50. The Nancy Drew Notebooks: #1 The Slumber Party Secret

The Nancy Drew Notebooks: #1 The Slumber Party Secrets
By Carolyn Keene
Illustrated by Anthony Accardo
Simon & Schuster, 1994

Genre
Mystery

Awards
None Known

Review
For parents who loved reading Nancy Drew Mystery Stories growing up, Keene has created a series intended for younger readers so they can begin loving Nancy's sleuthing skills even earlier! This series opener finds Nancy working to solve her first mystery, what happened to her friend Rebecca's party invitations and who is threatening to ruin her party? Using cleaver techniques, Nancy matches handwriting of her classmates to a threatening note Rebecca found, investigates desks looking for clues, and trying to get to the bottom of the mystery.  In true sleuthing style, she cracks the case the night of the party.  Readers are introduced Bess and George, best friends of Nancy even in the original series.  A good mystery that younger children will love seeing if they can solve before Nancy does!

Opinion
Definitely intended for a younger audience, this book contains much larger print and simple full page illustrations that will keep young readers involved.  In the cover illustration, the children look like real people, but in the book's black and white illustrations, the characters look more like Barbie dolls, which I thought was unnecessary.

Ideas
A great way to introduce the lowest of the tween age range to mysteries, this book would be great to read to a younger class to see if they can solve the mystery before Nancy.

49. Number the Stars

Number the Stars
By Lois Lowry
Sandpiper, 1989

Genre
Historical Fiction

Awards

• Newbery Award (1990)
• National Jewish Book Award for Children's Literature (1990)
• Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award (1991)

Review
This touching story about the difficulties of growing up is cast during WWII.  Annemarie Johansen is growing up during the German occupation of Denmark and sees how the German policies and prejudices are affecting her best friend's family, who is Jewish.  Annemarie is torn through most of the story between the world of children, where innocence and lack of understanding are a protective shield that prevent her from having to deal with the atrocities going on around her (like the death of her older sister, Lise), and the world of adults, where she feels like she is being drawn when she is called upon to help protect her friend's family but she doesn't feel like she quite belongs here yet.  Tweens can relate to this main character; despite not being a situation similar to WWII, they will recognize Annemarie's struggles with growing up and be able to see things in their own life that put them between childhood and adulthood, teetering on an edge and unsure of which way to land.

Opinion
Lois Lowry's writing style does not disappoint.  Just like her previous books, this story draws the reader into the world of the characters, causing their emotions to be felt by the reader.  Since this is written at a level intended for elementary school, possibly middle school, more girls are likely to identify with the book as there is a female main character, but boys can identify slightly with Peter Neilsen and his part in the Resistance.

Ideas
Great for a project on WWII or for an assignment about historical fiction; also good for a display of younger age appropriate books for these two topics.

48. Goosebumps Most Wanted: Zombie Halloween

Goosebumps Most Wanted: Zombie Halloween
By R. L. Stine
Scholastic, 2014

Genre
Horror

Awards
None Known

Review
When Mario, his brother, and their friend Ivy decide to explore the basement of Mario's new creepy home across from a graveyard, they discover a tunnel leading from the graveyard underground to an area under their basement.  When they see the zombies climbing the ladder to get from the tunnel to the home and hear their mother coming home, the boys beat the zombies off the ladder and make their way up, closing the door behind them...and leaving Ivy stuck, turned into a zombie herself! Years later, Ivy is still waiting to get revenge for her death when Mario is a grandfather and his grandkids are having a Halloween party in the basement, where Ivy makes her move.  After dealing with the zombies, Mario and his grandchildren think they can take a breath, when their new neighbors show up and reveal themselves to be vampires! True to its name, this new addition the long line of Goosebump books will send shivers down the spines of middle school readers as they eagerly tear through the cliffhanger chapters to see how the characters will survive the terrors of the night.

Opinion
I have never been much of an R. L. Stine fan.  I find his writing to be choppy, unengaging and predictable.  I also dislike how his books, like this one, seem to end with yet another scary event, causing the reader to wonder what happened to the characters and how anyone could be alive in a world where monstrosities rise around every corner the second the first one wakes.  This book was no exception, but for those readers who do like his former books, they will love this one.  True to his style, Stine includes false monster sightings to increase the suspense and has middle school aged protagonists left to fight off the terrors when their parents don't believe them (though their grandfather obviously does).

Ideas
Great for a Halloween display, a horror/ghost story display, or a display about zombies, since they are a very popular topic currently.

47. Maniac Magee

Maniac Magee
By Jerry Spinelli
Little, Brown, 1990
Narrated by S. Epatha Merkerson

Genre
Realistic Fiction

Awards

•  Newbery Medal (1991)
• Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award (1992)

Review
Orphaned at a young age, Jeffery Magee was sent to live with an aunt and uncle who hated each other so much they had two of everything so they didn't have to share or talk.  Jeffery couldn't stand it, so he ran away and just kept running until he reached a town separated, east and west, blacks and whites.  But, for a while, Jeffery didn't understand why people were called white or black because he saw a rainbow of different colors, until he finally understood and he left the black family he had come to live with because he was white and they were being harassed.  A wonderful story about how one boy, through running, untying knots, and being friendly, made great strides, with the help of parents on both sides, in breaking down the racial barriers of a town that began revering him as Maniac Magee, and learning what it might be like to accept having a family again.

