Recommended grades 6-8.  Steven Shenkin loves Benedict Arnold, and he wants readers to share his appreciation.  Shenkin pulls together years of research into a narrative of Benedict Arnolds tumultuous years on both sides of the Revolutionary War.  Shenkin paints a conflicted Arnold, desperate for   acknowledgement (and payment) for his heroics.  Shenkin draws quotes from primary sources, and provides an extensive reference list at the back of the book.  The narrative Shenkin creates is engaging, and he provides vintage-looking maps to illustrate the major battles Arnold participated in.  This book will teach young adults (and adults alike!) to appreciate the sometimes flawed heros that fill history books.  The narrative could have been improved with an insight into Shenkin's process, tough overall an excellent book, well worth the recognition it has received.
Recommended, ***

Mockingjay

Recommended grades 6-9.  Katniss Everdeen is back in the final installment of the Hunger Games series, written by Suzanne Collins.  In Mockingjay (Scholastic, 2010), Katniss is thrown into the most dangerous game of all, actual war with the Capitol that has tortured its people for so long and killed so many of her friends.  As always Katniss is not alone, but she still can't always know who to trust as some of her closest allies are turned against her.  Collins has an artful way of putting concepts of loyalty and authority into question in a more caustic way than other young adult authors (J.K. Rowling comes to mind) have.  Though Katniss always has many people on her side, she is never quite sure who, and why.  Mockingjay serves as a satisfying conclusion to the series, though the writing and flow is a bit choppier than previous books.  Collins has made such a rich and open world filled with battles of epic proportion, though she doesn't always know how to transition between ideas.  Readers may put Katniss and her world to sleep after reading this book, though many will be hungry for more of Collins's writing.  Highly recommended, ****