Digital Commons Network^™

Rules For Stealing Stars, Carlie Smith

Children's Book and Media Review

A dreary summer in New Hampshire becomes exciting for Silly and her three sisters when they discover magical closets inside their bedrooms. The closets transform into elaborate new worlds according to the girls’ needs and imagination. The girls spend an increasing amount of time in the closets to escape the sadness and stress of their mother’s alcoholism. Silly is especially happy about the closets because the magic helps her to feel both united with her sisters and like she has a special gift. However, the temptation to remain in the closets grows as Mom’s condition worsens. Marla is especially susceptible …

Raymie Nightingale, Rachel Wadham

Children's Book and Media Review

Raymie knows she can make her father come back if only he can see her picture in the newspaper. To accomplish her goal, she is determined to become Little Miss Central Florida Tire 1975. But before she can do that she has to learn to twirl a baton. At her first class Raymie meets Louisiana, an orphan with a unique sense of reality, and Beverly, the rebellious daughter of a beauty queen. Ever since her father left Raymie knows she has lost the spark that inflates her soul, but as she gets to know her new friends Raymie sees glimmers …

Quit Calling Me A Monster!, Rachel Wadham

Children's Book and Media Review

Even though he’s technically a monster (because he has horns and purple fur) does not mean that he likes to be called that. When he’s shopping for groceries or just trying to get some sleep under your bed there is no need to call him a monster when you could call him by name. He is Floyd after all. Setting out a very good argument, Floyd let’s readers know that even though he does everything you might expect from a monster does not mean that he should be treated like one. He just wants you to get to know him …

Pokémon Go, Shelly Darrington

Children's Book and Media Review

Pokémon Go is a location-based app by Niantic released for Android and iOS model phones. It is a game in which the user catches, trains, and battles with Pokémon. Pokémon, or “pocket monsters,” were first seen in games developed for the Nintendo Game Boy, but quickly grew in popularity, leading to a card game, an anime, and many more games since. Pokémon Go is the newest release of the franchise, and is very different from everything that came before it. The game mechanics make it possible for Pokémon to become a bigger part of everyday life. Using your phone’s GPS, …

Night Owl, Michelle Parker

Children's Book and Media Review

Night Owl is a baby owl who can not find his Mommy. He sets out to find her by listening to the sounds in the night. One sound is too short to be her hoot. Another hoot is too high. One hoot is too scary! When he finally hears his Mommy's unique sound, he is happy!

Lola Knows A Lot, Lisi Hong

Children's Book and Media Review

Lola knows a lot and she is definitely ready for school to start. Well...she was until her older sister told her that everyone else at school will know more than she does. Is Lola really ready? Her mom advises her to make a list of all the things she already knows. Her list is quite long, and it helps her realize that although she does know a lot, there is also a lot left to learn; she’s certainly ready to learn all she can at school this year!

It's Not Easy Being Number Three, Aubree Keate

Children's Book and Media Review

Number three has decided to abandon ship! Tired of his many responsibilities as number three, he sets off into the world to find a new job. Number three tries many different jobs, including being the toes of an elephant, the wings of a seagull, shoes laces, a coat rack, and even the anchor a large ship. After trying many new positions, and still not finding something that was just right, the number three realizes that he's needed back as a number. He returns to the other numbers, much to their relief, with a new sense of purpose and dedication.

The Impostor Queen, Abigail Packard

Children's Book and Media Review

The Impostor Queen follows the story of Elli, the Saadella waiting to inherit the throne from the current Valtia of Kupari. When a Valtia dies, her magic, a perfect balance of fire and ice, is passed on to the Saadella who then rules in her stead. However, when the current Valtia dies Elli does not inherit the magic. Instead, her life is thrown upside down and put in mortal danger. She flees the city and the elders who wish to kill her quietly and find the real Valtia. Elli is rescued by Oskar who lives in the Outlands. Through an …

If You Ever Want To Bring A Piano To The Beach, Don't!, Carlie Smith

Children's Book and Media Review

Magnolia ignores her mother’s warning and decides to play with a piano at the beach rather than a boat, a Frisbee or a shovel. Once the piano goes into the water, the tide sweeps it away. Instead of reeling in her piano, Magnolia catches something even better: a sea shell which serves as a boat, a Frisbee, and a shovel. Magnolia concedes that her mother is right and echoes the original advice, “If you ever want to bring a piano to the beach, DON’T!”

