Life in the Boreal Forest by Brenda Z. Guiberson
Gennady Spirin (Illustrator)
Ages 9-12
Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (September 29, 2009)
Cautions: Survival of the fittest scenes

Kiwi Magazine Review:
Sometimes a book literally leaps from the shelf and into your hands and it insists on becoming a part of your home library. The cover alone speaks volumes about the gorgeous illustrations within this book about the Boreal Forest. This lively book is a cautionary tale about our responsibility to take care of our planet and all of its inhabitants.

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Sunday in Kyoto by Gilles Vigneault
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Publisher: Secret Mountain - October 25, 2009
Cautions: None

Kiwi Magazine Review:
Secret Mountain is a true gem, with original and irreverent songs, creative text and clever illustrations. This new piece de resistance by Gilles Vigneault is a whirl of circus-themed tunes, staccato rhymes and sing-song playground romps (with a farting cow in the mix). I really enjoyed all of the songs on the CD, but the title track was my favorite because it was illustrated, giving me excellent visual accompaniment.

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The Witch’s Guide to Cooking with Children by Keith McGowan
Yoko Tanaka (Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. - September 1, 2009
Cautions: the classic tale is updated so beware of witches and mean stepmothers

Kiwi Magazine Review:
Oooooh. That witch from Hansel and Gretel is back and she very well may be living right…next…door. In a conspiracy of lunacy, a whole town seems to be in cahoots with chaos to get those two little urchins to succumb to being the entree on the witch’s table. This updated book is still deliciously naughty.

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Product Description:

When Sol and Connie Blink move to Grand Creek, one of the first people to welcome them is an odd older woman, Fay Holaderry, and her friendly dog, Swift, who carries a very strange bone in his mouth. Sol knows a lot more than the average eleven-year-old, so when he identifies the bone as human, he and Connie begin to wonder if their new neighbor is up to no good.

In a spine-tingling adventure that makes them think twice about who they can trust, Sol and Connie discover that solving mysteries can be a dangerous game-even for skilled junior sleuths.

I So Don’t Do Spooky by Barrie Summy
Ages: Young Adult
Cautions: Ghosts and stepmothers
Delacorte Books for Young Readers - December 8, 2009

Kiwi Magazine Review:
Sherry has a typical family life — father is a workaholic, stepmother is an overly health-conscious middle school math teacher and mom is a ghost. Oh, and so is grandfather. Meeting in the back room of the Dairy Queen, which is a ghost portal, she becomes part of a team to solve a mystery of who is trying to harm her stepmom. Although the book seems like it is trying too hard to cram many concepts and twists into the book, Sherry is entertaining and humorous, all while dealing with stalkers, ghosts and a boyfriend stealing 8th grader.

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The School for Dangerous Girls by Eliot Schrefer
Scholastic Press, January 2009
Ages: 14-18
Cautions: References to drugs, alcohol, sex and violence, language

Kiwi Magazine Review:
The School for Dangerous Girls is exciting at every turn. Hidden Oak is a boarding school created to “reform” bad girls when their parents have had enough of their trouble-making. It isn’t long before you realize that this school is not what it seems.

Eliot Schrefer’s words will have you anxiously wondering what is really happening at this school as the main character, Angela, becomes determined to uncover the twisted truth. Schrefer truly understands these girls and shines a light on their struggles in a fun way.
The novel’s quick chapters keep the story intriguing and make it difficult to put the book down while you wait for the school’s dark secrets to be revealed.

This book is perfect for teenage girls with or without a dangerous streak, or anyone who has always wanted one.

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The Espressologist by Kristina Springer
Farrar, Straus and Giroux - October 27, 2009
Cautions: None
Ages: Young Adult (13+)

Kiwi Magazine Review:
This book is frothy, not too sweet and full of strong character and delicious flavor. Jane is a barista at a coffee shop and makes the connection between people’s drink styles and their love interests. In the style of Jane Austen’s Emma, Jane can make matches for everyone but herself. This is a wonderful romantic book with a new twist on the matchmaking theme.

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Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
RandomHouse Children’s Books, April 2009
Cautions: None
Ages: 12+

Kiwi Magazine Review:
This book is a fun glimpse into Stargirl’s life, one diary entry at a time. With a cast of characters who are as eccentric as the heroine of this story, Stargirl is sure to entertain.

Coraline (Graphic Novel version)
Neil Gaiman
HarperCollins, 2008
Recommended readers - 8+
Cautions: If you are reading Neil Gaiman, you already know there are very creepy, scary parts which are not for overly-sensitive or easily-scared kids and adults.

Kiwi Bookworm Review:
You may know the book Coraline, but you don’t know the graphic novel version which manages to be even creepier than the text version. P. Craig Russell illustrates the book with colorful pictures and those black buttons have never looked creepier. When graphic novels are created with masterful text and images, they have a dimension beyond the original text that draws you in and keeps you reading, even though the next page turn might totally freak you out. If you haven’t explored graphic novels yet, and you have a strong stomach, this is the place to start.

Publisher’s Synopsis
When Coraline steps through a door to find another house strangely similar to her own (only better), things seem marvelous.

But there’s another mother there, and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.

Coraline will have to fight with all her wits and courage if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.

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Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow by James Sturm
Rich Tommaso (Illustrator)
Ages 9-12
Graphic Novel
Hyperion Book CH (December 18, 2007)
Cautions: Themes of prejudice

Extras: Teacher’s guide, author interviews and other material at http://www.cartoonstudies.org/books/paige/

Kiwi Magazine Review:
You almost can’t go wrong with a combination of baseball and graphic novel when it comes to getting kids to read. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Leroy “Satchel” Paige changed the face of the game in a career that spanned five decades.
Told from the point of view of a fictional sharecropper, this book follows Paige from his youth to his unstoppable pitching arm. It’s a wonderful story, told in a 3-color graphic format about a man who stopped many batters, but played an even bigger role in “striking out” Jim Crow.

Product Description
Baseball Hall of Famer Leroy “Satchel” Paige (1905 - 1982) changed the face of the game in a career that spanned five decades. Much has been written about this larger-than-life pitcher, but when it comes to Paige, fact does not easily separate from fiction. He made a point of writing his own history…and then re-writing it. A tall, lanky fireballer, he was arguably the Negro League’s hardest thrower, most entertaining storyteller and greatest gate attraction. Now the Center for Cartoon Studies turns a graphic novelist’s eye to Paige’s story. Told from the point of view of a sharecropper, this compelling narrative follows Paige from game to game as he travels throughout the segregated South.
In stark prose and powerful graphics, author and artist share the story of a sports hero, role model, consummate showman, and era-defining American.

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Fire From the Rock by Sharon Draper
Speak - 2007
Ages - 12 and up
Cautions - Conflict, violence

Kiwi Magazine Review:
Reading about history can seem one-dimensional; facts and dates abound, but the information is as dry as toast. Sharon Draper gives life and dimension to the story of the 9 students who were the first to integrate Central High School in Little Rock in 1957. We learn that Sylvia Patterson was given the choice to be one of the first black students at the school, but she struggled with that decision because she really just wanted to be a normal teen who went to football games and dances. She didn’t initially realize the magnitude of the events until her neighborhood becomes a scene of the struggle for equality. Sharon Draper is eloquent and spot-on with her facts, making this book interesting and educational.

Publisher’s Description
Sylvia Patterson is shocked and confused when she is asked to be one of the first black students to attend Central High School, which is scheduled to be integrated in September 1957, whether the citizens or governor of Arkansas like it or not. Before Sylvia makes her final decision, smoldering racial tension in the town ignites into flame. When the smoke clears, she sees clearly that nothing is going to stop the change from coming. It is up to her generation to make it happen, in as many different ways as there are colors in the world.

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