McDougall, Sophia. Mars Evacuees. Fiction. Mars Evacuees Series, Bk. 1. HarperCollins, 02/2015. 404p. $16.99. 978-0-06-229399-2. OUTSTANDING. GRADES 5-8 Narrated with entertainingly British self-deprecation and sangfroid by twelve-year-old Alice Dare, this intelligent and thought-provoking middle grade [continue reading]
Review
Sleepless Knight
Sturm, James, Andrew Arnold, and Alexis Frederick-Frost. Sleepless Knight. Graphic novel. First Second, 04/2015. [29]p. $14.99. 978-1-59643-651-0. OUTSTANDING. GRADES K-3. A young knight with a trusty horse sets off on a camping trip, only to [continue reading]
Bay Area Through Time
Cunningham, Laura. Bay Area Through Time, The. Laura Cunningham, Illus. Non-fiction. Heyday, 07/2015. [26]p. $16.00. 978-1-59714-301-4. ADDITIONAL. GRADES 2-5. For those interested in the paleontological past of the area they live in, this title is [continue reading]
Iron Rails, Iron Men, and the Race to Link the Nation
Sandler, Martin W. Iron Rails, Iron Men, and the Race to Link the Nation: The Story of the Transcontinental Railroad. Non-fiction. Candlewick, 09/2015. 212p. $22.99. 978-0-7636-6527-2. OUTSTANDING. GRADES 7-12. An expansive, dramatic photo-filled book design [continue reading]
George
Gino, Alex. George. Fiction. Scholastic, 09/2015. 240p. $16.99. 978-0-545-81254-2. OUTSTANDING. GRADES 3-6. A 10-year-old, white, transgender girl, George (or Melissa as she names herself later in the novel), takes first steps toward introducing her true [continue reading]
Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans
Brown, Don. Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans. Don Brown, Illus. Graphic Novel. Houghton, 2015. 96p. $18.99. 978-0-544-15777-4. OUTSTANDING. GRADES 4-8. The onslaught and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina’s devastating destruction of New Orleans is [continue reading]
What This Story Needs Is a Pig in a Wig
Virjan, Emma J. What This Story Needs Is a Pig in a Wig. Emma J. Virjan, Illus. Easy Reader. HarperCollins, 05/2015. [34]p. $9.99. 978-0-06-232724-6. OUTSTANDING. GRADES TODDLER-2. What this circular story needs is a reader, [continue reading]
The Way Home Looks Now Review
Shang, Wendy Wan-Long. The Way Home Looks Now. Fiction. Scholastic, 04/2015. 272p. $16.99. 978-0-545-60956-2. OUTSTANDING. GRADES 4-7. Twelve-year-old Peter recalls life before his older brother died in an automobile accident, before his mother became despondent, [continue reading]