Three illustrated non-fiction books share fascinating information about ancient cultures, unusual wordsmiths, and careers you might not have considered. Ancient Romans and Their Neighbors: An Activity Guide by Simonetta Carr. Chicago Review Press, 2019, 150 pages. Reading Level: ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-12 The ancient Romans, Etruscans, Celts, and Carthaginians left a rich record of their history and culture woven through stories, artifacts, and architecture. It is remarkable how much we can know about their daily lives. Ancient Romans and Their Neighbors consists of four parts, each containing brief chapters on history, architecture, clothing, writing, art and music, religion, government and warfare, daily life, and food. Carr has done…

The Vanderbeekers are back, with all the humor and good-heartedness that makes their family so loveable. The Vanderbeekers Lost and Found by Karina Yan Glasser. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020, 347 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 8-14 How happy we were to find the Vanderbeekers four years ago! The five siblings living with their parents in a comfortable, if slightly crowded, brownstone apartment in the heart of Harlem, were a happy yet realistic picture of love that triumphs over conflict. They’re back for an autumn story of more challenges. Twins Jessie and Isa are now 14, baby Lainey is 6, Oliver is 11 and shy Hyacinth…

Premeditated Myrtle introduces a precocious 12-year-old Victorian detective with a trusty governess sidekick. Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth Bunce. Algonquin Young Readers, 2020, 355 pages. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-14 Introducing Myrtle Hardcastle, age 12, daughter of a prominent public solicitor (and eligible widower). Myrtle loves her father’s profession: “the way he pierced together individual bits of evidence into a clear, undeniable picture. It was like the way the planets fit together in the heavens, or the sixty-six elements in the Periodic Table. A natural order to the universe, life and death, good and evil, law and order.” Obviously not the typical well-bred young lady of…

Finally, Something Mysterious kicks off a middle-grader mystery series set in Bellwood, a small town with more than its share of eccentrics. Finally, Something Mysterious by Doug Cornett. Alfred A. Knopf, 2020, 242 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 8-12 “Strange but boring” is how Paul Marconi would describe his hometown, Bellwood. Seen from above, the town is laid out in a shape resembling a bell and is surrounded by woods, so there’s that. And the biggest deal of the year is the Bellwood Bratwurst Bonanza, where amateur chefs try to outdo each other with creative sausage recipes. But still, days and seasons turn pretty much…

Remember the days of full-color, glossy-paged print magazines that would arrive in your mailbox every month? Recall that pleasant sensation of opening up the latest issue of content-loaded goodness and no (or very little) advertising. Saturday Review, American Heritage, Gourmet, and even Mad Magazine now reside in the journalistic trash heap of history, but– Redeemed Reader is going back to the future! We’re not talking about catalogues of ads with content you have to track down from page to page. Nor are we talking about weekly mags that stack up in forbidding piles because you don’t have time to read them. The Fall issue of Redeemed Reader Quarterly is 21…

Machines in Motion is a fascinating picture book absolutely packed with interesting illustrations and trivia all about transportation. Machines in Motion: The Amazing History of Transportation by Tom Jackson and illustrated by Chris Mould. Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2020. 64 pages. Reading Level: Picture Books, ages 8-12 Recommended For: Ages 8-12 Do you ever think about the invention of the wheel? What about the many vehicles that take people from here to there? Did you know that the first man who attempted flying in a “rocket” was actually a Chinese man several centuries ago? Or that a monk tried to “fly” in the 11th century? Or that someone invented a hovercraft…