Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians by: Jarrett Krosoczka

1. Bibliographic Data
Krosoczka, Jarrett. Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians . New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009. Print.

2. Plot Summary
Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians is a humorous comic about lunch ladies who are also part time heroes and crime stoppers. Dee, Terrence, and Hector are three young students who get in on the action too. This installment of the Lunch Lady series involves the librarian stealing money from fundraisers, banding together, and trying to put a stop to all the new video games and gaming consoles coming out. The lunch ladies figure out what is happening through a spy cam and go to the rescue. The three students figure out what is happening too, and come just in time to rescue the lunch ladies when they are almost defeated by the librarians. The librarians are caught red handed trying to destroy the video game consoles and arrested. The lunch ladies come up with a plan in the end to combine reading and video games within the library. They save the day once again.

3. Critical Analysis
Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians is a great book for readers who enjoy comics. The book is in a comic book format as it tells the stories. The black and white pictures accompanying the comic help to explain the story, and help the reader visualize the story line. The theme of the book is a light-hearted story of unsuspecting heroes, the lunch ladies and a group of kids. Krosoczka does a good job of evolving the story just through short sentences or phrases in the comic bubbles. A great, short read for any reader interested in comics and heroes.

4. Awards and Review Excerpt(s)
*Choices Best Book List, 2010
*Childrens Literature..."Inspired by author/artist Jarret J. Krosoczka’s crazy ideas about his own elementary school lunch lady, much of the book’s humor comes from Lunch Lady’s cafeteria-themed gadgets, including the Spork Phone, Hairnet Nets, and Sonic Boom Juice Box."

5. Connections
*Read the other Lunch Lady books within the series.
*Have the kids create their own superhero comic strips.

"Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians." Children's Literature Reviews. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2010. .

When You Reach Me by: Rebecca Stead

1. Bibliographic Data
Stead, Rebecca. When you reach me . New York: Random House, 2009. Print.

2. Plot Summary
When You Reach Me is a confusing story at times that all comes together in the end. Miranda and her best friend Sal are enjoying their regular teenage lives when strange things start to happen. Sal is first punched by a kid they don't know, and then begins to ignore Miranda. Miranda spends her time helping her mom prepare to be on the game show "The $20,000 Pyramid", and making new friends. Then Miranda receives a mysterious note from what seems like the future that is warning her about saving her and a friends life. Miranda is thrown in to a desperate search of trying to discover who the author of the note is before it is too late. She then meets Marcus, perhaps a man from the future. The end brings the three people together that all makes sense in the end. The book cross-references the ever popular A Wrinkle in Time that also deals with the concept of time travel. This a good books for kids who enjoy books about the future, past, time travel, and everything in between.

3. Critical AnalysisRebecca Stead does a wonderful job of conveying her own writing style through Miranda's narration. The book is not your common teenage story of normal kids, but deals with time travel and mystery. The theme of the book is futuristic and eccentric that keeps the reader wondering how all the pieces are going to come together. A great book for readers who enjoy other time travel books, like A Wrinkle in Time. A light-hearted, intriguing book for all ages.

4. Reviews and Excerpt(s)
*Andre Norton Award, 2009
*Indies Choice Book Awards, 2010
*Childrens Literature.."Charmingly eccentric and impossible to categorize, this middle grade novel pays homage to Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time while employing many of that book’s elements as it crisscrosses the boundaries between reality and fantasy, time travel and mystery."

5. Connections
*Suggest reading A Wrinkle in Time to the kids, a great read!
*Have the kids create their own short futuristic stories.
*Discuss what they thought of the story, and how they all thought it was going to play out and come together.

"When You Reach Me." Children's Literature Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2010. .

The Book Theif by: Markus Zusak

1. Bibliographic Data
Zusak, Markus. The book thief . New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print.

2. Plot Summary
The Book Thief is an extraordinary story about a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany. The stories tells the simple pleasures of friendship, family, and learning knew things to keep the sad story entertaining at times. Liesel Meminger moves to Molching, Germany to live with foster parents when she is a young girl. Along the way she loses her brother, buries him, and steals her first book that later gives her the name "the book thief". She meets her best friend Rudy Steiner who lives next door , and learns to love her foster parents as her real mama and papa once she gets to Molching. As Nazi Germany is prevailing, Liesels papa has to live up to a promise he made years ago and harbor a young jew in his basement, Max. Throughout the story, Liesel learns to read and write and steal books from the rich familes with her best friend to read to Max in the basement. A series of events leads to Max having to leave, and eventually leads to her papa having to leave to join the war. Bombing is becomes a recurring event in the small town of Mulching that leads to Liesel losing everybody, including her foster parents and Rudy. Liesel thinks she has lost everyone and is devastated, only to find Max standing at her door one day. The story ends with Liesel living her life out in Sydney with a family, kids, and grandkids.

3. Critical Analysis
The Book Thief is a wonderful story that shares the other side to Nazi Germany. Books based during this time period usually focus on the Holocaust and are told from a Jewish child's point of view, but this story tells the story of a young German girl dealing with her anger towards Hitler. The story has a light-hearted plot of children being children that kids can relate too, but also has a good balance of the hard times during this period and what it was like. The theme accompanies the plot by being happy at times, but extremely sad at others. Marcus Zusak does a great job of incorporating his writing style into the book. The story is narrated by "death". The paragraphs are not always simple, and include pictures that Max drew, or notes and clarification spoken by "death" that are in bold through the story. The Book Thief is a good story for yougn adults that can understand and deal emotionally with the hard topics during Nazi Germany.

4.Awards and Review Excerpt(s)
*Cybil Award, 2006
*Michael L. Printz Award, 2007
*Parents' Choice Award, 2006
*Kirkus Reviews..."This big, expansive novel is a leisurely working out of fate, of seemingly chance encounters and events that ultimately touch, like dominoes as they collide. The writing is elegant, philosophical and moving. Even at its length, it's a work to read slowly and savor. Beautiful and important."

5. Connections
*Read other books that deal with Nazi Germany, try a book through a Jewish child's point of view.
*Discuss the hardships and history of the Holocaust and Nazi Germany.
*Have the teens write short stories about their lives like Liesel Meminger did.

"The Book Thief." Children's Literature Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2010. .