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Candy Kisses

There’s no holiday like Valentine’s Day according to JoJo Siwa—candy hearts and frilly tutus are two of her favorite things! This year she’s hosting a Valentine-themed sleepover with BowBow and her friends. (Party time!!!) Best of all, JoJo has a new dance workshop to look forward to, with a big performance at the end. When the news breaks that only one dancer will get to shine in a solo, the snarky Queen Bs—Bree, Bahi, and Bell—begin to stir up trouble.

In Candy Kisses, JoJo continues her message of being kind. Unfortunately, JoJo’s sweetness and over-confidence don’t ring true. Most of the story focuses on a dance workshop that JoJo is taking. All of the dancers are older than JoJo and some of them dance professionally. Despite this, JoJo has no problem learning the dance moves and some of the other dancers are awed by JoJo’s dancing skills and fame.

When Bell begins talking badly about the others, the dance instructor and the other dancers don’t know how to address the problem. Despite this, JoJo comes up with a creative way to get Bell to stop bullying. JoJo “doesn’t believe in excluding anyone” and encourages others to believe in themselves. The unrealistic conclusion has all of the girls becoming friends. However, JoJo’s constant self-praise overshadows the story’s positive lessons.

While Candy Kisses is intended for girls six or older, the vocabulary will be difficult for younger readers. Readers who enjoy illustrated chapter books will find the text-heavy pages of Candy Kisses a little overwhelming. Each chapter starts with a cute black and white illustration, but they are the only pictures that appear in the book. Another negative aspect of the story is that BowBow rarely appears, even though he is on the cover of the book.

Instead of being an imperfect person who makes mistakes, JoJo is portrayed as a perfect person who has a solution for every situation. The self-promoting narration makes Candy Kisses difficult to enjoy. Even though JoJo is a dancer, singer, actress, and YouTube personality, parents and some readers will be annoyed by her lack of humility. The JoJo and BowBow Series is one that is best left on the library shelf. If you’re looking for an illustrated series that promotes friendship, add the Purrmaids Series by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen to your reading list. Older readers who want an action-packed animal story should read the Wild Rescuers Series by Stacy Plays.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Funny Valentine

It’s Valentine’s Day and Splat and his friends want to give Mrs. Wimplydimple something special. Follow Splat the Cat and his friends as they create the perfect Valentine’s Day card. On each page, readers will need to lift the flap to find what’s hidden behind.

Splat the Cat Funny Valentine will get young readers ready to grab the glitter and glue to create their own cards. When making the card, Splat and his friends use everyday objects like rubber bands, construction paper, and paper clips. Large, full-color illustrations bring the story to life and add humor as well. The illustrations have fun details like the rat flying in a paper airplane. Readers will also enjoy looking for the rat that appears in many of the pictures.

Each page has 2 to 3 short sentences that contain onomatopoeias and alliteration, which makes Splat the Cat Funny Valentine a fun story to read out loud. The story is perfect for beginning readers. The story is designed for readers who can read on their own but may still need a little help. The cute pictures and the low word count make Splat the Cat Funny Valentine a fun story. Younger readers who want to create crafts of their own will love Splat the Cat Funny Valentine. For more Valentine’s Day fun check out The Mystery Valentine by A.I. Newton.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

I Will Rejoice

Based on Psalm 118:24, I Will Rejoice teaches how to find joy in each day God has made. We can appreciate the simple, everyday things we do, from a “warm, cozy lap,” to being glad “in the evening light.” There are lots of reasons to rejoice. The story follows one little girl’s day as she plays with a friend, takes a nap, and wrestles.

Beautiful pictures in muted colors illustrate one girl as she goes through her day. The illustration highlights the many people (and the teddy bear) that love the girl. The story focuses on small delights such as being able to play, snuggle, and listen to a story. I Will Rejoice will help young readers appreciate the many simple blessings they receive each day.

Each page has a rhyming couplet and most pages begin with, “I will rejoice. . .” The repetition and rhyming that appear in each short sentence, make I Will Rejoice the perfect book to read aloud. Each page contains 1-4 sentences. Even though I Will Rejoice is a picture book, the story is intended to be read aloud to a child, rather than for a child to read it for the first time independently.

I Will Rejoice combines beautiful pictures and poetry to create a picture of all of God’s blessings.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • I Will Rejoice focuses on celebrating Psalm 118: “This is the day the Lord has made, and I will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Mae Jemison: Awesome Astronaut

The Woman in Science Series introduces readers to Mae Jemison, who is a doctor, scientist, and astronaut. Born in 1956, Mae broke gender and racial stereotypesm because when Mae was young, science was considered man’s work. Despite this, Mae was determined to be a scientist. Watching the Gemini space mission and Star Trek encouraged Mae to dream big. On Star Trek, “the crew came from all over the world. Mae liked that Lieutenant Uhura was a woman from Africa. Uhura helped Mae believe she could someday travel to space, too.”

Mae’s curiosity caused her to spend a lot of time in the library reading. She also conducted her own science experiments. Mae’s parents encouraged her to keep experimenting and keep learning. Mae knew she wanted to know more about science, but she also wanted to learn more about her culture, so she studied both chemical engineering and African-American studies.

Mae continued to work hard and eventually became a doctor. She served in a refugee camp, joined the Peace Corps, and became the first African American woman to be accepted into the NASA training program. Eventually, Mae spent eight days on the space shuttle Endeavour. Mae also founded her own company, the Jemison Group, which seeks to encourage a love of science. “Mae Jemison hopes her work will take some of the mystery out of science for children of color and all girls. Anyone can be a scientist, Jemison says. All it takes is curiosity.”

 Mae Jemison: Awesome Astronaut shows how curiosity and hard work allowed Mae to become an astronaut. However, it’s Mae’s dedication to helping others that really shines. Her story is told using simple vocabulary, short paragraphs, and pictures of Mae in action. Fourteen vocabulary words are bolded in the text and defined in the glossary at the end of the book. The book ends with a timeline of Mae’s life and an experiment for readers to try.

Mae Jemison: Awesome Astronaut isn’t just for readers who want to be an astronaut. Her story will motivate everyone to reach for the sky and make their dreams come true. Mae’s story highlights how hard work and knowledge combined to help her reach her goals. Even today, Mae continues to help others find their love of science. Mae Jemison: Awesome Astronaut is an easy-to-read biography that everyone should read. Not only does it chronicle Mae’s life, but it also shows the importance of serving others.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

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Supernatural

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Spiritual Content

  • None

The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle

Twelve-year-old Bicycle loves living at the Mostly Silent Monastery in Washington, D.C., and she loves her old orange bike named Clunk. Bicycle’s guardian, Sister Wanda, tries to send Bicycle to the Friendship Factory so she can make friends her age. But Bicycle decides to make a friend on her own terms. With Clunk and her backpack, Bicycle sets off for San Francisco where her cycling idol will be attending the Blessing of the Bicycles. Bicycle is determined to befriend someone who loves biking as much as her. With racing pigs, a ghost, pies, and a little bit of luck, Bicycle learns that friends can be made anywhere and that sometimes we must make our own luck.

The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle is a wild tale that follows Bicycle and her journey across the United States. Bicycle’s time living at the Mostly Silent Monastery helps her navigate conflicts along her adventure, and she uses her excellent listening skills to help people with their problems. Because Bicycle shows others kindness, she is able to make friends. Bicycle receives plenty of help from strangers along the way and forms meaningful connections with people she otherwise would never have met.

There are some fantastical elements to the story. For example, on the first night of her trip, Bicycle meets a Civil War-era ghost who hitches a ride on the bike’s handlebars so he can return to Missouri, where his old friend set up a pie shop. The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle also discusses how luck and fortune influence people’s lives. Although the story doesn’t take any particular stance, it is clear that Bicycle helps make her own luck by being proactive and determined enough to seek out what she wants, which is friendship.

The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle is all told in the third person but focuses mostly on Bicycle’s thoughts and feelings. Bicycle is a great example of a kindhearted and determined protagonist. Overall, Bicycle’s story is funny and lighthearted while showing her adventures across the United States and explaining the importance of friendship and listening. The story’s adventure includes a bit of mystery and magic while also focusing on fortune and its influence on life.

Bicycle’s desire to make friends is universal, which makes it a good choice for readers of all ages. The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle is the best kind of quirky, upbeat story. The wit and heart of the book will certainly bring a smile to readers’ faces. Readers who want another unique story that explores the topic of luck should read Fortune Falls by Jenny Goebel.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • While in the Ozarks, Bicycle gets run over in a pig stampede. She “tried to jump off Clunk [her bike] and get out of the way, but one sock caught on the edge of a pedal . . . The dust started to swirl around her, blinding her. Then she was flying through the air and everything went dark.”
  • Bicycle acquires a new bike that has a red button on it. When she touches it, the bike’s screen says to not press the button because it will use the “missile launcher.” When this feature is accidentally used, the missile turns out to be a rubber snake.
  • Three teenage boys help Bicycle chase off a lady who tries to steal Bicycle’s bike. They “began pelting the lady in black with rotten tomatoes.”
  • Bicycle learns from Dr. Alvarado that the government had wanted Dr. Alvarado to build “tanks” and “explosives” rather than bicycles, but he turned them down.
  • A Girl Explorer in Yosemite National Park tries to forcibly paint Bicycle’s nails. When she ignores Bicycle’s request to stop, Bicycle “kicked the cell-phone girl in the shin.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Two older folks that Bicycle meets have a generations-long feud. One lady calls her rival a “dunderheaded lummox,” while he calls her an “old turkey.”
  • Profanity is used minimally. Profanity includes durned and fools.
  • Bicycle asks her friend, Chef Marie, about a horse. Chef Marie jokingly refers to the horse as “that fatty” because of how much he eats.

Supernatural

  • On the first night of her cross-country bike trip, Bicycle meets a ghost. She discovers this fact when she hands him a piece of chocolate and it “dropped right through his palm onto the ground.” The ghost would like to visit the Ozarks, and Bicycle lets him come along on her journey.
  • After losing her beloved bike, Clunk, Bicycle thinks of herself “like [she] was a centaur, one of those half-human, half-horse creatures you see in mythology books. But [she] used to be half-human, half-bicycle. Now [she’s] just a plain old regular human.”
  • In Kansas, Bicycle encounters an estate sale. The man who had owned it, Dr. Luck Alvarado, was obsessed with “studying luck, or fate, or destiny . . . Trying to understand how you can measure a person’s luck, whether you can alter it, and whether luck somehow controls the path of our lives.” Luck, and how luck works, is a main theme of the book.