I Am Princess X, Whitney Troxel

Children's Book and Media Review

Libby and May became friends almost accidentally. Due to a broken limb and asthma, neither of the girls could participate in their elementary P.E. class. Instead they spent their time entertaining kindergartners by drawing a picture of a princess with sidewalk chalk. But unlike most princesses, this princess had blue hair, wore red chucks, and wielded a purple katana. They dubbed her Princess X. The creation of Princess X was also the start of Libby and May’s friendship. From that point on they were inseparable. They created thousands of Princess X stories and comics and stood by each other through …

The Grisha #1: Shadow And Bone, Cynthia Frazier

Children's Book and Media Review

The first book in Bardugo’s Grisha trilogy introduces the story of Alina and Malyen, orphans and friends since childhood. As teenagers they are conscripted into the King’s First Army whose mission is to cross the Shadow Fold, a magical dark chasm that bisects their homeland of Ravka. The journey is perilous because huge flying creatures called Volcra prey on those attempting to cross. Protecting the travelers are teams of the King’s Grisha, sorcerers skilled in the manipulation of matter to control the elements. The greatest of the Grisha, the Darkling, is leading the travelers. When Malyen is seized by one …

The Forbidden Wish, Rachel Wadham

Children's Book and Media Review

Stories have been told of Zahra the jinni of the lamp who murdered her queen and destroyed a city. Relegated to the realm of legend, Zahra has been trapped for hundreds of years until Aladdin rescues her from her exile. When the ruler of all jinni bargains to give Zahra her freedom, her only way out is to manipulate Aladdin’s wishes so she can get into the King’s palace to rescue those jinn trapped within. Transformed into a Prince, Aladdin believes he will marry the princess--an act that will allow him to enact his revenge on the man who killed …

Flying Solo: How Ruth Elder Soared Into America's Heart, Abigail Packard

Children's Book and Media Review

Flying Solo: How Ruth Elder Soared into America’s Heart is a nonfiction picture book that illustrates Ruth Elder’s adventures as one of the first female pilots. She was the first woman to attempt to fly across the Atlantic, even before Amelia Earhart. Unfortunately, her plane malfunctioned and she was forced to land on the ocean. She was rescued by a ship which brought her to France. Despite her failed attempt, she was hailed as a heroine for her “daredevil feat” and became famous. She later starred as an actress in several western films but decided to revisit the world of …

Finding Serendipity, Corie Darrington

Children's Book and Media Review

Finding Serendipity follows Tuesday McGillicuddy on a daring quest to find her mother, famous author, Serendipity Smith. Just as she is finishing the latest book in her famous Vivienne Small series, Serendipity goes missing from her writing room. Tuesday, along with her dog Baxterr, set off to solve the mystery of her disappearance. While investigating her mother's writing room, Tuesday starts to type out her story on her mother's typewriter and is carried off to a secret land just for authors. Upon arrival, she meets a librarian, who sets Tuesday on her way. However, rather than creating her own world, …

Dot., Kati Penovich

Children's Book and Media Review

Do you know how to tap, to tweet, to tag? Dot does! Dot is a smart young girl who knows her way around computers. She’s a pro at surfing, searching, and swiping, and she LOVES to talk. But in her quest to master technology, has she forgotten all about playing outside with her friends? With a little help from her mom, Dot rediscovers her love for the great outdoors and reminds all of us of the importance of recharging with nature and reconnecting with friends.