Opinion
This book was a fabulous example of how racial lines can be drawn, even by children when they've never visited the home of someone from the other race.  The author did a great job of showing the lives of all the characters and the changes in their attitude the more they got to know Jeffery.  The suggestion that Jeffery didn't want to be part of a family because he was afraid he would hurt them (like he lost his parents, a guardian he found working at a zoo died, and his family in the black neighborhood was being harassed) seemed underdeveloped and then forced on the reader, even though it made sense for the character to feel this way.

Ideas
A great story to add to any display or curriculum about race relations.  Also something most children can relate to on some level, not feeling like they belong in a specific group of people.

46. George's Marvelous Medicine

George's Marvelous Medicine
By Ronald Dahl
Illustrated by Quentin Blake
Scholastic, 1981

Genre
Low Fantasy

Awards
None Known

Review
Prolific children's fiction writer Ronald Dahl shows children yet again that magic may be more than a thing in their imaginations.  When left alone with his grouch grandmother, George sets out to make her a medicine that will help her loosen up a bit (he reasons she needs a new medicine since the one she had been taking at length hasn't helped her).  Making a sickening concoction of random liquids and pills found in his home, including paint, hairspray, perfume, and animal medicine, George gives his grandmother the medicine and watches her reaction amused and slightly worried.  When his parents arrive home, his mother is worried about the grandmother (her mother), but the father just encourages George to make more of his concoction, seeing possible financial gain from how it effects the farm animals.  This funny, yet slightly disturbing story also has sketched illustrations to accompany the text, making the effects of the potion unmistakable.

Opinion
Compared to some of Dahl's previous work, like BFG, I found this book boring and was disturbed that when the grandmother simply shrunk until she disappeared that not even her daughter gave it more than a second thought.  As entertaining as the idea is of mixing household items to make potentially attitude-changing and money-making substances, I think it may be important for parents to address the idea that none of these chemicals being used in the book should be mixed or taken like this in real life.

Ideas
Since everything George uses in his mixture seems to have some kind of reasoning behind it, as small as it may be, it might be a fun project to have young readers make their own "potion", thinking of things they would mix together and what the desired effects would be.

45. Clever Beatrice

Clever Beatrice
By Margaret Willey
Illustrated by Heather Solomon
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2001

Genre
Fables

Awards

Parents' Choice Award (2001)

Charlotte Zolotow Award (2002)

Horn Book Fanfare Award (2001)

Review

Though the author admits, after explaining what a contes is, that she strays from the tradition telling of these folktales to cast a young and clever girl as the main character, readers can't help but be amused by the antics of Beatrice.  In order to get some money to help her mother keep food on the table, Beatrice ventures far into the woods to a giant known to be rich, hoping that he isn't very smart.  She makes bets with him to win his gold and indeed, wins his entire fortune by doing nothing but talk.  A humorous story that children will love, Clever Beatrice can be read over and over without losing its charm.

Ideas

This is great for a display about fables from different cultures, as well as for humorous books for children.  This would also be a great book to read to a class as they will likely find the giant to be dumb and silly.

44. Red Riding Hood

Red Riding Hood
By Sarah Blakley-Cartwright
Poppy, 2011

Genre
Fairy Tale

Awards
None Known

Review
Inspired by the movie of the same name that was released later in 2011, Red Riding Hood has many things: romance, mystery, paranormal (werewolves), and fanatic religious zeal.  The young heroine, a tomboy apparently unaware of good looks everyone else seems to notice, finds the idea of falling in love alluring but confusing, wondering if there's even a point to it if you don't marry the one you love or you stop loving the one you marry.  Not long into the book though, there is not one, but two, love interests for this fickle teenage: the blast from the past "bad boy" and the son of the wealthy blacksmith.  The town has been in an uneasy peace with a werewolf who they give livestock sacrifices to at the full moon.  Heroine Valerie witnesses a sacrifice being taken by the wolf when she was a child and it forever changed her.  She later is accused of witchcraft and offered as bait for the wolf when the uneasy peace was broken when he killed Valerie's sister.  This book is enticing for those who particularly enjoy supernatural romance, but has disappointing follow through with flat characters, a capricious heroine, and an incomplete plot.

Opinion
I enjoyed the idea behind this book, though it is not unique.  However, Valerie soon wore my patience thin.  Though being indecisive is a human trait, it is very overplayed and makes her a frustrating character.  Aside from her struggle with love, mixed with her sudden desires to be eternally alone or chase the werewolf on her own, she has no depth.  There is also no depth to the two love interests and the other villagers are just as flat.  Seemingly the person with the most character is the religious fanatic that comes into the story about half-way through.  There is a difference between an ending that wraps many things up but leaves a full conclusion to the imagination and an ending that is carelessly written, leaving many loose ends; unfortunately this book ended sloppily.

