PMS Library

After Ever After

by Jordan Sonnenblick, 260 pages, Grades 6-9

Jeff is a cancer survivor. When he was five he was diagnosed with Leukemia, but he has been cancer free for years now. Still, the has to deal with repercussions from the experience. He has a bit of a limp, but that just means he bikes instead of going out for track, and it doesn’t keep Lindsey from thinking he’s cute, so that’s not a big deal. He also finds math challenging because one of the cancer drugs messed with that part of his brain, but he is not too worried about that either until the state institute an exit exam for the eighth grade. Normally, this is something that his big brother Steven could have helped Jeff figure out, but he was off finding himself drumming his way through Africa. Jeff doesn’t want to worry his mom; he feels like she has worried enough about him. He also doesn’t want to upset his accountant dad who cannot understand why Jeff doesn’t get math the way he does, so he decides to keep them both in the dark. Luckily his best friend Tad, a cancer survivor himself with after effects of his own, agrees to tutor him in math. In exchange, Jeff promises that he will help Tad build the strength to walk across the stage at their graduation; Tad uses a wheelchair because his cancer treatment affected the strength in his legs. Naturally, nothing is as simple or straightforward as it seems, which anyone who has had to battle cancer at five should have realized.

After Ever After is a companion book to Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie. Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie is told from Jeff's brother's point of view when he is first diagnosed with cancer as a little kid.

If you enjoy books about overcoming adversity, and challenge you might also enjoy: Running Dream, by Wendelin Van Draanen, or Waiting For Normal, by Leslie Connor.

Dead End In Norvelt

by Jack Gantos, 341 pages, Grades 5-8

“School was finally out and I was standing on a picnic table in our backyard getting ready for a great summer vacation when my mother walked up to me and ruined it.”

Isn’t that a great way to start a book?

The surprise Jack's mom has in store for him is that he will be working this summer for the old lady next door. It seems like that might be boring, but this is no ordinary old lady. When he arrives his first day Miss Volker is boiling her hands in a pot on the stove, next thing you know Jack’s breaking-and-entering in a neighbor’s house on her orders. Miss Volker is an expert on the town’s history; it was founded by Eleanor Roosevelt. She needs Jack’s help to write obituaries for all the town’s original residents who are suddenly “dropping like flies.”

Poor Jack. Between covering for his dad who wants to build an airport in their yard for the plane he is hiding in the garage, trying to avoid arrest for polluting, spying on the Hell’s Angels, and working for his crazy neighbor, his summer is not delivering the fun and games he had hoped for.

If you like funny fiction with a bit of history you might also enjoy: A Long Way From Chicago, by Richard Peck, or Walking Across Egypt, by Clyde Edgerton, or The Worst/Best School Year Ever, by Barbara Robinson.

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A Monster Calls

by Patrick Ness, 204 pages. Grades 7 and up.

Connor has been making his own dinner, and putting himself to bed for a while now. His mom has been sick a long time. The treatments seem never-ending. There is always something new to try; something that will surely work this time. It is hard for him, but he has it under control, and he is managing just fine, until some bullies start bothering him at school, and a monster moves into his backyard and starts waking him up in the middle of the night trying to scare him.

The monster takes Connor on a journey of stories, each more unexpected than the next. On the way he learns that things are not always what they seem and he finds the strength to face his worst fear of all.

The combination of the illustrations and the writing is so powerful that it brings the reader along on Connor’s emotional journey in a way that feels tangibly genuine and raw.

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If you like sad stories you might also enjoy: After Ever After, by Jordan Sonnenblick, or The Poet Slave of Cuba, by Margarita Engle.

Now Is The Time For Running

by Michael Williams, 233 pages, Grades 7 and up

Deo is playing soccer when the soldiers arrive. At first they hope that they will shout and shoot into the sky and then move on to the next village to show their power, but the soldiers are serious about violence this time. Deo and Innocent narrowly escape the massacre and run from their home with only a few possessions. Deo is the younger brother, but Innocent is disabled and suffers from emotional fits when he isn’t able to calm himself with his radio, so it is Deo who has to make all the decisions to make sure they are safe.

The teens face immense difficulties as they make their way to the border, but it is when they get there that the real challenge begins. Deo and Innocent have to make their way across a raging river and through a wild animal preserve just to escape the war, but even away from the war safety is very hard to find.

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If you enjoy reading stories about real places and situations that are very different from your own, you might also like: No Ordinary Day, Breadwinner, or I Am A Taxi, by Deborah Ellis, or Crossing the Wire, by Will Hobbs.

No Ordinary Day

by Deborah Ellis, 155 pages, Grade 5-7

The day Valli leaves her miserable coal mining village and sets off on an adventure is no ordinary day; it is her happiest day so far. Valli is a clever survivor; she ends up in Kolkata, India and lives alone on the streets borrowing and begging to fill her belly, and sleeping in the cemetery when she can sneak by the guards. Life is hard, but she is stubbornly optimistic. Valli approaches strangers to ask for food, dives to the bottom of the river to collect change; she has a gift for getting what she requires and when she is finished with something she makes sure to give it to someone else in need.

One day she meets a lady doctor whom she is sure will give her a few rupees (Indian money), but while they are talking Valli steps on some burning coals. The doctor is alarmed, but Valli doesn’t feel a thing; she tells the doctor that she has magic feet, nothing can hurt her.

Leprosy is one of the most feared and misunderstood diseases probably because of the way it disfigures its victims. Even today people with the disease are considered outcasts of their societies. In reality, leprosy is hard to get, and, in fact, can be cured if diagnosed and treated. Unfortunately, often those who contract it are not in a position to get assistance.

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If you enjoy reading about social situations much different from our lucky circumstances here in Piedmont, then you might also enjoy The Breadwinner, by Deborah Ellis, Homeless Bird, by Gloria Whelan, or Now is the Time for Running, by Michael Williams.

The Absolute Value of Mike

by Kathryn Erskine, 247 pages, Grades 6-9

Mike is not into math, in fact it is his very worst subject even though his dad is practically a math genius. Mike cannot get his dad to understand that, but Mike’s dad is pretty tuned out when it comes to his son. It is not a big surprise when he decides to send Mike off to some long lost relative instead of taking him along to an engineering conference in Europe over the summer.

Mike winds up in a crazy town with his great Aunt Moo who has no Internet, a cell phone that she cannot work which is lost somewhere in her purse anyhow, and a car named Tyrone that she drives like a maniac. When he arrives the whole town is on a mission to raise money to help adopt a little boy from Romania: a shy gorgeous singer named Gladys, some guys who make Porch Pals, Moo and her famous vinegar, and homeless guy named Past are all trying to raise $40,000. Mike’s great uncle, Poppy, is supposed to be helping too, but he just sits on his recliner and eats Spam sandwiches watching a blank TV screen. Somehow Mike finds himself leading this crazy team of fundrasisers. Wait, won’t there be math involved here?

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If you like books with quirky characters you might also enjoy: Grounded by Kate Klise, Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos, or Deliver Us From Normal, by Kate Klise.

Legend

by Marie Lu, 305 pages, Grades 7-12

In a dystopian future society, the western United States has become the Republic, a military dictatorship in a constant war with the surrounding Colonies. Student trials determine where you will be placed in the social order, but Day lives outside the law; he is the Republic’s most infamous criminal. June, on the other hand, was raised in a wealthy family; her parents and her brother held high positions in the Republic; she scored the highest ever on the Trials and attends one of the Republic’s best military academies. An accident throws these two opposites together. They should be instant enemies, but maybe what brought them together was not an accident after all, but what they are up against might be too big for the greatest outlaw and the smartest citizen even if they are working together.

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If you like dystopian fiction, you might also enjoy: The Hunger Games, by Susanne Collins, The Maze Runner, by James Dashner, or Matched, by Ally Condie.

Half Brother

by Kenneth Oppel, 375 pages, Grades 7-11

Ben had always hoped for a sibling, but he never expected that his parents would adopt a little brother like Zan. His father is a behavioral psychologist who has transplanted the family to Canada to study chimpanzees, so it wasn’t so unexpected that his parents would bring a chimp into their home. But, in 1973 on Ben’s thirteenth birthday they surprise him with “a little brother.” Zan is a chimpanzee that they expect Ben to treat like a sibling. It is all part of his father’s study, but it soon becomes difficult to distinguish experiment from genuine feelings, and the thing is what is cute when the chimp is a baby might be a real problem when Zan is stronger than everyone he lives with.

If you enjoy speculative fiction, you might also like Airborn, also by Kenneth Oppel, or Crunch by Leslie Connor, or A Dog For Life, by L.S. Matthews; these books have a realistic feel, but a fantasy twist.

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Tags: family problems, fantasy

Every Soul A Star

by Wendy Mass, 322 pages, Grades 5-9

Student Review

Three lives are about to be changed forever. Thousands of people gather on a tiny isolated campground to watch something unforgettable: a total eclipse of the sun.
Ally’s family has owned Moon Shadow Campground ever since she was born. She likes simple things like stargazing and comet hunting. And she refuses to imagine it any other way.
Bree is popular, gorgeous and is perfectly happy until her parents ruin everything. She can’t imaging herself camping or hiking. For Bree, fun means putting on makeup, checking out the latest fashions, modeling and being popular – the exact opposite of her parents. What is Bree trying to hide?
Jack is overweight, and a lost cause in school. He is used to sitting alone in his treehouse reading or drawing aliens. When his science teacher offers him a deal that gets him out of summer school, Jack finds himself in a place he would have never even dreamed of. MC

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If you enjoy books about groups of friends you might also like: The View From Saturday by E.L. Koningsburg, The Misfits, by James Howe, or The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart.

Wildwood

by Colin Meloy, 545 pages, Grades 4-7

Student Review

Prue McKeel’s life is ordinary until a murder of crows kidnaps her baby brother Mac. They take him into a place called “Impassable Wilderness.” This place is a big green area labeled “I.W” on every map of Portland, Oregon. Prue and her friend Curtis have to venture into this wilderness from which no one has ever returned alive. They travel through forests finding not only warring creatures, and menacing figures, but friendship, as they struggle for the freedom from this wilderness. Prue and Curtis uncover a whole new secret world hidden within the trees; a wilderness called Wildwood. From talking coyotes and birds to bandit camps and an evil governess, Wildwood is packed with mysteries. Can they save Prue’s brother and get out alive? You’ll have to find out. MC

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Waiting For Normal

by Leslie Connor, 290 pages, Grades 6-8

Addie’s life has a lot of “twists and turns” that she doesn’t expect. She used to live with her Mommers, Dwight and her two little sisters, but after what she calls her big mistake everything changes. Now, she and Mommers are moving into a trailer home and “the littles” (her sisters) are moving away with their dad, Dwight.

Addie is good at making the best of almost every situation; her mom calls the trailer a piece of junk in the middle of no where, but Addie calls it an adventure and sees her new loft-room as cozy, not cramped. Even when there is no food in the house, she can create a delicious meal, in fact, she has invented a repertoire of toast-dinner recipes.

Addie’s winning personality makes her a lot of friends, but her life is far from normal; she might need more than optimism to get her to out of danger in the end.

Other stories about challenging family situations are: Guitar Boy, by M.J. Auch, Grounded, by Kate Klise, and Ruby Holler, or Bloomability, by Sharon Creech.

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Revolution Is Not A Dinner Party

by Ying Chang Compestine, 249 pages, Grades 5-8

Ling is nine, her parents are both doctors and they live in China surrounded by neighbors who are their friends. Little by little the China they know begins to change around them. The young people call themselves revolutionaries and say they value equality for all, but soon their chants “Down with the bourgeois!” and actions turn against people like Ling’s parents who have been educated. Ling faces challenges of school bullies, the disappearance of friends and family, the lack of food and necessities as well as the abuse of loved ones as the China she knew transforms into a different place entirely.

If you would like to read more about this time period you might also enjoy a biography called: Red Scarf Girl, by Ji-ling Jiang, or Little Green: Growing Up During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, by Chun Yu

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Small Acts of Amazing Courage

by Gloria Whelan, 209 pages, Grades 6 and up

Rosalind, an English girl growing up in India, prefers to spend her days exploring the city streets and bazaar with her friend Isha, but her parents don’t know that. Her father is away at war and her mother is still grieving over Rosalind’s brother who died while he was away at school in England. It is her brother’s death that made it possible for Rosalind to remain in India – her mother cannot bare to part with her only child now even though most British children are educated in England – but her father is becoming concerned about Rosalind’s education and behavior; her disobedient, unconventional ways might get her sent to England after all, and just as she is becoming interested in Indian politics, in particular a dynamic leader working for India’s independence through peaceful protest named Ghandi.

If you enjoy this book you may also like other titles by Gloria Whelan including: Parade of Shadows, Homeless Bird, or Angel on the Square. They are all historical fiction novels with strong female characters.

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A Long Walk To Water

by Linda Sue Park, 120 pages, Grades 5-8

Salva is at school when they attack. The teacher sends the boys running out the back door and into the forest to get away from the invading rebel soldiers.

This is the beginning of Salva’s journey through southern Sudan into Ethiopia on the run from the war sweeping his country, and he is on his own; he was separated from his family when their village was attacked.

This novel is based on the true life of Salva Dut who now lives in the United States and has started an organization that digs wells to help people in the country where he grew up.

Salva Dut’s website: http://www.waterforsouthsudan.org/salvas-story/

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If you enjoy stories about ingenuity and survival you might also like the biography by William Kamkwamba called: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

The Cardturner

cardturner by Louis Sachar, 336 pages, Grades 7-adult

At first Alton thought being forced to visit his elderly uncle was going to be pretty boring. He was pretty sure his uncle didn’t even know who he was, even though his mother had been making him call Uncle Lester, a.k.a. Trap, his “favorite uncle” ever since he was little.

He was even more certain that this was going to be boring when his uncle explained that what he needed was a cardturner for his bridge games each week since he could no longer see the cards; Trap had recently lost his eyesight. Alton could only remember old people playing bridge, and the game seemed to include a lot of complicated rules, not particularly, but he agreed to help his “favorite uncle.”

His “favorite uncle” also turned out to be pretty crabby at first, and was not a man to give compliments very often, but everyone has a story; there is a lot more to Trap’s story than Alton ever could have guessed. The mystery of Trap’s past is entertaining, bridge is intriguing, and when a pretty girl enters the picture Alton’s boring summer turns into one of the best of his life.

Connections: If you enjoy Louis Sachar, you might also like Holes. Another great read about younger and older generations connecting is called The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly.

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Demonkeeper

demonkeeper by Royce Buckingham, 216 pages Grades 6-7

After his mentor disappeared, Nat was left alone to care for all of the demons in their run-down, old house in Seattle. Most of the demons aren’t too much trouble, just a little pesky. But, the Beast in the basement is a different story. Nat has never seen the Beast; the terrifying creature must be kept locked away to protect runaway and orphan children, its chosen prey. Of course, on the one night that Nat decides to leave the house to go on a date with Sandy, the girl he met at the library, two boys break into the house and release the chaos that Nat, and all of the previous demonkeepers before him, have so carefully kept in check. At the same time, another less honorable demonkeeper has slipped into town intending to use the demons, especially the Beast, for his own dastardly plans. Can Nat control the chaos and defeat the destructive demonkeeper?

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Connections: For other stories of kids left to battle monsters, check out Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, and The Shadow Thieves by Anne Ursu.

Death Cloud

death-cloud by Andrew Lane, 311 pages, Grades 6-9

Maybe you have heard of Sherlock Holmes the grown man who solved impossible crimes with his sidekick Watson, but did you ever wonder what he was like as a teenager?

Death Cloud is the first adventure of the teenage Sherlock. He is not yet officially the mastermind he will become, but you can see his mind already has those keen sensibilities that make him the superior detective he is as an adult.

“‘You came in Father’s carriage,’” the young Sherlock tells his older brother when he sees him.

“‘How on earth did you deduce that, young man?’

Sherlock shrugged. ‘I noticed the parallel creases in your trousers where the upholstery pressed them, … Father’s carriage has a tear in the upholstery that was repaired rather clumsily a few years ago. The impression of that repair is pressed into your trousers…’”

Brilliant deduction! But can he solve the mysterious murders taking people around him in a cloud of death while being pursued by the criminals themselves? Is the teenager up to the task?

Connections: If you like a good mystery you might also enjoy Heist Society, by Ally Carter, or Montmorency: Thief, Liar Gentleman?, by Eleanor Updale.

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Airman

airman by Eoin Colfer, 412 pages, Grades 7-8

Conor Broekhart was born in the air. His parents took a ride in a hot air balloon at the 1878 Paris World’s Fair, and that is the moment Conor decided to arrive. It is no wonder he is determined to fly; he is a brilliant engineer from very young and is lucky enough to work with another brilliant man, Victor Vigny, advisor to the king. The king’s daughter admires Conor’s talent as well, and all seems to be perfect for the Broekhart family.

Unfortunately, his life takes a dramatic turn. The good king has placed his trust in the wrong man; one of his confidants, Marshall Bonvilain, kills the king and frames Conor for the murder! Conor is thrown into a high security prison on an island, and his parents believe him to be dead. He is subjected a brutal life in the prison, but also makes some allies that help him attempt to save the kingdom, and his family as well as seek revenge on the evil Bonvilain.

Connections: If you enjoy steam punk fiction, you might also like: Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld, or Airborn by Kenneth Oppel. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas is the first novel about a man being mistakenly imprisoned and escaping to seek his revenge.

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Elijah of Buxton

elijahofbuxton by Christopher Paul Curtis, 341 pages, Grades 6-8

Elijah wishes he was not quite so fragile. He can take off running when he sees a snake, or might feel like crying when someone tells the sad story of escaping from slavery in America. His parents worry that his fragile nature might make his life difficult, but it is that very nature that turns him into a hero.

Buxton was a real town established in 1849 by an American abolitionist who hoped to give people escaping American slavery a place to live as free human beings. The story of Elijah is fictional, but things that happen are realistic for the time and place.

Even though his family thinks he is a delicate soul, Elijah finds courage deep inside himself and takes a lot of risks to do the right thing. It is a dangerous time to be African American; Elijah’s adventure is truly heroic.

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Connections: Christopher Paul Curtis is gifted at creating exciting stories that happen to be set in realistic times in history. If you like Elijah of Buxton, you might also like Bud Not Buddy, or The Watson’s Go to Birmingham, both by Curtis as well.

The Education of Hailey Kendrick

by Eileen Cook 256 pages grades 7 and up

Hailey Kendrick got the whole school on probation; no one can leave campus because of her. She has gone from popular to outcast in one night.

Hailey attends a fancy boarding, so fancy, in fact, children of movie stars, and teen stars themselves, are her classmates. She has no money worries, obviously, she is popular and is dating one of the most handsome guys in the school. Her life seemed pretty perfect until she got everyone on probation.

What is going on? Has Hailey lost her mind, or was there something already boiling beneath the surface that just had to burst free? And, how is she going to manage life when everyone she knows has dumped her?

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Other fun realistic fiction with teen girl central characters are: Heist Society, by Ally Carter, Rules of the Road, by Joan Bauer, and a fantasy with a teen girl central character is Matched, by Ally Condie.

The Poison Diaries

by Maryrose Wood, 278 pages, Grades 7 and up.

Even Jesamine, who is the daughter of the apothecary and a skilled gardener, is not allowed beyond the locked gate of the poison garden. Jesamine lives with her father, who heals the sick in and around London, in a country house in the mid 1800s.

One day the man in charge of the local home for the insane delivers a mysterious young man he calls Weed to their doorstep. Jesamine’s father agrees to take him in even though he seems dangerous; he might be to blame for curing those in the asylum, and creating an epidemic of insanity in town.

The arrival of Weed reveals things to Jesamine that she has not realized about herself, about her father, and about the nature of poisons. Her life will never be the same.

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If you like romance, mystery and fantasy you might also like Graceling, by Kristin Cashore, Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, or Matched by Allie Condie.

The Memory Bank

memory-bank by Carolyn Coman 263 pages Grades 6-8

Hope watches her sister get smaller and smaller as her parents drive their car away. “Forget her!” they tell Hope, but she loves Honey, how can her parents abandon her on the side of the road.

The Memory Bank is told in two ways from two points of view. Honey is quickly picked up and handed a lollipop by a smiling lady and a bunch of laughing kids; her story is told in pictures, while Hope’s is described in words.

Hope cannot forget her sister, of course, and ends up being investigated by the World Wide Memory Bank for delinquent memory creation; instead of creating new memories, all Hope can do is think about her sister. Maybe the bank will hold the key to finding her.

The authors flash back and forth between these two adventures until they come together for a smashing finish.

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If you like graphic novels you might also enjoy: Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, by Barry Deutsch, or The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures, by Brian Selznick

Heist Society

heist-society1 by Ally Carter, 287 pages, Grades 6-10

Kat knows a lot about famous works of art, she is an expert when it comes to museums, but she is not a museum curator or an art history major; she is a teenager. Kat was raised surrounded some of the greatest criminal masterminds in history; her mom died when she was young, but her dad and her Uncle Eddie taught her everything she knows, and she knows a lot!

Kat thinks she is taking a break from the family business; she is enrolled in a private boarding school, but then her dad is in trouble and she has to pull a heist herself to save him.

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If you liked any of the Oceans movies you’ll enjoy Heist Society; it is Oceans Eleven with teen criminals and a female in charge.

Guitar Boy

by M. J. Auch 260 pages Grades 6-9

Travis is out on the street. His father, at his wits end after his mother’s accident, lost his temper and kicked him out of the house with nothing but the clothes on his back and his mom’s old guitar.

Not only does Travis have to worry about how to survive on the street, he is also worried about the rest of his family. His younger sister had to give up going to school to take care of their three younger siblings; the three little ones are missing their mom, and don’t really understand what has happened to her; his father is so distraught he has lost one job and cannot find another; his mother, rather than being helped to recover, has been housed in a convalescent home with a lot of people not expected to get any better.

Travis has his hands full, and his pockets empty. Guitar Boy is a different kind of survival story.

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Other stories about difficult family situations are Bloomability, by Sharon Creech, and If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period, by Gennifer Choldenko.

Grounded

by Kate Klise 196 pages Grades 6-7

Daralynn’s father, brother and baby sister died in a plane accident, and Daralynn is only alive because she was grounded that day and had been forced to remain behind.

After the tragedy, her mother becomes the hairdresser for the dead at the local mortuary to make ends meet, but it is not easy to recover from such a shattering loss. Daralynn’s mother is not only over-protective of her, but also seems to be angry about everything, and kind to no one.

Even Daralynn’s Aunt Josie, her father’s sister, is often the victim of Mother’s attacks. When Josie starts dating Daralynn’s mother’s competition, things really heat up. But, there is something suspicious about “Uncle Clem,” Josie’s new beaux, and Daralynn’s investigation might just prove to be the thing her family needs to pull them back together.

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If you enjoyed Regarding the Fountain by Klise, you won't be disappointed by this sweet narration. Another great book about family perseverance in the face of tragedy is Mockingbird, by Kathryn Erskine

Storm Mountain

storm-mountain By Tom Birdseye, 135 pages Grades 5-8

Somehow… one thing led to another, and before Cat knew what what was going on, she and her cousin, Ty, were stuck in a winter storm on Storm Mountain… just like the one their fathers had died in two years before. Cat knew it was crazy when Ty showed up at their door and suggested they climb the mountain to spread their fathers’ ashes, but she didn’t think Ty was insane enough to take off on his own when she said she wouldn’t go. Challenge after challenge leave Cat wondering if her limited mountaineering skills can save them both.

Connections: For other high adventure mountaineering books, try reading Peak by Roland Smith, the Everest series by Gordon Korman, or Climb or Die by Edward Myers.

Slick

slick By Sara Cassidy, 116 pages Grades 5-8

Thirteen year-old Liza’s parents are divorced, and she has found that one way to take away the sadness is through DIY (Do It Yourself) projects like making things from recycled items and stuff she finds thrifting (shopping at thrift stores). She doesn’t like her mom’s new boyfriend and becomes convinced he is up to no good when she finds out how the oil company he works for is ruining the environment in Guatemala. Liza decides to take action and forms a group called GRRR! (Girls for Renewable Resources Really!) to expose the company.

Connections: For other stories of activism, try reading Operation Redwood by S. Terrell French or Hoot and Flush by Carl Hiaasen.

Prisoner in the Palace: How Victoria Became Queen with the Help of Her Maid, a Reporter, and a Scoundrel

prisoners-in-the-palace By Michaela MacColl, 367 pages Grades 7 & Up

Seventeen year-old Liza’s circumstances changed suddenly and for the worse. One day she was living a life of luxury in a fancy hotel with her parents and the next she is destitute, after her parents die in a carriage accident. Liza considers herself fortunate when she is hired to be the maid for the young princess (and soon to be queen), Victoria. She quickly finds herself caught up in the intrigue, with the previous maid mysteriously dismissed and the princess’s mother and confidante trying to take away control from the soon to be queen.

