Ghosts, Rebels, Guys

Mrs. A., the media specialist at my fifth grader's school, recommended some books for Junior recently, but he hasn't gotten to them yet. Inventory at the school library starts this week, so the books have to go back. I think they'll make good summer reading, though, so I thought I'd share the names here.

A series called "Mysteries Unwrapped," from Sterling. Mrs. A. says that these books fly off the shelves, and they look perfect for Junior. The series includes Haunted U.S.A., by Charles Wetzel;  The Real Monsters, by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen; and Mutants & Monsters, by Oliver Ho. Josh Cochran illustrated all of them.

The Big Book of Dummies, Rebels and Other Geniuses, by Jean-Bernard Pouy & Serge Bloch, and Anne Blanchard (Enchanted Lion Books, 2008). "26 lively and humorous portraits of notable figures from history, science, literature, music and film," says the jacket copy. I don't know if putting "dummies" in the title was so wise, but Mrs. A. highly recommends the book.

I picked out Guys Write for Guys Read, edited by Jon Scieszka (Viking 2005). We can pick this one up at the public library, along with Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Mostly True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka (Viking 2008). Guys Read: Funny Business (Walden Pond Press/Harper Collins) comes out in September—just in time for middle school.

Added later: Wait, wait. There's more. At the school library just this morning, I spied these: Make Your Own Inuksuk, by Mary Wallace (Maple Tree Press, 2004 [2001]); an edition of Ogden Nash's Adventures of Isabel, illustrated by James Marshall (Little, Brown, 1991); The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright: Understanding the Concepts of Parallel and Perpendicular, by Janey Levy (PowerKids Press, 2005), which might go well with this; and Top Secret: A Handbook of Codes, Ciphers, and Secret Writing, by Paul B. Janeczko (Candlewick, 2004).

Comments

[Charlotte]

My own boy enjoyed Haunted USA very much--I'll have to look for the other two for him! Thanks.

[Susan T.]

Charlotte, you're welcome. I checked Sterling's web site, and there are several other titles in the Mysteries Unwrapped series: Lost Civilizations, Medical Marvels, and The Secrets of Alcatraz. All sound like something Jr. would like!