12 Things to do Before you Crash and Burn by James Proimos - ADVISABLE

Proimos, James 12 Things to do Before You Crash and Burn, 128 pgs. Roaring Brook Press, Nov 2011.

Language: R (54 swears, 8 f); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: PG.

Hercules is spending two weeks with his uncle during summer break after his father dies in a plane crash. His uncle gives him 12 tasks to accomplish to keep Hercules from being bored. He does do all twelve, but not in the way he plans or the reader expects and he discovers things about himself and his father.

This is a great book for reluctant readers. It's short, with large text, short chapters, and a lot of action.

HS - ADVISABLE Rebekah, youth services librarian

Owlet's First Flight by Mitra Modarressi–ADVISABLE

Modarressi, Mitra Owlet's First Flight 32 pgs. Putnam Juvenile, 2012. $10.97.  (Rating: G).

This is the short melodic story of a baby owlet that is afraid to fly at night. His mama sends him out anyway, and he finds out that sometimes what seems scary at first can be just the imagination.

This book has adorable artwork and would make a perfect bedtime story with a simple message about being brave.

Pre-K – ADVISABLE Reviewer: Stephanie MLS graduate & Author.

UnBEElievables by Douglas Florian -Not Recommended

Florian, Douglas UnBEElievables 32 pgs. Beach Lane Books, 2012. $11.55.  (Rating: G).

A book of simple poems, fact tidbits, and original artwork all about bees.

This book wasn’t working for me on any level. The artwork is so childlike that you might as well have your students illustrate the poems…which I also don’t recommend because the poems are pretty stale. In addition it’s paired with facts that are too sophisticated for the age level of the poems.

EL – NOT RECOMMENDED Reviewer: Stephanie MLS graduate & Author.

Sadie and the Big Mountain by Jamie Korngold -OPTIONAL

Korngold, Jamie and illustrated by Fortenberry, Julie Sadie and the Big Mountain 32 pgs. Kar-Ben Pub, 2012. $7.95.  (Rating: G).

Sadie is worried about the hike that her class is going be taking. It is supposed to be like the hike that Moses too up to Mt. Sinai. Her imagined excuses don’t come true when the day of the hike arrives and she learns a lesson.

This is a book for young children who already know something about the Jewish religion, as any other child would be totally confused since the references/backstory/terminology are not explained. (Which also means it’s a wash for school libraries). The artwork is also quite dated looking.

EL – OPTIONAL Reviewer: Stephanie MLS graduate & Author.

Wonder by R.J. Palacio - ESSENTIAL

Palacio, R.J. Wonder, 313 pgs. Random House, Feb 2012.

Content - G

EL, MS - ESSENTIAL 

Auggie was born with facial defects and has been home schooled for the past four years because of the many surgeries he's had to undergo. But at the beginning of the fifth grade, his parents think it's time for him to start at school with the other children. Auggie isn't so sure. The story is told from five view points, Auggie, two students at his new school, his older sister, and his older sister's boyfriend. Each character gives a new perspective to Auggie and who he really is beyond his appearance.

This is a really powerful, amazing book. It deals with bullying in a very subtle way, as well as issues of friendship, family, and identity. Definitely one to book talk to students.



Rebekah, youth services librarian

The Art of Miss Chew by Patricia Polacco - ESSENTIAL

Polacco, Patricia The Art of Miss Chew.  Putnam’s (Penguin), 2012.  $18.  PICTURE BOOK.  Content: G.  

Patricia’s homeroom teacher, Mr. Donovan, knew that Patricia was a different kind of learner.  Not only did he give her a little extra time on her work, but he also introduced her to the high school art teacher, who nurtured her talent.  When Mr. D had to leave for a family emergency, the substitute doesn’t understand Patricia and wants to remove her from the special classes.  

Unless you are a substitute teacher, you will absolutely love everything about this book – not only do you need it in your library, but you need to read it for faculty meeting!  What a lovely piece of inspiration.  

EL, MS, HS – ESSENTIAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher

May B by Caroline Starr Rose - ADVISABLE

Rose, Caroline Starr May B, 231 pgs.  Schwarz and Wade Books, 2012            $15.99 Language: G, (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: G; Violence: G.  

This historical novel written in verse takes you on a journey into the Kansas prairie.  May B is forced by her parents to leave the comforts of home just until Christmas to live with another family who she doesn’t know.   Through a drastic turn of events she finds herself alone and figuring out how to survive on her own as winter approaches.  

Due to the fact that it is written in poetry form it took me awhile to get used to reading a story as a poem.  I enjoyed the plot as my mind was captivated as it painted a picture of the prairie and the struggles of that time period.  For example, that making ends meet is more important than going to school.  I found it ended more abruptly than I was expecting.  The resolution came way to quickly in my opinion.  It’s a fun feel good read.  

