(4) K-3 Bolt: Strange...but True? series. This hi-lo series explores the history behind paranormal phenomena and why some people believe in them and others believe they're fantasy or hoaxes; ultimately, readers are asked to decide for themselves. Each slight discussion is illustrated with a jarring mix of photos and computer renderings and includes a short "Believe It or Not?" quiz. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Bolt: Strange...but True? titles: Area 51, Crop Circles, Loch Ness Monster, Vampires, and Werewolves.

Reviewer: Lauren Chambers

(4) K-3 Bolt: Strange...but True? series. This hi-lo series explores the history behind paranormal phenomena and why some people believe in them and others believe they're fantasy or hoaxes; ultimately, readers are asked to decide for themselves. Each slight discussion is illustrated with a jarring mix of photos and computer renderings and includes a short "Believe It or Not?" quiz. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Bolt: Strange...but True? titles: Area 51, Crop Circles, Loch Ness Monster, Vampires, and Werewolves.

Reviewer: Lauren Chambers

(4) K-3 Bolt: Strange...but True? series. This hi-lo series explores the history behind paranormal phenomena and why some people believe in them and others believe they're fantasy or hoaxes; ultimately, readers are asked to decide for themselves. Each slight discussion is illustrated with a jarring mix of photos and computer renderings and includes a short "Believe It or Not?" quiz. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Bolt: Strange...but True? titles: Area 51, Crop Circles, Loch Ness Monster, Vampires, and Werewolves.

Reviewer: Lauren Chambers

(4) 4-6 Superstar Stories series. Each entertainer's superficially sketched biography is presented in three or four brief chapters punctuated with publicity photographs and sidebars with quotes from the subject. A page of basic background facts precedes a simple narrative covering early breaks in the field, successful milestones, and present-day stardom. "Think About It" questions are appended. There are four other fall 2017 titles in this series. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Superstar Stories titles: Zendaya, Silentó, Jennifer Lawrence, and Pharrell Williams.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(3) 4-6 True Stories, Real People series. Each short, inspiring biography is divided into four or five chapters written in an objective, unpretentious manner. Quotation sources are fastidiously footnoted and listed in the back matter. Navigation is easy thanks to clean layouts and a simple color scheme (orange photo captions, navy call-out boxes). Great for school assignments and engaging enough for pleasure reading. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers the following True Stories, Real People titles: Alia Muhammad Baker, Aron Ralston, Malala Yousafzai, Abby Sunderland, and Bethany Hamilton.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(4) 4-6 Stories of the Civil Rights Movement series. This series provides upper-elementary students with in-depth coverage of phases and events of the U.S. civil rights movement. The narratives are supplemented effectively with archival photographs and primary source quotes. With overt Common Core–related intention, readers are challenged with overabundant sidebars and inserts containing critical-thinking questions, writing prompts, and suggested research topics and readings. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Stories of the Civil Rights Movement titles: James Meredith and the University of Mississippi, Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Freedom Summer, 1964, The Little Rock Nine, Nonviolent Resistance in the Civil Rights Movement, The Passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. and the March on Washington, and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith