Focusing on one rufus red known as, B95, a tagged endangered bird, Hoose, follows his migration. From the winter home in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina to their breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic, the rufa red knots fly 9,000 miles each year. This bird, B95, weighs four ounces, and has made this journey at least 18 times! This book is fascinating. The migration route is so specific that small changes in the environment along the way can endanger whole flocks of birds. If their food source in the Chesapeake Bay is compromised, what will these birds eat to sustain them for the next leg of their migration? By the end of the book you will be amazed any birds survive at all! And that is the problem. This endanger species has dwindled from 150,000 birds to less than 25,000. There are maps, photographs, charts, and profiles of bird scientists to add to the overall view of the situation. It is a story I will be sharing with my students.
PUBLISHER: Farrar, Straus, Giroux; New York, 2012 PRICE: $12.99
ISBN: 978-0-374-38524-8 INTEREST LEVEL: K-3rd
ILLUSTRATOR: Kozjan, Drazen PAGES: 32
A very cute story, this one is perfect gearing up for Halloween! The play-on words of the title about Mommy mummies that work is just the beginning of the greatness found within! It describes in rhyme the many jobs these mummies hold, but ends with the best…. that they can’t unwind until they’re home to hug their boys and ghouls! Cute, cute, cute! The pictures are great too with all kinds of different mummies and monsters. Kozjan has a great imagination, and the kids are sure to be intrigued.
Wild About Snakes series. The text opens with a Cherokee legend that tries to explain why Copperheads and humans don’t like each other. It then goes into details about various types of Copperheads, their habitats, and reproduction. The text further discusses humans and their interactions with snakes and the benefits that these snakes provide. It includes a glossary, index, and references. The large colorful photos balance the interesting text. Anyone with an interest in snakes will enjoy this. It would also work well for older students who need access to information at a lower reading level.
Bullying is on the rise due to the advances in technology and the ability to hide behind anonymity on the internet. The top five types of cyber bullying are: Hurtful text/voice messages, Hurtful comments on networking sites, Hurtful messages regarding someone else, Prank phone calls and intimidating pictures to embarrass someone. Some students have felt so trapped by cyber bullying that they feel suicide is the only way out. There are many laws now to combat this abuse. Students need to know that they don’t have to put up with bullying and have someone they can talk to without reprecusions.
REVIEWER: Tina Campbell, Toutle Lake JR/SR High School
Hunter-Gault, Charlayne TITLE: To the MountaintopRATING: R+
PUBLISHER: Roaring Brook Press PRICE: $22.99
ISBN: 978-1-59643-605-3 INTEREST LVL: 9 -12 gr.
ILLUSTRATOR: PAGES: 198 pgs.
As my daughter recently pointed out, young people today can hardly comprehend segregation and the racial tensions that existed two generations ago. This book opens up with the inauguration of President Obama and then quickly takes us back to May 1958 when segregation in schools was banned by the Supreme Court. This is the true narrative of a Black teenager at the time and through her memories of the times and the events, we are given more than just a glimpse of the Civil Rights movement. Charlayne wasn’t just a bystander, but an active participant in this movement. Covering the years of 1958-1965, we see her graduate from a newly segregated high school in Atlanta, Georgia and then was one of the first Black students at University of Georgia. She worked and marched with James Meredith and Martin Luther King, Jr. and went on to become a nationally recognized journalist and news reporter. This book is more than a biography; it is a first-person account of one of the main pivotal points of 20th century America. It is full of newspaper headlines and clippings, contains a complete timeline and an appendix of extensive primary source articles. It would make an excellent history and current event book to discuss in class or have as an outside reading assignment. It is readable non-fiction history at its best and is highly recommended.
Reviewer: Linda Solberg, Castle Rock High School, Castle Rock, Washington
Jackson III, Curtis TITLE: Playground: The Mostly True Story of a Former Bully RATING: R+ PUBLISHER: Razorbill, 2012 PRICE: $17.99
ISBN: 978-1-59514-434-8 INTEREST LEVEL: 7 - 12
ILLUSTRATOR: Lizzi Akana PAGES: 314
This is one of my recommendations for YALSA’s Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers. For those NOT in the know, Curtis Jackson, III is known among hip hop buffs as 50 Cent, and the author alone is sufficient to draw young men to the book as relentlessly as if they were on the trail of junk food. The fact that the book has merit may also come as a shock to those adults who wonder if any literate thought can come from a hip hop artists’ naughty mouth. Jackson’s introduction alerts readers to the fact that this isn’t completely HIS story, but that it is drawn from his own life experiences. Burton, aka Butterball, is a fat, black kid in a predominantly white suburb of New York. Dragged from the city and his father, Butterball is hating life in Garden City. He’s relatively anonymous until he packs several D batteries into a sock and proceeds to belt a fellow student with it. The ferocity of the attack lands Butterball on Liz’s radar. Liz is a social worker who is determined to help Butterball see life as it really is. With Liz’s help, Butterball works through his idolism of his father, his anger towards his mother, and his understanding of his mother’s choice of a partner. Need a little dramatic irony? Older readers will be able to recognize all of the signs that Butterball’s hero worship of his father is an adoration that his father doesn’t deserve, as much as Butterball’s vilification of his mother and his perceptions that she doesn’t sacrifice anything for him is equally ill-founded. The book is a well-crafted narrative, with descriptive language and a few vocabulary words that would make an English teacher smile. That said, a review wouldn’t be complete without the observation that the story is laced with profanity, but not obscenity. Scatological references abound; however, the story, itself, has several strong female characters of all ages who are smart enough to draw the line when it comes to abuse, and no graphic descriptions of sexuality or use of the grand-daddy of all bad words, the F-bomb. The author’s street cred is enough that young men might just consider meditating on the message of this book in spite of its positive and well-articulated message.
REVIEWER: Jodi Kruse, R. A. Long High School, http://krusereviews.wordpress.com
This colorful biography depicts the life of magician Harry Kellar. Harry is one of America’s greatest, yet least known, magicians. He began as an apprentice and worked his way up to the lead magician. There already was a popular magician in the United States with a similar name, Heller, so he frequently toured outside of the United States and was famous on five continents. This oversized informative text is interesting and engaging. The combination of black & white photographs and colorful copies of the original promotional posters keep the reader’s interest. Students seeking information on magicians will enjoy this book.
Reviewer: Debby Iverson, Coweeman Middle School
Jensen, Melissa TITLE: The Fine Art of Truth or Dare RATING: R
PUBLISHER: Speak, Penguin, 2012 PRICE: $8.99
ISBN: 978-0142420904 INTEREST: 7 up
ILLUSTRATOR: PAGES: 380
Ella has two crushes and both seem out of reach. First, well, he’s a ghost at her exclusive private school, Edward Willing, a painter, whose aunt founded the Willing School. (And yes, there are jokes about being “a Willing girl.”) The other, is unattainable, popular, Alex Bainbridge. No surprises here, but the journey is sweet and fun. Alex is assigned as Ella’s French tutor and suddenly he seems a whole lot more human than Ella imagined. However, Ella doesn’t have much self-confidence and begins to suspect that Alex would rather the kids at school don’t know about their time together. The awkwardness of their relationship seems just like the kids at my school. Throw in her quirky best friends and a large Italian family with a restaurant and you have a great, clean, romance.
Reviewer: Patti Tjomsland, Mark Morris High School
Johnson, D. B. TITLE: Magritte’s Marvelous Hat RATING: R++
PUBLISHER: Houghton Mifflin, 2012 PRICE: $16.99
ISBN: 1-59354-006-X95 INTEREST LEVEL: K-2
ILLUSTRATOR: same PAGES: 32
From the cover art to the decorated end papers to the delightful story, this is a must-buy picture book. Johnson celebrates one of the most recognizable 20th century artists, René Magritte and his amazing floating hat. The art is in mixed media with a significant twist: acetate pages of “Magritte” are interposed on each page as the story is told. One side of the transparent page has an illustration with caption. Turn that page and the clear page interposes on the former paper page for with a new illustration drawn on the back of the previous with a new caption. René Magritte, a cute dog version, is intrigued with a marvelous floating hat, and buys it as it does not muss his hair or pinch his ears. As the hat floats above him throughout the story, Magritte’s interpretation of potted plants, wacky spatial relations, illusions and improbable scenery delight the reader. The hat proves uncooperative while Magritte’s paints, and goes on the lam. Magritte hunts for it throughout the fantastical landscapes and finally resorts to reverse psychology so the hat follows him home. This is a wonderful circle story that brings the complexity and awe of one of the world’s finest surrealist artists to children. Students can hunt for the abnormal and delightful alternative realities. Showing an Internet tour of his art for students is a must. Students could replicate Magritte’s or Johnson’s art, easier to more challenging.
