• The Mysterious Howling

    Overall Rating: ★ Rating:81 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.050000000000001 Fraction:4.05★ Rating:81 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.050000000000001 Fraction:4.05★ Rating:81 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.050000000000001 Fraction:4.05★ Rating:81 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.050000000000001 Fraction:4.05☆ Rating:81 Fraction:4.0581%
    The Mysterious Howling (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1)
    Maryrose Wood
    Balzer + Bray, 2010
    Fantasy
    ISBN: 0061791059
    272 pages

    Synopsis

    Found running wild in the forest of Ashton Place, the Incorrigibles are no ordinary children: Alexander, age ten or thereabouts, keeps his siblings in line with gentle nips; Cassiopeia, perhaps four or five, has a bark that is (usually) worse than her bite; and Beowulf, age somewhere-in-the-middle, is alarmingly adept at chasing squirrels.

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    Posted in 2010, Best Of, Classroom, English/Reading, Fantasy/Science Fiction, History/Period, Ignite Imagination, Recommended, Reviews, Series | No Comments »

    Escaping the Tiger

    Overall Rating: ★ Rating:88 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.4 Fraction:4.4★ Rating:88 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.4 Fraction:4.4★ Rating:88 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.4 Fraction:4.4★ Rating:88 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.4 Fraction:4.4½ Rating:88 Star Piece:0.4 Fraction:4.488%
    Escaping the Tiger
    Laura Manivong
    HarperCollins, 2010
    Fiction
    ISBN: 0061661775
    224 pages

    Synopsis

    When you’re so skinny people call you Skeleton Boy, how do you find strength for the fight of your life?
    Twelve-year-old Vonlai knows that soldiers who guard the Mekong River shoot at anything that moves, but in oppressive Communist Laos, there’s nothing left for him, his spirited sister, Dalah, and his desperate parents. Their only hope is a refugee camp in Thailand—on the other side of the river.

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    Posted in 2010, Best Of, Classroom, Fiction (non-fantasy), Geography/Culture, History/Period, Recommended, Reviews, Social Commentary | No Comments »

    Boys Without Names

    Overall Rating: ★ Rating:94 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.7 Fraction:4.7★ Rating:94 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.7 Fraction:4.7★ Rating:94 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.7 Fraction:4.7★ Rating:94 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.7 Fraction:4.7½ Rating:94 Star Piece:0.7 Fraction:4.794%
    Boys Without Names
    Kashmira Sheth
    Balzer + Bray, 2010
    Fiction
    ISBN: 0061857602
    320 pages

    Synopsis

    For eleven-year-old Gopal and his family, life in their rural Indian village is over: We stay, we starve, his baba has warned. With the darkness of night as cover, they flee to the big city of Mumbai in hopes of finding work and a brighter future. Gopal is eager to help support his struggling family until school starts, so when a stranger approaches him with the promise of a factory job, he jumps at the offer.

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    Posted in 2010, Best Of, Classroom, English/Reading, Fiction (non-fantasy), Geography/Culture, Recommended, Reviews, Social Commentary | 1 Comment »