Raised by his single mother in public housing in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, Bieber's meteoric rise to fame could only have happened in the 21st century. Prone to singing and playing instruments at a young age, Bieber's mom started posting videos on YouTube after he took part in "The Stratford Star," a 4-week long singing competition for 12 to 18 year olds. Even though he didn't win, Bieber had developed a fan base, and they helped to spread the word online. Before long, Bieber was being courted by agents and managers, and after Usher took him under his wing, Bieber signed a deal with a record label. Now, four years, three albums, some television appearances, a movie, multiple awards, an autobiography, and various charitable organizations later, Bieber is unstoppable. Keeping his fans informed with social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube, Bieber tries to remain humble and stay true to his faith as much as he can.

What I liked most about this biography is that the depiction of Justin Bieber is not entirely glowing. After all, he was 13 when he started becoming a YouTube sensation, and 13-year olds are prone to bad tempers, tantrums, and occasional bouts of pranks and silliness. I enjoyed reading the few anecdotes that showed Bieber being a typical kid. 

Recommended for gr. 5-9.

Submitted by Vashti in Ms. Dinan’s class.

Cleopatra was born in 70 B.C. When her father and brother died, she became ruler over Egypt. She married Caesar the Antony because they were rulers over Rome. She wanted Rome to be on Egypt’s side. But Octavian killed Antony and took Cleopatra as his prisoner. She had a basket of fruit and in that basket a fruit was a snake and she used that to kill herself.

My favorite part was when Octavian took Cleopatra as his prisoner. I would recommend this book to people who like stuff about Egypt or Cleopatra.

Submitted by LilyAna in Ms. Cosco’s class.

This is a biography of a girl living during the Holocaust, Anne Frank. Her birthdate was June 12, 1929. She was born in Frankfurt, Germany. Her most important accomplishment was surviving in hiding, and writing her diary that would one day become famous. The biggest challenge that she faced was hiding from the Nazis. A question that I would ask Anne Frank is, “How hard was it to work at the concentration camps?”

I would recommend this book because it gives you an example of a person who lived during the Holocaust. 

Submitted by Enoch in Ms. Cosco’s class.

My book is called Kobe Bryant. In this book, they talk about his childhood and how he played basketball in high school and in college. The biggest challenge Kobe faced was sitting on the bench for most of his games. If I could ask him one question, I would ask him how his life was in France.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Kobe Bryant or basketball.

Submitted by Matthew S. in Ms. Cosco’s class.

The title of my book is Ronald Reagan by Zachary Kent and it is about Ronald Reagan. His birth date was 2/6/1911 and his birth place was Tampico, Illinois. His most important accomplishment was becoming president. The biggest challenge he faced was an assassin’s bullet. If I could meet him, I would ask him what it felt like to be shot.

I would not recommend this book because it is boring.

Submitted by Alexander E. in Ms. Cosco’s class.

Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Germany.
Albert Einstein’s most important accomplishment was his theory of relativity.
The biggest challenge Albert Einstein faced was when his son came down with a mental illness and had to stay in a mental house for the rest of his life.
If I could meet Albert Einstein, I would ask why he didn’t wear socks.

I would not recommend this book because it wasn’t very interesting.

Submitted by Myles in Ms. Cosco’s class.

This biography is about Muhammad Ali. He was born on Jan. 19, 1942 at Louisville hospital.

The biggest accomplishment Ali made was beating George Foreman. The biggest challenge he faced was fighting Joe Frazier.

The question I would ask is, “how did it feel giving a man a one-hit wonder?”

I would recommend this to anyone who loves boxing.

Barack Obama's life story is told, from his childhood in Hawaii to his first 100 days in office as President of the United States.

This is a generally well-written biography of our current president, and unlike most of the biographies in our library's collection, includes an evaluation of Obama's first 100 days. One rather important event that was left out of this account of Obama's life, however, was the 2004 keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. It is my belief that his speech on that night catapulted him onto the national stage, transforming him from a relative unknown into a major political player. Reference aids and glossy photographs make this an appealing book, both for students wanting to conduct research on our president, as well as for students simply wanting to read about Obama for pleasure. 

Recommend for students in grades 4-6.

Submitted by Jayla in Ms. Dinan’s class

This story was about a girl named Anne Frank who was Jewish. She lived in Germany. The Nazis hated Jews, so the Franks had to go into hiding. They packed their bags, but they couldn’t take suitcases because the Nazis would be on to them. They were going to the Secret Annex. Soon after, the Nazis discovered their hiding place. The Nazis sorted the Jews into groups of those who were fit for work and those who weren’t. Anyone who couldn’t work went to the gas chambers to die. In the end, Anne caught a disease and died.

I would recommend this book to someone who likes to learn about people from the past.

Admittedly, I’m not much of a sports fan, but I mostly enjoyed learning about David Beckham’s life. It was inspiring to see how hard he worked as a young boy to become one of the best soccer players of our time and how hard he worked to come back from one of the worst World Cup snafus of all time. I enjoyed learning about his rise to celebrity status and how well he’s handled it. What I didn’t enjoy was all of the statistics and game facts. However, a true soccer fan would probably find that interesting.

Recommended for grades 5-8.