(4) K-3 Blast Back! series. Illustrated by Roger Simó. Ohlin presents a brief history of the iconic American monument and symbol in this small nonfiction chapter book. Information includes conception of the gift by the French, individuals involved, struggle for funding, design and construction, and erection of the statue in New York Harbor. The cartoony pen drawings add little value, but young history buffs will appreciate the easy-to-read narrative. Bib.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(4) K-3 Blast Back! series. Illustrated by Roger Simó. Ohlin briefly chronicles African Americans' struggle for civil rights from slavery to today in this small nonfiction chapter book. Topics include the KKK, Jim Crow laws, protest demonstrations, and passage of the Civil Rights and Voter Rights acts; important individuals, such as Thurgood Marshall, Dr. King, and Rosa Parks, are profiled throughout. Cartoony pen drawings seem mismatched to the seriousness of the text. Bib.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(4) YA Seventeen-year-old Bea's new music teacher is young, attractive, and the first to nurture her prodigious piano talents. While preparing for a Juilliard audition, the two enter a sexual relationship. Their romance is thrilling, troubling, and more than a little salacious, but an intimate first-person voice focuses attention on Bea's authentically intense--and often shifting--perceptions of her first love.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(4) YA The quintessential awkward new girl at an elite boarding school, Tess falls hard for downcast Max, who lost his girlfriend Becca in a tragic accident. Like Max, Tess feels haunted by Becca's memory--or is it something more? Mostly due to Tess's narration telling rather than showing, characters and relationships feel a bit underdeveloped in this homage to du Maurier's Rebecca.

Reviewer: Rebecca Hachmyer