with a blinding right cross that sent him sprawling. Luckily, there was a pile of dirty straw to break his fall. He lay spread-eagle on it, out cold.”
  • As the Herons leave the prison, the guards “went through the guardroom like a hurricane. . . In seconds, they were sprawled unconscious on the floor.
  • Pirates attack a merchant ship. The Herons jump in to help the merchants. Lydia uses her atlatl and “one of the longboat’s crew rises to his feet in agony as the dart transfixed him. Then the pirate crashed over, falling on the rower in front of him. . .” Hal uses a huge crossbow to shoot at the pirates. “The helmsman collapsed over the steering oar and the longboat swung wildly.”
  • After several pirates have been injured or killed, some of the Herons board the longboat. “Thorn and Stig moved forward like a two-man battering ram. The huge club and Stig’s whirling ax swept away anyone who tried to oppose them. . .” In the end, many of the pirates jump into the river to avoid being killed. The battle is described over 8 pages.
  • A group of pirates attack the Herons in an ally. Stig attacks a pirate and “the two blades rang together and shrieked against each other as Stig’s axe slid down the sword’s crosspiece. . .[Stig] grabbed the swordsman’s right hand with his left, twisting it down and around, bending the wrist back. The man howled in pain and inadvertently leaned forward to try to lessen the twisting pressure. . . Stig head-butted him in the face and jerked his wrist one more time.”
  • Seven pirates try to stop Stig’s movement. “The first man to move had taken two paces when Stig’s sword darted out and back. The thug clutched at his chest, a surprised look on his face, he crumbled to his knees.” The pirate dies.
  • Thorn arrives and sees the Herons are in danger. “Thorn kept coming, his massive club-hand rising and falling, then sweeping from side to side, smashing ribs and skulls and arms as he scattered the gang, spilling them like ninepins before him. . . The shaggy old sea wolf, transformed into a terrible and terrifying instrument of violence, simply lunged the club-hand in a straight-armed punch at the terrified thug. It hit him in the chest and hurled him backward. . . the man flew between them [Hal and Lydia], smashing into the brick wall with a sickening sound, then sliding to the ground as his knees gave way.” The fight scene is described over three pages.
  • The book ends with an epic ship-to-ship battle between the Herons and Zavac’s pirates. Hal shoots a giant crossbow and “the bolt streaked away and plowed through the packed men in the bow of the ship. . . He figured that first bolt had killed or wounded at least four men. . .” As Hal shoots the crossbow, Lydia uses her weapon to shoot darts at the men. One of Lydia’s darts hits Zavac’s first mate who “staggered and fell.”
  • Some of Zavac’s men were able to board the Heron by making a bridge of oars. In man-to-man combat, Hal uses a spear and “thrust quickly, hitting him [the pirate] in the thigh. The Magyaran dropped his spear, reached to clutch the wound in his leg and toppled off the oars into the sea.”
  • Hal’s crewman, Ingavr “swung the oar at full length, smashing it into them, sweeping them from their unsteady foothold. One fell back aboard the Raven, three of his ribs fractured by the oar. The others went into the sea.”
  • Hal rams the Raven with his boat. “Heron’s sharp prow sliced like a giant blade along the starboard bank of oars, smashing and splintering them as she went, hurling the oarsmen off their benches as the butt ends of the oars jerked forward and smashed into them. The air was filled with the shouts of injured men and the grinding, smashing sound of the oars as they flew into splinters.” Two men are injured and two men are knocked unconscious.
  • The Herons board the pirate ship and begin swinging their axes. A pirate stabs Wulf with a sword and “blood welled out.” Thorn helps the two boys. “Thorn swung a backhanded stroke across his head, shearing through the helmet.”
  • Zavac tries to kill Hal. Zavac “suddenly thrust down with a convulsive heave, putting all his weight behind the knife. Hal just managed to twist his body to the side. The dagger scored a shallow cut across his neck and he felt the hot blood flow from the cut.”
  • Thorn appears and puts a hook on Zavac’s arm. “Zavac screamed in agony as the two-piece clasping hook clamped down on his forearm like a vice. Hal actually heard several small bones cracking as Thorn increased the pressure. . .” Zavac is left to go down with his ship. This final battle is described over 26 pages.
  • Tursgud, the Heron’s nemesis, acted belligerently and Ingvar’s massive hand, balled into a fist, flashed up in a thundering, devastating uppercut. It caught Tursgud on the point of his jaw, picking him up and hurling him backwards for several meters. He slid across a table, collapsing it, then crashed into the ground. . .”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • Thorn goes into a tavern to see if he can get some information on a pirate ship. The patrons were drinking ale.
  • A pirate goes into a tavern and “he signaled the tavern keeper for another jug of brandy.”
  • While trying to sleep on the Heron, Hal hears “drunken voices of sailors heading back to their ships after an evening in the taverns close to the waterfront.”
  • When the Herons return home, the town throws a party. “There were platters of roast vegetables and barrels of ale and wine for those who wished it.” Several of the adults drink the wine.