EL, MS, HS, – ADVISABLE. Emilee, Teacher Librarian

Giants Beware by Jorge Aguirre - ESSENTIAL

Aguirre, Jorge.  Giants Beware, illustrated by Rafael Rosado.  First Second (Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck) 2012.  $14.99. GRAPHIC NOVEL.  Language: G; Sexual Content: G; Violence: PG (there is sword fighting and some scariness, but Disney's Tangled is scarier than this book).  

Mont Petit Pierre is a town guarded by a large wall that keeps townspeople in and unwanted intruders out.  The only way in or out is an entrance that is guarded by a lone sentry.  But when Claudette learns that a giant who eats babies' feet lives in the hills outside that town, she feels compelled to go slay the giant.  So she enlists the help of her little brother Gaston, who wants to be a pastry chef, and her friend Marie, whose life ambition is to be a princess.  Together, the three of them leave the town and set off to slay the giant.  

This was a delightful graphic novel.  My son wanted to me to write that he loves the book.  I read this to my children before bed for several nights, and every time we put it aside, they were furious that they had to wait to find out what happened next.  I really enjoyed the characters and the drawings were exciting.  We all laughed repeatedly throughout the book.  This book is perfect for elementary school readers.  

EL (K-3), EL - ESSENTIAL.  Brent Smith, Reading Teacher

My Brother’s Shadow by Monika Schroder - ESSENTIAL

Schroder, Monika  My Brother’s Shadow,  217 pg.  Frances Foster Books, 2011 $17.99  Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”);  Mature Content: PG-13 (some substance abuse ); Violence: PG (some violence relating to war).  

The setting World War I 1918 Berlin Germany.  The people-- a struggling family who lost their father in the war.  Moritz a sixteen-year-old boy, who witnesses his family divided. His brother is fighting in the trenches.  His mother is an activist against the monarchy, and the head of socialist meetings.  His ailing grandmother lives with them.  Moritz is not sure how he feels about the war but he knows his family is barely surviving.  He so desperately wants things to go back to the way they were before the war.  Through his meager attempts he realizes the horrors of war and how life can never be the same.  

This book had me gripped right from the beginning.  There are so many World War II books this was refreshing take on Germany in World War I.  You see the foreshadowing of events that later creates the Second World War.  I’ve read other war books and they often portray the idealist plot.  This book is portrayed very realistic.  There is no fluff.  It’s paints a daunting picture of war with some good and most of the bad.  Don’t you think it’s interesting that the winners of the war are the one’s that write the history books.  

MS, HS, – ESSENTIAL.  Emilee, Teacher Librarian

Chloe and the Lion by Mac Barnett - ESSENTIAL

Barnett, Mac Chloe and the Lion, pictures by Adam Rex.  Disney Hyperion, 2012.  $17.  PICTURE BOOK.  

Chloe loves to find and save small change so that each week she can go enjoy the merry-go-round in the park.  After one serious riding session, Chloe gets dizzy and then lost in the woods.  There the story gets hijacked by the author and the illustrator as they argue first over the appearance of a dragon, when the author clearly called for a lion and then just about everything else that was supposed to happen.  What follows is a funny byplay between the author and illustrator and not so much Chloe.  

It is a humorous look at the relationship between author and illustrator with a good story thrown in.  I think kids will really enjoy it.  You should try it out at story time!  

EL (K-3) – ESSENTIAL. Cindy, Library Teacher.

Escape Velocity by Mark Walden

Walden, Mark Escape Velocity. Simon & Schuster, 2012 (now in paperback).  $8.  MS – ESSENTIAL.

Here is our original review of the book - such a great series for boys who have finished the Alex Rider series!

http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2011/03/escape-velocity-by-mark-walden.html

Olympics Through Time by Richard Platt - OPTIONAL

Platt, Richard Olympics (Through Time), illustrated by Manuela Cappon. 44 p.  Kingfisher, 2012.  $17.  NON-FICTION.  

A brief sketch of the Olympic Games “through history”.  Very little time is spent on the ancient Olympics and the early modern Games.  Only one Winter Olympics is mentioned at all.  Though it will do as a very short overview, it is not very satisfying.  For my home crowd – Salt Lake City is not mentioned, except for the “scandal”.  This is not an official Olympics publication.  

EL – OPTIONAL. Cindy, Library Teacher.

