Booklist

Picture Book

Picture Book, Hooper Humperdink…? Not Him!, Theo Lesieg, This story is about a kid and his wild imagination of how fancy and wonderful his birthday party will be. He goes on and on about everyone he will invite except Hooper Humperdink. After he exhausts all realms of fantasy concerning his party’s greatness, he decides to invite Hooper Humperdink.
Picture Book, The Giving Tree, Shel SilverStein, There is a boy and a tree and the tree loves the boy very much and wants him to be happy. Over time, the tree sacrifices everything because she loves the boy. A very touching story.
Picture Book, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Jodi Barrrett, Instead of weather, the residents of Chewandswallow get their food from the sky, that is until the food weather goes crazy and the citizens must flee to avoid being destroyed by giant meatballs, hamburgers and slices of bread falling from the sky. Eventually they sail off on giant pieces of toast to find a safer world.
Picture Book, The Berenstain Bears And the Bad Dream, Stan & Jan Berenstain, Brother and sister bear both have nightmares and mama and papa bear explain to them were dreams come from and that they are not real.
Picture Book, The Berenstain Bears Meet Santa Bear, Stan & Jan Berenstain, Brother and sister bear have a lot of fun getting ready for Christmas in bear country. They make their Christmas lists and visit Santa bear and buy presents for Papa and Mama bear.
Picture Book, The Berenstain Bears And the Slumber Party, Stan & Jan Berenstain, This story teaches about privileges and responsibility. Sister bear is invited to a slumber party that gets out of hand and then goes back to help clean up the mess the cubs left.
Picture Book, The Berenstain Bears Forget Their Manners, Stan & Jan Berenstain, In this story, the bear family forgets to be polite to each other and mama bear puts together a plan to restore good manners to the family. They also learn why manners and respect are important.
Picture Book, The Berenstain Bears And Too Much Vacation, Stan & Jan Berenstain, The bear family takes off to the Great Grizzly Mountains to have their dream vacation. The only problem is that everything goes wrong and it turns out to be the worst vacation ever. They look back at the photos and laugh at them later.
Picture Book, The Berenstain Bears’ Trouble At School, Stan & Jan Berenstain, In this story brother bear gets a cold and misses some school. He falls behind and looses his spot on the soccer team. Grandpa Bear helps brother get back on track.
Picture Book, Little Chick’s Big Day, Mary DeBall Kwitz, Little chick wants to be grown up so bad. He runs away from naptime and gets lost. He finds his mother finally and realizes that he isn’t as big a chick as e thought e was.
Picture Book, Danny and the Dinosaur, Syd Hoff, Danny meets a dinosaur in the museum and the two of them have a fun day in town before the dinosaur has to go back to the museum.
Picture Book, Sammy the Seal, Syd Hoff, Sammy gets bored living at the zoo and spends a day out in the city to see what it is like.
Picture Book, Ten Apples up on Top, Theo LeSieg, A lion, tiger, and dog take turns seeing how many apples they can balance on top of their heads.
Picture Book, The Berenstain Bears and the eager Beavers, Stan & Jan Berenstain, The Bears get some new neighbors and learn how to be more productive. The Beavers learn how to have more fun.
Picture Book, The Berenstain Bears and the Substitute Teacher, Stan & Jan Berenstain, Brother Bear and Cousin Freddy get caught up in a plan to play tricks on the substitute teacher. It backfires and they learn that instead of trying to play tricks they would be better off studying. They also learn to say no to peer pressure.
Picture Book, The Berenstain Bears and the Bad Habit, Stan & Jan Berenstain, Sister Bear is a nail Biter. She eventually learns to stop biting her nails with the help of Gran’s good advice and some will power.
Picture Book, The Berenstain Bears Go Out For The Team, Stan & Jan Berenstain, The cubs try out for the Bear Country baseball team, but it is Momma Bear and Papa Bear who are more nervous that the cubs. And more competitive
Picture Book, The Berenstain Bears No Girls Allowed, Stan & Jan Berenstain, Brother Bear and his friends are sick of sister bear beating them at everything from marbles to tree climbing. They decide to build a boys only clubhouse. Sister bear retaliates by building a girl’s only clubhouse. They finally resolve the conflict when the girls get salmon and honey and the boys get fresh berries and they decide that it is better to share than not.
Picture Book, The Berenstain Bears Go To Camp, Stan & Jan Berenstain, Summer is here and for a while doing nothing all day is fun, but soon the cubs get bored and Momma Bear sends them to camp for the summer. They have a great time and end up getting lots of awards.
Picture Book, The Berenstain Bears Get The Gimmies. Stan & Jan Berenstain, In this story Brother and Sister Bear start having fits when they can’t have everything they want. After talking Grandpa and Grandma Bear, Mama and Papa come up with a plan to rid their cubs of the Gimmies.
Picture Book, The Berenstain Bears and the In-Crowd, Stan & Jan Berenstain, There is a new cub in town and she wears designer tops and takes everyone out for ice cream. That is everyone except Sister Bear. Sister Bear gets her feelings hurt, but she realizes that the new cubs is just try to make herself look better by putting other people down. But soon the tables turn and the new cub apologizes to Sister Bear.
Picture Book, The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat, Stan & Jan Berenstain, The cubs are ready to go trick or treating and have made a list of all the houses they want to hit. They are going to skip over Mrs. Mcgrizz’s house because they think she is a witch. In the end, they go to her house and have a good time. They learn that appearances can by deceiving.
Picture Book, The Berenstain Bears Get in a Fight, Stan & Jan Berenstain, Brother and sister usually get along great but today they can’t stop fighting. Eventually Momma Bear helps them calm down and end the day of fighting.
Picture Book, Merry Christmas Mom and Dad, Mercer Mayer, This book has some funny pictures and talks about all the things that the kid wanted to do for his parents at Christmas but nothing really worked out the way he thought.
Picture Book, Just Shopping With Mom, Mercer Mayer, This book just goes through a shopping trip and all the things that you can buy or want. It was actually pretty boring.
Picture Book, There’s a Nightmare in my Closet, Mercer Mayer, A cute story about a little boy who confronts the nightmare in his closet, The nightmare turns out to be a crybaby and the boy ends up tucking the nightmare into his bed taking care of it.

