Read-Aloud Poems, Hacked!

Hale, Gloria, ed. Read-aloud Poems: 50 of the World's Best Loved Poems for Parent and Child to Share
11 September 2012, Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers

This good sized collection of poetry had some very good entries, but almost all of the poems were very old (before the 1920s!). While this gives us a good cross section of the better poems of Emily Dickinson and Longfellow, it also focuses heavily on more sentimental poets like Edgar Guest and other very little known writers, including Christopher Morley's "The Plumpuppets". The illustrations are also overly sentimental and from the early 1900s. I'm really torn on this one, since there are some really good poems; some are so sappy. The biggest problem is the section on humor-- rather dated.


Gerber, Linda. Hacked: Lights, Camera, Cassidy #3
14 June 2012, Puffin

Cassidy is in Costa Rica with her mother and father, who are the hosts of the travel show When in Rome. Because of the following that Cassidy's blog has, the producers of the show have asked her and Logan to do short teaser spots that will run on television. Cassidy is also ramping up her fashion so that she can plug scarves and accessories from certain designers. She loves Costa Rica and is having a great time until someone hacks into her blog and posts unflattering things about the country. When she finds the first post, she takes it down and doesn't tell anyone. When it happens again, she's in even deeper trouble, and the security breaches come to the attention of the show's crew. In trying to locate where the posts were made, they find that they have come from where Cassidy is staying, so someone near her is trying to sabotage her career and her parents' show.
Strengths: Gerber writes the most fantastic travel stuff, so this is a great series for girls interested in other parts of the world. The celebrity angle and romance doesn't hurt, either!
Weaknesses: Published in paperback, I have to wait to get them in prebind. Boo! Publish Gerber in HARDBACK!

Celebrity was the first book in this fun series, and I'm waiting for Paparazzi and Drama to come in the next Follett order.