Category: Book Reviews

Pass Go and Collect $200: The Real Story of How Monopoly was Invented

Pass Go and Collect $200: The Real Story of How Monopoly was InventedPass Go and Collect $200: The Real Story of How Monopoly Was Invented by Tanya Lee Stone, Steve Salerno
Published by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) on July 17th 2018
ISBN: 162779168X
Pages: 40
Goodreads
five-stars

What a crooked and complicated history for a beloved board game!  Pass Go and Collect $200 shares the remarkable and overlooked story of Lizzie Magie, the brainchild behind the mega-successful game.  In the early 1900s, Lizzie created the Landlord’s Game in an attempt to remind humanity of its better nature, that the rich don’t need to get richer off the backs of poor tenants.  She even received a US Patent for her idea, a rarity for a woman, which represented the first patent ever for a board game. Lizzie tried selling her game to Parker Brothers but was unceremoniously turned down.  Years later, the Landlord’s Game continued to grow in popularity. People made their own boards and pieces and one man, Charles Darrow, even started selling his version of the board (similar to the iconic board played on today).  He became so invested in his work that he came to believe that he was a legitimate inventor himself. When he approached Parker Brothers, the time was ripe to acquire the rights. In a double cross that Lizzie never saw coming, she accepted $500 from Parker Brothers who then gave full credit and millions to Charles Darrow.  Pass Go and Collect $200 is a colorfully illustrated book with a fascinating history. For younger children with a knowledge of Monopoly, this would make a fantastic read-aloud while elementary-aged readers will enjoy racing through each page to find out if Lizzie ends up winning the ultimate game. End pages with trivia, Monopoly Math and an Author’s Note are also not to be missed.  Great addition to any nonfiction collection.

Reviewed by Suzanne Dix, Westbrook Middle School, Westbrook

five-stars

The Princess in Black and the Science Fair Scare

The Princess in Black and the Science Fair ScareThe Princess in Black and the Science Fair Scare (The Princess in Black #6) by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale
Series: Princess in Black
Published by Candlewick Press on September 25th 2018
ISBN: 0763688274
Pages: 96
Goodreads
five-stars

Another entertaining, action-packed offering from the team of Shannon and Dean Hale for your emerging readers, BOY OR GIRL! Princess Magnolia is off to her first Science Fair with her project in hand and, thanks to Goat Avenger, a day off from monster fighting. The other projects at the fair are impressive and well-executed, leaving Magnolia feeling a little rattled at the simplicity of her poster about how a seed grows. Luckily for her (?!), a goo monster has found a home in the project of Tommy Wigtower, a volcano that just won’t blow. Princess Magnolia realizes that when the monster does show itself, the crowd is going to need some help wrangling it, so she quickly ducks under a table, emerging seconds later as her alter-ego the Princess in Black. Princess Sneezewort does the same, appearing as the Princess in Blankets (introduced in book 5 “The Mysterious Playdate”). With some encouragement from the monster-fighting Princess duo, and some help from the chemical reaction of baking soda and vinegar, the monster is unleashed. Pham’s vibrant, expressive illustrations gleefully capture the exploding, gooey monster and the smash-and-crash action of the attempts to restrain it. Turns out, that monster is just looking for a home and what better place to escort it than the goat pasture? Filled with wonderful strong girls who capably get the job done and exciting action hero lingo, book six in the series does not disappoint. The message that girls excel at science and that there is always room to push yourself to do better next time (Magnolia’s poster becomes a snack for the maw of the goo monster before she can present it and she vows that next year, she will come up with an even better project) at the same time supporting other girls in their success is fantastic (Magnolia cheers the loudest for the winner of the Science Fair and her cleverly-designed project). With the promise of more princess superheroes on the last page, book seven will be eagerly anticipated!

Reviewed by Jill O’Connor, Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth

five-stars

The Cardboard Kingdom

The Cardboard KingdomThe Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell, Jay Fuller, David DeMeo, Katie Schenkel, Kris Moore, Molly Muldoon, Vid Alliger, Manuel Betancourt, Michael Cole, Cloud Jacobs, Barbara Perez Marquez
Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on June 5th 2018
ISBN: 1524719374
Pages: 288
Goodreads
five-stars

Take the collective imaginations of a neighborhood full of kids, add cardboard, and you’ve got the perfect summer adventure. Sell started this middle grade graphic novel with the invention of the Sorceress and then invited other storytellers to create a character for the Kingdom, which they did with style. When Sell added the gorgeous, full-color illustrations filled with movement and power, the Kingdom vibrated to life. Through each character, issues of bullying, burgeoning romantic feelings, alienation, identity, cooperation, compromise, and friendship are deftly woven into this engaging book. The beauty of this GN is that it can be read over and over and each time more details and nuance emerge.  As readers reach the end of the book, they will feel empowered to connect to their creative spirit and perhaps to find other, like-minded people to share their vision. There is magic in putting oneself out there, in engaging in pure play, and in building a world where everyone can participate. This book will fly off the shelves on its own, but if it needs any help, recommend to readers of Raina Telgemeier, Jenny Holm, and Svetlana Chmakova.

Reviewed by Jill O’Connor, Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth

five-stars

A Frog’s Life

Published by Holiday House four-stars

A stunningly illustrated nonfiction picture book,   A Frog’s Life will be perused, poured over, and quoted from by primary grade students.  Both the text and illustrations are accurate and attractive.  Young readers will be entertained by these amazing frogs as they learn many facts such as favorite food and habitats.   The text offers simple science that is presented in fact sections and story like paragraphs.  Endangered frogs are examined and the index list the species that have been rescued. This book provides written and visual content that takes readers through the entire life cycle of frogs.

Several light shaded background pages allow for dark or light colored illustrations.  Each frog stands out or reseeds into its environment as in nature.  The last two pages are a bonus as they share the challenges of climate change and its effect on frogs.  This is a scientific offering that will be appreciated in primary classrooms and on library shelves.  School and public librarians should consider this attractive and educational book for their collections.

 

Submitted by Jan Hamilton, retired youth services librarian

four-stars

Bug Blonsky and His Very Long List of Dont’s

Bug Blonsky and His Very Long List of Dont’sBug Blonsky and His Very Long List of Don'ts by E.S. Redmond
Published by Candlewick Press on January 2nd 2018
ISBN: 0763689351
Pages: 80
Goodreads
three-stars

Bug Blonsky and His Very Long List of Don’ts is an early reader drenched in humor.  Over the period of just one day Bug finds himself in many unfortunate situations, some that get him sent to the Principle and others that place him in the time out chair at home.  Redmond describes a young man with attention difficulties who never intends to misbehave yet his impulses lead to negative behaviors. This character is well defined and surely identifiable within any school.

The font is large and the vocabulary is perfect for second and third graders. Certainly the illustrations will resonate with young readers.  Adults may fell however that the teacher and mother are drawn in a very unflattering manner.   This reader takes exception with the identification of spiders and worms as bugs.  In this age of STEM it seems that the scientific identification needs to be correct, even in a fiction book

Submitted by Jan Hamilton, retired youth services librarian in Scarborough, Maine

three-stars

The Dam Keeper: World Without Darkness

The Dam Keeper: World Without DarknessThe Dam Keeper: World Without Darkness by Robert Kondo, Dice Tsutsumi
Published by First Second on July 10th 2018
ISBN: 162672427X
Pages: 160
Goodreads
three-stars

This is the second book in The Dam Keeper series. The illustrations are full of deep vibrant colors on beautifully thick paper pages. Together the creators, Konodo and Tsutsumi, created an Oscar-nominated short of the first book in the series and together they now created the second book. The story picks up at the end of the first story and is full of action, adventure, and lessons about friendship and bravery as Pig, Fox, and Hippo try to reach Sunrise Valley before the deadly black fog returns. This book will appeal to readers who have read the first book or seen the animated short but would be confusing for anyone who did not know the first part of the story; however, just looking at the beautiful artwork might be enough for some. Recommended for Grade levels 2-5.

