(1) K-3 Illustrated by Hadley Hooper. After struggling for years, Swiss-born twentieth-century sculptor Alberto Giacometti found fame for his tall, spindly figures (e.g., Walking Man series), while Diego (who later become known for his furniture designs) worked tirelessly to support his brother's art. The book touches on life events in snapshot-like sections that nevertheless provide strong impressions. Hooper's art, in paint and ink and finished digitally, is strikingly dynamic. Timeline. Bib.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2019

(3) 4-6 Servant Felix tells of how, in 1816 Switzerland, his employer Lord Byron's night of revelrous storytelling with friends (including Percy and Mary Shelley) is interrupted by Lizzie, a blind and scarred girl seeking her sister. Horror unfolds as Lizzie recounts her experience with loss, lightning, and an unprincipled woman scientist. Literary-minded readers will recognize Lizzie's haunting story as the germ of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(3) 4-6 Friday Barnes Mysteries series. Illustrated by Phil Gosier. Book four in this humorous mystery series picks right up following Big Trouble, with sleuth Friday deported to Switzerland and untangling various immigration snafus. She returns to save frenemy Ian from scandal and determine who is pranking the entire boarding school. Friday's quirky brain remains sharp in this hilarious romp, and the black-and-white cartoon illustrations continue to accentuate the caper's lighter side.

Reviewer: Rebecca Kirshenbaum

(4) K-3 Multicultural Fairy Tales series. Meister gathers Beauty and the Beast stories from France, China, and Switzerland and Hansel and Gretel tales from Germany, Russia, Italy, and the Philippines. Each collection begins with a familiar Western version and then encourages comparison via appended writing prompts. While the retellings and illustrations are undistinguished, the variants are well chosen to highlight folktales as a global genre. Reading list, websites. Glos. Review covers the following Multicultural Fairy Tales titles: Beauty and the Beast Stories Around the World and Hansel and Gretel Stories Around the World.

Reviewer: Amy Bennett-Zendzian

(3) 4-6 Twelve-year-old heavyset hero Hale (The Doublecross) and his motley team of fellow spies are determined to destroy the criminal Sub Rosa Society and find Hale's still-missing parents. To do that, they decide to strike at SRS's finances, hidden in a moving Swiss bank account. This sequel is packed with goodhearted fun and zany action, its protagonist full of heart and spirit.

Reviewer: Grace Enriquez

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Maja Dusíková. This large-format, unabridged edition of the first volume of the classic tale of a girl and her grandfather in the Swiss Alps features pastoral illustrations whose gentle appeal plays up the story's homiest details and plot points. An afterword by Swiss academic Verena Rutschmann tells more about the tale's history and provides brief and engaging literary analysis.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(2) YA In an alternate-universe steampunk 1818 Geneva, Alasdair Finch is responsible for killing his brother Oliver and re-animating him entirely with clockwork parts. Now, two years later, Alasdair keeps him hidden. In a retelling of Frankenstein, Lee elaborates on Shelley's themes of humanity and playing God--concerns still timely now. With masterful prose, this macabre novel is charged with unmistakable signs of life.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2015

(4) 4-6 Calico: The Art of Time Travel series. Illustrated by Courtney Bernard. In each book, two kids flash back in time to meet famous artists of different disciplines: Ella Fitzgerald, Mary Shelley, Monet, and Shakespeare. The structure is formulaic--an unimpressed character gains appreciation while having an impact on a pivotal moment in history--but gentle unpacking of biographical information may spark history young buffs' interest. Each volume is illustrated in a different monochromatic color scheme. Review covers the following Art of Time Travel titles: Get Ella to the Apollo, Mary Molds a Monster, Monet Changes Mediums, and Shakespeare Saves the Globe.

Reviewer: Andrea Curtis

(3) YA Boy (Man Made Boy), son of Frankenstein's monster, leads a ragtag force of fellow monsters and their progeny against Dr. Moreau, who has been secretly creating an animal army to bring about a new world order. Skovron's richly created underworld of monsters-with-heart remains compelling during the over-the-top battle against Moreau.

