2.59k reviews by:

librarybonanza


Age: 10-14

Most of these stories have excellent twists at the end, making them great for storytelling. Some of the humor seems to be trying too hard, which older teens may have less tolerance for.

"When and How" could be condensed for storytelling.
"Morgan Roehmar's Boys" might be too frightening to tell (in the very end, female protagonist is murdered by a serial killer pretending to be her friend)

Age: 13-18

Three parts: (1) Ghosts, Vampires, and Werewolves, (2) Haunted Treasures, and (3)Eerie Fairy Tales
"The Forest" would be good for storytelling due to it's shorter length and well formed plot.

Transylvanian authors and illustrators add honesty to these eerie tales and the supplementary history and culture behind the tales gives them depth and meaning.

Age: 12-18

A collection of modern urban legends, especially the classics. This makes it great for middle schoolers. The twist endings are excellent for teens.

"The Slasher," "The Deadly Dress," and "The Belle at Biloxi" are particularly tragic, gruesome, scary tales.

Age: Kinder-4th grade

35 children's books--more school based with quizzes, homework, and month-long activities

Provides: hands-on activities, critical thinking questions, guide for being a guiding instructor (not a lecturer), activity sheets

Ages: 4-6 years

Cute and identifiable for children that get guilt-racked by a hasty decision. The humor can be read for older audiences, but the vocabulary and storyline are rather basic for younger audiences.

Age: 3-6 years
Media: Watercolor and colored pencil, lots of movement within art style

Simple rhyming story line, some white space, predominant use of pink

Age: 3-6 years
Media: watercolor and colored pencils
M.I.T.: Be extra careful with special things.

Yoko's grandparents send her a beautiful heirloom doll. Excited to show everyone else, she brings it to school against the wishes of her mother. Two bullies ruin the doll but the doll is brought to a "doll hospital" (every girl's dream?) and is repaired.

The writing is a little off but the artwork and the theme are right-on.

Age: 13-16 years

Billy, oh Billy. You know who you are so why doesn't everyone else get it? High schooler Billy gets shifted from the life he's always known with his mother to the swamplands of Florida to live with his father. He creates his own unique and absurdly fantastic collage outfits that are quite off-putting to the rich snobs that attend his school. Having enough with the ridicule, spitballs, and quick jabs, and after his teacher won't listen to him, he decides to go to school in drag. Inevitably, when he recovers from the coma, the dreamy quarterback awaits him. Billy remembers that it was he who pulled him from the severe beating at school. In the second half of the book, Billy describes his arduous rise to fame when he announces that he's running for prom queen.

What was particularly nice about this book was the positive drive and unfaltering personality that Billy used to achieve his goal. Although he isn't crowned queen, he does get the boy.