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“Verizon Thinkfinity’s Think Possibilities” was an interactive webinar hosted on the Thinkfinity website by Tammy Dewan, a Thinkfinity facilitator, that exhibited many of Thinkfinity’s ways to electronically reach and engage children and young adults.

The webinar showed several advantages that Thinkfinity offers, including a place to get all sorts of educational materials at once from Thinkfinity and their affiliate sites. Thinkfinity’s webinar also showed several fun and interactive games, such as a game involving using critical thinking skills to pack a spaceship and other fun for children. The visuals on their games varied in color, with the spaceship having a dark background and moderately bright items, while others were extremely bright and eye-catching.

This webinar was a great experience, although the lack of being able to talk out loud over the internet (it was available via phone) was a mild handicap. The webinar is recommended for educators and also for students getting ready for college.

Recommended Grades: 11-12

Rating: 4.5

Kids’ Search Tools (http://rcls.org/ksearch.htm) is a database that allows children to search different sites for information such as Wikipedia, the dictionary, and FactMonster, another database designed for kids to help them learn subjects such as math, history, science, and also games and sports.

The database brings together useful search tools such as Wordsmyth with more child-oriented areas such as Yahoo Kids. It also as Kids.Gov and Federal Resources for Educational Excellence for teachers and kids. Much of the information on the site is useful for all ages, and indeed the coloring (white background with a few yellow streaks highlighting headings) is more for a general audience than focusing on at least small children. Though the intent as given by the “Kids’ Search Tools” name is for kids, the database itself seems to be much more general, and loses points for not being made as well for its targeted audience as it should have been.

Recommended Grades: 2-4

Rating: 2 Stars

The Secret Friend Society is a web site copyrighted from 2005-2009 by Hope Larsen and Kean Soo, that houses stories of “Jellaby,” a dinosaur-like creature, as well as the book Salamander Dream.

The site does not have a great plethora of stories, which is a down side to it. Most of the site revolves around Jellaby and the Jellaby archive, with the final (but highest listed) third being Salamander Dreams. As a site with so few stories, it is disappointing to see that Salamander dream is a substandard work. This is largely due to the fact that the illustrations, intended to tell the majority of the story, fail to accurately portray to the reader what is going on due primarily to vague shapes whose meanings cannot be made out, as well as a lack of helpful captions or communication to help the reader.

Jellaby, however, is a very engaging book whose pictures, while not terribly colorful, nonetheless convey a fun story and expressions of the characters, and whose words portray the nature of the characters well and make the main characters empathetic and enjoyable, a sharp contrast from Salamander Dream.

Ultimately, The Secret Friend Society is a below-average resource for content and navigation, as it is necessary to go back to the beginning of a story or go to the previous page repeatedly in order to get to a past page. The site might be recommended for pre-K children, but navigation might frustrate them.

Recommended Grade: Pre-K

Rating: 1.5 stars

“Jay’s Journal,” written by an anonymous person and put together by Betty Sparks (Published by Simon Pulse 2010), records journal entries from the anonymous person detailing his descent into drugs, witchcraft, and finally suicide.

The journal is very graphic and detailed, giving the reader a very large window into the heart of the author as well as what the author sees and does. Because of this, the reader can accurately trace the author’s continued delving into more and more dangerous activity, although it is difficult to tell what the author has actually seen and what is being imagined especially where witchcraft is concerned. The book’s intent, to keep others from following the author’s path, is helped by plenty of examples from the author himself on his wanting to escape this snare but being continually unable to. Even without illustrations, the reader can get a very vivid mental picture of what the author has gone through and perceives, and the book is both frightening and alluring at the same time, making the work successful despite its disturbing themes.

Because of the themes of drugs, suicide and the occult, this book is not suitable for anyone under 10^th grade unless they are looking to get help with similar problems. It is not meant to be enjoyed, but to be a warning.

Recommended Grades: 10-12

Rating: 4 Stars

“Kissing Doorknobs” by Terry Hesser (Published by Random House 1998) tells the extremely interesting story of Tara Sullivan, who after a great deal of mental confusion and anxiety discovers that she has obsessive-compulsive disorder and strives to overcome it.

Though many parts of the book are quite funny, especially Tara’s thoughts and quirks, the book on the whole is filled with pathos, and the reader is forced to empathize with Tara as her friends slowly drift away and her family situation becomes worse and worse due largely to her inability to control needs such as kissing doorknobs, as well as her mother’s desperate, ill-tempered reactions.

Hesser writes Tara as a person slowly, sympathetically, being taken over by the OCD until she finds out what she is suffering from. However, writing of the other characters is not so attentively-done. Her mother is very unsympathetic, and her father is barely known to the reader. It is important with an issue like this to show how it affects her Tara’s family, and on a collective level this was done. However, except for her mother (who herself acted without logic), there was no real damage done and not much threatened except for a few times (again involving the doorknob). The book was very good at its analysis of Tara, but could have gone wider and deeper. Due to its length more than its content, the book Is recommended for readers in grades 6-8

Recommended Grades: 6-8

Rating: 3.5 Stars

“The Courage to Be Yourself” is a nonfiction compilation of stories edited by Al Desetta (Published by Free Spirit Publishing 2005) about students who in middle and/or high school had been ostracized for one reason or another (race, activities, etc.) and in most cases how they dealt with the problem.

