Format: Chapter Book Nonfiction

The Superpower Field Guide: Beavers

The Superpower Field Guide: BeaversBeavers by Rachel Poliquin
Published by HMH Books for Young Readers on December 4th 2018
ISBN: 0544949870
Pages: 96
Goodreads
five-stars

This book is all about beavers which at first might make you pass it by. But that would be a mistake. Not only is this book chock-full of amazing beaver facts- stuff like they have orange teeth, they can hold their breath for 15 minutes- and weird stuff- they eat their own poop- it’s got terrific drawings in it and is filled with humor. As you read about the beaver sometimes you will find your self chuckling but for sure you will be impressed with how really incredible beavers are and will want to share all the cool facts you discover with others.

Cream, Grades 3 and up, Mary Lehmer, Freeport Community Library, Freeport, ME

five-stars

Sex Plus

Sex PlusSex Plus: Learning, Loving, and Enjoying Your Body by Laci Green
Published by HarperCollins on September 25th 2018
ISBN: 0062560972
Pages: 528
Goodreads
four-stars

If you have questions, this book has answers! Laci Green, known for her Sex Plus series on YouTube, has been involved in advocacy and sex education work since high school. Knicknamed, the “millennial Dr. Ruth, “ Green is a certified domestic violence advocate and has worked for Planned Parenthood. This book covers it all in a healthy, nonjudgemental, sex-positive tone that will appeal to young adults. There are eighteen chapters with titles like “Clitical” Thinking, Gender Identity, Your Sexual Debut, Safer Sex, Consent and Communication, Relationshipping, and Dating Violence. Green points out many times that she is not a medical professional, however, the book was fact-checked by two doctors and an expert on human sexuality. Resources are listed for each section at the back of the book, as well as an index. Graph, illustrations, and bullet points are used to highlight information and make the text very friendly for teen readers. This is book would be a welcome addition to the 613 section of libraries serving teens. As Green says, “Knowledge is pleasure.” Recommended for grades 9 and up.

Reviewed by Elizabeth Andersen, Librarian, Westbrook High School

four-stars

Who Invented the Light Bulb?: Edison vs. Swan

Who Invented the Light Bulb?: Edison vs. SwanWho Invented the Light Bulb?: Edison vs. Swan by Susan E. Hamen
Published by Lerner Publications (Tm) on January 1st 2018
ISBN: 1512483214
Pages: 32
Goodreads
five-stars

    What are patents? Why are they important? What if someone in another country creates almost the same invention at the same time? These and other questions about inventions in general underlie this volume in the “Alternator Books” series. Readers are encouraged to think beyond basic facts to compare and contrast information and inventors in another way.

    The cover with its bright yellow text and facial photos of Edison and Swan set atop bodies preparing for a boxing match draw the reader’s attention to open this book and find out who won.

    Just the right amount of text for middle and upper elementary readers. Lots of photographs, drawings, fact boxes in a clear layout. Source notes, glossary, timeline, index and “Further Information” make this a solid non-fiction presentation. It’s unique format of “vs.” makes it a standout in the new wave of STEM books.

    Some of the explanations are simplified (such as vacuum pumps), and may be inadequate for advanced middle school students, but this is a great read for entertainment, or as an introduction to these inventors and the process of inventing.

Recommended for Cream of the Crop.

Reviewed by Lynn Mayer, Old Town Elementary School Library, Old Town

five-stars

Streetcar to Justice

Streetcar to JusticeStreetcar to Justice: How Elizabeth Jennings Won the Right to Ride in New York by Amy Hill Hearth
Published by Greenwillow Books on January 2nd 2018
ISBN: 0062673602
Pages: 160
Goodreads

Hearth tells the story of Elizabeth Jenkins, an African-American woman who refused to give up her (streetcar) seat 100 years before Rosa Parks famously launched the Montgomery bus boycott by refusing to give up her (bus) seat. This book is more than the story of Jenkins, it is the history of New York City and the history of slavery and its aftermath in this country. After Jenkins, a middle-class woman on her way to church, was physically ejected from a New York City streetcar, she and her lawyer (future US President Chester A. Arthur) sued the railroad company in civil court and won. Jenkins, a teacher by trade, went on to found the first free kindergarten for African-American children in New York City. Hopefully this important work will mean more people will learn about the remarkable (and ordinary) life of Elizabeth Jenkins.

This book was meticulously researched and includes reproductions of primary source materials, an annotated bibliography, detailed endnotes, suggested readings, and an index. This book is well-written and accessible to middle school readers. Simply put: a tour de force.

Recommended for Cream of the Crop

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

Science Comics The Brain

Science Comics The BrainScience Comics: The Brain: The Ultimate Thinking Machine by Tory Woollcott, Alex Graudins
Published by First Second on October 16th 2018
ISBN: 1626728011
Pages: 128
Goodreads
four-stars

Two sisters selling cookies door-to-door split up to double their sales. The older sister is kidnapped by an evil brain and a zombie and to keep the evil brain from stealing her brain, she asks him to explain how the brain works. But the fictional story is just a set-up for this otherwise non-fiction graphic novel explaining how the brain works and covering all kinds of topics from the evolution of the brain, to defining cells and neurons, to senses, to the parts of the brain and nervous system, to different types of intelligence. It includes an extensive glossary and would have been even better with the addition of chapter headings or an index.

