Review: The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

I am not sure I accept the science behind the original accident (lightning causing a case of acquired savant syndrome), and it is a tiny bit problematic that a mathematical genius has to have happened accidentally, rather than being a naturally acquired ability, but if you accept the premise, the rest of the book turns out to be interesting. There are a number of discussable issues in the book that might make it an interesting read-aloud for older elementary or middle school kids: differences/oddities, outstanding ability, how the teacher deals with students, group projects, school requirements, lunchroom issues, etc. More things to think about than I expected. And I like the resolution/non-resolution of the ending.

View all my reviews

Review: Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13

Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13 by Helaine Becker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is Hidden Figures for the younger set and is well worth its while. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, but I think this book is even better at giving a coherent picture of how Katherine Johnson did what she did. If there is any critique I would make about the book, it would be that it doesn't make quite a big enough point about both the sexism and racism that she faced. Nevertheless, I would highly recommend it.

View all my reviews

Review: Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion

Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion by Loree Griffin Burns
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think my favorite part of this book is the story of how the main researcher get interested in following ocean currents: the Nike shoes showing up along the western coast of the US, followed by the bathtub toys. It is an interesting, and in many ways tragic, story of what we are doing to our oceans.

I do have one complaint about the copy of the book I got. The library covers the books with plastic, in order to preserve them for a long time. But the flyleaves of the book have great maps of the ocean currents, along with some text explaining parts of the maps. Unfortunately, some of the text is covered up by the plastic and the dust jacket, so, unless I would be bold enough to damage the cover, I couldn't read all of it. Since I dislike damaging books, I didn't. I love maps, though, and I am sorry these weren't repeated inside the book as well.

View all my reviews

Review: The Octopus Scientists: Exploring the Mind of a Mollusk

The Octopus Scientists: Exploring the Mind of a Mollusk by Sy Montgomery
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a gorgeously photographed book on a great topic. The only problem with it is that it is a bit too much for the audience that I assume it is designed for: older elementary through high school students. I like that the author introduced each of the researchers and explained how they became interested in octopuses. And it is helpful to detail the struggles that scientists have when doing field research. I must admit, however, that I skimmed many of the parts about the wonders and the beauty of the world in which the octopuses live. I was eager to hear more about the octopuses, not so much the different fish and other denizens of the deep. Still, I am enjoying these science books that I have been perusing lately.

View all my reviews

Review: It's Code Red!

It's Code Red! by Zapiro
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is probably better than the 3 stars I am giving it, but I can't tell how much better, since I don't know enough about South African politics. The cartoons, as is typical of editorial cartoons, depend quite a bit more on the reader's personal knowledge of the political events depicted than cartoons from the same country, but with a more personal focus, e.g., like Madam and Eve. I could understand much of the humor of Madam and Eve; it was more of a struggle with Zapiro. On the other hand, these cartoons also give me a bit more courage about the political situations around the world. In spite of corruption, infighting, and greed, there does seem to be some political progress. I hope that is the case for the United States as well.

View all my reviews

Review: The Science of Breakable Things

The Science of Breakable Things by Tae Keller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

OK, I admit, I didn't really read this book carefully. I read the first third of the book and then skimmed the rest, so you are welcome to completely discount this review. The book deals with the MC's mother's descent into depression. It is good that it indicates that depression is a long, on-going struggle, but it annoys me greatly that they didn't explain all this to the MC, Natalie, until close to the end of the book. The father should really have known much better. He should have known that kids will often blame themselves for issues that their parents have and he should have been MUCH more pro-active about explaining all of this to Natalie. If she had been 5 years old, I could see explaining it to her in simple terms, but the main character is in around 7th grade, so she would be 12 or 13 - plenty old enough to explain it in much clearer language. The "give her time" bit just doesn't suffice. I am glad for a book that deals with a parent's depression. I wish it had been handled more openly.

View all my reviews

Review: The New Ocean: The Fate of Life in a Changing Sea

The New Ocean: The Fate of Life in a Changing Sea by Bryn Barnard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought at first that this book had an unfortunate layout. There are LOTS of words on the pages, and the pages are large. The pictures are good, but I was afraid that the text would overwhelm them. To my surprise, the text was quite readable and interesting. The choices of living things to discuss were good: some are flourishing because of pollution, warming, and acidification, while others are suffering. The book gives a good perspective on change, in that it may throw off a delicate balance in different ways for different animals/plants.

Enjoyable and valuable, though saddening in many ways. We are such poor stewards of our Earth.

View all my reviews

Review: Save Me a Seat

Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

On literary merit alone, this book would not deserve 4 stars. The writing is fine, but it is friendly-style writing, not compelling, good writing. What does deserve the 4 stars is that the authors get the kids pretty much right. Yes, the bully is a bit over the top stereotype, but I have met so many bullies like that, it doesn't feel unreal to me.

There is one review (not this one) which details some excellent teaching points. If you are considering using this book as a read-aloud, you should check out that review.