The strength of this book is that, as a compilation, it addresses many different topics such as ethnicity, stereotypes, and cliques. There is something for almost everybody, as well as for those who are looking to find out about people who are great different from themselves. The fact that it is nonfiction and written by real people who have had real experiences with these issues make it that much more meaningful to the middle or high school reader.

There are, however, some weaknesses. Some of the stories are less “stories” and more complaints with little substance. A few become almost personal opinion columns that take away from the work as a whole rather than adding to it. The writing quality varies a bit as well, again because of the wide variety of voices.

Because the issues are mostly middle and high school, the book is for 7^th-10^th graders. However, there may be better examples of this type of book on other shelves.

Recommended Grades: 7-10

Rating: 3 Stars

“Soldier’s Heart” by Gary Paulsen (Published by Random House 1998) is a historical fiction civil war book based on the life of 16-year-old Charley Goddard, who enlists in the Union Army for money and manhood but ends up finding more than he bargained for in the war.

The book is engaging right from the first battle, if not from the start. The change in mentality that war brings is one of the main focuses of the book, and is explored in such a manner that the reader is almost on the same wavelength of the character due to his quick, efficient descriptions of actions and rather longer descriptions of how he feels when he has time to feel. Also on display is the basic humanity of the individuals even in times of war, as Union and Rebel soldiers stationed near each other but not in battle sometimes risk trading items with each other such as food. Paulsen puts the reader not only on the battlefield, but in Goddard’s mind through his first-person narrative and sharp imagery evoked by his words.

This book is a good read for those interested in war and those not, as it enthralls the reader all the same. Elements of war such as descriptive killing and handling of bodies make the book unsuitable for very young audiences, and it is recommended for at least 7^th-9^th graders.

Recommended Grades: 7-9

Rating: 4.5 Stars

“Someone to Love Me” by Anne Schraff (Published by Townsend Press 2002) is a Bluford High book that focuses on self-doubting main character Cindy Gibson and her relationship with her mother Lorraine, her potential stepfather Ralph, and her new boyfriend, a year removed from an abusive relationship with Cindy’s friend Jamee.

            The book deals with somewhat mature themes, but also some that most high-schoolers go through, such as image problems, being taken advantage of, youthful optimism and the need for peer support. It is rather unique in that it deals with African-American characters almost exclusively, and therefore would be a good read for readers looking to escape the norm in terms of racial diversity in literature. The main character is written to be empathized with, and the degree to which that is successful is debatable, as she continually makes frustrating decisions, but also represents a good portion of teenagers. Where the book shines is in characterizing some of the less important characters such as one of her neighbor’s grandson, who clearly is unable to vocalize his crush on her though he is fully able to warn her of the folly of her ways.

            Because of the presence of drugs in a pervasive manner, this book may not be suitable for young audiences. However, the fairly easy vocabulary marks this mature book as hi-lo, intended for high schoolers who may not read on their level, though it can be enjoyed even by those who are.

Recommended Grades: 9-11

Rating: 4 Stars

S. E. Hinton’s “Rumble Fish” (Published by S. E. Hinton 1975) follows wannabe gang leader Rusty-James as he recounts his unenviable late childhood after meeting an old friend going to secondary school at the beginning of the book.

            The book’s best quality is its use of 1^st-person, as it is all in Rusty’s voice and enables the reader to get into his head and figure out his fairly simple thoughts (often thinking with his fists and lacking discretion) as well as the longings of his heart that even he seems unaware of for the majority of the time (ability to let down his tough-guy image without being embarrassed). The author does not hide from the reader that Rusty-James needs guidance, and thus the reader is not surprised when a lack of that guidance leads to his downfall. A vivid show of the admiration that Rusty-James and his friends have for tough, streetwise people such as The Motorcycle Boy is made by the author, allowing the reader to connect to the world.

            Lacking, however, is the occurrence of anything in the book that is truly memorable. While cohesive and entertaining, the book lacks the uniqueness that might make it truly a great work. For themes such as gangs, knife-fights and some sexual content, the book is recommended for 7^th-9^th graders.

Recommended Grade: 7-9

Rating: 3.5

“Lauren the Puppy Fairy” by Daisy Meadows (Published by Scholastic 2008) tells the story of Rachel and Kirsty, friends of the fairies who have lost their pets on earth as the two girls try to outwit Jack Frost’s goblins and return the dog fairy’s dog to her.

            The combination of text and pictures is really in effect with this book, as the words tell the story in a colorful manner, augmented by pictures on the bottoms of the pages that show the reader a key part of the scene, from the meeting of two dogs toward the beginning of the book to the clumsy, cantankerous goblins whose lack of teamwork is visually on display in a most humorous way despite the illustrations’ lack of color. The vocabulary itself is very readable to all but the youngest ages, and the ending is fittingly heartwarming to any child.

            Because of the length of the book, it might not be fitting for the youngest readers, but 4^th-6^th graders, especially girls, will thoroughly enjoy this book.

Recommended Grades: 4-6

Rating: 4.5 Stars