A lonely boy whose parents have split up, a girl who is more brave and less nerdy than the boy once thought, a corporation willing to do anything it takes to get their new amusement park built, and a long-dead sea captain who lives on in mysterious and important ways. That's what you're really picking up when you pull this book off the shelf. Benjamin never thought much about his historic school on the Atlantic coast until the strange old janitor slips him a gold coin, whispers some confusing things, and then dies. Suddenly it's up to Benjamin and his new friend Jill to save the school. How can two kids go up against such a powerful and devious company? With a little help from that zany old captain and some of the school's long-gone students. It's a mystery, an adventure, and a bit of a friendship story all stirred together.
I was really looking forward to reading this new series by Andrew Clements, of whom I am a tremendous fan. Although I ended up liking it, I was also disappointed. The artwork was amazing, and the story was interesting, but this is one of those series where each book leaves you hanging for the the next one, meaning you pay big bucks for the hardcover (this is a fancy book) and don't even get resolution to the story that's been built up. This whole book feels like the first chapter in a story, introducing the characters and laying out the plot, which is actually pretty mysterious. The writing may be some of Mr. Clements' best, but I've always loved his stand-alone stories, which really tie up nicely and leave you feeling good. This is more like the 39 Clues than I would like, though less rewarding to the reader from book to book. Please Mr. Clements, just write big books or small, don't leave us hanging like this with your unresolved books with unnecessarily long names!
Read this if you love sailing, historical sites, architecture, evil janitor spies, or series that leave you hanging!
Young Michael hated seeing both of his parents lose their jobs, but when they decided to take a year, buy a sailboat, and cruise around the world, he could hardly believe it. On their voyage, Michael was accidentally thrown overboard, and washed up (with his pet dog Stella) on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean. With no way for his parents or anyone else to find him, Michael had to figure out how to survive all alone on the island - or was he really alone? It turns out that another person lived on the island already, and that's where the story gets really interesting. How will Michael survive? Who is the mysterious island man? Will his parents ever find Michael? Read the book, don't ask me!
What are the weirdest things can you do to your little brother? That's the kind of question that gets answered in this funny memoir of Jon Scieszka's childhood. This is the guy who wrote The Time Warp Trio books and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, among others, so you know he's funny. Sorry, I'm not going to tell you what Jon did to his brother when he was young, you'll have to read the book yourself. 
Kira-kira is a word that means things that glitter, and brings to mind the sun's reflections sparkling on the ocean, or to be less literal, all the wonderful small moments in life. In this book for middle schoolers or more able upper-elementary readers, the story centers on Katie and her sister Lyn, two Japanese-American girls stuck out of place in Georgia during the 1950's and 60's. Their parents both work ridiculously long hours at poultry plants, they are always poor, and their neighbors and the girls' classmates ignore them. This was a time and place when it was not easy to be "different," and there were only a handful of Japanese in the South. Though the family managed to deal with racism and ignorance, there were bigger problems that they could not control, and which finally changed their lives. Characters change through the course of the book, and we come to understand quite a bit about their lives, hopes, worries, and weaknesses. 