Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have Review

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(More customer reviews)I was completely absorbed by this book, once I picked it up I couldn't put it down! It is so well written, so funny, with such a wonderful message about being oneself in the face of the tremendous pressure of adolescence coupled with society's twisted love affair with food/war on fat. Given the recent statistic that 66% of Americans are overweight, this book lands smack in the middle of the national zeitgeist with compassion, razor-sharp intelligence and humor. This is a great book for teens and adults - fat or thin.

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What's worse than being fat your freshman year? Being fat your sophomore year. Lifeused to be so simple for Andrew Zansky–hang with the Model UN guys, avoid gym class,and eat and eat and eat. He's used to not fitting in: into his family, his sports-crazedschool, or his size 48 pants. But not anymore. Andrew just met April, the new girlat school and the instant love of his life! He wants to find a way to win her over,but how? When O. Douglas, the heartthrob quarterback and high-school legend, saveshim from getting beaten up by the school bully, Andrew sees his chance to get inwith the football squad. Is it possible to reinvent yourself in the middle of highschool? Andrew is willing to try. But he's going to have to make some changes. Fast. Can a funny fat kid be friends with a football superstar? Can he win over the Girlof his Dreams? Can he find a way to get his mom and dad back together? How far shouldyou go to be the person you really want to be? Andrew is about to find out.

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Number One Kid (Zigzag Kids) Review

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(More customer reviews)Patricia Reilly Giff's BIG WHOPPER and NUMBER ONE KID provide two new additions to the 'Zigzag Kids' series. BIG WHOPPER tells of Discovery Week at the Zigzag Afternoon Center, during a week where Destiny can't think of anything new to contribute. Her Big whopper gets her into trouble with her peers in this fun tale. NUMBER ONE KID tells of Mitchell, who wants to be Number One at the Zigzag Afternoon Center, where there are lots of activities to choose from. But what if he's the only kid who doesn't get a prize on Prize Day? His discovery of what he can excel at makes for a fun tale.


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Dean Duffy Review

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(More customer reviews)A Review by Corey
Dean Duffy is a young adult just out of high school. He was an awesome baseball player his freshman and sophomore years, the he went in to a huge slump his junior and senior years. He could never figure out why. But over the summer he is offered a full scholarship to a college he'd never even heard of. Almost the entire summer he is apartment sitting and doing a little work just to make enough to keep him alive. Not doing much gave him a lot of time to think about what he is going to do with the rest of his life and if he really wants to accept the scholarship.
This is an excellent book that allows the reader to connect with it very much (Especially if you are a baseball player). It is very realistic and there are many conflicts that are similar to the world as it is today. The characters definitely keep you in the story because if you are a high school student I'm sure you know what people just like them, such as stoners, arrogant people, and the kind of people who are willing to do anything for you because they believe in you so much. The pace is very nice and you don't get lost from quick changes in characters.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves to play baseball or is just in the mood for a good book because you can relate to almost all of Dean Duffy's problems.

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The Schernoff Discoveries Review

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(More customer reviews)The Schernoff Discoveries is a quick moving, funny book about friendship. The story takes place in Minnesota, in two small towns called Hilard and Peat roughly 10 years ago. Gary tells the story about different hilarious challenges two good friends faced at fourteen years of age and what became of them.
I like The Schernoff Discoveries because it is about what happens in school and includes important issues like friendship and dealing with peer pressure. The main characters are Harold and Gary. They are two kids from different sides of the tracks. Harold is smart and daring; Gary is cautious and not so smart. One good example of Harold being daring and Gary being cautious, Harold decided that they needed to go skiing, because girls liked skiers. Harold read in a book on how, even though Gary was against this idea, he went along anyways. They should have listened to Gary. They enjoy school and like girls a lot. They figured out a way to change their schedules so that they would be the only boys in the Home Economics classroom full of girls. This worked for them because they could get to know the girls without competition or insults from other boys. On the downside, the boys were picked on for being the only boys in the room, especially by the football team. With the help of the Home Economics class, the girls and Harold were able to get even with the football team. They enjoy each other's friendship and play jokes on each other, even though others around them make fun of them calling them "geeks" and "nerds".
The story is very funny because during the story Gary talks about things he and Harold have done in the past. Gary is the one telling the story because Harold is the one who is always coming up with ideas for new ways to make money. Harold decided one day that they needed a car. It didn't matter that they weren't old enough to drive. Harold discovered a way for them to make a lot of money at a golf course, which they later used the money to buy the perfect car for a fourteen year old. All through the story Harold helps Gary with bullies and school by playing tricks on the bullies. Gary looks up to Harold because he is smarter than Gary. Gary comments, "Harold is good at everything, except fishing." Harold would try anything he had never tried before, but he would visit the library first. He had never tried fishing and decided he wanted to. He figured that Gary could teach him. Harold came equipped for a major fishing tournament; Gary came with string, hook and worms. This turned into a learning experience; Harold was able to hook everything, except a fish.
I would recommend this book to 6th and 7th graders because it is more at their reading level. Kids hate reading long books, so they will enjoy this quick paced, funny, short book.
This book showed how two friends could overcome bullying and has fun doing it. I like the way the story is being told in the present and the past. This book helps teenagers to relate with the characters. The things that Harold and Gary had to deal with are what so many kids these days deal with. This story shows kids that, you have to keep your head up and not give into peer pressure. Don't let anyone bully you, but most of all don't be a bully to anyone else. Most of all, that a true friend is a good friend.

