Susannah 'Spooky" Flanagan
She’s 13 years old and a whiz at getting into everything, especially her detective father’s case files.  Spooky is super energetic and even more resourceful.  She and her friends are known as “The Sandrich Kids” because they attend Sandrich Academy, a private school for gifted kids, occupying a converted 150 year old mansion with a mysterious history.

Bobby Whitfield
He dreams of being a pilot and has the largest collection of model airplanes in town.  He and his Uncle Nick built a remote controlled plane model last Christmas.  It’s his favorite possession, especially since he installed the miniature color spycam in the nose.  Bobby lives with his mom Doris in the suburbs.

Chad Wilson-Wright
He’s known in school as “Hack” because of his love of computers and expertise on the Internet.  Chad’s dad Charlie & mom Valerie are divorced and he shuttles between them.  He loves animals and has a puppy named Doodles. Chad spends a lot of time training Doodles to do tricks and to be a tracker.

Claire Elizabeth Whitney
She lives with dad William & mom Elizabeth in a country home that’s a renovated barn.  Both Claire’s parents work hard at their family business - planning weddings and social events.  The family loves to travel and Claire gets to use her prized possession, a Nikon film camera to take hundreds of pictures she develops herself in the darkroom her dad built for her.  The family’s huge tropical aquarium in the den fascinates her mischievous pet, Skooter, a white cat with a striped tail.

Kiyoko Hakanami
Kiyoko lives with her dad Harumi, mom Itsiko and younger brother Harumi.  She’s a fine artist and specializes in drawing Anime.She’s inseparable from her sketch pad and is always drawing people and things around her.  She has a box of ‘secret pictures’ underher bed.  Every summer Kiyoko goes to Tokyo to visit her grandparents who run a travel agency.

Miguel La Playa
Miguel was born in Ecuador and lives with his dad Arturo & mom Maria, two brothers and a little sister.  Big brother Aldo is in the army. Younger brother Paco is always working on his baseball card collection and sister Constancia is a “tag along”, always asking for help with her schoolwork or… something.

Nina and Zoey Ricardo
Nina and Zoey are identical twins from Puerto Rico.  They live in the a USA now with their dad Luis & mom Lucille.  Luis is a salesman for a pharmaceutical company and Lucille is the town librarian.  Both Nina and Zoey are very active kids.  Nina loves gymnastics while Zoey has a genius I.Q. and spends her time reading text books and researching on the Internet.  They love to work in their mother’s huge flower garden where she cross breeds new varieties of orchids and roses.

Nkoli Nmtara
African-American Nkoli is proud of her name, which was her grandmother’s name.  She’s an introverted math whiz and kids at school call her Niki.  Her dad Marcus, an Oxford scholar, works for the State Educational Planning Commission.  Her mom Sanaa is a housewife and a great cook who loves to prepare mini-feasts for Niki’s school friends.  Nkoli and her family live in the suburbs in a new house they designed themselves.  What Nkoli really wants is a little sister.

Vijay Banjerjee
Vijay was born in the USA, but his parents are from New Delhi, India where his great grandfather was a Rajah.  His dad Mujibur is anengineer and his mother Ruth writes children’s books.  He has two younger brothers, Daniel, 8 and Murki, 6 who love to pester him.The boys’ activities and antics give Ruth a lot of material for her stories.  Vijay has his science lab set up in the attic where he conductsexperiments.  He “just knows” he will win a Nobel prize someday.

Johnny Onawa
Johnny is a full-blooded Native American.  His dad Ken Warhorse is a Congressman and a member of the tribal council, so he travels to Omaha for the annual meeting.  Johnny’s mom Cristy spends her time homemaking and feeding her ever-hungry family which includes Johnny’s two older sisters Frances, 15 and Flora, 16 ½ who are in high school and his older brother Jimmy Whitecloud, 19 a college sophomore who rebuilds classic cars in their garage.  Johnny loves to work with Jimmy and hopes to design his own race car someday. When Johnny turns 18, he will get his tribal middle name.

Spooky's June Maze

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Kiyoko Reviews the TAG Reader from Leapfrog.

The Tag Reading System engages children's senses to make reading a rich, fulfilling experience. With each touch of the Tag reader to the book's pages, words talk, characters sing and stories live out loud. With over 20 books and games including favorite TV, movie and classic tales, each Tag book allows children to learn at their own pace, building confidence. By connecting the Tag reader to the LeapFrog® Learning Path parents see what their child is learning and receive recommendations on what books their child could read next! The Tag reader, encourages your child's love of reading by using the Tag Reading System. TAG's amazing touch technology makes learning to read an exciting experience as words talk, pictures sing and stories live out loud!  The Tag reading and activity books have over 20 books and games available, including favorite TV and movie characters and classic stories.

