Maude and Sallie were orphaned when both their parents died of illness. Their Aunt Ruthie took care of them until she was killed by a stray bullet in a barroom shooting contest. Maude and Sallie are then taken in by the town preacher and his wife, who find themselves lucky to have free labor to care for their house and several small children. Maude, always proper and refined, takes matters into her own hands to escape all of this and an arranged marriage. She and Sallie start on a journey to find their Uncle Arlen. A journey that gets them mixed up in horse stealing, bank robbing, and a deadly shoot out with a desperate gang. Will Maude ever live down the reputation of 'Notorious Mad Maude March?' Read the Misadventures of Maude March and Maude March on the Run!, or, Trouble is her Middle Name to find out.

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 4/28/2009

ISBN-10: 0375932453

ISBN-13: 9780375932458

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Commenter: St. Charles Reader, grade 0

In 1930's Mississippi, a 10-year-old white child, Jeremy Simms watches a bus driver order all black passengers, including his friends, the Logan family, off of a full bus because some white passengers, who arrived late, needed to board.

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 4/13/2009

ISBN-10: 0141308176

ISBN-13: 9780141308173

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At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, hoping to keep bloodshed away from their valley, a 12-year-old Delaware Indian boy, and his white friend, search sacred land for the bones of a legendary beast.

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 4/13/2009

ISBN-10: 0399227830

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Abilene has always known where her home is: it is with her dad. In the 1930s United States, Abilene and her dad hop trains from town to town. Abilene's home is 'all over. My daddy says it's not down in any map. True places never are.' So when he sends her away from him to a town she's never known except through stories, Manifest, Kansas, to live with a man named Shady she's never met, Abilene is bewildered. On her first night there, searching for a hiding place for her treasured possessions, she stumbles upon a box with mementos and letters to a mysterious boy named Jinx. This discovery leads to a search for a spy, and Abilene finds more than she ever expected: the hidden past of Manifest, Kansas, a story that blends the history of a fortune teller, a boy running from the law after a murder, and the country in a time of war. As Abilene unravels the threads of the tale, she uncovers secrets that lead her back to the one place she hopes to be: home. Winner of the 2011 Newbery Medal, this book by first-time author Clare Vanderpool blends history, intrigue, and the love of families, both the ones we're given and the ones that choose us, into a tale that affirms the power of stories to heal, change, and bring people together.

Awards won: John Newbery Medal

Reviewed by: emc

Date read: 1/13/2011

ISBN-10: 0385907508

ISBN-13: 9780385907507

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Commenter: Valerie, grade 52

The date is July 16, 1969. Responding to President John F. Kennedy's challenge to put a man on the moon before the decade is out, NASA has been preparing for this day. Three astronauts, Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin, have been preparing, too. Each step is rousingly described as the three men strap into the tiny space module, through Armstrong's 'giant leap,' to splash-down and the men's safe return to their families. This story of the United States' first flight to the moon is poetically told.

Awards nominated: Monarch Award Nominee 2012

Reviewed by: vverscaj

Date read: 4/15/2011

ISBN-10: 141695046X

ISBN-13: 9781416950462

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