I enjoyed reading the book: another one to add a bit of diversity and different points of view.

P.S. There is a clever and appealing set of added material at the end of the book. First, there are two glossaries, one from Ravi's perspective and one from Joe's. Then, there are two different recipe's, one for Ravi's mother's Indian cookies and the other for Joe's mom's apple crisp.

View all my reviews

Review: Save Me a Seat

Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

On literary merit alone, this book would not deserve 4 stars. The writing is fine, but it is friendly-style writing, not compelling, good writing. What does deserve the 4 stars is that the authors get the kids pretty much right. Yes, the bully is a bit over the top stereotype, but I have met so many bullies like that, it doesn't feel unreal to me.

There is one review (not this one) which details some excellent teaching points. If you are considering using this book as a read-aloud, you should check out that review.

I enjoyed reading the book: another one to add a bit of diversity and different points of view.

View all my reviews

Review: The Frog Scientist

The Frog Scientist by Pamela S. Turner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was written for a slightly older audience than I expected and thus the level of difficulty of the text and the descriptions were more advanced than I expected. So, I have tagged it as good for students a bit older than middle grades elementary. The book is semi-biographical and semi-scientific. The biographical parts capture the human interest side of science, the scientific parts elucidate some of the intricacies of scientific research. On the whole, it is well-balanced. I appreciate the little box at the end explaining that the real scientific research was a bit more complicated than the text could cover. There is also a glossary and a bibliography. And the photos throughout are also excellent.

I was interested in this book, because one of my book clubs read The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History and it begins with an extensive discussion of the problems with frogs dying out. This book doesn't mention the larger problem of many more species beyond just the many endangered frog species, but it is an interesting accompaniment, even if the audiences for the books are different.

Finally, it should be mentioned that this book includes quite a few people who are not white Caucasians. This would make an excellent choice for people who are looking to make their book selections more inclusive.

View all my reviews

Review: Here's to You, Rachel Robinson

Here's to You, Rachel Robinson by Judy Blume
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is actually a re-read, as I am sure I read this when I was young, too.

I was a bit surprised that this book frustrated me a bit. I felt like Rachel's problems were only touched on - even glossed over. How was she supposed to relax? Why did the family seem to be so on edge with the brother? I guess I didn't perceive her brother's actions as so completely over the top, but rather as a very bright (yes, probably gifted) boy who has discovered that the world often hides the truth from itself and he needs to confront that. In the end, the parents did do what they needed to do and the hiring of the tutor worked, but I would like to have seen more whole family resolution, too.

Since I am interested in gifted kids, I was also interested in the gifted angle for both Rachel and her brother. Rachel is the typical good-girl gifted female. She does everything right and people just seem to never see when she is foundering. Charles, on the other hand, is the quintessential bad-boy gifted kid. Rebelling, clowning around, sarcastic, refusing to take work seriously unless it is work that he has chosen. People don't see his needs either. They see him as a behavior problem. Their sister Jessica is never seen really beyond her acne and her helpfulness.

I liked this book better as a kid.

View all my reviews

Review: Home of the Brave

Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am not a huge fan of free verse novels, but it did seem to work for this book. With the exception of the rather abrupt ending, I enjoyed this book. It is interesting to see the familiar through unfamiliar eyes and it brings to mind my own year as a foreign student in Germany - many things seem like missteps. I would like to have seen a bit more, but I suppose the story is really about family and not about being a stranger in a new land.

View all my reviews

Review: Just as Long as We're Together

Just as Long as We're Together by Judy Blume
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am sure I read this many, many years ago, when it was a lot newer. Surprisingly, it hasn't aged all that badly. It reminds me a lot of teaching middle school - all of the painful friend/not friend, lonely, teasing/showing romantic interest, young teen issues.

View all my reviews

Review: The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq

The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq by Jeanette Winter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Though I usually like books with more text than this one, this book would be a very good introduction to many different types of lessons on war, courage, historical preservation, and lives of people in war-torn countries.

View all my reviews

Review: Animals Charles Darwin Saw: An Around the World Adventure

Animals Charles Darwin Saw: An Around the World Adventure by Sandra Markle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For me, this book was vastly different from Animals Marco Polo Saw: An Adventure on the Silk Road. While, I wasn't quite as impressed with the pictures, they are actually well done, appealing, and helpful. But the inclusion of the animals for this story is absolutely integral to it. There is a purpose for mentioning the animals, as they were central to the whole venture.

If I have a quibble with it at all, I am just a tad disappointed that it is mentioned more than once that the theory of evolution might be regarded as controversial. It was when it was first introduced and for many years afterwards, but today, among scientists, this simply isn't true. There are still discoveries being made with regard to exact mechanisms of inheritance and change, but the general idea of evolution is integral to virtually all of biology. It is almost like saying that the theory of gravity is controversial. New discoveries change some of the details, but not the overall scope.

View all my reviews