Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Title: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Author: Judy Blume

ISBN: 0-440-40419-3

Format: Chapter Book-Fiction

Pages: 149 pgs.

Review: Margaret Ann is a 12 year old, beginning 6th grade in a new city and house in Farbook, New Jersey. She moved away from her friends in Grandmother in New York and is really nervous about starting a new year. She meets a lot of neighborhood girls who become her friends, but also challenge her to grow up a little more quickly than she wanted to. She finds herself worrying about her developing body, boys, religion, and friends. She turns to God and prays every night for help in finding her way with all these new issues. In the end, she learns a lot about herself, her friends, her family, and feels more ready to embrace the changes to come as a teenager.

This is a classic tween book for any girl facing the same issues as Margaret. She expresses worries that all tween girls can identify with such as feeling inadequate because of their bodies, wondering about starting their periods, becoming attracted to boys, finding out that friends can lie about things, and rumors. The language is easy for younger tweens and the issues are relevant for this age group since everyone matures at different ages. There is also discussion on religion which some tweens can identify with. Many already belong to certain religions or denominations and this book gives a good look at how tweens view religion and the questions they may have about it. I enjoyed the story line but at times found the scenarios that Margaret found herself to be in were a little cliche, such as the party scene where they are playing spin the bottle. Aside from that, the material is fun for younger tweens.

Beyond the Mango Tree

Title: Beyond the Mango Tree
Author: Any Bronwen Zemser
ISBN: 0-06-440786-1
Format: Chapter Book-Fiction
Pages: 166 pgs.

Review: This is the story of Sarina, a 12 year old girl living with her parents in Liberia. Her father is always away on work related trips and so she is stuck at her big house with her diabetic mother and two hired helpers, Te Te, whom she can't stand and Oldman. She is forced to stay on the grounds of the property, so she does not have any friends. And she is always needed to help her mom through her diabetic reactions, which can be a lot for a girl of her age. Her sadness and boredom ends when she makes friends with a Liberian boy named Boima. He comes to visit her and they secretly play and tell stories to one another. Sarina gets angry when she finds out that Te Te has been stealing food from her house in order to give Boima and his family since they are so poor. Sarina is so enraged that she ends her friendship with Boima and threatens to tell her parents on Te Te. She learns a hard lesson when she finds out Boima is deathly ill and needs her help. Without giving away the ending, this book gives the reader time to reflect on things important to life such as family relationships, friendships, growing responsibilities, and selfishness. The audience for this book is any tween ages 10 and up. The reader can identify with Sarina, because she has to deal with a lot of issues that most tweens do not normally encounter in their lives. It provides good examples of the decision making process and learning to think of others when you make decisions. It is also heavily themed personal responsibilities, being a good friend, and carrying out one's obligations to their family even against their own will. Lots of life lessons are incorporated in this book along with lessons on racism and poverty.

Nick.com

Title: Nick.com
Format: Website

Summary: Similar to the Disney.com site, Nick.com is the online hub for anything Nickelodeon related. From TV shows, music, merchandise, games, to famous stars, you can find it all on Nick.com. I liked this site a little more than Disney.com, because it was not as easy to get lost and much more visually organized. I guess that is the adult in me shining through. There was lots of imagery but it was simply laid out and more plain. It is geared for an older child audience, like tweens, not so much the younger kids like Disney.com It is still very interactive and fun for tweens who are interested in Nick shows such as iCarly, Victorious, True Jackson, VP, Big Time Rush, and much more.

Disney.com

Title: Disney.com

Format: Website

Review: This is Disney's online presence and it is very comprehensive. If you want to find out about anything Disney you can find it here. They have information on their parks, TV, movies, music, live events, stores, merchandise, characters, games, videos, even recipes for Disney related treats. It is overwhelming! I literally got lost on the site, not because it was unorganized, but because you click on one thing and then see something else interesting and click on that, and then 3 hours later you are still navigating the site. I can now see why all my 3rd graders always asked if they could go on Disney.com during computer lab time at school. It is addicting! Unfortunately, school policies restricted the site for student access due to its lack of educational merit. But the bright colors and heavy imagery make it stimulating for anyone especially tweens. And the topics are very popular. what tween is not interested in TV, music, and merchandise by their favorite pop stars like Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, the Jonas Brothers, Selena Gomez, Zac Efron, I know I have left some out, but they are everywhere! This is a good site for tweens to explore on a social level. There is very little academic merit, but it allows tweens a safe and fun place to enjoy online, with no risk for parents to worry about and really encourages good, clean fun.