Ideas
This book is a good suggestion for those who like books similar to the Twilight Saga and other supernatural romances, but mostly I would suggest recommending something else.

43. Hatchet

Hatchet
By Gary Paulsen
First Aladdin Paperbacks, 1987
Narrated by Peter Coyote

Genre
Survival Fiction

Awards

• Newbery Award (1988)
• Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award (1989)

Review
This classic story of survival finds Brian on a plane flying over the Canadian wilderness to visit his father after his parents' divorce.  The pilot suffers a heart attack during flight and the plane crashes, leaving Brian to fend for himself in an uninhabited forest with nothing but the hatchet his mother had given him before he left.  Brian survives many struggles, not the least of which is finding the motivation to keep living and trying to survive after he realizes he missed the first, and likely only, rescue plane to fly near his camp area.  A distressing tale about a boy alone in the woods is also extremely inspiring to young readers, showing the intensity of the human will to survive.

Opinion
This book was much more captivating than I thought it would be.  Peter Coyote did a great job narrating, bringing life to the scenery and Brian's emotions.  The book was repetitive at places; at first I found this annoying and it stood out to me more in audio form than if I had read it, but then it seemed to fall into a pattern, representing the thought patterns Brian was developing to survive.  There are some dark times in the book, like when Brian tries to cut his wrists in despair after missing the rescue plane, but this is quickly followed by a "new" Brian, resolute and determined to survive, pulling away from the darkness that he briefly explored.

Ideas
Great book for reluctant readers, especially young boys as they can identify with the main character.  Though it seems more intended for late elementary or middle school children, high school aged students can also enjoy this book, especially if they are behind in their reading level or for nostalgia's sake.

42. Smart Feller, Fart Smeller: And Other Spoonerisms

Smart Feller, Fart Smeller: And Other Spoonerisms
By Jon Agee
Michael Di Capua Books, 2006

Genre
Humor

Awards
None Known

Review
This book full of funny tongue-twisting word mix-ups that will make kids laugh.  An introduction explains what a "Spoonerism" is for those not lucky enough to have know this professor and the book closes with a translation of all the Spoonerisms for those who couldn't quite guess them all while reading.  These laughable verbal missteps are accompanied by pictures of just how ridiculous some of the things said would look ("What did the gardener say to her assistant? Please put this pants in their plots"), which just makes the phrases funnier.

Opinion
Younger tweens will definitely get a kick out of this book and likely memorize many of the sayings.  The pictures help to point out what the misspoken phrase is if the reader had difficulty guessing, but they can always check the back of the book for the answers! Hearing these saying, or reading them, may get old quickly, and some readers may be bored by the end of the book, but others will want to read it over and over.

Ideas
I think this would be a great book for an April Fool's Day display.  Even though it doesn't have practical jokes, the reader could challenge themselves to speak like the characters for the day.  Also a great addition to any humor collection, or just to read to a class for a laugh.

41. Lost and Found

Lost and Found
By Shaun Tan (mostly)
Arthur A. Levine Books, 2011

Genre
Picture Book

Awards

• Ditmar Award: Best Artwork - The Lost Thing (2011)

Review

This book combines three stories: The Red Tree, The Lost Thing, and The Rabbits.  All three were illustrated by Shaun Tan, but The Rabbits is written by John Marsden.  All of these stories are poignant reminders of times when we feel alone, out of place, or uncertain about where we belong and what our futures might look like.  All are memorably illustrated with beautiful use of color, some pages continuing the stories with just pictures.  Definitely intended for older tweens and teens, this book can still be appreciated by younger readers to an extent, though some words may be too difficult.

Opinion
The first story really hit me; it is a great description of feeling lost in the thralls of depression, mostly expressed through the art, which is sometimes the only way to express feelings like that.  The story of The Lost Thing was also moving, reminding me of how we categorize people and how we often stop seeing things that appear out of place, because we are too busy with something else to help.

Ideas

This is a good example of a picture book intended for an older audience and can be displayed as such.  It's a great way to show older tween and teen readers that if they see books that look like children's picture books, that's not always who they are intended for. 

40. Woolvs in the Sitee

Woolvs in the Sitee
By Margaret Wild
Illustrated by Anne Spudvilas
Front Street, 2006

Genre
Picture Book

Awards

• Aurealis Award for Best Children's Fiction (2006)
• Shortlist for ABPA Book Design Award: Picture Book Nominee (2007)
• Shortlist for CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award (2007)

Review
Set in an unknown situation, possibly an apocalypse, some kind of government with invasive surveillance, or even his own paranoid delusions, Ben hides from the "woolvs" in a basement.  He is alone, but for the woman upstairs; he tries to warn her about the "woolvs", but she doesn't believe him and he means the "luvlee wyld creechis, running in the woods", but it seems more likely they are people.  When this woman suddenly disappears, Ben decides to risk the outside dystopian world to find her.  The dark illustrations in watercolor and charcoal perfectly show this frightening world that Ben phonetically describes.  Though unsure of what is happening, this book entices the reader, wondering what may really be going on and hints at a much greater story that begs to be told after the last page.

Opinion
This was a unique book; though set in the familiar feel of a children's picture book, it is far more appropriate for the middle school or high school age group.  The artwork is beautiful and haunting, all of the book pushing the reader forward to discover what the "woolvs" are, only to be left wondering at its close.

Ideas
I think this would be a great project for an English class or Psychology class (if taking the idea of paranoid delusions): to read the book and have the class write about what the "woolvs" are and maybe even what happens next or what was really happening.

39. Esperanza Rising

Esperanza Rising
By Pam Muñzo Ryan
Narrated by Trini Alvarado
Scholastic, 2000

Genre
Historical Fiction

Awards

• Jane Addams Children's Book Awards for Book for Older Children (2000)
• Publisher's Weekly: Best Book (2000)
• Publisher's Weekly Starred Review (2000)
• Pura Belpré Award: Narrative (2002)

Review
Esperanza's life is about to change.  She has always been the daughter of a wealthy father who owned a lot of land on his Mexican ranch; she was used to having servants, pretty dresses, and porcelain dolls.  But when her father is killed, she and her mother are forced to run to the US to escape her corrupt uncles who now own the farm.  Here, Esperanza learns to work and to appreciate life around her for what it is, not what she has.  This is a beautiful story of a girl coming to terms with who she is and adjusting to new circumstances, doing what she must do in the face of adversity.  This story is set during the Mexican Repatriation in the US and not long after the Mexican Revolution.  A powerful story that speaks to readers about coming to terms with hardships beyond personal control and rising above them.

Opinion
This is a great story and can be inspiring to readers, especially those who can identify with the main characters due to heritage, personal loss, or other similarities.  Esperanza is a wonderful heroine that girls can look up to as a strong female role model.  I think this book is good for more advanced readers in later elementary school or the average middle school reader.

Ideas
Great for many different kinds of displays: historical fiction, Mexican-American history, multicultural history, etc.  This book would also be good for a unit on multicultural literature.

38. Frankenstein Takes the Cake

Frankenstein Takes the Cake
By Adam Rex
Harcourt Children's Books, 2008

Genre
Poetry

Awards

• Publisher's Weekly Starred Review (2008)

Review
Set up almost like a magazine with adds for Tofillager (villager shaped tofu for the vegetarian werewolf) and special buckets to help witches melt and look scarier, in addition to various sections about Edgar Allan Poe and the Headless Horseman, this hilarious poetry book will keep readers entertained for multiple readings.  Frankenstein also makes an appearance a few times to meet his fiance's parents, to help plan their wedding, and to actually attend his wedding (which turns into a disaster when a vampire is served garlic bread.  The various types of illustrations, some black and white, some colorful, some simulating photographs, and more, add variety and bring extra humor to the already humorous poems.

Opinions
This book was very funny and I can see tweens loving these poems about historically scary creatures now cast in a comical light.

Ideas
This book is great for a humorous book display, a Halloween arrangement, or just a book to read to a class to make them laugh.

37. A Wreath for Emmett Till

A Wreath for Emmett Till
By Marilyn Nelson
Illustrated by Philippe Lardy
HMH Books for Young Readers, 2009

Genre
Poetry

Awards

• Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book (2005)

Review
This is a well-written heroic crown of sonnets, beautifully illustrated to represent the feelings elicited by the horrible murder of fourteen-year old Emmett Till in 1955.  Though packaged like a children's picture book, this book is much more intense and dark and more appropriate for older middle grade students or high school students.  Many of the poems are from the perspective of the poet reviewing the lynching and Emmett himself, but a few are from other perspectives like that of the tree where he was hung or that of his mother.  Nelson skillfully weaves this wreath in memory of an event that haunts her from her childhood.

Opinion
This book unfortunately looks like a picture book, which means many older children may have qualms about picking it up, but it is certainly not meant for children.  The artwork is beautiful and I loved how she incorporated the language of flowers, making a wreath of poems and a symbolic wreath of flowers.  The back of the book contains a description of the events that spurred this book, and as someone unaware of this event, I wish this description was at the front.  There is also an explanation of the imagery and literary references in each sonnet that I found very useful.  I think this book deserves many readings to get the true meanings, as some of the poems may be too "intellectual" to draw out their intended emotions in the first read.

Ideas
A great book for Black History Month it shows an event that "helped spark the civil rights movement of the late 1950s and 1960s".  This is a good example of a heroic crown of sonnets, what I can only imagine to be a very difficult form of poetry to compose, and could be a challenging project for students to examine.

