(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. Illustrated by Jim Paillot. A.J. refuses to join Ryan's curling team. But after learning the coach is star athlete Mo Deen, A.J. watches every practice and replaces an injured player during the big game. A slight but accessible easy-reader plot centers on the (forced) humor the series' longer chapter books are known for. Full-color cartoon illustrations capture the story's frenetic spirit.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(4) 1-3 My Weirdest School series. Illustrated by Jim Paillot. In Newman, high jinks ensue when a local meteorologist takes A.J. and Andrea on a hot-air balloon ride and the trio gets caught in a sandstorm. In Tracy, a retired astronomer directs a student play about the solar system, and A.J. is given the unfortunate role of Uranus. Despite repetitive, one-note humor, series fans will enjoy the over-the-top wackiness complemented by black-and-white cartoons. Review covers these My Weirdest School titles: Miss Newman Isn't Human! and Miss Tracy is Spacey.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(4) 4-6 Flashback Four series. In their third adventure, the four preteens time-travel to Pompeii in 79 AD to photograph the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Sent via a sophisticated time machine developed by billionaire Miss Z, they mistakenly become slave laborers and gladiators. Tension increases with the need to leave Pompeii before the calamity. The fast-paced novel, which includes photographs from the ruins, is predictable but accessible and appealing.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. Illustrated by Tim Bowers. In his easy-reader debuts, Rappy the rapping velociraptor averts multiple disasters on a trip to the supermarket and goes on a class field trip to a library. The books lack much of a story and rely on an inconsistent pseudo-rap rhyme scheme. Bowers's customary cartoonish illustrations showcase a wacky cast of Flintstones contemporaries and capture Rappy's exuberance. Review covers these I Can Read Book titles: Rappy Goes to the Library and Rappy Goes to the Supermarket.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter

(4) 1-3 My Weirdest School series. Illustrated by Jim Paillot. In Newman, high jinks ensue when a local meteorologist takes A.J. and Andrea on a hot-air balloon ride and the trio gets caught in a sandstorm. In Tracy, a retired astronomer directs a student play about the solar system, and A.J. is given the unfortunate role of Uranus. Despite repetitive, one-note humor, series fans will enjoy the over-the-top wackiness complemented by black-and-white cartoons. Review covers these My Weirdest School titles: Miss Newman Isn't Human! and Miss Tracy is Spacey.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. Illustrated by Tim Bowers. In his easy-reader debuts, Rappy the rapping velociraptor averts multiple disasters on a trip to the supermarket and goes on a class field trip to a library. The books lack much of a story and rely on an inconsistent pseudo-rap rhyme scheme. Bowers's customary cartoonish illustrations showcase a wacky cast of Flintstones contemporaries and capture Rappy's exuberance. Review covers these I Can Read Book titles: Rappy Goes to the Library and Rappy Goes to the Supermarket.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter

(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. Illustrated by Jim Paillot. Tomboy Alexia is assigned to feed class pet Bob, a snake. During show-and-tell, other students' pets wreak havoc until Bob is scared into playing dead (much to Alexia's relief, "Bob is fine!"). Forced humor drags down the slim story, but full-color cartoon illustrations capture the frenetic energy of this easy reader aimed at kids not quite ready for the chapter books.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(4) K-3 My Weird School Fast Facts series. Illustrated by Jim Paillot. Andrea and Arlo (A.J.) relate bite-size chunks of history from the exploration of North America through WWII. Although the book covers a decent swath of American history, the brief sections don't go beyond surface-level facts. Still, young readers will enjoy the quirky information (including a brief history of toilets) as the kids trade jokes and barbs along the way. Black-and-white cartoons and tiny photos are included.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(4) 1-3 My Weirdest School series. Illustrated by Jim Paillot. During Ella Mentry School's Grandparents Day, the students get inspired by Alexia's inventor grandmother to create their own invention: "the first heated, scented, talking toilet seat." With the faculty backing their get-rich-quick scheme, the "Party Pooper" becomes an overnight sensation until it turns out to be defective. Despite forced, one-note humor, series fans will enjoy its signature brand of over-the-top wackiness complemented by black-and-white cartoon illustrations.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(4) 4-6 Flashback Four series. Again transported via mysterious billionaire Miss Z's sophisticated time machine, this time to 1912, four Boston twelve-year-olds are tasked with photographing the Titanic moments before the tragedy. They encounter a series of mishaps culminating with a failure to return to the present in the installment's abrupt cliffhanger ending. The fast-paced and easy-to-read narrative includes photographs of several real-life passengers.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(4) 4-6 Flashback Four series. Four preteens are selected by an enterprising billionaire to travel backward in time to photograph Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address. Sent via a sophisticated time machine to 1863, they encounter a series of misadventures and return without the photo. The fast-paced, easy read includes archival photographs. However, imprecise interweaving of historical fact and fiction gives the reader a skewed account of the event. Author's note.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(4) 4-6 My Weird School Fast Facts series. Illustrated by Jim Paillot. Funny, irreverent Arlo and studious Andrea take turns narrating this book of basic geography lessons and weird facts. Seven chapters cover planet Earth; the continents; water; mountains, deserts, and forests; the fifty United States; and natural disasters. Although the narrative sometimes reads like a simple list of facts, young readers will love the silly humor and black-and-white cartoons in each section.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(4) 4-6 My Weird School Fast Facts series. Illustrated by Jim Paillot. Funny, irreverent Arlo and studious Andrea curate a collection of weird facts about sports. Seven chapters cover popular sports, including baseball, football, soccer, and car racing. Chapters on speed in sports, "Other Sports" (e.g., bowling, tennis, and volleyball), the Olympics, and additional random facts round out the book. Although the narrative sometimes reads like a simple list of facts, young readers will love the silly humor and black-and-white cartoons in each section.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. Illustrated by Jim Paillot. Class clown A.J. and teacher's pet Andrea make their easy-reader debuts, complete with their usual wordplay, goofiness, and love-hate relationship. Andrea accidentally gets on the wrong side of a museum educator (Museum); A.J. worries that he lacks a school-appropriate talent (Talent Show). Illustrated with Paillot's caricatures (in full color), the slight stories will lure developing readers not quite ready for the chapter books. Review covers the following I Can Read Book titles: My Weird School Goes to the Museum and My Weird School Talent Show Mix-Up.

Reviewer: Rebecca Fox

(4) K-3 I Can Read Book series. Illustrated by Jim Paillot. Class clown A.J. and teacher's pet Andrea make their easy-reader debuts, complete with their usual wordplay, goofiness, and love-hate relationship. Andrea accidentally gets on the wrong side of a museum educator (Museum); A.J. worries that he lacks a school-appropriate talent (Talent Show). Illustrated with Paillot's caricatures (in full color), the slight stories will lure developing readers not quite ready for the chapter books. Review covers the following I Can Read Book titles: My Weird School Goes to the Museum and My Weird School Talent Show Mix-Up.

Reviewer: Rebecca Fox

(4) 1-3 My Weirdest School series. Illustrated by Jim Paillot. When the teachers at Ella Mentry School strike for a coffee machine, substitutes are brought in to help. Of course, nothing at the school is normal, and neither are the substitutes. Desperate to get their old teachers and rules back, the students go on strike themselves. The madcap plot and black-and-white cartoon illustrations are over-the-top silly, just as series fans will expect.

Reviewer: Kari Allen

(4) 4-6 Baseball Card Adventure series. In this last book in the twelve-book series, Gutman wraps things up. Stosh spends lots of time thinking about the implications of altering history. Bobby Thomson, Ralph Branca, and the 1951 pennant race get more playing time than Willie Mays, whose appearance is little more than a cameo. Though this book is no walk-off home run, fans will want to stick with it to the end.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(4) 4-6 Genius Files series. This last leg of twins Coke and Pepsi's road trip takes them from the Hoover Dam to the Golden Gate Bridge before they finally convince their hapless parents that they're endangered by the sinister Dr. Herman Warsaw. The humor can be grating, but the mystery-adventure's stimulating format includes now-familiar series of codes, ciphers, and hidden clues combined with photos and Google maps links.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(4) 4-6 Genius Files series. Twins Coke and Pepsi McDonald, secret government agents, continue their road-trip adventure to the weirdest and strangest sites in America, this time traveling through Texas while again outwitting their enemy pursuers through a series of codes, ciphers, and hidden clues. Photos and Google map tie-ins provide information on the actual tourist stops. A fourth fun-filled mystery adventure with hit-or-miss humor.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(4) 1-3 My Weirder School series. Illustrated by Jim Paillot. A.J. and friends are back. This time, the students at Ella Mentry School are learning self-defense while also learning how to resolve conflict peacefully. Combine a teacher who's a cross between Elvis Presley and Evel Knievel, a bear, plus A.J. teaming up with arch-nemesis Andrea, and you get a wacky and wild but frenetic adventure. Entertaining cartoony illustrations further the silliness.

Reviewer: Kari Allen