Los Angeles is a place of movie stars and fast cars, but there's also drive-bys and death. This book is about another L.A. Among the gangs in the barrio, Arturo goes to school, celebrates holidays, and makes friends. According to his father, 'In life there is bueno and there is malo. If you do not find enough of the good, you must yourself create it. Any small goodness is of value.'

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 4/28/2009

ISBN-10: 0439189365

ISBN-13: 9780439189361

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Jason, a twelve-year-old autistic boy, is an excellent writer. In fact, he wants to be a writer someday. Jason loves posting on his Storyboard website. Here, he can just be himself and not a boy with autism. He develops an online friendship with a girl named Rebecca, whose stories he regularly comments on. When Jason's parents surprise him with a trip to the annual Storyboard writers conference, Jason is so happy! Jason's happiness begins to suddenly deflate when Rebecca writes him that she too will be at the conference. He doesn't want her to meet him and treat him differently because of his autism. In this book, Jason shares his perspectives on life in such a way as to really give the reader a glimpse into what it is like to have autism.

Awards nominated: 2013 Rebecca Caudill Nominee

Reviewed by: jb

Date read: 3/27/2012

ISBN-10: 1416963782

ISBN-13: 9781416963783

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Are you in the mood for fantasy? Mystery? Historical fiction? How about adventure? The Apothecary has all of these things to offer, and more. The year is 1952. Fourteen year old Janie has spent her whole life in sunny Los Angeles, where her parents are writers for television. When the feds start questioning them about their Communist sympathies, they decide to move to London. Janie is sent to a private school, where she is sure she won't fit in. She meets a defiant classmate named Benjamin there, and he would rather be a spy than follow in his father's footsteps. His father is the neighborhood apothecary, but the two friends soon find out that he does far more than sell aspirin and hot water bottles. He is actually an alchemist, and in possession of a 700 year old book of formulas that can do everything from turn you invisible to transform you into a pile of salt. Janie and Benjamin are swept up into an adventure where scientists aren't just scientists and they must race to stop the Russians from setting off a nuclear bomb. This fast paced story gives a good picture of what life was like after WWII, and stirs the imagination as well.

Similar books: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle; The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

Awards nominated: Rebecca Caudill Award

Awards nominated: 2014 Rebecca Caudill Nominee

Reviewed by: lauraf

Date read: 10/4/2012

ISBN-10: 039925627X

ISBN-13: 9780399256271

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Follow the experiences of a new immigrant to a strange country through the beautiful, detailed illustrations of this wordless graphic novel. The story is complex and sophisticated and is communicated well through the illustrations; elements of the familiar and the fantastical combine in a believable and moving way. This book would be an excellent way to introduce the immigrant experience to older readers.

Reviewed by: msp

Date read: 3/12/2010

ISBN-10: 0439895294

ISBN-13: 9780439895293

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Art and Max are lizards, living in the desert. They need to grab all the beauty and fun they can. Arthur, as he prefers to be called, is a talented artist. Max would like to paint, too, but he doesn't know what to paint. Art gets more than he bargained for when he suggests that Max should paint him and gets spattered with multiple colors. When Max tries to remove the paint, he ends up removing Art. Can Max bring Art back? Will life on the desert ever be the same? We all get into the amusement as Caldecott-winning artist Wiesner has fun with art.

Similar books: I Ain't Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont

Awards nominated: 2013 Monarch Nominee

Reviewed by: vfv

Date read: 3/13/2012

ISBN-10: 0618756639

ISBN-13: 9780618756636

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