Chris is an incredible ice skater: he's been taking figure skating lessons all his life. But figure skating isn't fun anymore, and Chris knows he's not good enough to become an Olympic athlete. When he notices hockey tryouts at the rink where he skates, he decides he'll give hockey a shot. It seems like everything's against him: Chris is small for his age, his mother thinks hockey is dangerous, and he's never played before. Will he make the team, or just embarrass himself? Does he have what it takes to be a hockey player?

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 8/18/2009

ISBN-10: 0316135208

ISBN-13: 9780316135207

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A Caldecott Honor book, this title follows the adventures of James and Eamon as they visit Eamon's grandparents while attending Nature Camp during the day. The book's humor comes from the interaction of the words and the pictures, which often communicate different ideas, like how James arrives with 'just a couple of his belongings,' but we can see an enormous pile of overflowing boxes behind him. Pick this title for an amusing story of a week of camp and play, with bright, relaxed illustrations.

Awards nominated: Monarch Award Nominee 2011

Awards won: Caldecott honor book 2009

Reviewed by: emc

Date read: 4/9/2010

ISBN-10: 0152060200

ISBN-13: 9780152060206

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Cocky Seventh-grader, John 'Crash' Coogan, has been running over people since the day he used his first football helmet to knock his cousin flat on her backside. Shy, pacifist, Penn Webb, has been a favorite target for Crash's bullying for years. Through his grandfather's illness, Crash begins to see the value in things he had previously scorned, and he begins to see the importance of family and friendship.

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 4/29/2009

ISBN-10: 0679979573

ISBN-13: 9780679979579

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Victor has lived in the small village of Los Arboles, Mexico for as long as he can remember. Every spring, many of the men in the village embark on the dangerous trip north trying to cross the border to help support their family as migrant workers for the summer. When Victor's father fails to return in the fall, Victor has to become the man of the house and try and support his family. Victor's best friend, Rico, decides that this is the year he will take the trip north and he is hoping that Victor will come with him. Victor doesn't want to go, until the corn crop his family has been raising fails to bring in enough money to support the family. Victor is faced with a decision that will change his life. Without the money to pay for a coyote to help him across the border into El Norte, he will have to try traveling north on his own. Will he be able to make the dangerous trip north and enter the United States illegally, or will he get caught by the border patrol? Read this great adventure and find out!

Similar authors: Gary Paulsen and Ben Mikaelsen

Reviewed by: BK

Date read: 6/23/2009

ISBN-10: 0060741406

ISBN-13: 9780060741402

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Melvin Beederman doesn't really feel like a superhero. He looks great in his uniform, he can run really, really fast, and his x-ray vision works just fine, but he can't leap tall buildings in a single bound (it takes 5 to 6 bounds every time) and he has great difficulty stopping a speeding train. Never the less, he graduates superhero school at the top of his class and is sent off to Los Angeles to protect the city. Everything goes well until he has to send his cape to the cleaners. It comes back several sizes too small and nothing seems to work anymore. Will Melvin ever be able to fight evil again? Who will stop the McNasty brothers?

Reviewed by: caroll

Date read: 10/4/2011

ISBN-10: 0805078363

ISBN-13: 9780805078367

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Commenter: Person, grade 0