Poetry & Verse

Poetry & Verse, Panda Cake, Rosalie Seidler, Panda Cake is a special cake that only panda’s make. This rhyme tells the story of two cubs that steal ingredients from other animals and waste their mother’s money at a carnival. Bad cubs don’t get to eat any panda cake.
Poetry and Verse, Oh, the places you’ll go!, Dr. Seuss, An inspirational and motivational tale about how anything and everything is possible. Told through the fantasy world of Dr. Seuss. Really interesting and beautiful illustrations. Written in verse.
Poetry & Verse, The Berenstain Bears Blaze A Trail, Stan & Jan Berenstain, In this story, the bears go on a hiking trip and earn merit badges. It is told through rhyme and rhythm.
Poetry & Verse, The Berenstain Bears And The Missing Honey, Stan & Jan Berenstain, This time papa bear is missing some blackberry honey and the cubs set out to find the thief, instead they find out that papa had slept walked and ate his own honey. This story is told through rhyme and rhythm.
Poetry & Verse, The Berenstain Bears and the Ghost of The Forest, Stan & Jan Berenstain, The Bear scouts go on a camping trip. Papa tries to scare them by dressing up as a ghost, but scout leader Jane and Mama Bear get the best of Papa as they both dress up to scare him! This story is told in Rhyme.
Poetry & Verse, A Kiss Is Round, Blossum Budney, This is a book of rhymes about all the things that are round in the world and a few things that are very not round.
Poetry & Verse, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Sylvia Long, This is the full-length version of the rhyme. It is fully illustrated with cute watercolors of all kinds of animals getting ready for bed.
Poetry & Verse, Oscar the Otter, Alice Leedy Mason, This rhyme is about two otters that leave home to explore and have adventures. They meet new otters that are very rude to them and then they get caught in a thunderstorm. They realize that home was a great place and they never should have left.
Poetry & Verse, Larry the Lion, Alice Leedy Mason, Larry wants to be a good king but he doesn’t know how and all the other animals are afraid of him. He is very sad until he meets a monkey that helps him be a better king and include the other animals.

