(4) YA Illustrated by Kevin O'Malley. The demises of nineteen famous people, beginning with King Tut and ending with Albert Einstein, are recounted in gory detail. Attempts to lighten the accounts through use of a jokey tone and conversational slang can tiptoe into tastelessness; nevertheless, readers are warned in an introduction, and reluctant ones may snap this up. Crosshatched black-and-white spot art appears throughout the text. Reading list, websites. Ind.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) 4-6 Eleven-year-old protagonist Matisse (siblings: Man Ray and Frida) suffers dire anxiety when he impulsively switches a real Matisse with his own copy of the painting at an important art exhibition. The painting's subject (Henri Matisse's son) lectures the boy on being true to his own inspiration. The story, though contrived, has energy and heart.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo