Codes for Reviews

First Initial (Overall Rating):
E = Exceptional
VG = Very Good
G = Good
F = Fair
NR = Not Recommended

Second Initital (Reading Level):
A = Average Reading Level
E = Easy
M = Mature

“The views expressed are of individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views of their respective institutions.”

For more information about YAR, please email Dora Ho at dorah2005@gmail.com


Tuesday, May 31, 2016

The Tortoise and the Soldier: A Story of Courage and Friendship in World War I


Middle School Nonfiction

G/A. Foreman, Michael. The Tortoise and the Soldier: A Story of Courage and Friendship in World War I. Henry Holt, 2015. 120p. 978-1-62779-173-1. 16.99

Henry Friston was a gentle and courteous elderly gentleman living in a small town in England. Everyone in town knew that he had brought a tortoise back from his time on the front lines in World War I, but few, if any, knew the whole story. Young Michael Foreman (the book is based on his own recollections), a cub reporter, convinces Mr. Friston to tell him the tale of how Ali Pasha the tortoise had become his lifelong friend. Over many visits and much tea, he relates the details of his time in the war and how a tortoise had fallen on him while he was hiding from shells at Galipoli. Foreman does an excellent job of conveying the terror of a young man away from home who fears he may never return. The reader really feels she is there visiting the charming old man and witnessing him finally tell his tale. Simple and quite lovely paintings, also by the author, are featured throughout. Oddly, Foreman seems determined to limit the book's usefulness for school reports. There are no maps, no timeline of World War I, and no indexing. In fact, there is no sense of who fought in WWI and what it was about. Animal lovers and those seeking a non-traumatic war story may enjoy it. Philip Levie, LAPL Panorama City.

Monday, May 2, 2016

Exit, Pursued by a Bear

High School Fiction

VG/A  Johnston, E.K.  Exit, Pursued by a Bear.  Dutton, 2016.  242p.  978-1-101-99458-0.  17.99


As a high school senior, this is Hermione’s last time at cheer camp and she couldn’t be more excited about it. Everything is going great, until the final weekend when Hermione wakes up in the hospital and finds out that she had been drugged, raped and left unconscious in the lake. She has no memory of the incident or who did it. Now she has to spend her senior year dealing with the fallout, both emotionally and physically, while trying to move on with her life. Author Johnston, doesn’t focus on the rape or Hermione as victim, but on Hermione as a survivor. The title, chapter headings and many of the characters names come from Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale, although the connection between the book and the play are not clear. Regardless, this beautifully written book is sure to make many best of 2016 lists. Loren Spector, LAPL, Memorial Branch