(2) 4-6 During a month at his grandmother's island house, twelve-year-old Kip finds a binder filled with his deceased father's teenage writing. He's immediately drawn into a story about undercover agents and evildoers, but it becomes clear that it's really his father's account of his own paranoid reality. Ellis's restrained but rich language and vivid characterizations bring readers directly into Kip's world.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2006

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Bruno St-Aubin. For his first twelve years, all spent at the Opportunities School for Orphans and Foundlings, Jack has specialized in staying out of trouble. He's avoided floggings, but, as Ellis shows in this agile tale about wanderlust and the power of words, he also hasn't done much living. Jack runs away and discovers that he's a natural-born "ideas peddler." The book serves as a fanciful example of how a quick mind can take you far.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2003

(2) PS Illustrated by Kim LaFave. Ben's big brother Joe and sister Robin bring home report cards from school, but "Ben is a little kid in preschool. There are no subjects in preschool." His siblings create a report card on the computer with all Ben's best subjects--from "Feeding the Cat" to "Whistling." Zippy black lines and slashes of color show Ben first apart from the big kids, then brightening when he receives his glowing marks.

Reviewer: Lauren Adams | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2002