Plumfield and Paideia

The Eagle of the Ninth

Reviewed by Diane Pendergraft
Rosemary Sutcliff draws a detailed picture of Roman Britain without belaboring description or being condescending in her use of authentic vocabulary. You may need to keep a dictionary handy, but you won’t miss much of the story’s intent without one. This is a story about ancient Britain under Roman rule. There is bound to be violence. However, Sutcliff manages to convey the necessary details of battles without gore. Read the full review

Echo

Reviewed by Sara Masarik
While I have become increasingly skeptical of the Newbery Award, I am delighted that Pam Munoz Ryan?s excellent Echo was noticed and honored. While the primary setting of this story is WWII, and the war does have an important part to play in the lives of Freiderich and Ivy Maria, the real thrust of the story is the power of music to heal others. Read the full review

Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure

Reviewed by Sara Masarik
The Mouse Adventures series includes four stories of daring and creative mice who are as fascinated by science and technology as we are. In each book, the main mouse considers an engineering and invention question at more or less the same time as the famous human counterpart. In each book, it is the mouse who solves the problem first, and who then leaves clues behind for the famous scientist. Whether it is the mouse who leaves scraps of paper behind for the “floppy hats” at NASA to find as he blasts off to the moon, or the mouse who leaves a riddle each night for Einstein to solve, helping him work out his theories on relativity, the mouse is always just one step ahead of the human in the most charming ways. Read the full review