When Max's family adopts a dog, Max and his older brother agree to share the work of taking care of the dog. Once again, however, his older brother leaves many of the tasks to Max. Will Max's work with the dog be worth the trouble? This is a great story about sibling relationships and the rewards of taking good care of a pet. The story of the relationship between these two brothers continues in the second book in the Monkey Reader series, Monkeys and the Universe. (Reading Level: 3.2)

Reviewed by: emc

Date read: 12/30/2010

ISBN-10: 0374350299

ISBN-13: 9780374350291

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A kid named Chip gets a brother that's a robot! Chip and the robot (named Simon) get along for a little bit, but then things get tough when Simon is on the swim team with Chip.

Reviewed by: St. Charles Reader

Date read: 11/28/2009

ISBN-10: 0525467920

ISBN-13: 9780525467922

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Hank Zipzer tries to do the right thing, but somehow it always ends up wrong. For example, at the start of fourth grade, his teacher assigns a 5-paragraph essay on, 'What I did on my summer vacation.' Since reading and writing are difficult for him, Hank decides to recreate Niagara Falls for his class, 'bring Niagara Falls into the classroom, water and all.' This 'living essay' leads to a flood, and of course, chaos ensues, landing Hank in detention, and grounded the week of the school's magic show. Can he convince his parents to let him perform in the show?

Similar books: Look for other titles in the Hank Zipzer, the Mostly True Confessions of the World's Best Underachiever series.

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 4/29/2009

ISBN-10: 0448431629

ISBN-13: 9780448431628

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Augie Boretski's encounter with a strange green book of fairy tales brings unexpected and exciting changes in his life. The bookstore owner Louisa, as well as the book are magical and along with Big Brother Walter, his classmates, the chorus, Augie leads the community on a mission to save the school.

Reviewed by: adf

Date read: 5/28/2009

ISBN-10: 0375939210

ISBN-13: 9780375939211

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Tim Daniels is elated when his parents tell him that he can go to basketball camp for his summer vacation. He imagines being starting point guard when he comes back to school in the fall as an eighth grader since NBA players are going to be at the camp to help the kids. Tim's best friend Billy decides to go to camp too-what could go wrong? First of all, Tim misses all of the shots that he puts up. Then at the first social dance with all of the campers, Tim gets extremely nervous dancing with a girl that he likes and has to leave the dance before he gets sick. Will things turn around for Tim or will they go from bad to worse? While reading this book, you will feel like you are in the bleachers cheering for Tim. This is part of Matt Christopher's Sports Fiction series.

Reviewed by: jb

Date read: 8/18/2010

ISBN-10: 0316135852

ISBN-13: 9780316135856

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