Spiritual Content

  • The sisters at the Mostly Silent Monastery adopt Bicycle, and she is raised by retired Sister Wanda Magdalena. The Monastery was founded “centuries ago by a monk named Bob.”
  • Many of the sisters and monks break their Mostly Silent vows, and these infractions are played for comedic effect. For instance, Brother Otto nearly runs over a bright orange bike, and he exclaims, “Well, that’s fate!” It is then mentioned after, “Brother Otto simply wasn’t cut out to be Mostly Silent.”
  • After pelting Sister Wanda with rotten tomatoes, the teenage boys helping Bicycle say, “Holy cow—we’re breaking like seven different commandments!” They then flee the scene.
  • Bicycle and Sister Wanda get bagels from “the loneliest Jewish Deli in America.”
  • The event that Bicycle’s favorite cyclist is attending is called “The Blessing of the Bicycles.” Various religious leaders from many religions end up blessing every bicycle that comes to the event, praying in “many different languages” for safe journeys ahead.

by Alli Kestler

The Unbound

In the sequel to Victoria Schwab’s The Archived, Mackenzie Bishop’s adventures as a Keeper of the Archive continue. At the same time, she must balance going back to school and figure out her relationship with Wes, her best friend, and fellow Keeper. But Mackenzie is still haunted by Owen Chris Clarke, the History who almost killed her and nearly brought the end of the Archive. Owen frequently visits her all-too-realistic dreams, and Mackenzie starts to question her sanity as the Archive’s other mysteries close in around her.

But her dreams aren’t the only things haunting Mackenzie. A string of disappearances follows her path, where she was the last person to interact with each of the missing persons. Plus a mysterious man keeps watching her while she’s traveling to and from school. As if that wasn’t enough, she keeps blacking out and waking up with no recollection of what happened. Is a lack of sleep, or something more sinister haunting Mackenzie?

The Unbound is shades darker than The Archived both in atmosphere and content, which helps to enhance the mystery of the Archive and its employees. As the stakes rise, it becomes clear that the reader knows little more than Mackenzie, who struggles with the trauma of almost dying and being manipulated by Owen in the last installment. Some plot points revolve around Mackenzie’s parents, who fear that Mackenzie is depressed, self-harming, and acting out. However, much of the trouble that Mackenzie encounters is because of the Archive and her nightmares. By the end of the novel, Mackenzie is ready to heal her relationships with her parents, Wes, and, most importantly, herself.

The back-to-school setting helps balance the darkness of the Archive and Mackenzie’s nightmares. Although school is not a completely safe location for Mackenzie, school is the one truly normal place that she and Wes experience. At times, their friends provide comic relief and tell Mackenzie more about Wes, who is notoriously secretive.

School also helps bring Mackenzie out of her inner world and the world of the Archive. In many ways, having friends and going to school pulls Mackenzie back into the realm of the living. In both The Archived and The Unbound, Mackenzie spends her time straddling the line between living and dead, between the real and imagined. But in this installment, Mackenzie becomes a more seasoned Keeper while also learning how to live her life.

The Unbound is an exciting follow-up to the darkly magical The Archived. The end neatly wraps up this book and provides a bridge to a potential third book. This book does continue the adventures from The Archived, so The Archived needs to be read first. This book is a must-read because Schwab’s creative prose wonderfully captures the world of the Archive and Mackenzie’s journey, through interesting discussions about grief, trauma, and the scars that we all carry. The dead never truly leave us, but as Mackenzie learns, sometimes it’s necessary to let go and embrace the living as tightly as we can.

Sexual Content

  • Mackenzie and another Keeper, Wes, are friends who spend a lot of time haplessly flirting, though Mackenzie insists that they aren’t dating. However, they do act like they’re dating and Wes sleeps in Mackenzie’s bed. Mackenzie narrates, “I catch his hand, music flaring through me as I draw him to the bed.” They do not have sex.
  • Since Mackenzie and other Keepers have the power to “read” people and objects, another person’s touch tends to be really noisy and overwhelming for Mackenzie. Wes kisses her regardless, and she describes, “The way his lips smiled against my jaw, his now-familiar noise—that cacophony of drum and bass—pressing through me with his touch before I could find the strength to tell him no.”
  • Cash kisses Mackenzie. She says, “His lips are warm and soft, and my head fills with jazz and laughter; for an instant, it feels sweet and safe and simple. But my life is none of those things, and I realize as the kiss ends that I don’t want to pretend it is, and that there is only one person I want to kiss me like this.”
  • Wes and Mackenzie kiss again. Mackenzie describes, “I kiss him, not gently but desperately.” The description lasts for a page.

Violence

  • Mackenzie has frequent nightmares about Owen, the History who tried to kill her in the previous novel. Mackenzie says, “I dream of him dragging the jagged side of his blade across my skin as he murmurs that the ‘real’ Mackenzie Bishop must be hidden somewhere under all that flesh.” This nightmare happens often, and he usually stabs her in the dream, “[driving] the knife forward into [her] chest.”
  • Mackenzie’s little brother Ben “was killed last year on his way to school” in a hit-and-run. His death plagues the family.
  • Wes has a rough home life, and Cash describes Wes’ parents’ divorce as “brutal.” When Wes retreated for a year, not contacting his friends at all, and then returned, Cash gave him a “black eye” for abandoning them. They are still good friends.
  • Mackenzie dislikes the family therapist because she assumes incorrect things about Mackenzie and she convinced Mackenzie’s mother to throw out Ben’s stuff after he died. Mackenzie recalls once that “the one time we met face-to-face, she saw a scratch on my wrist from a pissed-off History and was convinced I did it to myself to feel things.”
  • On her way home from school, two guys attack Mackenzie with a pipe and a knife. She blacks out and wakes up to the two men laying on the ground, “covered in blood.” Mackenzie has no recollection of what she’s done. She notes that one man’s “nose is broken. Blood is gushing down his face, and one of his legs looks like it’s bent at the wrong angle.”
  • Mackenzie runs over a jogger with her bike by accident. “The collision is a tangle of handles and wheels and limbs, and we both go down hard on the concrete.” Other than scrapes and scratches, both are ok.
  • A girl named Bethany goes missing, and Mackenzie learns from her classmates that Bethany’s home life was rough. Her mom had remarried and the situation was turbulent. One girl notes that “sleazy dude [the stepfather] has been there all of a week when he’s home alone with Bethany and takes a go at her . . . She did what any self-respecting Hyde schoolgirl would do. She punched him in the face. But when she tried to tell her mom what happened, she said it was Bethany’s fault.”
  • Someone attacked Cash, and he shows up to school with a “cut beside his eye [and] a bruise darkening his jaw.”
  • Owen, the History that tried to kill Mackenzie in the previous novel, is back, though Mackenzie doesn’t know how. He attacks her at school and kills a passerby. Mackenzie describes, “I hit the ground and roll over and up onto my feet again as he lunges forward and I lunge back. Or at least I mean to, but I misjudge the distance and the toppled shelves come up against my shoulders an instant before he forces the bat beneath my chin.” This continues for several pages.
  • Owen kills one of the Crew, another Archive employee, at the dance. The Crew “crumples, and before he can recover, Owen takes his head in his hands and snaps his neck.” A fight scene with Owen, Wes, Mackenzie, and several other Crew continues for several pages after this death.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Mackenzie takes medication for her headache and then promptly blacks out. When she wakes, “the drinking glass is lying in glittering pieces on the counter, my hand wrapped around the largest shard. Blood runs between my fingers where I’ve gripped it and down my other arm where I’ve carved a single deep line.” She has no recollection of what happened.
  • Mackenzie’s mother drugs Mackenzie to make her sleep. Mackenzie describes the moment when she realizes that her mom slipped a sleeping pill into her drink. She says, “At first I think I’m about to have another blackout, but those happen fast, and this is slow like syrup.”

Language

  • Dallas, the therapist, says to one Crew member, “I’d tell you not to be such an ass, Zachary, but it would be a waste of my breath.”

Supernatural

  • Mackenzie is a Keeper who returns wandering Histories, or ghosts, back to the Archive. The Archive is “a library of the dead, vast and warm, wood and stone and colored glass, and all throughout, a sense of peace.” Mackenzie travels between worlds and encounters quite a few dead people.

Spiritual Content

  • none

by Alli Kestler

Stormcaster

Pirate Evan Strangward has been hunted by Empress Celestine for most of his life. Being able to control the weather can only protect him for so long. Now, he’s looking to the Fells for allies to take the fight to the Empress. Evan must warn the queendom that Empress Celestine and her bloodsworn army won’t wait forever to invade.

After four years in Arden, Ash sul’Han is on his way back to his home in the Fells. It’s a chance to see his mother and sister, and all the friends he left behind. But once he finds out his sister, Lyss, was taken by Empress Celestine, he’ll stop at nothing to get her back and save the royal line. Ash might not trust Evan, but he needs the pirate’s help if he wants to infiltrate Celestine’s stronghold and end the war before it gets out of hand.

Stormcaster, the third entry in Chima’s Shattered Realms series, is a wonderful installment in this epic tale. The story primarily follows Evan Strangward and Ash sul’Han. Stormcaster goes back in time to show the beginning of Empress Celestine’s rise to power, as well as Evan’s reason for opposing her. Destin Karn’s backstory is also explored. While this backtracking is extensive, it’s a well-thought-out and interesting addition to the story.

When the backstories are caught up to the present, the rest of the main characters are reintroduced. Ash sul’Han, who was absent from the previous novel, is finally back in the picture. When he makes it home to his queen mother, he finds the world completely changed. Ash is a lovable character, who has matured from his rebellious stage. Now he is willing to do whatever it takes to protect his family. As he struggles to work his way back into a world he doesn’t recognize, Ash embodies the themes of maturity and loss.

Overall, Stormcaster is a fast-paced ride. Since most of the main characters are back in action, each chapter shows the reader another part of the world, creating a fleshed-out and believable setting. Luckily, the shifting views are easy to follow. The story focuses on bringing together most of the main characters, so they can plan how to stop Empress Celestine. Will Ash finally reunite with his sister? Will Evan be able to take down the Empress that’s been hunting him? Readers will find out in the final installment, Deathcaster.