36. Riding Freedom

Riding Freedom
By Pam Muñoz Ryan
Scholastic Paperbacks, 1999
Narrated by Melissa Hughes

Genre
Historical Fiction

Awards 

• Teacher's Choice Award (1999)

• WILLA Award: Best Young Adult Novel (1999)
• Arizona Young Reader's Award (1999-2000)
• California Young Reader Medal: Intermediate Reader (2000)

Review
After Charlotte banned from the stables because her riding makes the boys look bad and her only friend in the orphanage is being adopted, she decides to run away.  She escapes with the help of her friend and the stable hand, disguised as a boy.  She finds work in a stable with coach horses where she is a stable hand, and eventually coach driver, until she decides to move to California during the gold rush to find land where she can finally get her own ranch.  This is a wonderful story about "Charlie", a coach driver that was a woman disguised as a man until the day she died.  An inspiring story for young girls about chasing your dreams no matter what it takes, this story touches on the history of the woman's suffrage movement and talks about what it was like to be a girl in those times.  Melissa Hughes does a great job narrating, bringing Charlotte's story to life for the listener.

Opinion
This is an inspiring story about this girl who went against all odds to achieve what she did.  The author explains that though Charlotte was real, and most of the characters and history was accurate, some of the timelines were changed to coincide with historical events the way the author wanted.  I think this is a great book for horse lovers and for girls, who will find strength in Charlotte's spirit and resilience.

Ideas
Great for a display about historical woman, woman's suffrage, horses, or people who are not who they appear to be.

35. The Realms of the Gods

The Immortals Book IV: The Realms of the Gods
By Tamora Pierce
Simon Pulse, 1996
Narrated by Tamora Pierce and Full Cast Audio

Genre
High Fantasy

Awards
None Known

Review
Daine, a young girl with wild magic (she can speak with animals and shape-shift) and Numair (a highly skilled mage) return for this conclusion to the Immortals quartet.  While attempting to help the monarchy of Tortall, Daine and Numair find themselves in a battle they cannot win against a group of Immortals, only to find themselves pulled harshly into the Divine Realms.  Here Daine meets her mother for the first time since she was killed, finding she is now a minor Goddess, the Green Woman.  Daine also discovers who her father is, Weiryn, the minor Northern God of the Hunt.  In the Divine Realms, Daine and Numair learn about the battle of the greater gods with their sister, Uusoae, the queen of Chaos.  They discover she has unlawfully aligned herself with an Immortal to gain more power from the war raging in the human realm so she can finally break out of her Chaos dimension and begin taking over all the realms.  Traveling back to the human realm requires Daine and Numair to take a treacherous journey to the Dragon Realm and convince these majestic yet stubborn beings to take them back before it's too late.  Along the way, a romance blossoms between the wild mage and master mage.  A wonderful conclusion to this quartet, The Reals of the Gods also provides plenty of background information for those readers who are just discovering the amazing worlds of Tortall and beyond.

Opinion
I loved this book, though many of the characters weren't as fleshed out as I'd like to have seen them.  I think this is mainly because this is a closing book to a series where most of these characters were already explored.  I found the majority of the audiobook cast to be wonderful, though I found the author herself narrated in a somewhat jerky, over-enunciated manor that was often distracting.

Ideas
This is a great series for anyone who knows they enjoy fantasy - there's really no way around encountering it here!  This may be a good book for a reader to try if they are unsure of how they feel about high fantasy.  The lower reading level appropriate for middle school readers makes it easy to focus on all the fantastical creatures and abilities the world holds, giving this genre a true opportunity to be experience rather than muddled through.

34. Trickster: Native American Tales, A Graphic Collection

Trickster: Native American Tales, A Graphic Collection
By Assorted
Fulcrum Books, 2010

Genre
Fables

Awards

• Aesop Prize Winner (2011)

Review

Artistic and imaginative, these Native American tales all feature various tricksters like the raven, the rabbit, and the coyote at their various antics.  A mix of artists and storytellers adds plenty of variety to the tellings.  Some of the stories seem very odd, like the rendition of how the vulture became bald, while others are less about the trickster doing the tricking on purpose and more about stumbling into messing things up for everyone, like when the coyote spilled his pebbles in the sky.  Regardless of the specific fable being read, doubtless readers will love these stories and learn about some possible reasons as to why things are the way they are.

Opinion
Most of these fables were wonderful and brand new to me.  The first story of how the stars were created was probably my favorite, but sometime near the end I felt like the book went a little down-hill.  I became bored and I was actually slightly put-off by the story of the vulture's head becoming bald.  The story didn't explicitly state how this happened, but the pictures suggested his head was stuck up a man's rear-end for a time.  I did enjoy the majority of these stories though and the hodgepodge of art styles was entertaining to examine.

Ideas
This is a great introductory book to Native American fables and could be displayed for Native American Heritage Month.  Also great for a general display that shows the fables and folklore of different cultures.

33. Nancy Drew Mystery Stories: #1 The Secret of the Old Clock

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories: #1 The Secret of the Old Clock
By Carolyn Keene
Illustrated by Russell H. Tandy
Grosset & Dunlap, 1959

Genre
Mystery

Awards
None Known

Review
After making friends with the family of a girl she rescued, Nancy grows to learn that this family, and their relatives, though poor, were planning on receiving inheritance money from a rich relative who recently died.  However his money was all left to the Tophams', still a part of the family, but already rich in their own right.  Nancy, an 18 year old girl known for her intuitiveness, starts to believe there is another will left by the rich relative and begins her hunt.  A classic mystery that readers will race to solve before Nancy does, this story will capture the attention of tween readers.  Despite the age of the book, there is little to date it except the copyright date and the outfits in the scarce illustrations.  Readers today will enjoy Nancy's adventures as much as readers in the '60s.

Opinion
I loved reading this book.  It reminded me of how I used to love mysteries when I was younger, but have gravitated away from them the older I got.  This book really is great for tweens, though the characters are shallow and one-dimensional.

Ideas
A great addition to any young girl's collection.  While both genders could certainly enjoy this book, boys will likely enjoy books with male protagonists, like the Hardy Boys series, or a mixed group, like The Boxcar Children.  This Nancy Drew book would be a great addition to a display trying to recreate interest in old favorites or for any mystery display.

32. Deadtime Stories: Grave Secrets

Deadtime Stories: Grave Secrets
By Annette and Gina Cascone
Starscape/Tor, 2011

Genre
Horror

Awards
None Known

Review
   A haunting story that follows a Amanda Peterson after she found a doll buried in her pet cemetery in her backyard.  The doll was haunted, she and her friends decided, though Amanda had yet to find out exactly how haunted! After run-ins with her scary neighbor, Barnsey, and mysterious messages left for her by the ghost child, Anna, Amanda and her friends decided to do whatever it takes to confront Barnsey and help Anna's ghost get some peace.  These authors do a wonderful job of writing a story that compels the reader to continue, with cliffhanger chapter endings and questions left unanswered until the end.  The story is creepy, but appropriate for tweens who like feeling scared.

Opinion
I think this book is good for children who enjoy horror.  It is not choppy like I find Goosebumps to be, but holds the readers attention and incorporates a bit of detective work into the horror of the story.

Ideas
Great for a Halloween display or a general horror book display.  A good book to read ahead of time and to abridge and tell while camping if people want to hear a scary story.

31. Technically, It's Not My Fault

Technically, It's Not My Fault
By John Grandits
Clarion Books, 2004

Genre
Humor, Poetry

Awards

• ALA Notable Book for Children (2005)
• ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers (2005)
• Book Sense Top Ten Poetry List (2005)
• CCBC Choice (2005)
• NCTE Notable Children’s Book in the Language Arts (2005)
• Young Hoosier (IN) Book Award Nominee (2006-2007)

Review
This is a fun book of concrete poetry, poetry written to form a picture or to otherwise convey some meaning of the poem.  All the poems follow Robert through events like skateboarding and playing baseball, tormenting his sister by flushing the toilet while she is in the shower, or thinking about the perfect roller coaster or the life of a fart.  These poems are told well with their words and the pictures  they make in red and black ink with crazy font types really add to the entertainment they provide!  Middle grade children and even early high school students will love this book because of its quirky nature.

Opinion
With a funny story on the cover to start everything off, Grandits has written a truly entertaining book of poetry that even those who "hate" poems will find themselves enjoying.

Ideas
A great book for reluctant poetry readers.  A good challenge would be for readers to create their own concrete poem.

30. Amulet: The Stonekeeper

Amulet: The Stonekeeper
By Kazu Kibuishi
Scholastic, 2008

Awards

• YALSA Best Books for Young Adults (2009)
• Rhode Island Children's Book Award (2010)
• Library Journal's Graphic Novels for Reluctant Readers (2010)
• Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice Award: Junior Division (2011)
• Oregon Library Association Reader's Choice Award: Junior Division (2011)
• #4 on Goodreads "Best Graphic Novels for Children" (2013)

Genre
Adventure, Low Fantasy,  Steampunk

Review
After their father dies in a car crash, Emily, Navin, and their mother move from the city to a family home "in the middle of nowhere" that their mother inherited from her grandfather, Silas Charnon.  After moving in, the family discovered Silas's workshop where he built what he called puzzles, but were really game machines of some kind.  Here Emily finds an amulet that was hidden in his workbench.  During the night, the family hears noises coming from the basement and go to investigate.  Their mother is abducted by some kind of monster and taken through an opening in the wall into a strange land; and the children soon chase after her, trying to save her.  The amulet springs to life and attacks the monster.  The children aren't able to save their mother at that time, but the amulet speaks to them, instructing them to find their great-grandfather's home in this land, called Alledia.  After finding Silas, he tells Emily he intended the amulet to be hers and that she take over his role of controlling the amulet and gaining power to rule in Alledia.  The children then set out with robots made by Silas to find their mother and cure her from the poisonous monster.  The colorful drawings and cute, quirky robot characters are entertaining and make the reader hope for the children to succeed on their mission.

