Youth Services Book Review

RandomHouse2009
ISBN: 9780375856259
Format: PictureBook NonFiction
Rating: excellent
Grade: Toddler and up
Sneaky Weasel has a bad reputation in town. He decides to have a big party to show off his wealth. No one comes to his party so he starts asking everyone why. He doesn’t like the answers so he tries to come up with a plan to make amends and be a better weasel. Everyone was pleased with his efforts but they still needed him to say something. Finally he spit out the magic words “I’m sorry”. Weasel throws another party and everyone comes.
Delightful and the drawing compliment the weasel’s sneaky ways.
Reviewer: Jane Johnson
LibraryCity: Topsfield Town Library
Reviewdate: 7/1/09

Illus: Iwai, Melissa
RandomHouse2009
ISBN: 9780375855757
Format: PictureBook NonFiction
Rating: good
Grade: Pre-school and up
This is a Step into Reading Level 1 beginning to read book. The story is very simple with on a sentence on each page. They type is large format and easy to read with big pictures. The children get off the bus at the farm.
They are taken step by step through the entire process of plowing the field/planting/harvesting and finally selling the corn. Well thought out in the step by step process.
Reviewer: Jane Johnson
LibraryCity: Topsfield Town Library
Reviewdate: 7/1/09

HarperCollins2009
ISBN: 9780060283933
Format: NonFiction
Rating: excellent
Grade: 1st Grade and up
Seymour Simon is well known for the caliber of non-fiction books that most libraries have on their shelves. Dolphins should be included as it is loaded with lots of facts. There are full page photos of the dolphins and porpoises. The facts read well and hold your interest. He goes to great lengths to let the reader know the difference between dolphins and porpoises.
He tells the reader where they live, what they eat and the games they like to play. These mammals are very smart. There is a glossary at the end of the book and a box tinted gray with the Smithsonian Institution web site that you can go to for more information.
Reviewer: Jane Johnson
LibraryCity: Topsfield Town Library
Reviewdate: 7/1/09

HarperCollins2009
ISBN: 978-0061449062
Format: Fiction
Rating: excellent
Grade: 8th Grade and up
CurriculumFramework: English
Genre: Adventure/Sci-Fi
“Hunger”, by Michael Grant picks up right where “Gone” left off. It’s now been three months since everyone under the age of fifteen became trapped inside the bubble referred to as the FAYZ. While Sam and his friends won the first battle with his not so nice brother Caine and his cohorts, things are not going well. No one thought to try to conserve food at the beginning and now kids are starving. Add to that killer worms in the fields of the few vegetables that are still any good; resentment breaking out between “freaks” (kids who have developed different powers) and “normals”; a major crisis of leadership for poor Sam; Cain, Diana, and Drake plotting new mayhem, and finally something who the kids refer to as the “Darkness” hulking in a creepy cave and somehow manipulating people and events for it’s own purposes, makes up for a very dark though highly entertaining read. The reader will also find out quite a bit more about the events which led up to the FAYZ. This series is like “Lord of the Flies” in some ways, but goes even farther. You have the breakdown in the society that Sam has tried to create due to the food shortages and the resentment that the “normals” have for the kids who have developed powers. Sam spends much of the book feeling sorry for himself and guilty for not being able to do enough and be everything that everyone expects him to be. While this would seem like it would get annoying after awhile, due to Michael Grant’s masterful writing it doesn’t. The reader is reminded in different ways that Sam is only 15 years old, not much older than many of the kids who are depending on him. There’s also the nasty group of kids led by Sam’s brother Caine who have their own agendas which are definitely for nefarious purposes. Of course, Sam being who he is saves the day in the end with a little help from his friends. The book ends with a couple of big cliffhangers which will keep readers anxious for the next book “Lies” which will be released summer 2010. Due to some graphic scenes and some mature themes I think I would hold of on recommending this to anyone under 8th grade. Otherwise I highly recommend it especially for fans of “The Hunger Games”.
Reviewer: Kim Barker
LibraryCity: PIL/Dan
Reviewdate: 7/1/09

Chronicle2009
ISBN: 9780811856638
Format: PictureBook Fiction NonFiction
Rating: excellent
Grade: Pre-School and up
This is a very colorful book loaded with information about how butterflies soon followed the dinosaurs into the world. The dinosaurs became extinct but the tiny butterflies didn’t need much food to survive. Today there are over 200,000 kinds of moths and 18,000 types of butterflies. A very colorful and eye appealing book done in Bob Barner style.
Reviewer: Jane Johnson
LibraryCity: Topsfield Town Library
Reviewdate: 6/30/09