Staying Fit, Staying Safe Reviewed by Joanna Fabicon, Los Angeles Public Library - 11/01/2009
Health & Safety - 500 Developing good safety habits, eating the right foods, and staying fit always have relevance to the lives of young people, and with healthcare and child safety issues a constant presence in the media, there is definitely a sense of timeliness to these books. While none of these resources overtly addresses political issues, parents and teachers may still be attracted t...
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Faiths Near and Far Reviewed by Jennifer Prince, Fairview Public Library, NC - 11/01/2009
Religion - 200 For many, religion is a deeply personal issue, one that is knit to a person’s intrinsic beliefs about life, death, personal conduct, and what is sacred. While the stories that make the news tend to showcase what is vitriolic and divisive about religions, these series keep the focus on elemental beliefs that encourage faith, peace, and a desire to do good in the world.
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Green Teens Reviewed by Lindsay Cesari, Baldwinsville School District, NY - 11/01/2009
Environment - 300 Environmental issues are currently some of the most publicized aspects of contemporary science. This fall, publishers have responded to the public's interest in green topics, and a slew of new series are available on the topic. Many of these titles will serve as excellent resources for students as they include research projects with environmental themes.
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The Youngest Activists Reviewed by Richard J. Snyder, Inglewood Junior High School, Sammamish, WA - 11/01/2009
Environment - 300 Green living comes alive in these series for eco-minded students. Books with recycling pigs, hybrid vehicles, and geothermal heat will help kids learn about and advocate for a greener, cleaner world. While many topics will be familiar, some contain newer information (such as coverage of green-scrapers and how to purchase “fair trade” food) that may be harder to fi...
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Mountains of Information Reviewed by Henrietta Thornton-Verma, School Library Journal - 11/01/2009
Earth Science - 500 There’s more to earth science than earthquakes and volcanoes. The best books on the topic strike a balance between exciting descriptions of natural disasters and other news-making phenomena while covering the more mundane basics in a way that gives students a solid grasp of the workings of the world around them.
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Difficult Debates Reviewed by Melissa Rabey, Frederick County Public Libraries, MD - 11/01/2009
Current Issues - 300 The issues that dominate the nightly news and the blogosphere can be confusing for adults, but for children and teens, they can be overwhelming. Therefore, books on current events for this audience must strive to be clear and accessible. The series reviewed here cover debates that include science, technology, politics, and ethics.
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Follow Your Dreams Reviewed by Amy Rowland, Guggenheim Elementary School, NY - 11/01/2009
Careers - 300 From kindergarten to high school, “what I want to be when I grow up” is a topic continually worth exploring, especially in an era when many people are likely to embark on multiple careers in their lifetimes. The following series have something for almost everyone: those interested in traditional as well as cutting-edge careers, elementary through upper-level readers, ...
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Greats of Past and Present Reviewed by Jody Kopple, Shady Hill School, Cambridge, MA - 11/01/2009
Biography From ancient Greece to last month's headlines, this selection of biographies and collective biographies covers a huge span in time and distance. Looking for browsable, up-to-the-minute choices on tween stars? Check. How about substantive information on important historical figures? That's here, too.
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Gluesticks and Greasepaint Reviewed by Paula Willey, Baltimore County Public Library, Towson, MD - 11/01/2009
Art - 700 When a kid runs up to you excitedly demanding seven clothespins, two yards of elastic cord, a funnel, tempera paint, and a clean, empty jar, you know she has gotten her hands on a quality craft book. The following craft and performance titles have been field-tested on a small, captive audience on rainy days this summer, and, luckily for those kids, most of the books are winners in th...
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From Fluffy to Fearsome Reviewed by Kara Schaff Dean, Walpole Public Library, MA - 11/01/2009
Animals - 500 Every continent on this planet has lost species and is in danger of losing more. While not each one of these series is specifically focused on saving endangered animals—the dinosaurs are clearly lost already—the books share a recurring theme of misunderstanding and sometimes mismanagement when it comes to humans’ relationship with animals.
