Blog Archives

Adventures in Science

8/31/2021

AstroNuts Mission Three: The Perfect Planet
by Jon Scieszka art by Steven Weinberg

This is science on steroids

Premise: Earth may be doomed! Climate change is destroying the planet. A rag tag group of four super-powered animals have a plan. They determine that the cause of earth’s problems began with the advent of fire. Solution: Go back in time and prevent man from discovering and using fire.

The foursome learn that a million years ago earth was ecologically balanced. It was The Perfect Planet. They reason that if humans are responsible for the current conditions on earth, maybe another species should be in charge.

That brings them to Survival of the Fittest Olympics which pits wolves against humans. The winners will be the dominant species and the losers will be pets for the winners. Humans are confident that they will win with hydropower, wind power, solar power, and geothermal power. That's a lot of power.

This science-based series is jam-packed with wild and crazy exploits. The narrative is replete with word play, silliness, wolfish trash talk and poop jokes.

It felt like doing long division with a mirror, underwater.

Stink Bug, as always, got a bit nervous and accidentally unleashed his superpower PFFT (Posterior Foul Force) Gas Defense System.

Tiny callout boxes at the bottom of some pages reveal interesting factoids. The illustrations are a collage of images from the public domain that are enhanced with word balloons, eye-popping backgrounds, and clever doodles. Readers can make their own collages using these online sources: How the Book Was Made and Make Your Own Art.
Kudos to the creative minds behind this colossal book design.

My advice: Get multiple copies of this series. It will fly off the shelves. Kids will take this book everywhere. You'll find it stowed under bleachers, buried beneath sofa cushions, squashed in a gym bag with smelly socks. Who knew that science could be so much fun and so funny? Jon Scieszka and Steven Weinberg knew.

Sample pages from Mission Three: The Perfect Planet

Meet the creators of this fantastic series.

Copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: September 21, 2021 Publisher: Chronicle Books ISBN: 978-1452171210

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Code Breaker. Groundbreaker.

8/24/2021

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Code Breaker, Spy Hunter:
How Elizebeth Friedman Changed the Course of Two World Wars
by Laurie Wallmark art by Brooke Smart narrated by Romy Nordlinger

Wallmark’s thoroughly researched picture book biography Code Breaker, Spy Hunter: How Elizabeth Friendman Changed the Course of Two World Wars, spotlights the achievements of one woman in the evolving science of cryptography.

Elizebeth began her work during World War I as a cryptanalyst for the Army Signal Corps. In addition to decoding wartime communications, she and her husband developed the first government unit devoted to cryptology. She also worked for the Army, Coast Guard, FBI, and the Office of Strategic Services, later to become the CIA. Her expertise resulted in the conviction of thirty-three German spies during World War II. Elizebeth identified the woman responsible for the secret “doll” messages that revealed the location of wartime ships She and her team also cracked the Enigma Code developed by Germany.

Listen to a sample

While emphasis is on Friedman’s significant contributions to the field of cryptology, the narrative presents her as a wife and mother who enjoyed gardening and literature, especially the works of Shakespeare.

Wide-eyed Elizebeth is shown as an active woman. Smart’s illustrations reflect the passage of time. One feature that is particularly effective is the incorporation strings of code and quotations into the illustrations. Words and letters are a seamless extension of the art.

The volume contains a coded message to solve, definitions of relevant terminology, a timeline, and an explanation of electronic cryptology with emphasis on protecting online personal information..

Wallmark's picture book biographies highlight the contributions of women to the fields of communication, technology, and mathematics. Code Breaker, Spy Hunter: How Elizebeth Friedman Changed the Course of Two World Wars is a recent addition to her body of work. Her biographies emphasizing STEM are excellent additions to classroom and library collections.

Aftermath

8/17/2021

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AfterMath by Emily Barth Isler

Lucy loves math. She loves precise definitions and phenomena that can be explained. She loves solutions.

There is one aspect that does not fit into her world view of calculations and exact answers. Her younger brother Theo was born with a heart defect. His short life was filled with doctors and hospitals and treatments. Now he is gone, leaving behind grieving parents and his sister Lucy.

Mom and dad decide that the best way to cope with their loss is to move to a new town. They select a city that has suffered a profound loss. Four years ago, a deranged shooter entered the elementary school, killing and injuring many inside the building.

Lucy’s anguish as she witnessed her brother's painfilled demise stretch over five years is both similar and very different from the public tragedy that instantly affected the entire community.

Isler's characters provide a variety of perspectives on the aftereffects of grief. Lucy's father withdraws, remaining in bed or behind his newspaper. Her mother visits with a therapist and busies herself with making the family home fresh and different. Lucy learns that the bedroom in her new home was the bedroom of Bet who was a shooting victim. She develops an internal storyline for Bet. By chance, Lucy connects with Avery, a classmate who appears to be a pariah. Later, Lucy discovers that Avery's brother was the shooter.

The one place where Lucy feels most comfortable is math class, a world of formulas and equations. However, there is one concept that eludes her: infinity. Lucy searches to understand this mathematical expression throughout the book. The text is brimming with math facts, riddles and jokes which are a counterpoint to the story's heart-rending subject matter.

While this is a story of grief and loss, AfterMath is a hopeful story. Through an extracurricular mime group Lucy learns new ways to express herself, make friends, and solidify her relationship with Avery. Her family begins to heal.
A touching story that avoids becoming maudlin. The author’s narration is well suited to the voice of a tender twelve-year-old. Occasionally a title is precisely the perfect fit. AfterMath is a brilliant title choice.

Audio copy accessed via NetGalley.

Pub date: September 7, 2021 Publisher: Carolrhoda Books ISBN: 978-1541599116

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One Event. Two Stories

8/12/2021

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Ground Zero by Alan Gratz

We’re here because we’re here because we’re here because we’re here.

There are several novelizations written for young people recounting the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Gratz takes an innovative approach, telling the alternating stories of Brandon Chavez, a nine-year-old trapped inside the North Tower on that fateful day and eleven-year-old Reshmina who escapes the annihilation of her Afghan village.
Each witnesses an attack from a foreign nation, experiences destruction and devastation in their own country, suffers the death of a close family member at the hands of an enemy, and learns that life after an attack will never be the same. Each experiences a personal Ground Zero.

On September 9, 2001, nine-year-old Brandon Chavez accompanies his father to the Windows on the World restaurant located at the top of the World Trade Center North Tower. While his father is busy preparing meals, Brandon sneaks away and gets trapped inside an elevator when an explosion rocks the massive structure.

Alternating chapters detail Brandon's desperate search to connect with his father as building collapses. He crawls down an elevator shaft, sees a woman caught in the flames, and encounters crumbling stairs. The tension builds as his situation becomes increasingly dire.

Richard, a kindly man befriends Brandon and accompanies him in his search for his dad. When both know that his father will not make it out of the tower, Richard assumes care for Brandon and brings him home to his waiting family.

...sometimes what was right and what was easy were two different things.

Reshmina lives with her grandmother, parents, and siblings. Her older sister was killed in an enemy attack just before her marriage. Her twin brother leaves home to join the Taliban, vowing to destroy the Americans stationed in Afghanistan.

She rescues a wounded American soldier and offers him sanctuary with her family. This decision makes her home a Taliban target. To escape from the crossfire between U.S. and Taliban forces, Reshmina leads her family and the soldier to safety in an underground cave.

Reshmina, noticing a young woman working as a translator, realizes that life holds opportunities that she thought were not possible for Muslim women. Her expertise with both English and Pashto could be the gateway to her future.

Gratz brilliantly interweaves the separate narratives with connecting motifs. For example, a chapter concludes with an American trapped in the rubble and singing This Land is Your Land. The next chapter opens with Reshmina's grandmother sitting in a dark cave and singing
We are Afghan people
We are Afghans of the mountains

Near the story’s conclusion, the two stories from half a world away neatly dovetail and combine to create a unique picture of 9/11 from dramatically different points of view. Compelling reading.

Twenty Years Later: Patriot Day

September 11, 2021 marks the twentieth anniversary of the terrorist attacks which killed nearly 3,000 people. Known as Patriot Day, it is designated as a National Day of Service and Remembrance.
Participate in a Memorial Stair Climb.

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: February 2, 2021 Publisher: Scholastic Press ISBN: 978-1338245752

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A Girl, Golf, and Graduation

8/11/2021

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10 Truths and a Dare by Ashley Elston

We’re full of bad ideas. So what’s one more?

High school graduation is here and Olivia is ready for this. So ready. She has worked HARD, taking every AP class that she could fit into her schedule, while maintaining a high GPA and has earned her ranking as class Salutatorian. Everyone in her large closely-knit family will be there to honor her. It will be her proud moment.

When a friend refers to Salutatorian as “runner up,” Cousin Charlie responds. "So, if the valedictorian can’t perform their duties, does the crown pass to you?" Yes, the dialog is loaded with snark.

There is a wrinkle. Olivia learns that the required P.E. credit for her off-campus golf has not been honored. Without this credit, she will not graduate. The golf coach offers to waive her excessive absences and sign her P.E. form if she will work as his assistant during a local golf tournament.

