The beginning of a war that your
grandparents may have lived through

"Air Raid - Pearl Harbor" tells the story of December 7, 1941. This was the day that the Empire of Japan sent several hundred airplanes to bomb Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. It was a sneak attack, with no warning given to Americans that their country was to be the target of Japanese bombs. Some of your grandparents when they were children can remember turning on the radio on a quiet Sunday afternoon and hearing that their country was being bombed. The bombing of Pearl Harbor was the event that brought our nation into World War II, a war that involved more nations and people than any war in history.

During this summer of 2001, a popular movie called "Pearl Harbor" is playing in our nation's theaters. A number of special programs telling the story of Pearl Harbor appeared on television, especially around Memorial Day of 2001. Why? One reason is that those men and women who fought in World War II to defend our country are getting old and starting to die, just as veterans of all our previous wars gradually disappeared. Many believe that young people who did not experience the war need to learn about it and to understand the sacrifices that were made by their grandparents and great aunts and great uncles who did live at that time.

By December 1941, much of the world was already at war. Germany, led by Adolph Hitler, had already conquered much of Europe and was trying to defeat England with constant bombing attacks. Japan had already invaded parts of China and seemed determined to conquer other parts of Asia. The United States appeared to be trying to stay out of the war and was seen as a "sleeping giant." The U.S. did have a fleet of warships in Hawaii that could play a part in a war in Asia, if America decided to use these warships. Japan's military leaders thought that if they could destroy the American warships, The U. S. could no longer stand in their way and Japan could do whatever they wanted in Asia.

Japan did carry out the surprise attack and it was quite successful. Much of America's fleet was destroyed and hundreds of sailors were killed. However, Japan was the one that was in for an even bigger surprise. The "sleeping giant" was awakened and the call "Remember Pearl Harbor" helped bring the giant to life. The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, America went to war against the invaders in both Europe and in Asia, and, as you know, both Germany and Japan were finally defeated in 1945.

"Air Raid - Pearl Harbor" is a 191-page paperback account of the December 7th attack that was written especially for children. Just because it is a book for kids doesn't mean that it is easy reading. The author, Theodore Taylor, clearly respects his young readers and does nothing to "sugarcoat" his account of the events prior to and during the sneak attack. The young persons who read his book will come away feeling that they have been given a clear and fact-filled description of that historical Sunday of December 7th, 1941.

A story about a really fat boy, an aspiring
country singer, and a soldier in Viet Nam

The story in "When Zachary Beaver Came to Town" takes place in the small town of Antler, Texas in the summer of 1971. The storyteller is Toby Wilson, whose mom has just gone to Nashville's Grand Ole Opry to compete in a talent contest for country singers. Toby and his dad are lonely but trying to make the best of the situation. They suspect that Toby's mom is not ever coming back.

The biggest excitement in town is the arrival of a trailer that has Christmas lights around it and a sign advertising "The Fattest Boy in the World." Almost everybody in Antler is lined up on a hot summer day to pay two dollars to see the unusual boy. Toby and his closest buddy, Cal McKnight, are in line with the rest of the town. The key characters in the story are introduced in this early scene.

Characters include Zachary Taylor, the fat boy, who gradually is befriended by Toby and Cal. There is Scarlett Stalling, the girl that Toby and every other boy in junior high has a crush on. Scarlett has a bratty little sister named Tara that none of the boys like, but they would never let Scarlett know that. Scarlett seems to favor the handsome Mexican boy, Juan, the biggest guy in junior high. There is Miss Myrtle May, the town historian and librarian, who has a face wrinkled like an unironed shirt.

We find out that Toby's father raises fishing worms and markets them to fishing spots around the area. We also find out about Cal's well-liked older brother, Wayne, who is a soldier fighting in the war in Viet Nam. The book's author, Kimberley Willis Holt, takes all of these colorful characters, along with some others, and weaves them into a story that, once you start it, you can't put it down.

Raccoons are cute, but do you
want them on your roof?

Mandy is an English girl from Yorkshire who comes along with her grandparents when they visit old friends in Florida. She is an animal lover and comes from a family of veterinarians. But she had never seen in England the variety of wild animals that she saw all around her in Florida. One of her early encounters is with a really large alligator when she is out canoeing with Joel, a new friend she has just met. Luckily, most of the other animals she runs across are not nearly so frightening.

The family friends that Mandy is visiting are animal lovers also. They help out with an animal rescue group that helps cure animals than have been injured and then returns them to the wild. Unfortunately, the wealthy neighbor next door has just built a large new house with a swimming pool, and he wants a landscaped lawn around his home. He hates wild animals and thinks they are the worst kind of nuisance. He hires exterminators to trap and kill the raccoon family that Mandy has been observing.

When a baby raccoon is caught in one of the neighbor's animal traps, a series of mishaps leads to the neighbor's daughter falling off a roof and breaking her leg. Will the girl be able to continue with her dancing lessons? Will the angry father hate animals even more, or will his daughter's concern for the baby raccoon soften his heart? Will he let Mandy and Joel keep on being friends of his daughter?

"Raccoons on the Roof" is just one book in a list of about 25 books called the Animal-Ark series. The books feature pre-teens that encounter various obstacles in their efforts to help a variety of animals in different parts of the world. If you are an animal lover, this is another series for you.

What does it take to make a book a "classic"?

One definition of a classic is a book that has been around a long time and that everybody seems to have read at one time or another. These books tend to be made into movies more often than other books. Also, because they are famous and tell good stories, their plots are often copied and rewritten in shorter and easier to read form. The two books reviewed here are examples taken from a long list of classics that have been rewritten and shortened so kids can read them. One is "Robin Hood" and the other is "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."

"Robin Hood" tells a story of a young Englishman who has become an outlaw because of the injustices of Prince John, the brother of King Richard the Lion-hearted. Prince John has tried to seize his brother's kingdom, while Richard is away fighting in the Crusades. Robin Hood and his band of outlaws hide in Sherwood Forest and come out to rob the rich and give much of the money to the poor peasants. These faithful subjects of King Richard have many difficulties with Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham before their King returns to reclaim his throne.

"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" was written by Mark Twain, the famous author from Missouri. The story takes place in Hannibal, Missouri, and many of the locations talked about in the book can still be visited today. Of course the main part of the story concerns Tom's being lost in the cave along with Becky Thatcher, the girl he wants to be his girlfriend. The evil Injun Joe has made the cave his hideout. He wants to kill Tom Sawyer because Tom had witnessed a murder that Injun Joe had committed. Huckleberry Finn makes an appearance as Tom's friend in this book. Later, he becomes the hero of his own book by Mark Twain.

These books are just two of those in the "Bullseye Step into Classics" series. Other titles include "Black Beauty," "Treasure Island," and "The Three Musketeers," along with two or three dozen other classic titles. Here is a chance to read a shorter version of the great classics now and decide whether you want to read the longer original one later.