WICKED BUGS: THE MEANEST, DEADLIEST, GROSSEST BUGS ON EARTH, by Amy Stewart

The story: Here's the scoop on "the meanest, deadliest, grossest bugs on earth"--from the fleas that caused an outbreak of the Black Plague in the US in the 1900s (the Oriental Rat Flea!) to tapeworms, deathwatch beetles and bed bugs, here's more than you ever wanted to know about bugs that really define the word PEST.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language G; Violence G; Sexual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse G; Magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes PG (just the kind of creepy contexts of tapeworms multiplying in the gut, etc--not for the squeamish); overall rating PG--as much for reading level as for anything else.

Liz's comments: This will appeal to a small subsection of readers--mostly boys, mostly the ones who prefer non-fiction. Those guys, though, are gonna love it. I wish it had photos instead of drawings, but maybe that's cost prohibitive. I guess it's not a bad thing to leave some stuff up to peoples' imaginations...!