Reviews written by Kimberly Pauley

The Purple Balloon is a book that should be available in every childrens hospital and to every child facing a terminal illness (as well as anyone dealing with the impending death of a friend or family member). Written by Caldecott Award winner Chris Raschka, it deals with a difficult topic...

For an inside girl, Flan Flood is remarkably even-headed and not at all prima-donna. Her older brother and sister are famous for throwing out-of-control parties and hanging with celebrities&heck, they are celebrities in their own right. Her parents are rich and not very involved with their kids, jet-setting all over...

Reed has always been totally clueless when it comes to girls, but hes hoping senior year will change all of that. Not only did he shoot up to 61, but he got contacts (and ditched the coke bottle glasses) and got his braces off. And his two best friends (who...

Carlos has had a crush on Roxy for ages but his friends (Playboy the total player, Toro the strong, silent type, and Pulga a nice guy, but kind of a follower) are no help. Then he notices that Sal, an older guy reputed to be gay, seems...

Marit is convinced she (and her guy-friend Jamie) are the last virgins at their high school. And shes worried that her mental hang-up about sex is the reason that she cant seem to hold on to a boyfriend. Things seem really desperate to her when she makes a fool of...

Count to ten and back again with One Naked Baby as you follow an exuberant youngster through an entire day. Each page is a scene of colorful action, with bouncy text (Four silly hats!) and lots going on. Look for all the different animals (cats, robins, chipmunks, etc.) that share...

I really liked D.J. Schwenk in Dairy Queen and I like her even better in Off Season. She is such a great character (and what a great name! Its perfect). Honest, true, conflicted, strong, weak&shes a girl Id like to know, though I cant say that we have a lot...

I loved the title of this one as soon as I saw it whats not to like about 17 Things Im Not Allowed to Do Anymore? You can tell going in what kind of book it is going to be: fun, funny, and with a kid whos got a...

Jane Yolen and Mark Teague have teamed up for another dinosaurs book and this time the big, scaly and spotted creatures are going to school. This book follows the same format as others in the series: it starts off with the main question (How does a dinosaur go to school?)...

Winter and Sloan have been best friends for a while and after a freshman year that saw neither of them making any progress in the popularity polls, they make a pact that their sophomore year is going to be different. They are going to do whatever it takes to make...

Penelope should have it all. Shes the accomplished only child of a wealthy, aristocratic family. She has tutors to teach her anything she wants to learn. A matchmaker whos only job is to find Penelopes own personal Prince Charming. But Penelope is also suffering under the...

This is an old-fashioned romance novel the kind where the heroine is almost too good to be true, the hero very handsome, and the setting caters to our dreams of how the other half lived, back when everything was more grand. It is also an age-appropriate romance (though adults...

Well, Ive finally got enough stuff unpacked that I can take some time to do some reviews (about time, I know, I know). Tantalize was actually an absorbing enough read that it took me away from all that packing I did before we moved (dont tell my husband). ...

Most kids have a little bit of the adventurer in them. If youre planning any trips to a national park (especially one of the ones specifically covered in the book), Teddys Travels is a nice little book to take with them. The book bills itself as...

P. W. Catanese is back with a new Further Tales adventure. This one continues on the story of Rumpelstiltskin (remember him? Hes the one who spun the straw into gold for the girl married to the king and asked for her first born child in return). The...