Opinion

A book that engages the readers from the beginning, this is a great book for tweens.  The story makes the reader want to continue the series, because it leaves many questions unanswered at the end of the first book, but they seem answerable in books to come.

Ideas

There is a small steampunk theme in this book with the machinery built by the children's great-grandfather and the robots, but I am unsure if that theme extends through the series.  This may be a good book for a steampunk display or just to engage reluctant readers in an easy to follow adventure.

29. Lincoln's Grave Robbers

Lincoln's Grave Robbers
By Steve Sheinkin
Scholastic Press, 2013
Narrated by Will Patton

Genre
Non-fiction

Review
An exciting telling of how President Lincoln's body was almost stolen by grave robbers in a plot to force the government to release a notorious and talented engraver and counterfeiter.  Sheinkin touches on a brief history of the creation of the Secret Service, which was created to investigate and stop counterfeiting, in addition to covering a small part of the trouble with the election results in November 1876 between Samuel J. Tilden and Rutherford B. Hayes, but he mainly focuses on the trouble counterfeit money was causing in the country.  Once the most talented engraver, Ben Boyd, was captured, counterfeit money was much harder to find to the joy of honest citizens and the Secret Service, but to the frustration of those who made their living off illegally distributing it like members of Boyd's counterfeiting ring who were having trouble surviving after his arrest.  They planned to rob the Springfield tomb that held Lincoln's body and ransom the body back to the government in exchange for Boyd's release and $200,000.  The story is told almost like a mystery or detective story, focusing around the Secret Service agent investigating the ring and the informer that had been placed in the ring.  An exciting narration given by Will Patton makes this little known part of history come to life in the listener's imagination as Sheinkin recounts the events of the planning and execution of the plot.  With bonus features like a glossary of terms and a short story about the history of body snatching in the medical profession, this book is full of interesting historical facts sure to grab the attention of tween readers.

Opinion
I loved listening to this book.  The narrator reminded me of the voice you might hear at the beginning of old private detective shows, where the camera pans into an office that says Private Investigator with a gumshoe behind the desk in a trench coat.  I had never heard of this event and felt like the book was very informative and well put into context of the times with information about the secret service and the big election happening at the same time.

Ideas
I think this is a great book for a display or study on little known facts, American history, or Presidential history.

28. Witches! The Absolutely True Story of Disaster in Salem

Witches! The Absolutely True Story of Disaster in Salem
By Rosalyn Scmanzer
National Geographic Children's Books, 2011
Narrated by Jessica Almasy

Genre
Non-fiction

Awards

• Society of Illustrators Gold medal for Best Illustrated Children's Book (2011)
• A Junior Library Guild Selection (Fall 2011)
• NY Public Library's 25 Best Nonfiction Titles (2011)
• #8 on Fuse list of 100 Magnificent Children's Books (2011)
• Kid Lit Frenzy top 5 Middle Grade Picks (2011)
• School Library Journal Starred Review and Best Book of the Year (2011)
• Included in Communication Arts Magazine's Annual Illustration Issue (May/June 2012)
• Robert F. Sibert Honor Award as one of the year's 5 most distinguished informational books for children (2012)
• NCSS/CBS Notable Social Studies Trade Book (2012)
• ALA Notable Children's Book

Review

A well-written history of the famous Salem Witch Trials that started in 1692 after two young girls, the daughter and niece of the town preacher, began suffering from odd symptoms (writhing and twisting in impossible directions, speaking strangely with nonsensical terms, and choking) and were diagnosed as being bewitched!  The girls were urged by their caretakers to finger the people whose spirits were harming them.  The girls fingered their family's longtime slave and two other village women, a beggar woman and an elderly ill woman who hadn't been to church in years.  Soon after this event, some of the girls' friends began experiencing similar symptoms and brought on the mass hysteria that lead to numerous people being accused and jailed for witchcraft, 20 people being killed, and ruined hundreds of lives.  Many people accused their own family members to avoid being accused themselves.  The courthouses were the stage where those claiming to be afflicted by the witches performed mimics of the accused person's gestures, pricked themselves with pins, bit themselves, and made shocking accusations about their own neighbors being in league with the devil.  Scmanzer covers this topic well, going into the poorly run trials where many were condemned based solely on spectral evidence and corrupt officials stole the assets of the accused for themselves before the person was even tried, rather than following the law and turning their assets over to the crown after they were condemned.