Sexual Content

  • When Evan and his shipmate Brody look at Empress Celestine, Brody thinks she’s beautiful. Evan notices Brody “was gazing at the young captain in a way that he’d never looked at Evan.” Later, Evan thinks about his love life. “There were other, less complicated lovers in the ports on both sides of the Indio, boys who offered sweet kisses and warm embraces.”
  • Evan and Destin have an ongoing romance. While sitting close together, “Destin put his hand on Evan’s arm, setting his heart to flopping like a beached fish.” However, Destin is afraid of love. “He’d learned his lesson well—that love was as risky as mercy.” Evan thinks, “Do not fall for this dangerous, moody, mercurial boy. It will lead you to heartbreak or worse.”
  • After confiding in each other, Evan “gripped Destin’s coat, arched his body up, and kissed him firmly on the lips.”
  • Destin’s parents have a terrible relationship. Destin tells Evan that his father “kept pounding on my mother—trying to get her to admit to cheating on him. He didn’t want to believe I was really his.” Later on, Evan asks, “If he didn’t love her, then why couldn’t he just set her aside and marry someone else.”
  • When Ash’s mother, Raisa, speaks about her marriage, she says, “I’m glad, now, that I married young, so that Han and I had more time together. It was twenty-five years, but it just flew by.” Later, she tells Ash, “Falling in love in wartime is chancy, just like having children. We’ve had a lot of pain, but a lot of joy, all the same.”
  • Madeleine, younger sister to the new King Jarat, says, “They were talking about all the women they’d had, and would have. Jarat said Father never bedded a wolf, but he would, and even a wolf could be tamed.”

Violence

  • Destin and Evan talk about killing. Destin says, “Killing is always personal. It’s the second-most-intimate thing that can happen between two people.”
  • When Destin and Evan are captured by Destin’s father, the two are forced to fight each other. Evan punches Destin, and then, “Destin somehow wrenched free of his captors, lurched forward, wrapped his hands around Evan’s neck, and began to squeeze.”
  • Adrian talks with his mother, and thinks, “Your daughter Hanalea went into the borderlands, and was murdered. Your son went south, and became a murderer.”
  • Hal fights members of Celestine’s bloodsworn warriors. During the fight with a horselord, Hal “drove his sword beneath his rib cage, all the way to the hilt.” Later, Hal cuts off a man’s head. “The head splashed into the water, but the body continued to stagger around, spraying blood from its severed neck until it tripped over a rock slab and went down.”
  • One of Celestine’s bloodsworn cuts down an old man. “It seemed that one of them wasn’t moving fast enough, because his horselord guard unslung his blade and cut him down.”
  • Destin says his father beat his mother. Destin’s father, “beat her all the time. Half to death, once or twice. Sometimes at court, but mostly at his keep on the Bittersweet. He kept a full time mage healer to patch her up again.”
  • After Evan calls Destin’s father a monster, Destin says, “Oh, he is. He started beating me, too, once I was too big to ignore and still too small to defend myself. . . If I had to do it over again, I’d have opened his throat and stabbed him through the heart with a poisoned blade and cut off his head and hung it over my door.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Hal talks to his former subordinate, Bellamy, at a tavern. Bellamy orders a “Small beer. I’m on duty in a little while. On second thought, I’ll have bingo. A double.”
  • Lyss bumps into Breon. Breon tells her, “There’s a lot of rum around, if that’s appealing.”
  • Destin thinks about King Jarat and his entourage. “They were more than happy to take the young king under their tutelage in the study of drinking, hunting, dicing, wenching, and swordplay.”
  • One of King Jarat’s loyal men comes home drunk one night. Destin sees him as he “stumbled to the garderobe and unbuttoned his breeches, hurrying to unburden himself of excess ale.”

Language

  • Hell is used a few times. For example, when Evan first meets Destin, Destin tells him, “To hell with your bloody books.”
  • Damn is used occasionally. For example, when Evan thinks about his job as a shipmaster, he thinks, “He was damned by his own success.”
  • Bastard is used a few times. Once, “When Destin inquired about Lucky Faros, saying he’d heard good things about the young captain, Kadar had informed him that Faros was an ungrateful, greedy, unreliable bastard he should steer clear of.”
  • Kadar, the streetlord of Evan’s city, tells Destin, “Go suck the Breaker’s balls.”

Supernatural

  • Wizards, also known as mages, are commonplace.
  • Wizards and mages produce a power called “flash” constantly. Destin describes flash, “like a kind of magical vapor that dissipates as soon as it appears. Amulets allow us to accumulate enough to work significant charms. Power transfers to it through skin, when you touch it.”
  • Destin talks about amulets. “They’re used to store and control magical energy, something we call ‘flash.’ There are other magical tools as well, such as talismans to protect against magical attacks, all made by upland clans.”
  • A blood mage is a type of mage that uses blood in their spells. Brody, Evan’s subordinate, says, “They make people drink their blood, and turn them into slaves.”
  • Destin is a mage. Evan notes that Destin “had an entire menu of nuanced magic he could work using his amulet and specific words spoken in the wetland language. Power including immobilization, persuasion, interrogation, and the like.”
  • In Arden, magic is considered a sin. Destin tells Evan, “Back home, magic is considered to be the work of the Breaker, a misfortune, nonetheless, can be put to use for the greater glory of the crown.” He later says, “A mage is a precarious thing to be in the wetland empire, because of the church. The king finds us useful, but he is as changeable as spring weather when it comes to the tension between magic and religion.”
  • Evan is a stormlord, a mage that uses weather magic. When Destin attacked Evan, “A storm surge of magic welled up in him, and electricity crackled across his skin, as if the power that seethed beneath it was leaking out.” Later, Evan “didn’t consciously reach for power, but it came unbidden. Small whirlwinds erupted all around his feet, sucked up a mixture of sawdust and straw, flung it in the soldier’s face.”
  • Jenna is one of the magemarked, a group of people that have unique abilities even among mages. Destin tells Evan about Jenna’s abilities: “She claims to be clairvoyant—that she sometimes sees images of the future, sees people as they really are, or can tell when someone is lying.” Later, he also says, “She heals quickly, and is resistant to flame. In fact, she develops a kind of armor for protection.”

Spiritual Content

  • Kadar, Evan’s former employer, thinks about his gods. He thinks, “It seemed that Omari Kadar, street lord of the Tarvos waterfront, had been abandoned by the gods.”
  • Evan is worshipped by his Stormborn pirate crew. “In the space of four years he’d gone from being a kind of shipboard mascot to being ‘Lord Strangward,’ the central deity of a Stormborn cult.”
  • When Evan and Destin get a new ship, Evan wants to perform a ceremony to the gods. Destin’s mother says, “I hope you don’t plan to sacrifice a goat and make us drink the blood. The goats, I need.”
  • When Ash tells Lila about his mistakes, she says, “If you want absolution, go to a speaker or priest. I’m hardly in a position to give you advice.”
  • Ash’s mother tells him, “Some speakers say that we must wait to be rewarded in the next life.”

by Jonathan Planman

To Fly Among the Stars: The Hidden Story of the Fight for Women Astronauts

It’s the 1960s, and the United States and the Soviet Union are locked in a heated race to launch the first human into space. NASA selects seven men, superstar test pilots, and former air fighters, for their first astronaut class – the Mercury 7. The men endure hours of difficult tests, taunting by fellow pilots, constant media attention, and the public pressure of representing America in a whole new frontier.

But away from the media buzz, there are others quietly fighting for the same opportunity. Thirteen women, accomplished air racers, test pilots, and flight instructors, are putting themselves through those same grueling tests, hoping to defy the era’s boundaries for women and earn a seat aboard a space capsule themselves.

To Fly Among the Stars tells the story of seven men who hoped to ride rockets and thirteen women who dared ask for a fair chance to soar to the stars. Unlike many books, To Fly Among the Stars takes a look at the Mercury 7’s heroic deeds as well as their flaws. Some of the men’s partying, squabbling, and flirting ways were a stark contrast to the women’s behavior. The women had to overcome many obstacles in order to become pilots, including having to look like proper ladies as they flew. Even though these thirteen women were never able to realize their dreams, they took the first steps in breaking the glass ceiling for female astronauts.

Countless individuals worked behind the scenes to land the first man on the moon. While To Fly Among the Stars focuses on Mercury 7 and the 13 women who dreamed of going into space, the large group of characters makes it difficult to keep track of each individual. Often, a chapter will have a few paragraphs on one person and then jump to another person. The shifting topics make the story confusing.

To Fly Among the Stars highlights the brave women who dreamed of going into space and focuses on the discrimination they faced. While this is a valid point, the Mercury 7’s mistakes and bad behavior also become a focal point. The author states that “Accepting women as astronauts would mean that NASA—and all its feverish fans—would be forced to acknowledge that female aviators could do exactly what male aviators could do. And that might threaten the heroic, ultramasculine, tough-guy status the astronauts enjoyed.”

Black and white photographs help tell the story and the back of the book contains a two-page glossary. The difficult vocabulary, quickly changing topics, and the vast list of historical people make To Fly Among the Stars best for strong readers. The book would be excellent to use as a source for a research paper or a school project; however, those who are not interested in the history of flight will find the book difficult to slog through.

 Sexual Content

  • After Shepard went up in a space capsule, he had to go to a briefing. “During one interview, a pretty secretary delivered Shepard a cup of coffee. As she left, one witness reported watching ‘Shepard’s brain get up, leave the room, and follow her down the hall.’”
  • At a party, two astronauts performed a racist routine. “It was a cruel characterization of both homosexuals and Hispanics.”

Violence

  • Bill Odom, an air racer, “pushed his little green plane to nearly 400 miles per hour before losing control and punching right through a suburban home, killing not just himself but also a resident woman and her baby.”
  • Pilot James Vosyka died during an air race. “A wing on his racing plane collapsed on a hard turn, and his aircraft slammed into the ground in front of 12,000 spectators.”
  • Several times, the story talks about pilots shooting down MiG’s. For example, Wally Schirra “went on to shoot down another MiG in Korea.”
  • Many women joined the WASP in order to fly and help in the war effort. However, some men didn’t approve of women flying airplanes and played dangerous pranks on the women. After one prank, “Betty Taylor Wood’s airplane slammed into the ground near a runway, killing both Wood and her passenger. . . Someone had dumped sugar into the plane’s gas tank.”
  • During a training exercise, a pilot “ejected but died when he and his parachute slammed into the hard desert sand.”
  • Rankin had to eject during a high-altitude flight. “Immediately after exploding through the glass canopy of his cockpit, Rankin was overcome by the searing, stabbing cold. . .. His exposed skin froze almost instantly before going blissfully numb. And then the real pain started. . . His abdomen swelled. His skin stretched. Blood sprayed from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Rankin made it to the ground alive but barely.”
  • When an engineer joked about astronaut Shepard’s bad attitude, “Shepard picked up an ashtray and whipped it at the engineer’s face. He missed his target by a hair.”
  • Several astronauts were killed “during a practice launch when a spark caught inside their Apollo 1 space capsule. Three men burned to death right there on the launch pad while dozens of ground crew members sputtered and coughed and tried frantically to claw the capsule door open.”

