(3) 4-6 This finely detailed portrait of a 1920s Croatian-American family is narrated in the distinctive first-person voice of twelve-year-old Cuss. Cuss loves school but realizes he may need to quit after his older brothers leave town under mysterious circumstances, his younger brother goes deaf, and his mother seems certain to lose her house. The often overwhelming desperation of the protagonist is convincingly depicted.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Barbara Lavallee. Jimmy Joe loves fishing, and when Fish Woman takes him on her boat, he catches his first Chinook--a huge salmon. But then they hear the "Pffffsst-HAH!" of killer whales exhaling through their blowholes, and Jimmy Joe throws his fish to one of the orcas, deciding that just seeing these whales is "better than catching a salmon." Vibrant oranges contrast with the subdued blues and greens of the ocean in the watercolor illustrations.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey

(4) YA When their father is declared missing in action in Vietnam and their mother suffers a debilitating nervous breakdown, eleven-year-old Bobbie Lynn and her brother try to keep their family situation a secret. Bobbie Lynn's relationship with a quirky, compassionate classmate teaches her to reach out to others. The girls' friendship is the strongest aspect of the novel, which is narrated in an overly sentimental first-person voice.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta