SEPTEMBER 29, 2009
The Curse of the Ancient Mask and Other Case Files by Simon Cheshire
A new series of mystery stories in which ten-year-old Saxby Smart is the detective. He is the best detective as elementary school detectives come. This book is written with three mystery cases that need to be solved. The cases are The Curse of the Ancient Mask, The Mark of the Purple Homework, and The Clasp of Doom. If you are ready for a challenge, read along with Saxby as he searches for clues to solve the mystery. See if using his clue book helps you solve the mystery first. Look for the facts of the case. The fact is you will love this book! Included in this book are nice illustrations. This book is most appropriate for boys (but girls...you will like it, too) in grades 2-4.
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SEPTEMBER 23, 2009
After the Train
Set in West Germany ten years after the defeat of the Nazis in World War II, this novel shares the experiences of Peter Liebig during his thirteenth summer as he makes life-changing discoveries about himself. At first, a history assignment meant to cause him to learn about his country's past excites his interest and encourages him to ask his father what part he played in the war. His father's reluctance to divulge details excites Peter's curiosity, causing him to stealthily hunt through his parents' papers. The more he finds out, the more intensely he investigates. Soon his mother and father are forced to confirm his suspicions and they reveal to him that during the war he was handed to his adoptive mother (a Red Cross worker) by a Jewish woman being taken to Dachau, a death camp. Slowly, he works through the emotional upheaval created by these revelations. He is supported by his parents, two enterprising school friends, and a kindly Jewish bricklayer. Even though anti-Semitism rears its ugly head ten years after it was supposedly defeated, it is not victorious. Students in fourth through eighth grades will appreciate this follow-up to books about the Holocaust.
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SEPTEMBER 23, 2009
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg
"Why tell the truth when a lie is so much more likely to get you what you want or to cause your audience to keep listening to you?" These seem to be the words by which Homer P. lives. Orphaned at an early age, he and his older brother, Harold are wards of their uncle - the notorious skinflint, Squinton Leach. Old Squint sees a way to make some money when the Civil War's terrible toll on the lives of soldiers causes the government to institute a draft. He sells his older (but underage) nephew into the Union Army. Homer is outraged by the injustice and bravely sets out to rescue him from having to fight. Thus begins a series of adventures involving him first in assisting runaway slaves to escape slave catchers as they travel along the Underground Railroad on their way to Canada. Next he is captured and placed in a crate full of pigs as two crooks outsmart his traveling companion. After joining a medicine show directed by a gentleman who turns out to be a Southern spy, Homer escapes in a surveillance balloon, finally to catch up with his brother at Gettysburg, PA. Things do not work out quite as Homer wants them to, but readers will be satisfied with the conclusion. Although this is mostly an amusing tale, it also gives a realistic view of the devastation that necessarily accompanies war. This is a worthwhile read for students in grades 4-7.
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SEPTEMBER 23, 2009
Clementine by Sara Pennypacker
Clementine is 8 years old and in the third grade. Clementine has a knack of getting into trouble. After all, it is not her fault that Margaret’s hair was cut off. Clementine was only trying to get the glue out. It is NOT Clementine’s fault that she used her mother’s permanent markers. She only wanted to color in Margaret’s hair to make it look more beautiful. It is not her fault that she ended up in the principal’s office and answered the phone. She was trying to be helpful. Despite these misunderstandings, Clementine is smart. Why else would she be in the gifted math class? However, she is disappointed that no one has yet given her any gifts.
Clementine is the mastermind behind the great pigeon wars. She has, singlehandedly, been able to get the pigeons from the front of the building to the side of the building through the use of an oversize poster of her deceased cat, Polka Dottie.If she has come up with these great ideas, then why are her parents saying “good riddance?” Could it be possible they no longer want Clementine? Do they only want her brother, whose name is not a fruit? Read the book to find out the answers to these questions.
Reminscent of Beverly Cleary's Ramona, this delightful book is the first in a series and sure to please readers in grades 2-4. This book received a starred review from School Library Journal.
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SEPTEMBER 23, 2009
The Amazing Potato by Milton Meltzer
In tribute to this author's recent death, a man who thought children should have interesting non-fiction books to read long before it was popular, here is only one of his over 80 books published in the areas of history, biography, and social reform. With the subtitle, "A Story in Which the Incas, Conquistadors, Marie Antoinette, Thomas Jefferson, Wars, Famines, Immigrants, and French Fries All Play a Part", Meltzer only hints at the amazing facts about the potato in which no one would guess. Did you know that the potato is part of the nightshade family, the same as tobacco? Or that sweet potatoes are part of the morning glory family and not really a potato at all? Beginning with the Incas in Peru, (where potatoes had been harvested and preserved for many years before the Spaniards came to the New World and brought them back to Europe), to modern day uses and benefits of the potato, this book is packed with fun and educational information useful for school reports. Doing a report on Thomas Jefferson? No problem. Throw in a tidbit about how, in his love of all things French, he brought the potato back from Europe and helped popularize it to Americans by making various yummy dishes served at the White House, including pommes frites (french fries). The book also includes black and white photographs, index, and bibiography. If after reading this you decide you are really interested in potatoes and want to read something else, try Susan Campbell Bartoletti's Black Potatoes, the Story of the Great Irish Famine,1845-1850. Recommended for grades 4-8.
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SEPTEMBER 18, 2009
Lincoln and His Boys by Rosemary Wells
In a wonderful realistic fiction fashion, author, Rosemary Wells, makes President Abraham Lincoln and his sons come alive in the intimate pages of this book. Lincoln has been elected president and came to the White House from Illinois with his wife and two sons, Willie and Tad. Bob, the oldest son, was away at school. Eddie, another son, died of "fever" before Lincoln's presidency. This book puts you in the living quarters of the Lincolns with humorous events of young boys interrupting cabinet meetings as well as grievous times when another of the young sons died due to illness. The agony President Lincoln must have gone through being the commander-in-chief during the Civil War is realistically personal.
This book is written as historical fiction but based on historical facts. So life like, you will get a glimpse of President Lincoln as a man, father and president of a great nation. Great read for those in grades 1-3.
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SEPTEMBER 13, 2009
The Mysterious Benedict Society
“Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?” So says the ad, addressed only to children. Many children respond to this. The children have to go through a series of tests. The only four to have completed the tests, are Reynard Muldoon, a young boy who knows many languages, George “Sticky” Washington, who has won many quiz shows with his intelligence, Kate Weatherall, a circus acrobat, who never goes anywhere without her bucket of stuff, and Constance Contraire, who can be extremely stubborn.
These children make up “The Mysterious Benedict Society.” They work as undercover agents for Mr. Benedict, a kind, eccentric old man, who is prone to narcolepsy. Their mission is to become students at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened. Mr. Curtain is the head of this school. He is trying to take over the world by brainwashing everyone. He infiltrates everyone’s minds through the Whisperer. This machine sends messages to people’s brains and people believe the messages to be true. Mr. Curtain wants complete control.
Can Kate, Constance, Sticky, and Reynie, stop Mr. Curtain before it gets too late? Will they ever get off of Nomasan Island? Read this book to find out! This is a well-written book with a good story. Ilustrations are fun and reminiscent of Edward Gorey. Mystery, Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket fans will enjoy this book. The book also has a good message how the media can influence young minds. Recommended for students in grades 5-9.
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