The Underground Girls of Kabul: In Search of a Hidden Resistance in Afghanistan by Jenny Nordberg

In Afghanistan, the worst place in the world to be a female, many girls are raised as boys until puberty in a practice where they are called "bacha posh" which literally means "dressed like a boy". In Afghanistan, which has a repressive, patriarchal society, women are treated like servants, animals, property that has no rights. Due to the need for sons and the fact that females are unable to work, many families designate a daughter to be raised as a son, a bacha posh, and this practice is far more common that most people realize.

Several characters are followed in this book including: Azita, a woman parliamentarian, which is an anomaly, and her daughter Mehran, whom she has chosen to be a bocha posh for her family because she has no sons. We also read about Zahra, a teenager, who, having been raised as a bacha posh, refuses to turn back into a girl; and Shukria, a woman who had been raised as a boy and then was changed back to a girl and was married off and now has children of her own. The author explains the many reasons that families may designate a daughter to be a bacha posh, describes the extremely dysfunctional attitudes within the Afghan society and the struggles of many girls and women and their fathers to overcome these views and make changes in Afghanistan. She also explains why foreign aid is not helping the situation.

Lastly, the author explores the issue of what gender is and describes how, throughout history, around the world, for various reasons, often in times of war, females have chosen to or have had to present themselves as males.
I received this book free to review from Netgalley and I highly recommend it.

Weather 100 Facts You Should Know by Clare Oliver

This is a fabulous book of weather facts suitable for elementary and middle school age children.  Full of facts on a wide variety of weather related topics like seasons, types of clouds, hurricanes, hail, rainbows, auroras and myths and legends about weather, this book is sure to appeal to people of all ages.  The photos and drawings are engaging and there are occasional quizzes, funny facts, a glossary and an index.  I think this book would make a great addition to any elementary school and middle school library as well as for people who home school and any children who are interested in weather.  I received this book free to review from Netgalley and I highly recommend it.

Poison Dart Frogs Up Close by Carmen Bredeson

This book has beautiful and colorful photographs and interesting facts about poison dart frogs. It describes their life cycle and habitat and gives other interesting facts about the frogs. This is a wonderful resource for elementary school and middle school children. I received this book free to review from Netgalley and I highly recommend it!

Mason Meets A Mason Bee by Dawn V Pape

This is a cute rhyming book for children that tells facts about bees and their importance in pollinating the plants that we eat. It also tells about the dangers of pesticides and has lovely photographs of bees and flowers and an adorable little boy. I did, however, think that the photos of bees that they had drawn faces on were rather creepy. There are not many of those and perhaps children will think they are cute. I received this book free to review from Netgalley.

The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus, #5) by Rick Riordan

I enjoyed this book but it seemed a bit stale and formulaic. About every other chapter starts with a bang in the first sentence such as: "The hordes had arrived."; "Jason rose from his deathbed so he could drown with the rest of the crew.";and "Piper wasn't surprised when the snake people arrived." There are also lots of flashbacks and references to things that happened in the past. I really don't know if all of those things are in the past books or if they are just put in to build more background, but it got old. This story is told by Jason, Piper, Nico, Reyna, and Leo as they try to unite the Greek and Roman camps so that they can unite the Greek and Roman halves of the gods and keep Gaea from being awakened and destroying all humanity. If you like the other books in this series, you will enjoy this one as well. It has action, adventure, fights, romance, death, gods, goddesses and demigods in a battle to unite as well as to defeat.

Can I Tell You about Eating Disorders?: A Guide for Friends, Family and Professionals by Bryan Lask, Lucy Watson

This is an interesting way to explain eating disorders to children and to the friends, family and other adults who know young people who have eating disorders. It is told by a character named Alice, who has Anorexia, and she discusses her eating disorder with other kids who have other eating disorders including Freddie, who has Food Avoidance Emotional Disorder; Sam, who has Selective Eating; Francesca, who has Functional Dysphagia; and Beth, who has Bulimia. The book explains how the young people with the eating disorders feel and what other people can do to help them. I think that this book would be very helpful to teachers, friends and family members of young people who suffer from eating disorders.

Breaking Free by Winter Page

I am amazed that this was written by a 14 year old. The story is captivating and emotional. It is well written and is also edited well. Told mostly by Raimi (aka Rain), and partly by Clare, it covers many issues that teenagers deal with including bullying, homosexuality, drugs, drinking, oppressive religion and family problems. I think that many teenagers will enjoy reading this story. I received this book free to review from Netgalley and I highly recommend it.