Bomb

     Bomb: The Race To Build- And Steal- The World's Most Dangerous Weapon was written by Steven Sheinkin and it was amazing! Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so either as it has won the 2013 Sibert Award, is a 2013 Newbery Honor Book, a 2012 Washington Post best kids book of the year title, and was a finalist for the 2012 National Book Awards for Young People's Literature.
     This book follows many different aspects in the race between the U.S., Germany and USSR to build the worlds first atomic bomb. The book starts by locating Henry Gold, a spy who smuggled documents to the KGB regarding information on how to assemble an atomic bomb. The reader follows the amazing exploits of Knut Haukelid,  a Norwegian freedom fighter who aided in the delay of Germany assembling an atomic weapon. Sheinkin pieces these stories altogether with Robert Oppenheimer's race to build a "gadget" for the U.S. to use in an effort to end WWII.
     This enthralling non-fiction book designed for children will grip the attention of almost anyone who picks it up. It's action and intrigue captivate you the moment you begin reading and the historical pictures add a nice touch to aid the reader in picturing the people and places as they read about. The book was clearly researched thoroughly, but reads like a novel.

Private

     James Patterson is a popular author amongst the Sollers Point crowd. Honestly I hadn't read anything by him and it was interesting to see what all the fuss is about. Private is a fast paced novel that follows Jack Morgan, a private investigator, on a busy couple of weeks. Jack owns a private investigation firm, aptly named Private, that deals with a lot of high profile cases from the NFL to Hollywood. The company employs only the best, highly trained people who are willing to go above and beyond for not just the job, but Jack as well.
     In this novel Private takes on three intense cases at once and they all work overtime trying to identify a serial killer, untangle a murder, and track down how games are being rigged in the NFL. The novel is told from Jacks persepective in the first person while some chapters give the reader insight into what other characters are doing in the third person perspective. The chapters are very short which make this action novel a quick and engrossing read. Just one more chapter I kept saying to myself.

The Diviners

     The Diviners by Libba Bray is a Young Adult paranormal fiction novel that follows many characters though the main character is Evangeline O'Neil. Evie, as her friends call her, is a 17 year old flapper in 1926 who has a penchant for trouble. She is also a Dinver because of a paranormal gift that allows her to read objects that are special to a person and tell them something about themselves. It's this very gift that gets her into trouble and sent to New York to live with her bachelor uncle who runs The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult.
     While with her uncle, he is called upon to help with a murder investigation that has occult overtones. Evie being the mischevous seeking teen that she is weasles her way into helping with the investigation. As the story unfolds there is a secondary plot that follows other young Diviners, allowing the reader to get a feel for the gifts that other Diviners have.
     The novel is full of extensive description and it's very clear that the author has done a vast amount of research on the 1920's era as well as the history of New York City. The amount of description gives a very vivid depiction of the scenes and thoughts of the characters.
    
     Read alikes for this book are Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber, The Seer by Linda Joy Singleton, and Gods of Manhantan by Scott Mebus.

This is not my hat

As many of you know This is not my hat by Jon Klassen is the 2013 Randolph Caldecott Medal winner. It's an adorable book that fallows a small fish just after he's stolen a small hat from a big fish. He feels that he is justified in doing so because it both fits him better and looks better on him. He believes that he's taken adequate precautions in escaping the big fish, but this may not be the case. I won't give away the ending for you, but I think both the story line and graphics of this book will make you giggle whether you are a kid or just a kid at heart.