Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This may well be a Newbery Medal contender in 2013. Vanderpool captures the nuances of character as she describes the friendship that develops between Jack and Early Auden, and tracks their adventures as they set out on a river journey that becomes a "quest."

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Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sheinkin is truly adept at crafting research into an engaging narrative. Even though I know the history here, I became caught up in his narrative as if it were a suspense novel. 'Will the Norweigans be able to blow up the heavy water plant?' 'Will the weather really break so they can perform the Trinity test?'

This is certainly a contender for the Newbery Medal, as well as the Seibert and a few others.

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Unspoken by Henry Cole

Unspoken: A Story From the Underground Railroad by Henry Cole
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Henry Cole's wordless picture book about a young girl who chooses to aid a runaway slave hiding in her barn, is distinguished not only for the depth of emotions captured by his graphite drawings, but also for the range of discussion each panel evokes. In the end notes Cole provides additional context to the historical and geographical setting of his story. A Caldecott Medal contender in my book!

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Hokey Pokey: the dance, the treat, the place

Hokey Pokey by Jerry Spinelli
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

How often have you thought, "Kids. They live in a world of their own." Jerry Spinelli has captured this world: Hokey Pokey where toddlers turn into kids who are free to play and explore all day long ... until, one day you wake up and things are different.

Spinelli's "hokey pokey" world is inventive, well-crafted, and populated with a neighborhood of kids we can all relate to ... both best pals and bullies. It is in the dream-sequences of 'night' that I lose my way. Then again, maybe I'm trying to make sense of something I "used to" understand!

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The Gershwins and Me: A Personal History in Twelve Songs by Michael Feinstein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Feinstein has crafted a fascinating look into the lives and work of George and Ira Gershwin using twelve of their songs as a backdrop. Woven into the narrative are Feinstein's personal insights from his years as an assistant to Ira Gershwin and vast research into American popular song. Although I read this from an advance reader copy, so I did not have a chance to view the illustrations of Gershwin documents and memorbilia that will be included in the final book, this looks to be an important book that music fans and libraries will want to add to their collections.

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Some Halloween fun!