Kids learn reading basic skills, concentrating on suffixes, phonics and word recognition & comprehension skills. Kids will love to read the story and play learning activities that help build phonics skills, vocabulary, and reading comprehension all with the help of their Tag reader. Parents can connect the Tag Reader online to the LeapFrog Learning Path to see what their child is learning from this book, and can receive recommendations for other books their child should read next to continue to build their reading skills.

TAG basic system is under $50. For more information go to www.leapfrog.com

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Chad Reviews New Toys
''Zen Benders'' Puzzles
from OUT Of THE BOX

These are similar to the small “slide” puzzles that challenge players to push and slide eight squares inside a frame in an effort to form the desired picture or configuration. I grew up with them. There was always one in my school bag for the bus ride to and from. Out of the Box Games has taken the slide puzzle concept to an entirely new level. The Zen Benders series features six sided cubes instea dof flat squares with each side depicting a different piece of the finished picture. Now, players must not only slide the cubes within the frame, but they must also flip the cubes over and over to get to the desired side. Since the cubes cannot be lifted out of the frame, they must be in the proper position – adjacent to the open space in the frame – in order to be flipped. I’m not a statistician, but I can appreciate that the number of moves required to successfully complete the puzzle has increased exponentially.

The Zen Benders series is nicely packaged in a compact, round container that can fit easily inside your pocket, briefcase or pack pack.  The number and increasing difficulty levels of the challenge cards, insures that each installment in the series remains fresh for a considerable period of time. The portability of the puzzles is a HUGE plus, as folks can enjoy them in so many situations,i.e.; on a plane, bus, train or automobile, waiting for an appointment, or even instead of a magazine while you relax! They even make for a great end-table diversion for waiting rooms, as guests and visitors are sure to be attracted with them.

Want more of a challenge? Race the clock! Time yourself to see if you can improve your speed!  Race your friends, if two or more players each have the same ZenBenders puzzle, they can race each other. Players begin with the dice in the same positions and remove the Out of the Box die to signal start. The first player to complete the puzzle and replace the Out of the Box die, wins.

Go to the web site to download more challenge cards for each game: http://www.otb-games.com/zenbenders/index.html

Vijay's July Kid's Movie Pick

Amazingly funny original animated film from the masters at Disney and Pixar.  The whole family will relate to the characters and the 'green planet' theme. Don't miss this film!
After seven hundred lonely years of doing what he was built for, collecting and compacting the waste of hundreds of years of huimanity, WALL-E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in life .  Ages ago humans left a polluted and uninhabitable Earth on the giant space cruiser Axiom to hang in space enjoying their creature conforts while an army of robots cleaned up their mess.  Now Wall*E is the only one left functioning after theothers all broke down or wore out. He salvages parts form his peers who have succumbed to keep himelf going in a hot world of sandstorms and other inclimate and hostile weather.  He occupies his time with work, collecting knick-knacks and communicatiing with a large cockroach.  BUT, all that changes when he meets a sleek search robot from the Axiom named EVE who comes to realize that WALL-E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet's future.

After a whirlwind romance with Wall*E, Eve races back to the Axiom in deep space to report her findings and show the little green plant Wall*E gave her to the humans who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home. Not at all accepting that his lady love is leaving Earth, our little hero stows away on the shuttlecraft and chases EVE across the galaxy into the haven of the humans.  These exiles have become so obese they have to move about the luxury ship in anti-gravity recliner chairs and eat only hi-carb foods in cups..everythinis in a cup. They have forgotten their roots and their history and slowly their true humanity is slipping away. Eventually, Wall*E uncovers a mystery and faces off a covert villain and his robot minions who do not want the humans to return to their homeland.

Simply put, this is a delightful fantasy about a little guy whth no pretenses or affectations, a regular work-a-day guy like Buster Keaton's heroes, who finds love and danger, and saves a population of 'fellow' beings in the process. Kids and adults alike will love this 90 minute adventure...and the toys are alreadyin the stores...lots of toys. Can sequels and something on the Disney Channel be far behind?

The Filmmakers;
Directed by Andrew Stanton
Screenplay by Andrew Stanton and Jim Capobianco
Released by Walt Disney Pictures

Erica Henderson - artist-designed Sandrich Kids Erica Henderson is one of the most interesting and innovative artists on the modern scene. Her work has been featured on numerous book and magazine covers, but her most notable triumph to date is the wildly popular Baby’s First Mythos. Starting her professional career at the age of thirteen, Erica is already a popular and highly sought-after painter, cartoonist and illustrator. Come and hang out at her table to enjoy her artwork and sardonic wit. Those who bring chocolate will be appreciated. Those who bring key lime pie stand a good chance of receiving a free illustration.