Connections: For other tales of enterprising orphans from other eras, try reading Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Crispin: the Cross of Lead by Avi, and The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick. If none of those appeal, a subject search in our OPAC would reveal 190 books with the tracing of “orphan.”

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place

The Mysterious Howling (Book 1)

by Maryrose Wood

The book begins with Penelope Lumley, a recent graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, on a train headed to her first job. Miss Lumley is a teacher and governess; she is especially excited (and nervous) about this first job at Ashton Place. Her interview with the lady of the house goes quite well and she is hired on the spot, even though they were often interrupted by some mysterious howling from outside. The noise, she is surprised to find out, was being made by the children she has been hired to teach. It turns out the master of the house had found these children while hunting and until now they had literally been raised by wolves. Many would run away from such a daunting task, but Miss Lumley is not only optimistic, she is determined to do a good job for these “three waifs;” their predicaments are often funny, and their story is sweetly told.

The Hidden Gallery (Book 2)

by Maryrose Wood

This sequel is even more exciting than the first book. Miss Lumley suggests that she might take the children, who had been raised by wolves until Miss Lumley arrived, to London to visit Miss Mortimer, her former headmistress from the Swanburne Academy. Lady Constance, who has been terribly bored and out-of-sorts because the house at Ashton Place has still not been completely repaired after the children destroyed it while chasing a squirrel in the previous story, is delighted and decides to move the entire household to London for a spell. A number of suspicious adventures follow, and Miss Lumley and the children narrowly escape danger while trying to unravel the mystery of the children’s condition and other strange goings on about London.

Another difficult-to-put-down sequel is sure to follow.

Click here to check out the author’s website.

The Maze Runner

maze-runner by James Dashner 374 pages, Grades 6-10

Tom wakes up in a box without windows or doors. He fumbles around and cannot find a way out until the top opens up and beyond the glare of the bright light he hears kids voices.
“Look at that shank.”
“How old is he?”
“Looks like a klunk in a T-shirt.” (p.3)
Tom cannot remember who he is or where he came from, but he is pulled up into the Glade by a bunch of other teenage boys. All the kids there arrived in about the same state: confused, some sense of the way things work, but no clear memories of the details of their lives before the dark box that delivered them.

The Glade is a bit like a working farm and a bit like a prison. Each of the teens has a job to keep the place functioning: cook, farmer, slopper, runner, etc., but there is no way out. They all believe their one hope to get home is to decipher the maze that surrounds the Glade, but the maze changes shape every night, and there are frightening things that roam its halls.

Connections: Those who enjoyed Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins or Unwind, by Neal Shusterman will like the Maze Runner too!

The Running Dream

by Wendelin Van Draanen, 336 pages, Grades 7 and up

“‘Fifty-five flat!’ Kyro shouts, ‘Fifty-five flat!’
It’s a new personal best for me.
A new record for the league.” (11)

At sixteen Jessica is on top of her game, about to take league, maybe even go to state, when the track team’s bus is hit by an out-of-control car. One of the team loses her life, and Jessica’s right leg is crushed.

Jessica is a runner; running is not just something she likes to do, it is woven into her identity, so the accident takes more than her leg, it makes her question who she is.

Personal strength, friendship, family, and courage pull Jessica forward on her journey to discover who she is and who she can become. It is as inspirational a journey as the many true journeys of people in similar situations.

The following is a link to a TED talk with Aimee Mullens, also a runner, called “Aimee Mullans and Her 12 Pair of Legs.” http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/aimee_mullins_prosthetic_aesthetics.html

Matched

matched by Ally Condie, 366 pages, Grades 7 and up

In a future world where no one has to fear disease, malnutrition, crime, or other problems of past cultures, people trust The Society to make the best decisions about everything: the food you should be eating, the clothes you wear and even who is best suited to be your partner for life.

Cassia has reached the age of her matching, and at the ceremony while others are paired with people from other cities far away Cassia is surprised and grateful to find her match is Xander, her best friend from childhood. She leaves the ceremony feeling confident this is her ideal mate, but when she uses the computer to find out more about her match the face of another boy she knows flashes on the screen!

This little “mistake” opens Cassia’s eyes to the possibility that The Society might not really be as perfect as she has been brought up to believe; could this doubt put everyone she knows in danger? And, who is her real match?

If you enjoy dystopian fantasy, fiction that takes place in a future that is the opposite of an ideal world, you might also like: Unwind by Neal Shusterman, or Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Crossed, the sequel to Matched will come out in 2011.

Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom

By Susin Nielsen, 229 pages, Grades 6-8

dear-geroge Violet is having a hard year. She almost poisons her step-sisters (unintentionally, of course), she breaks a classmate’s nose (less than unintentionally), she crashes into a movie star’s car (honestly by mistake), only to name a few of the mishaps of her seventh grade year. Really, Violet is only tying to make it through middle school, survive visits with her dad and Jennica (her dad’s new wife, who is fake in more ways than one), and make sure her mom doesn’t fall for the wrong guy again, but somehow nothing seems to go as planned. If only she could get George Clooney to write her back, she is sure he will love her mom and make her real sister’s and her life much better.

If you enjoy realistic fiction with a bit of humor like Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison, or Absolutely Normal Chaos, by Sharon Creech, then Dear George Clooney… might be for you.

The Unknowns

by Benedict Carey, 259 pages, Grades 6-8

unknowns Until now living in Folsom Adjacent, a trailer park bordering the Folsom Power Plant on a circular island, has been pretty boring. In fact, Diaphanta, a.k.a. Lady Di, and Tamir al-Khwarizmi, a.ka. Tom Jones, had nothing to do but work on trying to pass math and stay out of the way of the bullies until people in their community start to disappear. The Crotona police don’t seem to be doing anything, so when their friend and math tutor vanishes from her trailer leaving behind a clue Lady Di and Tom Jones decide to see if they can solve the puzzle and save their teacher. Di and Tom, and eventually a few other allies, follow a series of math clues through the tunnels under Adjacent and battle adolescent and grown-up bullies trying to save their friend and the dirty little town that is their home.

This book will satisfy fans of Blue Balliett’s Chasing Vermeer, Trenton Lee Stewart’s Mysterious Benedict Society, or anyone who enjoys puzzling out math problems from different points of view.

Leviathan

By Scott Westerfeld, 44o pages, Grades 7 and up

leviathan Westerfeld has created an alternative history of World War I and filled it with Clanker and Darwinist war machines. The Clankers use mechanical transports that remind readers of the Empire’s AT-AT walkers in Star Wars while the Darwinists use flying machines that live, breathe and eat. In fact, one of their greatest living machines called Leviathan is really an entire ecosystem; whale DNA, bat, and bird all mixed together to create a huge flying zeppelin manned by the military. Daryn, a girl disguised as a young soldier, joins the Darwinist army and is aboard the Leviathan when the war begins. Alek, the Austrian prince, escapes his country after his parents’ assassination in a Clanker contraption. A near fatal crash, and a famous scientist seeking to save her precious cargo bring Daryn and Alek’s worlds and missions together in the chaos of the beginning of an alternate first World War.

This book’s sequel Behemouth has recently arrived and promises to be another thrilling adventure. Another exciting adventure including a zeppelin and an alternative past is called: Airborn, by Kenneth Oppel. Oppel’s story is less of war and more like an adventure on the high seas with pirates and mysterious creatures.

Keeper

keeper By Kathi Appelt, 399 pages Grades 5-7

Keeper has messed up… really messed up, and she needs to fix things. During the blue moon, she plans to visit the sandbar where mermaids gather, to find her mother who disappeared when Keeper was 3 years-old. Keeper has a plan and is sure that her A to A plan will work.

Check out the book trailer at the author’s website.

Connections: For another story that make you question a character’s reality, try reading Signal by Cynthia DeFelice. Another magical story by Kathi Appelt is The Underneath.

Closed for the Season

closed-for-the-season Mary Downing Hahn, 182 pages Grades 5-8

Logan is unhappy to have to move to a new city. He knows his family’s new house is a fixer-upper, but he isn’t prepared for the wreck they find or the annoying kid next door. Logan also finds that his parents were hiding the fact that the previous owner died in the house. It turns out that his parents weren’t informed of the whole story… Her murder remains a mystery and it seems that the answer might be found in the creepy, over-grown, abandoned amusement park nearby.

Check out the author’s video trailer - Closed for the Season

Connections: For other recent, creepy tales by the same author, try reading All the Lovely Bad Ones, Deep and Dark and Dangerous, and The Old Willis Place. Other favorite scary, mystery writers include: Lois Duncan, Joan Lowry Nixon and Barbara Brooks Wallace.

Eye of the Whale

eye-of-the-whale *Green Team Recommends*

by Douglas Carlton Abrams, 365 pages Adult Novel

Though not strictly written as young adult fiction, this book will appeal to Middle Schoolers interested in the natural world, especially in marine life. Eye of the Whale is an eco-thriller set primarily in the greater Bay Area, bringing together whale researchers, whalers, corporate lobbyists, activists, and government agents. One central character is actually a humpback whale, nicknamed Apollo, who swims up the Sacramento River to deliver a message, but to whom? And what is the message? And who is it that doesn’t want the message to get delivered? This thriller uses fascinating and startling facts and theories– about whales and about the impact of chemical pollutants accumulating in the natural world and eventually in our own bodies (body burden)– to tell a story that is both a page turner and a cutting commentary on the destruction, waste and poisoning that has flowed out from our modern industrial civilization into the natural world.

Unwind

unwind By Neil Shusterman, 335 pages. Grades 7-9

It is the future, and if you are between the ages of thirteen and eighteen you worry every day about becoming an “unwind.”

When no one won the terrible civil war between the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life groups there was a compromise. It was decided that all babies would be born, that children would be untouchable from birth to 13, and that between 13 and 18 any child could be unwound. Every single body part goes on living in another body, so it is not considered death. The unwound teen continues to live in different places.

In this version of the future there are no doctors, only surgeons. There is a transplanting process that works so well, people just replace parts that are damaged or diseased instead of trying to cure them. The technology is great for people who lose a limb, but you can also “correct” things like baldness with a transplanted scalp full of hair, or replace your crooked teeth with a brand new set.

Connor is trouble, and his parents have had enough. Risa has no parents, and the state homes need to make space for the new babies being “storked,” left on their doorstep. Lev is a “tithe;” he has been raised since birth to be unwound as a sacrifice to god. “Unwinds” are outcasts whom no one wants to help, so how can they escape their fate?

Connections: For other survival stories full of adventure try: The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, or Graceling, by Kristin Cashore. Another edgy science fiction adventure is Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.

Boom

boom1 by Mark Haddon, 195 pages. Science-Fiction Mystery.

Jimbo’s sister, Becky, tries to scare him into thinking he is about to be kicked out of school, so Jimbo and Charlie bug the teachers’ room with walkie talkies to find out if it could be true. Instead of finding anything out about Jimbo, they catch two of their teachers speaking a strange language, and it isn’t a human language!

The boys are determined to solve the mystery, and when none of their other tactics yield answers, the boys decide to sneak into Mrs. Pearse’s house. This a big mistake; now they know too much. They are sure aliens are after them, but their families think they are crazy, and then Charlie disappears!

What would you do if your best friend might have been abducted by aliens? Go after him, of course. Jimbo and his sister Becky are on their own in the wilds of Scotland trying to save Charlie, and maybe a lot more than that!

For other crazy alien stories try: Nosepickers from Outer Space by Gordon Korman, or The Doom Machine, by Mark Teague

Smile

smile By Raina Telgemeier, 213 pages Grades 5-8

The author, Raina Telgemeier, was just racing her friends to the front door after a Girl Scout meeting when she tripped, fell and knocked out her two front teeth. From that moment, middle school became a blur of surgeries and dentist/orthodontist appointments mixed with the more typical crushes, teasing and embarrassments. This graphic memoir vividly depicts the mixed bag of middle school. Will high school be better?

Connections: For other humorous autobiographies/memoirs, try reading John Sciezka’s Knucklehead or How Angel Peterson Got His Name by Gary Paulsen. For other graphic memoirs/biographies with a much more serious tone, check out Maus by Art Spiegelman or Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth

as-easy-as-falling By Lynne Rae Perkins, 352 pages Grades 7 Up

Do you believe in Murphy’s Law? Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Fifteen year-old Ry seems to be living Murphy’s Law, starting with his train to camp pulling away as he stands at the top of a nearby hill in the middle of nowhere Montana, trying to get cell phone reception. The next thing you know, Ry is on a cross-country road trip trying to get home, and each of his missteps leads to a new adventure in this humorous and absurd quest.

Connections: If you enjoy the combination of adventure and humor, you might try reading The Adventures of the Blue Avenger by Norma Howe, The Neddiad by Daniel Pinkwater, Backwater by Joan Bauer, or Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen.

Stuck On Earth

stuck-on-earth By David Klass, 227 pages Grades 6-9

In a tale that is not always what it seems, Ketchvar III is an alien, snail-like creature who is charged with the important task of evaluating human beings’ worthiness before possible extermination (vaporization by Gagnerian Death Ray). In order to get close to the humans, he inhabits the body of 14 year-old Tom Filber by crawling in through Tom’s nose. As it turns out, seemingly ordinary Tom’s life is not so typical. Ketchvar questions the value of humanity when he finds himself dealing with a dysfunctional family and bullies at school (“voluntary daily incarceration”).

Connections: For other humorous tales of alien/human interaction, try reading The Doom Machine by Mark Teague, Boom! by Mark Haddon or Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

The Gollywhopper Games

gollywhopper By Jody Feldman, 332 pages Grades 5-8

What is as exciting as a candy company that hides a few golden tickets offering a lifetime supply of candy and a tour of the mysterious factory? How about a toy factory with a puzzle and stunt contest where the winner receives untold riches and fame? The Gollywhopper Games starts with a stadium full of children and teens answering questions and brainteasers, in hopes of becoming one of the ten semifinalists. To twelve year-old Gil, the contest is also a chance for his family to have the money they need to leave town and find a fresh start. Once inside the magical world of the toy company, the contestants are faced with life-sized mind games and physical challenges, initially requiring teamwork but eventually singling out a winner. Are you ready for a few brain teasers?

Connections: The magical toy company setting and contest will appeal to those who enjoyed Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. For those who enjoy the puzzling mind games, try reading the Puzzling World of Winston Breen series by Eric Berlin, The Mysterious Benedict Society books by Trenton Lee Stewart or Blue Balliett’s art mystery books that start with Chasing Vermeer. Be sure to check out the Jody Feldman’s fun website.

Scrawl

by Mark Shulman p. 230 Grades 7 and up. scrawl

Tod Munn has a bad reputation; he has been known to steal the wimps’ lunch money, push his way into the front of the lunch line and shove people into the lockers when they least expect it. He is not someone you want to mess with if you don’t want to get hurt. Naturally Tod has landed himself in detention, and this time it is for something really bad, but he is not outside raking leaves with his “droogs,” instead he is spending time one-on-one with the school counselor, Mrs. Woodrow.

For detention he has to write in a journal every day after school. He spends weeks with the counselor in a hot school room writing and writing until it feels like his hand might fall off. Tod thinks the counselor is trying to “fix the bad guy,” and he doesn’t think it is going to work, either. Who do you think is right; is the bully really a bad guy, or is there more to the story than meets the eye?

Connections: If you like books about tough kids you might like Small Steps by Louis Sachar or if you enjoy books written in journal form you might also enjoy Absolutely Normal Chaos by Sharon Creech.

The Danger Box

danger-box By Blue Balliett, 306 pages mystery for Grades 5-8

Zoomy is legally blind, but he can see things if he holds them close up. He loves to read and play games on the computer, and he also loves to investigate and collect things.

He arrived on his grandparents' front step when he was a newborn baby. They love him and take him in; they know their son, Zoomy's father, can't take care of a baby, because he is running wild; an alcoholic who is always in a lot of trouble with the law.

Zoomy's life is going along just fine until the summer his dad shows up in a stolen truck and dumps a stolen box in their garage. His father's mysterious appearance is the beginning of Zoomy's life spiraling out of control. First, his grandparents let him investigate the contents of the stolen box, then his dangerous dad threatens Zoomy while he is alone at the library, then his grandparents are visited by a mysterious stranger, and finally there is a big fire at his grandparents' shop that doesn't seem like an accident.

What will happen to Zoomy? Could it all come down to the contents of the stolen box?

If you enjoy this book you might also like: A Dog for Life, by L.S. Matthews, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon, or The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly.

Mockingbird

mockingbird cover By Kathryn Erskine, 235 pages, Grade 6-8

Caitlin and her father are feeling broken after tragedy strikes their family a second time. Caitlin's mother died of cancer three years before and now her brother, Devon, is dead after a violent incident at school. On "the day their lives fell apart", as Caitlin calls it, Devon's door was slammed shut and Caitlin doesn't feel like she can open it. She misses her brother, and his room and all it holds especially a special place next to his bed where she used go for comfort. It was Devon who used to help her cope with the worlds of the town, the classroom and the playground. He always said Caitlin was brave; he even liked to call her Scout after the character in To Kill a Mockingbird. Now that Caitlin's dad spends a lot of time crying and Caitlin, who has Asperger's syndrome, has to be especially brave. She would like to help her family put the pieces back together, but she is not sure how to do that. After talking to the school counselor one day, she decides what they need is "closure" and she is on a mission to get it. But, first she has to find out what it is and how you get a hold of it.

For other stories about how families find closure try Mick Harte Was Here by Barbara Park, or The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon.

Exodus

exodus By Julie Bertagna, 345 pages Grades 7 and up

Sometime in the not-to-distant future, the world as we know it has mostly drowned under the rising ocean from the melting ice caps. Fifteen year-old Mara’s island home is just about to disappear under the waves when her vision of sky cities prompts the village to sail off on dangerous seas in search of a safe haven. When they reach the high-tech city, they find that they and the thousands of other refugees aren’t welcome. Instead, they must fight for their lives and for scraps from the city in the sky.

Connections: For another story of a society threatened by global warming, try reading First Light by Rebecca Stead or read the sequel to Exodus called Zenith. To read about the author’s inspiration for the story, check out her website.

Crunch

Crunch by Leslie Connor, 330 pages – Grades 5-8

A sudden oil crisis leaves Dewey and his older sister to run the family’s bike shop and care for their younger siblings while their parents are stranded up north. The crunch has made the bike shop incredibly busy, and to make matters worse, a thief is stealing precious precious parts, but Dewey has a plan to identify the culprit.

Connections: Check out the author’s website. If you like mysteries with an environmental theme, try reading Gloria Shurzynski’s National Park series.

The Poet Slave of Cuba

poet-slave-of-cuba1 By Margarita Engle, Art by Sean Qualls p. 183 – Grades 7-12 – biography

Trapped as a slave in a wealthy home in Cuba, Juan Francisco Manzano lived his life in fear of the cruel punishments of his masters. This sad and harrowing story was uncovered because the young slave, Manzano, wrote vivid poetry that describes his time as a slave. In Cuba poetry is like television; many people perform poetry for others and stories are often carried across the country because people repeat the poems they have heard. It is for this reason that the author, Margarita Engle, was inspired to write this biography in verse, paying tribute to Manzano's work. While enslaved Manzano could not stop creating poems in his head; sometimes his owners praised him for his creativity and other times he was severely punished. The poems were part of Manzano and came to him as naturally as breathing; no punishment, no matter how harsh, could stop him from being himself.

Connections: For other serious stories in verse try Aleutian Sparrow or Out of the Dust, both by Karen Hesse. For stories about people escaping oppression try 5,000 Miles to Freedom: Ellen and William Craft's Flight From Slavery, by Judith Bloom Fradin and Dennis Brindell Fradin, or The Year of Impossible Goodbyes, by Sook Nyul Choi.

Across the Nightingale Floor: Tales of the Otori (Book One)

nightengale-floor By Lian Hearn, p. 305 – adventure

Takeo has never known his father, who died many years before, and he has been growing up in a remote and peaceful Japanese village surrounded by the rest of his loving family. The rest of Japan is not so; it is a time of warlords, and secret societies in the middle ages, and Takeo's home is attacked and destroyed by a warlord named Iida who is threatening to take over the whole country. When Takeo returns from a walk in the woods and sees his village burning, something inside him takes over. He scares the warlord's horse and causes Iida to fall to the ground. Understanding his fatal blunder, he runs back into the woods chased by the warlord's soldiers. They all run into a man on horseback who fights for Takeo, cutting off the arm of one of Iida's best warriors. This mysterious man turns out to be a lord of the Otori clan, another of the powerful families of Japan.

Takeo's life changes completely from this day forward. He is adopted by the Otori and he discovers his father was a famous assassin. He also finds out his real heritage is the Tribe, a kind of secret ninja society; he possesses some of the Tribe's extraordinary abilities. He can hear details across a crowded courtyard, or through a wooden door, he can make himself "go invisible" and become as silent as a ghost.

In these turbulent times, talents like these are desired by many, and Takeo finds himself pulled in different directions, but he is determined to complete the final task for his adopted father: kill Iida, the same lord who burned his village and killed his family. The trouble is the only way to reach the warlord in his palace is to cross the nightingale floor, a huge room covered in a floor that sings whenever anyone touches it. How can he cross the nightingale floor and avenge his family?

Connections: For other stories taking place in medieval Japan try The Samurai's Tale, by Erik Christian Haugaard, or The Sword that Cut the Burning Grass: A Samurai Mystery, by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler.

The Alchemyst

alchemyst By Michael Scott – p. 375 – Grade 6-9 – fantasy

Michael Scott is a professor of mythology and was inspired by the TRUE story of Nicholas Flamel. He was actually a real person! He was born in Paris on September 28, 1330, and buried 1418, but the tomb is empty! Thus begins the myth, or history, of the alchemyst, Nicholas Flamel, immortal and still alive in today?

The Alchemyst begins in modern day New York City; teenage twins Sophie and Josh have moved there for the summer. The brother works in a bookstore for Nick Flemming (name sound familiar?) and the sister works at a cafe across the street. Right away the bookstore is blown up by mud people and a menacing character named Dr. John Dee. When Dee and his muddy henchmen storm into the bookstore, Josh is watching from a hiding place. Dee grabs Flamel’s wife, Perry, and almost makes off with the most powerful book of magic, but Josh manages to grab a few key pages before he and Mr. Flemming have to escape the explosion. Flamel believes Josh and Sophie might be the twins of the prophecy, so he wants to keep them close in the hopes of finding his precious wife and the stopping Dee from destroying the world as we know it. From the moment the bookstore explodes Josh and Sophie are on a roller coaster adventure, full of magical, mythical creatures and frightening beasts. Sequels The Magician and The Sorceress continue the perilous adventure.

Connections: Other adventure fantasies The Lightning Thief series, by Rick Riordan, Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling, The Alchemist’s Cat, by Robin Jarvis

The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind

harnessed-wind By William Kamkwamba, p. 273 – adult autobiography

When William was a kid he loved to take thing apart. He dissembled his parents radios and spent hours investigating a neighbor's bike light, spinning the wheel to turn it on and stopping the wheel to turn it off. Sometimes this experimenting drove his parents crazy, but it was this kind of thinking that would save his village. When he was 13 Malawi experienced a two year famine; his family survived, but were left nearly penniless. It was this struggle that was the spark igniting William's creative thinking; he just knew that power was the answer to his village's troubles. If they could somehow control energy, they could work later into the night, pump water to their crops, farm more efficiently, and farm enough crops to save some for hard times. He used his local library, a one-room building about a quarter of our library reference room) and the town junk yard to build a working windmill. The people of the village thought he was crazy until his house was filled with light. He was finally recognized by the wider world and was honored at TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design): Ideas Worth Sharing. Check out – William Kamkwamba: How I Harnessed the Wind. This incredible teenage journey is a compelling read for middle school students and adults as well.

Connection: For other true stories about overcoming astonishing odds try Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson, Of Beetles and Angels, by Mawi Asgedom, or 5,000 Miles to Freedom, by Judith Bloom Fradin and Dennis Brindell Fradin.

Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie

drums1

by Jordan Sonnenblick. p. 273 Grades 6-8

Most younger brothers can be a pain, but 8th grader Steven Alper's five-year-old brother Jeffrey really takes the cake or pie, that is. He borrows Steven's prized pair of drumsticks to stir his dangerous pie, a "zesty blend of coffee grounds, raw eggs and their smashed shells, Coke, uncooked bacon, and three Matchbox racing cars." When he's not trying to keep his mischievous brother from being a pest, Steven is pretty much preoccupied by his two passions–drums and beautiful 8th grader Renee–that is, until his little brother is diagnosed with leukemia. The diagnosis and subsequent hospitalization of Jeffrey turn Steven's life upside down. He's trying to keep his family's situation a secret from friends and adults at school but having a difficult time coping on his own–which he is because his mom's staying at the hospital and his dad is lost in his own world. Torn between resentment toward his parents for neglect and compassion for his little brother, Steven loses himself in his music, taking refuge in the basement with his drum set. He's feeling pretty hopeless until he takes the school counselor's suggestion and focuses on what he can change.

Although the story is sad in parts, Steven narrates it with sarcasm and humor and what comes through strongest are the love these brothers feel for each othe and their resilience. This is a story that will pull at your heart strings.

