The Winter Horses

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - Gray New Gloucester Middle School, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: July 8, 2014

Review

This has the feel of White Fang and Incredible Journey. Kalinka is the lone survivor of her Jewish family in a Nazis invaded Ukranian steppe. She walks for hundreds of miles until she comes to the Russian nature reserve at Askaniya-Nova (a real place still open to the public today). She lives with a family of Przewalski horses (oldest horses on earth found in cave paintings). The Nazis are intent on killing off these non-German horses, and Kalinka escapes with what may be the last mating pair on earth.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Kerr, Philip

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: historical fiction

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780385755436

Price: 16.99

In the River Darkness

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - Gray New Gloucester Middle School, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 8, 2014

Review

This is a German book that was translated into English this year (2014). It won the Hans-im-Gluck prize from Linburg, Germany. Translator Tammi Reichel lived in Germany for 10 years and now lives in Richmond, Virginia. The introduction starts with a powerful, "Will this be the day that I die?", thoughts and experiences of someone who has just crashed through the river's ice while skating. This book is told from the perspective of three protagonists, Mia, the new girl next door, Jay, the younger brother, and Alex, the older brother. Best suspense story I have read in a long time. The reader is not sure if Jay has multiple personalities, or if this is a ghost story, or if Mia is being stalked by her rapist ex-boyfriend. Dead fish, dead animals, foot prints, and warnings are being left behind at both homes. Mia plays the cello and is deeply moved by music, falls for Alex, and is trying to keep her distance. Alex is protective of his brother because their mom took off when Alex was seven. Jay likes to make tape recordings of the four seasons natural music he hears in nature.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Roder, Marlene

Publisher: Scarlet Voyage/Enslow Publishers, Inc.

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781623240103

Price: 17.95

Justin Case Rules, Tools, and Maybe a Bully

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - Gray New Gloucester Middle School, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 8, 2014

Review

This is written like a journal from Justin's point of view. It had me laughing out loud many times as I read the entries. "We have a lot of rules. Like SHARE. But now it turns out that DON'T TAKE DAD'S STUFF is an even bigger one." He is not allowed to say HATE so he calls things he doesn't like a big NO THANK YOU. This is a great story about how sometimes your best friend turns out to be a bully because he doesn't want to share you with others. He accidently hits and sends rubber bands into Justin's eye. I think this would be a great read aloud to help kids not be bullies to their best friends, but learn how to work things out. Recommend for cream.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Vail, Rachel

Illustrator: Cordell, Matthew

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 978125003978

Price: 16.99

Don't you Forget About Me

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 11, 2015

Review

Skylar takes lots of drugs to help her forget. Sometimes it works so well she forgets to breath. She is living in a "perfect" world where no one gets sick. But there's is a cost... every four years kids go crazy and kills other teens. Her sister is missing from the last four year cycle, she may be in Gardnerville's reformatory. Piper lead all the teens to a train trestle and had them jump to their deaths. Skylar is trying to forget Piper, or find her thought the book.

The books flops back and forth between the present drug induced state and the past. The drug scenes are well written, the chapters make no sense.

Overall Book Score: poor

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About the Book

Author:

Quinn, Kate Karyus

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Harper/Teen Harper Collins

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: science fiction

Audience: grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780062135964

Price: 17.99

The Turtles of Oman

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 11, 2015

Review

Illustrations are pencil. Young Aref from Oman parents are moving to Michigan, USA. for one year to continue their educations. His dad is going over first to secure an apartment for the family. Aref has to leave behind his cat, bedroom, and home to his aunt, uncle and cousins. He doesn't want to go. But his very loving grandfather takes him on mini adventures to build memories until he returns in a year. They camp on the roof, in a desert with camels, the go to the sea where the sea turtles hatch, and they write lists, and eat good food. Grandfather makes the leave easier. What if Mish-Mish his cat likes his cousins better? What if they don't appreciate his room? What if the new kids won't like him? What if????

Great story for kids leaving, or moving into the district.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Nye, Naomi Shihab

Illustrator: Peterschmidt, Betsy

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Greenwillow books /Harper Collins

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780062019721

Price: 16.99

Just Right for Christmas

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 11, 2015

Review

2014 boardbook printing Illustrations are quilt like water colors. Cute story about the life of some red Christmassy fabric. It starts being used by a king, and the scraps are handed down through the village, and onto the animals in the forest. At the end of the story, there is a skating party with everyone in their new red clothes..."just how Christmas should feel".

Good for teaching organization in writing.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Black, Birdie

Illustrator: Shaw, Rosalind

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Nosy Crow / Candlewick Press

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: folklore

Audience: all ages

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780763675639

Price: 6.99

The Iridescence of Birds: A Book about Henri Matisse

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 11, 2015

Review

Illustration are relief prints. I liked the way the story starts," If you were a boy named Henri Matisse." The biography shows Henri experimenting with color. The back page includes an author's note with a quote from Matisse" My mother loved everything I did."

Not part of a series, but could be the start.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

MacLachlan, Patricia

Illustrator: Hooper, Hadley

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Neal Porter Book/ Roaring Brook Press

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: all ages

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781596439481

Price: 17.99

Can You See Me?

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 11, 2015

Review

The water colors are beautiful. The animals that are hidden within the jungle are all animals that Ted saw while visiting Costa Rica. Some are really hard to spot. Great for beginner readers and for science biomes. The last page of the book has circle pictures of the animals and there names, so you can go back and find what you might have missed.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Lewin, Ted

Illustrator: Lewin, Ted

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: I Like to Read/ Holiday House

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre: adventure

Audience: all ages

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780823429400

Price: 14.95

Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 11, 2015

Review

Illustrations are linoleum print cuts, wood engravings , broadsheets, water colors, done in collaboration with his wife, Marian Lansky, and Jangle Miller. They are incredible.

The poems located on the left hand side with animal/plant facts listed on the right hand side. The table of contents gives the titles of 12 poems. The vocabulary is sensory: snakes, "flick your tongue and taste the flakes of autumn gold", skunk cabbage, " up through the slick of soggy snow", and The whole world is melting, "snow is slumping and dripping and staining the bark black!" The facts from the right hand side are interesting and sophisticated. Honey bees cluster, the ones on the outside "beg" for food which is passed from bee to bee. The outer bees "shiver" flex their flight muscles which help to warm the rest of the hive. Snakes hibernate or "brumate" as it is called for reptiles and most return to the same "hibernaculum" year after year. The author has won the Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Sidman, Joyce

Illustrator: Allen, Rick

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9,all ages

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780547906508

Price: 17.99

Wild Water Magic

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 11, 2015

Review

Illustrations look like black and white charcoal. The Willow children get caught up with some magic well water when Tate falls in. The water brings each of their natural gifts to come to them stronger and quicker.

I think the series is good for reluctant readers.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Jonell, Lynne

Illustrator: Dorman, Brandon

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: A Stepping Stone Book/Random House

Book Type: Choose Book Type

Genre: adventure,fantasy

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: Choose Binding Type

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780375870859

Price: 12.99

Amelia Bedelia Shapes Up #5

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 11, 2015

Review

Illustrations are black and white gouache and pencil. Amelia brings her style to chapter books. In this one she is trying out different sports. Playing golf with her dad she asks if it's "tea time" yet, Dad says the "tees" are in a bag over there. I like using Amelia to teach inferences and how to cite evidence.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Parish, Herman

Illustrator: Avril, Lynne

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books/ Harper Collins

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: adventure

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780062333971

Price: 15.99

Cool Beans: The Further Adventures of Beanboy Saving the World one Dodgeball at a Time

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 11, 2015

Review

Illustrations are digital. Beanboy is Tuck's superhero comic book name for himself. He has won a drawing contest, but he lives in a world where sports are what's "really important". He makes a series of posters sporting BeanBoy adventures for school. Only to have found out that the bulletin board used by the Art Club has been given away to a sports club by the principal. Now he is asking for a pep rally for the Art Club, so they can get more members. This is how the dodge ball tournament get started. Each chapter has Beanboy working on his conflict of the chapter. It's a good way to teach conflicts because it has the visuals to go with the text.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Harkrader, Lisa

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Houghton

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: adventure,graphic novel

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780544039049

Price: 16.99

A Very Marley Christmas

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 4, 2015

Review

Text and art copyright 2008. First paper-over-board edition, 2014.

Art is water color muted colors with a Dick and Jane feel.

Marley is his typical rambunctious self. He "jumps in to help in every way he could." He knocks over decorations. He helps Baby Louie paint pictures. He knocks over the tree and tears into his stocking. Lots of joyful puppy fun. The book is listed at the 4-8 year old range.

It's not part of a series, but it is part of the Bad Dog, Marley fame.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Grogan, John

Illustrator: Cowdrey, Richard

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades k-3

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780062113672

Price: -9.99

Everything I Need to Know About Love I Learned From a Little Golden Book

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 4, 2015

Review

This is a "grown-up" version of Little Golden Books. Some of the art work is from 1945. All of the pictures are from original Little Golden Books. Each page or set of pages tells you which Golden Book, who the author was, who the illustrator was, and the year it was published. The story is formatted the same way as the old stories. Some of the sentences are all on one page, and others are spaced over several pages. Examples: Love can be complicated (Beauty and the Beast 1959) or as easy as a summer breeze. (A Day on the Farm 1960). Dating can be so glamorous....(The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown 1949).

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Muldrow, Diane

Illustrator: Wilkin, Eloise

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Random House Children's Books

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: romance

Audience: all ages

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 978055350875

Price: 9.99

People You Gotta Meet Before You Grow Up

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 6, 2015

Review

Photos and pencil illustrations are used.

There are 36 chapters, plus an introduction and an index. This might be called a career book. It's set up so kids can meet different people from different jobs. Examples are chef, crafters, immigrant, CEO, engineer, cartoonist, a farmer, etc. The book gives tips on how to interview people. Each section has questions that they ask to person interviewed, or there is a web address you can go to for more detailed answers. Sometimes there is a glossary of terms example "environmental glossary" to help meet the environmentalist. There are fun facts listed also. I really liked the set up of this book.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Rhatigan, Joe

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: An Imagine Book/ Charlesbridge Pub

Book Type: chapter book nonfiction

Genre: biography / autobiography

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781623540043

Price: 14.95

Smasher: The World is Ending. Can One Boy Stop it?

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 6, 2015

Review

Charlie is a boy who can feel the "hum" and control it. He gets taken from his time frame into the future by a robotically enhanced girl. She can smash atoms to travel through time. There is a diabolical villain who plans on controlling the world by combining DNA with technology to create a new future. There are some plot twists along the way... It's a fun book of adventure, time travel, and the hum (life forces).

Good book for reluctant readers.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Bly, Scott

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Blue Sky Press/ Scholastic

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,science fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780545141185

Price: 16.99

Calling the Shots

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 6, 2015

Review

I think the lexile score would be for middle school, but content makes higher grade levels... "rated M for maturity, sexual content, and themes." Cherry/Charity lives with her grandmother. A "dream guy" from part of the series comes while she is sleeping to tell her about her gift. She can control people's thoughts. This way she can get what she wants, but she is just learning how. She wants her sister to come home from the war, so she can live with her. She wants her best friend to pay more attention to her. She want to stay at her friend Farah's a Muslim girl. Her parents are very strict, but they feed her, something her grandmother forgets. There is some racial conflicts. Cherry is biracial, her grandmother white, her best friend black. The other books in this series are: All You Are, Certain Signals, and No Regrets. I made up the price so I could submit, it was not on the book.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Karre, Elizabeth

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Darby Creek/ Lerner Publishing Group

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,science fiction,romance

Audience: grades 10-12

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781467735148

Price: 27.93

Red Zone Out of the Tunnel

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 11, 2015

Review

I think the lexile score is more middle school, but content is mature. Brian is the son of a Trojan Football hero. He becomes one of the top six players. This means the coaches and Brian's dad think partying, drinking, and girls are just part of the privilege of being a top high school football player. The "tunnel of Love" is a chance to do some pole dancing and some photos were taken and shared. Brian can't live with his conscience and is willing to quit the team. But not before he thinks about black mailing the coach because anything the "boys" did was fine.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Jones, Patrick

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Darby Creek / Lerner Publishing Group

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781467721264

Price: 25.69

Mummies in the Morning

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 11, 2015

Review

Text book copyright 1993,2014. Illustration copyright 1993, 2014. Magic Tree house series has 28 books. There is a letter to her readers from the author. Table of contents has ten chapters. Illustrations are pen ink , and water colors.Annie and Jack are the main character. The magic tree house takes kids on adventures. This time it takes the kids back to ancient Egypt. With the help of a black cat, they learn about scrolls, mummies, and grave robbers. At the back of the book in a nonfictional section called Turn the page for mummy and pyramid facts from the Magic Tree House Tracker: Mummies and Pyramids. These facts are illustrated short one page facts on the Nile, Gods, building pyramids.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Pope Osborne, Mary

Illustrator: Murdocca, Sal

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: A Stepping Stone Book Random House

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780385387583

Price: 14.99

Starring Jules (Super-Secret Spy Girl)

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 11, 2015

Review

Jules is part of the Starring Jules series that grows in reading levels as she grows up. In this one, she has finished second grade and now she is going to Montreal to be in a movie , The Spy in the Attic. The table of contents is set up like a movie set: Take one: last lists, old-timey songs, and the last- day- of- school blues. Take Two: French-speaking Canada, boys names for girls, and other thing that are fishy. This continues through to take ten. Cute story of Jules summer with her dad as her penal. The story has good voice. I shared this quote from the book jacket with one of my more verbose six grade boys: "Practice being stealthy, which means sneaky (which means not telling everyone every single thing that's on my mine)." He thought is was hilarious.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Ain, Beth

Illustrator: Keenan Higgins, Anne

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Scholastic Print

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780545443562

Price: 14.99

Red: A Crayon's Story

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 22, 2015

Review

This is a story about a blue crayon living in a red crayon's wrapper. He has a struggle to fit in with all the other crayons. "He was red, but he wasn't very good at it"... His teacher, mother, grandparents, and friends all had some advise to give him. Then he found his place in the world when he gave up being red and started to draw blue things.