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Arthur and the True Francine (Arthur Adventures) Review

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(More customer reviews)As a children's librarian, I must say I'm not fond of many series books. We are always trying to get children to read OTHER books. However, I grew up with Arthur and I do enjoy the books in his series. This is one of the best. It's an excellent story about honesty that portrays children realistically. I hear them talk to each other daily and this is how they talk about their teachers, each other, and school. This one's well worth the read!

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Francine and Muffy are good friends until Muffy lets Francine take the blame for cheating on a test.

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Give Maggie a Chance Review

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(More customer reviews)One of my all time favorite books, this copy was in excellent condition. The story is priceless and the illustrations precious. Such authentic writing about how children can feel. Deals with verbal, female bullying which is very common but not often written about. Highly recommended for classroom and home use. I also use it in writing workshops as a model for great writing. It's a Canadian book so not as well known but a TRUE GEM in children's literature.

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Shifty Review

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(More customer reviews)I fell head over heels in love with this book. Hazen's descriptions of Soli's experience as a fosterkid, of San Francisco's neighborhoods, of the relationships Soli has with his foster sister and foster mother are heart-shattering and as real as they come.
I came to care for Soli deeply. I rooted for him, and wanted him to get away with all the trouble he creates. Which he does, sometimes. This is a REAL winner.

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Brunettes Strike Back Review

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(More customer reviews)Good for ALL high school students, their parents, teachers and administrators to read. I am a retired school superintendent and ALL students experience this type of treatment. This is definitely a type of school bullying and it has to stop. I feel it would make excellent MANDATORY reading for high school freshmen.

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The Adventures of Blue Avenger Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a wonderful book, which is fairly well described by the reviews above. It is a kind of real-life fantasy, where the main character adopts a comic-book superhero persona and immediately starts living a comic-book superhero type existence, where he is instantly popular at school and nothing serious goes wrong. (In some ways, this book is like a teen version of Laurie Colwin's Happy All the Time. There is no traditional conflict, not among peers, not between kids and parents or teachers or society. There are tragedies, but they are all in the past.) The themes are mature: sexuality (a very sweet version of it), personal responsibility, the ways in which people advance themselves at a cost to others. The author is very ambitious, and not all of what she tries works, but a great deal does. One issue: my wife mistakenly bought this for our 10-year-old son, for whom it is clearly inappropriate. It is not so clear what group of kids should read it. Kids old enough to appreciate a condom-buying scene (a high point in the book that is clearly, if coyly, divorced from the conventional reasons for buying condoms) and smart enough to like the frequent philosophical discussions and ironic authorial intrusions will generally have moved beyond Young Adult fiction. They may resent the undercurrent of goody-goody preachiness (the protagonists predictably and enthusiastically opt for chastity; there is a lot of anti-vulgarity propaganda) and the odd reticence that produces a great deal of very unspecific talk about sex ("He pondered the difference between love and lust." "Their hormones were raging.") Basically, this is a book that has to fit into a narrow window of opportunity in which kids have enough interest and information to care about the themes but will find the coyness comforting. Also, although it is not a "girls' book" per se, girls will probably like it a lot more than boys - it is really a girls' fantasy about the perfect boyfriend.

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Cock-A-Moo-Moo Review

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(More customer reviews)I read to a group of 28 2 - 4 year olds on a weekly basis as part of a local "Grandpas read to pre-schoolers" program. I stumbled across this book in a search of new kids books at the local library and, quite frankly, thought it would just be filler in my scheduled reading program. To an adult, it is not a particularly impressive little story, no great messages or morals. Little did I know it would turn out to be the most requested book I've read to them this year, with universal appeal to all of my kids - from the brand new 2s to the jaded 4s. I've learned to pause at the appropriate points to build the suspense, then shout out the rooster's mistakes. Watching 28 kids absolutely roaring at this simple story is, well, I won't pretend to explain it, but the kids love this one. I rate it a 5-star based upon audience approval.

