Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland by Sally M, Walker

Walker, Sally M. Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland. New York: Carolrhoda Books, 2009. 144 pages. $22.95 ISBN 9780822571353

Plot Summary: Written in Bone describes the work of archaeologists, scientists, forensic anthropologists, and archivists (among many more) as they uncover the history of the Chesapeake Bay region between Maryland and Virginia. They find many clues in to the life and death of the nations earliest European settlers, as well as the first facial reconstruction of an early "American colonist of African ancestry". The book is full of detailed information and many illustrations and photographs.

Critical Evaluation: This book is full of information but is presented in an engaging way, with lots of pictures and illustrations. The layout of the book breaks up the descriptive text with detailed pictures and up-close photos of the action. It is interestingly written, presenting the information in a way that will keep a reader reading, but also sounds authoritative.

Reader's Annotation: Fascinating look into the bones and lives of colonial Jamestown, VA and around the Chesapeake in Maryland.

Author Bio: Sally is the author of over 50 books on science topics for kids and young adults. She lives in De Kalb, Illinois but worked with archaeologists, scientists, forensic anthropologists and archivists in Jamestown, VA and around the Chesapeake in Maryland. She won the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award Medal in 2006 for Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: SOlving the Mysteries of the H.L. Hunley and was also on the ALA Notable list with Fossil Fish Found Alive.

Genre: Non-Fiction, Archaeology, History

Curriculum Ties: Great addition to archaeology discussion or East Coast/settlement history from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Booktalking Ideas: Talk about the early American settlers. Discuss the fact that still not much is known for sure about how the settlers lived and died. Show some pictures of the digs featured in the book.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Ages 9 and up, Grades 4 and up

Challenges: The photos of the skeletons and graves may cause some concern.

Reason for including: Living in Maryland, I thought this book was very interesting. I am also very interested in archaeology, so history on Maryland archaeology was a plus.

Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail by Danica McKellar

McKellar, Danica. Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail. New York: Plume, 2008. 296 pages. $15.00 ISBN 9780452289499

Plot Summary: Math Doesn't Suck is packed full of step-by-step math instruction geared toward the tweenage girl. Danica covers topics such as factors, multiples, fractions, decimals, percentages, word problems and algebra. She uses real life examples to illustrate her points, cute drawings and easy to follow guidelines and practice problems. The book is a girl friendly, tween engaging way to help struggling students succeed in math.

Critical Evaluation: This book is fantastic. Not only is it a great math help book, but it is also fun and encouraging. Danica is an amazing woman, moving between acting and mathematics. The book is full of great step-by-step directions for solving all sorts of math equations encountered during middle school. The book is geared towards girls, with cute illustrations, real-life examples like choosing a party outfit, and quotes from tween girls about math.

Reader's Annotation: Learn how to survive middle school math with actress and mathematician Danica McKellar.

Author Bio: Danica McKellar is most famous for her role as Winnie on The Wonder Years with Fred Savage, Josh Saviano and Dan Lauria. After The Wonder Years, Danica graduated summa cum laude from UCLA with a degree in mathematics. She is a firm supporter of promoting math education for girls and spoke before Congress about the importance of women in math and science professions. She recently starred as Elsie Snuffin on The West Wing, but continues to focus on math and published her second math book, Kiss My Math: Showing Pre-Algebra Who's Boss, in 2008. She also coauthored a mathematical physics theorem called The Chayes-McKellar-Winn Theorem.

Genre: Non-Fiction, Mathematics

Curriculum Ties: A great suggestion for math help.

Booktalking Ideas: Discuss the value of math and that it doesn't have to "kill" you in middle school. Talk about how Danica used to be a TV star when she was their age and is now a successful author and mathematician.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Ages 12 and up, Grades 6-9

Challenges: None!

Reason for including: I was a fan of The Wonder Years. A few years ago my dad sent me an article about Danica and her life work in mathematics. It was shortly before this book came out and she was talking about how she wants to get girls more interested in math and science. I was very interested in the book and thought it would be a great addition to tween materials.

Swords: An Artist's Devotion by Ben Boos

Boos, Ben. Swords: An Artist's Devotion. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2008. 88 pages. $24.99 ISBN 9780763631482

Plot Summary: Swords is a book about just that, swords. Boos illustrates swords of different time periods and types giving background information and folklore about the people who used the swords. He illustrates how to hold the swords, how they were used and most importantly the beautiful detail of the swords.