The illustrations are crayon drawings.

The book is great for older students to learn symbolism.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Hall, Michael

Illustrator: Hall, Michael

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Green willow Books Harper Collins Pub

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre:

Audience: all ages

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780062252074

Price: 17.99

The Year of the Three Sisters

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 22, 2015

Review

Illustrations are pencil drawing. The story is part of a series, but you can jump in and read this without feeling lost. Anna Wang (12) has come back from China, and she has made a great friend in Fan. Fan is an older girl who dropped out of school to work at the hotel Anna stayed at to help support her family. Anna and Fan now write to each other. Andee is an only child, her parents are rich, and she and Anna decide they should bring Fan to Cincinnati as a foreign exchange student. Andee's parents pay for everything, and Fan gets to go to high school. The story is great for teaching about different cultures, Fan is a migrant within her own country. It also teaches how important communication is.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Cheng, Andrea

Illustrator: Barton, Patrice

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Pub

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: adventure,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780544344273

Price: 16.99

Smashie McPerter and the Mystery of Room 11

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 22, 2015

Review

Illustrations are pencil. Smashie and her best friend Dontel are in third grade. On the day they have a sub, someone glue's things to people without their knowing about it, the classroom pet, Patches, is stolen, and a pin is taken from the classroom next door. Smashie and her friend become detectives to determine who done it.

The vocabulary in the book is wonderful. (I had to look up balaclava helmet!) More examples are; " Ensconced in the cushions in the reading area"... and " Room 11 is a team... one member has violated that trust..."

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Griffin, N.

Illustrator: Hindley, Kate

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: mystery,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780763661458

Price: 15.99

Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins?

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: July 5, 2015

Review

This book was first published in 2014 in Great Britain by Orion Children's Books. It was published for the first time in the US by Candlewick in 2015. This is not part of a series, but it could be the start of one. Ms. Kessler is the author of the Emily Windsnap books.

Jessica believes that she is just a normal girl until one day in geography class as her mind starts to drift, she discovers that she is turning invisible. Her best friend, Izzy, watches it happen. The story has good voice right from the beginning,"It was during a Friday afternoon double geography class that I first discovered I had superhuman powers." She and Izzy become detectives to find out why. It seems it has something to do with her birth and the other two kids who were born on the same day. One is a friend, Tom, and one is the most popular girl in class, Heather. There is a "mad" scientist, a crazy "aunt", an evil scientist, and another boy who seems not connected at all. Each person gets a different supper power. The kids find out how everything works, and escapes the evil one, but no grownups know about the superpowers...

Reminds me of Harry Potter.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Kessler, Liz

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: fantasy,science fiction,mystery

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780763670603

Price: 15.99

Fun and Festive Summer Crafts

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: July 11, 2015

Review

This is a craft book with photos to help with directions. The book starts with a table of contents, next a it has a legend page that describes a Hawaiian tale of how summer came to be. Then their is a science description of how the Earth's rotation around the sun creates the seasons. There are eight projects watermelon magnet, hand fan, bug mask, bug cage, stamped pennant , fish rod puppet, tie-dyed T-shirt, and a permanent sand castle. The sand castle is made out of cardboard boxes, white glue, and sand! There is also an index, and an internet address page.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

McGee, Randel

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Enslow Elementary/ Enslow Publishers

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: library binding

Binding Quality: excellent

ISBN: 9780766043190

Price: -18.95

Miss Hazeltine's Home for Shy and Fearful Cats

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: July 11, 2015

Review

The illustrations are water color and ink details. As you can imagine from the title there are kittens hiding everywhere within the pictures.

The story is about Crumb the most frightened kitten of all. He only hides under the bed, but Miss Hazeltine praises him for his being brave of the dark. People bring her cats from all over, and cats find their way there on their own. Some are afraid of birds, mice, pouncing, and scary noises. Miss H. gives them lessons in how to overcome their fears. One night she goes out to get more milk and she gets hurt and doesn't come home. But Crumb knows where she has gone and leads the cats to save her.

Story has good vocabulary, uses alliteration, and does a nice job of teaching how to overcome shyness and fears.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Potter, Alicia

Illustrator: Sif, Birgitta

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Alfred A Knopf Random House

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: adventure

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780385753340

Price: 16.99

Tiny Wish

Reviewed by: jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: July 21, 2015

Review

Husband and wife team collaborate using their daughter as the protagonist in the Wish series.

The photos are stunning, pictures of Anja in the mountains. Per has worked for National Geographic, The New York Times magazine, and Audubon. He grew up in a small town mountain home in Al, Norway.

Mom is the author of the Anja family fairy tales.

This story is about playing hide and seek with her cousins. Her favorite goat keeps giving her hiding place away because he won't hide he just follows her. Anja wishes she was small and she becomes so tiny that she can ride on birds. She can ride on the fetlock of the cousin's horse. Anja takes a pinecone jump through the air over a log with a snail. Animals help her throughout the story. At the end of the story there is a small twist...

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Evert, Lori

Illustrator: Breiehagen, Per

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Random House Children's Books

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: adventure,fantasy

Audience: all ages

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780385379229

Price: 17.99

Bedtime Math: The Truth Comes Out

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: July 21, 2015

Review

Illustrations are acrylic and simple. This is book three in the Bedtime Math series. Laura has a MBA in astrophysics from Princeton and a MBA from Wharton School of Business. Are you wondering how a children's math book can be for four different age levels? The set up of the book has a short one page fact story. EX; Ice Cream for all- even astronauts, marshmallows for the soul, stick in the mud(sicle), the tall keep getting taller... 40 in all. The next page has questions for WEE ONES...preschool, LITTLE KIDS...grades K-3, BIG KIDS....grades 4-6, and BONUS... grades 7-9. EX: WEE ONE: "If you have 6 cans of Kutal and use 1 as Play-Doh, how many cans are left?", LITTLE KIDS: "If you take your cans of Kutal (wall paper cleaner later became Play-Doh) and dye one orange, then one lime green, then one electric blue, then one hot pink, then one orange to start over, what colors do you dye the next 3 cans?", BIG KIDS: "If a can of blue Play-Doh can make either 4 blue giraffes or 16 blue frogs, how many animals can you make if you use 1/2 the can for giraffes and for frogs?", BONUS: "If you make a giant giraffe as tall as a house, and you need 128 cans of blue Play-Doh for the body plus 1/8 as many orange cans for the spots, how many cans do you need?" Answers are located upside down at the bottom of the page and there is a chart at the end of the book.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Overdeck, Laura

Illustrator: Paillot, Jim

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends/ Macmillan

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: preschool,grades k-3,grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9781250047755

Price: 15.99

The Trap

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: August 6, 2015

Review

Henry and Helen are twins. Henry is best friends with Alan, but Alan's brother is the town bully. He likes beating people up including Henry. Carl is missing and Alan wants his friends to help find his brother. They go to Carl's camp in the woods and find a book that is called the Subtle Travel and the Subtle Self. Henry learns how to leave his body behind while his subtle self travels around at night. His sister's best friend Nicki also gets involved in trying to find Carl. There is a government force that tries to control subtle travel. The kids get caught up with a bad guy and a ghost...

One of the things I found interesting was how the author used science fiction within the story to teach about racism, such as the Jews and Hitler, the Japanese "taking jobs from Americans", and the Russian spies. When Henry read about how aliens should be conquered, it was really to teach kids that disliking an entire group of "people" was the right thing to do.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Arntson, Steven

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,science fiction,mystery

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780547824086

Price: 16.99

I Am The Wolf...And Here I Come

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: August 6, 2015

Review

This was first published in 2014 in New Zealand. It's published in 2015 as a board book in 2015. The art work is very simple paintings with 3 to 5 colors per page. The wolf has to get dressed before he can come after you.On each page he puts on one more piece of clothing. He starts with his underpants...and finishes with his hat...then coat. It's a fun read and good for teaching organization in writing.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Guettier, Benedicte

Illustrator: Guettier, Benedicte

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Gecko Press USA

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: adventure

Audience: preschool,grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781877579424

Price: 9.58

An Ambush of Tigers: A Wild Gathering of Collective Nouns

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: August 8, 2015

Review

The illustrations are acrylic on canvas, and you can see the cloth lines behind the well done illustrations.

The short poems are written as a question. "Does a tower of giraffes way up high spy a raft of otters floating by? (Format for all is four lines.) The word choice uses wonderful figurative language. "When a murder of crows leaves barely a trace is a sleuth of bears hot on the case?" " Does a string of ponies that"s knitted and tied stop a drove of sheep to ask for a ride?'' The illustration for the last quote shows ponies tied together with string watching a double decker bus full of sheep, so the pages include puns, homophones, and alliteration. "Should a crash of rhinos stay off the street and a shiver of sharks turn up the heat?"

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Rosenthal, Betsy

Illustrator: , Jago

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Millbrook Press / ThLerner Pub. Group

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: fiction in verse / poetry

Audience: all ages

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781467714648

Price: 19.99

10 True Tales Surviving Sharks and other Dangerous Creatures

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: August 8, 2015

Review

This is part of a 10 true tales series. This paperback book has 10 short stories with a table of contents. Each story is about how a child from 10 to high school age survives different animal attacks from around the world and different placed within the US including a moose attack in Maine. Each story gives some information on why the animal usually attacks: cold snowy winter, not much food animal is hungry, land/ habitat is taken from them, protecting their young, and it may just be their nature to hunt. The animals include great white shark, elephants, bear, snake, wolf, alligator, bull, monkeys, moose, and cougar. The book also includes some safety tips on how to survive an attack, a few laws to protect people and wild animals (it's against the law to feed wolves in Alaska, and moose in Maine), and it also includes some definitions that may be unknown to the reader. I think this could be a good oral quick read/ story time/ waiting for a late bus...kind of activity.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Zullo, Allan

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Scholastic/ the Wordsellers inc

Book Type: chapter book nonfiction

Genre: adventure,horror

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: paperback

Binding Quality: poor

ISBN: 9780545818384

Price: 5.99

This Book's Maine Connection: Maine setting

Amelia Bedelia Cleans Up

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: August 9, 2015

Review

Illustrations are gouache and black pencil. Amelia wants to go on an adventure with her friends. They take to their bikes and find an empty lot that has a huge tree just perfect for a club house. It also has lots of stray cats, only the cats really aren't strays. The lot goes up for sale and many different people want it for different purposes. The girls want to buy the lot they helped to clean up and even if they all work for a whole year they still won't have enough money.

