Heart Man: Vivian Thomas, African-American Heart Surgery Pioneer reviewed in Book Links January 2014

Heart Man: Vivian Thomas, African-American Heart Surgery Pioneer reviewed in Book Links January 2014. The original edition has been revised and expanded. The link above goes to the newly revised edition. Available from BlueWaveClassroom.

Drake! Hip-Hop Celebrity reviewed in Booklist 2/1/14

Drake, the Canadian rapper, actually began his career in television on the teen drama DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION. Read about his rise to stardom, and his friends, family, and fans. Find out what motivates him, and his plans for the future.  Written by Ally Azzarelli, read the review in Booklist edition 2/1/14.  Available from BlueWaveClassroom in paperback.

States Lag in Educating Students About Personal Finance

Recent Pew Charitable Trusts article states: "States Lag in Educating Students About Personal Finance" and can be found at: http://bit.ly/PAO8TE.   Please consider our new series Be Smart About Money and Financial Literacy.   Available in paperback and eBook. From BlueWaveClassroom.

Earth Day

Written for the elementary reader, I Love Our Earth is a series that consists of six titles, with each title covering a different environmental issue. These easy-to-read titles include color photographs that bring the text to life.

Correlated to the Common Core College and Career Readiness Standards, these titles are available in library, paperback, and eBook formats. They can be found through your preferred vendor, bluewaveclassroom.com, local bookstores, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

A Poem for National Poetry Month

The following poem was taken from Beauty Poetry, a new title in Enslow's Pure Poetry series, and was written by William Shakespeare. The four books in this series each cover a different poetry theme. Each chapter looks at one poem accompanied by detailed analysis discussing the style and technique, poetic devices, and the cultural significance. Every chapter ends with questions, and prompts students to discuss and assess the featured poems.

Sonnet 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May;

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimm’d;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;

Nor shall Death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

This entire series is correlated to the Common Core College and Career Readiness Standards, and can be obtained from your preferred vendor, local bookstores, enslow.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. They are available in paperback, library, and eBook formats.

April is also Financial Literacy month

To help students develop the skills and strategies related to financial planning, saving, and investing, look at

Enslow's new series, Be Smart About Money and Financial Literacy. Written for the middle school reader, each of these six books cover one topic related to money and financial literacy.

Be Smart About Credit, the first title in the series, defines the two ways of looking at debt; the kinds of credit and debt; the costs of credit and debt; what are credit ratings and reports;  knowing rights and responsibilities; and troubleshooting tools. The end of each chapter features a math or word problem.

All six titles in the series are available in library, paperback, and eBook formats. There is also a library/eBook bundle. These titles are available from your preferred vendor, local bookstores, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

This series is also correlated to the Common Core College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards.

Happy Birthday Maya Angelou

Written for the middle school reader, this biography of the award-winning poet and Civil Rights activist describes her early life raised by her grandmother in Arkansas. Rising from poverty, she achieved success as a dancer, an actress, a teacher, and an award-winning author. This compelling profile will make readers understand and appreciate why Maya Angelou is one of the best-loved and most fascinating American writers.

Available in library, paperback, and eBook formats, this title is available from your preferred vendor, local bookstore, enslow.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. Titles in the African-American Icons series are also correlated to the Common Core College and Career Readiness Standards.

New series for National Poetry month

Pure Poetry, geared toward the upper middle and high school student, is a series of four titles, with each book focusing on one particular poetry theme. Each chapter looks at one poem accompanied by detailed analysis discussing the style and technique, poetic devices, and the cultural significance. Every chapter ends with questions and prompts for student discussion and assessment.

These titles are correlated to the Common Core College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards, and are available in library, paperback, and eBook formats. They are available from your preferred vendor, bluewaveclassroom.com, local independent bookstores, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.