Reviews
Booklist - A Cookie for Santa
A gingerbread cookie is baked especially for Santa’s visit in this spin on “The Night before Christmas.” As he sits awaiting Santa’s arrival, the cookie has some concerns: “Later that evening, / When he’d be devoured / Would he be brave? / Or a crumbling coward?” Then two enthusiastic… View →
Publishers Weekly - Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky
Twelve-year-old Tomi Itano, the daughter of Japanese immigrants, is embarrassed and saddened when signs reading “No Japs” suddenly begin to appear around their California town, following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Opening in 1942, Dallas’s novel follows Tomi’s… View →
School Library Journal - Memoirs of an Elf
Armed with a smart phone for texting, navigating via GPS, and using the camera feature to take an “elfie” of himself and his crew before taking off with Santa on Christmas Eve, Spark is truly a millennial elf. At times, his Type A personality surfaces whenever… View →
School Library Journal - A Cookie for Santa
On Christmas Eve, a Gingerbread Boy anxiously awaits the arrival of Santa Claus and his own demise as a snack for the jolly old elf. “Later that evening/When he’d be devoured/Would he be brave?/Or a crumbling coward?” Two rowdy puppies soon tear him from his morbid thoughts; to stop them View →
Booklist - Doctors Without Borders
Founded in 1971 by French doctors and journalists, Doctors Without Borders has grown to become a worldwide organization of almost 30,000 people, providing services from health care to counseling to plumbing and electrical work. The book is divided into three short chapters, and the… View →
Booklist - I Cry
Both the physical and emotional reasons for tears get a solid treatment in this title from the Tell Me Why series. Marsico pulls readers in with the scenario of Mia, moving away from her best friend, Sam. Suddenly, the tears are falling, her nose is red, and Mia is crying. What’s going… View →
Booklist - The Science of a Bridge Collapse
When often high-profile bridge collapses occur, they can cause injury or death to motorists, not to mention lengthy traffic problems. This entry into the Disaster Science series looks into the faulty design, defective parts, overloading, environmental forces, and accidents that… View →
School Library Journal - Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky
Gr 5–8—Tomi is a 12-year-old American citizen of Japanese descent living in California during World War II. Her life is turned upside down after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. “No Japs Allowed” signs hang in shop windows and she is excluded from events as a result of her… View →
Kirkus Reviews - A Cookie for Santa
“The Gingerbread Man” mixes it up with “The Night Before Christmas” in this cleverly constructed Christmas story about a smart cookie who avoids becoming Santa’s midnight snack. " ‘Twas the night before Christmas, / And there on a plate, / Was a… View →
School Library Jounral - P is for Pirate
After reading this book, you’ll be prepared for the annual “Talk Like a Pirate Day” (September 19th). However, you won’t just know a few phrases to utter; you’ll instead be able to talk about pirates. Like the other alphabet books in this series, this one has a brief, fairly… View →