The end of the book has two pages called, "Two Ways to Sat It". This is a figurative language section with quotes and pictures used from the story and what the quote really means. Example: It's an eyesore" written over picture, and "It's really ugly" written underneath.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Parish, Herman

Illustrator: Avril, Lynne

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Green willow Books / Harper Collins

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: library binding

Binding Quality: excellent

ISBN: 9780062334015

Price: 15.99

Azalea Unschooled

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: August 9, 2015

Review

Illustrations are simple line drawings. Azalea moves to Portland, Maine when her dad buys a tour bus. The family has moved so many time Azalea can't remember all of them. She's 11 and her older sister Zenith is 13. The teenager's emotions and facial expressions are what help to make this story very strong in characterization. This move is different from the others because Azalea makes a best friend Gabby. Gabby is an unschooler which is different from a homeschooler. Homeschoolers have a parent who is overseeing their learning, unschoolers are free to explore the world as they wish. Azalea's mom want to stay because she has become life coach and has her own clients. Zenith really likes Portland and is afraid they will just move again, so she tries to expedite the process ... The people in the story are very believable... they fight, they make mistakes, the love, and they learn.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Kleinman, Liza

Illustrator: Gideon, Brook

Illustration Quality: fair

Publisher: Islandport Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781939017581

Price: 16.95

This Book's Maine Connection: Maine author,Maine setting

I Text Dead People

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 26, 2015

Review

The illustrations are pencil and cartoonish (Nightmare before Christmas) style. The story was well written with strong characterization. Annabel is the new kid in a small town from a poor one room apartment in a large city. Her new home is a run down mansion near a cemetery. She finds a cell phone in the cemetery while on her way to school. She starts getting text messages from dead people. Anna wants to be one of the popular kids so she doesn't want anyone to know where she lives. She makes friends with a couple of girls. Lucy inadvertently dies by bumping her head on a tomb stone while waiting for a boy that she hopes is "the One". She wants Anna to help her... and the trouble begins.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Cooper, Rose

Illustrator: Cooper, Rose

Illustration Quality: fair

Publisher: Delacorte Press/ Random House/Penguin

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: mystery,horror

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780385743914

Price: 12.99

After Dark

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 27, 2015

Review

Charlie Harker ex-rich kid living his new life. He is out of his private school on summer vacation. Instead of sipping ice cold lemonade by the pool, he expected to "work" in his divorced mom's family's old inn. Charlie talks to himself throughout the story by putting things on his "to-do" list. On his first night at the inn he meets a crazy neighbor Miles Van Helsing, who is on the governments watch list... Only this time the town really is being taken over by zombi like vampire creatures. The story is great spooky fun.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Leck, James

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: KCP Fiction/ Kids can Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: mystery,horror

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781771381109

Price: 16.95

The Best Friends Battle

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 2, 2015

Review

Illustrations are valued black and white cartoonish. The story is about how hard three person friendships can be. Georgie is NOT one of her friends. He makes fun of Sylvie by calling her Scruggs. He's on the opposing baseball team. And worst of all Miranda, Sylvie's very best friend is starting to like him... Then she invites him to her birthday party. Sylvie is not going to let this get in her way. She WILL get the best present ever, to prove that Miranda will know who her best friend really is.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Eyre, Lindsay

Illustrator: Santoso, Charles

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books/ Scholastic Inc

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780545620277

Price: 16.99

A Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 Lillian's Right to Vote

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 2, 2015

Review

Illustrations are water color over rag paper that you can see the texture of the back ground. As each person, or group on people are introduced within the story, the ghosts from the past are monochromatic. Lillian walks very slowly up a steep hill to go vote. "It's a long haul when you've been alive for a hundred years." As she walks up the hill she sees her great-great grandparents Elijah and Sarah on the auction block with their baby. Then her great- grandfather is there, but he can't vote until the end of the Civil War. In 1870 he can vote, but not his wife. Next she hears Uncle Levi, he couldn't vote because of the tests..."How many bubble are in a bar of soap?" In 1920 women get the right to vote. In 1965 the Voting Rights Act passes...

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Winter, Johan

Illustrator: Evans, Shane W.

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Swartz & Wade Books/ Random House Children's Books

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction,historical fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780385390286

Price: 17.99

Presidential Misadventures

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 3, 2015

Review

Illustrations are black and white pen and ink. This is a book of poems poking fun of the U.S. presidents from George Washington to Barack Obama. First there is a introduction of Edmund Clerihew Bentley , who he was, how the clerihews were invented with some examples, and directions to make your own. Next is a table of content. Followed by , each president has his own page, picture, poem. "Toothache-prone George Washington Complained that flossing was no fun. Lifelong dental misadventures led to presidential dentures.

Lastly, there is an appendix that explains the truth behind the joke. George never had floss or wooden teeth, but he did have dentures made of gold, ivory, lead, and both human and horse teeth.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Raczka, Bob

Illustrator: Burr, Dan E.

Illustration Quality: fair

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press/ Holtzbrinck Publishing

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: historical fiction,fiction in verse / poetry

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781596439801

Price: 17.99

No, No, Kitten!

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 4, 2015

Review

Illustrations are dip pen and ink, colored digitally. Cute story about what a kitten wants with great organization Kitten wants... 3 things that are told to you, then kittens wants something it can't have on the following page. The demand is repeated " A PUPPY" No, No, No, Kitten. The story continues until the end when the kitten with puppy and other materials blast into space with a spaceship that the kitten built with all the forbidden parts. This is great for teaching older students how to write with organization.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Moore Thomas, Shelly

Illustrator: Nichols, Lori

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Boyds Mills Press/ Highlights

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre:

Audience: preschool,grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781620916315

Price: 16.95

A First Look At American's Presidents Thomas Jefferson

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 6, 2015

Review

The illustrations are photos from many sources. The book starts with a table of contents. The history is set up for younger readers. Two page chapters with information on one side and a photo on the other. The last half of the book is a timeline, Facts and quotes, glossary, index, read more, learn more on line, and about the author. I liked some of the quotes, :I cannot live without books." and "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." It's a great book to help teach kids the parts of a book.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Gregory, Josh

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Bearport Publishing Co

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre: biography / autobiography

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: library binding

Binding Quality: excellent

ISBN: 9781627245531

Price: 23.93

A Hall Lot of Trouble at Cooperstown

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 16, 2015

Review

The illustrator Ingvard the Terrible, David Aretha, designed the cover. There are no illustrations in the book. Grade level would be third grade through sixth grade. This is the first book in the series. There are four books at this time. Joey, Kevin , and Omar are the baseball greeks. They find out that Kevin's dad stole something that he shouldn't have from the Cooperstown Hall of Fame. The boys want to put it back. They hide in the men's room to get to stay past closing. "Ohhhhhh....," Omar groaned in a deep voice. "I can't believe I ate all those Burritos." While he sitting on the lid of the seat, and the other two were standing on it. Good read for reluctant readers.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Aretha, David

Illustrator: Aretha, David

Publisher: Speeding Star/Enslow Publishers, Inc

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,mystery

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781622851188

Price: 13.46

The Nutcracker Comes to America

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Central Maine Library District

Review Date: December 14, 2015

Review

Illustrations look like water color and ink. The story tells how the traditional Nutcracker was started by three brothers from a small town in Utah. "Well, our story kicks off... in the early 1900s- and it's three brothers doing the kicking..." The story is written almost like a conversation in places. The brothers William, Lew, and Harold had to dance at the family's dance studio. William changed his name to sound Russian, fell in love with ballet, and Vaudeville. He choreographed many of the dances.

I used it coupled with Tchaikovsky with my sixth grade social studies class. We are working on the Common Core Standard of comparing North American and South American cultures. I started by playing a piece used in the Nutcracker. Many knew the tune, no one knew who it was by. Next, I asked them what the knew about the Nutcracker. Not very much including some of my students who are performing in it.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Barton, Chris

Illustrator: Gendron, Cathy

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Millbrook Press

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre: biography / autobiography

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: fair

ISBN: 9781467721516

Price: 19.99

While You Were Gone (Duplexity, Part II)

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 20, 2016

Review

This book is book two, but it easily stands on its own. This is the story of parallel worlds. In one world Eevee is the artistic governor's daughter. In the other world lives a boy whose parent were killed and he is beaten by his foster father. We meet Danny when his foster dad tried to run him over. In Eevee's world the government watches everyone, and there is a new plan to register everyone so they can be identified on line wherever they are. Danny's world is more like ours. The two Dannys switch places. Danny from "our" world likes having his parents still alive. He runs into Eevee and realizes that they have met before. The kids work together to over throw the technology. Sweet tale of young love.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Nichols, Amy

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Borzoi /book/ Alfred A. Knopf

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,science fiction,romance

Audience: grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780385753920

Price: 17.99

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 20, 2016

Review

Copyright is 1995 and this is its 20th anniversary edition. P.J. Lynch states he was very excited to have been asked to provide a new painting for the cover. He writes " the book is as fresh and its message of hope is as powerful today..."

The story is about a man whose wife and son have died. He became withdrawn from the world. A young widow and her son come to town. She wants to replace part of her manger. Jonathan is the village woodcarver. Thomas has a hard time sitting still because he is so full of life, and Jonathan can't resist the boy's enthusiasm. Or mom's cooking...

The cover includes a free Grammy-nominated audio recording by James Earl Jones.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Wojciechowski, Susan

Illustrator: Lynch, P.J.

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: all ages

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780763678227

Price: 17.99

How To Hike Like A Pro

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 20, 2016

Review

Table of contents: fundamentals, safety, supplies, in the wild, hiking adventures, further reading, and index.Each section comes with cool photos, information, a "did you know"section,and a "pro tips and tricks" section. The hiking adventure teaches about geocaching. The props and tricks for the in the wild section "Snakes bite if they feel threatened. If you see one don't touch it, even if it is dead. Snakes have reflexes that act automatically; they can strike and inject venom several hours after they die"!Their is also great photo of poison ivy.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

P. Watson Norris, Ashley

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Enslow Pub

Book Type: chapter book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: library binding

Binding Quality: excellent

ISBN: 9781622851386

Price: 11.21

The Reindeer Wish

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 20, 2016

Review

Husband and wife team collaborate using their daughter as the protagonist in the Wish series.

The photos are stunning, pictures of Anja in the mountains. Per has worked for National Geographic, The New York Times magazine, and Audubon. He grew up in a small town mountain home in Al, Norway.

Mom is the author of the Anja family fairy tales.

This story is about Anja wanting a puppy. She goes cross country skiing, takes a nap, and awakens to a talking cardinal who works for Santa. The cardinal asks her to go look in a hidden spot for an abandoned baby reindeer. Anja names him Odin, She takes excellent care of him, over the summer he grows, and in the fall he follows her to school just like Mary's land. Later she takes him back to Santa and he gives her a puppy. At the end of the story there is a small twist...

Overall Book Score: excellent

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Evert, Lori

Illustrator: Breiehagen, Per

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Random House Children's Books

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: adventure,fantasy

Audience: all ages

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780385379212

Price: -17.99

Boys Don't Knit (in public)

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 21, 2016

Review

Well written for the older reluctant reader. Ben is embarrassed by his parent's sense of humor. "the double entendre really (is) the only from of humor he recognizes" Molly his little sister eats a tadpole that started to grow legs to see what it felt like. Mom is a magician..."she never cooks or cleans or does any of the stuff mums are suppose to do; on the other hand she can make Pringles come out of my ears." Ben helps his friends steal some liquor from a corner store, and he is placed on probation. He needs to keep a journal and take a class to improve his social skills. His choices are taking an auto mechanics class from his dad, a pottery class , or a knitting class from his "hot" L. Arts teacher. Ben and his friends took a phone movie of a cute girl with a broken leg in a short skirt trying to pick something up off the ground, so they could keep looking under her skirt. Ben takes the knitting class, comes in second in a national knitting contest. The setting is referenced by Ben's yelling at the first place winner who was disqualified, "I'M KATNISSSSSS!" (Hunger Games).

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Easton, T.S.