      Drugs and Alcohol

  • John Gleen was a military pilot who had “flown angry, confident, and even–dangerously—rip-roaring drunk.
  • A woman pilot had to listen as “a drunk senator slurred his sexist judgments.”
  • A woman pilot was married to an alcoholic. While the woman was in astronaut testing, her husband called her every night. “He was drunk, angry, and cruel.”
  • Some astronauts partied at Cocoa Beach. “They drank too much alcohol and pulled elaborate pranks on one another. They flirted with women who weren’t their wives.”
  • The astronauts liked the pool at Cocoa Beach and the manager “went to great lengths to keep their parties stocked with alcohol, girls, and food, and free from the press.”
  • One of the astronauts had to convince a reporter not to print a photograph of a “drunk astronaut getting frisky with a strange woman.”
  • As training continued, “Shepard’s booze-fueled hijinks were becoming more public. . .” Shepard “was clamoring onto nightclub stages, drunkenly giggling racist jokes into microphones.”

Language

  • After a flight, a pilot “flipped the jet the middle finger.”
  • NASA was working hard “on new procedures to prevent the next guy from pulling another boneheaded screw up.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • During a launch, someone “said a silent prayer for Glenn’s success.”
  • Sunsets “made Glenn think of his Christian faith and miracles and the mysteries of existence.”
  • Millions of Americans watched Glenn’s mission. As they watched, they were “praying and fretting. . . They pleaded for his safety. Oh please, oh please.”

Rocket Says Look Up!

Rocket is a stargazer and an aspiring astronaut. She’s excited because a meteor shower will be visible tonight. She makes flyers to invite everyone in the neighborhood to see the meteor shower. Rocket also wants her big brother, Jamal, to see it but he’s always looking at his phone. Rocket’s enthusiasm brings neighbors and family together for a memorable sighting.

Rocket’s enthusiasm for space is catching, and young readers will be excited to enter Rocket’s world. Rocket’s imagination shines through as she makes a ship to the stars out of a box and presents her fliers to her cat and stuffed animals. While all of Rocket’s play is fun, she also is learning to defy gravity (swing) and capture rare and exotic life forms (a butterfly). Rocket’s love of space is intertwined with her family life and the drama of annoying her older brother. Rocket is a loveable character who will teach readers the importance of having big dreams.

Rocket Says Look Up! is an engaging picture book with bright illustrations that are full of fun details. For example, Rocket’s cat wears a spacesuit that matches Rocket’s. Her brother Jamal often has funny facial expressions, but mostly he stares at his phone until he sees the meteor shower. Seeing Jamal’s face light up adds to the wonder of the meteor shower. When Rocket’s neighbors show up to watch the meteor shower, they are a diverse group of people. The story highlights how one little girl has the ability to bring her neighborhood together.

Even though Rocket Says Look Up! is a picture book, the story is intended to be read aloud to a child, rather than for a child to read it for the first time independently. Most pages contain 1-4 sentences, but some of the sentences are complex. Rocket gives interesting facts about “The Amazing Phoenix Meteor Shower.” These interesting facts appear in quote boxes and begin with, “Did you know. . .”

Rocket, who is African-American, looks up to Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space. Rocket’s enthusiasm will encourage readers to learn more about space and about Mae Jamison. Rocket Says Look Up! blends amazing illustrations with an engaging story that teaches fun facts about space. Space-loving readers who want more factual information about space should add Mae Among The Stars by Roda Ahmed and the Mousetronaut Series by Mark Kelly to their must-read list.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Bear’s Loose Tooth

Bear and his friends are munching on their lunch when all of a sudden Bear feels something wiggling and wobbling in his mouth. It’s Bear’s first loose tooth. Bear’s friends ease his concern about his tooth and help him understand that losing a baby tooth is perfectly natural. Bear puts his tooth on a plate and the tooth fairy replaces the tooth with fresh berries for the bear to munch.

Everyone, whether they have lost their first tooth or not, will fall in love with Bear and his forest friends. Bear’s friends want to help him by pulling out the tooth. First, the little wren tries, then the owl. All of his friends try to remove the tooth, which doesn’t come out until Bear uses his tongue to nudge and wiggle the tooth. The cute ending will both surprise and delight readers.

Bright, colorful illustrations chronicle the process of Bear losing his first tooth. The full-page illustrations are adorably sweet and have just a bit of humor. Readers will giggle as all of Bear’s friends look into his mouth as the rabbit wiggles the tooth. All of the animals’ faces are expressive and show emotion, but the story focuses mainly on Bear’s emotions which allows the reader to see his sadness and his joy.

Bear’s Loose Tooth is perfect for younger readers. Each two-page spread has 1-6 sentences that contain alliteration and some rhyming words, which makes the story fun to read aloud. The picture book is intended to be read aloud to a child, rather than for the child to read it for the first time independently. Bear’s Loose Tooth is a fun story that will help younger readers understand why their teeth become wiggly and fall out.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier

The United States may have put the first man on the moon, but it was the Soviet space program that made Valentina Tereshkova the first woman in space. It took years for the U.S. to catch up, but soon NASA’s first female astronauts were racing past milestones of their own. The trailblazing women of Group 9, NASA’s first mixed-gender class, had the challenging task of convincing people that a woman’s place is in space. But the women soon discovered that even NASA had a lot to learn about making space travel possible for everyone.

Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier follows Mary Cleave and Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, among others. Many people, including Valentina’s own mother, didn’t think women were capable of becoming astronauts. Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier takes a humorous look at the gender stereotypes that women astronauts had to overcome. For example, as the first American woman in space, Sally Ride faced great pressure from the media.

Once NASA allowed women to train as astronauts, men realized women were capable of completing difficult tasks. Despite their differences, every astronaut works as a team to complete essential tasks. When Mary finally went into space, she talks about the beauty of space as well as some of the difficult aspects of space flight, such as how difficult it is to use the bathroom with no gravity. While the book has some lighter moments, it also reminds readers, “when you made a serious mistake in this job, it cost lives. We’ve lost three crews: Apollo 1 in 1967, Challenger in 1986, and Columbia in 2003.”

Even though Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier is a graphic novel, it packs a lot of history into a short amount of text. Since the text rarely uses people’s names, keeping track of the huge cast of characters is difficult. The back of the book has several pages with pictures of different astronauts, but these pages do not include names. Younger readers may become frustrated by the difficult space language as well as the unique font that is used when the Russians speak. One example of a complicated sentence is when Mary said, “That’s because of the 1X resolver’s IMU BITE, we needed a GNC spec 1on CRT 2.”

Strong readers who have a love of history and space will enjoy being introduced to space history, astronaut training, and life in space. The often humorous artwork excellently shows the characters’ feelings through facial expressions. Most pages contain two types of text. The characters’ words are shown in white quote bubbles, while the narrator’s thoughts and basic information appear in the square, blue boxes. Each page contains 2-13 complex sentences.

Even though Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier focuses on women, the graphic novel will appeal to both girls and boys. In the end, the book shows that with hard work, dedication, and perseverance, anyone can become an astronaut. The last panel shows a diverse group of women who are the “future astronauts.” Everyone who dreams of going into space should read Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • When Mary interviewed for NASA, she was nervous so she tried to be funny. After she got the job, she says, “I didn’t have a beer just before going to John Young’s office for my first assignment.”
  • When they first get to space, some astronauts take ScopeDex which is an anti-nausea drug.

Language

  • During a test, one of the astronauts says, “good lord, doc.”
  • When Mary joined NASA, “I got one more welcome gift. Nicknames, thanks to my assignments and my degree. Sometimes my fellow astros called me ‘Sanitary Fairy,’ sometimes ‘Crap Com.’”
  • “Oh God” and “my God” are both used once. When Mary looked at the earth from space, she says, “My god.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • While the astronauts were getting ready to go into space, someone prays, “Dear Lord, don’t let these guys screw up.”

Losers Bracket

Annie’s two worlds collide when her biological family and foster family both come to watch her swim meet. A fight breaks out between the two families resulting in Annie’s nephew, Frankie, running away. Annie must rely on her friends, her foster brother, and her social service worker to help her better understand her biological family. In the end, Annie vows to help Frankie find a safe home.

Annie finds refuge from her troubles when attending a book club. In the book club, Annie and other high school students engage in discussions about heroism, family, and stories. These discussions help Annie make sense of her life. Annie also finds support and comfort in her best friend, Leah, and in Walter, a good-hearted biker.

Although Annie partakes in basketball and swimming, there are no play-by-play sports scenes and hardly any sports terminology is used. While sports give Annie an outlet to let off some steam, their main function is to give Annie’s mother an opportunity to see her. Sports fans may be disappointed by the lack of sports scenes.

Crutcher portrays a realistic take on the life of a foster child, and clearly and realistically communicates Annie’s intense feelings. The book is told in the first person, and Annie does not sugarcoat any of her feelings or experiences. Annie constantly disregards her foster parents’ rules, but she is very empathetic. Throughout the book, Annie learns that people can be immeasurably kind and selfless. She also learns to appreciate and love her biological family, even if they behave poorly. Loser Bracket teaches that everyone deserves to tell their own story.

Even though Loser Bracket is written at a fifth-grade reading level, the story hits on tough, mature topics such as abortion, obesity, domestic violence, and suicide. For example, Annie’s sister tries to kill herself and her son by driving her car into a lake. A must-read for mature readers, Losers Bracket is a thought-provoking book about what it means to call someone “family.”

