(4) 4-6 Connect: Discovering the New World series. In text and accompanying illustrations, both volumes in the curriculum-connection series cover much of the same cursory information about early North American explorers during the Age of Exploration, beginning with Christopher Columbus in 1492. With a running timeline format, Chronology skims through European explorers' paths up to 1700; Story tackles a different explorer with each chapter. Critical thinking questions are appended. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Discovering the New World titles: The Story of North America's First Explorers and A Chronology of North American Exploration.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(3) YA Amy's best friend's older sister, Claire, is an up-and-coming ballerina who seems to be deeply unhappy despite her success. Always ready to offer guidance, thirteen-year-old Amy and her eighteen-year-old aunt Clover, an advice columnist for a teen magazine, investigate what's behind her misery, traveling from Dublin to Budapest. Innocuous friend and family drama rounds out the lightweight but entertaining installment.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor

(4) YA As thirteen-year-old Amy's mum is busy preparing for her wedding, Amy helps patch up things between her best friend's boyfriend and his long estranged dad. There is less of Amy helping with her seventeen-year-old Aunt Clover's advice column than in previous books, but Amy's own life provides plenty of drama. Coincidences abound in this installment of the enjoyable but flimsy Ireland-set series.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor

(4) YA Thirteen-year-old Irish girl Amy isn't excited to go on a Cork island vacation with her wacky family; luckily her cool seventeen-year-old aunt Clover will be there. When the magazine Clover writes for sends her to Miami, Amy is thrilled to tag along. Together they discover a young movie star's secret. This second Amy Green book, like the first, is diverting but forgettable.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor

(4) YA Thirteen-year-old Amy gets roped into helping her seventeen-year-old aunt Clover write the advice column in a teen magazine, even though Amy's struggling to figure out her own friends and family. Clover wants to personally solve her readers' woes, and she goes to zany lengths to do so. This breezy Irish-set first title in a projected series is entertaining if unsubstantial.

Reviewer: Amanda Mc. MacGregor