Future Tech: From Personal Robots to Motorized Monocycles

by Charles Piddock and James LeeWashington, D. C.: National Geographic, 2009. 58pgs. Juvenile Non-Fiction.

How cool would it be to have spy robots who could move silently around on simulated gecko feet? Or to inject a nanobot into human bodies which could repair genetic damage on a cellular level? Robotic surgical applications, brain-computer interfaces, smart houses that pretty much clean themselves and take care of the people who live there (a little scary: shades of HAL!), and snake venom cancer treatments: all these find a place in this smart little book that should provide young techies with plenty of fodder for wonder and invention, along with some funny futurisms that didn't pan out, like the atomic car which would have required an 80,000 pound reactor to power a 3,000 pound vehicle. Some fun!

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Stand Tall by Joan Bauer

Stand Tall By Siena Siegel by Joan Bauer Putnam, 2002, 182 pgs Realistic Fiction Tree is 12 years old and over 6 feet tall. That would be great if he were a basketball player, but he is not. Dealing with his unusual size is not Tree's only challenge. Tree's parents have recently gone through a divorce, and his grandfather has had his leg amputated as the result of an old Vietnam War injury. The strength of this book is the characterizations. All of the main characters are dimensional and sympathetic. Bauer sets the characters in real and often funny family situations. Best of all is the character of Tree. He is boy with a heart to match his stature. This is a great book for boys or girls ages 9-12, as a read aloud or for individual reading. This book could also be a good Rx book for children whose families are going through divorce, or for anyone who feels like they don't fit in.

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