How They Croaked

How They Croaked

Author: Georgia Bragg

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Reviewer: Denise Z.

Summary: How They Croaked shares all the gross details on how some of the most popular world figures died in an educational and entertaining way.

Review: This is an interesting book that kept me reading and wanting to know more. It is a great way to learn about history and its historical figures and I was surprised on how most of those mentioned died. Anyone who can’t resist knowing about anything gross will really enjoy this book. After reading about how each of the nineteen public figures  faced their death, there are intriguing tidbits of information about what that person did to make them well-known while living. Facts are presented in such a fun way that readers might not even realize they are learning about history, medicine, and how it compares to today. It’s a perfect book for a school project, writing a biography report, or wanting an exciting non-fiction book to read.

Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith

 Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith

Author: Deborah Heiligman

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Reviewer: Denise Z.

Summary: Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species, his revolutionary tract on evolution and the fundamental ideas involved, in 1859. Nearly 150 years later, the theory of evolution continues to create tension between the scientific and religious communities. This same debate raged within Darwin himself, and played an important part in his marriage: his wife, Emma, was quite religious, and her faith gave Charles a lot to think about as he worked on a theory that continues to spark intense debates.

Review: This is an excellent, award-winning nonfiction book about Charles Darwin’s life and a unique focus on his personal life. The mere idea of wondering what became of Darwin’s relationship with his religious wife pulled me into this book. His ideas, mixed with his wife’s religious views help teach Darwinism and shows how his work was affected by his wife Emma.

This is an interesting way to learn about history, science, and religion all at the same time with the element of curiosity that is needed to keep readers intrigued. Readers will want to know how Darwin faired with his religious wife.

I also enjoyed the attention that was paid towards Emma.

This is a perfect book for older kids to read that want to debate the idea of evolution and religion. *It was a National Book Award Finalist and won the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature by the American Library Association.

Little i

Little i
Author: Michael Hall
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Reviewer: Gloria

 

Summary: The book was about the alphabet, and when the alphabet gets to the letter i, all of a sudden the dot on top of the i falls off, and the rest of the alphabet comments that now the little i looks like a number and they can’t spell words with numbers. So little i decided to go on a voyage to find the dot, and gets on a question mark boat, passes through a “winding seaside passage,” a “spectacular exclamation point waterfall,” a “cold dark parenthesis tunnel with sparkling asterisk gems,” a “lovely coma sprouts,” and a “spine-chilling hyphen bridge” until he get to the very end “End of passage period” which used to be the dot that went on top of the little i. That’s when little i wants to put the dot back on but realizes that little i feels like it doesn’t need the dot anymore. When he returns he tells the rest of the alphabet how he no longer is little i, he is a word by itself the word I.

Review: This book was very fun to read. I like how it starts with the alphabet, and every time the alphabet speaks it spells out the words, I like how the journey that little i went through all had to do with all the different symbols, like question marks, parenthesis etc. Over all I really enjoyed reading this book. Highly recommend it.

Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans

Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans
Author: Don Brown
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Reviewer: Sue

Summary: This very powerful graphic novel is about many aspects of Hurricane Katrina.  From the lack of communication, to heroism of various organization and ordinary people, Drowned City deals with government, flooded homes, not rescuing pets, and the conditions at the Superdome.  It is full of facts and actual quotes from survivors and rescue people. 

Review: Drowned City is not a fast read, even though it is a graphic novel.  There is a lot to think about, and the images show the utter devastation and ugliness that surrounded this natural disaster.  While I would recommend this book, it really isn’t for the younger set.  It is quite intense. 

Dumpling Dreams

Dumpling Dreams
Author: Carrie Clickard
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Reviewer: Aleece

Summary: Get to know Chef Joyce Chen who was the source of making Chinese food popular in the United States.

Review: Overall this was a solid book with a lot of information that was presented well in a short amount of pages.  Before reading this book I had no idea who Joyce Chen was.  It is always fun to learn about someone new and this picture book was a great way to showcase this chef.  A good read for elementary kids or older.