Connections: The sequel is After Ever After. If you enjoy Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie, you would probably also like Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar. The library also owns nonfiction on leukemia and coping with serious illnesses.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

calpurnia by Jacqueline Kelly p. 340 Grades 5-8

All twelve-year old Calpurnia Tate wants is to become a scientist. She’s spent the long hot summer of 1899 in the small town of Fentress, Texas, as an amateur naturalist recording her observations of and questions about nature in a notebook–questions such as, “ Why don’t caterpillars have eyelids?” She finally thinks her parents understand her and acknowledge her dream when she begins to unwrap her birthday present from them. It’s a book, and the first word of the title is Science. Unfortunately, the whole title is The Science of Housewifery!

Calpurnia is the only daughter in a family of seven children. She has no interest in the traditional home arts a young girl at the turn of the century should be learning to make a good wife. Instead, she develops a close relationship with her reclusive grandfather, who encourages her to use the scientific method in her quest for answers about the natural world and his own quest for a new species.

This is a very entertaining read with an intelligent, spunky protagonist, family humor, sibling rivalry, and good science. Let’s hope for a sequel.

Connections: Each chapter of this novel begins with a quote from Darwin’s Origin of Species, so you may also want to read Charles Darwin : Naturalist by Margaret J. Anderson or Darwin’s Ghost: the Origin of Species updated by Steve Jones. Other good novels dealing with the theory of evolution are The True Adventures of Charley Darwin by Carolyn Meyer and Monkey Town by Ronald Kidd.

The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette’s Journey to Cuba

firefly-letters1 By Margarita Engle, 151 pages Grades 6 Up

In this novel-in-verse told in three voices, inspired by the diaries and letters of 19th century suffragette, Frederika Bremer, we learn about the many barriers women faced in Cuba. Frederika visits Cuba from Sweden and stays with a wealthy family whose daughter, Elena seems more confined by her society's expectations for women than the family's slave, Cecilia who travels with Frederika as her interpreter.

Connections: For other novels in verse, try reading Love that Dog by Sharon Creech or Out of the Dust or Witness by Karen Hesse.

Salt

salt By Maurice Gee, 252 pages Grades 7-10

When Hari’s father is captured by soldiers from the Company and sent to Deep Salt as punishment, Hari vows to save him even though no one ever returns from these dangerous mines. Simultaneously, Pearl, the daughter in a high-ranking Company family escapes her arranged marriage by fleeing with her maid, Tealeaf, a mystical Dweller. Both Hari and Pearl have the ability to communicate telepathically, and they work together to try and save Hari’s father and their world from the dangerous weapon found in the mine.

Connections: Another fantasy title where the main character is helped by her ability to communicate with animals is Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. For other mature titles where male and female characters fight to save their community from evil, try reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins or Graceling by Kristin Cashore.

Blessing’s Bead

blessings-bead By Debby Dahl Edwardson, 178 pages Grades 6-9

The mysterious blue bead in her grandmother's sewing basket and the stories of her Inupiaq ancestors provide the grounding Blessing needs when she is forced to live with her grandmother in a remote village in northern Alaska while her alcoholic mother is in treatment. This novel, in two parts, starts in 1917 with the story of Blessing's great-grandmother's experiences with the arrival of Siberian traders and survival of the Spanish influenza epidemic.

Connections: Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George is another story of a girl caught between worlds in Alaska. For a story that focuses on the effect of influenza on a small Alaskan village, read The Great Death byJohn Smelcer.

The Doom Machine

doom-machine By Mark Teague, 376 pages. Grades 5-7

When Isadora Shumway and her mother get stuck in a small town after their car breaks down, the last thing they expect is to be abducted by aliens. Soon logical, studious Isadora finds herself allied with the local juvenile delinquent, Jack, in an interstellar fight to keep the spider-like alien Skreeps from finding and using the space travel machine that Jack’s uncle invented.

Connections: For other titles with space/time traveling students, try reading Alan Mendelsohn, The Boy From Mars by Daniel M. Pinkwater or I was a Sixth Grade Alien by Bruce Coville.

Flawed Dogs

flawed by Berkeley Breathed p. 216 Grades 6-8

Cartoonist Berkeley Breathed of Bloom County and Opus fame has now written a very dark but funny novel and illustrated it with pictures as bizarre as the premise of his story. After fourteen-year-old Heidi McCloud liberates a highly prized breed of dachsund from his crate at the airport, she takes him to live with her at her uncle’s estate and names him Sam the Lion. Soon a jealous poodle in the household frames Sam and leaves him for dead, but Sam survives this ordeal plus a stint in an abusive animal laboratory. Then he and a group of disabled and disfigured mutts from the National Last Ditch Dog Depository come up with a hilarious plan to get revenge on the prestigious Westminster kennel club dog show. Lots of slapstick humor.

Connections: Other humorous dog stories include Uncle Boris in the Yukon : and Other Shaggy Dog Stories by Daniel Pinkwater, Wanted.. Mud Blossom by Betsy Byars, Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck, and My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen.

Science Fair: a Story of Mystery, Danger, International Suspense, and a Very Nervous Frog

science-fair

By Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

p. 394 Grades 5-8

Okay, we all know that some parents help their kids with their science fair projects and maybe a little too much, but at Toby’s middle school in the suburban Washington, D. C. area, the parents of the rich kids are going too far. Not only is the competition unfair, but it may also endanger the security of the United States government! For several years, these parents have been giving their kids a lot of money to have a scientist actually build the projects, and one of these kids always wins the competition. This year, the leaders of a small foreign country have designed a terrorist plot against the U.S. and are using the unwitting eighth graders to build a superweapon to be used against America. Only Toby realizes what is going on, and he gets suspended from school on suspicion of cheating when he tries to let the adults know about the real cheating and the devious plot. If you can suspend disbelief, you are sure to enjoy the over-the-top, very silly humor and fast-paced action.

Connections: Here are some other titles with science project plots: The Chicken Doesn’t Skate by Gordon Korman, The Mulberry Project by Sue Park, and Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo by Greg Leitich Smith. Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have also collaborated on the humorous Peter and the Starcatchers series.

Fat Cat

fat-cat-2 by Robin Brande p. 327 Young adult

No exploding volcanoes for seventeen-year-old Cat (Catherine) Locke’s science fair project! Instead, the smart, competitive overweight teen makes herself the guinea pig for her project. Her goal is to live for seven months as a Homo erectus, an early prehistoric human, which means no technology (cars, cell phones, computers except for school work) and no processed foods including sugar. Cat is determined to win the science fair, mostly to get revenge on her former best friend and rival Matt McKinney, whom she believes betrayed her most terribly in seventh grade. All the walking and healthy eating causes her to lose weight and feel better, and after her best friend Amanda takes her shopping for stylish clothes, Cat starts drawing a lot of male attention. This young adult novel is filled with funny, clever teen conversation and portrays friendship at its best.

Connections: These young adult novels also deal with weight and weighty issues: Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen, Life in the Fat Lane by Cherie Bennett, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher and Dough Boy by Peter Marino.

One Crazy Summer

crazy-summer by Rita Williams-Garcia p. 218 Grades: 5-8

It's the summer of 1968, and eleven-year-old Delphine flies from New York to Oakland with her two younger sisters to spend the summer, uninvited, with the mother who walked out on them when Delphine was seven and Fern was just a few days old. Her father feels the girls need to get to know their mother, but that does not make Cecile any more welcoming. In fact, she won't even let the girls into her kitchen. Dinners are take-out food on the living room floor and breakfast is at the Black Panther summer camp. The girls are on their own, but each comes into her own that summer. Told from Delphine's perspective, this is a lively, often humorous, story of resilience with characters you will come to know and love.

Connections: A novel about the Black Panther Party for older readers is The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon. Harlem Summer by Walter Dean Myers is set during the Harlem Renaissance, another significant period in African American history, and tells the story of another crazy summer.

Pastworld

pastworld

by Ian Beck p. 353 Young Adult

In 2050, central London has been transformed into a theme park for modern day tourists to visit. These ”gawkers” fly in on an airship for a day or two to experience what life was like in Victorian London, including dangerous street crime and hangings. When seventeen-year-old Caleb flies in with his father, one of the originators of Pastworld, his father is kidnapped and Caleb is accused of murder. He meets beautiful and innocent Eve, a teenage inhabitant of Pastworld, and they become embroiled in a ScotlandYard investigation of a series of gruesome murders by the mysterious Fantom. This story is a compelling mix of science and historical fiction.

