Geo Librarian

RED ROVER Curiosity on Mars by Richard Ho, illustrated by Katherine Roy Roaring Brook Press, 2019 ISBN: 978-1-250-19833-4 Ages 5-10 Source: purchased All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK On a planet far, far away, one pioneer explores a vast frontier. Many others have come before it seeking an answer to Mars’s many secrets, and the little rover is no different. It plays games. It looks for water. And it waits… …for the next one to come to Mars to explore. Join Curiosity on its journey across the red planet in this innovative and dynamic nonfiction picture book by journalist Richard Ho, illustrated by Sibert Honor winner Katherine Roy. REVIEW This gorgeously illustrated book tells the story of the NASA rover Curiosity and it's work on Mars.  This book could have been kind of boring, I mean, the rover just moves slowly over the planet.  But Ho and Roy have done an incredible job showing the remarkable things the rover has seen and ...

BONNIE AND CLYDE The Making of a Legend by Karen Blumenthal Viking Children's Books, 2018 ISBN: 978-0-451-47122-2 Source: purchased Ages 14 and up All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Bonnie and Clyde may be the most notorious--and celebrated--outlaw couple America has ever known. This is the true story of how they got that way. Bonnie and Clyde: we've been on a first name basis with them for almost a hundred years. Immortalized in movies, songs, and pop culture references, they are remembered mostly for their storied romance and tragic deaths. But what was life really like for Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker in the early 1930s? How did two dirt-poor teens from west Texas morph from vicious outlaws to legendary couple? And why? REVIEW I found this book to be a compelling tale of two people who made some really bad decisions that lead eventually to their deaths.  I'd heard of Bonnie and Clyde before, who hasn't? But I kn...

FRAMED! A T.O.A.S.T. Mystery by James Ponti Aladdin, 2016 ISBN: 978-1-4814-3630-4 Source: publisher for review (Thanks!) Ages 8-12 Middle grade mystery All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Get to know the only kid on the FBI Director’s speed dial and several international criminals’ most wanted lists all because of his Theory of All Small Things in this hilarious start to a brand-new middle grade mystery series. So you’re only halfway through your homework and the Director of the FBI keeps texting you for help…What do you do? Save your grade? Or save the country? If you’re Florian Bates, you figure out a way to do both. Florian is twelve years old and has just moved to Washington. He’s learning his way around using TOAST, which stands for the Theory of All Small Things. It’s a technique he invented to solve life’s little mysteries such as: where to sit on the on the first day of school, or which Chinese restaurant has the best eggrolls....

LINCOLN'S SPYMASTER Allan Pinkerton, America's First Private Eye by Samantha Seiple Scholastic Press, 2015 ISBN: 978-0-545-70897-5 Source: purchased All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK From Samantha Seiple, the award winning author of Ghosts in the Fog, comes the first book for young adults to tell the story of Allan Pinkerton, America's first private eye. Lincoln's Spymaster tells the dangerous and action-packed adventures of Allan Pinkerton, America's first private eye and Lincoln's most trusted spymaster. Pinkerton was just a poor immigrant barrel-maker in Illinois when he stumbled across his first case just miles from his home. His reputation grew and people began approaching Pinkerton with their cases, leading him to open the first-of-its-kind private detective agency. Pinkerton assembled a team of undercover agents, and together they caught train robbers, counterfeiters, and other outlaws. Soon these outlaws, incl...

THE PORT CHICAGO 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin Roaring Brook Press, 2014 ISBN: 978-1-59643-796-8 MG/YA Nonfiction Source: purchased All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK An astonishing civil rights story from Newbery Honor winner and National Book Award finalist Steve Sheinkin. On July 17, 1944, a massive explosion rocked the segregated Navy base at Port Chicago, California, killing more than 300 sailors who were at the docks, critically injuring off-duty men in their bunks, and shattering windows up to a mile away. On August 9th, 244 men refused to go back to work until unsafe and unfair conditions at the docks were addressed. When the dust settled, fifty were charged with mutiny, facing decades in jail and even execution. This is a fascinating story of the prejudice that faced black men and women in America's armed forces during World War II, and a nuanced look at those who gave their lives in servic...

WILD SEA CREATURES:  Sharks, Whales, and Dolphins! by Martin Kratt and Chris Kratt Random House, 2014 ISBN: 978-0-553-49901-8 Early Reader Source: purchased All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK PBS’s successful animated show  Wild Kratts  joins the adventures of zoologists Chris and Martin Kratt as they travel to animal habitats around the globe. Along the way, they encounter incredible creatures while combining science education and fun. Boys and girls ages 4 to 6 will dive into this Step 2 Reader with the Kratt brothers as they activate their Creature Power Suits to swim with sharks, whales, and other wild sea creatures! REVIEW The Wild Kratts TV show is quite popular with many children and why not?  It's full of action and adventure, lots of cool animals, and the creature power suits that allow the brothers to become the animals they study.  This book and I'm assuming future books are based off these shows.  The...

BOMBS OVER BIKINI The World's First Nuclear Disaster Connie Goldsmith Twenty-First Century Books, 2014 ISBN: 978-1-4677-1612-3 Grades 7 and up Source: Purchased for review All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK In 1946, as part of the Cold War arms race, the US military launched a program to test nuclear bombs in the Marshall Islands of the Pacific Ocean. From 1946 until 1958, the military detonated sixty-seven nuclear bombs over the region's Bikini and Enewetak Atolls. The twelfth bomb, called Bravo, became the world's first nuclear disaster. It sent a toxic cloud of radiation over Rongelap Atoll and other nearby inhabited islands. The testing was intended to advance scientific knowledge about nuclear bombs and radiation, but it had much more far-reaching effects. Some of the islanders suffered burns, cancers, birth defects, and other medical tragedies as a result of radiation poisoning. Many of the Marshallese were resettled on other P...

RED MADNESS: How a Medical Mystery Changed What We Eat by Gail Jarrow Calkins Creek Books, 2014 ISBN13: 9781590787328 Grades 6 and up Source: purchased copy All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK One hundred years ago, a mysterious and alarming illness spread across America’s South, striking tens of thousands of victims. No one knew what caused it or how to treat it. People were left weak, disfigured, insane, and in some cases, dead. Award-winning science and history writer Gail Jarrow tracks this disease, commonly known as pellagra, and highlights how doctors, scientists, and public health officials finally defeated it. Illustrated with 100 archival photographs, Red Madness includes stories about real-life pellagra victims and accounts of scientific investigations. It concludes with a glossary, timeline, further resources, author’s note, bibliography, and index. REVIEW I found the book to be quite fascinating.  I'd heard of pellagra before ...