(4) 4-6 Roxanne, who wants to be an all-American girl, wishes her Israeli American family was more like the Brady Bunch. New neighbor Liat teaches Roxanne to have self-confidence and be proud of her heritage. Readers might not recognize the copious (and increasingly tedious) seventies and eighties references, but Roxanne's angst about growing up and her desire to fit in are timeless.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(4) YA Friedman rehashes the dork-morphs-into-hottie formula. And like clockwork, her protagonist, seventeen-year-old Reed Walton, finds he's not exactly comfortable with his new stud-muffin status, which surprises the popular brother-sister twins who initiated the get-Reed-a-girlfriend scheme. At times the story's humor feels forced, but Reed's misgivings ring true and lead to the book's highlight: poignant musings about looks, rejection, and dating.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Claire A. Nivola. Young Lula McLean watched the Civil War begin and end: General Beauregard used her family's Virginia home as his headquarters, and Lee surrendered at their second home. The finely executed, primitive-like paintings accentuate the idea that this war was an intimate part of everyday life in the South, and the small, telling details show a personal side of the war.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2005