You Are There! The Titanic: An Interactive History Adventure by Bob Temple

In an instant, a huge crash sends you flying.

In the distance, you hear the sound of watertight doors slamming shut. One of the nearby watertight doors is still open. Water has begun rushing into your compartment. There's no time to waste. You have only a split second to decide what to do. . . .

You dive for the door. Two or three others make it through before the heavy metal door slams shut. You can hear your fellow stokers pounding on the other side. But it's too late to help them.

Soon you see an officer. He tells you what has happened--Titanic has struck ice.

In its You Choose Books Capstone Press has put the "Choose Your Own. . ." format, wildly popular in fantasy and mystery potboilers almost two decades ago, to good use, illuminating some of the major events of history in a reader-friendly interactive design.

In Bob Temple's The Titanic: An Interactive History Adventure (You Choose Books) (You Choose Books), for example, a brief story line aboard the doomed ship is introduced with the reader playing typical characters. At a crucial juncture in the story, the "character" is given two credible choices--in the above vignette, the boiler room stoker may choose to stay and help the injured workers ("Turn to page 96") OR to dive through the doors before they close and seal him hopelessly inside the bowels of the sinking ship ("Turn to page 80").

This title features three distinct strands: the reader may initially choose to hang out with the very rich, dining with John Jacob Astor, to travel with the immigrants on the lowest passenger deck in third class, or to experience the disaster as a member of the crew of the Titanic. Within these three "paths," you can stand beside Astor as he bravely refuses to board a lifeboat with his wife and children, vowing to "see you in New York" as he stays to go down with other gallant men who honored the "women and children first" rule. The reader can choose to be English-speaking immigrant passengers who beg a young officer to unlock the wire gates and allow them to try to board the last lifeboats on deck, or choose to be a non-English-speaking working girl who finds herself up late, singing and dancing with a young man named Tony, who, seeing the last lifeboat being lowered, grabs her hand and jumps with her into the lifeboat and thus into a long life as a Titanic survivor. Conversely, the reader can put himself or herself into the shoes of a crewman who survives when an officer orders him into a lifeboat to row its load of mothers and children clear of the rapidly tilting ship.

There's no fancy writing here, but the events themselves are so gripping and the choices so real that readers will be instantly drawn into the action. This format has special appeal for reluctant readers: the style is brisk, with a minimum of character development, and each of the individual episodes within the 35 choices and 15 endings takes only a a few pages to reach its conclusion. It's hard to resist the temptation to go back and follow the alternative choices to see how the outcomes change, and the reader cannot help but grasp the role that individual choice and random luck played in the life or death of the Titanic's passengers. Middle readers who are accustomed to following live links in computer programs will relish the similar print options offered by this clever format.

Other major historic events in this series include The Attack on Pearl Harbor: An Interactive History Adventure (You Choose Books), The Alamo: An Interactive History Adventure (You Choose Books) (You Choose Books), The Underground Railroad: An Interactive History Adventure (You Choose Books) (You Choose Books) The Battle of Bull Run: An Interactive History Adventure (You Choose Books), and The Golden Age of Pirates: An Interactive History Adventure (You Choose Books) (You Choose Books), as well as many other significant events in American history. Each one comes complete with supportive back matter--a time line, suggestions for further study, bibliographies, internet sites (limited to age-appropriate sources), a glossary, and index. It's history made (virtually) painless.

Nonfiction That Makes the Grade: Volcanoes by Melanie Waldron

What can hurl lumps of melted rock hundreds of feet into the air? What can blow itself apart and destroy everything in its path?

The answer is a volcano.

Luring young readers to pore over nonfiction books is not easy. Publishers, however, were not born yesterday, and they know how to use the pull of the sensational to appeal to kids. Heinemann Library's Mapping Earthforms series is no exception. Exploring the intriguing science on the borderline between geology and physical and human geography, these books take readers beyond their generic "wow" response to powerful natural phenomena to think about how humans have historically interacted with these powerful forces of nature. Among the solid science titles in this group, one standout is the eye-catching Volcanoes (Mapping Earth Forms).

The book offers an in-depth discussion of the nature and causes of volcanoes, types of volcanoes (shield, caldera, and strato) and the location of these types around the globe. Attention is given to plate tectonics and their role in the formation of volcanoes, as well as the behavior of magma and even the possible effect of low pressure, such as is noted in typhoons, as a potential trigger for eruptions.

A full chapter is given to the science of volcanic eruption, documenting the forms of eruptive substances--lava flows, volcanic bombs, pyroclastic flows, and lahar flows. --with the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens used as an example. Strategies for predicting volcanoes--seismic and gas monitoring, historical patterning, and landscape changes--are discussed, along with ways people near volcanoes can prepare for evacuation and rescue operations if they become necessary.

Another section discusses the effects of volcanoes upon life in its immediate area, from lava barrens where nothing flourishes to fertile volcanic soil which provides vegetation, cropland, and wildlife alike with favorable habitats. The way of life of people "living in the shadow" of volcanoes provides examples of human coping in Chile, Peru, Indonesia, Monserrat, and Mt. Etna. The chilling possibility of "supervolcanoes," whose eruptions might have the ability to alter earth's climate for years, are also touched upon in the final chapters, and an accompanying map shows that three of these are in the western United States.

Extensive scientific terms are introduced and defined within the text and, thankfully, duplicated in the glossary. Written at higher levels (e.g., Accelerated Reader levels 5.1-7.0) than most science nonfiction sets, this series is a valuable resource for middle readers for research writing or simply browsing An appendix ("Volcano Facts"), a bibliography ("Find Out More"), glossary, and index round out the backmatter.

Nonfiction That Makes the Grade: Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks by Sandra Markle

As award-winning Sandra Markle's notes for this book says, a snorkeling trip which turned into a swim with the sharks began her fascination with this best-known ocean predator. Tough, Toothy Baby Sharks is a fascinating look at the life cycle of sharks, especially the birth and "nursery" period of their young.

Illustrated with intimate photographs and information about shark eggs and shark gestation, Markle, especially in her chapter "Taking Care of Baby," points up the maternal side of sharks. For example, who knew that Draftboard Swell Shark mothers lay their eggs, which are equipped with long, threadlike tendrils, protectively close to coral or seaweed to which the eggs attach themselves immediately, or that Port Jackson shark mothers gently take their newly laid eggs in their mouths and place them into crevices to shelter them from predators? On the other hand, who knew the grim reality that some live-born shark pups feed on their smaller siblings and unfertilized eggs in their mothers' uteri? Still, the Lemon Shark dutifully bear their young in shallow mangrove lagoons which shelter them until they grow big enough to venture out into the open sea.

Endlessly fascinating, sharks are among the most popular subjects for young science readers, and Sandra Markle thoroughly covers the story of how baby sharks survive in their own challenging habitats. Backmatter includes a world map showing where the featured sharks live, an "S.O.S." (Save Our Sharks) section discussing how shark conservation is essential to ocean life, a "Sharks Are Cool" section with fascinating facts, and a glossary/index to significant terms introduced in the book.

Other notable books by Markle in this series include Slippery, Slimy Baby Frogs and Creepy, Crawly Baby Bugs. For more fascinating shark lore, see also Sandra Markle's beautifully illustrated Great White Sharks (Animal Predators) and Outside And Inside Sharks.