(4) 4-6 Temporarily living in Texas, thirteen-year-old Cody uses his gift for humor to sell gags to an aspiring comedian, but must also contend with a bullying cousin and a mystery involving bomb threats at his new school. Limited characterizations and a few holes in the plot make this short novel feel incompletely developed, but the undemanding narrative moves smoothly.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) YA Sent to a summer camp for underachievers, Emily discovers the cause of her recurrent nightmares--she witnessed a murder eight years ago, and now the murderer is trying to eliminate the sole witness. Nixon manages the tension well, shifting suspicion around among the characters and throwing in some brushes with death. Lovers of horror and suspense will be drawn to this tale.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(3) YA Joan Lowery Nixon, who began writing at an early age, recalls experiences from her childhood and young-adult years that influenced her craft. For example, performing puppet shows taught her about the importance of dramatic action, while investigating a new house instilled the elements of creating a mystery. Illustrated with black-and-white photos, the plainspoken book provides insight into Nixon's life and career.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) YA Spending the summer unwillingly on the ranch in Texas where her elderly great-aunt and -uncle live, Julie begins to investigate a series of thefts and mysterious deaths there. The book offers an Internet-savvy protagonist and a fair share of red herrings, but readers may be disappointed that the scene of entrapment promised in the title falls flat.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) 4-6 Young Americans series. After her father's death, nine-year-old Maria takes care of her younger siblings and the domestic chores while her mother struggles to keep their printing business going. Based on the trials of a real family, the book includes biographical information about Maria and historical notes on colonial Williamsburg and the printing trade. The prose is stiff, but Maria's concerns for her family's well-being will strike a chord.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(4) 4-6 Young Americans series. Although his father endorses a more moderate relationship between the colonies and Great Britain, eleven-year-old John finds himself supporting his older brother's more revolutionary stance. Loosely based on the experiences of a real family in Colonial Williamsburg, the story is fast paced, but the dialogue often strains to include background material. An afterword places the story in historical context.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) 4-6 Ellis Island series. Dreams tells of Kristin Swensen from Sweden, Hope features Rebekah Levinsky from Russia, and Promise focuses on Irish Rose Carney's immigration story. Although formulaic, these books present three strong female characters whose attempts to reconcile their heritage with their new lives offer an interesting look at important eras in American history.

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(4) 4-6 Ellis Island series. Dreams tells of Kristin Swensen from Sweden, Hope features Rebekah Levinsky from Russia, and Promise focuses on Irish Rose Carney's immigration story. Although formulaic, these books present three strong female characters whose attempts to reconcile their heritage with their new lives offer an interesting look at important eras in American history.

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(4) 4-6 Ellis Island series. Dreams tells of Kristin Swensen from Sweden, Hope features Rebekah Levinsky from Russia, and Promise focuses on Irish Rose Carney's immigration story. Although formulaic, these books present three strong female characters whose attempts to reconcile their heritage with their new lives offer an interesting look at important eras in American history.

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(3) 4-6 Young Americans series. Twelve-year-old Will Pelham's father takes a job as the gaoler for the city of Williamsburg, Virginia. As Will helps his father, he gets to know the prisoners. When he suspects that a runaway slave, whose plight he sympathizes with, is planning an escape, Will must decide what to do. This historically accurate and engaging story is based on the records of a real family. Background information is appended.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) 4-6 Young Americans series. Twelve-year-old Nancy worries that her father's reluctance to take a stand against the Stamp Act will have an adverse affect on the family business, and she has little patience for her stepmother's poor health during pregnancy. Inspired by the few facts known about the real Nancy Geddy, the short novel adequately portrays the concerns of a young Williamsburg girl. Historical information is appended.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(4) 4-6 Orphan Train Adventures series. A present-day museum "interpreter" tells four visiting children about two young people who lived in mid-1700s Williamsburg: Ann learns her dream of being a doctor is unacceptable, and young slave Caesar yearns for freedom but settles for being a personal servant. The historical detail in the narratives is intrusive. Thirty pages of endnotes, a recipe, and a town map are appended to these Colonial Williamsburg tie-ins.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(4) 4-6 Orphan Train Adventures series. A present-day museum "interpreter" tells four visiting children about two young people who lived in mid-1700s Williamsburg: Ann learns her dream of being a doctor is unacceptable, and young slave Caesar yearns for freedom but settles for being a personal servant. The historical detail in the narratives is intrusive. Thirty pages of endnotes, a recipe, and a town map are appended to these Colonial Williamsburg tie-ins.

Reviewer: Anne St. John | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 1988

(4) 4-6 Orphan Train Adventures series. A present-day museum "interpreter" tells four visiting children about two young people who lived in mid-1700s Williamsburg: Ann learns her dream of being a doctor is unacceptable, and young slave Caesar yearns for freedom but settles for being a personal servant. The historical detail in the narratives is intrusive. Thirty pages of endnotes, a recipe, and a town map are appended to these Colonial Williamsburg tie-ins.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(4) 4-6 Orphan Train Adventures series. A present-day museum "interpreter" tells four visiting children about two young people who lived in mid-1700s Williamsburg: Ann learns her dream of being a doctor is unacceptable, and young slave Caesar yearns for freedom but settles for being a personal servant. The historical detail in the narratives is intrusive. Thirty pages of endnotes, a recipe, and a town map are appended to these Colonial Williamsburg tie-ins.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(4) 4-6 Orphan Train Adventures series. A present-day museum "interpreter" tells four visiting children about two young people who lived in mid-1700s Williamsburg: Ann learns her dream of being a doctor is unacceptable, and young slave Caesar yearns for freedom but settles for being a personal servant. The historical detail in the narratives is intrusive. Thirty pages of endnotes, a recipe, and a town map are appended to these Colonial Williamsburg tie-ins.

Reviewer: Anne St. John | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 1988

(4) 4-6 Orphan Train Adventures series. When the Kellys' widowed mother realizes she cannot care for her six children in New York City, she sends them west to Missouri on the orphan train. Set during the Civil War, the books describe the adventures of the children, who, to their dismay, are placed in different homes. Readers will be drawn in by the drama; unfortunately, these large-print editions of the popular series are bound in unattractive, institutional covers.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(4) 1-3 Illustrated by Diane deGroat. While the penguins Gus and Gertie wait for a taxi to take them to their vacation hotel, they meet a "scumm[y] swarm of seagoing scallywags" who hoodwink Gertie out of her valuable pearl. As Gus examines the Polaroid pictures he's taken, he finds clues to the identity of the thief. Watercolor illustrations show the photographs in this silly, though slight, mystery.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(4) YA Fulfilling a community service obligation, teenage Abbie is assigned to spend time with a disagreeable elderly woman who fancies herself a private investigator. When Mrs. Merkel is attacked, Abbie must figure out which of the amateur sleuth's criminal cases backfired. The book tackles so many subjects, from divorce to romance to the problems of the elderly, that the central mystery loses its impact.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) YA When the investigation of an attempted murder links the victim to sixteen-year-old Kristi, the artistic teenager turns amateur detective. Zipping around Houston for clues to the victim's identity and his motives for compiling a folder's worth of information about her, Kristi exposes an art forgery ring and struggles with unsettling questions about her own past. Nonstop suspense offsets the overdose of coincidence.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger