Rubin, Sarah. The Impossible Clue.

Rubin, Sarah.  The Impossible Clue. Scholastic/Chicken House      2017  293p  $17.99      ISBN 978-0-545-94025-2  elem/ms      Mystery/Detective  VG-BN

Alice Jones is good at solving mysteries.  However, in this case she feels she is being used.  So she is determined to find the missing professor.  It is an exciting undertaking for Alice, but it provided a fast-paced, nail-biting experience for readers.

This mystery novel will captivate young and young-adult readers.  The action never stops, and it leaves the reader with more questions throughout.  The ending is a complete surprise and provides the entire explanation of the mystery.                 

Alice Jones has a way of solving mysteries.  A classmate has talked her into helping his father find his missing partner, a scientist who was inventing an invisible suit.

Missing Persons                                                                        --Linda McNeil

Rubin, Susan Goldman. Irena Sendler and the Children of the Warsaw Ghetto.

Rubin, Susan Goldman.
Irena Sendler and the Children of the Warsaw Ghetto.
Holiday House 2011 40p 18.95
978-0-8234-2251-7 E-BN
Irena Sendler was a Polish social worker who personally saved more than 400 Jewish children from extermination at the hands of the Nazis. This inspiring story of bravery and compassion in a time of dreadful fear is presented in an appropriate manner for its intended age group. The oil paintings greatly enhance the subject. The biography ends with an afterword about Sendler’s life after the war, a bibliography of resources, source notes, and an index.
Irena Sendler was a Polish social worker who personally saved more than 400 Jewish children from extermination at the hands of the Nazis. She smuggled them out of the Warsaw Ghetto in toolboxes, lunch boxes, suitcases, and through the sewers and provided them with false papers and safe havens for the remainder of the war. She kept a record of their trues identities in two jars that she buried in a Warsaw courtyard. A member of, and aided by, the resistance organization Zegota, she was caught by the Gestapo and tortured but never revealed the locations of her children. Sentenced to death, she was saved at the last minute and survived to continue her work.
All told, more than 2,500 children were rescued by Sendler and her organization. In 1965, Sendler was recognized by Yad Vashem as one of the “Righteous among the Nations.”
This inspiring story of bravery and compassion in a time of dreadful fear is presented in an appropriate manner for its intended age group. The oil paintings greatly enhance the subject. The biography ends with an afterword about Sendler’s life after the war, a bibliography of resources, source notes, and an index.
Highly recommended for all upper elementary level libraries. Ogintz, Susan

The Anne Frank Case: Simon Wiesenthal's Search for the Truth

Rubin, Susan Goodman. The Anne Frank Case: Simon Wiesenthal's Search for the Truth
Holiday House 2009 40p 18.95 978-0-8234-2109-1 elm/ms

This account details Simon Wiesenthal's work to prove that Anne Frank really did exist, and prove wrong the propaganda put out by Neo-Nazi groups. It took him five years to find the Gestapo officer who arrested the Frank family. This account details Simon Wiesenthal's work to prove that Anne Frank really did exist. Neo-Nazi groups interrupted a performance in of the play the Diary of Anne Frank being performed in Austria, saying that the diary was a fraud. Wiesenthal had spent the years since World War II exposing the crimes of the Nazis and making sure that victims of the Holocaust were not forgotten. So he took on the task to prove that Anne Frank had really existed. It took him five years and many dead ends and false leads to find the Gestapo officer who had arrested the Frank family. This book details this search for proof.

This picture book looking volume is beautifully illustrated. Soft paintings in acrylic illustrate the text. They are powerful and portray the emotion of the text. Included is a biography of Simon Wiesenthal at the end of the volume. There is an index, glossary, and list of resources, acknowledgments, and source notes. J.Theal