Reviewer: David Elzey

(3) 1-3 Dog Diaries series. Illustrated by Tim Jessell. This third entry in the chapter book series is narrated by Barry, a St. Bernard mountain rescue dog who lived and worked at the Great Saint Bernard Hospice (a hostel of sorts) in the Swiss Alps in the early 1800s. Lively black-and-white illustrations, breed history, and rescue information enhance the story. Some archival photos and additional facts about the breed are appended. Websites.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(4) YA Two teenaged German refugees in WWII England are recruited for a secret mission: remove nine-year-old Angelika (Hitler's possible daughter) from a convent in Bavaria and bring her to Switzerland. Cinematically crafted scenes provide non-stop action and an explosive ending. Over-the-top characterizations of heroic adolescents flying planes, shooting machine guns, and dodging ammunition result in a historical adventure that is less than realistic.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(3) 4-6 Missing series. After time freezes in the present day, Jonah and Katherine travel to 1903 to return Albert Einstein's daughter Lieserl to her proper place in time. But Einstein's wife Mileva catches onto the time-travel principles and uses them to manipulate history. As usual, this series humanizes historical figures while providing plenty of action. Haddix elucidates the historical background in her author's note.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Garry Parsons. George and Annie search for the most suitable home in the Universe for a pet pig. But soon, aided by Annie's Large Hadron Collider–scientist father, they're trying to thwart an evil scientist's plan to destroy everything. This lively third adventure is interspersed with illustrated lectures on contemporary theories by eminent scientists, all lucid but considerably denser than the predictable framing story.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(4) YA Alex Van Helsing series. Vampire descendant Alex and his boarding school friends are embroiled in a final fight between the forces of good and evil. This adventure takes Alex across Europe with a tough biker witch to stop a vampire queen's deadly curse. Henderson's fusion of the occult with modern technology continues to be exciting, but this series conclusion may feel overly familiar to followers.

Reviewer: Antonio Trujillo

(3) YA Vivien, Shirin, and Ingrid form unlikely and complicated friendships when they meet at an exclusive Swiss boarding school in 1971. Over three summers, García tracks each girl's transition from innocence to independence as the mature-acting characters face an abundance of coming-of-age issues: dating, sexuality, family drama, etc. The young women come alive through crisp dialogue and vivid details.

Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby

(4) YA Alex Van Helsing series. In his second supernatural adventure, Alex, descendant of the great Van Helsing vampire-hunter line, is embroiled in another fight between good and evil. He and his friends are again attacked at their boarding school, facing off against an insidious new enemy (and a few old ones as well). The occult and modern technology are well combined in this action-packed (if familiar-seeming) tale.

Reviewer: Antonio Trujillo

(4) 1-3 Magic Tree House series. Illustrated by Sal Murdocca. This time around, sibs Jack and Annie time-travel backward two centuries to the Swiss Alps. The snowy milieu doesn't bode well for their quest to find a rare white and yellow flower to help save Merlin's penguin. Despite stale writing, the series continues to be reliable at making history lessons mildly entertaining. Black-and-white art reinforces the text's straightforwardness.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 Normal teen Sheldon and his super-genius stepbrother Theo (a.k.a. "The Brain") find themselves investigating a mystery that begins with the disappearance of holes in Swiss cheese and ends in a showdown with a two-headed butler from another dimension. This parody of old-style detective mysteries is full of entertaining absurdities and clever wordplay.

Reviewer: David Elzey

(4) YA Alex Van Helsing series. Alex is a descendant of a great vampire-hunter line. He doesn't believe the stories until vampires start attacking people around his boarding school. Alex must then choose whether to follow the family tradition and save his friends or leave it all behind. Suspension of disbelief is difficult at times, but the combination of occult and hi-tech gadgetry may entice readers.

Reviewer: Antonio Trujillo

(2) YA Geneva is the setting for L'Engle's tale of a lonely American girl in an international school. There is no sentimentality in the friendship Philippa forms with a French boy in a nearby chateau. Characters are skillfully portrayed against a background of winter sports and a fine feeling for the beauty of the country. This edition includes an introduction by L'Engle's granddaughter.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc. | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 1949