Critical Evaluation: This book is beautifully illustrated. If it is only enjoyed for the illustrations it would be worth it, but there is also a lot of interesting information on the history of swords as well.

Reader's Annotation: Follow the history and use of swords in this elaborately illustrated book.

Author Bio: Ben Boos lives in California with his wife and 3 (almost 4) children. He worked for Blizzard North as an illustrator and graphic designer for computer games. He is currently working on his second book.

Genre: Non-Fiction, Folklore

Curriculum Ties: This book can span many periods of history, which makes it a good classroom resource to pull out and examine swords of different time periods.

Booktalking Ideas: I think just showing a few pages of the book and talking about how many different kinds of swords there are would be an effective booktalk.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Ages 9 and up

Challenges: None.

Reason for including: I saw this book at the library and was taken away with the gorgeous illustrations. I love swords (former fencer), so a book full of the history of swords with such amazing illustrations was a fantastic find.

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Moskowitz, Isa Chandra and Terry Romero. Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2006. 144 pages $15.95 ISBN 9781569242735

Plot Summary: This small cookbook is packed with delicious recipes for cupcakes and frosting including classic vanilla, chocolate, carrot cake, and even chai. All the recipes are vegan, which means they do not contain and animal products.

Critical Evaluation: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World is a great cookbook for vegans and non-vegans. I've made several recipes in the book and non-vegans have loved them. The recipes are very straight forward and fairly easy to prepare. As long as the baker has permission to use the kitchen and oven, they should be able to create delicious cupcakes.

Reader's Annotation: Learn to make scrumptious cupcakes without using animal products.

Author Bio: Isa and Terry are the authors of several vegan cookbooks and hosts of the web/public access show The Post Punk Kitchen. Both women live in New York City, Isa in Brooklyn in a tiny apartment where they film their cooking show, and Terry in Queens.

Genre: Cookbook, Non-Fiction

Curriculum Ties: This would be great for a home-ec class to teach about alternative diets and how delicious they can be.

Booktalking Ideas: Talk about cupcakes. Take a vote on who loves cupcakes. Also find out if anyone is already vegetarian or vegan. Then tell them what kinds of recipes are in the book. They'll end up drooling.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Ages 9 and up, for kids who are able to use the kitchen and up.

Challenges: The non-dairy, non-egg thing may be tricky for some students to get past, but there shouldn't be any reason for book challenges.

Reason for including: This has been a favorite cookbook of mine since it came out. Cooking should be a skill everyone learns, and that includes baking. The vegan lifestyle is definitely a lot healthier than most, so encouraging that (without being preachy) is worth it. The book is fun and delicious and would appeal to tween girls for sure.

Stellarium

Chéreau, Fabien, Matthew Gates, Johan Meuris, et. al. Stellarium. 2009. Accessed at http://www.stellarium.org/

Plot Summary: The Stellarium program enables the user to view stars and their constellations depending on the user's location.

Critical Evaluation: I thought this site and program were fantastic. In our modern world it is difficult for us to see the stars and constellations without finding a remote location without light interference. This would be even more difficult for tweens, who are not yet old enough to drive or go places on their own. This free website would be a great addition to library computers, especially in the teen and children's sections.

Reader's Annotation: Explore your night sky without the hassle of finding a light free location.

Author Bio: The Stellarium website doesn't provide much background information about the developers. It seems to be the brain-child of Chéreau, a young French Research Engineer and computer programmer.

Genre: Science, Non-fiction

Curriculum Ties: A great program to use while studying astronomy.

Booktalking Ideas: Explore the program by showing the night sky in your location.

Reading Level/Interest Age: All Ages

Challenges: None.

Reason for including: When we were researching and collaborating on websites for tweens, Tatjana found the website. I thought it was the best free program I've ever seen and have spent a lot of time messing around with the program. It would be great for libraries and schools to have access to on their computers.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma: The Secrets Behind What You Eat. Young Readers Edition. New York: Dial Books, 2009. 352 pages. $17.99 ISBN 9780803734159

Plot Summary: This edition of The Omnivore's Dilemma is geared toward kids. Pollan covers the American corn industry and how it has basically taken over all the food Americans eat. He also discusses the organic food industry in America, both the good and bad. In the third part of the book Pollan discusses the smaller, usually family run farms. Finally he discusses the steps it takes to prepare a meal completely from scratch, what is involved in animal preparation, harvesting, anything that goes on in order to have a meal. He also includes tips for better, healthier, smarter eating.

