The Call of the Bully

The Call of the Bully
(sequel to How to Beat the Bully Without Really Trying)
by Scott Starkey
Simon and Schuster, January 2013

The Call Of Bully is a book about a kid named Rodney Rathbone and his experience with bullying in camp Wy Mee. It is a very funny and I think it would be a good 2013 book. The author really put a lot of effort and to be honest with you the author decribes chapters so well that I could just imagine being there. This is a good book for 5th and 6th graders. --V

Lincoln's Grave Robbers

Lincoln's Grave Robbers
by Steve Sheinkin
Scholastic Press, January 2013
review ARC provided by Cover to Cover 

This book was about how some people called phonies try to get fellow engraving master back for the counterfeiting money business. They plan to steal the body of Lincoln and the mystery/search for the criminals unfold. I rate this book a 9 out of 10 because some of the picture places were empty. (But that’s why the book is an advanced reading copy! DUH!) This book is Historical Fiction. --Y

Kitty Corner: Guide to Kittens

Kitty Corner: Guide to Kittens
by Ellen Miles
Scholastic Paperbacks, April 1, 2013
review copy (ARC) provided by Cover to Cover Children's Books

The book was really good! I definitely recommend this book for people that have kittens or cats or people that are gonna get one, or maybe doing reserch on kittens too! I do not read the Kitty Corner series, but if you are familiar with the series it has bits or quotes from different books from the series. --N

This fabulous non-fiction book is about how to take care of your cat. It has some great tips on feeding and grooming and just making your cat happy! Some of this book is about taking care of a new cat that you probably just got and it shows you how to make your new kitty feel like your home is also their new home. There are sometimes small little stories on the side you can read that are relevant to what the rest of the page and it is sort of like an example that will help you understand. I recommend this book for great for cat lovers and people who are just getting their new family cat. And you might find something interesting that you have never heard of before! There are more books from the author Ellen Miles about cats too! --R

Navigating Early

Navigating Early 

by Clare Vanderpool
Delacorte Books for Young Readers, January, 2013

review copy (ARC) provided by Cover to Cover Children's Books

Meet thirteen-year-old Jack Baker. He’s normal except for one thing: he is friends with Early Auden. At the beginning, Early seems like a ghost lurking the school. Then, Jack finds out what’s wrong with him and why the rest of the guys think he’s a freak. Early believes that the number Pi goes on, his brother is not dead, and that the great black bear is still stalking the Appalachian Trail. That’s not the weirdest thing though… Early decides to set off for a quest to find Pi. He thinks the story has not ended. Jack (who is sometimes called Jackie) tries to stop him, but it’s no use. In the end, he decides to tag along so he doesn’t feel lonely since everyone had premission to leave the school. The two boys end up on a good road, but there’s always a scratch or two. Not everything always goes right; there are injuries, venemous animals, and crazy people. Luckily, the two boys find what they want; but lose things they need. This book will get you hooked! I recommend it to everyone.

This was an interesting book. It was heart-warming, but funny at times. Clare Vanderpool really explained the book well, I felt like I was walking with Jackie and Early. Navigating Early was really sad by the ending, but still awesome! I really liked how the author put a lot of effort into the characters, Early seemed like a real kid. I also liked how Jackie found his ture self, and who his true friend was. This book kept surprising me. In every page- BOOM! You never knew what was going to happen. Never. I think everyone should read this amazing book. I really liked it, and I think others will, too. --SA

The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket

The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket
by John Boyne
illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
Knopf Books for Young Readers, January 8, 2013
review copy (ARC) provided by Cover to Cover Children's Books

This book is about a young boy named Barnaby, but the main thing is that he floats. Which is the same thing as deifying the law of gravity, who ever heard?! His parents, Alistair and Eleanor Brocket, are very normal people. When they learned (or saw) that he could float, they knew right away that was not normal! They set up a plan, a very mean plan, which was meant to make Barnaby float away. Oh, the tragedy! His mother, Eleanor, was a bit happy to have a normal life again once he was gone. Barnaby on the other hand had a wonderful trip! He floated around the world; from Canada to Africa. Barnaby had a pretty nice time- but he wanted to get home! Read this book to find out what happened and if Barnaby ever got back!

