Noggin

NOGGIN by John Corey Whaley. Atheneum, 2014.

Travis remembers going to sleep; that is all. When he awakes, five years have passed. Travis is alive and well for the first time in a long time. The experiment to remove his head and ultimately attach it to a body not dying of cancer is a success. Well, successful from a scientific perspective. But for Travis and his family and friends, success might be too optimistic a word. How does a teen go about reforming connections to friends who are now 5 years older than he is? What will high school be like when he returns? Will the endless stream of curiosity seekers tire of following him?

Genius

GENIUS by Seagle and Kristiansen. First Second Books, 2013.

Physicist Ted Marx was a wunderkind, a true genius, one of whom great things was expected. Now that he has reached his 30s, though, things are not the way they were planned to be. His wife is ill; his father-in-law lives with the family; his kids are in the throes of adolescence. Worse still is the pressure on Ted at work to come up with something new or lose his job. Though written for a more adult audience, there is much here to appeal to mature teen readers.

As an aside, I will point out that the reading level of this book is 3rd grade. It is worth one point on an AR test.

Why OH Why?

WHY? ANSWERS TO EVERYDAY SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS by Joel Levy. Zest Books, 2013.

What are there 365 days in a year? Why is the sky blue? Why are babies and puppies considered universally cute? Answers to these and a multitude of other questions are contained in this terrific book for browsing. Tie in EVERY 60 SECONDS ON EARTH.

animal and mineral

BONE COLLECTION: ANIMALS. by Rob Colson. Scholastic, 2013.

Strip away the skin and we can begin to see the commonalities our skeletal structures have with various animals. Skeletons from bats, possums, whales, snakes, slots, and more are presented with call out boxes and fun facts about each.

DISCOVER MORE: ROCKS AND MINERALS. Scholastic, 2013.

This series offers some interesting topics and presents them on glossy pages with incredible photographs and illustrations. In addition, a code inside the book leads readers to an online book that is related to the topic at hand. Explore the world of rocks and minerals in this entry. From types of rocks to the composition of various rocks and the qualities of minerals, there is much to be "mined."

Ribbit (again)!

THE MYSTERY OF DARWIN'S FROG by Marty Crump with illustrations by Steve Jenkins and Edel Rodriguez. HMH, 2013.

Did you know there is a species of frog in which the male minds the eggs and tadpoles? Did you know the male frog slurps up the tadpoles into his vocal sac and then releases them from inside when they are fully formed frogs? And did you know this species is in danger of becoming extinct. This beautifully illustrated and simply written piece of NF will please many readers as they learn about habitat, animal behavior, and more.

The Pet Project

THE PET PROJECT: CUTE AND CUDDLY VICIOUS VERSES by Lisa Wheeler with illustrations by Zachariah Ohora. Atheneum, 2013.

A young girl wants a pet. Her parents advise her to look at his scientifically, to observe, record, and then make a request based on what she has learned. In a series of humorous poems, the young girl observes and rejects all manner of pets including: cows, skunks, monkeys, mice, and a host of others. Pair with "Mother Doesn't Want a Dog" by Judith Viorst. And don't forget to point out the end papers and the reader warning as well.

Do you wanna know a secret?

PLUTO'S SECRET: AN ICY WORLD OF DISCOVERY. Abrams, 2013.

From the Smithsonian comes this charming blend of fiction and nonfiction about the discovery of Pluto and the reconsideration of scientists about its planet status. Comic yet accurate illustrations tell of the search for what was pulling other planets out of their orbits, Enter Pluto (and the story behind it names). Pluto was designated a planet even though it did not always behave as did the other planets in out solar system. Once scientists began to posit the critical attributes of planets, Pluto's status changed. What will the landing of the first exploration capsule on the surface reveal?

Creation Story

EVE AND ADAM by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate. Feiwel and Friends, October 2012.

A dynamic duo of authors, a terrific cover and an absorbing premise add up to make this book one that readers will be demanding as soon as it hits the shelves. Evening Spiker (do not call her Eve) barely survives a horrific car crash. Her recovery is due to her mother, the head honcho of Spiker Biopharmaceuticals. As Evening recovers from her injuries, her mother tries to keep her mind occupied by asking Evening to use some new software to cerate the perfact boy from the ground up. It seems rather a fanciful project, but soon Evening comes to understand that her creation is not some abstract computer image: it is the beginning of an actual creation. Espionage, betrayal, science gone amok, friendship, and a bit of a romance all combine in this page-turning examination of medicine and medical ethics. <361>


Note: Blogger is not allowing me to spell check as of late. pardon any errors. I will go back in and make corrections later.

Welcome back Squish! The newest character created by the siblings Matt and Jenni Holm is Squish, the amoeba. Here is book #3: SQUISH: THE POWER OF THE PARASITE (Random House 2012). Squish appeared as a character in one of the BabyMouse books as well as starring in three books in the his own series. Summer vacation has just begun, and Squish's parents have signed him up for swim lessons. Squish is less than thrilled about this and hangs instead poolside with a new friend. But is he really a new friend? Squish learns an important lesson about friendship here. And readers will learn much about the single-celled creatures who populate Squish's world. <314>

Squish Is Back!