Language

  • The Skandians often use their gods’ names in exclamation. For example, “For Gorlog’s sake” is used as an exclamation three times. “Lorgan’s ears” and, “Oh Gorlog help us,” are both used as an exclamation once.
  • One of the Herons’ crew calls someone a “treacherous cow.”
  • Several times someone is called a fool.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Zavac “wore on the gods of several different religions, none of which counted him as a devoted follower. . .”

Teacher’s Pet

Twelve-year-old Maggie isn’t looking forward to starting middle school. She’s always had difficulties with her classwork and the thought of homework, pop quizzes, and adjusting to new teachers is frightening. So when Maggie enters Mr. Carlson’s science class, she’s excited to see a German Shepard and a counter full of small critters.

Maggie’s teacher, Mr. Carlson, recently lost his sight and he’s adjusting to having a guide dog named Scout. From the start, Maggie can tell that Mr. Carlson isn’t comfortable around Scout. Mr. Carlson has lots of experience with small animals—rats, gerbils, and rabbits—but he has never had a pet dog. Maggie offers to help Mr. Carlson with all of his animals. When Scout is hit by a car, Maggie wonders if Mr. Carlson’s companion will make it through the surgery.

Teacher’s Pet shows how changes in life can be difficult to deal with. Mr. Carlson, Scout, and Maggie are all dealing with a change in their life, which causes stress. The three help each other through their difficult times. Mr. Carlson and Maggie feel like giving up, but with each other’s encouragement, they both are able to “hold on tight” in order to overcome their challenges.

Maggie is a relatable character who loves animals, worries about her grades, and is often discouraged. Despite this, she readily helps Mr. Carlson care for his animals. As she gets to know Mr. Carlson and his dog, the reader will learn many interesting facts about blindness and guide dogs. The fast-paced story is the perfect mix of Maggie’s school life and her time at the veterinarian clinic.

Mr. Carlson is a welcomed addition to the story. Even though he is an adult, he isn’t portrayed as having all of the answers. While he is knowledgeable about science, he also second-guesses his ability to be a good match for Scout. Mr. Carlson shows how even adults need to be able to grow and adjust to life’s surprises. In addition, he’s admirable because he doesn’t let his disability stop him from teaching.

Unlike previous installments of the Vet Volunteer Series, Teacher’s Pet has a realistic, well-developed plot that seamlessly integrates facts into the story. Even though readers will learn about guide dogs, the information never feels like a lecture. The book ends with more information about raising a guide dog and a quiz that lets you know if you have puppy-raising potential. With short chapters, a high-interest topic, and relatable characters, Teacher’s Pet is the perfect addition to both elementary and middle schooler’s reading lists.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • An inattentive driver hits Mr. Carlson and his guide dog, Scout. Gram and Maggie see the accident and rush in to help. “My teacher and his dog are sprawled in the middle of the crosswalk. There is a little blood on Mr. Carlson’s forehead.” Mr. Carlson is taken to the hospital to be checked out. Scout needs emergency surgery.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Darn is used three times.
  • When Mr. Carlson gets lost, he says, “I felt like an idiot.”
  • When Gram sees a reckless driver, she says, “Look at that idiot.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • When Gram is driving Scout to the vet clinic to have emergency surgery, she tells Maggie, “And pray we don’t hit any red lights.”

