(2) 4-6 Jukes crafts a moving, hilarious, and artful story of nine-year-old Carson, the new kid at school. Carson is adopted and his dad is single, but there is nary an issue in this story, just real, kind, hugely likable people in situations that ring funny and true. Jukes captures perfectly the loopy, borderline-absurd perceptions of a third-grade boy.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2012

(2) 4-6 Colton, his mom, and his beloved Maine coon cat, Smoke, move from Idaho to California. Smoke disappears, and Colton ends up barricaded in a mountain cabin with (is it?) a cougar outside. Jukes is a risk-taking writer, and this novel's action and adventure coexist well with an introspective tone, lots of exposition, unusual settings, and uniquely direct characterizations.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2009

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Steve Johnson & Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher & Lou Fancher. A little girl prowls through the house beneath a brown hooded coat, pretending to be a bear, while, on facing pages, rhythmic rhyming text and spot illustrations of a grizzly mirror her actions. Juxtaposed with the text, the cozy, shadowy paintings of the girl-as-bear eating dinner, taking a bath, and getting ready for bed make for a sensuous portrait of imaginative play.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(3) 4-6 Jukes continues to advise girls about health and well-being, here teaming up with a specialist in young people's nutrition and fitness. The authors do their best to jazz up the topic--one of huge import though not always huge interest to girls. A helpful food guidelines chart offers better and more detailed information than the outdated food pyramid.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Stacey Schuett. As a girl rides on an airplane with her mother to say goodbye to her dying uncle, she imagines doing it her own way--in her uncle's biplane, skywriting her own message to him. Her honesty and courage balance the heart-tugging poignancy. With high contrasts of darkness and vibrant color, the evocative illustrations are both realistic and esoteric. This edition features new jacket art and a new trim size.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(3) YA The clinical content of this boys' puberty-and-dating primer is softened by the book's ingenious packaging: it resembles a 1950s drivers' ed handbook. Chapters with coy subtitles ("Under the Hood: Parts"; "Sharing the Road: Girls"; "Parking: Sex") feature corny photos of geeky teens from more innocent times. Not a practical question goes unanswered, whether about corsage etiquette or the mechanics of the bra. Ind.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) 4-6 In this sequel to Expecting the Unexpected, the sixth grade learns about reproduction and its absurd precursor, the courtship process. In the meantime, River and Margaret try to set up Margaret's father with their sex ed teacher, while jealous classmate Kirstin tries to break up some classroom couples. River's humorous narration insightfully comments on the similarities--and surprising connections--between friendship and courtship.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 1999