Folk Tales

Folk tales, McBroom’s Ghost, Sid Fleischman, This story is about a winter so cold that sounds freeze and then come back when it thaws. The McBroom’s think that their farm is haunted, but realize that it is just old sounds thawing out from the cold winter.
Folk tales, King Midas and the Golden Touch, Al Perkins, King Midas loves gold! One day he meets a magical man who grants him the ability to turn everything he touches into gold. At first he thinks that this is a great gift until he finds that he can’t eat anything because he turns food into gold. Finally he turns his old daughter into gold and regrets loving gold so much.
Folktales, Rip Van Winkle, Washington Irving, This is a tale about a very lazy man who goes up into the Catskill mountains and is put in a 20 year sleep by the ghosts of the Hudson expedition. When he wakes up he has missed the entire American Revolution and all his family is gone except one daughter.

Realistic Fiction

Realistic Fiction, Frankenstein Moved in on the Fourth Floor, Elizabeth Levy, This is a story about Sam, who believes that Frankenstein has moved into his apartment building. Sam and his friend, Robert, devise many theories and plans to discover their mysterious neighbor’s true identity.
Realistic Fiction, How Lazy Can You Get?, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, The Megglethorp children are usually very good and average children. When their parents leave for a week they are faced with a babysitter. The children and Miss Brasscoat have very different ideas about what is acceptable and what is not and they spend the week trying to make the new arrangement work. As a last resort the children decide to show her exactly how lazy and messy they can get in hopes that she will see how good they actually are.
Realistic Fiction, Magic and the Night River, Eve Bunting, This is a story about Yoshi and his grandfather. They use cormorant birds to fish on the night river. They are always very kind to their birds and when an accident forces the small fishing fleet to release all their birds, Yoshi and his grandfather’s are the only birds who return. They become the greatest fishermen on the river.
Realistic Fiction, The Dancing Man, Ruth Bornstein, Joseph has a dream of bringing happiness to people through dance. He meets an old man who gives him a pair of dancing shoes. He spends his life dancing for people to make them smile. When he becomes an old man he passes on the shoes to another boy so that the dancing can continue.
Realistic Fiction, Grandpa and Me and the Wishing Star, Barbara J. Porter, This book is so sad. It is about a boy who relives his memories of his grandpa and his grandpa’s death. At the end he wishes on a star to be with his grandpa again and he hears he grandpa’s voice in his heart.
Realistic Fiction, I Loved You Before You Were Born, Anne Bowen, This is a nice story about a Grandma who imagines all the details about how her first grandchild will be before he is born. It has beautiful paintings as illustrations.
Realistic Fiction, The Monster in the Third Dresser Drawer, Janice Lee Smith, This is a collection of short stories about a boy named Adam Joshua. He moves to a new town, gets a new baby sister, has a monster in his dresser, gets to know his great aunt, and gets a room all to his self. The writing style is odd.
Realistic Fiction, Surprises and Prizes, Robert Ruddell, This is a about a boy named Dave and his visit to the fair. It is a very boring book. The illustrations weren’t that great either.
Realistic Fiction, Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Corn Popper, David A. Adler, This is one in a series of mystery books. Cam has photographic memory and she uses it to solve crimes. This book was pretty dull. I don’t think I will read any more of them.
Realistic Fiction, The Haunting of Grade Three, Grace Maccarone, This was a fun story bout a group of 3^rd grade kids who have to investigate the strange noises and rumors in their 3^rd grade building, that happens to be an old mansion. They eventually discover that the house is sinking into the ground and that is what is causing the strange noises.
Realistic Fiction, Spy X Hide and Seek, Pete Lerangis, This is one of my favorite books so far. It is about two kids whose mother is a spy. She has disappeared and is leaving the kids clues to find her. The clues are all word puzzles and number riddles that really make you think. It is the second book in a series of Spy X novels. I want to read them all!
Realistic Fiction, Maniac Magee, Jerry Spinelli, I didn’t really care for this book. It is about an orphan boy who becomes a local legend and lives with a bunch of different people. I know that the author was trying to say something about race relations, but I just didn’t care for it. The only interesting thing was that I used to live in Pennsylvania and I know the are that the book takes place in.

Historical Fiction

Historical Fiction, The Ghost of Windy Hill, Clyde Robert Bulla, Set in 1851 this is a story about Lorna and Jamie and their adventures at windy hill. They help an abused orphan boy and make friends while trying to prove that the house they live in is not haunted.
Historical Fiction, Railroad Arthur, Alan Coren, Set in 1875 Kansas, This is about a series of train robberies that a boy named Arthur solves to the great astonishment of the people of Junction City.
Historical Fiction, Bud, Not Buddy, Christopher Paul Curtis, This is a very touching story about an orphan boy named Bud. The story itself is very straightforward about his search for the man he thinks is his father. The story also incorporates a wide variety of information about the great depression and what life was like during that period. Bud meets several people on his journey, so you are always seeing things from a different perspective and getting several views of life during that time. I enjoyed the way the book is written and the creative descriptions of the music that becomes important in the story.
Historical Fiction, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O’Dell, I really enjoyed this story. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to be stranded all alone on an island. I think this story would really appeal to kids. I was also impressed by how she befriends the things that harmed her and survived so well. It is also I neat study of Indian life on the island in the early 1800’s.
Historical Fiction, Number The Stars, Lois Lowry, This story is set in WWII Denmark and is about a young girl and her family. They help their Jewish friends escape the Nazis by smuggling them to Sweden. It is also a story about courage and bravery. I liked this one a lot and think that it would be a great story for kids to read.

Autobiography/Biography

Autobiography/Biography, Abraham Lincoln, T.M. Usel, This book is illustrated entirely with historical photographs. I enjoyed them very much and learned lots about our 16^th president’s life and history. I also learned that the Republican Party was created to oppose slavery. This is a fairly brief biography. It really only gives the most basic information, but the photographs make it worth reading.
Autobiography/Biography, Thomas Edison, Richard Tames, This is a much more comprehensive biography than the one on Lincoln. It also has many photographs and schematics and illustrations. I learned that Edison had over 1000 inventions before he died and like most geniuses and notable individuals, his teacher at one point told him not to bother going to school because he was not capable of learning. He was a smart businessman as well as a bit of an opportunist. This is a great book full of information and important contributions from Edison.
Autobiography/Biography, Charles Darwin, Clint Twist, I thought this book was a little soft on biography and a little heavy on explaining the theory of evolution. It covers his life very briefly until his voyage on the HMS Beagle. Then it has a rather extensive explanation of the theory of evolution and a vast array of different material that supports the theory. Then it quickly concludes with a brief description of other books Darwin wrote. It doesn’t even give his date of death. It was a good book and very informative about evolution and the controversy surrounding it, but it was well below acceptable as a biography.