Opinion

A good synopsis of terrible historical events, this book gives an idea of the daily fright townsfolk must have experience during this time where anyone could be accused as a witch and would likely end up in prison, owing money for their "room and board" and their "rented" shackles, if they weren't condemned to die.  Scmanzer did a good job of writing to her target audience, upper elementary school, and even explained in her note at the end of the book that she paraphrased many of the quotes she used as they were more lengthy and written in more difficult, archaic English.  The narrator, Almasy, did a decent job of keeping the listener engaged in the audiobook, though I found her voice to get shrill and annoying at times.  Unfortunately, I did not have a physical copy and could not view the award winning illustrations, but the few that I've seen online are quite unique black & white art accented with red that seem to perfectly illustrate many of the occurrences.

Ideas

Great book for a middle-grade non-fiction reader and would be useful if writing a report.  The descriptions of the trials also gives a good look at the way religion was viewed in this time period and location, as well as how the legal system worked.

27. Legend

Legend
By Marie Lu
Penguin Books, 2011
Narrated by Mariel Stern and Steven Kaplan

Genre
Dystopian Sci-fi

Awards
None Known

Review

June Iparis aced her exam, a test of physical and mental capability all 10 year-olds must take to determine their educational and career potential and usefulness to the Republic.  She quickly worked her way through her accelerated high school and college courses.  When her brother is killed by the notorious vigilante known as Day after he robbed a health clinic for some plague suppressants, June is graduated early to take his place in the army and makes it her personal goal to capture Day.  She goes on an undercover assignment: living on the streets, trying to make acquaintances who may know something about Day and his whereabouts.  She makes friends with an unknown boy and his companion, a younger girl named Tess, and spends time with them in the slums, waiting for a leg injury to heal.  She and the boy start to fall for each other, sharing a kiss one night while Tess slept.  As the boy goes to sleep, June notices him grab at his neck, as if for a necklace that is no longer there.  Horrified, she remembers the pendent found at the scene of her brother's murder and realizes that this boy is Day.  June reports to her superiors that she found Day and that no one was to get hurt during his capture.  However, the next day, Day's mother is killed while the government captures Day and his two brothers.  June, loyal to the Republic until Day began telling her things that contradicted what she was taught, starts questioning her long-held blind trust in the Republic and finds enough shocking truths to make her orchestrate Day's escape on the day of his execution.  Readers will be immersed in this detailed story where questioning authority can be deadly, but necessary.

Opinion
The setting is made so real; the back and forth of the chapters between Day's perspective and June's perspective makes the audience understand where both characters are coming from.  The technology isn't excessive, but the author seems to warn that in a world where most things are done online, the government can trace it all.  A wonderful suggestion for middle grade readers, boys and girls alike.  Definetely memorable, this book drives the reader to want to read the next book in the series immediately (though this book does a great job of a solid enough ending to stand on its own).

Ideas
A clear example of dystopian fiction, this book may be used to show the extremes of what could happen under a dictatorship (the Republic's "President" always runs for office, but has "won" 8 elections in a row, with his son planning to succeed him).  It briefly touches on the potential dangers of the internet, but mainly focuses on the theme of a society that doesn't question authority.

26. Dying to Cross

Dying to Cross
By Jorge Ramos
HarperCollins Publishers, 2006
Narrated by Jonathan Davis

Genre
Non-fiction

Awards
None Known

Review
Written by Jorge Ramos, a celebrated and popular Mexican journalist, this book tells the tragic story of over 70 immigrants from Mexico and various Central American countries who attempted to cross the Mexican-American border illegally on May 13, 2003.  These desperate people traveled a variety of ways and paid a few thousand dollars each to get from their homes to safe houses in Harlingen, TX, from which they were told they would be delivered to Huston, TX.  Based on the accounts of various immigrants, it seems the travelers were told different things by their coyotes (the people paid to bring them across the border) about what their accommodations and traveling methods would be, but in reality, they all ended up in a truck trailer for the last leg of their journey from Harlingen to Huston.  Although this truck had a refrigeration unit, the driver never turned it on, causing 17 people to die in the truck and 2 more later in the hospital.  Ramos' story tells about some of the lives of the immigrants before the tragedy and covers part of the trials after many coyotes, including the suspected ring-leader, were arrested.

Opinion
This was an extremely repetitive book and the author covered almost the entire story in the first chapter.  He reiterates facts like the temperature or that a young boy died in the truck and harps on "if only" ideas.  He briefly touches on the idea that both the countries Mexico and America are partially responsible for this tragedy due to poor immigration policy despite stating at the beginning of his book that he was simply trying to give the accounts of some of the surviving immigrants and some of those who died, not trying to make a political statement or legal overview.  This is a poorly written book, though the story it tells is heartbreaking and deserves to be told in a better way.

Ideas
I am not familiar with techniques used in journalism, but I feel like this may be an example of a journalist outreaching the bounds of what he is used to.   This could be used in a journalism or literature class to show how not to write an account of events.  It could also be used to discuss with tweens the problems that illegal immigration create for those attempting to travel in such a fashion, because although it is a poorly written book, it is a book that, in terms of reading level, would be appropriate for tweens to read.