Octopus Stew

Ramsey loves to wear his superhero cape, but he never thought he’d ever become an actual superhero. That all changes one afternoon when Ramsey is at his grandma’s house and his grandma decides to make pulpo guisado, octopus stew. When Ramsey and his grandma go to the supermarket, Grandma chooses the biggest octopus in the store. Grandma scrubs the octopus and puts it in the pot, and that’s when the trouble begins.

The octopus grows and grows. When it grows out of the pot, the octopus grabs Grandma and refuses to let her go. Determined to save his grandma, Ramsey grabs his superhero cape. Will Ramsey be able to save his grandma? Or will the octopus have her for dinner?

Ramsey’s tale comes to life in full-colored illustrations that are at times humorous. The oil-painted illustrations pop with bright colors. Young readers will relate to Ramsey, who gets stern looks from the adults in the story. Readers will also appreciate Ramsey’s facial expressions which are full of emotion. The family dog gets a starring role in the illustrations, and readers will love looking for him in each of the story’s pictures. Even though the octopus grabs Grandma in his huge arms, his appearance adds suspense without much little fear factor. The conclusion is surprisingly sweet.

Ramsey’s family is Afro-Latino and the family’s love of telling stories is apparent. The story includes a central foldout that contains a humorous surprise. Octopus Stew would be the perfect introduction to tall tales and will encourage readers to tell their own family stories.

Octopus Stew makes a wonderful read-aloud book because it’s packed full of sound words such as bloop, kerchunk, and thum! The English text intertwines with Spanish phrases and reflects the author’s family, who spoke non-standard Spanish at home. A glossary provides definitions and pronunciations of the Spanish phrases. However, the story’s context clues are sufficient to understand the Spanish words’ meanings.

Even though Octopus Stew is a picture book, the story is intended to be read aloud to a child, rather than for the child to read it for the first time independently. Each page of the picture book has 1 to 3 complex sentences. A recipe for octopus stew is included at the end of the book.

Octopus Stew shows how oral storytelling can be fun for families, and the story will encourage readers to create a tall tale of their own. The wonderful illustrations and the unique plot make Octopus Stew an entertaining story that kids will love. In addition, the illustrations have enough detail to capture readers’ attention. Octopus Stew is a family-oriented story that will appeal to a wide range of readers who enjoy the humor, suspense, and surprising conclusions.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A huge octopus grabs Grandma and holds her in the air.
  • The octopus “attacked, spraying ink all over my [Ramsey’s] drawing.”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

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All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team

The Wild Boars soccer team is made up of explorers. The 12 members ventured deep into the caves at Tham Luang, further than even some seasoned cavers. They were bold with their exploring, looked out for one another, and worked well as a team. However, their adventurous spirit was met with bad luck when the team and their assistant coach became trapped in the cave. With the wet season approaching in Thailand, the mountain where the cave was located was saturated with water and when it started to rain, the caverns began to flood.

When the team went missing, rescuers and problem-solvers were called to action to rescue the team. In order to save the soccer team, rescuers would need a well-thought-out, coordinated plan. It was going to be a huge undertaking. The book takes the reader through the timeline of the rescue mission and dives into broader topics that color the event. Soontornvat highlights the importance of STEM in the mission and goes into the scientific details about the cave and how the water and sediment affected the mission. At the same time, there are subsections in the book that go into the historical and cultural context of the local community.

Buddhism and meditation is an important piece of this nonfiction story. Part of what made the mission successful was that the soccer team did not panic and they were able to focus their energy with meditation. “When thoughts of hunger, pain or shame come in through one window, you can notice them, and then let them float right out the other window, keeping the room of your mind clear from all that clutter.” The Wild Boars were trapped in the cave for 18 days and they needed to look within to ease their pain. The subsections on Buddhism and meditation are a great introduction to Eastern religion and meditation practices. Without overwhelming the reader with specifics, the book takes these concepts and displays them in a way that is relatable to a younger audience.

Soontornvat also touches on geopolitical issues that are present in Thailand, such as immigration and religious persecution in neighboring countries. While the story is focused on the rescue mission, Soontornvat uses the experiences of the Wild Boars’ assistant coach, Coach Ek, to understand asylum-seekers. Coach Ek was forced to migrate to Thailand from Myanmar to escape the armed conflict. Migrant children face tough odds as they often do not have the necessary support systems to help them. Coach Ek considers himself lucky to have found the Wild Boars because he was able to find community and serve as a mentor to the soccer players.

