Geo Librarian

EPIDEMICS AND PANDEMICS Real Tales of Deadly Diseases by Judy Dodge Cummings Nomad Press, 2018 ISBN: 978-1-61930-625-7 Source: publisher for review Ages 9-12 MG Nonfiction All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Feel a tickle in your throat? Do you still have that headache? Could you be falling victim to a deadly virus? From history’s earliest days, bacteria and viruses have stalked humans. Stowing on wagons, ships, and airplanes, these diseases traversed the globe, infecting people in city streets and isolated hamlets. Epidemics and Pandemics: Real Tales of Deadly Diseases tells the tale of five of history’s most critical contagions. REVIEW Disease has long played an important role in both historical and contemporary events.  In this book, the author takes the reader through five such diseases and specific times when those diseases changed history.  The diseases covered include the bubonic plague that wreaked havoc during the Middl...

THE CREATURE OF THE PINES The Unicorn Rescue Society #1 by Adam Gidwitz, illustrated by Hatem Aly Dutton Children's Books, 2018 ISBN: 978-0-7352-3170-2 Ages 8-11 Middle grade speculative/fantasy Source: purchased All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Elliot Eisner isn't exactly excited about starting at a brand-new school in a brand-new town; he'd much rather stay at home and read a book. But things take an unexpected turn when he finds out his weird new teacher, Professor Fauna, has planned a field trip for Elliot's very first day. Along with a new friend--brave, outspoken Uchenna Devereaux--Elliot gets caught up in a secret group of adventurers, The Unicorn Rescue Society, whose goal is to protect and defend the world's mythical creatures. Together with Professor Fauna, Elliot and Uchenna must help rescue a Jersey Devil from a duo of conniving, greedy billionaires, the Schmoke Brothers. REVIEW I'm always on...

MY EXPLOSIVE DIARY Eliza Boom #1 by Emily Gale, illustrated by Joelle Dreidemy Aladdin, 2014 ISBN: 978-1-4814-0648-2 Middle Grade graphic novel humor Grades 2-5 Source: ARC from publisher All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Meet Eliza Boom; assistant inventor, junior spy, and full-on fantastic; as she tells all in this first book of a chapter book series packed with jokes, doodles, and dear-diary secrets! Eliza Boom is having a blast. Her father is an inventor who makes gadgets for spies, and Eliza is his unofficial assistant; very unofficial. Eliza knows if she can just build that one indispensable thing that every secret agent needs, she can be a full-fledged spy herself, but somehow her inventions keep going wrong. Still, with her best friend (well, dog), Einstein, she's not going to give up. When Eliza's father loses a top-secret roll of film, Eliza realizes that she might have accidentally given it to class bully Zoe Wakefield, the...

LIKE CARROT JUICE ON A CUPCAKE by Julie Sternberg, illustrations by Matthew Cordell Amulet Books, 2014 ISBN: 978-1-4197-1033-9 Middle Grade Contemporary Grades 2-5 Source: Publisher for review All opinions expressed are solely my own. Available March 18th ABOUT THE BOOK I did a mean thing. A very mean thing. I HATE that I did it. But I did. This is worse than carrot juice on a cupcake or a wasp on my pillow or a dress that’s too tight at the neck. In the third installment from the team who created  Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie  and  Like Bug Juice on a Burger , Eleanor’s relationship with her best friend, Pearl, experiences its first growing pains. When a glamorous new student transfers to school, at first Eleanor’s excited about the possibility of a new friend. But when Pearl is assigned to be the new girl’s buddy, Eleanor fears she can’t compete. To make matters worse, Eleanor’s been chosen for the lead role in the springtime musical, which m...

HASHBROWN WINTERS AND THE WHIZ-TASTROPHE Hashbrown Winters #4 by Frank L. Cole Bonneville, 2013 ISBN13: 9781462110568 Middle Grade Humor/Adventure Grades 3-6 Review copy provided by author for blog tour. All opinions expressed are solely my own. ABOUT THE BOOK Losing to a girl in laser tag is the pits---especially if it's to Melanie "Thumbs" Nottingham. So the Hashbrown gang comes up with a plan that will guarantee their success. But when plans go awry and they're sent to another dimension, it's up to Hashbrown to set everything right. This hilarious installment is sure to keep you laughing to the last page. REVIEW I admit when I first started reading this series, I found them to be over the top and eye-rollingly absurd.  But as I've kept reading them I really started to enjoy them.  Hashbrown is a likeable character along with his rather wacky but amusing friends.  And it's not just their names either (Snow Cone, Measles, Whiz) that ...

  ROBBERS! True Stories of the World's Most Notorious Thieves by Andreas Schroeder, illustrations by Remy Simard Annick Press, 2012 ISBN: 978-1-55451-441-0 MG/YA Nonfiction Grades 4 and up Digital ARC provided by publisher through NetGalley. ABOUT THE BOOK Determined to beat the odds, professional thieves spend their lives figuring out ingenious ways to steal other people's possessions. In "Robbers!" you'll uncover the dirt on eight cunning master thieves, including: Master-of-disguise Willie Sutton, who robbed banks in costume D. B. Cooper, who hijacked a plane, demanded $200,000, and parachuted to safety London's Great Train Robbers, who held up a moving train to pull off one of the largest ever hauls of banknotes Each story offers a glimpse into the high-octane underworld of the boldest of robbers. The writer's fascination with criminal masterminds and the illustrator's action-packed graphic depictions of real-life thiev...

SUPER ZOMBIE JUICE MEGA BOMB by MJA Ware CG Press, LTD, 2011 ISBN: 9781466355019 Grades 4-8 Reviewed from copy provided by author. All opinions expressed are solely my own. Summary is from Goodreads. When life gives you lemons, kill zombies -- turns out lemon juice neutralizes the undead. After a failed attempt at running away, best friends Nathan and Misty return home expecting to face angry parents. Instead, they discover the military has destroyed the bridges out of their rural town and everyone's fled--except a small horde of the living dead. The stress of flesh-eating zombies may be more than their already strained relationship can handle. Even with the help of the town geek and lemonade-powered Super-Soakers, there's not enough time to squeeze their way out of this sticky mess. Unless the trio eradicates the zombie infestation, while avoiding the deadly zombie snot, the military will blow the town, and them, to pulp. Their only shot is something with ...