The Baseball Box Prophecy by Bruce Newbold - NOT RECOMMENDED

Newbold, Bruce.  The Baseball Box Prophecy, 550 pages.  Hearthsong Entertainment, LLC, 2009.  $14.95 (paperback).  Language: G; Sexual Content: G; Violence: PG.  Cletis is a twelve year-old boy in 1991, which is when the book is set.  In order to join a baseball team, Cletis must be initiated, and that means bothering in the middle of the night an ugly old woman that they all call a witch.  She's not what they say she is, a horrible lady who wants to kill them all.  But she does open Cletis's world and tells him of a prophecy that apparently he is at the center of.  This book was written for me...and yet I hated it.  Every night when I closed the book I sighed and wondered if I would have the tenacity to continue.  Yet I say the book is written for me because I was that boy in the book (minus the prophecy and the really ugly woman).  I rode my bike around, playing baseball all summer.  I had my Beckett Price Guide and would always check to see what my baseball cards were worth.  Sometimes, as I read the book, I smiled because of the nostalgia that came over me.  But usually I was bored out of mind.  I think that this book could have been good if about 500 pages were cut out.  Really, it should have been a short story written for 30 something men who wouldn't mind spending an hour reliving those summers from the past.  But I can't imagine a student today caring enough about Cletis or the prophecy or the references to adolescence in the nineties.  This was a horrible book that did not get better.  Just go watch The Sandlot.  NOT RECOMMENDED.  Brent Smith, Reading Teacher

Pirates by Philip Steele - ESSENTIAL

Steele, Philip.  Pirates.  Kingfisher (Macmillan), 2012. $3.99.  NONFICTION.   

This is a Level 4 Early Reader book, for readers grades 1-3 who can read on their own.  It is full of information about pirates, explaining who became pirates, what they sailed, and what happened if they were caught.  With much, much more information also.  It is a great lower-level nonfiction book to get younger readers used to reading informational texts.  The book has a table of contents, side bars, and bolded words and a glossary.  I found the information to be interesting, with enough details to show some of the horrors that pirates did, but without too much detail to keep it appropriate for a younger audience (but if you have a really advanced kindergartener, the content might be a little much for him/her).  I think this is a great early reader book.  

EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL.  Brent Smith, Reading Teacher

How to Babysit a Grandpa by Jean Reagan - ESSENTIAL

Reagan, Jean How to Babysit a Grandpa, illustrated by Lee Wildish.  Knopf (Random), 2012.  $17.  PICTURE BOOK. 

Whenever Mom and Dad leave for the afternoon, they always bring Grandpa over so that you (the child) can babysit him while they are out.  This handy dandy primer will tell you (the child) everything you need to know in order to keep Grandpa entertained, fed and out of trouble!  

Reagan’s reversal of the usual babysitting scenario is perfectly complimented by Wildish’s bright, energetic illustrations.  Perfect for story time!  

Pre-K, EL (K-3) – ESSENTIAL. Cindy, Library Teacher.

Once by Cameron Dokey - ESSENTIAL

Dokey, Cameron Once (Before Midnight, Golden AND Wild Orchid) from the Once Upon a Time series.  Simon and Schuster, 2012 (omnibus edition).  $10. 

Three of Dokey's classic fairy "re-taleings" have been packaged together in an omnibus edition.  I don't know how well it will hold up in library conditions, but the books themselves are well worth having!

Here are a couple of previous reviews on these titles:

http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2009/03/wild-orchid-by-cameron-dokey.html

http://kissthebook.org/past-reviews-d/

MS - ESSENTIAL

Cindy, Library Teacher

Nothing by Janne Teller - OPTIONAL

Teller, Janne Nothing, 227 pgs. Atheneum Books, 2010. Language - PG (1 swear, 0 "f"), Sexual Content - PG-13; Violence - PG; 

Check out our original review - this title is now available in paperback.

http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2011/02/nothing-by-janne-teller.html

MS, HS - OPTIONAL. Reviewer: CCH.

Deadly by Julie Chibarro - OPTIONAL

Chibbaro, Julie Deadly Atheneum (Simon), 2011, 2012.  $9 (first time in paperback). 

Here is a link to our original review - the book is now out in paperback!

http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2011/02/deadly-by-julie-chibbaro.html

Its only optional because historical fiction is a hard sell - the quality is excellent!

MS, HS – OPTIONAL. Cindy, Library Teacher

What Presidents are Made Of by Hanoch Piven - ADVISABLE

Piven, Hanoch What Presidents are Made Of.  Atheneum (Simon), 2012, 2004. PICTURE BOOK. $7.  

Originally published in 2004 – Now updated to contain all of our past and current presidents.  Piven has taken all of our presidents and created multimedia collages of their faces and included just a few facts about them or their presidency.  A child will find the portraits funny – an adult will find then extremely interesting.  I have  spent a lot of my time trying to figure how much each piece of the portrait is a statement about the person!  Share this with your history, government and art teachers!  

EL, MS – ADVISABLE. Cindy, Library Teacher.

Shift by Jennifer Bradbury - ADVISABLE

Bradbury, Jennifer Shift, 245 p. Simon & Schuster, 2008, 2012.  $8 (now in paperback). 

Shift is now available in paperback!  Here is a link to our original review - 

http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2009/03/shift-by-jennifer-bradbury.html

HS – ADVISABLE. Jennifer Rodriguez - YA Librarian