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends Book/ Macmillan

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781250053312

Price: 16.99

The Naughty List

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 21, 2016

Review

The Naughty List is a hybrid between a chapter book and a graphic novel. The illustrator has been a cartoonist for over thirty year. The book would be good for readers ready to move away from graphic novels onto chapter books. Bobbie Mendoza is trying to get her brother off Santa's naughty list, and she has to go to the North Pole to do it. Very humorous. Illustrations are black and white cartoons.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Jackson, Bradley

Illustrator: Fry, Michael

Illustration Quality: fair

Publisher: Harper/ Harper Collins Pub

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 97802354754

Price: 12.99

Curious George Discovers Germs

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 22, 2016

Review

This is a Curious George story that teaches about germs, Throughout the book are photos with "Fun Facts"...."when you can't taste something because of a cold it's because you can't smell it." Also, some experiments with "Test it out". George is sick and he learns some reasons why. At the end of the book it a recipe for chicken soup, some healthy habits, and a glossary.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Hirsch, Peter

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: preschool,grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: paperback

Binding Quality: fair

ISBN: 8790544430662

Price: 6.99

Curious George Discovers the Rainbow

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 26, 2016

Review

This is a Curious George story that teaches about rainbows, Throughout the book are photos with "Did you know"...."a "prism" is an object that reflects and refracts light? Raindrops are prisms and so are diamonds and crystals. Light bounces off of their surfaces and separates to creat rainbows."." Also, there are some experiments with "Test it out" you can measure rainfall, tell how far away thunder is, and make a rainbow. There is a glossary and websites for games, activities, party kits, and more. This book is good for different grade levels due to the story material, facts, and experiments.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Maurer, Michael

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: preschool,grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: paperback

Binding Quality: fair

ISBN: 9780544430686

Price: 6.99

The Bubble Wrap Boy

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 26, 2016

Review

Charlie Han's a small boy. Something happened to his aunt, which makes his mom the helicopter parent of all time. Charlie is never allowed to get hurt, EVER. " I bet Genghis's mom was a lot more easygoing than mine." Most of the kids at school make fun of the tiny boy from Special Fried Nice, a Chinese takeout, and make him walk of shame. Dad hides behind his wok. This is when kids lineup on both sides of you to trip and kick you. His one friend is Sinus...yes he has a big nose. Now the sport that Charlie has fallen in love with...skateboarding. Charlie entries a skateboarding competition... Great story.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Earle, Phil

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Delacorte Press/ Random House Children's Books

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780553513158

Price: 16.99

The Tale of Rescue

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: April 26, 2016

Review

At first look, the 100 plus page novel seems to be a lower level chapter book. Beautiful full page water color illustrations followed by three pages of larger script. The vocabulary jumps it up to a much higher grade levels (upper middle school). Some of the vocab. words: placid, sequestered, pungency, expire, and "A bovine thunderstorm." The story is about a cattle dog that rescues a vacationing family in a blizzard. The tale is written from the perspective of the dog. This can be read aloud to younger students with definitions added, and it's a quick read for older students.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Rosen, Michael

Illustrator: Fellows, Stan

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: adventure,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 7-9

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780763671679

Price: 14.99

Super Social Studies Infographics US Culture Through Infographics

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 2, 2016

Review

This book is good for grades 4-6 for teaching about American culture. It has 12 chapters. The first, All-American, looks at Race and Ethnicity, Family, Pet Owners, Language, and where people live through the use of pie graphs. More information on Art, Sports, What we read, Patriotic dos and don'ts, also Landmarks. Vic Kulihin did the graphics.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Higgins, Nadia

Illustrator: Kulihin, Vic

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Lerner

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre: graphic novel

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: library binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9781467734646

Price: 26.65

Temperate Forest Experiments

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 6, 2016

Review

THis series is good for students in grades 4-5 with some help, and grades 6-9 independently. The table of contents breaks the book into these sections "Are you running Late" with some guide lines scientific method, science fairs, and safety; "30 minutes or less" with five experiments; " One hour or less" with three experiments; "Two hours or more" with seven experiments. Many of the experiments have more than one idea for a science fair project. The book also contains a glossary, futher reading for both books and websites.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Gardner, Robert

Illustrator: Labaff, Tom

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Inc

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: library binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780766059221

Price: 18.95

Grassland Experiments

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 6, 2016

Review

This series is good for students in grades 4-5 with some help, and grades 6-9 independently. The table of contents breaks the book into these sections "Are you running Late" with some guide lines scientific method, science fairs, and safety; "30 minutes or less" with seven experiments; " One hour or less" with four experiments; "One month or less" with four experiments. Many of the experiments have more than one idea for a science fair project. The book also contains a glossary, futher reading for both books and websites.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Gardner, Robert

Illustrator: Labaff, Tom

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Inc

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: library binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780766059276

Price: 18.95

Finding Monkey Moon

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 9, 2016

Review

This book is a good read aloud for younger students grades preschool through third. Monkey Moon, Micheal's beloved stuffed animal has disappeared at bedtime. Dad and Micheal go travel back over their day to find him. This book is great for older children learning about figurative language grades four through eighth. Onomatopoeia : "hippity-hop, hippity-hop", "an owl gave a soft hoot, hoot." Simile: "their breath fluttering like moths in the cold air" Alliteration: " silent swings... and sleeping ducks, ...sound of a small animal scurrying away." Illustrations are soft edges water color.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Pulford, Elizabeth

Illustrator: Wilkinson, Kate

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: adventure

Audience: preschool,grades k-3,grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780763667771

Price: 15.99

Another Day

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 10, 2016

Review

Great read for teens who are looking for the real thing. Best quote: " Girls who fall in love with lost boys, get lost themselves." Rhiannon has a "bad" boyfriend, Justin. He's better than no boyfriend, or so she thinks. Then one day he asks he to skip school and they can do whatever she wants. He is attentive, not angry. He's thoughtful, he's amazing, they talk about everything instead of just having a "physical" relationship. Too perfect to be true... Okay so Justine really wasn't himself that day. An alien takes over someone else's body just for a day. Its name is A, and it's in love with Rhiannon. She learns about real affection Vs. just physical stuff. She rethinks gender roles. Sometimes A is female, sometimes A is male, and sometimes A is not attractive, but it's always A. Good for older students due to some language, sex, drinking, drugs, and skipping school.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Levithan, David

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: alfred a knopf

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,science fiction,romance

Audience: grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: Choose Binding Type

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780385756204

Price: 17.99

An Unofficial Guide with New Facts and Commands Minecraft

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 7, 2016

Review

This book is not endorsed by Microscoft or Minecraft. It's the unofficial version of a young man who both plays and shares his ideas on Youtube under his alias Concrafter. He has created a book using snapshots and hints - 107 of them. Besides just Concrafter, six other youtubers will share their advice.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

na, Concrafter

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Fewer and Friends/ Macmillan

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: Choose Binding Type

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781250105660

Price: 12.99

The Most Important Thing: Stories about Sons, Fathers, Grandfathers

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 8, 2016

Review

Tighty-Whities or Boxers? There are seven short stories for boys, but girls can also identify with the stories. Tighty- whites or Boxers is one of the stories. A young boy designs an interview process for the man who wants to marry his mom. His new job will include being his dad so he's not taking chances. He insists on reference letters from adults and children. He has the man meet him for an interview, and yes the first line is one of the questions that needs to be answered. Dream Catcher is the story of a young man is sent to stay with a grandfather that he's never met. Avi's writing style nails the difficulty that young and old may have with this description, " He knew kids like cats know computers ." The stories work well as a read aloud.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Avi

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780763681111

Price: 16.99

Place Value

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 12, 2016

Review

A great book for introducing or reinforcing place value. A cute tale of a monkey's Banana Cafe and learning the basic rules of place value. The story uses place value charts including whole numbers and decimals. The mathematical vocabulary is on every page as monkeys make recipes for the Cafe. It explains the history of our number system is called Hindu-Arabic and it started in India. The pictures look like block prints.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Adler, David A.

Illustrator: Miller, Edward

Illustration Quality: fair

Publisher: Holiday House

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre:

Audience: grades k-3

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780823435500

Price: 17.95

Curse of the Haunted House

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 12, 2016

Review

Luke gets to spend a summer at mansion his dad inherited. Problems... well the place has a curse that traps people inside the place...for ever. Will he be able to save the family? This is a good read for aloud, or for a beginning reader. Chapters have colorful watercolors and are well written. I really like that there is a glossy at the back of the book with the words to look up in bold print within the story. There is also a "what do you think/" question page at the back. Which can help with comprehension skills. Amazon list's this as a paper back at 16.99, but this book is a hard cover.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Newberger, Devra

Illustrator: Resto, Anthony

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Bearport

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: mystery

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: library binding

Binding Quality: excellent

ISBN: 139781627248068

Price: 16.99

Writing with Rosie

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 12, 2016

Review

Ever wanted to know how to write a story? This book is for you, and anyone who teaches how to write fiction. Patricia takes you through all the steps, and shares some of the mistakes that she has made. If you recognize her name it's because she's a Newbury award winner "Lily'sCrossing". Set up of the book is: Each step starts with :" here's what I do" character, setting, conflict, action, dialogue, rising action... Next section an example, then "Can you see how I did it?" with examples from her books.Then it's "Your Turn" with instructions for you to give him a problem, make him worry, make him move. It's very easy to read the short sections one at time and get the kids writing. Base it on what you know so you don't make mistakes with the details. For character, give him a something unusual. A student had his character like sweet tea!

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Reilly Giff, Patricia

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Holiday House

Book Type: chapter book nonfiction

Genre: biography / autobiography

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780823436569

Price: 15.95

Lucky

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 12, 2016

Review

Do you like Erin Hunter? This story is similar to "warriors". Lucky is a red squirrel who get separated from his family. He is taken in by a motherly gray squirrel. She wants to be his new mom, but he feel the need to go home. The story takes place in a park in England. There are different tribes of animals that fight to dominate. Most grays and reds are enemies. The book has an end note about how red squirrels are native to England, and grays were brought here from North America. The grays are becoming an invasive species.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Hill, Chris

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Chicken House imprint of Scholastic

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780545839778

Price: 16.99

Ghosts and Goblins Scary Stories from Around the World

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 12, 2016

Review

The Grateful Dead, Little Olle and the Troll, the Goblin Pony, the Hidden Hand are a few tittles. There are 25 short stories and 21 counties represented from this book. The stories have some predicable twists and some different endings. The illustrations are black silhouettes. This is a series of short horror stories from around the world.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Pearson, Maggie

Illustrator: Greenwood, Francesca

Illustration Quality: fair

Publisher: Darby Creek Lerner Pub. Group

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: mystery,horror,folklore

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: other

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781512413182

Price: 7.99

The Last Monster

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 13, 2016

Review

Did you know that monsters are real? Socrates taught us about them. One of his disciples wrote a book about them. Sofia has cancer. She has lost a leg and is getting her new looks like her other leg today. Today she was also given the book that makes her caretaker of the monsters. Her job is to keep them alive. Why do we need monsters? When humans fought monsters they did not fight against each other. Now there is war because most of the monsters have disappeared. Sofia was just a normal high school girl until cancer, and the book. She learns about herself in this coming of age/ monster book.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Garrett, Ginger

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Delacorte Press Penguin Random House

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: mystery,horror

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780553535242

Price: 16.99

The Season of You and Me

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 6, 2017

Review

This a coming of age book and up to date as well as timeless. Cassidy is "running away" for the summer. She is going to stay with her Dad and new family on an island. Her old boyfriend broke her heart by cheating on her, and posting it on line so the whole world can see. Cassidy leaves behind her best friend and her life. She gets a job at a summer camp where her six year old half brother goes. Cassidy sees Bryan for the first time when she throws old boyfriends necklace into the ocean. He's working at the rec center as well, but now that he's not in his car she sees he's in a wheelchair. The two become very close... Bryan was hurt trying to do parkour. The story has some drugs, sex, and language. When things get bad Cassidy turns to her Dad for help. A great read for 9th grade and up.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Constantine, Robin

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Blazer + Bray /HarperCollins Pub

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: romance,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780062438836

Price: 17.99

Space Junk the Dangers of Polluting Earth's Orbit

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 7, 2017

Review

The books part of a larger series Dead Zone... It is available with a library binding for 79.23. Good for middle school upper grades. The book is a bit dark for younger or sensitive students. Table of content: Zombies in Space, Death and Destruction, Space Traffic Control, and Taking out the Trash. There is a timeline, source notes, glossary,more. Facts are written for upper grade levels. timeline starts with Sputnik 1 in 1957 and brings you to a 2015 US Air Force weather satellite exploding in space."The odds that you will be hit (by space junk) ....are 1 in several trillion. 2011" " But it could happen" Fact box: Who made this mess? China 40%, US 27.5%, Russia/Former Soviet Union 25.5%, 7% the rest of the world.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Romano Young, Karen

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Twenty-First Century Books/Lerner Publishing Group

Book Type: chapter book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781467756006

Price: 14.32

Moo

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 10, 2017

Review

Do you like concrete poems? This book is one 278 page long poem that tells a wonderful story about a 12 year old girl, her little brother, and her family moving to Maine. Her parents like to volunteer their children to help.... more often then they would like. This includes a very "mean" old lady whom they are not to be disrespectful to. The city kids are asked to take care of a scary pig, a mean cat, a parrot, a snake that eats the mice off her roof, and a very stubborn Belted Galloway cow. This turns into a "love" story of different generations, and learning about differences. I recommend this book for both younger kids because of it's easy reading, and older kids for analyzing poetry and relationships.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Screech, Sharon

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Joanna Cotler books/ Harper Collins

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: Choose Binding Type

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780062415240

Price: 16.99

This Book's Maine Connection: Maine author,Maine setting

Jingle

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 16, 2017

Review

The man with the plan continues.... (Swindle, Zoobreak, Framed, Showoff, Hideout, Jackpot, and Unleashed) Griffin and his friends get picked to play elves at the Colchester Mansion's Christmas Extravaganza. How did they get picked for this unfortunate event? Logan signed them up, so he could continue with his acting dreams. Who plays Santa? A biker dude named Fingers. When the lights go out, the famous Colchester Star of Prague is stolen. The kids get blamed and they have to clear their names. A fun read for kids who like mystery series.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Korman, Gordon

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,mystery

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780545861427

Price: 16.99

Heroes for my Son

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 16, 2017

Review

Great book for young and old. More than 60 black and white photos with a short biography and quotes from amazing people.Jim Henson, Clara Hale (Mother Hale of Harlem, she helped babies born with drug withdrawals and HIV?AIDS), Albert Einstein, and Amelia Earhart to name a few. "The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict." Dr. Martin Luther King JR. "We are going to be in the Hudson." Chesley Sullenberger. "I consider myself the luckies man on Earth." Lou Gehrig.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Meltzer, Brad

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Harper/ Harper Collins Press

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: all ages

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780062439314

Price: 17.99

Whatever

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 16, 2017

Review

It's touted as "a standout voice, a hilariously honest send-up of sex sexuality, and enough-bombs to make your mom blush." it leaves out the pages of drug and alcohol mind blitzes. Girl and boy sex, leads to Mike being homosexual. Too many pages of Mike "not remembering, and not really liking his friends. The girl he was having sex with told him they are not boyfriend and girl friend she wants to date others. Then its Halloween, Mike wears a cheerleaders costume. Now he likes having sex with boys. A good read for kids who like to do too many drugs, but may not remember reading.

