How much control do you have over your life? You may think you have choices, but choices often lead to unforeseen consequences.

• There's no way Robin can predict what he'll go through in "Sunrise Over Fallujah" by Walter Dean Myers (Scholastic, 17.99, ages 13 and up).

As part of a Civil Affairs unit charged with putting a human face on the U.S. military, his job is to offer candy, solace and support to Iraqi civilians.

Besides Robin, an innocent from Harlem, his team includes Harris, a wise-talking homegirl, and Jonesy, a mellow lover of the blues.

Situations reported to be safe are anything but. The book contrasts the hell Robin goes through with his reassuring letters home. But, despite the peril of war, Myers' book is more thoughtful than action-packed.

It offers no easy answers about the war in which the United States is currently embroiled. And it humanizes the toll, making it a must for anyone considering joining the military.

• Seventeen-year-old Charlotte Miller fights a personal battle in "A Curse Dark as Gold" (Scholastic, 17.99, ages 13 and up), a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin by Elizabeth C. Bunce.

Charlotte and her younger sister, Rosie, inherit Stirwaters, the wool mill where they grew up.

Charlotte is determined to provide for her community of workers, just as the Industrial Revolution dawns. Unfortunately, Uncle Wheeler, who ostensibly moves in to protect the girls, takes advantage of them.

As Charlotte struggles to make the mortgage, she and the banker, Mr. Woodhouse, fall in love and marry. But Charlotte is too proud to ask her husband's help when one ruinous event after another leads to the brink of disaster.

Instead, Rosie calls forth Mr. Spinner, who not only can weave straw from gold but is willing to put up the money to save Stirwaters from auction. The price he'll exact will not be a surprise to anyone who knows the fairy tale.

You can't do better than a book that's funny, fun-to-read and incredibly moving. Jerry Spinelli is the master of creating likable, quirky characters whose emotions run deep.

• In his "Smiles to Go" (HarperCollins, $16.99, ages 10-14), 14-year-old Will fears lack of control. His friend Mi-Su shares his passion for science and calls to tell him a proton winked out.

That means matter will cease to exist in billions of years. Will imagines he sees flashes of light and numbers his days from the time he hears the news. Will also worries about his friend B.T., who doesn't care about school or rules.

When B.T. skateboards down Dead Man's Hill, he becomes a celebrity at school. Doing something so dangerous scares and intrigues Will. B.T. can also handle Will's sister, Tabby, a kindergartner who drives Will crazy.

Will, his family and friends are fully rounded characters that junior high students will recognize in their world and themselves.

• E. Lockhart's Frankie, 15, wants to matter at Alabaster Prep Academy in "The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks" (Hyperion, $16.99, ages 12-15).

Her boyfriend, Matthew Livingston, drops what he's doing with her every time his friend, the Alpha-Dog, calls. Staying hidden, she follows him to a meeting of the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds.

Movers and shakers (even one president) made connections in this secret society. Frankie's determined to not only break into it but lead it. Never mind that the Bassets has always been boys only.

Lockhart challenges our views of who has power and why, sometimes too intrusively. Feminists may not agree with her ideas of how girls and relationships work, even in prep school.

When Frankie finds the Bassets' hidden history, she relives its pranks of the past and gives them social significance.

The author's analysis of Frankie and her actions breaks this novel's easy rhythm. And Frankie seems more self-centered than socially motivated.

Still, there's a lot of clever talk and plenty to consider about who has control and how it's achieved -- or bestowed.

Children's nonfiction has come a long way from the days of stodgily written books created to provide basic facts for school reports. These days, the best nonfiction books for kids offer riveting narratives that read as well as any novel, as well as eye-catching designs, as these outstanding new books prove:

• As a child, Wangari Maathai reveled in the green fields and trees in her native land of Kenya. After returning there after spending her college years in America, however, Maathai was shocked to see how development had scarred the Kenyan landscape, leaving it bare and unable to sustain villagers who had traditionally relied on the land for sustenance.

In "Planting the Trees of Kenya" (FSG, $16.95), author-illustrator Claire Nivola demonstrates the difference that one person can make toward major change as she shows how Maathai began a campaign to convince Kenyans to plant trees. This simple act helped to begin the transformation of the Kenyan landscape back to one that could support life and nourish the soul.

Nivola's text is spare but inspiring and well matched by watercolor illustrations that evoke the beauty of the Kenyan landscape. (Ages 5-10.)

• President Theodore Roosevelt had herded thousands of cattle across the Dakota Badlands, led the Rough Riders up Kettle Hill in the Spanish-American War and bagged a grizzly bear.

Not even Roosevelt, however, could control his rambunctious daughter Alice, whose antics made her famous. The very public battle of wills between the two Roosevelts is the subject of a delightful picture-book biography, "What to Do About Alice?" (Scholastic, $16.99).

Author Barbara Kerley obviously had fun researching her subject, and she uses a light, whimsical touch in relating how the strong-willed Alice, the child of Teddy Roosevelt's first marriage, ruled her father's heart.

Edwin Fotheringham's sprightly illustrations, done in digital media, capture Alice's spunk and add an extra dose of humor. The book concludes with further biographical information on Alice and her father. (Ages 5-10.)

• In "Pale Male: Citizen Hawk of New York City" (Knopf, $16.99), author Janet Stevens combines forces with illustrator Meilo So to tell the story of the bird that took New York City by storm.

Birdwatchers in Manhattan were thrilled when a red-tailed hawk decided to make his home in New York. They named the bird "Pale Male" and kept daily notes on him. When Pale Male and his mate crafted a nest at the top of one of New York's ritziest apartment buildings, however, trouble began. Many building residents, upset by the bird droppings, feathers and remains of dead animals eaten by Pale Male, his mate and their chicks, wanted the nest removed.

As Stevens details in her well-paced narrative, the removal of the nest sparked noisy protests from birdwatchers, as well as national news coverage. The building residents eventually allowed Pale Male to construct another nest after adding a special "apron" to the building to catch the birds' garbage. So's lively watercolor illustrations bring out the drama of Pale Male's story, as well as his physical majesty. (Ages 7-12.)

• Anne Edson Taylor went over Niagara Falls in a barrel. A woman named Zazel was a human cannonball in a circus. And Mabel Cody danced on the wings of a plane as it flew high above the ground.

These are just a few of the 14 fascinating females featured in Julie Cummins' entertaining book, "Women Daredevils: Thrills, Chills and Frills" (Dutton, $17.99). In her introduction, Cummins notes that, back at the turn of the 20th century, these women refused to let their gender stop their desire to do wild and crazy things.

Some women, like Taylor, did stunts for money. Other women, like Sonora Webster Carver, lived for the thrill. Carver continued to dive off a 60-foot platform on her horse into a tank of water even after she was blinded.

Cheryl Harness underlines the derring-do of these women daredevils in her colorful, energetic illustrations. The book ends with a chronology that adds perspective by including milestones of women's history as well as the stunts performed by the women daredevils.

Other great non-fiction books include:

• "Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition, 2008" (Guinness, $19.95) -- A guaranteed hit with young computer- and video-game players. (Ages 8 up.)

• "Elephants and Golden Thrones" (Abrams, $18.95), in which author Trish Marx and photographer Ellen Senisi provide readers an inside look at China's Forbidden City. (Ages 8-12.)

• Authors Connie and Peter Roop, joined by illustrator Charlie Powell, present portraits of 18 inspiring people, ranging from Benjamin Franklin to Mia Hamm, in "Tales of Famous Americans" (Scholastic, $17.99, ages 8-12).