Reviewed by Elizabeth Andersen, Librarian, Westbrook High School 

three-stars

Lost Soul, Be At Peace

Lost Soul, Be At PeaceLost Soul, Be at Peace by Maggie Thrash
Published by Candlewick Press (MA) on October 9th 2018
ISBN: 0763694193
Pages: 192
Goodreads
five-stars

I am always surprised when a follow-up work is as good as the first. So I am pleased to report that Maggie Thrash’s follow up to Honor Girl is just as good. Again Trash tackles her past with brutal honesty in images and words. Set a year and a half after Honor Girl, Maggie is depressed and failing most of her classes. She wants her parents to notice her troubles, but her mother avoids the signs and her father remains distant and absorbed in his work. Maggie is haunted by a ghost, Tommy, who she is able to open up to. Coincidentally, Maggie is studying Hamlet and there are many connections between the Shakespearean tragedy and Maggie’s story. Thrash tackles the turbulence of growing up and leaving things behind, the dangers of the world, and complicated family relationships into a haunting graphic novel.
Recommended For grades 9-12
Elizabeth Andersen
Librarian
Westbrook High School

five-stars

Merci Suárez Changes Gears

Merci Suárez Changes GearsMerci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina
Published by Candlewick Press on September 11th 2018
ISBN: 076369049X
Pages: 368
Goodreads
five-stars

Eleven-year-old Merci struggles with changes both at home and at school as she begins sixth grade in this poignant and realistic novel.

Merci’s tight-knit extended Cuban-American family live in South Florida in three houses next to one another, which they affectionately refer to as Las Casitas. Merci’s particularly close to her grandfather, Lolo, who has always listened to her carefully and without judgment, leading her to favor him as her confidant. However, her second year as a full scholarship student at a prestigious private school brings many changes, including persistent needling by mean queen bee Edna, and it coincides with behavior from Lolo that worries Merci, such as a fall from his bicycle, confusing people for one another and wandering off.

Merci’s first-person narrative voice is spot on as she tells her story in short but detail-filled chapters that unfold naturally. Readers will feel the depth of love she has for her family even as she experiences realistic frustration and anger as she bumps up against their high expectations for her and the demands on her time. The juxtaposition of the privilege of most of her classmates compared to Merci’s working class family is nuanced and pervasive and the dynamics between them are true to life. Likewise, her dawning, but at first limited, understanding that there is something medically wrong with Lolo is believable for a kid her age.

Older grade school and middle school students who favor realistic fiction will be a natural audience for this moving and immersive story about Merci, which ends on a note that leaves open the possibility of a sequel.

Reviewed by Brooke Faulkner, McArthur Public Library, Biddeford

five-stars

The Jamie Drake Equation

The Jamie Drake EquationThe Jamie Drake Equation by Christopher Edge
Published by Delacorte Press on June 26th 2018
ISBN: 1524713619
Pages: 192
Goodreads
four-stars

Jamie, his Mom, and little sister are staying with his Grandfather in England while his astronaut Dad is on the International Space Station on a mission to launch a search for alien life. Back on Earth, Jamie is worrying about his Dad and trying to come to terms with the news of his parents’ upcoming divorce. He visits a nearby observatory and meets an astronomer doing her own search for alien lifeforms. He plugs his phone into her laptop and downloads a mysterious app that may or may not be of alien origin. This science fiction book features scientific and mathematical concepts, including an explanation of the Fibonacci Sequence and Fibonacci Spiral. Upper elementary/younger middle school readers will find this entertaining, if brief. The Jamie Drake Equation is a good introduction to science fiction for young people.

Reviewed by Karen Sandlin Silverman, Mt. Ararat Middle School, Topsham

four-stars

Power On!: Life-Changing Technology

Power On!: Life-Changing TechnologyPower On! Power On!: Life-Changing Technology Life-Changing Technology by Eleanor Cardell
Published by Full Tilt Press on August 1st 2017
ISBN: 1629206075
Goodreads
four-stars

Power On! focuses on four technological enhancements that made a big impact on the technology we now use. The invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 ultimately led to the formation of the telecommunications company AT&T, transcontinental telephone lines, and the 911 system. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first “fireside chats” in 1933 helped American people connect more directly with the President via radio. Now people are connected to our President via television, internet, and twitter. The video game Space Invaders was released in Japan in 1978 which launched an entirely new billion dollar industry — the video game industry. Apple released the first iPhone in 2007 and sold a million phones in just 74 days. That first iPhone has led to touchscreen technology and changed the way we communicate.

Power On! Is part of the Flash Points non-fiction “high-low” series and should appeal to upper elementary/middle school readers and includes a bibliography, index, glossary, and quiz. The design is appealing with lot of photographs and a “How and Why” and “Ripple Effects” timeline in each chapter.

Reviewed by Karen Sandlin Silverman, Mt. Ararat Middle School, Topsham

four-stars