Sexual Content

  • When Annie says she is going to suck at the butterfly stroke, Leah tells her it doesn’t have to be pretty because Annie “gets to dazzle some young horny Michael Phelps never-be studs laying out on a blanket in your skimpy Speedo two-piece between races.”
  • Annie thinks, “There is something powerful about making guys drool, even if they’re doughy little boys three to six years younger, walking around between races with their beach towels high up under their boy boobs to hide their cottage cheese handles. I’m pretty sure this sick little part of me has something to do with what Nancy calls my ‘Boots wiring,’ which is designed to ‘git yourself a man.’”
  • Annie talks about past experiences where she realized she could use her body to her advantage.
  • Annie’s mother encouraged Annie to use her body to her advantage. Annie’s mother “told me every chance she got that ‘them titties’ could get me all of what I needed and most of what I wanted. I’m not going into it, but mostly they got me fingerprints and lies.” Annie goes on to say she is “not going down that road,” and she only dates a guy “if he keeps his hands in his pockets.”
  • Annie thinks her swim coach’s girlfriend “doesn’t like the way I twitch my bikini butt at her boyfriend.”
  • At book club, Annie thinks a boy will remember Maddy because of her “outstanding cleavage.”
  • During book club, Maddy tells a boy to speak up and, “make your voice like your pecs.” Annie explains, “If he does make his voice like his pecs, it will be loud and clear . . . almost any T-shirt fits him like a coat of paint.”
  • Marvin, Annie’s foster brother, tells Annie he can hear his parents talking in their room through the heat grate in his room. He says, “Unfortunately, that’s not all you hear,” hinting that he can hear his parents having sex.
  • Although the word “masturbation” is never used, Marvin hints that he does it. He tells Annie, “Hey, everyone thinks guys my age are stumbling into puberty trying to figure out what to do with our di. . . private parts. I know exactly what to do with my private parts; I just don’t know who to do it with. Except for, you know, myself.” He goes on to tell Annie how his dad got him a kitten to “keep him from practicing” because “when a kitten sees something moving under the covers, he pounces.”
  • Annie describes the show The Leftovers. “On October 14 of whatever year, at the exact same moment, two percent of the population of Earth vanished . . . if you were some guy making love with one of the two percent, you better be on a soft mattress because you’re going to fall about a foot. Farther if it happened to be Nancy. . . these ‘leftover’ people screw like rabbits, because who knows when it will happen again.”
  • Annie jokingly tells Marvin to “memorize the naked scenes” on the show they’re watching because “there will be a test.” Marvin answers, “Which I will pass with flying colors. I may even go on the Internet afterward to pick up some extra credit.”
  • Someone tells Annie, “You’re almost eighteen. In some cultures, you’d be a sex slave by now.”

Violence

  • When Annie’s mom doesn’t show up to her swim practices, Annie feels an emptiness. But when she does show up, Annie is ready for a fight. Annie thinks her brain is “wired backwards,” and compares this phenomenon to “those chicks who cut on themselves; no obvious upside, but every one of them says there’s relief when the blade or the piece of glass slices through.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Walter says Annie’s mom didn’t show up to the basketball game because “Something urgent came up.” Annie asks, “Was it in a pill bottle?”
  • Annie watches her nephew Frankie play with two stuffed animals. He makes them talk, saying they “don’t need no dads ‘cause they do drugs and go to jail. And they hurted our mom.”
  • At Annie’s swim meet, her biological and foster families get into a fight. Annie recounts, “Sheila [Annie’s sister], who must be high, is convinced these people [her foster family] are actually here to taunt me.”
  • Annie and her best friend, Leah, spend hours looking for Frankie. When Leah tries to reassure her, Annie says, “Yeah, well, tell you what’s about to happen with my drug-crazed whore of a sister. She’ll get on TV and cry and say what a wonderful little guy her Frankie was and how desperate and brokenhearted she is, and when it dies down she’ll double her drug use and Frankie will just be another awful Boots memory.”
  • Leah says humans “get a nine-month head start with our mothers, no matter how messed up they are . . . We eat what they eat, share their fluids. . . Biology doesn’t separate vitamins from drugs.”
  • Someone tells Annie that her sister is dropping weight fast. Annie asks, “Like a meth user? Does she still have teeth?”
  • The family goes to Quik Mart every year for Thanksgiving dinner. “Though Quik Mart sells wine, you’re not allowed to drink on the premises, so Walter buys a few bottles and hides them in the toilet tank in each restroom, where you sneak in to fill the Diet Pepsi can you brought inside your backpack.”

Language

  • Profanity is used frequently. Profanity includes: crappy, crap, bitch, bitchy, son-of-a-bitch, ass, asshole, hard-ass, dumb-ass, kick-ass, shitty, shit, shithole, bullshit, damn, damned, hell, bastard, goddamn, fuckin, fuck, bigot, and piss off.
  • Lord, Jesus, God, Oh my God, and For Chrissake are all used several times as exclamations.
  • One of the characters is referred to as a dyke.
  • When Annie is losing a swim race, she was “cursing Janine like she’s the Antichrist.”
  • A woman says she is married with two kids that she would “murder Jesus for.”
  • Annie thanks her coach for “kicking my butt this summer. For keeping me swimming this god-awful butterfly until I got it.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Walter tells Wiz, a social worker, “I’m not a religious man, Wiz; don’t know God from no God from Christian God from Muslim God from Star Wars God.”
  • At book club, the members talk about heroes. Mark asks about Jesus, and Annie thinks, “Very little of what we discuss doesn’t go back through Nazareth for Mark.” When someone says Jesus isn’t real, Mark says, “Nobody more real than Jesus.”
  • Annie thinks, “Mark . . . holds tight to his Christian beliefs, though he never pushes them on you like some people. He also acts on them.”
  • Someone tells Mark, “Pinocchio is more real than Jesus.”
  • When students in the book club try to place Jesus in the same category of popular culture heroes, Mark says, “I’ve been in church every Sunday and Wednesday night since, like, before I can remember. . . that’s where all my heroes come from, starting with Jesus…I just couldn’t leave Him in with Yoda and Obi-Wan.”
  • During the book club’s debate on heroism, someone explains the dilemma of The Last Temptation of Christ.
  • When someone searches the river for Frankie but doesn’t find him, Annie thinks, “Thank God.”
  • Walter tells Annie how he struggled with PTSD. “I’d tried everything . . . Every church told me something different – didn’t know whether to let Jesus save me or save myself.” He goes on to say how he almost went “out the easy way,” but realized “if I jump and there’s a god, I’m going to have to account for myself.”
  • Walter tells Annie he wanted to help her biological mother, and Annie asks if he thought God was testing him. Walter answers, “The world tests you, Annie. If there’s a god, he has bigger fish to fry.”
  • Mark tells the book club about his sister who had an abortion and was thus banished from his religious family. Annie tells Mark, “If you do go to [your sister] you lose seven other people, all family.” Mark adds, “And Jesus.”
  • Another book club member says, “I go to church, too, and the Jesus I know would treat your mother like a money changer, no offense to your mother.”
  • Annie thinks, “I remember talking with Mark about God one night after book club last year, walking away thinking I hope he’s right. I hoped some great big entity is watching, some entity who wants things to turn out right . . . and who has the power to make that happen. But at the same time I was afraid to want it, because of how much it hurts to not get it.”

by Jill Johnson

Alabama Moon #1

For as long as ten-year-old Moon can remember, he has lived out in the wilderness in a shelter with his father. They keep to themselves, and their only contact with other human beings is an occasional trip to the nearest general store. When Moon’s father dies, Moon follows his father’s last instructions: to travel to Alaska to find others like themselves. But Moon is soon caught and entangled in a world he doesn’t know or understand. Soon, he’s become the property of the government he has been avoiding all his life. As the spirited and resourceful Moon encounters constables, jails, institutions, lawyers, true friends, and true enemies, he adapts his wilderness survival skills and learns to survive in the world of people, and even, perhaps, make his home there.

While Moon’s life is not something most readers can imagine, they will soon be entangled in his story. When Moon’s Pap dies, Moon doesn’t understand why he can’t continue to live in his dirt hovel. Moon wrestles with his father’s ways as well as the world’s ways. Despite his loneliness, Moon fights everyone who tries to drag him away from his hovel to a boys’ home. Moon’s fight is both fast-paced, engaging, and full of surprises.

Alabama Moon takes the reader into the backwoods of Alabama and shows the beauty of living off the land. While the story is full of action, readers will also form an emotional connection to Moon’s story. In the end, many readers will be left in tears as they wonder why our world is so harsh. While Moon’s story ends on a hopeful note, Alabama Moon doesn’t shy away from the tough topics of death and the effects of war. But the main theme that shines is the importance of friendship.

The author’s love of the outdoors and his knowledge of nature allows him to paint a realistic picture of surviving in the wild. Alabama Moon combines intense senses with moments of tenderness and humor. The story highlights the father-son relationship and shows the deep love a son feels for his father—even when his father isn’t perfect.

Anyone who loves an action-packed survival story will love Alabama Moon. The characters are realistic and imperfect. The story doesn’t portray adults as always having the right answers, and some of the adults admit to having made a wrong choice. In the end, Moon realizes the importance of having friends and supportive adults in his life. Moon’s story will leave a lasting impact on readers and will help them appreciate the people in their lives.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When a store owner named Mr. Abroscotto says Moon’s father’s plan was crazy, Moon jumped on him. “I started hitting him with my one hand that wasn’t holding on to him. I pounded him on the cheek over and over as fast as I could. . .I kicked him in the knee.”
  • When a social worker shows up to take Moon to a boys’ home, Moon “balled my fist, and socked him in the crotch.” The social worker “pulled his knees in tight as a baby and moaned curses at me.”
  • When a constable tries to detain Moon, Moon tries to run away. Moon “punched him in the face as hard as I could. . . He stood up with me and crushed me against his chest. For a moment I couldn’t breathe, and I felt that my shoulders were about to snap. . . I spun around and bit him on the tit. . .” The constable is able to get Moon into the back of his car.
  • After the constable talks badly about Moon’s father, Moon, “Jumped at him. . . I bit into his shoulder and chewed at it like it was tough gristle. . . He grabbed me around the waist with both hands and squeezed so hard that my body shot with pain and I had to throw my head back and cough at the sky.” Moon pees on the constable. The constable squeezes Moon until Moon is sick.
  • The constable goes to see one of his renters, who is behind on the rent. He “suddenly let go of the steering wheel and backhanded the man across the jaw.”
  • When Moon gets to the boys’ house, he meets Hal, who trash talks him. “I swung my arm from under the blanket and hit him open-handed across the face. . . the big kid recovered and grabbed for my feet. . .” Mr. Carter breaks up the fight. When Hal is disobedient, “Mr. Carter took two steps and grabbed him by the shirt collar. He lifted Hal like a scarecrow and dragged him across the room. He hung there, red-faced and coughing against the shirt that pressed into his throat.” Mr. Carter throws Hal outside and makes him sleep in the cold.
  • Hal approaches Moon. “Hal was walking faster, and he seemed to have something in mind for me. . . While I was crouched down, I hit him as hard as I could in the crouch. Then I covered my face with my hands and started rolling across the ground.”
  • The constable, Sanders, puts Moon on a leash and drags him around. “After we had traveled about a mile, Sanders yanked the leash so hard that I coughed against it. A sharp pain shot up into my head, and I gritted my teeth again. . . I rushed against the leash and felt it jerk me backwards until I lay flat in the leaves. Sanders laughed over me.” When another adult sees Sanders and questions him, Moon is able to run away.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • Moon is put in jail. “The only other person in a cage, across the hall from me . . . said they locked him up for being too drunk and wrecking his car.”
  • The constable uses Copenhagen chewin’ tabacco.
  • Hal’s father is a drunk. Hal says, “My daddy never did learn to read good. He was so drunk most of the time, he could barely see.” When Hal’s father is driving home, he “pulled a bottle of whiskey from under the truck seat and took a swallow.”
  • When Moon walks up to Hal, Hal “held out a bag of Red Man chewing tobacco” and asked, “you want some?”

