(3) K-3 Illustrated by Gary Cherrington. A rare Jewish Major League player, Moe Berg took a hiatus from baseball to work as a spy for the OSS during World War II, parachuting into Yugoslavia, reporting on the Nazi’s progress toward developing the atom bomb, and more. The interesting biography is illustrated with emotive cartoons. No sourcing is provided, but an afterword (with a couple of photos) expands on Berg's interesting life story.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(4) 4-6 Time Stoppers series. In this sequel to Time Stoppers, Annie and her friends must save her beloved guardian and a long-lost population of elves from "the Raiff." Time is of the essence as the vile Raiff threatens to seize the magical village of Aurora and commandeer Annie's time-controlling powers for himself. Despite some plot holes and formulaic characters, this second installment is full of imagination and fascinating creatures.

Reviewer: Grace Enriquez

(3) YA Mana (Flying) doesn't know whom to trust when a dying alien gives her a crystal and tells her to find other enhanced humans like herself. Chased by aliens and humans, Mana struggles to prove she's not a danger to humanity. Mana's frustrations and fears ground the funny and action-packed story, keeping it tongue-in-cheek instead of goofy.

Reviewer: Lauren Chambers

(4) 4-6 When Jamie discovers his father and grandmother are actually trolls, he and foster kid Annie Nobody are whisked away to the magical village of Aurora. If they want to keep their happy-ever-after, they'll need to help their new friends save the town. Overblown elements (cartoonishly evil social worker and foster family; saccharine fantasy village) don't detract too much from the enjoyable magical adventure.

Reviewer: Barratt Miller

(3) YA Seventeen-year-old cheerleader Mana's world gets turned upside down the night she discovers her overprotective mother is an alien hunter who has disappeared with a highly sought-after piece of technology. Cinematic fight scenes (e.g., Mana jumping like a superhero while fighting her suddenly green acid–spitting crush) and snarky dialogue straight out of a cheesy B-movie make the pages fly in this lighthearted, absurd sci-fi tale.

Reviewer: Lauren Chambers

(3) YA Zara and her friends travel to Hel, the Norse afterlife, to learn how to avert the coming apocalypse. In addition to training their fellow high school students to fight, they must put their faith in an army of ghosts. Zara's lingering grief over the many losses she and the town suffer is well balanced by snarky repartee and exciting, mythology-based adventure.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) YA By sharing their experiences about having been bullied, YA and children's book authors, including Lisa Yee, Jon Scieszka, Nancy Garden, and R. L. Stine, offer young people the hope--and proof--that things do get better. Empathetic and honest, humorous and heartbreaking, these stories, poems, letters, and cartoons cover a wide spectrum of bullying--a range as broad and different as the list of contributors itself.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Mark Oldroyd. Sarah Edmonds, disguised as a man, fought alongside and spied for Union troops during the Civil War. Jones enumerates these feats with touches of humor, and she continues Sarah's story throughout the war and her subsequent marriage. Oldroyd makes effective use of broad, rough-hewn brush strokes, particularly in creating an impressionistic background that frequently allows a detailed illustration of Sarah to take center stage. Bib.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2011

(3) YA Terrorized by brutal dreams, Aimee tries to uncover the cause of her mother's death. Alan, who is part-Navajo, taps into his mysterious powers. When Alan's cousin and Aimee's best friend, Courtney, becomes possessed by a river demon, Alan and Aimee come face to face with a terrifying truth. Written in alternating first-person perspectives, the story is a page-turner.

Reviewer: Kayla Cottingham

(4) YA Zara, her werewolf boyfriend Nick, and their friends (introduced in Need) hunt for--and are hunted by--murderous pixies. Newcomer Astley seeks to make half-pixie Zara his queen. The fully realized, quirky characters who strengthened the first installment are somewhat flattened here. Zara and Nick enact expected gender scripts; interactions with their well-meaning but inept friends are played more for chuckles than real connection.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) YA With the help of her king, new pixie queen Zara attempts to bring her werewolf boyfriend back from Valhalla. Conspiracy within the pixie court undermines their efforts, while malevolent pixies at home pose additional danger. Zara's grief and guilt over lost loved ones, plus the weaving of Norse lore into the series's mythos, make this a deeper, more emotional novel than previous installments.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) YA Zara, who's a runner, an Amnesty International advocate, and a realist, doesn't believe her new friends' theory that pixies are loose in the Maine wilderness, preying on teens alone at night. However, mounting evidence about her schoolmates--and her own family members, including the stepfather she mourns--slowly changes her mind. This supernatural romance benefits from complex characters and unique imagery.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) YA Full of small-town charm, this entertaining sequel to Tips on Having a Gay (Ex) Boyfriend finds Belle dealing with her senior year of high school, her insecurities about her boyfriend, and the scary news that her best friend is pregnant. Humorous and touching, this story will appeal to readers with its wit, wisdom, and sometimes brutal honesty.

Reviewer: Aimee Chevrette Bear