In Victorian London, alley cat Skilley wants to escape the hard life of the streets for the comforts of an inn. He makes a home at the Cheshire Cheese Inn under the pretence of being a mouser, but Skilley has a secret. He doesn't eat mice! Instead, he prefers cheese, and the best cheese in London is served at the inn. Skilley forms an alliance with the inn's mice, but complications arise when another cat moves in. There is also a mysterious resident at the inn who needs their help to find his way home. Will Mr. Charles Dickens (who frequents the inn) be able to help sort out the impending crisis? And what happens when Queen Victoria pays a visit? Read this delightful story to find out.

Reviewed by: msp

Date read: 2/16/2012

ISBN-13: 9781451738131

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Commenter: Aster, grade 4

In the last decade of the nineteenth century, 13-year-old Maks Geless lives with his Danish immigrant family in the lower east side of New York City. One of 5 children and the oldest son, he hawks newspapers for the World Newspaper. After hustling at least five hours a day, he clears 8 cents and that's an important contribution to his family's welfare. Life is not easy then, with dirt, disease, and a depression, his family doesn't have it easy, even with renting out one of their beds to a border. Agnes, one of the daughters has the 'wasting disease' (tuberculosis) and they are saving all they can to afford a doctor for her. Then the other daughter, Emma, is falsely arrested for stealing a watch from the Waldorf Hotel where she works as a maid and is taken to the Tombs to await her trial in four days. The father's factory closes down. Maks almost gets beaten and robbed but is saved by a brave but filthy orphan girl and her wooden stick. With his parents just barely knowing English, it's now up to Maks and his new friend, Willa, to prove the innocence of Emma and somehow find enough money for medicine to save Agnes. As usual with master storyteller Avi, there are many twists, turns, and surprises along with his well- researched knowledge that makes the time period come alive. (It makes you glad you're not living in it!)

Reviewed by: ewl

Date read: 12/6/2011

ISBN-13: 9781416971023

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Commenter: Agnes, grade 4

In 1905, Clara lives on a farm. She desperately wants to learn how to read. Will the new traveling bookwagon, and librarian, convince her father that reading is not a waste of time for farming families?

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 4/13/2009

ISBN-10: 0064441342

ISBN-13: 9780064441346

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Segregation in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 meant paying attention to all the laws and rules if you were a negro: NEVER touch a white person, walk on the opposite side of the street as white people, pay your bus fare at the front of the bus but enter through the back door, NEVER sit in the first 10 rows, and give up your seat for a white person. There were severe consequences if you did anything the wrong way. On March 2, 1955, fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin was arrested, thrown into a squad car and verbally insulted all the way to jail - she refused to stand and give up her seat to a white woman. So begins Claudette standing up for her rights as a citizen of the United States. This well-researched biography brings to life the civil rights movement of 1955-56 in Montgomery, Alabama including the bus boycott and the roles of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., and how Claudette contributed to changing the course of American history.

Awards nominated: 2009 National Book Award Finalist

Awards won: Newbery Honor 2010

Reviewed by: adf

Date read: 2/3/2010

ISBN-10: 0374313229

ISBN-13: 9780374313227

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As a small girl, Birch visited Grandma's and Grandpa's house each summer. She can remember Grandpa talking about his WWII flying days, and how he wished he could fly all the way across the country in his antique Piper Cub. But now that Birch's grandma has died, and Grandpa has decided to sell his plane, and move into a retirement home, it looks like his dream will never be a reality. That is until Birch talks Grandpa into a journey of a lifetime- the two of them fly from South Carolina to California in his beloved Piper Cub. This is a great read for anyone interested in flying antique aircraft.

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 3/27/2009

ISBN-10: 0440409268

ISBN-13: 9780440409267

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