Language

  • Profanity is used frequently. Profanity includes ass, crap, damn, hell, and piss.
  • God and Jesus are both used as an exclamation several times. For example, after Moon hit Mr. Abroscotto, he said, “God, that hurt!”
  • Several times someone called Moon a “little bastard” and a “militia bastard.”
  • The constable asks a jailer, “Where’s that little pissant?”
  • The constable tells Moon, “You ain’t nothin’ but white trash. Worse than white trash. . . You’re stinkin’ militia trash, is what you are.” The constable tells Moon that his dad was “some dirty low-life.”
  • Four times, the constable uses the word “sum-bitch.”
  • Someone tells Moon that Sanders “is a bully and a bigot. . . He’s unintelligent, and he’s mean and he’s in a position of power. That’s a bad combination to be facing.”
  • A police officer tells Moon, “You’re a real pain in the ass, you know.”
  • Moon’s aunt says, “My Lord” twice. For example, when Moon tells his aunt that he’d like to eat four times a day, she says, “My Lord!”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Moon’s father “said you passed and came back as something else. It could be a squirrel or a coon. It could be a fish or an Eskimo. There was no way to tell.”
  • At the boys’ home, a prayer is said before dinner.
  • Moon’s father “told me I could talk to him be writin’ letters and burnin’ ‘em. He said you can talk to dead people that way.” Moon does this several times.

 

 

The Sky is Full of Stars

On a clear, dark night, go outside and look at the stars. They may all look alike to you at first. But soon you will notice differences. Some stars are brighter than others, some have colors and some stars even seem to form pictures. You can find these constellations whatever the season and wherever you live if you just know where to look for them.

Anyone who wants to learn more about stars should read The Sky is Full of Stars. The illustrated book shows a diverse group of kids and a cat, who all decide to go stargazing. Not all of the pages have illustrations. However, many pages have an illustration and include 2-5 sentences. The book explains not only what the constellations are, but also the history behind them. The book has many illustrations of the night sky that show constellations. The Sky is Full of Stars’ illustrations also include some fun elements such as a cat that appears in many of the illustrations.

The Sky is Full of Stars includes directions for an art project that will allow readers to create their own constellation. The book is packed full of interesting information that is presented in a kid-friendly manner. Through both text and illustrations, readers will learn how to find the constellations in the night sky and understand why stars move.

Readers will enjoy learning both the history and the science behind the stars. Readers may have difficulty pronouncing the stars’ names. The book explains that “some of the names of stars sound strange to us. That is because they are not English words. Hundreds of years ago the Arabs and Persians named many of the stars. Today we still use many of those names.” The Sky is Full of Stars is designed for primary-grade readers who are ready to explore more challenging concepts. The Sky is Full of Stars uses an entertaining format that helps readers understand more about science.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

There Was An Old Astronaut Who Swallowed the Moon!

In this space-themed Old Lady Book, an old astronaut takes off into space and “swallowed the moon. I don’t know why she swallowed the moon, it happened at noon.” In between the old lady swallowing different space objects, two characters ask and answer space questions. For example, a girl asks, “How does the moon stay in the sky?” Her friend answers, “Gravity’s force keeps it up high.”

The only positive aspect of the story is that it teaches some space facts. The end of the book has two pages of space facts and the illustrations contain hidden objects. Unlike The Old Lady Who Swallowed the Fly, There Was An Old Astronaut Who Swallowed the Moon doesn’t have the same silly rhyme scheme that gives the words a fun flow. While the space facts are interesting, they are oddly placed and they break up the rhyme and repetition.

The story is illustrated with bright colors on top of space’s blackness. The illustrations have the same grainy aspect as a chalkboard. Some of the illustrations are funny, but others leave the reader wondering how the old astronaut swallows a comet, a rocket, and still has room for a satellite. In the end, the reader finds out that the old astronaut is actually in a planetarium and was only pretending to swallow the space objects. However, instead of being humorous, the ending falls flat.

There Was An Old Astronaut Who Swallowed the Moon is a picture book with 1 to 2 sentences per page. However, the story is not intended for children to read it for the first time independently. Younger readers may enjoy the story’s silliness, but parents may want to leave this Old Woman Book on the shelf. Unfortunately, the lack of rhyming, the odd illustrations, and the space facts do not blend well together.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Don’t Touch My Hair!

Aria loves her hair. It’s soft and bouncy and grows up toward the sun like a flower. But what will Aria do when curious hands can’t resist touching her curls?

Based on the author’s experience, Don’t Touch My Hair! uses humor to show how uncomfortable Aria feels when someone touches her hair. In the author’s note, Miller explains, “This is also a story about personal boundaries and what I would like to be used as a tool to teach the importance of asking for permission first. I hope that, after reading Don’t Touch My Hair!, children can learn the importance of asking for permission and of not being afraid to say ‘no’—and not being afraid to hear ‘no,’ too!”

The picture book is full of bright and colorful pictures that show how Aria tries to blend in with the scenery. However, people, mermaids, monkeys, and even a space alien want to touch Aria’s hair. Younger readers will love the wonderful and often silly illustrations. Throughout the story, the illustrations include diverse people of different ages and races. Not every child will relate to Aria’s conflict; however, Don’t Touch My Hair! would be a great book to teach about personal boundaries.

Even though Don’t Touch My Hair! is a picture book, the story is intended to be read aloud to a child, rather than for a child to read it for the first time independently. Most pages contain 1-3 sentences, which makes the story a quick read. Don’t Touch My Hair! is an entertaining and humorous story that focuses on Aria’s need to speak up and tell others not to touch her hair because it makes her uncomfortable. Readers who enjoyed Don’t Touch My Hair! should add Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry to their reading list because both books highlight the importance of expressing yourself.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

A New Class

Victor is thrilled when he is accepted to study at the Jedi Academy! His old school wasn’t a good fit for him, as his overenthusiastic use of the Force often got him in trouble. But at his new school, Victor is sure he will become a great Jedi Master. The only trouble is, Victor’s awesome new friends may not be as awesome as they appear. Victor also struggles to focus in class and he suspects his roommate is a Sith in training. As his grades suffer, Victor can’t stop getting into trouble. He’s warned if he doesn’t improve both his grades and his behavior, he may be sent home from the Jedi Academy – permanently.

A New Class teaches the importance of being true to yourself and shows the difference between true friends and those who are friendly simply because they want something from you. For instance, Zach tries to tell Victor, “if you want somebody to like you, you just need to completely change who you are.” But Victor insists, “my mom told me that if people didn’t like me for who I am that was their problem, not mine.”

By the end of the story, Victor realizes Zach isn’t a true friend at all. As he gets more comfortable with himself and stops trying to be cool, he discovers his true friends were right in front of him the whole time. Victor realizes, “I was looking for friends in all the wrong places. I was looking in places that just weren’t ME!”

Victor is an extremely relatable character for young readers because he struggles to focus in class and accidentally gets into mischief. His friends are diverse and supportive, and they challenge Victor to grow in positive ways. Victor’s teachers range from supportive to silly to strict, which adds an enjoyable aspect to the story. As Victor learns self-control and how to focus, his grades start to improve.

Told from Victor’s point of view, much of the story is written in an easy-to-read, diary format. The diary entries are frequently broken up by school newsletters, fun galaxy feeds, and space-themed comics. In addition, part of A New Class is told in graphic-novel format. Large, often comical, black and white illustrations appear on every page. The illustrations show Victor’s range of emotions and bring the other human and alien characters to life. The illustrations break up the text, making each page accessible to most readers. A New Class is listed as the fourth book in the Jedi Academy series, but it starts a brand-new storyline with a new main character. The previous books do not need to be read in order to enjoy and understand A New Class.

 A New Class is chock-full of fun, with Star Wars references galore and plenty of fun twists and turns. Parents will love the positive messages about friendship, while readers will enjoy the silly adventures. With loads of amusing pictures, humor, and middle school drama, A New Class is sure to delight tweens.

Sexual Content

  • When Victor joins Drama Club, he “had these visions of sharing the spotlight with Maya on stage. Maybe there would even be a scene where we got to kiss!”

Violence

  • Victor draws a comic where he “easily destroyed the evil droids” with a lightsaber.
  • When Victor sneaks away from a school field trip, he is attacked by an enormous gorax. His classmate, Artemis, uses the Force to pull Victor out of harm’s way, then cuts a tree trunk with a lightsaber. The tree tips over and falls on the gorax’s head, and the boys run away.
  • When Zach gets angry, he punches a locker and calls a droid a “hunk of junk.”
  • Zach shuts Victor’s new friends in a locker. When Victor tries to save them, Zach uses the Force to throw a droid. Then, Victor attacks Zach with his lightsaber. They duel until Victor’s sister saves the day, using the Force to throw Zach and free Victor’s trapped friends.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Zach calls Victor’s new friends “dweebatroids.”

Supernatural

  • Victor lives in a Star Wars inspired time, with lightsabers, aliens, star ships, and more. He goes to a school that trains future Jedis, and he learns to use the Force.

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Morgan Lynn

The Race to Space Countdown to Liftoff

Step back in time, beginning in 1232 when a Chinese alchemist accidentally discovered gunpowder, after which the Chinese created rockets for the battlefield. Since then, many have worked to advance rocket science. While some men dreamed of using rockets to travel into space, other men used rockets to win wars.

