Burns, Catherine Lloyd. The Half-True Lies of Cricket Cohen.

Burns, Catherine Lloyd.  The Half-True Lies of Cricket Cohen.  MacMillan/Farrar Strauss  2017  246p.  $16.99  elem/ms  ISBN 978-0-374-30041-8  Conflict  VG-BN

This is a realistic picaresque of sorts, the story of an 11-year-old girl who has a big imagination and lives in New York City with her parents and grandmother. Cricket is an individual, always imagining scenarios and making up adventures, avoiding doing her school work, and out-of-sync with her demanding mother. One weekend she stays with her grandmother while her parents are off on an errand, and through a series of misadventures, she helps her family to face a fact they have been denying, namely, her grandmother's developing dementia. The book is well written and will hold the interest of readers who really like realistic fiction, fiction about family relationships, and great characters. It does get a little bit long in places, especially toward the beginning, before Cricket's big adventure with her grandmother. It could probably use a little more editing in this early section of the story, but by the end it is quite a satisfying read.

It will particularly resonate with kids who are familiar with New York City! Recommended for ages 8-13 or so.

Summary: This is the story of a quirky, imaginative 11-year-old girl living in New York City with her family, whose expectations she has a very hard time living up to. The character is compelling and will win fans.

Families-Fiction                                                                   --Carol Kennedy

Burns and Blisters.

Silverstein, Alvin, Virginia Silverstein,and L. S. Nunn.  Burns and Blisters.  Enslow  2014     48p   $23.93  ISBN 978-0-7660-4272-8 elem/ms     series: Handy Health Guides  Nonfiction  VG-BNe

In this easy-to-read book, children learn about human skin and about the different kinds of burns and scalds that can affect it adversely.  The different sources of burns are described, from sunburns to steam burns and even chemical burns and run burns.  Photographic illustrations show different kinds of burns and the different degrees of burns.  There is a nice diagram of the layers of the skin,  There is also discussion of the treatment and prevention of burns, and the proper handling of blisters and cuts in order to avoid infection.  With a good glossary, a valid list of resources for further study, and an index, this little book will be helpful for health classes, general information, and report-writing. 

Summary: In this easy-to-read book, children learn about human skin and about the different kinds of burns and scalds that can affect it adversely.     

Burns, Blisters                                             --Carol Kennedy

Burns, T.R. The Bad Apple. (Merits of Mischief)

Burns, T.R. The Bad Apple. (Merits of Mischief)      Simon & Schuster/ Aladdin     352p  16.99 978-1-4424-4029-6 ms   VG-BN      Realistic Fiction

Seamus Hinkle has a perfect record at school.  He has never been in trouble until he throws an apple at a bully but it accidentally hits and kills a substitute teacher.  His parents send him to a school that they think is a reform school, Kilter Academy for Troubled Youth.

Seamus quickly finds that it is a school that teaches kids how to misbehave.  Students earn credit through their bad behavior, especially pranks against teachers.  He manages to amass many, many points, accidentally.  He is trying to be good, but somehow he is very good at misbehaving.  With the help of some friends, he works toward a top prize hoping his life will change.

The characters are well drawn and their actions will be very familiar to students.  The class bully, the prankster, and the goody-goody all appear in this unique novel.  Readers will love the twist that forms the basis of the story - a school that teaches kids how to misbehave.           

Humor-Fiction, Reform Schools-Fiction                       --Joan Theal

Citizen Scientists

Burns, Loree Griffin    Citizen Scientists      

 Macmillan/ Henry Holt   2012  80p $12.99  978-0-8050-9517-3        

elm/ms    E-BN        Nonfiction Picture book            

Citizen Scientists offers budding young ecologists a wonderful introduction into Mother Nature’s realms.  In clear and accessible language, the author describes four projects, one for each season, that will entice the readers outdoors in all kinds of weather.  Fall butterflying describes the tagging of monarch butterflies to track their migration from the eastern half of the United States to the mountains of Mexico.  Winter birding discusses the Christmas Bird Count used to identify different species at feeders and in parks.  Spring frogging talks about identifying frogs by their calls, and how a middle-school class discovered malformed frogs on a field trip.   Summer ladybugging examines the tiny insects for species recognition.  Each project begins with a description of young naturalists actively participating in the research, along with background information on each study.  Then it continues with a checklist of practical items necessary for further field study, an image of the animal discussed with important parts labeled, and a quick quiz about each.  Fabulous full-color photographs of the butterflies, birds, frogs, and ladybugs and of the children involved in the research enhance the text.  The book ends with resource pages of field guides, books, and Internet addresses for each study, as well as sources for extra information, answers to the quizzes, a bibliography, a glossary, and an index.  This is a wonderful introduction to nature studies that will fascinate children and adults alike.          

E-BN  Susan Ogintz      Environmental science, Animals in the wild

 

Burns, Loree Griffin The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe

Burns, Loree Griffin The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe
Houghton Mifflin/Clarion/Graphia/Kingfisher 2010 66 18.00
978-0-547-15231-8 elm/ms E-BNS
Scientists In the Field (HM)#8
Scientists across the globe are scrambling to solve a mystery that may compromise the world food supply -- why are honey bee colonies vanishing and dying?
What would a world without honey bees be like?

This is a valid – and disturbing -- question in view of the millions of bees that have died or vanished since colony collapse disorder (CCD) was first identified in 2006. CCD is a mystery that has scientists scrambling to find the cause – and a solution -- before the world’s food supply is irreparably compromised.

The author, a beekeeper herself, takes readers inside a beehive, while telling a compelling story of the decimation of pollinating insects world-wide – and the collaboration of scientists and beekeepers in researching the alarming drop in honey bee populations. The stunning, high-quality photographs (by Ellen Harasimowicz) draw the readers into a clear, succinct text that investigates the race to solve a real-life disaster-in-progress.

Information is presented in an accessible and appealing manner, from the book’s scrapbook-style layout and clear, concise glossary, through the descriptions of bee keeping, hives, bee anatomy, and bee society

This book is relevant, exciting -- in short, superlative -- and should be considered for the ALSC Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal.
This is a superlative, informative volume on bees, bee-keeping, and colony collapse disorder. Welliver, Hilary
Colony collapse disorder of honeybees;