Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Book Shop

Reviewed by Robin T. Operation Redwood is a great book for fans of Hoot, Flush, and Scat. It takes place in San Francisco, California (mostly), and the main character is Julian Carter-Li, who is currently living with his uncle, aunt, and cousin. His uncle is Sibley Carter, CEO of IPX. When Julian is sitting alone in his uncle’s office, he sees an e-mail with the subject line “Sibley Carter is a moron and a world-class jerk.” Julian reads it and sees it is from Robin Elder, and says that IPX should not cut down the redwoods in Big Tree Grove for paper. Julian deletes the message and writes back to say that he agrees and asks Robin some questions such as her age. They send e-mails back and forth to each other and (among other things) Julian learns that Robin Elder is a girl about his age who lives on a farm next to Big Tree Grove. Eventually Julian and his friend Danny call Julian’s math camp to say he is going on an African safari and to cancel his camp. Then Julian secretly goes to a farm exchange program to go to Robin Elder’s farm. They have a great time and make lots of plans. However, the plans become unusable when Daphne (Julian’s aunt) finds out about Julian not being at Math Camp and eventually finds Julian and takes him home. Will the trees be saved or not? Read this book to find out. I recommend this book for children ages nine to twelve. It is rather fast-paced. I really liked this book, and so will you!

Reviewed by Lindsey Z. Wings is about a teenage girl named Laurel who discovers that she is a faerie. She just moved to a new town and after being home schooled for 10 years, her parents decided to send her to public school. One day Laurel finds a small bump on her back. She assumes it’s a zit, but it keeps getting bigger until it becomes the size of a softball. Then it suddenly disappears, but there is something else in its place that resembles a set of wings. This is a mythical story for girls ages 11 and up.

Reviewed by Jerica D., Age 8 This story is about two best friends who spend all their time playing with their horses, Lady and Gypsy. They work together to prepare for a big horse show and enter Lady in the gymkhana. However, Lady brings home more than just a ribbon from the show!! Read this story to find out what the girls discover about the mare’s Christmas surprise. Horse lovers will like this story of friendship and working together.

Reviewed by Ivy J., Age 9 The Goblin Baby is about a boy named Tam. He was less than thrilled when a baby sister was added to his family. One night he heard his sister wailing and screaming and then nothing. His baby sister had been replaced with a goblin! He soon realizes he cares for his sister more than he knew. His grandpa introduces him to a maigcal land of fairies where Tam goes to get his sister back. He meets the king and queen of fairies, who agered to release his sister in exchange for their missing goblin. My favorite part of the book was when the children fairies try to steal Tam’s sword so he could no longer fight dragons. I recommend this book for ages 9 to 11 and for those who like fantasy adventure.

Reviewed by John H.

Simon Bloom: The Octopus Effect is the second book in this series. Sirabetta, who is an exiled member of Psychology, is trying to get the Books again so that she can have her revenge on Simon and his friends. Simon, Alysha, and Owen have an adventure in the biology realm to keep her from regaining her powers. This book is as good as the first book in the series, Simon Bloom: The Gravity Keeper, because of the actual science theories in it.