FOR SOCCER-CRAZY GIRLS ONLY

G/A  Downing, Erin.  For Soccer-Crazy Girls Only.  Feiwel, 2014.  145p.  978-1-250-04709-0.  15.99.  With much gung ho and rah-rah, there's information here that will genuinely appeal to female athletes dedicated to the game of soccer.  Enthusiasm and hard work are key elements for those who are already engaged in the sport.  There are adaptations of the game for those who are disabled and there's even a league -- in the U.S. -- for players who are homeless.  Beside advice on diet, exercise and strategies, there are mini-biographies on noted professional players (including a few men).  And there are brief histories and statistics related to the Olympics and World Cups.  Most of the tricolor pages (black, green, white) are illustrated with drawings and pictures.  Such a reasonable price makes this a worthwhile purchase for library collections in communities where soccer is popular.  As there is ample space provided for note taking, the title can also be given as a personal gift.  
E.M. Roublow (ret.)  

Try This! 50 Fun Experiments for the Mad Scientist in You

YA Non-Fiction/General YA G/A Young, Karen Romano. Try This! 50 Fun Experiments for the Mad Scientist in You. National Geographic, 2014. ISBN: 978-1-4263-17118, 160 p.; $16.99 Readers will find 50 fun and easy science experiments inside this colorful large size book. The experiments are listed by categories and they are easy and straight forward. This book will be good for supplementary reading or to be used as part of a STEAM (STEM) program. The fun categories include: Plants, Bugs and Microbes, People and other animals, Water, Reactions, Weird Physics, and Machines. Each experiment identifies the concepts of the science, how long it will take to do the experiment, and what is need for the exercise. With step by step instruction, it is easy to follow and complete the experiment. Also, author indicates what is expected from each experiment and their outcomes so that teachers or instructors will know ahead of time.

Unlikely Warrior: A Jewish Soldier in Hitler's Army

Young Adult/Adult Non-Fiction

G/A  Rauch, Georg.  Unlikely Warrior: A Jewish Soldier in Hitler’s Army. FSG, 2015. 352p. 978-0-3743-0142-2.  17.99.

Georg Rauch was 19 in 1943 when he was drafted into the German Army. Even though his mother was anti-Hitler (and actively hiding Jews in the family attic) and the government knew he was a ¼ quarter Jewish, he had no choice but to join. Good with electronics, he was assigned to be on a communications squad on the Russian front. After 9 months on the front in Russia and Romania, Georg was captured. He spent the next almost year of his life, moving between POW camps and hospitals, before finally making his way back to Vienna. His memoir gives harrowing detail of all the suffering he went through and includes letters that he wrote to his family from Russia during the war. It provides an interesting and little known perspective from a German soldier not invested in the war, but forced to participate and the horrors of the battle in Russia. Loren Spector, LAPL, Memorial Branch