Overall Book Score: poor

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About the Book

Author:

Goslee, S.J.

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: romance

Audience: grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781626723993

Price: 17.99

The Inn Between

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 25, 2017

Review

Do you like stories that you are really not sure where the story is going take you? This book was not predictable; the plot kept changing so you weren't sure what the outcome would be. A young girl and her best friend are on a family road trip. While traveling you have flash backs and learning that a younger sister was taken. The family stops at the Inn Between two western states. Only people start disappearing and it turns into a ghost story. I would say this book is better for 6th grade and up.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Cohen, Marina

Illustrator: Watts, Sarah

Illustration Quality: fair

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: science fiction,mystery

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781626722026

Price: 16.99

Whatever

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 5, 2017

Review

It's touted as "a standout voice, a hilariously honest send-up of sex, sexuality, and enough F-bombs to make your mom blush." It doesn't mention the pages of drug and alcohol mind blitzes. Girl and boy sex , leads to Mike being homosexual (because he's not sure what to do with her boobs). Too many pages of Mike "not remembering", and not really liking his friends. The girl he is having sex with told him they are not really boyfriend and girlfriend, and she wants to date others. Then it's Halloween and Mike wears a cheerleaders costume. He discovers he likes having sex with boys. There really didn't seem to be any character development. Mike just keeps waking up hours later trying to remember what had happened. Then he does more drugs. Mike seems to be confused by his drinking and drugging, clueless to friendships, hungry, and willing to have sex without discrimination.

Overall Book Score: poor

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About the Book

Author:

Goslee, S.J.

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: romance

Audience: grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 97816267239978

Price: 17.99

The Possibility of NOW

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 5, 2017

Review

"Driven" Miss Perfect, Mara, will be valedictorian. She has her lists... She is in a perfect private school on her way to a tier-one college. She has remained in her valedictorian path until her melt down. She's taking a calculus exam when she freaks. She tears up her test and the tests of everyone around her. Someone videos it and Maya now sees that her youtube meltdown has been seen by thousands. Maya leaves high pressure San Diego to go live with her ski bum Dad at Lake Tahoe. Maya learns about herself, her Dad, how to have fun, boys, friends, and how to let go of trying to control the future by learning to live in the now. This would be a great read for over pressured kids and their parents. "Now I have a choice. I can either let the world turn me sour and hatful and afraid. Or I can be the Mara I want to be and face it with as much grace and humor as possible."

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Culbertson, Kim

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Point imprint of Scholastic Inc.

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: romance,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780545731461

Price: 17.99

Change Places with me

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: April 20, 2005

Review

Ever wish you were somebody else? This story takes place in the future and you can have your old painful memories erased, then new ones implanted. "Rose" has done this. She doesn't remember doing it or why. She's a high school student who was withdrawn and now she is outgoing and friendly to all. It's not suppose to happen, but some of her old self is coming back. Her Daddies when she was little and she is being raised by her step mother. Rose resents her step mother for surviving. Her step mom has been trying to reach Rose even before her Dad married her. There is also friend trouble with popular girls Vs. nice girls drama. This is a great coming of age story.

I gave it ages/grades 4- 12 because 4-6 is lumped together; really it's a 6th through 12th grade level.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Metzger, Lois

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Blazer + Bray/ Harper Collins Pub

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: fantasy,science fiction,romance

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780062385536

Price: 17.99

The Lost Ones

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 5, 2017

Review

Other books in this series are Freedom's Price and Rory's Promise. The book is great for grades 6 - 12. The Lost Ones is based on two Lipan Apache children from Texas, who were captured during a military Indian raid. They were real children whom were adopted by a military man and his wife. Later they were sent to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. There are photos of the children from the school which was located in PA. As an aside the author explains how she found this story on Youtube, from the Lipan tribe. Four to five generations later, they never forgot their "lost ones" . This is that story, the fiction is what the children felt or said. The youtube video is mentioned in the afterward. Their graves are visited and their histories that are known is mentioned in the video.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

MacColl, Michaela

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Catkins Creek/ Highlights

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction,historical fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9781620916254

Price: 17.95

Six Dots A Story of Young Louis Braille

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 5, 2017

Review

Louis Braille was five years old when he lost his sight. Even in a blind school in Paris, there were no books for Louis. And then Dr. Pignier explained a French Army captain invented a code to send secret messages during the war. "The code was read by touch." Luise now had a way to read! The illustrations are awesome, when Louis is in his own world the pictures are black and white sketches .When he is in the real world they are water color and pen and inks. This is a great book for all ages.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Bryant, Jen

Illustrator: Kulikow, Boris

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Borzoi/ Alfred A. Knopf

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6,grades 7-9,grades 10-12,all ages

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780449813379

Price: 17.99

Merida Book 1 Chasing Magic

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 5, 2017

Review

If you liked the movie you'll enjoy the series. This seems to be the premise for the movie. Merida loves shooting arrows. She meets a new friend who is great at everything. This bothers Merida, but then she has to rescue her friend, Cat. This is a chapter book,but also makes a great read aloud. The pictures are black and white.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Barchan-Quallen, Sudipta

Illustrator: Gurihiru, Gurihiru

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Disney/Pixar Random House Children's/Penguin

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,fantasy

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780736432900

Price: 9.99

Merida The Fire Falls Book 2

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 5, 2017

Review

If you liked the movie, you'll like the book. This book follows the story line from the movie more closely. Book number two in a series. Merida dad's friend's son has lost his memories. Merida has to help him get them back. Illustrations are black and white. A great read aloud for younger children.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Barchan-Quallen, Sudipta

Illustrator: Gurihiru, Gurihiru

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Disney-PixarRandom House Children's/Penguin

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,fantasy

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780736432917

Price: 9.99

The Keeper of the Mist

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 5, 2017

Review

If you liked Harry Potter, you'll this read. There is one major twist...the protagonist is a girl. Keri is a baker in a small village, her mother has died and she is on her own. Then the king died. Who would be his replacement? Keri has three half brothers (all from different moms), who would be chosen? Well, it's Keri and she becomes the Keeper of the mist. The mist hides her country from the magical surrounding ones. The mist protected her people for hundreds of years. As soon as she has been told she will be the new ruler, the mist disappears and outsiders invade. Keri under goes a series of magical problems, of which she has not been trained. This is a great story for magical lovers grades 6 - 12. Price of book based on Amazon.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Neumeier, Rachel

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780553509281

Price: 11.38

The End of Our Story

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 16, 2017

Review

This book is a great coming of age book, a stepping stone between high school and adulthood. "Bridge"t has loved will since fourth grade, best buddies forever. Wil has loved her just as fiercely. Bridge experiments one night in their JR year by kissing another boy. Bridge doesn't just love Wil, she loved his family. Especially his Dad, she never knew her father so growing up in the family boat house learning how to work on boats next to Wil was her life. Until the night she kisses someone else, and Wil is crushed and just walks away from her. Now the real life horror story part Wil's dad is murdered in their home. Bridge learns that life isn't always what you think it is , or all it should be. How to you help the ones you love? The book is really for mature students, there is sex, drugs, drinking. The story is compelling.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Haston, Meg

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Harper Teen/ HarperCollins Pub

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: mystery,horror,romance

Audience: grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780062335777

Price: 17.99

The Goldfish Boy

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Choose Library District

Review Date: May 20, 2017

Review

This is Lisa Thompson's debut novel. I hovered between excellent and very good for overall book rating. Most of the book was in the very good category. Matthew lived at the end of a cul-de-sac in England. He has OCD and his main worries are germs and the bad number tenpulsethree. He is 12 and his phobias have gotten so bad this last year that he is no longer able to go to school. There is a 15 month boy who disappears from his grandfathers yard and Mat was the last one to see him from his window. Besides cleaning till his hand beed he likes watching the neighbors and writing down the times and their actives. Mat get some of the neighborhood kids to help trace down Teddy's possible kidnappers within the neighborhood. The reason for the excellence on the story was the ending made me cry when Mat tells his Dr.Rhodes then his parents why he is obsessed with germs. Grade level would be 6 and up for reading. Yes, Teddy gets found. Good book for mystery lovers and maudlin readers.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Thompson, Lisa

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Scholastic Press/Scholastic Inc.

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: mystery,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781338053920

Price: 16.99

Ivy

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 21, 2017

Review

This book has a great story for kids grades K-6. I think this would make an excellent movie. Ivy lives in a the town of Broomsweep with her grandmother the town healer. She heals plants, animals, magic creatures, and people. The problem is the townspeople are very tidy. They sweep their steps twice a day. Grandmother is so busy that the gardens are over run, and some days she might not even sweep her steps! There is a new queen is looking for the perfect village and she will be driving in three days! Some magical animals start showing up for help. Cedric a griffin with a missing leg. He has trouble landing and makes a huge mess out of the garden. A fire breathing dragon, who keeps sneezing fire bombs, and pixies who pinch people who are not polite. The stuffy nosed dragon speaks with a blocked nose dialect. "Dote worry," ...."If I had to sneeze, I'll sneeze in the other direction." It could easily be used as a read aloud in a class room.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Coville, Katherine

Illustrator: Kaspar, Celia

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Alfred A Knopf

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: fantasy

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780553539730

Price: 16.99

Karl, Get out of the Garden! Carols Linnaeus and the Naming of Everything

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 26, 2017

Review

This book is excellent on many levels. The art is beautiful water color and pen and ink. There is also a portrait of Carolus on page 42 taken from Meyers Lexicon encyclopedia 1905-1909. There are many interesting facts throughout the book. He " hated spending long hours indoors studying Greek and Latin.... (teachers said he) ...wasn't smart enough to be a minister... he often named plants after people he liked....golden flower Rudbeckia hirta, after a favorite teacher, Olof Runback.... Karl's father case the surname Linne after an ancient linden tree that stood on the family land." This would be a great start for middle school's scientific classification study.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Sanchez, Anita

Illustrator: Stock, Catherine

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Charlesbridge

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: all ages

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781580896061

Price: 17.99

Sea Otter Heroes The Predators that Saved an Ecosystem

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 26, 2017

Review

Great resource for studying environmental interactions, symbiosis, and the scientific method used in real life. This is a chapter book: A journey begins, the mystery unfolds, the "aha" moment, proof, unexpected heroes, source notes, selected bibliography, more you "otter" read and watch, and an index. Brent Hughs starts us the journey into Elkhart Slough ( pronounced slew), CA. A boy from Kansas who feel in love with the sea. The mystery how the area shrunk in size from the 1872 South Pacific Railroad, in 1946 the US Army Corps of Engineers dredged the area, and it's very healthy freshwater to seawater 7 mile present day self. Brent's seagrass research in the slough has a follow along section on page 16 using the scientific method. There is also a photo of one of the world's largest sea slugs. A graph on page 21, that shows El Nino is not responsible for the grasses growth or non-growing periods. There is a graph on page 24 that shows the correlation of number of sea otters to the hectare of sea grass. Next are some laboratory experiments, and then the last chapter on unexpected heroes with a page on wolves in Yellowstone. (Could a series be starting?)

