Percy Jackson & the Olympians The Demigod Files by Rick Riordan

Demigod Files is a collection of three short stories, interviews and pictures of the main characters. Riordan markets this as a must-have guide to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. It has a crossword puzzle, a word search and a chart of the Olympians. The stories are fun and exciting to read and fans of the series will enjoy this quick read.

Ages 9-12

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

Do the hard working poor have a chance?

Barbara Ehrenreich decided to try and find out. She moved from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, taking jobs as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing-home aide, and Wal-Mart salesperson paying $6 to $7 and hour. It was impossible to pay for housing and eat on this salary.  Let’s do the math $7x40hrs=$280 a week, which equals $1,120 a month before taxes.

Nickel and Dimed reveals the difficult lifestyle of the people who struggle constantly in order to have the basic need of food and shelter, the blindness and the arrogance of those of us who have not experienced it and the continuing growth of our socioeconomic divide.

This book is a real eye opener.