(4) YA Collective Biographies series. Following a brief introduction describing historical obstacles to women's careers in sciences or leadership, each volume profiles six successful women and their rise to influence. Each fairly short bio narrates the ups and downs of its subject's career, and most paint the woman as an encouraging role model. Photographs, sidebars, and pull-quotes liven up the dense, textbook-like presentations. Reading list, websites. Ind. Review covers the following Collective Biographies: Women Scientists and Inventors and Women World Leaders.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(4) YA Robyn's father is the prime minister of the U.K. It's a stressful job for his family, but he's always promised Robyn she would be safe. Then Robyn is kidnapped by a group of eco-terrorists. The terrorists' motives are intriguing--readers are left to determine if their cause is moral--but a half-baked romance between Robyn and a captor eventually dominates this debut novel.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Kelsey Garrity-Riley. This fictionalized retelling of an incident from the future Israeli leader's childhood as a poor immigrant in Milwaukee emphasizes her tendencies toward responsibility, direct action, and self-sacrifice. Sepia-infused gouache, collage, and digital illustrations genially convey character and setting for this relatable David-and-Goliath tale, but the book fails to provide context for Meir's historical importance. The tone-deaf subtitle misses the mark. Bib.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(4) K-3 History Makers series. This series of introductory biographies offers very young readers the broad details of these historical figures' lives and impacts. In addition to archival photographs, each simple text is supplemented by a running timeline; although many events on it are not mentioned in the narrative, the format is visually appealing. Overall this series provides decent jumping-off points for further research. Glos., ind. Review covers these History Makers titles: Anne Frank and Her Diary, Florence Nightingale and a New Age of Nursing, Martin Luther King and the Fight for Equality, Nelson Mandela and His Struggle for Freedom, and Winston Churchill and World War II.

Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby

(3) K-3 This beautifully illustrated account of England's years during WWII focuses on "British Bulldog" Winston Churchill's rule as prime minister and on his devoted partnership with pet poodle Rufus. Quotations from Churchill accompany the spare but informative text, often from Rufus's point of view. Young readers will enjoy this painless history lesson with a fresh perspective. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Iacopo Bruno. School is abysmal and home is worse for twelve-year-old Chris Lane. Then he wins entrance to a special British-government-run school. Located deep underground, the fantastically appointed school helps Chris and his classmates hone abilities like telekinesis and telepathy, which peak during a person's thirteenth year. This thoughtful novel's plot pivots on saving the prime minister's life, but further adventures are promised.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Barry Moser. In December 1941, Winston Churchill spent the holidays with Franklin Roosevelt. They formed an alliance to fight the Axis Powers and crafted a charter for the United Nations. Wood's snapshot of this moment in history includes a few humorous anecdotes that add levity to an otherwise solemn text. Moser based his impressive watercolors on photographs from the period.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2011

(4) YA Modern World Leaders series. This series, part history and part biography, challenges readers to consider the concept of leadership by placing the featured individual in a historical context. Each title includes childhood experiences, rise to power, significant historical events, international relationships, and political ideology. Captioned photographs provide additional perspectives and break up the intimidatingly dense texts. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these Modern World Leaders titles: Ehud Olmert, Felipe Calderón, Roh Moo Hyun, and Kim Jong Il.

Reviewer: Tamara DePasquale

(4) YA Modern World Leaders series. By placing the featured leader in a historical context, this series, part history and part biography, challenges readers to consider the concept of leadership. Each title includes a discussion of childhood experiences, rise to power, significant historical events, international relationships, and political ideology. Photographs provide additional perspectives and break up the dense text. Reading list, timeline. Bib., ind. Review covers these Modern World Leaders titles: Hamid Karzai, Viktor Yushchenko, Ariel Sharon, and Hosni Mubarak.

Reviewer: Tamara DePasquale

(4) YA Modern World Leaders series. By placing the featured leader in a historical context, this series, part history and part biography, challenges the reader to consider the concept of leadership. Each book features a comprehensive discussion of the subject's childhood experiences and rise to power, significant historical events, international relationships, and ideology. The text is dense; some photographs and drawings help break up the pages. Reading list, timeline. Bib., ind. Review covers these Modern World Leaders titles: Jacques Chirac, Tony Blair, George W. Bush, Hugo Chávez, The Saudi Royal Family, Pope John Paul II, Vladimir Putin, and Pervez Musharraf.

Reviewer: Tamara DePasquale

(4) YA Major World Leaders series. Solid if impersonal introductions to five men who have played varying roles in the modern era, these volumes provide a good deal of historical background alongside the life stories of these contemporary leaders. Karzai is the liveliest book. Photographs help to break up the text. There are no source notes for quotations. Chronology, reading list, websites. Ind. Review covers these Major World Leaders titles: Gerhard Schroeder, Fidel Castro, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, and Hamid Karzai.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) 4-6 Leading Lives series. With outlined but fluid texts, these books follow the lives of famous political leaders from childhood. Focus is placed on the lasting legacies of the figures, and each book includes a descriptive list of "key people," or important historical figures in each subject's life. Photographs and quotes add interest to the texts. Reading list, timeline. Glos., ind. [Review covers these Leading Lives titles: Golda Meir, Che Guevara, Malcolm X, Indira Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Ho Chi Minh.]

Reviewer: Lauren Aimonette LIang

(3) 4-6 Leading Lives series. With outlined but fluid texts, these books follow the lives of famous political leaders from childhood. Focus is placed on the lasting legacies of the figures, and each book includes a descriptive list of "key people," or important historical figures in each subject's life. Photographs and quotes add interest to the texts. Reading list, timeline. Glos., ind. [Review covers these Leading Lives titles: Golda Meir, Che Guevara, Malcolm X, Indira Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Ho Chi Minh.]

Reviewer: Lauren Aimonette LIang

(4) YA Major World Leaders series. Each of these dense, in-depth texts investigates a world leader's early political career, his current challenges, and his country's future. Color and black-and-white photographs offer further glimpses into these men's lives. These books are comprehensive additions to current events collections. Timeline. Bib., ind. [Review covers these Major World Leaders titles: Pervez Musharraf and Ariel Sharon.]

Reviewer: Lauren Rizzuto

(4) YA Lerner Biographies series. This biography recounts Indira Gandhi's life and accomplishments, from her birth in a prestigious Brahmin family to her service as prime minister of India, with schooling, marriage, and motherhood in the background of a life spent in public view. Considerable material is incorporated in a fairly pedestrian style, and well-documented black-and-white photographs illustrate the text. A time line and information about religions in India are appended. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(4) YA Profiles series. Although the writing is dry and the black-and-white photos are often poorly reproduced, this volume features an interesting array of contemporary women leaders--Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, Corazón Aquino, Benazir Bhutto, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, and Gro Harlem Brundtland. A final chapter provides brief biographies of additional women leaders. The book will be useful for student reports and research. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee