Reviews written by Karen Yingling, Staff Reviewer

In 1884, Mamie Tape's parents attempted to enroll her at the Spring Valley Primary School near her home in San Francisco California. Mamie had played with the children in her neighborhood, but was denied admission to the school because of the anti-Chinese sentiments at the time. These had a long...

A child and mother start the long and interesting process of making challah in their sun filled kitchen. The bring out their favorite bowl, mix the ingredients, wait for the dough to rise, braid it, and smell the delicious aromas as it bakes. After the bread has cooled, they...

As a child goes through the day, there are gentle reminders of how natural elements interact with us. From the sun shining on faces in the early morning to the moon and stars at night, the child is assured that these things are brightening the day with flowers, invitations to...

I am convinced that there is so much interesting information about World War II that books will still be published on the topic in 2095! It's still a popular topic with young readers, especially when undiscovered facets, such as the plight of the famous Lippizaner stallions in Austria, come to...

Life is pretty perfect in Pocketville for Monti Mole. He has his routine, which includes a visit to Mrs. Sheep's bakery to get a treat, a trip to the library for reading material, and a brief spell of communing with nature by sitting on his favorite rock by a river...

Here's the perfect book for Shark Week from the team that brought you Everything You Know About Dinosaurs is Wrong! Tween shark aficionados will tell you that sharks are misunderstood, but they need this book to provide the ammunition needed to disabuse those who don't understand sharks of their misconceptions!...

Told from one young father's point of view, we are privy to his musings as he looks at his young soon. He has the idea that there is an invisible thread linking the two of them. This thread connects them in sometimes magical ways, saving the little boy from a...

Can we live on Mars? Is Pluto a planet? Star Wars vs. Star Trek? There's no shortage of geeky, space related questions that tweens readers can ponder, and Asteroid vs. Comet offers new opportunities for scientific thinking. In order to really calculate things properly, we first meet both an asteroid,...

Even though Schulz has been gone for over twenty years, his Peanuts characters are more popular than ever. Snoopy, of course, is the most endearing of his creations, and his daring exploits are highlighted in this collection of stories that combines the classic work of Shulz with new stories involving...

From the team that brought you Unseen Jungle: The Microbes that Secretly Control Our World comes a fantastic look into what makes pets of all kinds tick! Accompanied by Wilson's charming illustrations, there is information about a wide range of pets and their sometimes strange behaviors. ...

Fipps' Starfish has a huge following, and this will be another title that will be popular. There is something about seeing children faced with overwhelming challenges and having to care for themselves that makes for an intriguing read. Joe's situation is realistically portrayed, and the details of how he and...

This was a different type of magical horror book that I think my students will like. It combines the horror level of K.R. Alexander with the folklore of Tracey Baptiste or Ronald L. Smith, and even adds a pretty good level of monster related gore. Marius is a very...

In this sequel to Brick Dust and Bones, Marius has managed to bring his mother, Kelly, back from the dead. He continues to go to Madame Millet's school, where he has met the enigmatic Lynna, and also hunts monsters, selling them to Papa Harold. His flesh-eating mermaid friend, Rhiannon, still...

Elena Rueda's mother Marissa is VERY invested in her daughter's baseball career, since she faced obstacles in her own. There's not time for fun, since Elena doesn't get to hang out after games with her teammates, and instead must train and attend camps to help her performance. Not only that,...

There are strange things happening at Camp Apple Hill Farm, as unhappy camper Elaina learns. She's so homesick that she doesn't join her easygoing bunkmate Tiffany at evening activities, but stays behind in the cabin with her counselor, Taylor. When there's a knock at the door, Eliana sees Taylor disappear...