(3) 4-6 True Stories, Real People series. Each short, inspiring biography is divided into four or five chapters written in an objective, unpretentious manner. Quotation sources are fastidiously footnoted and listed in the back matter. Navigation is easy thanks to clean layouts and a simple color scheme (orange photo captions, navy call-out boxes). Great for school assignments and engaging enough for pleasure reading. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers the following True Stories, Real People titles: Alia Muhammad Baker, Aron Ralston, Malala Yousafzai, Abby Sunderland, and Bethany Hamilton.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(3) YA Bareknuckle series. Set in a nineteenth-century NYC Bowery underground boxing club, these fast-paced and involving hi-lo novels--filled with fight action, intrigue, adventure, and a multiethnic cast of characters--starkly portray the social, political, and economic realities of the period and place. There are recurring secondary characters, but each book's unique central character drives the plot and resolves the story's conflicts. Compelling, reluctant-reader-friendly historical fiction. Review covers these Bareknuckle titles: Lightning's Run, The Giant, The Big Fix, and Fighter's Alley.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(3) YA American Music Milestones series. These well-researched, comprehensive chronologies of modern American musical genres are presented on jazzy magazine-style layouts with eye-catching vintage and contemporary photos. Descriptions of specific transformative moments and key musicians are smoothly worked into the engagingly written narratives. Sections highlighting periods and subgenres include "must download playlists"; longer lists of recommended albums and songs are appended. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these American Music Milestones titles: American Latin Music, American Rock, American Pop, American R&B, American Country, and American Hip-Hop.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo