A novel based on the true story of Helmuth Hubener, a 17-year-old member of the Hitler youth. In the beginning, everything about Hitler was new and full of promise and hope for Germany. Then, the rights of people were diminished, Jews were threatened, and the world was turned upside down. Helmuth discovers that Germans are being lied to and he is driven to spread the truth. Helmuth's story unfolds in a series of flashbacks as he awaits his fate in a jail cell.

Similar books: Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.

Awards nominated: Rebecca Caudill Award 2011

Reviewed by: adf

Date read: 6/18/2009

ISBN-10: 0439680131

ISBN-13: 9780439680134

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Commenter: Ewl, grade 62

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster grew up during the Depression reading about their heroes Flash Gordon and Tarzan. Jerry also wrote stories of his own, and Joe loved to draw. Comic books were new back then, and they wanted to write and illustrate their own. When they were 24, they created the first and best superhero of all time.

Awards nominated: Bluestem Award 2011

Reviewed by: donna

Date read: 6/7/2010

ISBN-10: 0375938028

ISBN-13: 9780375938023

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If you want to combine history and poetry, this is the book for you! All the way from the dinosaurs to September 11, American history is summarized into 41 short poems. It begins appropriately with, 'The First,' a ditty about dinosaurs ('The first Americans who roamed the prairie/ Were kind of big and kind of scary'), and ends with 'The Lady,' a salute to the Statue of Liberty, which Shields casts as witness to the destruction of the World Trade Center. Poems about the Wright brothers, the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, and 'The Great War' (WWI) are among those that fall along the timeline running across the top of the pages. Richard Thompson, a political cartoonist, offers appropriate doses of humor and poignancy in his illustrations accompanying the poems.

Similar books: Mural on Second Avenue, and Other City Poems by Lilian Moore; Heroes and She-roes: Poems of Amazing and Everyday Heroes by J. Patrick Lewis

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 4/13/2009

ISBN-10: 1593541201

ISBN-13: 9781593541200

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Read this true life adventure story about courage and determination. You'll learn about Balto, the sled dog, who against all odds, saved the lives of the sick people of Nome, Alaska by carrying medicine 53 miles in the snow during a 30 degree below zero blizzard.

Similar authors: Peter Roop

Similar books: Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie by Peter Roop; Sled Dogs: Artic Athletes by Elizabeth Ring; Mush! Across Alaska in the World's Longest Sled-Dog Race by Patricia Seibert

Reviewed by: mb

Date read: 7/3/2009

ISBN-10: 039499695X

ISBN-13: 9780394996950

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On her sixteenth birthday, in 1936, on the fictional island of Montmaray, Sophia FitzOsborne begins keeping a diary. She writes about living on their island kingdom with her mad uncle, the king, her sister, Henry, her cousin, Veronica, and their very loyal housekeeper, Rebecca. Their castle is crumbling, the drawbridge is rotting, and they've sold most of their possessions. Sophie dreams of going to England to wear beautiful dresses and live like other people. The tensions on the mainland with the Nazis in Germany seem very far away until two German soldiers arrive. Their visit triggers tragedy, adventure and the revelation of dark family secrets. The story takes awhile to get going, but the ending is a blockbuster.

Reviewed by: hap

Date read: 2/5/2010

ISBN-10: 0375958649

ISBN-13: 9780375958649

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