The photographs in the book bring humanity and a sense of urgency to the story, as well as highlight the scale of the rescue mission. Many of the pictures were taken during the mission. The massive undertaking of bringing the Wild Boars to safety is captured with photographs of heavy machinery, the elaborate sump systems, and camo-wearing Navy SEALs. The book has a cinematic feel to it and the fast-paced life-or-death story keeps the reader turning pages. With loads of first-hand accounts, artifacts, and photos, the reader will feel immersed in the rescue mission.

One of the underlying themes of the book is that collaboration and teamwork can accomplish amazing things. There is no shortage of heroism in this story as people from all over the globe pitch in to save the boys. Donations are made, scuba experts consulted, farmers help with the sump system and the soccer team supports each other during the trying times. For the team, their support for each other was paralleled through the lens of soccer, helping to make it relatable to young readers. “Through their time on the soccer field, they know what it feels like to work as a team to tackle something that seems impossible.” Despite the danger of being trapped and impossible odds, through collaboration and sheer willpower, the boys are brought to safety.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Tham Luang has a mythology of the Sleeping Lady which visitors pay their respects to at a shrine. In the story, “he [a servant who loved the princess] was captured and killed by the king’s soldiers. The heartbroken princess killed herself. Her blood became the water flowing in the cave and her body became the mountain.”
  • When discussing the probability of the soccer team’s survival, Major Hodges says, “if they are in there, they’re probably dead, and if we’re lucky, we will find their remains.”
  • When contextualizing the background of Coach Ek, it is said that “groups such as the Rohingya of Myanmar, have fled their ancestral land because they are persecuted and murdered by their own government.”
  • While making plans for a recovery, there is a reminder that “a dead body requires a recovery. Rick’s experience as a firefighter has trained him to be unemotional about such things, but trying to maneuver a lifeless body through the twists and turns of a sump is a grim and dangerous task.”
  • One of the Navy SEALs dies during the rescue effort. “When Saman’s partner finally emerges, he is pulling a lifeless Saman behind him. The other SEALs rush to revive him, but it’s too late.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • The soccer team is sedated during the rescue mission. “Dr. Harris has finally decided to give the boys a sedative called ketamine. Ketamine is a common drug used during surgeries when the patient needs to be unconscious.”

Language

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Supernatural

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Spiritual Content

  • The caves at Tham Luang “house giants who were defeated by the Buddha himself.”
  • Before the Wild Boars go to bed, Coach Ek “tells them all to pray together.”
  • When discussing meditation, a background on Buddhism is given. “It was through meditation that the Buddha arrived at the pillars of his great teachings that guide all Buddhists today. The Buddha taught people how to free themselves from the suffering that is a natural part of life.”
  • The Thai variety of Buddhism is often intertwined with other spiritual beliefs. It is written that “spirits are everywhere; they can be gentle and protective, or moody and vengeful. Either way, spirits should be treated as respectfully as the living.”

by Paul Gordon

The Stinky Cheese Vacation

Geronimo gets a letter from Uncle Stingysnout, who needs to see him immediately. According to Uncle Stingysnout, he is about to leave this world and he would like Geronimo to fulfill his last request. Geronimo agrees to help by planting lots and lots of flowers. But then the next day, Uncle Stingysnout has another request and another. . .

Geronimo is put to work until Uncle Stingysnout’s entire house is fixed. But then he finds out that his uncle is not ill. Instead, his Uncle just wanted to have his house fixed up for free. After cooking, cleaning, painting, and planting, Geronimo discovers that Uncle Stingysnout plans on opening Hotel Stingysnout as a “five-cheese resort.”

During the remodeling, Geronimo’s uncle again shows his stingy side when Geronimo discovers a treasure map. Geronimo and his family search for the treasure: Truffled Cheddar (extra-stinky). But Uncle Stingysnout wants to keep all of the cheese for himself! Uncle Stingysnout only agrees to share after Hercules threatens to eat all of the cheese by himself.

