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Sixth grader Molly Cooke and her twelve-year-old brother Addison—who enjoys inadvisable adventures and has a “stunning capacity for getting himself into trouble” (60)—attend Theodore Roosevelt Middle School in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.  Because they are Cookes born into a long line of archeologists, they have grown up on archaeology digs and in museums.  Consequently, Addison Cooke and the Treasure of the Incas by Jonathan W. Stokes is rich with geography lessons, historical allusions, and opportunities to learn about cultural artifacts. When the tweens’ Aunt Delia and Uncle Nigel get kidnapped by treasure hunters and thieves, Addison calls a Code Blue—a mission of theRead More →

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Like all good dystopian fiction, Frost by M. P. Kozlowsky begins with a social question that has currency and relevance and then exaggerates the answer to warn society of what could happen if we don’t take the appropriate actions or proceed with caution.  Kozlowsky’s plot revolves around wishes for everlasting life–for human immortality–and Dr. Alex Simmelfore has found an answer: Create a robot and download human consciousness to a chip that can be planted into the robot.  These improved robot beings will have human instinct, human thought, and human complexity combined with a body that won’t age, wear down, or succumb to illness. As readers will suspect,Read More →

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In: Middle Grade Reviews, Realistic Fiction, Realistic Fiction (YA), Young Adult Book Reviews
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Had Molly Rosenberg known that middle school was going to be the high point in her life, she would have tried harder to enjoy it.  Now, she’s a freshman at Santa Monica High School in Southern California, and she’s friendless and living a life haunted by past mistakes and regrets.  Because she suffers from severe anxiety and panic attacks, her service dog Pixel coaxes her to breathe. But life wasn’t always like this.  Before everything changed, the Rosenbergs were a regular family who played Monopoly or snuggled under blankets to watch old movies together.  “After the awful thing that happened last winter” (47), Mom became addictedRead More →

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It’s that time of year again: the PBC Preferred Collections are here! It’s easy to stay current with all the new books you NEED to see, just use the PBC Preferred Collections! 3 Easy Ways to Stay Current 1.) Pick your own titles using our handy order forms. These are the Featured Collections, a.k.a. the FULL lists. 2016-2017 Elementary PBC Featured Collection 2016-2017 Middle School PBC Featured Collection 2016-2017 High School PBC Featured Collection *These are the Excel order forms for the full lists, plus the preferred collections. 2.) One form and you’re done for the whole year! Use the three levels of PBC Preferred Collections. We combed through our featured collectionsRead More →

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In A Riddle in Ruby: The Changers Key by Kent Davis, the brave Ruby Teach is back, and has found herself a voluntary captive of the man she was running from. While Ruby is training to be a soldier for an upcoming war, her father and friends are searching for her by means of a special coded journal.  As Ruby is fights to prove her worth, and train to be as good a soldier as the other Reeves, she is experimented on by the scientist in hopes of finding out her secret. She makes new friends along the way, and is confronted with her darkRead More →