1. Why were St. Louis kids so eager to dance in the "Nutcracker?"
2. Why did there have to be two dance teams?
3. What fact illustrates how popular "Nutcracker" is in St. Louis at Christmas time?
4. What did the young dancers think was so special about New York?

1. What does winning at the state tournament now entitle the "Oddly Charged Particles" team to do?
2. What additional task did the team have to do in the state tournament beyond competing with their robot?
3. Why will the team have to recruit some new members next year?
4. Would you like the opportunity to participate in a robotics competition? Why or why not?

1. What is one of the purposes behind the free book program?
2. How does Dontre's library compare to those of Cerrita and Kristopher?
3. Do you have a home library of your own? Describe it.

1. Describe the stock market contest.
2. What is the Dow Jones 30 Industrial Average?
3. What do you think it meant when the kids "dumped" a stock?
4. Would you like to participate in the stock market game? Why or why not?

1. What do you think "constructive criticism" means?
2. What were some suggestions that Ms. McKissack made regarding "transitions?"
3. What made you think that even established writers engage in rewriting their stories?
4. Do you like to write stories? Why or why not?

1. Why was Gabriela featured in a story in Young Saint Louis.com five years ago and then again this month?
2. What was unusual about Gabriela's "underhanded" serve in some tournaments?
3. Why had her family put off an operation for Gabriela?
4. What is the downside of tennis being an individual rather than a team sport?

1. 1. How does Farrell Roland's situation differ from most of this year's Young Achievers?
2. What were the things Farrell accomplished while at St. Joan of Arc School?
3. What are a couple of things that Farrell has come up against at his new school in Arizona?
4. How did Farrell think that volunteering in a veterinary clinic might help him?

This Month's Book Reviews

A book that portrays the problems of a teenager
living in the "inner city"

Sharon G. Flake, author of "Begging for Change," had an earlier book titled "Money Hungry" that was named a Coretta Scott King Honor Book. The title "Begging for Change" refers to the behavior of the book's main character's father who is a drug addict living on the streets. Teenager Raspberry Hill, by circumstances, is forced to live in an inner city neighborhood with her mother. The mother is working hard to overcome the financial loss that makes it necessary to live in a dangerous neighborhood. Meanwhile, the mother is trying to instill in her daughter values that will keep her from slipping into the behaviors she sees in the neighborhood surrounding them.

Raspberry, like any daughter, wants a father that she can trust and depend on. She abhors her drug-addicted father's behavior and believes, in spite of evidence to the contrary, that she can help reform him. Above all, she doesn't want to fall into the bad behavior patterns that she sees in him. It's gritty material for a kids' book, but the author tries to bring it all to a happy ending.

A pirate book for kids that is unusual in several ways

"Ghost Ship," a novel by Dietlof Reiche, is different in several ways from most kids' books. First of all, it was written in German and published as a book for German kids before it was translated and made available to young American readers. Even though written for Germans, the setting was modern day New England. As is usual in kids' novels, two kids are setting out to unravel a mystery, mostly without any adult help. But the events they experience are highly unusual. A bay is left without water when the kids start to uncover certain truths about a ship's disappearance over two hundred years before. Then the wreckage of the ship appears at the bottom of the dried out bay. On board are the ghosts of the crew that had to have perished when the ship went down. These events make for good reading by kids whatever their language or nationality.

A book that informs about recent history
while amusing young readers

Richard Peck, author of "The Teacher's Funeral," is a Newbery Award-winning author of "A Year Down Yonder." His special talent is writing about early twentieth century rural and small town life in America, especially the Middle West. He manages to acquaint young readers with life as it might have been for their grandparents or great-grandparents, while infusing his stories with one humorous account after another. "The Teacher's Funeral" is one you might want to read yourself. Better yet, you might really enjoy reading it aloud to your own kids.

A girl leads the life she wants at a time
when women's choices were limited

"Riding Freedom" by Pam Munoz Ryan is a story that appeals to those girls who love horse stories, but also supports a message that girls can aspire to be whatever they want to be. It is a short book that tells a fictionalized account of a real historical person in a very direct manner. A reader is not apprised that the story is reality-based until an ending note from the author. Many young readers are not likely to be aware that citizens, if they were female, were denied the right to vote until relatively recently. The discussion of women's suffrage was not part of this horse story until the ending of the book, but it was a logically related ending to cap the heroine's accomplishments.