Crispin: The Cross of Lead by AVI

England, 1377. A boy only known as "Asta's Boy" from his mother's name, leads a simple impoverished existence. Then, one day, after his mother dies, he overhears a clandestine conversation with the town steward and a stranger. After his discovery by the pair, he is declared a "Wolf's Head" and his life is forever altered. For any citizen can kill a Wolf's Head since he is no longer considered a person, but a wild animal to be eliminated for the safety of the town. After finding the town's Priest informs him that his name is Crispin and presents him with his mother's lead cross with an inscription on it he cannot read (since he's never learned to read) he makes his escape by night. Before long he encounters a huge man with a grizzled red beard, and sets off to the region's main city where he learns to read, juggle and wield a dagger for his own protection in the dangerous late middle aged world.

Merit: The third Newbery winner by the author.
Appeal: Written in first person for tight association with the title character.

By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Julie Ann Peters

Daelyn Rice is sharing the last 23 days of her life with us. She chronicles the time at her new Catholic Parochial school, her history of bullying at the hands of fellow students--and to her way of thinking, adults and camp counselors as well--and her reasons for pursuing her own death at her own hands--again. But she also encounters a couple of new acquaintances (for she refuses to believe that anyone can be trusted enough to ever have a friend) who cause her to re-evaluate her situation and its meaning.

Peters takes us into the horrifying mind of a suicidal teenager girl as she maneuvers herself through her last days in a neck brace and no ability to vocalize due to a prior suicide attempt. This provides her with an isolation that she cherishes and protects. It is a disturbing story, but one which forces the reader to consider the weighty and important issues of bullying, love, and suicide.

Empathy can either be generated or not, depending on the reader. Answers are left entirely to the reader.

Merit: Honest and thought-provoking. Well written from a teen perspective.
Share: Perhaps not at all. Better to be aware of the work and only recommend it upon specific request.
Appeal: Might be just the thing to get people to think about the factors and impact of suicide and get one thinking about ways to deal with bullicide.

Secret Soldier: The Story of Deborah Sampson by Ann McGovern & Harold Goodmin (Ill)

This transitional book provides highlights of the life of Deborah Sampson, an historical figure who posed as a male in order to enable her to enlist in the Continental Army during America's Revolutionary War during 1781 & 1782. Born in 1760 to a family which couldn't afford to keep her, she was sold into indentured servitude at the age of 10. After completing her obligations, she masqueraded as a man, but was eventually found out when she passed out from the fever in the second of her 3 year stint in the army. She then went on to marry a farmer and eventually went on a lecture circuit about her experience and express her anti-war sentiments, the first woman to lecture professionally from 1801 to 1803. She died in 1827 in Sharon, Massachusetts.

She was in Philadelphia during one of the Yellow Fever epidemics as well.

Merit: Good transitional material for a beginning reader due to wide margins and large typeface. Interesting factual story told in an interesting fashion with 2-color illustrations.
Share: Read aloud or beginning reader.
Appeal: Of interest to girls as informative about female life in colonial America.

Rollercoaster by Narinder Dhami & Derek Brazell (Ill)

A picture book which could also serve as a beginning reader due to its use of whitespace and simple vocabulary, It tells the story of a boy, Mickey, who goes to the amusement park with his friends and their dad. They talk of nothing but riding the rollercoaster, which Mickey is afraid of. He doesn't want to tell them of his fear, thinking they would laugh at him. But when a stranger gives them free tickets to ride the rollercoaster as many times as they want after Mickey saves his daughter from a mishap on the Merry-Go-Round, he doesn't feel that he can dodge the issue. So he rides the coaster and determines that he's done two brave things in one day!

Merit: Simple story of facing one's fears.
Share: Read aloud or beginning reader.
Appeal: Bright colorful illustrations and common internal peer pressure.

Little Black, A Pony by Walter Farley & James Schucker (Ill)

This transitional book was published as part of the Beginner Books series by Random House following the huge success of Dr. Zuess's "The Cat in the Hat." Meant for beginning readers, it's the story of a boy on a horse farm who decides to move up to a bigger horse to prove to himself that he can handle him. This causes his favorite little pony, Little Black, to try and keep up, but can't. One wintry day, the pony runs off. The boy jumps on his bigger horse to bring him back, but they fall through the ice on the river where Little Black has crossed, and the big horse can't get back to him without breaking through the ice again.

Little Black hears the boy's shouting and returns to the river. Due to his smaller size, he can come back out onto the ice and, allowing the boy to grab his tail hair, pulls the boy to the shore & safety.

This is a simple--almost infantile--story about not getting upset about one's size, or lack thereof. A worthy story, but the book shows its age in the illustrations and the story itself. Such that one can't help but appreciate the staying power of books like "The Cat in the Hat" and "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back," which were contemporaries of this book.

Merit: Simple story with good artwork depicting country life.
Share: Read aloud or beginning readers.
Appeal: Young first-reader boys.

Pirate Potty by Samantha Berger & Amy Cartwright (Ill)

A toilet training book with an entertaining & different twist to encouraging children to transition to using the restroom. A Pirate story is told in conjunction with a sticker reward system when a successful completion is achieved. Simple and entertaining color illustrations accompany the text.

Merit: Information on the steps needed to get the job done and a reward system for positive reinforcement.
Share: Read aloud.
Appeal: All activities take place on a Pirate ship with a parrot to reiterate the instructions.

Bailey School Kids: Knights don't Teach Piano by Debbie Dadley & Marcia Thornton Jones (Ill)

Part of the Bailey School Kids series from Scholastic, this transitional reader follows the kids as they take piano lessons from a knight presented to one of the boys as a guest to his Knight-themed birthday party. After seeing suspicious things at the knight's house during a lesson, the gang decide they need to devise a plan to protect Bailey City from a suspected invasion by the knight and his fellow round table friends on horseback. Pencil drawing

Merit: Short (66 pp), simple vocabulary for transitional readers to chapter books.
Share: Read aloud or have reader to.
Appeal: Close friends working through adventures, utilizing advantages of the strengths of each member.