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Pigs Picnic Review

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(More customer reviews)The story was about not to always listen to what your friend's say, but to think for yourself. The pig goes around and wants to go to Mrs. Pig's house and ask her to go on a picnic. Some animals give him advice so Mrs. Pig will like him. But, it turns out that Mrs. Pig was scared of him and the way he looked. So he ran back and gave his animal friends back the advice they gave him! I think this book was really cool because it taught a lesson. Little kids can really learn from this book. It's exciting and everyone should read it. This is a very good book to read. Little kids will be happy when they read this book. I think it's really nice.

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The Nightly Book of Positive Quotations Review

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(More customer reviews)I gave this book to someone who just had surgery - what a up-lifting and positive gift idea!

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The Boy Who Looked Like Lincoln Review

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(More customer reviews)This was a hilarious book, my niece who is eight years old thoroughly enjoyed it. I disagree with most who think that children don't get some of the subtleties of humor that's supposedly for adults. If you can't see this in children you must see them as spiritless robots.

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The Beetle and Me: A Love Story Review

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(More customer reviews)i/m 16 years old and i just read this book. i really loved it even though the end left me kind of hanging. i really hope a sequel will come out soon. anyway i recommend it for anyone.

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Adios, Oscar: A Butterfly Fable Review

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(More customer reviews)Anytime I see a new monarch butterfly book I get excited, so when I received a review copy of Adios, Oscar!: A Butterfly Fable from Scholastic, I was very happy. Even better? This isn't your typical monarch migration story. It's a new twist on the topic and it is great!
Oscar is a caterpillar who lives on a plant near a window. One day a monarch butterfly named Bob happens upon his plant. Bob is in an awful rush and tells Oscar to look him up when he gets to Mexico someday. Well, Oscar is just enamored with Bob, his gorgeous orange-and-black wings, and this talk of Mexico. When a bookworm named Edna decides to help Oscar learn about Mexico in preparation for his journey, he is ecstatic. Soon it is time for him to go into his pupa phase before emerging as a butterfly.
Or so he thinks.
Oscar is heartbroken when he emerges from his cocoon and discovers he has short grey wings instead of the gorgeous orange-and-black ones he anticipated. And instead of the urge to fly to Mexico, he has the urge to eat sweaters! And fly around a light! Oscar's friends all mock him for the time he spent learning Spanish and Mexican culture, and he is heartbroken. But that all changes when he finds a note Edna left behind for him.
I loved this fable about a moth who believes he can do anything, even fly 2000 miles to Mexico.
And Elwell sprinkles Spanish phrases throughout the book. He also includes an afterword with some information on monarchs and moths and the differences between the two. The illustrations are also adorable, in a great cartoon style. I can't wait to share this with my class and the Monarch Teacher Network!

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When Oscar the caterpillar discovers that he will one day become a butterfly, he's overjoyed. And his friend Edna the bookworm encourages his hopes of flying to Mexico with the other Monarch butterflies. To prepare, Oscar learns Spanish and dreams of flying through the purple Sierra Madre Mountains. But when Oscar emerges from his cocoon with stubby little wings, a craving for the taste of desginer sweaters -- and the urge to take a spin around the bathroom lightbulb-- his dreams are dashed.There will be no trip to Mexico for Oscar -- or will there?
(Continued on next page)
Yes there will!How Oscar ignores the limitations of being a moth and learns how to dream like a butterfly is both inspirational, liberating -- and hilariously funny.

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Skinny-Dipping at Monster Lake Review

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(More customer reviews)I liked the book because it's funny and has a very weird twist at the end. Kent thinks the monster is real, but turns out it's not. When he and his friends fish they see headlights (A.K.A the eyes.) When one of the smartest kids in the group finds out that there's a sub in the lake they go for help. But my favorite part is when they skinny dip in the lake and their friends call them "cottontails".

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Dough Boy Review

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(More customer reviews)What a wonderful book! I loved Mr. Marino's characters. I think everyone on some level can identify with Tristan. And for those rare individuals who are Kellys and/or Marcos, perhaps they could learn something!
Even though this book is recommended for young adult readers, I don't think there's anyone who wouldn't benefit from reading it. What great lessons in understanding, compassion, empathy and tolerance.
I look forward to more of Mr. Marino's work!

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