The Bat-Chen Diaries by Bat-chen Shahak

Shahak, B. (2008). The Bat-Chen Diaries (p. 110). Kar-Ben Publishing.

ISBN: 0822588072

Price : $16.95 library binding

Reader's Annotation: Selected writings, diaries and letters of Bat Chen Shehak, who was killed in 1996, on her 15th birthday, in a terrorist bombing.

Summary: In the same way the diaries of Anne Frank and Zlata Filipovic have illustrated the day to day lives of tweens during the Holocaust and Bosnia, the Bat-Chen diaries paint a picture of life growing up in modern day Israel. Bat-Chen began to keep a diary when she was in the fifth grade, and she wrote frequent letters and poems. Collections of her writing have been published in Arabic, Japanese, Italian, Dutch and German. Her familiar concerns, friends, school, siblings, first romances are set against a backdrop of war and an enduring hope for peace.

Genre: book, nonfiction, war, identity, friends, coming of age, siblings, family

Series : This book is not part of a series.

Evaluation: This collection of journal entries, letters, and poems is all the more touching for the places in which it is sometimes overly dramatic or simplistic. It looks like the diaries we all wrote when we were tweens, and that is what makes it so powerful.

Why it belongs in a Tween Collection: First person accounts make history and current events real to readers. Tweens will identifiy with Bat-Chen, who fights with her siblings and hates homework even while she's contemplating living in a country at war. Bat-Chen will make Middle East politics real for tweens.

Readalikes :

• The Diary of Anne Frank
• Zlata's Diary by Zlata Filipovic
  

Other Useful Info:

• YouTube intro to the book
  

Reviews:

School Library Journal Review

he Bat-Chen Diaries released in February, 2008, nearly slipped beneath my notice. Perhaps because I love bats or the Chen portion may have caught my eye. Whatever reason, I'm glad that I read this title from Kar-Ben Publishing.

I know The Bat-chen Diaries have been published in other languages (Hebrew, Japanese, Arabic, Italian, Dutch, and German) and this is the first English translation of her work. There is a free teaching guide that can be downloaded from the publisher.

In March 1996, Bat-Chen Shahak was killed by a suicide bomber in Tel Aviv's Dizengoff Center. It was Purim, and it was her 15th birthday. Interestingly she had written a condolence poem to widow Leah Rabin after the assassination of her husband Israel's Prime Minister Yizhak Rabin in November, 1995. After Bat-Chen's death her family gathered together pieces of her writings in notebooks, diaries, letters, and drawings to produce this tribute to Bat-Chen's life and desire for peace.

Knowing the main character's fate and that there is no happy ending can make reading war diaries by children very difficult. Even reading grown-up accounts of tragedies is difficult to accept.

Raucous Royals by Carlyn Beccia

Beccia, C. (2008). Raucous Royals: Test your Royal Wits: Crack Codes, Solve Mysteries, and Deduce WhichRoyal Rumors are True (p. 64). Houghton Mifflin.

ISBN: 0618891307

Price : $17.00 hardcover

Reader's Annotation: Learn about some of Europe's kookiest monarchs, and decide for yourself whether the rumors about them are true.

Summary: This book encourages tweens to be "history detectives" by asking questions about well known rumors about some of Europe's most notorious monarchs. Did Marie Antoinette say "Let them eat cake?" Did Richard III kill his nephews? Was Napoleon short? With plenty of factual information, humorous illustrations, and a thought provoking question and answer style, Beccia digs deep into the mysteries of royalty.

Genre: book, nonfiction, women's history, tudors, royalty

Series : This book is not part of a series.

Evaluation: This picture book for tweens has a good balance of fact and fun, and will capture the interests of even reluctant readers.

Why it belongs in a Tween Collection: It's history, but it's fun. It's non-fiction, but thoroughly readable. Keep this book around for tweens who need to liven up their history lessons.


Readalikes :

• Oh, Rats: The Story of Rats and People by Albert Merrin
  
• Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voice from a Medieval Village by Laura Schlitz
  

Other Useful Info:

• Carlyn Beccia's Website
  

Reviews:

"[Beccia's] stylish mélange of witty illustrations—silhouettes with speech bubbles, dramatic tableaux, caricatures—and interactive text demands reader participation: rather than provide a historical narrative, the author presents statements as true-or-false quizzes, then theorizes why a rumor might have come to exist." Starred, September 29, 2008 (Publishers Weekly, Starred )

Babysitting Rules by Leah Browning

Browning, L. (2006). Babysitting Rules: A Guide for When You're in Charge (p. 32). Capstone Press.

ISBN: 0736864644

Price : $25.26 library edition

Reader's Annotation: Tips and guidelines for babysitting -- read this book and you'll be sure to get asked back again.

Summary: A basic guide for babysitters, this book is packed with tips and ideas. Browning worked with certified babysitting training instructor Beth Lapp in putting this book together. Topics include following the rules, staying safe, being respectful (how to behave in someone else's home) and speaking up when you're being treated unfairly. There is an appendix with more babysitters resources listed.

Genre: book, nonfiction, babysitting

Series : This book is not part of a series.

Evaluation: A short book good for young tweens just getting started in the babysitting business.

Why it belongs in a Tween Collection: Tweens and babysitting go together like peanut butter and jelly. This is the sort of book a parent or kid will probably never buy in a store, but it's a great find in a library, and will probably circulate well.


Readalikes :

• The Babysitter's Handbook by Caroline Greene
• Everything You Need to Know about Being a Babysitter by Aileen Weintraub
  

Other Useful Info:

• Leah Browning's Website
  

Reviews:

from the book recommendation blog of Gwinnet County Public Library
Book Recommended by Louseda D.

Grayson Branch

Babysitting Rules is a book about rules and advice to keep when you are babysitting. It talked about staying safe, keeping your eyes open and following the rules and many more. There is some information in the book that I never knew about, like checking on sleeping babies and young children every 20-30 minutes to see if they are crying or breathing. This book was very easy to understand and read. My favorite part in this book would be the part about staying safe and don’t answer the door even if it’s the child’s relatives. I would recommend other titles like Babysitting Activities and Babysitting Safety because safety comes first when babysitting.

Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka

Scieszka, J. (2008). Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka (p. 106). Viking Juvenile.

ISBN:067001138X

$12.99 paperback

Reader's Annotation: Author Jon Sciezka describes growing up one of six brothers, and answers the question "Where do the ideas for your books come from?"

Summary: Jon Scieszka has written many outstanding children's books, including The Stinky Cheese Man and Guys Write for Guys Read (well, he was the editor and contributed to this one.) In Knucklehead, he tells the story of growing up as the second oldest of six boys, in Flint, Michigan. Each chapter is its own story, and they are all between one and three pages long. One story describes the time his older brother tried to sell him his own shirt. Another is about what happens when you pee on an electric heater. They are all hysterical, and full of boyish adventures.

Genre:book, adventure, coming of age, family, nonfiction, siblings

Series : This book is not part of a series.

Evaluation: This book made me laugh out loud, even though I was trying to read it on the sly while I was at my desk working. A great, great, great nonfiction choice for reluctant readers.

Why it belongs in a Tween Collection: Tweens will likely know Jon Scieszka from his pictures books or Guys Write webpage. The idea of growing up with five brothers will be appealing. Most of all, the humor and short, easy chapters will make this a great book to recommend for reluctant readers, and for "biography" or "nonfiction" assignments.

Readalikes :

• Science Fair by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
  
• Guys Write for Guys Read by Jon Scieszka
  

Other Useful Info:

• Jon Scieszka's Website
• Guys Read Website
  

Reviews:
From School Library Journal ages 9-12
To adults that don’t normally wander through the shelves of children’s literature the notion of the autobiography for kids is a pretty odd beast. You write a book about yourself, sure. But why would you make the primary audience for that book people who think that boogers and farts are the height of wit and sophistication? Fact of the matter is an autobiography written with a child audience in mind needs a hook. Your life, particularly your life as a kid, has to have had something interesting about it. Many of us probably look back on those years only to sigh and determine that absolutely nuthin’ interesting went on back then that would sufficiently engage a ten-year-old. Not Jon Scieszka. You want a hook? Try five brothers. Five brothers and Catholic school. Five brothers and Catholic school and a mess of stories involving bodily functions and super cool (and not so cool) toys. Mr. Scieszka proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that when it comes to recounting your youth, there’s nothing like a plethora of XX chromosomes to keep the readers reading. (read the rest here)

War, Women and the News by Catherine Gourley

Gourly, C. (2007). War, Women and the News: How Female Journalists Won the Battle to Cover World War I. (p. 198). Athenum Books for Young Readers.

ISBN: 0689877528

$21.99 hardcover

Reader's Annotation: This book describes how women journalists became war reporters and photojournalists on the front lines of World War II.

Summary: This book ends with a discussion of Christiane Amanpour, who has covered news in war zones for CNN for more than 20 years. She is following in the footsteps of women like Margaret Bourke White and Therese Bonney who struggled to be allowed to cover the news during World War II. Before the war began, women who wrote for newspapers were called "newshens" and their work was confined to the women's pages of newspapers. They wrote mostly society gossip and housekeeping tips. As the war began, however, a handful of brave women became the first female journalists to write and photograph from the front lines of battle. This book tells their stories.