Disney Emoji Blitz, Aylea Stephens

Children's Book and Media Review

In a “match three” game with a twist, Disney lets users play with their favorite characters to gain points and unlock new emoji to use in their communications online with friends. Players earn coins by winning games, which allows them to use their coins to use power-ups or unlock more emojis. Each character emoji has a special power that can be activated when playing the game, making the game more interesting and able to change. Currently there are thirty-seven emoji characters from Finding Dory, Zootopia, Wall-E, Frozen, Cinderella, the Muppets, Toy Story, Alice in Wonderland, Aladdin, Bambi, The Little Mermaid, …

Dinosaurus, Rebeca Wallin

Children's Book and Media Review

Modern day dinosaurs are discovered under the earth’s surface when scientists from an oil-finding expedition break through the earth’s crust after an explosion. As the confused humans begin to understand and document their discovery, the dinosaurs discuss how they will deal with the new arrivals. Deciding that they must be related to the monkeys that cause all sorts of trouble they decide that they will have to eat – their word for kill – the humans to avoid disaster. While the dinosaurs plot, one scientist collects evidence and reveals his plan to exploit the dinosaurs for personal gain, not caring …

Dear America: Down The Rabbit Hole: The Diary Of Pringle Rose, Amanda Shrum

Children's Book and Media Review

Life takes a devastating turn for Pringle Rose when her parents are killed in an accident. Pringle and her brother Gideon are put under the guardianship of their cruel aunt and apathetic uncle who have no understanding of Gideon’s unique mental condition, which today would be diagnosed as Down syndrome. To avoid Gideon being sent to a school where abuse is likely, the two run away to Chicago to try and start a new life. On a very eventful train ride, the siblings are befriended by Gwen Pritchard and her three children. Gwen and her husband, Peter, ask Pringle to …

Dare The Wind: The Record-Breaking Voyage Of Eleanor Prentiss And The Flying Cloud, Cynthia Frazier

Children's Book and Media Review

Ellen Prentiss’s father was a trading ship captain in Massachusetts in the early 1800’s. Even though she was a girl, Captain Prentiss taught his daughter seamanship and how to navigate the seas using a sextant and chronometer. Ellen loved sailing and using her knowledge of the stars, moon, and sun to cross the waters. Later, Ellen, as navigator, and her husband, Perkins Creesy as captain, successfully sailed cargo ships in established shipping lanes. The Creesy’s then had the wonderful opportunity to sail an extreme clipper, called the Flying Cloud. Clipper ships were much different than other sailing vessels, they were …

Close Your Eyes, Liz Kazandhzy

Children's Book and Media Review

“Close your eyes, little tiger,” comes the plea of this little tiger’s mother. But he’s afraid of sleeping! What if he misses out on the sky, trees, and birds? His mother assures him that there can be all that and more in his dreams. But then what if he falls or gets lost? His mother comforts him with the promise that she will be there for him if anything bad happens. No matter what this little tiger’s concern is, his mother is right by his side, comforting, loving, and helping him drift off into peaceful sleep.

Challenger Deep, Carlie Smith

Children's Book and Media Review

Cayden Bosch is a boy who lives two lives: one aboard a pirate ship sailing for the deepest part of the Marianas Trench and the other as a normal high school student succumbing to schizophrenia. His paranoia, anxiety, and delusions eventually cause his parents to take him to a mental hospital. There he contends with his psychiatrist, the medications, and other patients. Cayden eventually makes friends with Callie and Hal and they help him in his self-discovery. His time in the hospital is the main storyline; however chapters detailing his delusions aboard the ship are shuffled in. delusions are described …

The Bunker Diary, Carlie Smith

Children's Book and Media Review

Linus Weems has led a peculiar life. He’s rejected his famous cartoonist father’s wealth in favor of a life of homelessness on London’s streets, but nothing is stranger than the day he is kidnapped by a man faking blindness and held captive in a refurbished war bunker. The bunker has eight rooms, an elevator, surveillance equipment, and some notebooks that Linus fills with a record of his experience. Each morning the elevator opens with supplies, and, sometimes, additional captives. Jenny, a 9 year-old girl; Fred, a beefy drug addict; Bird, an angry businessman; Anja, a posh real estate agent; and …