Fantasy

Fantasy, Curious George, H.A.Rey, Curious George is a mischievous monkey in Africa who meets a man with a yellow hat and travels with him to the man’s house in the city. Lots of funny adventures arise because of the monkey’s curiosity. Curious George eventually goes to live in the zoo so he can be around other animals.
Fantasy, Curious George Gets A Medal, H.A.Rey, This is a continuation of Curious George’s misadventures, inspired by his curiosity. George is offered a chance to redeem himself after he messes everything up by flying into space. He succeeds and gets a medal for helping out.
Fantasy, The Eyes of the Dragon, Stephen King, This is the only Stephen King book that I would ever let a child read. This is a great adventure novel full of dragons, wizards and a young prince, who must save his kingdom. Best of all, the evil wizard’s plan is unraveled by a mouse!
Fantasy, The Reluctant Dragon, Kenneth Grahame, This is a wonderful tale of a boy who befriends a kind dragon and then must persuade a knight that he is a good dragon and not kill him. They fake a fight and then the knight and the boy help the village see what a good dragon he is. They all live happily ever after.
Fantasy, Tubby and the Lantern, Al Perkins, Tubby is an elephant that makes a giant paper lantern for his best friend. When the lantern fills up with hot air it floats and takes Tubby and his friend on a fun voyage over mountains and seas.
Fantasy, Piggle, Crosby Bonsall, Homer wants to play a game but nobody will play with him. Finally Bear decides to play a rhyming game and Piggle is born.
Fantasy, Little Bear, Else Holmelund Minarik, This is a collection of short stories about Little Bear. He gets a fur coat, has birthday soup, flies to the moon, and gets a wish.
Fantasy, Little Bear’s Friend, Else Holmelund Minarik, Another collection of short stories about Little Bear. He meets a new friend, saves a duckling, goes to Owl’s party, and fixes a doll’s broken arm.
Fantasy, The Cat in The Hat, Dr. Seuss, After mother is gone on a rainy day, a cat with a tall striped hat shows up with thing 1 and thing 2 and messes up the house while playing games. Then when mother is almost home, the cat cleans up the mess so no one will know.
Fantasy, Curious George Flies a Kite, Margret Rey, Curious George plays with some bunnies and then goes fishing where he meets a boy named Bill. He helps get his kite out of a tree and then tries to fly the kite. He gets swept away with the wind and the man in the yellow hat has to save him.
Fantasy, Kartusch, Stephen Cosgrove, This is such a beautiful book! It is about these very cute Furry Eyefulls that love looking at everything in the world. The drawback is that because they never want to stop looking at stuff, they never sleep. They end up getting very grouchy at each other. One day they meet a blind snake named Kartusch who teaches them to listen to and feel the beauty all around them. They end up being able to close their eyes and sleep. They illustrations are gorgeous!
Fantasy, Bangalee, Stephen Cosgrove, Bangalee is the only clean Kritter in the castle. Everyone else is very dirty and the castle is generally trashed. Soon the Grunk, who was a monstrous garbage-eating beast, arrived. The Kritters were all very scared that because they were so filthy, the Grunk would eat the whole castle and them too! Bangalee teaches them how to clean up and the Grunk soon departs to find a tasty trash pile elsewhere! Again, Gorgeous illustrations!
Fantasy, The Gnome From Nome, Stephen Cosgrove, A very cold gnome from Nome Alaska, learns that the secret to being warm from the inside out is friendship and love.
Fantasy, Ming Ling, Stephen Cosgrove, Ming Ling is a Giant Panda who lives in a tropical paradise. The only problem is that the birds make lots of noise and keep her awake. After she chases the birds away, she gets lonely and realizes that it is better to compromise and have company than to be all alone in the world.
Fantasy, In a Dark Dark Room, Alvin Schwartz, This is a collection of scary stories for young readers. The illustrations are a little creepy, especially the people.
Fantasy, Pleasing the Ghost, Sharon Creech, This story is about a boy who can see ghosts. One day his uncle’s ghost flies in and asks him for 3 favors. The only problem is that his uncle speaks a nonsense language. Dennis has to figure out what his uncle wants and how to please his ghost.
Fantasy, Louie the Lamb, Russ Flint. This is a cute book that is part of a series of animal tales. Louie is upset because his mom is taking him to get his beautiful soft curls cut. After the haircut, his mom spins the wool curls into yarn and knits him and his friends new shirts. Of course, now Louie is happy to get haircuts.
Fantasy, Ollie the Owl, Howard Goldsmith, Ollie wants to play with the other animals during the day, but his parents won’t let him because he is a night owl. He sneaks out of bed one day and wanders through the forest, but he is not used to playing during the day and falls asleep. That night his parents go out looking for him. Ollie decides that he is a night owl and won’t go out during the day.
Fantasy, Crystal the Caterpillar, Margaret Williams Stevens, Crystal is a fat brown caterpillar who wants to be something else, anything else but a fat brown caterpillar. One day she disappears and all her friends go looking for her. They even put up missing caterpillar posters. In a few weeks she returns as a beautiful butterfly.
Fantasy, Kirby the Kangaroo, Howard Goldsmith, Kirby wakes up one morning and can’t stop jumping. All her friends try to help her stop by tying rocks to her feet and tying rope around her legs, but she just can’t stop. Finally Kirby’s little sister realizes that she hid her jumping beans in Kirby’s pouch and saves the day.
Fantasy, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J.K.Rowling, This is the first book in the Harry Potter series. It is about a young boy who finds out that he is a wizard. He goes off to Hogswarts, a wizard school, and foils a plot by the evil lord Voldemort to regain his body and rule over the wizard world. It is pretty good.
Fantasy, Bunnicula, Deborah and James Howe, This is a great book told from the perspective of the family dog. Chester, a very over educated cat, decides that the new bunny is a vampire. Of course when white vegetables with fang marks start showing up I had to agree. This book had me laughing and smiling all through it. I can’t wait to read more of them.
Fantasy, Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt, I thought that this book was sad. I feel bad for all the characters in it. It is really well written though and has some beautiful imagery. The theme of immortality might be more appropriate for an older audience then it was written for.