I am really glad I read this book; it was the kind that made you want to cry and laugh at the same time. I’m a big fan of those books! This book was simply amazing, I felt like it would fly away if I didn’t finish reading it! Barnaby was the main character, and my favorite. He was always brave; even though he was floating across the world!! I wouldn’t have survived a second out in the sky! In the end, I wanted to know more about what Barnaby was going to do. I might read this book again sometime. --SA

More on Barnaby Brocket from another reader:

About the book:

Barnaby is an eight year old boy, who can float! His parents aren’t so supportive of his difference, because they don’t want to look unusual. Just normal, normal. One day Barnaby’s mother lets him loose out in the open sky. She doesn’t even try to catch him, or make him come back to the ground. His dog tries to catch him…but he floats, and floats. In this book Barnaby takes and exciting adventure, meeting new people who were different as well. Read this fascinating book, to find out how difference is okay.

Rating:

This book made it impossible to put down. I would rate it a 5/5 stars, because it inspires you to stand out. This book teaches you that your differences make you who YOU are. That being too normal is just unusual. Anybody looking for a fun read, check this one out! --Sh

The Rescue Princesses #1: Secret Promise

The Rescue Princesses #1: Secret Promise

by Paula Harrison

Scholastic Paperbacks, June 1, 2013

review copy (ARC) provided by Cover to Cover Children's Books

In this book a princess named Emily finds some other princesses that help her rescue the deer in a forest that are being hunted. They find out about the deer when they find a baby deer stuck in a bear trap. This book is a third grade level book because it was short and easy. --So

Amelia Bedelia Means Business

Amelia Bedelia Means Business

by Herman Parish

illustrated by Lynne Avril

Greenwillow Books, January 2013

review copy (ARC) provided by Cover to Cover Children's Books

The book Amelia Bedelia Means Business is about a girl who wants a new bike. So she does a lot of jobs and does a lot of crazy stuff just so she can earn enough money to by the bike. I thought some parts of this book were a little cheesy but other than that it was a pretty good book. I would say this book should be at a second to fourth grade level. I would rate it a 7 out of 10. --So

Poseidon: Earth Shaker

Poseidon: Earth Shaker
by George O'Connor
First Second, on shelves March 13, 2013
review copy provided by the publisher

Poseidon: Earth Shaker is about stories about Poseidon. We thought it was really a good book. One story was about Odysseus, his cleverness ended the Trojan War. It also tells about his son Theseus, who killed the Minotaur. The book has Greek mythology and it is kind of confusing so we would rate it a 4 star book. All the Greek mythology tries to prove the world's features. --K and --U

Strike Three You're Dead

Strike Three You’re Dead 
by Josh Berk
Knopf Books for Young Readers, on shelves March 12, 2013

review copy (ARC) provided by Cover to Cover Children's Books

It was about a boy named Lenny who wins a contest to announce a inning of a Philly’s game. But just before the pitcher, RJ Weathers, pitches, he stops, then drops dead right on the mound! Lenny and his friends, Mike and Other Mike conclude that this was no accident, because he seemed perfectly fine just before the game. Lenny, the Mikes, Maria (someone they meet at the library that is one of the librarian's niece) and Courtney (Lenny’s babysitter) go on a adventure to see who was really behind the death of RJ Weathers. I honestly thought this book was AMAZING! It left a cliff hanger at the end of almost every chapter and was loaded with suspense. --JA

Athlete vs. Mathlete

Athlete vs. Mathlete
by W. C. Mack
Bloomsbury, on shelves February 6, 2013
review copy (ARC) provided by Cover to Cover Children's Books

