Margaret Mahy  Bubble Trouble; illus. by Polly Dunbar
     32 pp. Clarion 4/09 ISBN 978-0-547-07421-4 $16.00
     (Preschool, Primary)
Bubble, bubble, tongue-twisting trouble! When Mabel blows a bubble, it causes a bit of trouble — in the inimitable Mahy way. The rhythm and rhyme of her newest exuberant offering has echoes of the “bibble-bubble-babble” of her older 17 Kings and 42 Elephants (rev. 9/87) with added tongue-stumbling internal rhymes to keep even the most accomplished storyteller on her toes. Little Mabel’s bubble surrounds Baby and takes him on an adventure of amazing heights. The whole town is alarmed as the bobbling bubble floats farther astray, but happy Baby is comfortably enthralled with his bird’s-eye view of the commotion. Dunbar’s cut-paper and watercolor full-page illustrations are entirely faithful to the lively tale. Every little detail of this raucous story is depicted in the dramatic spreads — a good thing, as the words are a pleasant stretch for lap listeners. Who wouldn’t love the sound of nefarious, cavorting, grapple, and the like tripping off the reader’s tongue? The suspense builds in both words and pictures, and little ones’ eyes will be as round as the bubble. Read this aloud and expect a lot of giggles and calls for a repeat performance. It will take a few readings to get through without stumbling, but that only adds to the fun. R.L.S.

Lesléa Newman  Daddy, Papa, and Me; illus. by Carol Thompson
     20 pp. Tricycle 5/09 ISBN 978-1-58246-262-2 $7.99

Lesléa Newman  Mommy, Mama, and Me; illus. by Carol Thompson
     20 pp. Tricycle 5/09 ISBN 978-1-58246-263-9 $7.99
     (Preschool)
Two inviting board books from the author of the groundbreaking Heather Has Two Mommies present warm, matter-of-fact depictions of same-sex parents doting on their child. In Daddy, the child (of indeterminate gender in both books) asks, “Who wants to play with me today?” Daddy and Papa proceed to entertain their tot (“Daddy helps me paint the sky. Papa helps me bake a pie”), who’s just mobile enough to leave them completely exhausted by the end of the day (“‘Does anybody need a rest?’ Daddy and Papa say, ‘Yes, yes, yes!’”). Mommy also takes its family through a day of exuberant fun but lacks a narrative direction; also missing are Daddy’s casual affirmations that gender stereotypes aren’t immutable (“Daddy shows me how to sew”). In both titles, bright, smudgy pen and watercolor illustrations feature smiling parents and high-spirited child; and the rhyming couplets are predictable but jaunty. Newman uses the (by now overly familiar) mommy/daddy-loves-you formula to offer children of same-sex couples a glimpse of their own reality in print, and she does it with none of the didacticism usually associated with such a message. Instead, the child remains the sole voice and focus — which is just as it should be. CLAIRE E. GROSS

Meg Cabot  Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls: Best Friends and Drama Queens
     207 pp. Scholastic 3/09 ISBN 978-0-545-04043-3 $15.99 g
     (Intermediate)
Allie is thrilled when she learns there’ll be a new girl in her fourth-grade class — and that she’s from Canada. But as it turns out, Cheyenne is not very friendly, and she calls Allie and her friends immature. Soon, Cheyenne has taken over Room 209, forcing her classmates to “go with” one another and chasing boys in order to kiss them at recess (prompting one of Allie’s rules: “Just because something is popular doesn’t mean it’s good”). Cheyenne even has a spa slumber party, specifically inviting everyone except Allie and her friends. Refusing to give in, Allie has her own sleepover, way more fun than Cheyenne’s, and ends up telling Cheyenne off. Known for her books for teens, Cabot demonstrates in this third entry in the Allie Finkle’s Rules series a talent for empathizing with middle-graders, too. Without being condescending or saccharine, she reassures readers, acknowledging that fourth grade can be stressful: getting moved to the back of the classroom is distressing, and being called babyish hurts. But all Allie needs are her rules, her best friends, and a little courage to get her through. Though she’s under pressure to grow up, she (and her readers) learn that there’s no need to rush. RACHEL L. SMITH

Saci Lloyd  The Carbon Diaries 2015
     330 pp. Holiday 4/09 ISBN 978-0-8234-2190-9 $17.95
     (Middle School, High School)
“Carbon footprint” is fast becoming the buzz-phrase du jour, and, in a brilliantly conceived speculative drama set six years in the future, first-time novelist Lloyd ex-trapolates a logical, world-changing application of the concept that is both optimistic and terrifying. Optimistic in that the government concocts and enforces a viable policy for the reduction of carbon emissions; terrifying in that the policy — in combination with power losses and food shortages, extreme weather, and the inevitable bureaucratic missteps — creates a volatile atmosphere of civil unrest that feels all too possible. South London teen Laura chronicles in biting journal entries the first year of Britain’s new, stringent carbon rationing points system. Her viewpoint is utterly personal, as she bemoans the small indignities and rails at how the extreme lifestyle changes (fascinatingly juxtaposed against modern cultural values) exacerbate previously suppressed family tensions. Older sister Kim falls in with local thugs running a carbon points black market; Mum moves out to join the cultish Women Moving Forward group; Dad buys a pig. Through it all, Laura balances big-picture fears with everyday issues of crushes and friends, finding creative release in her “screaming, Straight X punk” band and trying to imagine a future in a world she’s no longer sure will offer her one. Her Georgia Nicolson–esque voice infuses accounts of blackouts and deprivations, riots and floods, with equal amounts immediacy and tart humor, placing readers squarely inside her world. Gripping, perceptive, and impassioned, this provocative debut is speculative fiction at its finest. CLAIRE E. GROSS

Rachel Isadora, reteller  Hansel and Gretel; illus. by the reteller
     32 pp. Putnam 4/09 ISBN 978-0-399-25028-6 $16.99
     (Primary)
Among Isadora’s European fairy-tale retellings set in Africa (The Fisherman and His Wife, rev. 3/08; The Twelve Dancing Princesses, rev. 9/07), this is the most kid-friendly. The telling, which hews closely to the Grimms’ version, showcases Hansel’s quick thinking in marking the siblings’ path and Gretel’s bravery in handily dispatching the witch. Along the way, each spread (of striated cut-paper and oil paint collage in myriad patterns) is attentively designed to reflect the scene’s action. Special care is paid to facial expressions (the greedy stepmother’s downward-angled eyebrows, the children’s glee upon finding the candy house) and body language (brother and sister huddled together, hands clasped, to face danger). In addition to the threats posed by their wicked stepmother and the evil witch, the kids are also eyed by the jungle animals they unintentionally disturb while wandering lost; in the witch’s house, too, there are unfriendly creatures to contend with, though the postures of the frogs, spiders, and lizards dangling haphazardly from the bars of Hansel’s cage evoke humor rather than fear. On the last spread, the children are reunited with their father, their two cats looking on. There’s lots of white space holding the formerly constricting jungle at bay, keeping the focus on the contented little family. ELISSA GERSHOWITZ

Jason Chin  Redwoods; illus. by the author
     40 pp. Porter/Flash Point/Roaring Brook 3/09 ISBN 978-1-59643-430-1 $16.95 g
     (Primary)
Here’s a plot straight out of a Barbara Lehman picture book. A young boy waiting for the subway finds an abandoned book next to him. He boards the train, and as he reads about redwood trees and learns just how old they are, he becomes so engrossed that he doesn’t notice either the dinosaurs out the window or the Romans sitting next to him. When he exits the subway, he finds himself in the middle of a redwood forest, learning all manner of things about them, culminating with their staggering height (“taller than a thirty-story skyscraper”). Finally, the urban landscape breaks through his reverie and, sitting on a park bench, he realizes he is late for something and dashes off, leaving the book behind for the approaching girl who picks it up and starts reading. Chin’s watercolor illustrations capture both the majesty of the redwoods and the young boy’s inquisitive personality, and while the idea of a storybook so vivid that it comes to life is not new, what sets this one apart is that Chin has paired his fantastical visual narrative with a straightforward nonfiction text. Thus we are privy both to what the boy is reading and to the effect that it has on his imagination. The book is, therefore, a contagious celebration of the relationship between information and imagination, the pure joy of learning. J.H.

Brian Floca  Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11; illus. by the author
     48 pp. Jackson/Atheneum 4/09 ISBN 978-1-4169-5046-2 $17.99
     (Primary)
This fortieth anniversary year of the moon landing will likely see many books published on the topic; Floca’s visually sublime picture book will rise above most. Clearly he has researched his subject thoroughly, as indicated by the opening timeline and diagram on one set of end pages, the source notes opposite the title page, and the extended discussion on the closing end pages. Yet Floca distills all of his gathered knowledge into a concise text, selecting the exact details to transform science into relatable experience: “Here below / there are three men / who close themselves / in special clothes, / who — click — lock hands / in heavy gloves, / who — click — lock heads / in large, round helmets.” Throughout the book Floca engages the reader both with his spare lyricism and with his watercolor and ink pictures. He uses the format to perfection, with large pictures to communicate size, power, and perspective; sequenced panels to show steps unfolding; and small pictures to catch particular moments. The artistry in book design and illustration is demonstrated by such stunning double-page spreads as the one containing the word liftoff, which shows just the bottom of the immense rocket as it begins to rise. Libraries will be dismayed by endpapers filled with important information, some of which may get covered up; but the heart of the book is complete and intact within, allowing children to be drawn into the wonder of the first moonwalk. S.D.L.

Nancy Werlin  The Killer’s Cousin
     Rev. 1/99 Brilliance Audio 2009 5 CDs ISBN 978-1-4233-8076-4 $26.99
     Library edition ISBN 978-0-4233-8078-8 $54.95
     Read by Nick Podehl.
     (High School)
Werlin’s psychological thriller, with its brilliantly ambiguous title, is a killer on audio. Despite some dated cultural references, it’s still almost unbearably suspenseful, as seventeen-year-old David Jaffe, in an attempt to escape his notorious past (he has recently been acquitted in the murder of his girlfriend), moves in with his aunt and uncle (themselves still grieving over the supposed suicide of their older daughter) and becomes drawn into an even more disturbing situation. Podehl’s reading is quiet and sensitive, letting the tension build through Werlin’s expert pacing rather than imposed dramatics. But he imbues David with just the right amount of guilt, self-doubt, and guarded hope, and his rendition of David’s troubled eleven-year-old cousin Lily is chilling. M.V.P.