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Times and Places Reviewed by Mary Mueller, Rolla Junior High School, MO - 11/01/2009
American History - 900 One of the traditional goals of education has been for students to develop a solid understanding of the past. What is often missing, however, from both their textbooks and library books, are reasoned discussions of place and time. Far too many of those books either ignore or minimize discussions of how geography, natural resources, and economic development affect the his...
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Adult Books for High School Students Chaired by Francisca Goldsmith, Halifax Public Libraries, Nova Scotia - 11/01/2009
Fiction ADAMS, John Joseph , ed. The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes . 350p. Night Shade . 2009. pap. $15.95. ISBN 978-1-59780-160-7 . LC number unavailable. Adult/High School—These 28 short stories are impressive in their variety and quality, as well as in the inclusion of authors with established young adult appeal such as Stephen King, Tanith Lee, and Neil Gaiman.
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Professional Reading 11/01/2009
BARNETT, Diana . Putting It All Together: Teaching the Research Process . 74p. illus. Web sites. Upstart . 2009. pap. $17.95. ISBN 978-1-932146-99-8 . LC number unavailable. This well-organized and to-the-point title focuses on practical application of the AASL standards of information literacy for student learning in middle and high schools.
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Preschool to Grade 4 11/01/2009
Fiction ALLEN, Joy . Princess Party . illus. by author. unpaged. CIP. Putnam . 2009. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-399-25259-4 . LC 2008043543. PreS-K—Two little girls—one fancifully dressed as a fairy princess, the other wearing cowboy boots and a "Princess Power" T-shirt—host a party for princesses of various ethnicities, dressed in a variety of costumes.
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Multimedia Review 11/01/2009
Video/DVD Art Instruction Drawing Media: Getting to Know Art Media, Vol. 1 . DVD. 24 min. with tchr's. guide online. Getting to Know . 2009. $29.95. K-Gr 4—The first title in a new series designed to introduce different art media to young children, this film covers the tools used to create two-dimensional art such as pencils, charcoal, chalk, pastels, crayons, markers, and more.
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Grades 5 & Up 11/01/2009
Fiction AMATEAU, Gigi . A Certain Strain of Peculiar . 261p. Candlewick . 2009. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-7636-3009-6 . LC 2008935295. Gr 6–9—Overhearing a group of boys comparing her to worse-than-disgusting girls, Mary Harold, 13, feels another panic attack coming on. It seems easier to change her entire life rather than endure more days of being the outcast.
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Graphic Novels 11/01/2009
Primary and Elementary BERNER, Rotraut Susanne Definitely Not for Little Ones: Some Very Grimm Fairy-Tale Comics tr. from German by Shelley Tanaka. illus. by author. unpaged. CIP. Groundwood 2009. Tr $18.95. ISBN 978-0-88899-957-3 . LC C2009-901069-0. Gr 3-6–This odd collection of cartoon fairy tales may have trouble finding an audience.
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Art Appreciation: SLJ reviews new resource Picturing Books By Shonda Brisco - 11/01/2009
Even though I love children's picture books, I almost always cringe when a high school art student asks me to help them locate examples of titles that use "woodcuts" or "wash." While I handle these books on a daily basis, I admit that I'm not as familiar with the original media used or the style displayed within the pages of these mini museums.
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The Inside Story By Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan - 11/01/2009
The Pardoner. Alexander T. Wolf. Penelope. What could they possibly have in common? All are protagonists in works of metafiction, a subgenre of literature that allows readers to enter into a world of fiction that celebrates fiction, involving readers in an environment populated by self-aware characters.
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Spanish Books 10/01/2009
Chaired by Freda Mosquera, Broward County Library, FL AHLBERG, Allan . El gato que desapareció misteriosamente tr. by Carlos Abio & Mercedes Villegas. illus. by Katharine McEwen. 80p. maps. Alfaguara Infantil 2009. pap. $8.99. ISBN 978-607-11-0111-2 . LC number unavailable. Gr 2-4–The Gaskitt’s sly and curious cat, Horacio, has gone missing.
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