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Newman, Patricia

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Hillbrook Press/Lerner Publishing

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: library binding

Binding Quality: excellent

ISBN: 9781512426311

Price: 31.97

10 Things I Can See From Here

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 26, 2017

Review

If you buy one book this year you want this book for your gay lesbian section. Maeve suffers from anxiety, her motto FREAK OUT, Calm down, REPEAT. The humor, drama, real life situations are spot on. Maeve tends to run evil statistics of all the things that could go wrong at any given moment. I learned things that I didn't know. I knew about rainbows, but I didn't know about the phrase, "Are you a friend of Drothy's", and that it has been around since the 50's. I knew about the posters with the crown and the "KEEP CALM" logo, but not hat the British government made them during WWII. The humor: One chapter is called Raymond's penis. It describes her first meeting with her mom's boyfriend whom she didn't know was spending the night. He got up early to make mom some coffee, and wasn't expecting to meet Maeve in the living room....He dove behind the kitchen island...and she couldn't lose the image of old man...Before then the only penises she had seen were her little six year old twin brothers and her Dad's. His was with the stepmom's home delivery in a water tub. Maeve's mom is going to Haiti with Raymond for six months and Maeve will have to go stay with her Dad and family in Canada. Dad's drinking and taking drugs again. He get's kicked out of the home. Step mom is due to deliver a new baby, and wants to have it at home. Maeve has a new girl friend who play the violin in parks. And yes, she gets to deliver the baby and it is kind of traffic. Maeve had a bad experience with her best friend. " The ten things you can see from here" is her girlfriend's ideas of ways to get her to focus when she is starting to have an attack. So the book has sex, babies, drugs, and alcohol, definitely for mature audiences.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Mac, Carrie

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf/Random House Children's Books

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: romance,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780399556258

Price: 9.86

The Book That Made Me A Collection of 32 Personal Stories

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 30, 2017

Review

This book was printed in 2016 in Australia, and in 2017 in the US. This would be a good book for teachers to carefully pick stories to read to their writing classes (due to authors sexual content). It would also be good for research papers. The 32 authors are from Australia and New Zealand. Some of them were influenced by American authors, utmost were not. The book has a chapter for each person, some photos, a section about the authors, and a list of all the books mentioned and the pages that they can be found.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Ridge, Judith

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: chapter book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 10-12,adult / professional

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780763695491

Price: 17.99

Birds vs Blades? Offshore Wind Power and the Race to Protect Seabirds

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 30, 2017

Review

The book is great for really showing the scientific method used correctly. The start with the question about wind power and the possible damage it may do to bird populations. Next, it targets which birds may be harmed. Then scientist chose three of the high risk populations. Capture some birds, and place monitors to learn more about their habits. But why did I say they did the method correctly. At the end of the book, they state, "Clearly, experts' concerns about seabirds and wind farms in crude a lot of ifs. No one yet knows how wind farms will affect gannets. Scientists will continue to ask more questions and do more more research." The scientists who worked on the project communicated their findings with other scientists, government officials, and the general public. The contents include six chapters with photos, author's note, sources, glossy, selected bibliography, further information, and an index.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

E. Hirsch, Rebecca

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Millbrook Press/ Lerner Pub Group

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9781467795203

Price: 27.96

The Summer of Bad ideas

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: August 2, 2017

Review

This is a fun book for tweens and younger teenagers. The story teaches how to get over differences that seem so big as a middle schooler. What to do if you tell a lie so people will like you. How to forgive and make up. Edith and Rae are cousins, one from the north and one from the CA. They are meeting for the first time in FL at the grandmother's house. Edith has many fears , 8 year old genius twin siblings, and wants to become braver. Rae is an only child; she's been in real TV commercials, and has met her Grandmother, Petunia. Petunia has passed away and both families have come to fix the home for resale. The almost 13 year olds find Petunia's Good Ideas For Summertime, 1962 list. They decide they will do all the things on the list to help them know Grandma better. Eddie (cooler name Rae starts calling her) thinks the list is just full of extremely scary things...catch a snake bare-handed, dance in the hurricane, master flirting... The Hurricane turns out to be abandoned dance hall. This one gets the girls brought home by the town police for breaking in.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Stewart, Kiera

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Harper/ Harper Collins Pub

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 19780062360212

Price: 16.99

Otherwise Known as Possum

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: August 14, 2017

Review

The book would be great for people studying the Depression Era in the south. The story is about a 10 year old girl,Possum. Her mother died in childbirth and her Baby died the next day. She was home schooled by her mom, and now the nosy town women want her to go to school. Possum's thoughts are, "To me, who's been learning up and down the holler my whole life, school'd be as wasteful as a bath on Wednesday." ..."They'd swooped onto the porch, all black wings and beady eyed like giant crows, beaks fixing to stick into our business. I considered taking a shot. After all, a crow is a crow , and I have dead-keen aim, on account of I'm naturally gifted for such things." Colloquialism is used heavily which might impede younger readers. She is allowed to run free day and night with her dog. She feels it's her job to take care of Daddy. There are also many historical references about President Hoover and the soon to be President Roosevelt. How the country is split on what the best course would be to fix the problems of dads leaving families to find work, finding jobs, and Mrs. Roosevelt changing the role of women. Possum has to go to school. she think's her Dad is just forgetting about Mama. He might be getting sweet on the new teacher from the north. The story has a surprise ending that made me cry.

This was the author's debut book; she worked 10 years on this story, did much research, and revision. She died shortly after it's publication.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Laso, Maria

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Scholastic Press/Scholastic Inc.

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction,historical fiction

Audience: grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780545927922

Price: 16.99

The Someday Suitcase

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: August 17, 2017

Review

This is a good book for dealing with illness and loss of a loved one. Clover and Danny are fifth graders with an unusual symbiotic relationship. They are so much more than best friends. Danny is sick and the doctors don't know why. Clover has always felt she wasn't Clover unless Danny was there. They are like one person. Clover is studying symbiosis in science. She loves science and wanted to be a scientist. Her science project for this year's science fair is Danny. She is determined to make him better. She discovers that Danny gets better if she is with him. She finds out about an unconventional clinic in Vermont. Danny and Clover to kids from Florida have aways dreamed about snow, but the grownups won't listen to kids. Danny and Clover take their someday suitcase and stowaway in the back of Clover's dad's hauling truck and make it to the clinic.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Haydu, Corey Ann

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Katherine Tecen Books/ Harper Collins Pub

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780062352750

Price: 16.99

I Believe in a Thing Called Love

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: August 25, 2017

Review

This book is a wonderful tale of romance, and it has a formula if you need to know how to get a boyfriend. Desi is a Korean high school senior in CA. She lives with her dad. Her deceased mom was a brain surgeon. Desi is going to go to Stanford to follow in her mom's footsteps. She is a straight A student, with very little confidence in herself as a possible girlfriend. She has two best friends, Wes a heartthrob , and Fiona a beautiful lesbian. Her friends tease her for her flailures Flirt/Failures. Then a new boy comes to her school. She knows he is the one. Their first encounter doesn't go well, her pants fall off exposing her underwear. She is great at everything from sports to everything else in school but art. New guy is an art major. Her dad likes to watch Korean Drama series on romance. Demi decides that this is the formula she needs to stop being a flailure. High school life depicted by hard working realistic characters. If you are interested in watching some of the series mentioned in the book there is "The Ultimate K Drama Starter Guide" in the back. It includes titles and different genres of story lines.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Goo, Maurene

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux Books/Macmillan Pub

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: romance,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780374304041

Price: 17.99

Dingus

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 9, 2017

Review

The story would work great as a read aloud and discussion starter about kids making mistakes, how it feels, why we do it, and how to fix them. Harry has just finished fifth grade, and is not feeling great about the summer ahead. His best friend, Max, has taken up with the chess players. He has money, goes to camp, and is starting to make fun of Harry to his new friends. Harry's dad is now a stay at home dad with Harry's little brother. Money is tight and Harry gets all of Max's hand me downs. Harry takes Grampa's dog for a walk; he wanted to see if he can use voice control just like Grampa does. When he puts the leash down, the dog runs and Harry loses him. Harry decides to lie because people will be angry with him. Max emails him during the summer and tells him about what a dingus is. Some one who makes mistakes, they aren't stupid, but the mistakes are. Harry discovers he is a dingus!

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Larsen, Andrew

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: KidsCan Press LTD

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: fair

ISBN: 978177138616

Price: 15.95

Bayberry Island An Adventure About Friendship and the Journey Home

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 1, 2017

Review

This would be a great book to read aloud to grades 3 and 4. It's a great start to a series like "Red Wall". The main characters are Twig and Lily. Friends who are on a ship trying to find their way home. The illustrations are really nice pencil drawings. The book shows children how true friends can get us through anything. This book is the sequel to "Brambleheart".

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Cole, Henry

Illustrator: Cole, Henry

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books/ Harper CollinsPub.

Book Type: Choose Book Type

Genre: adventure,fantasy

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780062245519

Price: 16.99

Family Game Night

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 1, 2017

Review

Unfortunately I clicked on illustrations and there are none .But now that I have your attention, this is a great book about a family that doesn't function well, and how kids hide problems from friends, and how families learn to heal. Annabelle's mom is a hoarder. Mom has a system newspapers of even dates, milk jugs, camping equipment, toys... The only room that isn't stacked with stuff to the ceilings is Annabelle's. Annabelle's room is clean because she open her second story window one day and threw everything out that wasn't hers. Then she checks her room every day to make sure nothing has found it way in. She has an older high school brother who is never home. A little sister who makes herself sick. A's rule is never to allow anyone from school within five miles from her home. I found these lines very well written and so true: "Complaining about parents is sort of like an Olympic Sport. But I don't compete. The kids with real problems never do....You almost never hear the other stuff. "Mom was drunk again." or "Dad didn't have enough money for bail." A's dad has had enough and he runs away from home. Grandma comes, she hasn't been here in years. The calm of everyday life falls apart, then things slowly get better.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Lambert, Mary E.

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: poor

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780545931984

Price: 16.99

All That I Can Be includes When I Get Bigger and When I Grow Up 2 Books in 1!

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 4, 2017

Review

These stories are old favorites that are being published in paired stories. The first story is" When I get bigger". Little Critter is thinking about all the things he will be able to do. He can go to the store by himself, go to Grandma and Grandpa's by himself,and go to first grade by himself. Oh the things he will be able to do! " When I Grow Up" is Little Sister's adventures. She can be a tightrope walker, teacher of lions and tigers, a mail lady, or an airplane pilot.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Mayer, Mercer

Illustrator: Mayer, Mercer

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Random House

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: preschool,grades k-3

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: fair

ISBN: 9780399553776

Price: 5.99

Spell Across America " Scripps National Spelling Bee"

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 4, 2017

Review

This book is great for teaching spelling, figurative language, and word ladders. It also looks at the U.S. through different state with short stories. with more than 40 chapters. It has an index of sidebars and of all the spelling words learned in the book,

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Hirschmann, Kris

Illustrator: Hindle, James K.

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Roaring Book Press

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre: adventure,fantasy,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781626721753

Price: 17.99

Lilly and Fin A Mermaid's Tale

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 10, 2017

Review

The book isn't part of a series with the same characters, but it is a new genre style of fictional writing for younger readers ages 7-10. The book doesn't introduce the main characters until later. The storyline is cute with two friends trying not to be captured. The book is 17 chapters long, it would work well as a read aloud. The back of the book has some extension ideas: there are hidden pictures in most of the pictures, knit your own Lilly and Fin hat, and a Lilly and Fin game. The pictures are cute.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Funke, Cornelia

Illustrator: Funke, Cornelia

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Random House

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: adventure,fantasy

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781524701017

Price: 9.99

John Ronald's Dragons+ The Story of J.R.R. Tolkien

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 10, 2017

Review

This book is a great read aloud to help students understand how authors find their stories. John loved dragons and being outside. John and his cousin Mary invented their own language. This later became Elvish. During WWI, John was on the battlefield, and he invented another language to block out the sounds. John went to college and became a professor. ..." one day ...when grading papers...he wrote In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.He didn't yet know what a hobbit was...but he followed it anyway." In the back of the book, is: an author's note, Illustrator's note, a catalog of Tolkien's dragons, quotes from Tolkien's scholarly writings on dragons, and a bibliography.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Mcallister, Caroline

Illustrator: Wheeler, Eliza

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Roaring Book Press

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre: biography / autobiography

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9,grades 10-12,adult / professional

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781626720923

Price: 18.99

The Midnight Witching Hour

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 10, 2017

Review

There are no illustrations. This is a great ghost story with a twist at the end. Could be used as a read aloud and making predictions. Rosie moves to a new town. Omar's best friend has just died and Omar thinks it is his fault. Creepy things start happening to Rosie and Omar. Rosie tries to help Omar with his sorrows.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Fallenstein, J.