Then flashforward to the 1920s, when Wernher von Braun began creating a liquid-fueled rocket ship but was soon creating bombs for the Nazis. After the war, von Braun worked for the US Government. “Although von Braun wanted to achieve the means for space exploration, he once again found himself building weapons.” During this time, the Russians and Americans raced to create weapons as well as to send a man into space.

Finally, it’s 1957 when the Soviet Union launched the world’s first satellite into orbit, America had barely crossed the starting line of the great Space Race. Later that year, the United States’ first attempt at a similar feat was such a failure that the media nicknamed it “Kaputnik.” Yet American scientists and engineers refused to give up. With each failure, they gleaned valuable information about where they went wrong and how to avoid those mistakes in the future. Neil Armstrong may have made it look easy when he set foot on the lunar surface, but America’s journey to the moon was anything but simple.

The Race to Space Countdown to Liftoff is packed full of interesting historical information and explains how the Cold War spurred the United States into developing the first spacecraft. Instead of overlooking the many failures that occurred, the book explains how those failures were used to gain knowledge. For example, “The Apollo 13 mission is considered by NASA to be a ‘successful failure,’ meaning that the crew had failed to land on the moon. But NASA had learned so much during the operation, including techniques that would go on to aid in the development of new mission protocols and better technological advancements for future missions.”

Readers will learn new vocabulary and mythological references. Some readers will struggle with the advanced vocabulary words, such as diametrically, infiltrating, propaganda and détente. Even though some vocabulary is defined, a glossary would have been helpful. Despite the difficult vocabulary, The Race to Space Countdown to Liftoff breaks the text into manageable parts and uses subtitles, which make transitions to different topics easy. Both historical pictures and cartoonish, black and white illustrations appear on many pages. These illustrations show various acts of space travel and add humor.

The Race to Space Countdown to Liftoff uses a conversational tone that makes learning about history fun. The best part of the book is that it highlights events that could have been seen as “epic fails.” However, each failure was a learning opportunity that advanced space travel. The Race to Space Countdown to Liftoff shows how hard work, dedication, and perseverance can help everyone reach for the stars.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • In 1969, three men died when a spark created a fire. The spark became a “fire that spewed thick black smoke through the cockpit. The crew, still strapped into their seats, were unable to eject through the hatches before they succumbed to the smoke and fire.”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

The Gravity of Us

Cal has his life figured out. He loves living in Brooklyn, where he has friends and a plan. He’s gaining views for his live reporting on the social media app FlashFame, and his journalism career is about to take off with a major internship. But all of this turns upside down when his father—Cal Senior—receives word that his application to NASA has been accepted. Cal’s father is slated to be on the upcoming Mars mission, and their family must relocate to an idyllic small town in Texas where all the astronaut families live.

While he’s upset to lose his internship, Cal soon realizes that he still has the chance to hone his journalism skills. A reality TV network called StarWatch has exclusive control over the narrative around the space program—and therefore the related public interest and government funding. Instead of focusing on the fascinating science of the upcoming Mars mission, StarWatch documents the lives of the astronaut families solely for manufactured drama. When Cal decides to keep live-streaming his own experiences, he becomes an opponent of StarWatch, who are obsessive about their tight control over the astronauts’ public images. Soon, Cal finds himself caught up in the world of high-stakes publicity. He tries to portray his family and the rest of the astronaut families truthfully and honestly, while multiple media forces vie for public interest.

Romance happens when Cal meets and immediately is enamored with another astronaut’s son, Leon. Leon, an ex-star gymnast, suffers from depression and is reluctant to enter into a relationship with someone who thinks he can “fix him.” Cal and Leon immediately have chemistry, but before they finally instigate a real relationship, they try to understand each other and respect each other’s needs.

The Gravity of Us promises a space-centered story but delivers a story that’s more focused on PR and social media journalism than a future Mars mission. While Cal is determined to make the public care about NASA for the science, readers may find that they still don’t get to see as much science as they want. Readers looking for an ultra-realistic view of NASA’s operations, like in The Martian, will be disappointed. Many fascinating logistical aspects of space missions—such as astronauts’ rigorous psychological testing and training—are swept aside or ignored.

The romance is cute but hollow. Cal and Leon have no barriers separating them except for Leon’s depression, which is never really given the attention it needs to be a fully effective aspect of the plot. The main conflict between them is that Cal is concerned that Leon doesn’t know what to do after he graduates from high school. In the end, Leon tells Cal that he’s figured out what he wants to do. It’s anti-climactic and may disappoint readers who want reassurance that they don’t have to have their lives figured out at eighteen.

Overall, The Gravity of Us has little of the gravitational pull promised. While it draws on the images of outer space in its title and cover, the book uses a vague portrayal of NASA to show an ordinary teen romance.

Sexual Content

  • Cal recalls interviewing a Republican Senate candidate and grilling him about “charges of sexual harassment.”
  • Cal says his mom is cautious when entering his room because “she’s always afraid she’ll catch me doing ‘something,’ and we all know what that ‘something’ is, but I’m also not an idiot and can figure out how to do ‘something’ twice a day having never been caught thank you very much.”
  • Cal recalls an old romantic fling with a boy named Jeremy, where he “sunk into his lips, the taste of Coors Light on our tongues.” Jeremy “was new and exciting, and he was there as I took a self-guided tour of my own queerness—something I may never fully find the right label for.”
  • When Cal is with Leon, “I get the urge to kiss him . . . nowhere in my perverse mind do I think he needs this kiss to fix him. I want him, and I want to do it for me. And humanity, even. I want the world to be that much better because of our lips touching and his hand in my hair and…”
  • Cal and Leon kiss. Leon’s “lips are soft and perfect and tug at mine like he’s been waiting for this moment forever. Like he’s been waiting for more than just a week to be with me like this. In seconds, our mouths are on each other and his hand is behind my neck. And my heart’s about to beat out of my chest. It’s too fast and not nearly enough.”
  • Cal and Leon kiss again. “This one isn’t as passionate, it isn’t as hungry, but it makes my insides jump the same way. There’s a caring force in the tug of his lips, and in his bite, I lose control of my body and feel light-headed.”
  • During a makeout session between Cal and Leon, “We’re pressed into each other, and there’s nothing on my mind but his taste. His tongue slips into my mouth, and I press mine against his. I moan softly because it feels so right. So perfect . . . just keep kissing him. We keep celebrating our closeness in muffled moans and gasped breathing.”
  • When Cal and Leon are alone in a hotel room, “We pull off our shirts, and I press his body into mine. His breath hits my neck as our legs hook around each other. We’re a mash of tongue and teeth and warmth.” They stay the night together, but the book doesn’t go into detail about what else they do.
  • Cal brings Leon over to his house because it’s “definitely empty,” with the implication that this is an opportunity for sex. “His face is pressed to mine as I get my key out and unlock the back door . . . and we push through the dark house.” The scene ends soon afterward without revealing any more detail.

Violence

  • When Cal sees how upset his mom is, “I scan her for bruises, for covered arms, for anything—though I know Dad would never hurt her like that.” His suspicions are unfounded—although Cal’s parents argue often, they never get violent with each other.
  • Cal says that the sound of his friend’s parents fighting in a neighboring apartment scares him. “The echoed sound of a fist breaking through a particleboard door settles in my head.”
  • A man looks like “his whole body might be made of stone.” Cal says, “I have a feeling that if I were to punch him in the gut, I’d be the one hurting.”
  • The characters wait anxiously for news about a jet, which was carrying NASA astronauts, that wrecked. One astronaut is killed and several are injured, but the crash isn’t described in detail.
  • An unmanned NASA launch “explodes in the sky.” Cal describes being “barely knocked back by the blast, like a strong but very warm gust of wind.” Then the spacecraft “becomes nothing but some smoking ash.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • When he gets into the astronaut program, Cal’s father pours champagne for the whole family—“Even for you, Cal. It’s a special occasion.”
  • Cal’s friend says that she likes “watching astronauts get drunk off champagne before falling face-first into a bush.”
  • At an astronaut party, Cal sees “bottles of champagne sitting in a copper tub full of ice.” He notes that “no one would notice a bottle—or ten—missing from this supply.”
  • Cal and Leon steal a champagne bottle from the party and go out back to drink it. Cal drinks the champagne. “The tart, fizzy liquid burns my throat as I swallow it down. The taste isn’t great, but I could get used to it.”
  • Someone gives Cal gum “to cover that champagne breath.”
  • Cal’s mother manages her chronic anxiety “with her therapy appointments and an assortment of low-dosage medication.”
  • Cal steals some champagne from his parents and pops the bottle when he’s alone with Leon. They drink from it together. “I pull the bottle to my mouth and take a sip of the bitter foam.”
  • Cal says, “I start to understand why people celebrate with champagne. It lifts me up, it celebrates my own energy.”

Language

  • Profanity is used frequently. Profanity includes: damn, hell, shit, and fuck.
  • “Oh my God” and “Jesus” are frequently used as exclamations.
  • Cal refers to Clear Lake, Texas as “literal hell” because of its hot weather.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • The Mars mission is named Orpheus, after the story of Orpheus and Eurydice from Greek mythology. A character explains how “Eurydice dies; Orpheus takes his magical lyre and travels to Hades to save her. He plays his lyre for Hades, who promises to return Eurydice under one condition: she would follow, but if he turned to look at her, she’d be gone forever.”

by Caroline Galdi

Target: Earth

Klawde is not your average cat. He is an exiled emperor from across the universe with a hunger for battle and a thirst for revenge. He’s cruel. He’s cunning. He’s brilliant. He’s also Raj’s best friend.

With Klawde now stuck on a dismal planet, he sets his sights on a new target to conquer: Earth. But to succeed, he needs two simple things: an army of zombie squirrels, and money. Lots of money.

Raj is simply trying to make some cash for a cool virtual reality headset. But when a neighbor catches wind of Klawde’s nefarious plan, Raj may end up paying for his cat’s schemes.

Even though Klawde is devious and deceitful, he is also very likable. In the fourth installment of the Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat Series, both Klawde and Raj need money, but in true Klawde style, he devises a way to make virtual money. Klawde’s obsessive desire to regain control is hilarious, especially because he always underestimates the hairless ogres of Earth. The power-hungry cat doesn’t understand why humans “were so addicted to consumption. To shopping. To their possessions. Did they not realize that the most important things in life are those you cannot touch or possess, let alone buy? Like power domination. And humiliating your enemies!”