Whether you are a Geronimo Stilton fan or a first-time reader, The Stinky Cheese Vacation will have readers giggling. The story uses a lot of cheese puns, such as when Geronimo says, “After all, my heart is softer than mozzarella, and I can be a real cheeseball.” However, the plot does not have much action or suspense. Unfortunately, Uncle Stingysnout shamelessly takes advantage of Geronimo’s generosity. In the end, Geronimo forgives his uncle for his dishonesty, but it is clear that Uncle Stingysnout will not change his greedy ways.

The Stinky Cheese Vacation’s layout will draw readers in with large, full-color illustrations that appear on every page. In addition to the often humorous illustrations, the large text has a graphic element that makes the words look fun. Some of the key words are printed in a larger, colored print. For readers who still struggle with reading, The Stinky Cheese Vacation would make a great book to read aloud while letting the child read the words that are in the colored print.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Occasionally, Geronimo hurts himself. For example, when he was organizing a bookcase, he fell. “I landed on a wooden desk, then I tumbled to the floor, massaging my head where a great big BUMP had formed”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Geronimo uses exclamations like “holey Swiss cheese” and “moldy mozzarella.”
  • Someone calls Uncle Stingysnout a cheapskate.

Supernatural

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Spiritual Content

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Can I Be Your Dog?

Arfy is a hound on a mission! Bound and determined to find a home, Arfy writes letters to everyone on Butternut Street. Honestly, he’s the best dog you could ever want. He’s obedient. He’s housebroken. He even has his own squeaky bone. Who will adopt Arfy in the end? You’ll never guess!

Readers will learn about Arfy’s desire to have a home by reading his letters, which explain why he would make a great pet. Each person gives Arfy a reason why they do not want to be a dog owner. For example, the butcher writes, “I’ve got a bone to pick with you. Last time I let a dog into my shop, a dozen meatballs went missing! Sorry, but there’s no way I’m taking in a pooch.” Arfy’s opinion of each reply is evident through his expressions and his actions. For example, when the fire station rejects Arfy, the upset pooch pees on a fire hydrant.

Dog lovers will instantly connect to Arfy’s story, which is both humorous and heartwarming. The letter format adds interest and could be used to teach readers about persuasive letter writing. Each letter is different and reflects the letter writer. For example, the fire station uses an official letterhead and is signed Station No. 5. The letter writers also use different tones. For example, the junkyard guy writes, “Dear mutt. Get lost!”

The full-page pictures and bold colors will draw readers into Arfy’s story. Arfy and the mail carrier who delivers the letters are consistently shown throughout the story. Each time the mail carrier delivers a letter, the illustration shows the location and people who receive it. Each two-page spread shows one letter. The longest letter is eight sentences. All the letters use simple sentences with easy-to-read vocabulary.

Both dog and cat lovers will fall in love with Arfy. Can I Be Your Dog? is not only a fun story to read but it also can be used to start a discussion on the importance of finding a pet whose personality is a good fit for a family. Arfy’s story is engaging, entertaining, and will appeal to everyone who has a soft spot for animals.

Sexual Content

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Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

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Language

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Supernatural

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Spiritual Content

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Yasmin The Explorer

Every explorer needs a map! Baba encourages Yasmin to make a map of her own neighborhood. When Yasmin and Mama go to the farmer’s market, Yasmin adds the different booths to her map. When she sees a playground, Yasmin gets excited and goes to play on the swings. Soon Yasmin realizes that she isn’t sure where Mama is. Can her map bring them back together?

The story has three short chapters and each page has large illustrations that will help readers understand the plot. The full-color illustrations use cheerful colors and show Yasmin’s map. Yasmin is Pakistani and her mother wears a hijab. Yasmin’s mother also uses Urdu words, which are defined in a glossary that appears at the back of the book.

Yasmin The Explorer will help emerging readers feel confident with their reading. Each page has 1 to 4 short sentences which are printed in oversized text. At the end of the book, there are questions that will help students connect to the text, some fun facts about Pakistan, and a recipe to make Mango Lassi, a traditional Pakistani dish.

Yasmin’s curiosity and enthusiasm are contagious; however, the story lacks conflict because the plot focuses on the places that Yasmin puts on her map. However, readers will relate to Yasmin when she is lost. Yasmin The Explorer would make a good conversation starter about the importance of telling your parents where you are going, as well as what to do if you are lost.

Sexual Content

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Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

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Language

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Supernatural

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Spiritual Content

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