These two new illustrated biographies in the Leader Like Us series focus on subjects with Latin American roots whose impressive achievements occurred in highly appealing fields. Oscar de la Renta was a fashion designer originally from the Dominican Republic who eventually headed a global brand that dressed celebrities, from first ladies to pop stars. Serena Auñón Chancellor is a NASA doctor with Cuban American heritage who was able to combine her dreams of pursuing medicine and becoming an astronaut. Elisa Chavari's illustrations add interest and are particularly useful in helping readers visualize fashion designs in the de la Renta entry....

The Travel to... series takes a unique approach to its subject matter of travel via specific topics. Each iteration takes a topic and highlights different parts of the U.S. significant to that topic, including a concluding map noting each location mentioned. Typical to Rourke titles, the work includes "School to Home Connections," a precursor that notes reading reading activities to do before, during, and after reading to improve comprehension. These continuing series titles starkly contrast in subject matte, similar to the first iterations of the series. Historical Black Colleges and Universities journeys through the history of HBCUs, including their influence...

The latest volumes in the attractive Leaders Like Us series introduce young readers to a diverse group of Americans who have worked for justice and against discrimination on many levels. Dalip Singh Saund tells of a young man who left India to study agriculture in California, helped overturn the law barring Indian immigrants from citizenship, and later became the first Asian American and first Sikh elected to Congress. José Feliciano introduces a boy, blind since birth, whose Puerto Rican family moved to New York City in 1945. Playing his guitar for hours every day, he wrote songs, performed, and later...

While weather doesn’t feature prominently in most of these survival stories, water is a constant theme. Six real-life tales are sensationally related in this high-interest offering from the Escape, Rescue & Survival series (2 titles), which will appeal to readers who thrill over close calls with danger. Capitalizing on its splashy layout and dramatic, easy-to-read text, the book divides its stories into three categories: “Extreme Weather,” “Lost at Sea,” and “Underwater Attacks.” Readers will encounter gripping accounts of the 2018 cave rescue of a Thai soccer team, a woman swept out to sea during a tsunami, two different boating disasters,...

Running is one of the oldest sports in human history. In fact, footraces were among the events at the first Olympic Games in 776 BCE. Since then, there have been countless people-powered racing competitions, and this entry in the high-low At the Starting Line series (2 titles) spotlights a variety of them. Short, thematic chapters feature colorful photos of diverse athletes in action, glossary words defined on the page, and accessible, upbeat paragraphs. The text loosely groups sports into categories, such as swimming, cycling, and races on courses or tracks (e.g., orienteering and skiing), beginning each section with familiar versions...