This book is about two twins, one who plays basketball and one who is a “brainiac”. Russel, the nerd, and Owen, the other dude, are both recruited for the b-ball team. Russel swishes jump shots while Owen does layups. In this book, you will find out about how two brothers are seperated because of one’s emotions and one’s greatness. --Y

It was about a pair of twins who both tried out for basketball. One is all about it and was practicing every day, the other was a total nerd. He (Russell, the nerd) hated it, he didn’t want to join! The coach put him in the team though, which made Owen (the other twin) mad, but also jealous. Russell got a catch phrase, cool new shoes, and a lot more things which made Owen jealous. This book tells a lot about a twins’ life. It was pretty short, and each twin got a chapter from their perspective. I really liked it! --SA

Stick Dog

Stick Dog
by Tom Watson
HarperCollins, January 2013
review copy (ARC) provided by Cover to Cover Children's Books

Let me start by saying this book made me crackkk up! You wouldn’t think its a good book by the cover but the reality is it is a great book. It is about five dogs who try to get hamburgers from humans. Sorry I am not giving that much of details because you should find out yourself. It’s a 3rd and 4th grade leveled book but if you are in 5th grade and you like dogs and food also humor this book is made for you. --Sa

Zebra Forest

Zebra Forest
by Adina Rishe Gewirtz
Candlewick, on shelves April 9, 2013
review copy (ARC) provided by the publisher

Today I Finished Zebra Forest and it is an amazing book. This is my favorite book I have read all year so far. My favorite part was when I found out the person who was taking them ” hostage” in their own home was their father. But I thought their father was dead. I think their mom should have been in the book because it would be interesting. I would rate this book 5/5 because of how it surprised me and I like surprises . --Fo

TImmy Failure: Mistakes are Made

Timmy Failure: Mistakes are Made
by Stephan Pastis
Candlewick, on shelves February 26, 2013
review copy (ARC) provided by the publisher

Timmy is pretty much what his name is, a failure. He really dumb, and works as a ‘detective.’ As you guessed he doesn’t really solve most cases. Not to mention, he has a polar bear as a pet (weird). I think this book is mostly for 3rd grade or lower grades. It was very easy, and you could finish it in a day (if you have the time of course). It just wasn’t my book. I would give this book a 3 out of 5 stars. --Sh

Bot Wars

Bot Wars
by J.V. Kade
Dial, on shelves March 13, 2013
review copy (ARC) provided by Cover to Cover Children's Books

I haven’t finished the book yet but it is awesome so far. It is about a kid named Trout. He has a brother named Po. He lost his leg from a disease named the Deeta Disease during the Robot Wars. His dad went missing a few years back. His dad might be in bot territory. Later, he made friends with a girl named Tellie. The UD (United Distect, they now formed Disticts) Goverment can track people because they have chips.

The part I’m in right now this is what happened: the Goverment was chasing Trout and Trout ended up at Tellie’s house. The Goverment went there and saw a robot at her room. Robots and humans were friends and are now pretty much enemies. The robot is good and helped him escape. I said a lot so to find out what happens next, just read. --U

What Was the Battle of Gettysburg?

What Was the Battle of Gettysburg?
by Jim O'Connor
illustrated by John Mantha and James Bennett
Grosset and Dunlap, on shelves February 7, 2013
review copy (ARC) provided by Cover to Cover Children's Books

This book is about the famous battle that happened during the Civil War in Gettysburg, PA.  It talks about the leaders who led the Union and the Southern troops. It shows some real pictures and some hand drawn ones.  If I rate this book it should be around 4 or five stars. It is a really good book for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders. I'm not sure it's for a 5th grader because I found it too easy. --SV

Babymouse Extreme

Extreme Babymouse
by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm
Random House, 2013
review copy from classroom library

Extreme Babymouse was a really good book! I reccomend this book for all ages really. In one part of the book Babymouse mentions Lunch lady! In parts of the book Babymouse imagined herself as “Humty-Mouse”, “Babyladdin”, and also “Babylocks”! --N