(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Kevin Whipple. Timid Cory longs to live up to his family's heroic legacy in this novel of life on the home front during WWII. Cory's relationship with his soldier father--whom Cory creates a superhero comic for while he's overseas--is poignant, but the plot treads well-worn ground as Cory suspects someone of being a Nazi spy and discovers truths about his own ancestry. Reading list, websites.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by C. B. Decker. Logan hopes fifth grade will give him a clean slate; however, things go awry with a new girl at school who has a knack for getting Logan in trouble. Meanwhile, Logan's "forgetful" grandfather has moved in, causing tension and embarrassment at home. Jones effectively uses humor to address the issue of dementia through a ten-year-old's eyes ("Grandpa was naked," begins the book).

Reviewer: David Elzey