How it is possible to be a jock
and a jerk at the same time

John Coogan is one of those guys that was just born to be a football player. When he was so young that he couldn't remember, he got a football helmet for Christmas. With the helmet on, he head-butted his cousin Bridgett and knocked her out the front door. So that's where the name "Crash" came from. He was always crashing into people and things - with or without a helmet.

Crash tells the story in his own words. He was always big for his age. His best friend from sixth grade on was Mike Deluca, who also was big, loud, and loved to push other littler guys around - just like Crash. They both had a target in Penn Webb, a quiet little guy in the neighborhood, who didn't seem to mind having the two big guys making fun of him all the time.

In seventh grade, Crash has become a football hero. He really likes the new girl in class. When he tells her that he is willing to take her to a school dance, she tells him to buzz off. He can't believe it! He thought she would jump at the chance to go to the dance with a big, important football hero. To make things even worse, he finds out she hangs around with Penn Webb, the little nerd. Can you believe it, Penn not only doesn't play football, but he's a member of the cheerleading squad!

It is different to read a book where the main character is really "a bad guy" and doesn't even realize it. Does he ever come to realize what a jerk he is? Can he bring himself to do the right thing, instead of being crude, loud, and bullying? What would it take to get the prettiest girl in class begin to really like him? You have to read the book to find out.

"Crash" was written by Jerry Spinelli and is available in paperback.

Can the movie be as gross as the book?

As you may know by now, we don't just review "good" literature. "Revenge of the Scorpion King" is based on the story line for the movie coming out in May 2001, titled "The Mummy Returns." Just as the movie is unlikely to be viewed as a great movie, the book based on the script definitely is not going to be an award-winning book for kids. But, it might be enjoyable reading for any of you who like a story with unbelievably evil and gross villains who are all intent on killing the "hero" of the story.

The hero is 12-year-old Alex O'Connell, who is living in Egypt with his archeologist parents in 1937. As the story takes place, Alex's parents are off on an expedition, and Alex is in the care of Ardeth Bay, the leader of the Medjai, a group with the responsibility of guarding the tombs of ancient mummies. And the Medjai had good reason for guarding the tombs. The Scorpion King and other ancient monsters could be accidentally released by tomb robbers and be freed to terrorize the entire modern world for the next thousand years.

The Scorpion King and his monstrous long-entombed friends has reason to hate Alex and his parents. The O'Connells had almost freed the Scorpion King and his followers a few years before while researching a royal tomb, but they had sealed the tomb back up just in time.

If you like scenes of deadly scorpions crawling all over your body, waiting for nightfall, so they can bite you, you will like this book. If you like vile smelling mummies and skeletons chasing after you with ancient swords and spears, you will like this book. If you want to see how a 12-year-old defeats all these monsters as well as some Nazi soldiers who also happen to be there in the desert, you will like this book.

A horse story that is a mystery story as well

Ashleigh Griffin is only 11 years old and she had heavy responsibilities around her family's horse farm in Kentucky. But she really loves her work with the horses. She is excited because her dad has finally been able to save enough money to buy a beautiful thoroughbred. The three-year-old stallion even appears a good enough racer to be able to compete in the Kentucky Derby. Ashleigh didn't like the looks of the seller or his trainer, but everything appeared okay after the sale. The horse, Royal Renegade, appeared healthy, was reasonably gentle, and, best of all, began to win races.

Trouble began when Ashleigh came home one Saturday and saw a horse that looked just like Royal Renegade being hauled away in a horse trailer. But Royal Renegade was still in the barn, so Ashleigh put her concern aside. Over the next weeks, though, Royal Renegade seemed to have changed in temperament. He became hard to handle and, worst of all, he lost all his races, even though he would get off to fast starts.

Ashleigh knew that her family livelihood was in trouble if Royal Renegade kept failing to compete well in races leading up to the Kentucky Derby. When she uncovered additional evidence that their horse had been replaced with another lookalike horse, her parents just wouldn't believe her. After all, she's just a kid. How she gets to the root of the problem and secures evidence enough to make her parents take action makes up the rest of the story.

"Derby Dreams" is book number ten in the Ashleigh series. So if you like the characters and events in this story about a girl and horses, there is plenty more good reading.

Have you ever thought about volunteering
to work for a veterinarian?

Brenna Lake is a middle-grade student who really likes animals. She likes them so much she has volunteered to work for a veterinarian in her hometown in Pennsylvania. The vet likes Brenna's enthusiasm so much that she is getting to go on a trip to Florida to visit an animal hospital there. The hospital specializes in treating injured marine animals. These animals include manatees, large mammals with flippers, which live in the coastal waters around Florida.

Brenna tends to jump into things without thinking beforehand. This impulsiveness gets her into trouble on her trip. She jumps off a boat to help save an injured baby manatee and angers the two vets responsible for her.

Manatees are a highly endangered animal. Fast speeding motor boats in the waters around Florida frequently injure them. The environment in which they can survive is being taken over more and more by homes and businesses. Increasing pollution of the water is killing them off also. Brenna Lake becomes totally involved in trying to keep the hospital open that provides the main hope for keeping alive injured manatees. How her impulsiveness helps to finally save the animal hospital makes up the last part of the story.

If you love animals yourself, you will enjoy reading this paperback book.