There is yet another wrinkle. Olivia's parents are out of town and have installed a tracker on her phone to keep constant surveillance on their daughter. Not wanting to reveal her graduation dilemma, Olivia concocts an elaborate scheme to trade phones with her cousins throughout the tournament. They will take Olivia's phone to locations where she should be and respond to mom as her daughter would.

The phone exchanges result in numerous complications including Cousin Sophie getting stuck while escaping through a bathroom window and Charlie attempting to field his aunt’s question about the appropriate bra for a party ensemble.

"Now is not the time for I told you so."
"This is the exact perfect time for I told you so. Never, ever has there been a time when I told you so was more needed."

There are even more problems: some trivial, many hilarious, and a few that are heartbreaking. Olivia realizes that she has made errors in judgement on several counts. Can she get everything straightened out before graduation? Readers will keep turning pages in Ashley Elston's contemporary comedy of errors with a side of sweet romance. 10 Truths and a Dare is great fun.

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: May 4, 2021 Publisher: Disney-Hyperion ISBN: 978-1368062381

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Make a Difference

8/3/2021

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Hurricane: My Story of Resilience I Witness, #2
by Salvador Gómez-Colón

I was just a normal high school student with a passion and drive to make a difference in the world...

An intriguing new nonfiction series, I Witness features first person accounts of young people “ordinary kids and teens who have faced extraordinary challenges.” In an introduction to the series, editors speak directly to readers, encouraging them to find ways to make a difference in their communities and throughout the world.

Salvador Gómez-Colón had just turned fifteen when Maria, a Category 4 hurricane struck Puerto Rico. Its aftermath and devastation were unlike anything he had experienced. “It was a storm without mercy.”

Inspired by his mother and a former teacher, Salvador decided that he wanted to help those suffering from the damage caused by Hurricane Maria. As he observed the conditions of his neighbors, an idea for a project began to form. “Light and Hope” would distribute solar lamps and hand-powered washing machines to members of his community.

With the help of a contact suggested by his mother, Salvador set up a crowdfunding campaign to raise $100,000 for his project. He describes the successes and setback in his efforts. Initial media attention got the campaign off to a good start but he was hampered by limited Wi-Fi access, his age, and competing news stories capturing the public interest. He was helped by contributions from large companies, local contacts, and his determination.

it is not a matter of if it gets hard, it is a matter of when

In touching detail he describes personally distributing solar lamps and hand washing machines. In all, he reached thirty-five hundred families in seventeen towns.

Hurricane: My Story of Resilience is a powerful first person account that packs a huge emotional punch. Included in the slim volume are Continue the Discussion with additional information on the hurricane and its impact as well as Salvador’s current projects, suggestions to Get Involved, a Timeline, and Acknowledgements.

Excellent resource for schools, community and activist groups, and organizations that work with teens.

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: September 28, 2021 Publisher: Norton Young Readers ISBN: 978-1324016656

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Adventures in Science

AstroNuts Mission Three: The Perfect Planet
by Jon Scieszka art by Steven Weinberg

Code Breaker. Groundbreaker.

Code Breaker, Spy Hunter:
How Elizebeth Friedman Changed the Course of Two World Wars
by Laurie Wallmark art by Brooke Smart narrated by Romy Nordlinger

More True Stories of Amazing Women

Aftermath

AfterMath by Emily Barth Isler

One Event. Two Stories

Ground Zero by Alan Gratz

Twenty Years Later: Patriot Day

A Girl, Golf, and Graduation

10 Truths and a Dare by Ashley Elston

Make a Difference

Hurricane: My Story of Resilience I Witness, #2
by Salvador Gómez-Colón

Category

Archives

Barbara Moon

Adventures in Science

AstroNuts Mission Three: The Perfect Planet by Jon Scieszka art by Steven Weinberg

Code Breaker. Groundbreaker.

Code Breaker, Spy Hunter:​How Elizebeth Friedman Changed the Course of Two World Warsby Laurie Wallmark art by Brooke Smart narrated by Romy Nordlinger

More True Stories of Amazing Women

Aftermath

AfterMath by Emily Barth Isler

One Event. Two Stories

Ground Zero by Alan Gratz

Twenty Years Later: Patriot Day

A Girl, Golf, and Graduation

10 Truths and a Dare by Ashley Elston

Make a Difference

Hurricane: My Story of Resilience I Witness, #2​by Salvador Gómez-Colón

Category

Archives

Barbara Moon

AstroNuts Mission Three: The Perfect Planet
by Jon Scieszka art by Steven Weinberg

Code Breaker, Spy Hunter:
How Elizebeth Friedman Changed the Course of Two World Wars
by Laurie Wallmark art by Brooke Smart narrated by Romy Nordlinger

Hurricane: My Story of Resilience I Witness, #2
by Salvador Gómez-Colón