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: poor

Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: mystery,horror

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: paperback

Binding Quality: fair

ISBN: 9781512427714

Price: 7.99

The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner and Other Stories

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 25, 2017

Review

This is a great book to use as a read aloud. It is a series of short stories that was written by Terry Pratchett when he was 17 years old. Many of the stories have very humorous foo notes. In the Witch's Vacuum Cleaner, there is a conjuror who gets a spell cast on himself. He now can do real magic, but he has no control over it. The story says, " ... was generally very good at that sort of magic that's learned by hard practice in front of a mirror." The footnote says, " And even harder in front of people, for not many mirrors shout things like"Rubbish!" And if your mirror does, you probably don't need to worry about whether or not you can learn to do magic tricks. Knowing how to run away very fast would be a more useful skill." There are fourteen stories in the book. It was published in 2016, but the cover was published in 2017.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Pratchett, Terry

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Harper

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: fantasy,folklore

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 978006265309116

Price: 18.99

Gone Camping A Novel in Verse

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 6, 2017

Review

Great book for teaching poetry to kids. The book is made up of many different types of poetry. It's about a family who goes camping and it includes all their adventures. At the end of the book is a Provisioning for poetry which includes definitions figurative language: rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, anaphora (poets starts several lines with the same word or phrase), apostrophe, assonance, hyperbole, imagery, interjection, etc. It also includes different types of poems (which are included in the book) alarm poem, aubade (sunrise poem), blank verse variation, blessing, chant, charm, cinquain, concrete, plus 34 other kinds of poems. The illustrations are pen ink and watercolor.The inside pages are without color.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Wissinger, Tamera Will

Illustrator: Cordell, Matthew

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin harcourt

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,realistic fiction,fiction in verse / poetry

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6,grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780544638730

Price: 15.99

This Would Make A Good Story Someday

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 7, 2017

Review

Great coming of age book. Sara is going to reinvent herself with the help of two best friends before she starts middle school. Only, her two moms have a different plan. They are taking a month-long family trip by train. Sara's a bit skunky because she really wanted to stay home. Her little sister Ladybug is best friends with Frog Fletcher from "The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher" and "The Fletcher Family Takes Rock Island." Many postcards and Emails are sent back East. One Mom won the trip to the West coast because she is a writer, as did another family with a teen boy, his dad, and his two great aunts. The great aunts are best friends and teach Sara about living and dying. "She and Miss Ruby are probably worse than me and Em and Saanvi for giggling and arguing and goofing off. Can't imagine if they'd been in middle school together....I'm betting that they wouldn't be allowed to have the same lunch period, that"s all I'm saying."

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Levy, Dana Alison

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Delacorte Press/Random House

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781101938171

Price: 16.99

The Christmas Fairy

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 8, 2017

Review

A great story for all the littles who just can't be still or quiet. Clara is a chatterbox fairy, a dancing singing fairy. She wants to be a proper fairy, so she can be chosen to sit upon the Christmas tree. She is always in trouble in fairy school. Santa comes and asks her help to bring smiles to some broken sad creatures... The illustrations are watercolor.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Booth, Anne

Illustrator: Beardshaw, Rosalind

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Nosy Crow/ Candlewick Press

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: fantasy

Audience: preschool,grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780763696290

Price: 15.99

Georgie's Best Bad Day

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 9, 2017

Review

A nice picture book for teaching elements of the plot to older students and a perfect book for teaching children how to turn their day around. It also points out that first attempts are not always successful, but hard work pays off. Georgie and all his friends are having a bad day. Each one suggests a fix, but things keep getting worse. Until things are at the very worse and everyone explodes with laughter. Illustrations are watercolor.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Chan, Ruth

Illustrator: Chan, Ruth

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press/ Holtzbrinck Pub. Holdings

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: preschool,grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781626722705

Price: 17.99

Pete the Cat and the Lost Tooth

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 10, 2017

Review

Good book for losing teeth, learning to read, and learning to be kind. Pete hears the jingle of the tooth fairy. She tells him that she is very busy tonight, and Pete asks to help. He gets to play tooth fairy to a few others. Then Gus Platypus wants some tooth fairy fun, but he doesn't have teeth. Pete figures out just what to do. Illustrations are watercolors.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Dean, James

Illustrator: Dean, James

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Harper/ Harper Collins

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre:

Audience: preschool,grades k-3

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780062675194

Price: 16.99

Elf in the House

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 10, 2017

Review

Christmas book to help teach counting and sequencing. The story starts off on Christmas Eve with a little girl in bed. She creeps downstairs to find the cookie plate empty, but for crumbs. The girl goes first, second is a mouse and ... The illustrations are digitally made.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Paquette, Ammi-Joan

Illustrator: Record, Adam

Illustration Quality: fair

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre: adventure,fantasy

Audience: preschool,grades k-3

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780763681326

Price: 15.99

Horizon

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 12, 2017

Review

Good reading for students who like science fiction adventures. A plane crashes somewhere, on its way to Japan from the US. Electrical currents seem to pull people out of their seats. They should be in the Arctic Circle, but they land in a rain forest jungle with strange animals and plants. Only middle school and high school age kids survive the crash, a team of robotics engineers, a set of Japanese twin girls, a boy interested in space, and a Japanese boy who was on his way back to his Dad's for stealing a thousand- year-old sword that was in the family for generations. Not all of the survivors live, and the sky has two moons...while some mysteries are solved, the cliffhanger sets the reader up for book two.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Westerfeld, Scott

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Scholastic

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,science fiction,mystery

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 978054591776

Price: 14.99

North American Indian Nations Native Peoples of the Great Basin

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 12, 2017

Review

The price is based on Amazon and as a paperback. Great for research, the information might be PG13 ish. If there wasn't enough women in a tribe brothers might share a wife. Women slept with their grandmothers, and if a man wanted a woman for a wife he slept at the grandmother's feet. If the girl didn't want him she went and slept with her mother. The book has five chapters: a harsh landscape, society and spirituality, making art, disrupted lives, and a changing world. The book also includes sections: notable Great Basin Indians, timeline, glossary, source note, selected bibliography, further information, and an index. Illustrations are mostly photos.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Goddu, Krystyna Poray

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Lerner Pub.

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781467783101

Price: 9.99

Rocks & Minerals All about identifying, classifying, rockhounding, and more!

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 12, 2017

Review

Jacket cover says ages 6-10, but older kids would like it too. The photos are excellent for identifying different rocks and minerals. The book starts with the structure of the Earth model. Then moves onto more common stones. Two pages of meteorites, lava and obsidian, igneous, sedimentary and conglomerates. How to test for hardness. How to tell the difference between having a bunch of rocks, or a rock collection.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Simon, Seymour

Illustrator: ,

Illustration Quality: excellent

Publisher: Harper

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780062289186

Price: 17.99

Emily and the Spellstone

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 4, 2017

Review

This book is very strong in plot. A 12 year old girl finds a rock on the beach that looks like a cell phone. That was what she wanted for her birthday, instead it's a spellstone. It has an evil monster that wants to eat her, that lives within the stone. He has to do whatever she commands him to do, until he is freed from her. Then he can eat her. They travel through different dementions, and become friends. Someone is trying to steal the stone away... Emily makes a new friend at her school who tries to help her with problems on this demention. Lots of action, this book is a fun Halloweenish story.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Rubens, Michael

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Clarion Books/ houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,fantasy,science fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780544790865

Price: 16.99

Olive and the Backstage Ghost

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 7, 2017

Review

The story could easily be written for young readers, but for the dark side of Olive having witnessed her dad killing himself by jumping out the aptment window. Halloween type of story, mom is an exactress who wants her daughter to relive her fame. Olive finds a venue where she can be herself as an actress. The problem is her stage is haughted by ghosts, that want to ensnare the living. This is better suited for a more mature audience .

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Schusterman, Michelle

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Random House Childrens Books

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: mystery,horror

Audience: grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780399550669

Price: 16.99

The Great Hibernation

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 21, 2018

Review

All of the grownups fall asleep/ hibernate in the town of St. Polonius-On-The-Fjord on Founders' Day in October. The new mayor decrees that all children must take over the job of their parents until the awake. Jean figures out just how the parents were poisoned and by whom. Fun story for middle school. It's a little too long for a read aloud, but good for mystery lovers.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Dairman, Tara

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books/ Penguin Random House

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,fantasy,mystery

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781524717858

Price: 16.99

Monsters Unleashed

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 13, 2018

Review

A fun read aloud for pre-middle school and early middle schoolers. Freddie is the new kid who gets picked on by a sports jock, a popular girl, and a toughie. Freddie likes to draw so he creates pictures of the monsters that live within each of his tormentors. He has named them Mega Q, Kraydon, and Yapzilla. The illustrations are pen and ink. The true problems happen when Freddie and his one friend Manny use the schools 3D printer and the monsters come alive. The boys chase the monsters all over the school and discover that the paper monsters grow when they get wet ... The grownup names are Mr. Snoozer, Mr. McLaughlin, Principal Worst.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Kloepfer, John

Illustrator: Oliver, Mark

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Harper

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: science fiction

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780062290304

Price: 16.99

The Erth Dragons The Wearle

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 13, 2018

Review

A wearle is a large community of dragons. The setting for this book is Erth and the wearle has come here to live. You may recognize Chris D'Lacey's name as the author of the Last Dragon Chronicles. This new book is book one of a new series. It was published in England in 2015, but in the US in2017. The book has a three-page list of characters and an eleven-page glossary Hom (human) language and dragon vocabulary. The tale is about a Hom and dragon war and a boy who goes to live with the dragons. This is a good book for dragon lovers.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

D'Lacey, Chris

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Scolastic Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: fantasy

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780545900188

Price: 16.99

How to Be an Earthling No Place Like Space

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 14, 2018

Review

This is book five in the series. Spork finds a garden gnome who is one of the wisest creatures on his planet. This won a Moonbeam Children's Award. The illustrations are black and white cartoonish drawings. Reminds me of Flat Stanley. The author uses idioms in the story. EX "Putting yourself in someone's shoes." So, Spork is found pulling a boot off a third graders foot to learn more about them. This story is good for beginner readers.There is also an activities section in the back of the book.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Hardrader, Lisa

Illustrator: Warrick, Jessica

Illustration Quality: good

Publisher: Kane Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: fantasy

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 978575658438

Price: 6.99

Magic in the City

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: March 12, 2018

Review

This is a good book for readers who like magic, or as a read aloud. Hannah the level-headed cousins get swept along with her boisterous male cousins. They meet a salesman who sells them a magic carpet, a stopwatch that can stop time, and a camera that can place you into a photo or painting. The boys need money to help their mom. They decide to steal from the queen of England while visiting Hannah. The humor is wonderful. A conversation between the Queen and Simon: " The Queen...You're probably used to doing whatever you like. but I'm not. "But you're the queen!... There's always someone telling me what to do... what to wear.. me too!... They never let me go out on my own... me neither.. I never get to sit up front... Me neither."

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Dyer, Heather

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Kids Can Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,fantasy

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781771382038

Price: 15.95

Who Killed Darius

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: April 26, 2018

Review

A great starter book to hook mystery lovers. Philbrook writes really well for middles schools. Who killed Darius Drake is a blood-written note to Darius Blake himself. Darius is an orphan who is a brainiac. He hires the school bully to help him uncover the mystery with candy bars. Oh, he finds out he has inherited a creepy mansion. That his grandfather just got out of prison. That there is a multi-million dollar missing diamond necklace... This would be a fun book to use in a book group at school (grade 5/6) to discover this genre and to make predictions.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Philbrick, Rodman

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: the blue sky press/Scholastic

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,mystery

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780545789783

Price: 17.99

This Book's Maine Connection: Maine author

Haunt Me

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: April 30, 2018

Review

This book would be good for people who like love stories, and problem-solving, and are mature.The problem with this book for immature readers is that it glamorizes death. Joe falls in love, can do almost anything but leave his room. Erin's family moves to a new town to help her move away from her troubles. The summer before she started 7th grade was hit by a car. She started being afraid, then the fears grew and kids started making fun of her. The problem grew to the point to kids were telling her she should just kill herself and make the world a better place. Her new home is on the ocean, and her room comes with a ghost of a boy who would have been in her grade. They can see each other and sometimes touch. She meets Joe's living brother and starts to like him. BUT did he kill his brother?

