Sam and CY students & staff are reading…

Review by Daisuke

Who would like this book? Someone who likes space history. Someone who wants to know star beauty.

The goods on this book: This book has a lot of photos that were zoomed in. Those photos are dynamic.
In this book, I learn about the size of each planet.  This book tells about planet’s history and history of the person who has studied the planet. The best feature of this book is the great photos.

The details: 121 pp. 2009   Review by Daisuke

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Review by Daisuke

Who would like this book? Someone who likes to know about space would like this book.

The goods on this book: This book shows space history. It shows about planets, the Milky Way, aliens, black holes, and galaxies. Each page has nice artwork. I like the picture of the galaxy on page 97.
In this book I learned about Giant stars and what’s going to happen if people were falling into a black hole.

The details: 191 pp. 2007   Review by Daisuke

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Review by Daisuke

Who would like this book? I think people who like science would like this book.

The goods on the book: This book has physical data and nice illustrations. It explains about the sun, planet, the moons, and comets. It also describes the origin of the solar system. It answers some questions. For example, “Ice or Ocean?” about Jupiter’s moon, Europa. I like how they compare each celestial body to the Earth. It’s a really nice book.

The details: 224 pp. 2011   Review by Daisuke

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Who would like this book? Anyone, age 10 through adult, interested in a thrilling adventure of World War II, the race to build the bomb.

The goods on this book: This book guarantees that readers will not connect “nonfiction” with “boring.” From the opening pages, Sheinkin grabs the reader with the promise of speeding from “secret labs to commando raids to street-corner spy meetings.” It turns out that this opening line undersells the action and intrigue of the story of the bomb. The story follows three central threads: the race to build the bomb in the United States (the top secret Manhattan Project led by Robert Oppenheimer), the struggle to sabotage the progress of the Germans to build the bomb, and the efforts of the Soviets to steal the work of the Manhattan Project. Each of these stories involves colorful characters that are absolutely fascinating to explore. My favorite is the commando raids of the rugged Norwegians led by Knut Haukelid. They had to knock out a German facility in Norway’s high wilderness built into a cliff. It could have been right out of a James Bond book. Besides being a relentless action-adventure, the story also includes basic explanations of the process of making the bomb and shows how the scientists were so focused on defeating Hitler that they did not realize the wider consequences of their work until after the war. The searing, terrifying reality of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is sobering. Sheinkin ends by reminding us that the story of the bomb is one with “no end in sight. And, like it or not, you’re in on it.”

The details: 266 pp. 2012   Review by Samrarian

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Review by Tae-Hui

Who would like this book? Any gender, any age, most recommended for people who are looking for a non-fiction book that also has suspense in every turn. Also for people who want a book that is good enough to make it impossible to get their minds (and their hands, and their eyes) off of it.

The goods on the book: Claudette Colvin, a teenager who grew up in her great uncle’s house, cannot stand watching the black Americans getting service that is nothing compared to the white Americans, and not standing up. One day, she stands up for herself when a white bus driver demands her to give up her seat for a white passenger and stand instead. The driver calls political forces (otherwise known as the police) and they take her to an adult cell, humiliating her on the way. Eventually she gets her bail paid by her great uncle’s and church pastor and gets out of the cell, but the one thing that she really wanted didn’t happen: the desegregation of bus seating arrangements (Getting to sit wherever you want). Will she be able to make her wishes a reality and, more importantly, will she be able to do it safely?

The details: 150 pp. 2009   Review by Tae-Hui

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Who would like this book? Readers, grades 5 and up, interested in a true story about girls who are fascinated by fairies (and the idea of fairies) and create fake photos that capture the attention of the world.

Why? During the time of World War I in England, young Elsie and Frances are cousins who love to play in the garden. Frances has seen fairies, and Elsie uses her artistic skills to make paper cut-outs of fairies. She places them around Frances and takes a photograph which eventually becomes the famous “evidence” for the existence of the Cottingley fairies. This narrative account of the girls and their hoax that got out of control makes for good reading and is supported wonderfully by the drawings and images from their family archives. I love how the question of the existence of fairies is left open. The photos themselves were a set-up, but Frances stood by her belief that she saw fairies.

The details: 184 pp. 2012  Review by Samrarian
Find it in the CY Library at 398.45 Los

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Review by Moises G.

Who would like this book? People who want to hear about the greatest skateparks and know who made them, where the skateparks are, and hear which pros have been there. Also, people who want to hear about Tony Hawk’s Skatepark Foundation and people who want to hear about skateparks in Portland and the X Games skateparks.

Why? I think the book was good because it talks about the world’s greatest skateparks, Tony Hawk’s Foundation, the X Games, the skateparks in Portland, the West Coast, the Pacific Northwest, the Central United States, the Southern United States, the East Coast, and international skateparks. I liked the West Coast skate parks and the Portland ones, also.

The details: 47 p. 2009  Review by Moises

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Review by Moises

Who would like this book? People who like to know about skateboard competitions.

Why? The book talks about some female skaters. Cara Beth Burnside won an X box for skating at Idaho in the Vans Triple Crown Competition. There’s also the Thrashers King of the Rode Competition, The X Games, Skate Park of Tampa aAateur Contest, how competitions work, different types of competitions,and the important of skateboarding competitions. I really didn’t like this book because it’s not like the book Skateboarding is Not a Crime. I really liked that one, but this one is small and doesnt really have many details. It doesn’t have Danny Way, Bam Margera, Rob Dyrdek –  none of the good people, so that’s why I didn’t like it.

The details: 24 pp. 2006  Review by Moises

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Review by Moises

Who would like this book? People who want to know about Bam Margera, Rob Dyrdek, Mark Gonzalez, Danny Way and more skaters. It’s pretty beast.

Why? I like this book because it has a lot of skaters’ stories and tells about them, how they take the pictures and their tricks. It describes everything about the skater magazines and skaters like Tom Penny, Guy Muriano, Matt Hensley, Danny Way, Bob Burnquist, Colin McKay, Eric Koston, Mark Gonzalez, and Tony Hawk. It talks about some of the first magazines and how they became popular and the good skating brands back then and what the good brands are now.

The details: 110 pp. 2004  Review by Moises

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It’s Broken

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