Not for the squeamish!

Oooh, something kinda gross, just in time for Halloween!  If you have a weak stomach, you may want to stay away from The Book of Blood: From Legends and Leeches to Vampires and Veins by H. P. Newquist.  No, it's not completely disgusting, but you will see a bit of the red stuff as the author discusses everything from what blood is made up of to the amazing things that blood does for your body, and from old-time medical treatment (leeches! blood-letting!) to creatures both real and imagined that want to drink your blood.  There's even some cool information about unusual blood that other animals have.  Did you know that the blood from an icefish is clear?  And blood from a horseshoe crab is blue??  Check this out...if you dare...and learn what rare disease can turn a person's blood...green.

What a science experiment!

Okay, science fans, this one's for you: Brendan Buckley's Sixth-Grade Experiment by Sundee T. Frazier.  It's a light-hearted book, but Brendan is dealing with a lot: starting middle school, being paired with Morgan (a girl with a big crush on him) for a science project on cow poop, and worrying that she's going to mess up his guy friendships.  On top of that, he's got a difficult relationship with his dad, who's always proud of Brendan's skills in martial arts but doesn't seem to care about Brendan's love of (and talent for) science.  Brendan's a likable kid, and the author does a great job of describing his family relationships without over-emphasizing them - Mom and Grandpa Ed are white, Dad and Grandma Gladys are black. Although Brendan's thoughts and words sometimes seem a bit far-fetched (they're verrrrry science-y), the situations seem very realistic and are often pretty funny....especially at the end of the experiment.