Genre: nonfiction, war, career, women's history

Series : This book is not part of a series.

Evaluation: This book did a good job of describing how several women broke into the field of journalism during World War II, though it was occasionally difficult to keep track of who was who, or where in the War the story was. I still think it would be a great addition to any history lesson on WWII.

Why it belongs in a Tween Collection: The combination of photos, story, and clips from newspapers helped to keep what sometimes felt like a rather long book flowing. As an adult, I found it interesting to understand some of the backstory on photos I'd seen hundreds of times, but I'm not sure that same thrill would exist for tweens, but maybe it would. Also a good illustration for tweens about a time in history when women really had to struggle to break into a field dominated by men.

Readalikes :

• Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery by Russell Freedman
• The Road Home by Ellen Emerson White
  

Other Useful Info:

• Publisher's website
  

Reviews:
From School Library Journal
Grade 6–8—Gourley's passion is sharper than her focus in this introduction to more than a dozen writers and journalists who "refused to be left behind." After opening with a glimpse of photographer Dickey Chapelle, who convinced a reluctant colonel that the lack of women's "facilities" in a war zone would be a solvable issue, the author launches into a lengthy but incidental account of how the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression opened the door a crack for female field investigators and "sob sisters," some of whom, though dismissively transformed into "paper dolls" or "newshens," courageously followed the GIs overseas in pursuit of the story. Darting from Europe to the Pacific and back (with a stop to record Dorothea Lange's long-suppressed coverage of the displacement of Japanese Americans on the West Coast), Gourley provides an overview of major events, but only fragmentary looks at what her subjects actually experienced or wrote. There are also frequent disconnects between the narrative and accompanying pictures; some pictures are tantalizingly described but not reproduced, others are irrelevant or details of shots shown later in full, and a quote inset into a view of German soldiers marching through Warsaw specifically refers to other-than-Polish refugees. Capped by massive resource lists, this is a worthy work, but more loosely organized and less likely to intrigue readers than Penny Colman's Where the Action Was: Women War Correspondents in World War II (Crown, 2002).—John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Houdini the Handcuff King by Jason Lutes and Nick Bertozzi

Lutes, J. (2008). Houdini: The Handcuff King (Reprint., p. 96). Hyperion Book CH.

ISBN: 0786839031

$16.99 hardcover

Viewer's Annotation: A glimpse into the life and stunts of Houdini, whom the authors suggest is the first guy to be famous for having a cool job.

Summary: The entire graphic novel tells the story of one stunt performed by Houdini. Along the way, the reader learns not only how Houdini performed the stunt, but also about how much work went into his fame. Over the course of his day, he has to generate his own hype, he relies on his wife for support (both emotional and in his stunt), he faces prejudice for his religion, and he has to perform a death-defying stunt. While this isn't a biography, it is a glimpse into the life of a well known showman.

Genre: graphic novel, nonfictin, adventure

Series : none

Evaluation: I expected more information from this graphic novel, overall, but I do think it would be a good starting point, to get readers interested in the life of Houdini. The illustrations and storytelling were very straightforward and approachable.

Why it belongs in a Tween Collection: This very short story would be extremely approachable for tween readers, and I think they would be interested to learn how Houdini pulled this stunt off. It would be a good starting point for a middle school homework assignment. I think too that tweens will be interested in someone like Houdini, as a celebrity figure from a different age.

Readalikes :

• The Arrival by Shaun Tan
• The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis
  

Other Useful Info:

• Nick Bertozzi's website
• Jason Lutes website
  

Reviews:
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Following Houdini on the morning of his leap (while handcuffed) into the frigid Boston River, readers gain a remarkably complete picture of his world. They will meet his wife, Bess; his strong-arm man, Beatty; reporters desperate to get a quote; and crowds hungry for a glimpse of him. Most of all, they get to know Houdini himself, who, as an extensive introduction notes, was probably the most famous man in the world at the time. Proud and obsessed--with his skill, his fame, and his wife--Houdini was a showman of the highest order who knew he represented hope to his adoring American public. He also knew that he had an unprecedented talent for self-hype. Avoiding overt, showy tricks themselves, Lutes and Bertozzi^B use clean, simple storytelling and crisp, clear black-and-white art to create not only a portrait of the man but also that sense of suspense and anticipation Houdini generated in his performances. Endnotes linked to specific pictures offer background on everything from anti-Semitism (Houdini was Jewish) to handcuffs. A bibliography of mostly older adult titles is appended. Jesse Karp