Carolina Crow Girl

Title: Carolina Crow Girl

Author: Valerie Hobbs

ISBN: 0-439-30880-1

Format: Chapter Book-Realistic Fiction

Pages: 138 pgs.

Review: Carolina is a sixth grade girl who lives in a school bus with her mom, Melanie, and her baby sister, Trinity. They move around a lot looking for work and following Melanie's boyfriend, red, who is also the father of Trinity. He is a fisherman so he goes where the work is. Unfortunately for Carolina, that means she moves from school to school and does not have any friends. That is until she finds a baby crow that fell from his nest. She decides to keep him until he is big enough to live on his own. They have their bus hidden in some brush on a private lot. This land is owned by a rich family whose mansion is on the land as well. Stefan, the son who is in a wheelchair, makes friends with Carolina. They spend lot of time together and when Melanie decides to move to Oregon to follow Red, Carolina decides she does not want to go. At the offering of Mrs. Crouch, Stefan's mother, she stays with them. During this time, Carolina realizes that she needs her real mother, and her mother needs her. She also decides to finally let the crow go free because that is what he needs, to be free.

This book was probably one of my favorites so far. It has so many messages that are spot on for tweens. Lessons like learning how to make your own decisions, being happy with the life that you were given, loyalty and love with your family. It also addresses issues like homelessness, physical disabilities, and being poor or different from others. The audience for this book is most likely an older tween. Some of the topics, like sexual relations, and death, are more suited for older kids. The author does a very good job of presenting Carolina's situation and how she works through her decisions which I think is very beneficial for tweens to understand. By the end of the book, you really love Carolina, Stefan, and Crow, and wish them the best in life.

Bunnicula

Title: Bunnicula
Author: Deborah and James Howe
Illustrator: Alan Daniel
ISBN: 0-689-80659-0
Format: Chapter Book-Fiction, Suspense
Pages: 98 pgs.

Review:
This book is told from the point of View of Harold, the pet dog of the Monroe family. The family is Mr. and Mrs. Monroe and their two sons, Toby and Pete. He is a happy dog, and loves his family and his friend, Chester, the cat. One night the family comes home in an uproar. They found a little bunny rabbit in the seat of the theater when they went to watch Dracula at the movies. They decide to take him home especially since he had a note attached to him in a different language. Harold recognizes the language as being an obscure dialect from the Carpathian Mountain region, it said "Take good care of my baby." They decide to name the bunny Bunnicula, since they found him during a Dracula movie. Strange things start to happen after the bunny settles in. Chester sees him leaving his cage in the middle of the night and every morning, the vegetables in the refrigerator are all white with no juice left inside. The family just thinks that is it the market they are going to, but Chester, has another theory. He thinks the bunny is a vampire and tries everything he can to expose him. After trying to starve the bunny to death, the family puts in the cat in counseling and Harold makes friends with the bunny and helps him get better.

This is a suspenseful and silly book. It is written for a younger tween crowd, since it is a light and fun story. Being narrated by a dog, it also lends to some funny situations for the family dog and cat, and even has some themes of friendship and loyalty that can be learned from. This is definitely a just for fun read, since it really does not go deep into any of the characters thoughts and feelings. It can be a good book to read aloud. I would suggest reading it for entertainment, but again it is not a very deep or interesting story

The Time Warp Trio - 2095

Title: The Time Warp Trio-2095
Author: Jon Scieszka
Illustrator: Lane Smith
ISBN: 0-590-10439-X
Format: Chapter Book-Fiction
Pages: 72 pgs.

Summary: The Time Warp Trio, Sam, Fred, and Joe are on another adventure because of their magic book, but this time they time travel 100 years in the future. They think that life will be fun and cool in the future but they are wrong once they get there. Sellbots are bothering around every corner and people are after them. They cannot move as quickly because the future has technology that they are not aware of and not know how to use. They cannot locate The Book, so they might be trapped in 2095 forever! Are they? Well, you will have to read to find out!