Science Fiction

Science Fiction, Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton, This is an exciting story about how a theme park based on genetically cloned dinosaurs gets out of control. The action and thrills are better than the movie and there are many more details into the science behind the cloning. I loved this book.
Science Fiction, The Andromeda strain, Michael Crichton, A mysterious disease from outer space is killing people and it is up to one bacteriologist to find a cure and get rid of the disease before the government destroys the area where it is killing people.
Science Fiction, Sphere, Michael Crichton, A group of scientists finds a mysterious alien object in a submerged spacecraft. It is able to make reality out of what they are thinking. Soon all their worst fears are coming true and they must find a way to survive and escape the sphere. Very entertaining

Nonfiction/Informational

Nonfiction/Informational, What’s Up There? Questions and Answers About Stars and Space, Dinah Moche, This is a really interesting book with all kinds of information about our solar system, galaxy and universe. I enjoyed it.
Nonfiction/Informational, Liberty, Lynn Curlee, This is a really comprehensive book about how the statue of liberty came into being and basically anything you might want to know about it. It has lots of pictures and illustrations as well.
Nonfiction/Informational, The Best Book of Bugs, Claire Llewellyn, Every bug you could ever imagine is here. This book has lots of information about what bugs do as well like how a spider spins its’ web and how bees communicate by dancing.
Nonfiction/Informational, The Best Book of Sharks, Claire Llewellyn, Just like her bug book, this one has all you could ever want to know about sharks and their many different habitats and behaviors.
Nonfiction/Informational, Dinosaurs: Eye to Eye, Flying Frog Publishing, This book is very graphic and exciting. It has many bright and dynamic illustrations and cut away views of dinosaurs. It focuses more on how dangerous and fierce they were than anything else. I guess anyone craving adventure would enjoy it.
Nonfiction/Informational, The Story of the Declaration of Independence, Norman Richards, This book traces the story of the 13 colonies from the founding of Plymouth through the many events that led to the signing of the Declaration.
Nonfiction/Informational, Learning About Frogs and Toads, Sy Barlowe, This informative book gives many facts about 12 species of frogs and toads.
Nonfiction/Informational, Spacecraft, Ian Ridpath, A close look at real American and Russian spacecraft told through a history from the creation of the first rocket to the possible future moon colonies. This has great illustrations with cut away views of the many spacecrafts. Lots of fascinating and little known facts about space flight and the men who made it possible.
Nonfiction/Informational, Lotus the Legend, David Hodges, This is a history of the Lotus automobile brand. It has lots of photographs of beautiful lotus cars. They are exotic and fast. Exactly what a teenage boy wants in a car.
Nonfiction/Informational, Let’s Speak French, Katherine Farris, This is a fully illustrated book of French words and how to pronounce them. It has over 500 words and is a fun way to learn French. It has large pages and each scene has everything labeled in French & English.
Nonfiction/Informational, Ammon and the King, Sherrie Johnson, This is the story of a prophet who defended the king’s sheep against thieves by chopping off their arms. The king was so impressed by Ammon that he and his whole kingdom was converted.
Nonfiction/Informational, Woodsong, Gary Paulsen, This isn’t really a story, but more of a collection of memories about the author’s experiences with his sled dogs. It also contains a short diary of his run in the Iditarod dogsled race in Alaska.

Graphic Novel & Comics

Graphic Novel & Comics, It’s A Magical World, Bill Watterson, This is a collection of several Calvin and Hobbes comics. It is in color and black and white. The pictures are very funny. My favorites are Calvin as a space man and Calvin fighting the dinosaurs.
Graphic Novel & Comics, The Great Voyage of Asterix, Goscinny, Asterix and Obelix live in the time of the Romans. They are in the conquered land of Gaulle (France). One day they set out to go fishing when the wind picks up and they are driven to North America. They have many adventures with the Indians there and eventually get a ride home from the Vikings who discover North America.
Graphic Novel & Comics, The adventures of TinTin: The Scepter of Ottokar, Herge, TinTin is a young Belgian boy who likes to solve mysteries. In this novel, he solves the case of an ancient scepter that goes missing from a museum. There are lots of bad guys and he has to use his wits to escape and eventually find the scepter and return it to the museum.
Graphic Novel & Comics, 30 days of Night, Steve Niles, This is a gruesome tale of Vampires. They descend on the town of Barrow, Alaska during the 30 days of winter when there is no sun to hurt them. This is a pretty bloody graphic novel. Only suitable for older teens if for anyone.
Graphic Novel & Comics, Kyle’s Bed & Breakfast, Greg Fox, Kyle is a gay young man who owns a bed & breakfast. Him and his friends have many adventures trying to figure out life and love. I would say this is appropriate for an older teen because the black and white illustrations are occasionally on the edge of being risqué! I am also glad that a book like this is even available for gay youth who might not identify with a straight romance story.
Graphic Novel & Comics, Adventures of a Joe Boy, Joe Phillips, This is a collection of comics that feature gay teen characters. The art is very colorful and vibrant. The stories for the most part are cute and fun. The illustrations use computer generated backgrounds to give a more realistic effect. Again this is probably suitable for an older teen because a few of the stories are risqué.
Graphic Novel & Comics, Last Chapter and Worse, Gary Larson, This is a collection of Far Side comics. They are always pretty funny.

Land of Enchantment Books

Nonfiction/Informational, Liberty Rising, Pegi Deitz Shea, This is the second book that I have read about Lady Liberty. They both have basically the same information. Liberty that I read earlier is more comprehensive, but Liberty Rising has more interesting illustrations and is told more like a story. The illustrations are like some kind of whacked out modern art. Sometimes they are even distracting. I like the other book about The Statue of Liberty better.
Biography, The Boy on Fairfield Street: How Ted Geisel Grew up to Become Dr. Suess, Kathleen Krull, This is a fascinating look at Ted’s life. It has neat insights about him like how he only took one art class and dropped out when his teacher said he’d never be successful. Also he used another name for books that he wrote, but didn’t illustrate, Theo LeSieg. I have two of those books in my picture book section. I also loved how this book is illustrated with beautiful pictures, but at the bottom of each page of text there is an image from a Dr. Suess book that is related to the text somehow. This is the book I will vote for of the LOE books I have read.
Realistic Fiction, Stink and the Incredible Super-Galactic Jawbreaker, Megan McDonald, I love this story. It is about a 2^nd grade boy who discovers that he can write letters to companies and get free candy and toys. He accidentally misses his best friends birthday party and uses his free stuff to throw a surprise party and make up for missing the real thing.