Critical Evaluation: I thought this book was very interesting. I haven't read the "adult" version of The Omnivore's Dilemma, but have been meaning to. As a vegan, I suppose I don't have an omnivore dilemma. However, I thought it was curious that the book was redone to provide an edition for kids. There is a lot of information in this book, and a lot of pictures and diagrams. I'm not sure if I really need to read the "adult" version because this book was so easy to understand and I felt like I learned so much. It would be a very in tune tween that would pick up this book, but it is definitely worth it.

Reader's Annotation: Michael Pollan uncovers the truth about the American food and farming industries and what that means for people who eat.

Author Bio: Pollan has published several books on food and the environment including The Omnivore's Dilemma, and In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. He is featured in the movie Food, Inc. that was recently in theaters. He has been a journalist since the 1970s, most notably as the Executive Editor of Harper's Magazine and his continuing contributions to New York Times Magazine. He is currently Knight Professor of Journalism at the University of California in Berkeley.

Genre: Non-fiction

Curriculum Ties: This would be a great tie-in to an economics class, or nutrition.

Booktalking Ideas: Discuss the monopoly that is our food. Give snippets of facts gleaned from the book.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Middle School would be best, but maybe 5th/6th grade. 11 and up.

Challenges: Some of the pictures may be disturbing to some children and adults, especially ones of the animal living conditions. He also goes into detail about the process animals go through when they are "made into food." Some parents may view this as propaganda.

Reason for including: I thought it was interesting that the book was redone for kids and thought I'd give it a try. I'm vegan, so I don't need to be told twice the bad practices and bad nutrition behind the omnivore diet. I think activist minded tweens would get a lot out of this book.

Made by Me by Jane Bull

Bull, Jane. Made by Me. New York: DK Children, 2009. 64 pages $14.99 ISBN 9780756651633

Plot Summary: Made by Me is a book of crafts for girls. It includes projects that involve embroidery, knitting and sewing. The book starts out giving ideas for setting up a craft space and recycling things to use as storage for supplies. There are really cute ideas for making storage. There are lots of pictures and diagrams on how to embroider, the different types of stitches, how to knit, and instructions for projects. Some of the projects include a doll and doll clothes, a knitted hat, both sewn and knitted bags.

Critical Evaluation: DK books are known for their books full of pictures, and in this instance the more the better. There are a ton of great pictures on technique and pattern instructions. The projects are definitely very girly, so it may not appeal to all girls. The level of the projects is for the beginner and aimed at younger girls, but would definitely suit tweens with minimal craft skills.

Reader's Annotation: Cute projects are easier to create than you think!

Author Bio: Jane has been writing books on art and creating things for children and adults for thirty years. She lives in London with three children and spends a lot of her time testing her crafts on her children.

Genre: Non-Fiction, Craft

Curriculum Ties: Good for an art class or home ec.

Booktalking Ideas: I think just showing the book would be a good way to talk about it. Show them what crafts they can learn to make.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Ages 7 to 14

Challenges: None

Reason for including: I think kids should be given every opportunity to be creative, and sewing is an excellent way to be creative. Although it is aimed at younger girls, I think the projects would appeal to tweenage girls.

Style Remix DVD

Style Remix DVD
Style Remix: 21+ Fashion Projects. Little Rock, AR: Leisure Arts, Inc., 2007. 100 minutes. $19.95 ISBN 1601405618
Readers Annotation: More than 21 projects to revamp your wardrobe and create your own style.
Plot Summary/Critical Evaluation: Style Remix is an instructional DVD that includes projects of all kinds to create a unique wardrobe using what you already have. The hosts are friendly and informative and give great directions. The projects give great examples of what can be done but also give tips on how they can be changed and personalized. The projects are fun and up-to-date, no out-dated early 90s scrunchies here! There are ideas for purses, skirts, and many other fashion pieces.
Genre: Arts and Crafts, Fashion
Age Level: Ages 12 and up
Curriculum Ties: Could be used in a home economics class for extra instruction on crafts and sewing.
Book talking ideas: Talk about the many ways they can express themselves. Fashion is one way to express yourself that everyone will see and can be changed everyday. A great way to personalize your fashion and express yourself is by altering what you have and creative something totally new.
Challenge Issues: No challenge issues.
Why I included it: I included this instructional DVD because there seems to be a big DIY movement through teens and 20s. There are many websites the give tips and patterns on DIY projects, and a DVD is a great addition to any arts and crafts collection.