2008

When D. J. Schwenk begins her first season as a football player, she grapples with a push-me-pull-you relationship with Brian, the opposing QB; learns more about the lives of her parents and what it takes to be an adult; and copes with a tragedy that changes her world in less than a second. Moore carries her splendid performance of the first volume straight on into this one.

When 11-year-old Dewey Kerrigan moves west to be with her father we are plunged into the chaos of 1943. Narrator Julie Dretzin takes us to Los Alamos to find Dewey's father working on a top secret "gadget." Dretzin's soft voice mimics the innocence of the time while simultaneously hinting at the drama of the science being created in the desert.

Highly magnified, close-up photos of more than a dozen spider species jump off the page while a brief text provides information about eating, mating, and birthing. An appendix explains how Bishop hand-raised the spiders to get the best shots.

From seeds "as small as a freckle" to ones weighing sixty pounds, this exploration of dormancy and germination bursts with colorful illustrations and equally colorful facts.

Gloomy Gerald elephant and joyful, optimistic Pig entertain early readers in each of these four books containing minimalist paintings and spare texts. The two irresistible friends encounter quirky problems and triumph over each one with totally unpredictable solutions.