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Kessler, Liz

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: fantasy,romance

Audience: grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780763691622

Price: 17.99

14 Hollow Road

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 2, 2018

Review

This book is recommended for every middle school library. The writing style is simple. The story can be applied in a few different categories. The premise of the story is true. A small town, Sturbridge, in Mass., was hit by a tornado. The main character was at her sixth-grade graduation dance to middle-school dance when the storm hit. Her road had much destruction. Maddie and Kiersten are best friends and have discovered BOYS ARE CUTE. Kiersten has a new neighbor, Gabby, that is starting to replace Maddie (in Maddie's mind). Maddie is forced to move into a neighbor's home with her parents, a little brother, the boy who used to live next door, Avery, and his parents. Avery who is starting to make Maddie sweat when he is too close. Avery who asks Gabby to dance and NOT Maddie. The thoughts that race through Maddie's mind... will you die if you don't poop all summer? What if Avery goes into the bathroom after she's been. There is a lost pet, first periods, stealing out of jealousy, all the trauma of being a middle schooler.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Bishop, Jenn

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Borzoi/ Alfred A Knopf/ Random House Children,s Books

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: horror,romance,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781101938751

Price: 16.99

You Don't Know Me But I Know You

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 7, 2018

Review

Good for any person who is thinking about having sex. The story is about a 17-year-old girl who realizes that she is pregnant. BUt SHE WAS ON THE PILL AND THEY USED CONDOMS. Very realistic. Audrey was adopted by a single mom, who raised her well. She is loved, comes from a good home, has good friends, and a very loyal boyfriend who loves her. She is a jr. in high school who dreams of becoming an art student at the RISD. Julian says they have three choices: they can keep the baby, they can give it up for adoption, or they can get an abortion. He will stand by her; on whatever they decide. With hormones going wild, she pushes everyone who loves her away, while she ignores her problems and then works them out. " ... it didn't matter how good a person she'd been taught to be: the treacherous, heartbreaking, bad person she truly was couldn't be confined." (Her thoughts about a fight she had with her mom.) "... she used to care ... she only felt the strangest kind of empty." The person that she comes to know is herself and she does find herself.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Barrow, Rebecca

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Happer Teen/Harper Collins Pub

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: romance,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780062494191

Price: 17.99

Summer Unscripted

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 7, 2018

Review

Good for girls who are starting to like boys. Rainne follows a boy to a summer stock play and becomes one of the actor-technicians, part of the chorus and part stage crew. She befriends Ella to get into the production, her summer apartment with Ella's older sister, then she kind of steals Ella's ex-boyfriend. (Who Ella still likes.) Easy summer read.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Klein, Jen

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Random House Penguin Random House

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: romance

Audience: grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781524700041

Price: 17.99

Best Buds Under Frogs

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 14, 2018

Review

This book has excellent voice. It is great for older middle school kids who are at a lower reading level. The story is about a new girl moving to town. She's pretty shy so making friends is hard. Lily is in 4th grade. The format of the book is each page has a picture that Lily draws, illustrations are digital, of how she interprets her world and the text of the story. She becomes friends with Darby who lives on the other side of the lake. Dabry is a fun friend to have most of the time, but Darby's best friend moves back from England. Jill has a spell over Darby, where she has these great ideas that constantly get the girls in trouble. Then she cries and tells the grown-ups that she tried to tell them not to steal candy at the store... The humor is what makes this such a great read for reluctant readers.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Patricelli, Leslie

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Candlewick

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,realistic fiction

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780763651046

Price: 15.99

Bad Kitty Camp Daze

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 18, 2018

Review

In this book, Bad Kitty gets boinked on the head and she thinks she's a dog. She goes to summer camp for dogs. This story holds the same humor and charm as the other books in the New York Times bestselling series. It had my 10-year-old grandson laughing out loud. He needed to show me every page. It is a fun read aloud.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Bruel, Nick

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press /Holzbrinck Pub

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: graphic novel

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781626728851

Price: 13.99

Becoming Madeline

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 20, 2018

Review

This is the biography of Madeleine L'Engle written by two of her granddaughters Charlotte Jones Voiklis and Lena Roy. This is the best biography that I have read. It is filled with photos, report cards, quotes, and love. The girls interviewed family members, raided photo albums, journals, and collaborated. Quote from Madeleine L. (she was named after her mother) about her writing " I learned to inhabit other selves, other ages. It helped put things into perspective. And now that I am older, I still do that. I've never had to lose my younger selves- so that's why I am every age I have ever been." This is the story of more than three generations of writers. The reading level is geared for middle school, but the work continues on to adults.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Jones Voiklis Roy, Charlotte Lena

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Farrar Stratus Giroux for young Readers/Macmillion

Book Type: chapter book nonfiction

Genre: biography / autobiography

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9,grades 10-12,adult / professional

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9780374307646

Price: 19.99

Good Dog

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 26, 2018

Review

This story is good for dog lovers who want to believe in doggie heaven and second chances. Brodie was a good dog who wakes up in a beautiful place of sunshine and fields to run in. Then he remembers something bad...about his boy. His boy is in trouble, he needs to go back to help save the boy. He can go back only he won't be alive. Aidan needs help. This is a story of a dogs love for his boy and how he will do everything that he can to help.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Gemeinhart, Dan

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: mystery

Audience: grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781338053883

Price: 16.99

Exoplanets

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 28, 2018

Review

Simon has won awards for both his nonfiction and fiction books. Exoplanets is nonfiction and aged for ages 6-10, but I think it could easily go higher. This book uses the analogy of Goldie Locks to exoplanets by comparing the planet Earth to Goldie. We are in the "just right" location to sustain life, scientists are looking for more Goldie Locks planets. The photos of space are beautiful. The book includes a glossary, index, and a read more about it web address section. This is a great book to introduce or reinforce space concepts.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Simon, Seymour

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Harper

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780062470584

Price: 17.99

The Weird science of the most Mysterious Objects in the Universe Black Holes

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 28, 2018

Review

This is a great book for people who want to understand space. The book includes a table of contents: 1 What is a black hole?, 2 The black hole at the center of the Milky Way, 3 Kaboom! When black holes collide, 4 What's on the (event) horizon?, and 5 Black Holes Just wanna have fun. The book also has a gallery of all-star black holes, source notes, glossary, selected bibliography, further information, and an index. The photos are stunning.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Latta, Sara

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Lerner Pub. Group

Book Type: picture book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9,grades 10-12

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9781512415681

Price: 35.99

Winterfolf

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: August 6, 2018

Review

The story is intended for mature audiences. Rain is not allowed to leave camp and be seen by the Winterfolk. Rain is turning 15 and her gift is to spend a day in the city. She lives in a homeless commuity in a tent with her dad. Actually, she lives away from the rest of the Winterpeople, they think a child would bring them bad luck and their encampment would be discovered. King is her friend who takes her to the city, but they get separated. There are posted notices all over their area that the woods are going to be cut down. There is much innuendo embedded within the story. One of the homeless people can make hamesters dance (he places a vibrater under their bucket). King needs money and goes to a club (The Red V... where girls dance on poles). Rain holds some drugs for King. The people want their drugs back, there is a murder, and her dad and their tent dissapear. Then the story turns aroung and has a fantastic ending...

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Kolby, Janel

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Harper Teen/ Harper Collins

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades 10-12

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780062487001

Price: 17.99

Annie's Life in Lists

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 10, 2018

Review

This is good for a quick read, fun story, and a different way to look at writing. The chaptersare Ainne's life month by month. Annie's lived in Brooklyn and has to move to a small town, Clover Gap. She has an amazing memory for people details... name, name of everyone in your family, your pets, what you like, don't like, and anything that you have ever done. She gets kicked out of her former school because she had to bring a note to the principal. While there she gets nevous,she a picture of the principal and another man. She finds out he is the principal's brother, and she tells the principal that he looks like the drycleaner man near her family, but the stopped going there because the man had a cat, and her dad has allergies. Brother does have a drycleaning company and a cat, but his shop is in a different district. Parents and kids more out to the counrty. Her older brother is very angry at her and Annie tries to hide her memory from others. Examples of list titlles; Four examples of how quiet I can be, Four reasons I'm quiet, Four things I have pretended not to remember so people won't think I was weird #2. A conversation I had with Jesse Bruner in first grade where he told me he hadn't washed his hair in two months

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Mahoney, Kristin

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Borzoi Book/ Alfred A. Knopf/Random House Children's Book

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781524765095

Price: 16.99

Snow Lane

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 14, 2018

Review

This book is a great tool for letting students know that when their family is trouble it's Okay to ask for help. Annie is a fifth grader and the youngest of nine children in a very Catholic family. Her self-thoughts that run through her head shows her upbringing, " I don't know what the hell (five Hail Marys) would give them that Idea. The older siblings are very talented: Nutcracker dancer, sports hero, one goes to MIT. They go to Mas, dad works two jobs. Mom has checked out as a parent. It's up to the older kids to take care of the younger ones. Annie is dyslexic and in GT classes. Any extra money goes to the older kids who are doing well in the world. Mom has become a hoarder, and she beats her children. The world doesn't see what's happening within the home. One of the girls runs away, and DHS gets involved. Annie doesn't want her family to break up, and she gets DHS to help.

Overall Book Score: excellent

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About the Book

Author:

Angelini, Josie

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Fewer and Friends / Macmillian Pub

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781250150929

Price: 16.99

The Journey Of Little Charlie

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 14, 2018

Review

The book might be difficult for some to read due to the colloquialism. Page 1: "And 'cording to the only folks who was there to witness the whole fuss, the word kept tumbling outta me o'er and o'er for more'n half a day. Long 'nough for Ma and pap to wonder if I'd banged my head on something and got tetched." The story is about a boy whose father died while owing money. Charlie had to do his dad's job to pay back Cap'n. He has to travel from the south to Canada to capture and return runaway slaves and their children. Cap'n is pretty graphic about some of the violent ways used to control slaves.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Curtis, Christopher Paul

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: historical fiction

Audience: grades 10-12

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9780545156660

Price: 16.99

The Craft-A-Day Book

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 14, 2018

Review

I credited the illustrator as Jennifer Larson, she is really the photographer. This book is great. It has 30 projects with photos on how to make things with recycled materials. Table of contents has six sections with 3-6 ideas in each section. Some projects can be easily done by younger children Tissue paper jar luminaries to whimsical cardigan Swaters. One of the chapters is named Embellishment. There is a section on tools, craft resources, and an index.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Cornell, Kari

Illustrator: Larson, Jennifer

Publisher: Twenty-First Century Books/ Learner Pub. Group

Book Type: chapter book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9,grades 10-12,adult / professional

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781512413137

Price: 38.98

Do Not Open This Math Book

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 17, 2018

Review

The book is a great tool for parents to use with children. The illustrations are cute with Mr. Mouse helping to guide the way using real-world math, practice problems with answers, analogies, mental math tricks, and activities. There are 10 chapters with two to seven parts. There is an introduction explaining the "new math" to parents that help to teach kids how to analyze how the math works. There are some basic instructions with a "game time" section for play and practice. The back has an answer key and index. The book itself is paperback.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

McKellar, Danica

Illustrator: Maberry, Maranda

Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers/Penguin Random House

Book Type: chapter book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades k-3,grades 4-6,adult / professional

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: fair

ISBN: 9781101933985

Price: 18.99

The Sun Played Hide-and-Seek A Personification Story

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 17, 2018

Review

This is a fun read aloud, great for personification, and has an interesting way to use the examples in a presentation. The illustrations are watercolor. Different students were asked to make a presentation on different figurative language. One little girl has to present on personification, and she spends much time outside letting nature talk to her. When it's her time to present, there is a fire drill. She asks if they can go on a field trip to show the kids. "The bench was calling her name. The water fountainHiccuped."

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Cleary, Brian P.

Illustrator: Crimmins, Carol

Illustration Quality: very good

Publisher: Millbrook Press/Lerner Pub. Group

Book Type: picture book fiction

Genre:

Audience: preschool,grades k-3,grades 4-6

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9781467726481

Price: 21.34

Monsters Unleashed Bugging Out

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 18, 2018

Review

Good for kids who like a series with a fun plot. Freddie is with his former bullies in a new school. These guys and the monsters that he created last year from using the 3-d printer at school are now their pets. The year starts out in art class with a new student trying to draw bugs. He's having problems so Freddie helps him. Trevor takes Freddie's drawings and uses the 3-D printer at the new school...The fun continues

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Kloepfer, John

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Harper

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: science fiction

Audience: grades 4-6

Binding Type: trade edition

Binding Quality: fair

ISBN: 9780062427533

Price: 16.99

Addiction and Overdose Confronting an American Crisis

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 25, 2018

Review

The book serves as an important learning tool for many families. The contents include addiction and overdose in America, the power of addiction, facts of addiction, from prescription drugs to heroin, patients and doctors in the middle, prescription for a better future, relapse and recovery, source notes, glossary, selected bibliography, further information, and an index. It helps families with knowing that they are not alone, drug danger zones, tips for teens, and it's 126 pages of short easy to read facts and charts.

Overall Book Score: very good

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About the Book

Author:

Goldsmith, Connie

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Twenty-First Century Books/ Lerner Pub.

Book Type: chapter book nonfiction

Genre:

Audience: grades 7-9,grades 10-12,adult / professional

Binding Type: reinforced trade binding

Binding Quality: very good

ISBN: 9781512409536

Price: 35.31

The Boy WhoWent Magic

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 2, 2018

Review

Good for young readers who like adventure stories with a strong plot line. Bert an orphan lives in a time when there use to be magic, but not anymore. Only to discover that he has magic? Ferenor's (magicians) mages were banned, hunted, and killed by the royal family hundreds of years ago. They are no longer believed to be more than fairy tales. Bert's life is getting out of control when he meets a Finch. ( A girl with metal legs and a strong personality. They and a Professor sail across the skies being chased by a Prince.

Overall Book Score: good

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About the Book

Author:

Winter, A.P.

Illustrator: ,

Publisher: Chicken House/Scholastic

Book Type: chapter book fiction

Genre: adventure,fantasy

Audience: grades 4-6,grades 7-9

Binding Type: Choose Binding Type

Binding Quality: good

ISBN: 9781338217148

Price: 17.99