2012 Reviews by Library: Appleton
The Burning Bridge
Book 2 of the Ranger’s Apprentice series
This sequel is packed with exciting adventures. Will, his friend Horace, and the Ranger Gilan, travel to Celtica, a neighboring country to Arluen, to ask for their help in the battle against the rebel warlord Morgarath. When they arrive in Celtica they find all the people gone. They encounter a girl, Evanlyn, hiding from the Wargals. She describes how the Celts were either killed or enslaved by these creatures. Gilan rides to tell the king of the news and Will, Horace, and Evanlyn are left to find out what the Wargals want with the Celts.
Read more»Happy Hippo, Angry Duck: A Book of Moods by Sandra Boynton
Boynton begins her newest board book asking little readers how they are that day. "Are you as happy as a hippo? Or angry as a duck? Maybe sad as a chicken? (Can you sadly say cluck cluck?)." Children will delight in Boynton's signature illustrations while enjoyably learning that our moods change every day. Unless you are the duck of course, because he is always that way!
Ages 1 to 3
Lotta on Troublemaker Street
5 year old Lotta becomes angry with her mother when assigned to wear a scratchy sweater. She cuts the sweater up and runs away to find a new home. Her next door neighbor lets her set up a little house in the backyard, and Lotta decides she will live there forever. Lotta ends up going home in the end, of course! I like this short chapter book by the author of Pippi Longstocking, because I think so many children can relate to Lotta's anger.
Recommended for 1st to 3rd grade students, younger for reading aloud.
Chains
Whose side do you fight for if you're a slave during the American Revolution? While our country is fighting for freedom from Britain, who will fight for the slaves' freedom? The truth is that sometimes the slaves would fight for whoever promised them their freedom after the war. This book of incredibly well researched historical fiction takes the reader through the harrowing times of a slave girl named Isabel, her little sister Ruth, and a slave boy named Curzon as they fight for their freedom.
This award winning book is a favorite for avid middle school readers. Don't miss book 2, "Forge" and not yet published, book 3 titled "Ashes" (recommended for grades 6-8, young adults and adults).
Small As An Elephant
A touching story of self-reliance and survival. Eleven year old Jack Martel is abandoned by his mom, who is close to him but suffers from episodes of mental illness. He is left alone at their camping site in Acadia National Park in Maine. Jack must find food in any way he can—digging through trash for lobster leftovers, eating carrots from an older lady’s garden, dining on employees’ lunches while spending the night in an L. L. Bean store. He avoids authorities for fear they will permanently separate him from his mom. His passion for elephants sustains him as he steals a small elephant figurine for comfort, ponders elephant words of wisdom, and seeks to view a very special elephant.
Read more»Gregor the Overlander
Book 1 of the Underland Chronicles
In this fantasy, eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister, Boots, fall into an amazing underground world underneath New York City. This Underland is populated with humans and various giant-sized talking creatures. These creatures include bats called “fliers”, cockroaches called “crawlers”, spiders called “spinners”, and rats called “gnawers.” They have all lived in harmony but “The Prophecy of Gray” has changed that existence. The prophecy states that Gregor may be the “overlander” destined to save the humans from the warlike rats. Gregor is more interested in finding his way home, until he discovers that fulfilling the prophecy might also mean finding his father. Thus there are two quests unfolding in this story. One is that the Underlanders must fulfill the Prophecy of Gray and prevent being annihilated by the rats. The other is Gregor’s quest to find his father and bring him home.
Read more»Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake
When little Betty Bunny has chocolate cake for the first time, it’s love at first taste. “I want to marry chocolate cake!” she says to her family. Betty Bunny longs for more. But, being "a handful," as her mother puts it, she has trouble behaving and being patient enough to earn her next serving.
The cute illustrations of Betty, her bunny family, her animal teacher and classmates by Stéphane Jorisch are full of fun details for all to enjoy, especially chocolate lovers and kids ages 4-8.
The Popularity Papers: Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt & Julie Graham-Chang
Lydia lives with her mom and one weird sister, is a really good singer, has to wear glasses and wishes she had more style. Julie lives with Dad & Papa Dad, and Bad Cat, she is good at drawing and wishes she could fly. Lydia and Julie have one year before Junior High starts. They devise a plan to observe the girls that are already popular and record their observations in a book. By the end of the year they will use the same tactics to become popular so that more people will like them, they will stop getting teased, they will get invited to cool parties, other people will be jealous of them, and they will get better parts in the school play.
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