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

four-stars

Lighting Up The Brain the Science of Optogenetics

four-stars

A new science field, optogenetics, is allowing neuroscientists to look into the brain to see how individual brain cells work. Neuroscientists want to use this new technology on human brains to better understand how the brain processes information.  The hope is to be able to correct blindness,  Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, depression, and other health problems. The book has four chapters: mind games, brain study breakthroughs, reading the mind, and mind control. it also contains source notes, a glossary, selected bibliography, further information, and an index. It includes great diagrams and illustrations. This would be good for middle school and above.

 

Reviewed by Jeri Fitzpatrick, GNG Middle School, Gray

four-stars

3D Printing The Revolution in Personalized Manufacturing

Pages: 112
four-stars

This is agreat book to show just how far technology has come. We copied nature… wasp nests are the first 3D print job. The seven chapters include inventing 3D printing, how it works, 3D printing and tradtional manufacturing, 3D printing our health, 3D printing our world, 3D printing our future, and disrupting and democartizing manufacturing. There is a timeline, source notes, glossary, selelcted bibliograpgy, further information, and an index.  Some cool things that can be printed are artifical limb sockets, toddler hearts so doctors can practice surgery before the real operations, used in dentistry,  the Chefjet 3D printer can make candy and other food, and clothes.

Reviewed by Jeri Fitzpatrick, GNG Middle School, Gray

 

four-stars

Path to the Stars: My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist

Path to the Stars: My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket ScientistPath to the Stars: My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist by Sylvia Acevedo
Published by Clarion Books on September 4th 2018
ISBN: 1328809560
Pages: 320
Goodreads
four-stars

Path to the Skies:  My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist

 

Sylvia Acevedo has written her autobiography with an emphasis on her involvement with the Girl Scouts from a young age.  She credits scouting, libraries and librarians, and some of her teachers with letting her excel and allowing a Latina girl to pursue a dream that, even now, is not common:  being a rocket scientist.

In selling Girl Scout cookies her leader said not to accept “No” from a customer until they had said “No” three times.  Playing basketball was a goal during Sylvia’s middle school days, but she wasn’t given a basketball, net, and backboard right away.  She learned persistence, resilience, and the importance of planning ahead.  Her relationship with her father wasn’t always easy.  At one time he hit her with his belt buckle, but she always showed strong family loyalty, while still seeing them honestly.

This book was written to inspire middle school aged girls to pursue what they love, to work hard to get things done, and to show that a Latina girl with big dreams can succeed.

 

Reviewed by Ellen Spring, Oceanside High School, Rockland

 

 

four-stars

Diet for a Changing Climate

Diet for a Changing ClimateDiet for a Changing Climate: Food for Thought by Christy Mihaly, Sue Heavenrich
Published by Twenty-First Century Books (Tm) on August 1st 2018
ISBN: 1512481211
Pages: 128
Goodreads
four-stars

Not for the faint of heart, Diet for a Changing Climate, encourages readers to change their diet in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint.  Better than fighting climate change by reducing car emissions, this books argues that changing our world’s reliance on farming, which leads to flooding, deforestations and high carbon emissions, can make a greater impact.  Countless suggestions for adapting to an alternative daily diet include eating insects, certain weeds, invasive plants like kudzu, even invasive species like iguanas, mussels and types of fish like tilapia. Recipes are provided throughout each chapter as well as tips on how to catch or forage for these items to eat.  This book offers a very different and even radical look at the food we could be eating. Its appeal to readers will be limited however the many colorful photos of grubs, crickets, lionfish and other “edibles” will peak interest. Diagrams, interesting sidebars and data tables are provided throughout the chapters and the text concludes with a glossary, a vast selected bibliography and a lengthy list of suggested books, websites and videos.  Aimed for upper middle school to high school reading levels, this book will make for a very unique pairing with mainstream cookbooks.

Reviewed by Suzanne Dix, Westbrook Middle School, Westbrook

four-stars

More Deadly Than War: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War

More Deadly Than War: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World WarMore Deadly Than War: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War by Kenneth C. Davis
Published by Henry Holt & Company on May 15th 2018
ISBN: 1250145120
Pages: 304
Goodreads

Kenneth C. Davis has written an informative and engaging text on the Spanish Flu. Spanning from the introduction to the epidemic in 1918 to its completion in 1919, Davis shows the world-wide impact of the deadly disease and how it was influenced by and influenced the first World War. Filled with timelines, drawing, and pictures, Davis lays out the history narratively, adding in stories of famous people who were affected, such as Walt Disney himself. What results is a complete picture of the disease and how it altered a significant piece of history.

This is nonfiction book is perfect for older middle and high school readers who are already interested in the subjects. A reader who is not at least somewhat familiar with the time period may find themselves missing information, but for libraries that support young history buffs, More Deadly than War is an excellent pick.

Reviewed by Sarah Cropley, Scarborough Public Library.