Klawde’s plotting brilliantly connects to Raj, who starts a lawn care business with his two friends. But with Klawde’s newfound millions, Raj has everything his heart desires—a virtual reality game, a skateboard, new shoes, and pizza. Raj thought his new game would make him happy, but in the end, he realizes that “The VQ had totally been messing with my mind.” At one point, Raj spends so much time playing a virtual reality game that he doesn’t sleep, do his homework, or spend time with his friends. In the end, Raj learns that “Money didn’t matter when you already had everything you need. . . family and friends.”

Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat Series is exceptionally engaging, humorous, and fun to read. Readers will appreciate the short paragraphs, the easy vocabulary, and the hilarious blue-and-black illustrations. Not only do the illustrations help the readers imagine the story’s events, they also highlight Klawde’s emotions of misery, distaste, and disgust.

Readers will laugh out loud as Klawde tries to use squirrels to take over Earth. The conclusion introduces a new enemy—Colonel Akornius Maximus, a squirrel bent on keeping his Earthy brothers and sisters safe. Readers will be eager to read the next book in the series, Emperor of the Universe. Fans looking to put more humor into their reading should also check out the Mac B. Kid Spy Series by Mac Barnett.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Klawde is upset at his “ogre” Raj and scratches him. Klawde “swiped his shin with my claws, leaving a trail of four bloody lines.”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Klawde is upset that some of the cats from his home planet are calling him “Dog Lover” and “Wyss-Kuzz the Butt-sniffer.”
  • Occasionally, Klawde calls his minion, Flooffee, names that include dolt, idiot, and imbecile.
  • When FBI agents appear on Raj’s doorstep, Klawde thinks FBI stands for “Furless Brainless Idiots.”
  • Someone says to Raj, “I heard the FBI raided your house. When did it become illegal to be a loser?”
  • Dang is used once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Alien Scout

Harris is the only person who knows Zeke’s secret—Zeke is an alien. When Harris decides to go on a Beaver Scout wilderness trip, he wants Zeke to go with him. Zeke is confused about all of the fun activities that will happen at camp, but he is excited to spend time with Harris and learn more about humans. The only problem is that Zeke is a little careless with his powers. When one of the other scouts becomes suspicious of Zeke, Harris isn’t sure how to keep Zeke’s identity a secret from the other scouts.

Zeke and Harris go on a fun adventure where Zeke learns all about scout camp. During most of the activities, Zeke isn’t shy about using his alien powers. For example, he floats to the top bunk, and he rows a canoe with his mind. Despite knowing the importance of hiding his true identity, Zeke continues to use his powers, especially to help others. When one of the scouts falls into a raging river, Zeke jumps in and saves him. The only suspense in the story comes from one camper who is suspicious and thinks that Zeke is different.

Even though the plot lacks suspense, seeing human activity from an alien’s point of view is entertaining, especially when Zeke gets confused by human speech. For example, when a camp counselor says, “Time to hit the hay,” Zeke wonders, “Why would I want to hit hay?” While Alien Scout isn’t as entertaining as the previous books in the series, readers will enjoy the relationship between Zeke and Harris.

Besides the fun topic, Alien Scout has a variety of other elements that are perfect for readers who are transitioning to chapter books. Each page contains a large black and white illustration that helps break up the text. The illustrations will help readers understand the wide range of emotions each character feels. The large font, simple vocabulary, short chapters, and dialogue make Alien Scout a fun book to add to a beginning reader’s book list.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • At camp, someone tells a scary story about a witch. Two kids find her at their house and the witch says, “So you’ve decided to have dinner at home. Excellent. In fact, I just finished eating my appetizers, though you knew them as Mom and Dad.”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Zeke is an alien. He can float, heat objects, and project what he sees in his head onto screens.
  • When the camp bus gets a flat tire, Zeke fixes it. “I’m redirecting energy from the Earth’s sun through my hands to heat the rubber enough so it’ll melt and seal the hole in the tire.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13

You’ve likely heard of the historic Apollo 13 mission. But do you know about the mathematical genius who made sure that Apollo 13 returned home safely?

As a child, Katherine Johnson loved to count. She counted the steps to the road, the number of dishes and spoons she washed in the kitchen sink—everything! Boundless, curious, and excited by calculations, young Katherine longed to know as much as possible about math and about the universe.

From Katherine’s early beginnings as a gifted student to her heroic accomplishments as a prominent mathematician at NASA, Counting on Katherine is the story of a groundbreaking American woman who not only calculated the course of the moon landing but saved lives and made enormous contributions to history.

In a time when women could not find jobs as research mathematicians, Katherine took a job as a teacher. However, the “space race” gave Katherine and other women an opportunity to work at NASA. Because of Katherine’s accuracy and strong leadership skills, astronaut John Glenn and others relied on Katherine’s mathematical calculations. Counting on Katherine explains how Katherine Johnson helped determine a spaceship’s trajectory. Katherine’s life shows that with hard work and determination, dreams do come true.

Counting on Katherine’s realistic illustrations add beauty and emotion to the story. The artwork also portrays how Katherine’s life was filled with mathematics. The artwork also helps explain how mathematics is essential to space travel. The story shows how “sending a rocket ship into space is like throwing a ball in the air.” Through both text and illustrations, Katherine’s advanced mathematic equations become understandable to younger readers.

Counting on Katherine explains many of the difficulties that Katherine had to overcome, including segregation and the belief that women could only do “tasks that men thought were boring and unimportant.” Even though Counting on Katherine is a picture book, the story has wide appeal for all readers. Counting on Katherine only has 1-6 sentences per page, but younger readers will need help with the story’s advanced sentence structure and vocabulary. Readers who want to read additional inspiring space stories should read Mousetronaut by astronaut Mark Kell and Mae Among The Stars, a picture book that was inspired by the story of Mae Jemison, the first African American in space.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Stargazing

Moon is everything Christine isn’t. She’s confident, impulsive, artistic . . . and though they both grew up in the same Chinese-American suburb, Moon is somehow unlike anyone Christine has ever known.

But after Moon moves in next door, these unlikely friends are soon best friends, sharing their favorite music videos and painting their toenails when Christine’s strict parents aren’t around. Moon even tells Christine her deepest secret: that she has visions, sometimes, of celestial beings who speak to her from the stars. They reassure her that Earth isn’t where she really belongs.

Moon’s visions have an all-too-earthly root, however, and soon Christine’s best friend is in the hospital, fighting for her life. Can Christine be the friend Moon needs, now, when the sky is falling?

Readers will relate to Christine, who is at first reluctant to be Moon’s friend. As she becomes friends with Moon, Christine learns to step out of her comfort zone and try new things, including wearing nail polish. When Christine’s father sees the nail polish, he tells her, “things like clothes, makeup, and nail polish are just things to keep smart girls like you from succeeding.” While Christine’s father encourages her to be friends with Moon, he reminds her, “just because Moon does something doesn’t mean it’s right for you, too, okay. You’re different girls with different paths. Remember who you are.”

In order to make her parents happy, Christine tries to be perfect, but she secretly wishes she could be more outgoing like Moon. At one point, Christine worries that Moon will make new friends and no longer like her. Christine intentionally embarrasses Moon, and when Moon gets sick, Christine avoids her. Despite this, Christine and Moon eventually talk about their conflict and are able to repair their friendship.

The graphic novel’s panels use pastel colors and expressive faces to bring the girls’ world to life. Throughout the novel, the pictures in Moon’s sketchbook are featured, which allow the reader a peek into Moon’s imagination. Wang’s illustrations expertly convey the characters’ emotions through facial expressions as well as actions. Much of the story is told through illustrations without words. Despite this, the reader can easily understand the story’s plot. While some pages do not have words, other pages have up to eight simple sentences that use easy vocabulary and is perfect for even the most reluctant reader.

Anyone who feels ordinary will understand both Moon’s and Christine’s struggles with loneliness and the need to feel special. The two girls’ friendship is imperfect, yet endearing. In the afterword, Wang explains that one reason she wrote Stargazing was to show “the diversity of experiences even within a very specific community. As our society continues to diversify (as I would hope), I imagine there will be many more Moons and Christines out there wondering which parts of them are ‘not Asian,’ and which parts are just uniquely and wonderfully them.”

Sexual Content

  • Moon draws a picture of her teacher, Mr. Pennypacker, in a boat. Moon is next to her teacher and has hearts drawn around her head. When Christine sees the picture she says, “OH MY GOD, MOON! Ewww Eww Eww!!” Moon blushes.

Violence

  • A boy is mean to Christine’s little sister. Moon finds the boy and tackles him. The fight is illustrated over two pages. Two teachers break up the fight. As Moon is walked to the office, she hands Christine’s little sister the boy’s tooth.
  • Christine purposely puts the drawing of Moon and Mr. Pennypacker where other kids can see it. When a girl says, “Here you go, Mrs. Pennypacker,” Moon smacks her across the face and then punches her. A parent breaks up the fight.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Moon tells her friend, “It’s okay if you eat meat, though. Some animals are probably jerks. I won’t tell.”
  • “Oh my God” is used as an exclamation four times.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Moon doesn’t eat meat because she’s Buddhist. Moon says, “We don’t eat animals because we believe in respecting life.”
  • When a professional athlete is interviewed, he says, “I’d just like to thank my parents, and God, for being there and helping me follow my true path in life.”
  • Doctors discover that Moon has a tumor. Christine’s father tells her, “Let’s keep her [Moon] in our prayers. That’s all we can do for now.”

Paw Patrol: Chase’s Space Case

Ryder and the pups see a spaceship in the sky. A space bubble comes from the ship and tries to trap a cow and Mayor Goodway. Chase has to find a way to save them. When the alien sees Chase, he tries to trap Chase in a bubble, but Chase is able to free himself.

Chase and the pups help the alien. He is trying to get home because he misses his mom. Rocky fixes the alien’s spaceship. Before the alien flies home, he gives Ryder and the pups a ride in his spaceship. In the end, everyone is happy.

Fans of Paw Patrol will enjoy seeing familiar characters. The story doesn’t explain why the alien was trying to catch the cow and Mayor Goodway in a bubble. However, Chase is able to save everyone, even the chicken that was in the bubble with Mayor Goodway. The alien is cute and his expression clearly shows that he is worried and scared. Ryder and the pups do everything they can to help the alien. The story shows how the pups can be friends with someone who is different from them.

Paw Patrol: Chase’s Space Case 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. Each page has three to thirteen simple sentences, which make the plot easy to understand. The colorful illustrations will help readers understand the story’s events. Even though the plot is not well-developed, readers will be excited to see Ryder and the pups meet a new friend.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None
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