Jenni and Matt Holm are back with SQUISH: THE POWER OF THE PARASITE, number 3 in the series of GNs featuring the amoeba named Squish (Random House 2012). It is summer time and Squish is consigned to swimming lessons while his best pals take classes in ballet instead. Squish does not want to learn to swim at all. Thankfully, there is someone else in the class who shares Squish's dislike of swim lessons. Basil is a Hydra and he becomes Squish's ally at swim class. However, there is something not quite right about Basil. Is he really a new friend? Can he be trusted? Fans of the series will be thrilled with this latest offering. Fun and science, who would have thought those two words might be used together? <307>

Nonfiction Picture Books

WRITE ON MERCY: THE SECRET LIFE OF MERCY OTIS WARREN by Gretchen Woelfle with illustrations by Alexandra Wallner (Calkins Creek 2012) is a must have picture book to fill in gaps in textbooks, especially gaps about the contributions of women and other underrepresented populations in terms of contributions to history, science, and the arts. Mercy Otis Warren wrote about politics but did so mostly in secret. In the 1700s, women were not permitted to have a clarion voice. Warren's family and friends knew her as a published author, but it was some time before her identity was known to the general public. <229>



SILENT STAR: THE STORY OF DEAF MAJOR LEAGUER WILLIAM HOY by Bill Wise with illustrations by Adam Gustavson (Lee and Low 2012) tells the story of how William Hoy managed to rise from back lots to the major leagues despite a childhood illness that caused him to lose his hearing. As a matter of fact, because of Hoy's deafness, coaches began to use the now commonplace hand signals for batters. <230>




Connie Nordheim Wooldridge's JUST FINE THE WAY THEY ARE with illustrations by Richard Walz (Calkins Creek 2011) is subtitled FROM DIRT ROADS TO RAIL ROADS TO INTERSTATES. It presents information in a bouncy narrative about how transportation has progressed over time as well as how some folks were happy with things the way they were. Pair this with Gail Gibbons' NEW ROAD. <231>




I, GALILEO by Bonnie Christensen (Knopf 2012) tells the story of Galileo as if it were an autobiography. Galileo tells of his discoveries and how he was castigated by the church for daring to contradict their teachings despite his scientific observations to the contrary. Tie this one to Peter Sis' STARRY MESSENGER. <232>




BON APETIT: THE DELICIOUS LIFE OF JULIA CHILD by Jessie Harland (Schwartz and Wade 2012) tells of the life of one of the most iconic personalities of the 20th century. From her childhood to her adolescence and finally her adulthood, Hartland presents the story of Childs' life and her eventual passion with French cuisine and with writing cookbooks. Recipes, maps, and all manner of information crowd around illustrations giving readers plenty to chew on. <233>





If A BLACK HOLE IS NOT A HOLE (Charlesbridge 2012), then what is it exactly? Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano answers this central question in clear language with plenty of illustrative examples (courtesy of illustrator Michael Carroll) served with a healthy dollop of humor as well. Despite the rather complex science behind black holes, this text will be accessible to many readers. Science teachers will want to add this to their collections. <234>

science from two perspectives

Each of these books deals with the environment in a different way. One is realistic fiction and one is nonfiction. Common Core asks us to share more nonfiction with kids. Texas skills include crossing genres. So, here is a nice text pairing.



MARTY MCGUIRE DIGS WORMS by Kate Messner (Scholastic 2012) brings back the plucky Marty McGuire. Marty's class is challenged to come with ways of being more environmentally friendly. Marty and her best friend Annie, with some help from Marty's grandmother, decide to use worms to help reduce cafeteria waste. of course, there will be some obstacles along the way. However, Messner's great gentle humor and insight into the minds of young students keeps this story on track. Read this aloud to introduce a unit on the environment. Or pair it with the following book.
<221>




FROGS, STRANGE AND WONDERFUL by Laurence Pringle with illustrations by Meryl Henderson (Boyds Mills Press 2012) is an in-depth examination of frogs: species, habitats, behavior, and more. While there is a great deal of information here, it is parsed out in meaningful chunks along with detailed illustrations to accompany the text. This nonfiction works well with the foregoing Messner chapter book in that both address concerns about the environment. <222>

All you could ever want to know about BLOOD...

Narrative nonfiction is in demand, and here is a topic sure to appeal to the bloodthirsty readers in your school/library. THE BOOK OF BLOOD: FROM LEGENDS AND LEECHES TO VAMPIRES AND VEINS by HP Newquist (Houghton Mifflin, August 2012) walks readers through how we learned about the circulatory system to how blood travels through our bodies to how hard blood works (no wonder I am tired). Adding in some of the myth and lore about vampires and other bloodsuckers makes for interesting and informative reading. Science teachers will find this invaluable. <117>

Nonfiction Strikes Again

OCEAN AND SEA is one of Scholastic's Discover More series. Steve Parker includes a lot of information in this book about the oceans and seas of the world. However, the organization of each double page spread and initiating questions at the outset of each chapter will permit readers either to browse for interesting facts or to locate specific information more readily. As is the case with all the books in the series, there is a free digitally downloaded companion book for this title. <60>




Learn all about THE ELEMENTS by Dan Green (Scholastic 2012). How wonderful it would have been to have had this book as I struggles with some of my science classes. Information in presented both graphically and in the text. Each page's layout has items such as call out boxes, diagrams, interesting facts, and much more. Part of the Discover More series, there is a digitally download able book to accompany this traditional text. <61>

science in action

FAR FROM SHORE: CHRONICLES OF AN OPEN OCEAN VOYAGE by Sophie Webb (Houghton Mifflin 2011) takes readers along on a long term voyage of scientists to study birds, mammals, and other life in and around the open ocean. Webb, author of the Sibert winning MY SEASON WITH PENGUINS, uses watercolor illustrations and sketches and diagrams to illuminate the findings of the scientists who are searching for answers to some questions such as: now that purse seine catching is illegal, are the numbers of dolphins on the increase? The four month journey provides more questions than answers in some cases, though, as Webb and her colleagues study the myriad of lifeforms that make up the ecosystem of the open ocean. <27>