Battling Boy, Olivia Hales

Children's Book and Media Review

The once great city of Arcopolis is under siege from a flood of monsters. The city’s only defense—Haggard West—is dead at the hands of the Ghoul Gang. The young god Battling Boy must prove himself in his time of Rambling—a coming of age task that all gods take. He is brought to Arcopolis by his father, where his task is assigned; he must rid Arcopolis of monsters before he can return home. Aurora West, the daughter of the late Haggard West, plans revenge on the Ghoul Gang just as Battling Boy makes his debut. The city is thrilled to have …

Based On A True Story: Nettie And Nellie Crook: Orphan Train Sisters, Ashley Roggow

Children's Book and Media Review

No abstract provided.

Balance Keepers #1: The Fires Of Calderon, Loretta Farnsworth

Children's Book and Media Review

Eleven-year-old Albert Flynn spends his summers with his father and grandfather in Wyoming. When he is asked to deliver a letter to a hermit in the middle of the woods, he discovers that his postal worker father is actually a professor in a strange land in the center of the earth. In the Core, children from around the world are taught to keep balance in realms that are connected to Earth. As each child agrees to become a Balance Keeper, they obtain a white tile that gives them a superpower to assist them. However, Albert’s tile is black and does …

The Science Of Life: Animal Classification, Laura Trumbo

Children's Book and Media Review

The Science of Life: Animal Classification is a reference book that introduces young readers to how scientists classify and organize animals. Without going into depth, Jenny VanVoorst defines important terms like taxonomy, and takes the reader on a brief sampling of the animal kingdom. She begins with taxonomy's founding father, describes all the divisions of animal classification, and ends with explaining where the human reader fits within taxonomy's classification system.

Akeelah And The Bee, Abigail Packard

Children's Book and Media Review

Akeelah Anderson is good with words; not in the eloquent flowing way, but in the spelling way. She’s so good, in fact, that her teacher suggests she enter the school’s spelling bee. Akeelah doesn’t want to be pegged as a nerd and she doesn’t want to show that she cares in a school in which she feels that no one else cares. Despite her worries and protests, she enters the bee and wins! But she’s a big fish in a little pond. What ensues is a touching story of how she meets Dr. Larabee, trains for each level of the …

Threshold-Free Selection Of Taxonomic Multilabels, Hsin-Yi Lin, Brian Milch, Michel Adar, Scot Fang, Rene Van De Veerdonk

Defensive Publications Series

In online search or content selection systems, significant computational resources are expended to classify or categorize electronic documents into topics, concepts, or entities. A classifier can process, parse or otherwise analyze the document to assign one or more labels to the document based on the taxonomy. The classifier can generate a score for each of the labels, and provide the labels and the scores to other components or modules for further downstream processing. To keep downstream processes efficient without causing excessive processing of labels, the classifier may filter out the labels to return a subset of labels based on comparing …

“Get Tough Stay Tough: Shaping The Canadian Corps, 1914-1918 (Book Review)” By Kenneth Radley, Brian Douglas Tennyson

Canadian Military History

Review of Get Tough Stay Tough: Shaping the Canadian Corps, 1914-1918 by Kenneth Radley

“The Shadow Of Torture: Debating Us Transgressions In Military Interventions, 1899-2008 (Book Review)” By Katrin Dauenhauer & “America In The Philippines, 1899-1902. The First Torture Scandal (Book Review)” By Christopher J. Einolf, Frank Schumacher

Canadian Military History

Review of Torpedo: Inventing the Military-Industrial Complex in the United States and Great Britain by Katherine C. Epstein

Review of The Shadow of Torture: Debating US Transgressions in Military Interventions, 1899-2008 by Katrin Dauenhauer