Connections: Another suspense novel with people living in an historical amusement park is Running Out of Time by Margaret Haddix. Other great mysteries set in Victorian London are Montmorency by Eleanor Updale, Smith by John Garfield, and the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

jessica by Beth Fantaskey p. 351 Young Adult

More vampires anyone? Jessica’s adoptive parents wait until she’s a high school senior before telling her that her birth parents were vampires in Romania! They’ve also neglected to tell her that she was betrothed at birth to a vampire prince who has just shown up in her hometown to claim her as his fiance. Of course, this very rational mathlete doesn’t believe in vampires and so is having a very difficult time dealing with the arrogant, but very good looking, stranger who is posing as a foreign exchange student at her high school and living in the apartment above her garage. Filled with suspense, drama, romance, and humor this is a great read for Twilight fans.

Connections: Here are some other young adult vampire novels you might enjoy: Suck It Up by Brian Meehl, Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer, and The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause. Though not about vampires, Beastly by Alex Flinn is a good romance with the beauty and the beast theme.

Found (and the sequel – Sent)

found

By Margaret Peterson Haddix, 314 pages Grades 4-8

When a mysterious plane suddenly appears at the gate, the gate agent gets the surprise of her life as she finds only 36 babies onboard the plane. Thirteen years later, the Skidmore’s adopted son Jonah (from the belly of the whale) and his friend Chip receive the same creepy letter, “YOU ARE ONE OF THE MISSING.” With the help of Jonah’s sister Katherine, the two boys search to find out more about their true identities.

The sequel called Sent is a great window into the difficulties of living in medieval England.

Connections: Other great stories of time travel include: Nick of Time by Ted Bell, the Gideon Trilogy by Linda Buckley-Archer, Archer’s Quest by Linda Sue Park, the Baseball Card Adventure series by Dan Gutman, and The Transall Saga by Gary Paulsen.

Totally Joe

totally-joe By James Howe, 189 pages Grades 6-8

<!–[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]–>“Being who you are isn’t a choice.” Although he had always lived this life lesson, it wasn’t until his favorite aunt gave him a button printed with these words that thirteen, year-old Joe really thought about what it meant for him, as a gay 7^th grader, as well as for his schoolmates. Joe’s family and friends have always encouraged him to be himself (including dressing-up in dresses, playing with Barbies and cooking in an Easy-Bake oven) and he has always embraced his originality even when it led to teasing. Through an alphabiography project for his teacher, Joe shares his growing awareness of himself and his friends.

Connection: Joe and the other characters were first introduced in Howe's novel, The Misfits. For other stories where characters share their life experiences through school writing assignments, try reading Love That Dog or Absolutely Normal Chaos by Sharon Creech, Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ron Koertge, or Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls.

Seer of Shadows

seer by Avi p. 202 Grades: 5-8

Do photographs reveal the truth? In our age of Photoshop, we know that photos can be altered to give a different version of reality, but what about photographs taken in 1872? In Seer of Shadows, Horace Carpetine is apprenticed to a photographer who alters a photograph to make his wealthy customer believe the spirit of her adopted daughter is watching over the woman. Horace realizes that this is no photographic trick. The ghost of the daughter has actually returned to wreak revenge on her cruel parents.

Connections: For other good ghost stories, consider these authors: Cynthia DeFelice and Betty Ren Wright. The library also has good nonfiction on photography and biogrpahies of famous photographers such as Ansel Adams, Margaret Bourke-White, and Dorothea Lange.

Pop

pop1 by Gordon Korman p. 260 Grades: 6-9

Pop! That's the feeling and imagined sound that comes from taking the hit in tackle football and that sixteen-year old Marcus has come to love. Before this summer, Marcus had always held back as quarterback, fearful of being injured. New in town and hanging out in the park to practice his football maneuvers, he meets Charlie, an eccentric older man who challenges Marcus and teaches him to play rough and tumble football fearlessly. Disappointed that Troy Popovich gets to start as quarterback, Marcus takes on his role as lineman with a vengeance, winning him not only the acceptance of his teammates but also Troy's former girlfriend. The tension grows between Marcus and Troy when Marcus learns that Charlie is Troy's father and discovers the reason behind Charlie's increasingly odd behavior. Korman delivers lots of football action as well as a thoughful story.

Connections: Here are some other good football novels for teens: Crackback by John Coy, Necessary Roughness by Marie Lee, and Gym Candy by Carl Deuker. Matt Christopher writes football stories for younger readers.

Imperfections

imperfections By Lynda Durrant p. 171 Grades 5-8

What is perfection? When Rosemary Elizabeth arrives at the Shaker community of Pleasant Hill, she has plenty of delicious food to eat, spotlessly clean, white clothes to wear and beautiful surroundings. She also gets to leave her drunk, abusive father and knows that her younger brother and sister are safe, too. But, can Rosemary Elizabeth live up to the Shaker ideal of perfection with all of the rules about eating, sleeping, dressing, working, praying and talking? Even if she can, does she want to?

Connections – Other stories that depict the impact of the Civil War on the youth is Red Moon at Sharpsburg by Rosemary Wells and The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick.

When the Whistle Blows

whenthewhistleblows By Fran Cannon Slayton, 162 pages Grades 6-10

The B&O Railroad passes just outside Jimmy Cannon’s window, and since his dad is the foreman, the engineers hit the whistle every time they pass. Jimmy has learned to sleep with a pillow over his head, but on Halloween night in 1943, his brother Mike snatches away the pillow so they can sneak out and follow the Society to learn their secrets. On Halloween night, 1944, and Jimmy and his buddies (the Platoon) are planning to use some rotten cabbages to get revenge against the local bully, Stubby Mars. On Halloween night, 1946, Jimmy and the team are playing in the championship game of the first undefeated season in Rowlesburg High school history. Halloween happens to be Jimmy’s dad’s birthday and through Jimmy’s teen years the day (and night) always bring him something, including mysteries, antics, and heartache.

Connections: Another historical fiction book about working on the railroad is Dragon’s Gate by Laurence Yep. For another book set in the country, try reading Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech. Tony Johnston’s Bone by Bone by Bone is another historical fiction title with a complicated father and son relationship. To learn more about the book, the author or the railroad, check out the author’s website.

War Games: a Novel Based on a True Story

war-games By Audrey Couloumbis & Akila Couloumbis, 229 pages Grades 5-8

Before the Germans invaded their village in Greece, Petros fought with his brother, played marbles with his buddies and loved hearing stories about his heroic cousin fighting in the war. Now, people have left the village, neighbors can’t be trusted, and friends need help. In these trying times, twelve year-old Petros finds that even his services are essential to the war effort.

Connections: Hitler’s Canary by Sandy Toksvig and Number the Stars by Lois Lowry are other stories of kids involvement in the resistance during World War II.

The Potato Chip Puzzles

puzzle by Eric Berlin p. 227 Grades 6-8

Want a puzzling puzzler?! Seventh grader Winston Breen and his two best friends enter a contest at the local pototo chip factory to win $50,000 for their school. All they have to do is be first to solve all six puzzles which take them and their obnoxious chaperone all over town and beyond. The biggest puzzle, however, turns out to be figuring out who is cheating. Someone has been sabotaging some of the teams by causing flat tires, locking people in bathrooms, and stopping the ferris wheel. The reader is expected to solve puzzles as well as solve the mystery.

Connections: Another Winston Breen title is The Puzzling World of Winston Breen. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin and Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliet are other good puzzle mysteries.

The Brain Finds a Leg

brain by Martin Chatterton p. 212 Grades: 6-8

Farfetched but fun! The Brain does find a leg. It used to belong to Biff Manly, a seventeen-year-old surfer, who has been found dead at the bottom of a quarry. Theophilus Brain, a thirteen-year-old self-described genius and Sherlock Holmes disciple, has figured out that a saltwater crocodile (who thinks he’s a dog) severed the leg and hid it underwater. The crocodile is just the first of list of bizarre-behaving Australian wildlife who show up in this zany science fiction mystery which includes koalas that attack in gangs, possums that steal SUVs, kangaroos that rob supermarkets and whales that toss tourist boats. The Brain enlists Sheldon McGlone as his sidekick, and the two are fast on the trail of the murderer and the secret to what’s making the animals act so strangely.

Connections: Other creepy creature stories include The Cryptid Hunters, The Underneath, and Loch.

Closed for the Season

closed by Mary Downing Hahn p. 182 Grades 6-8

Just before starting seventh grade, thirteen-year-old Logan moves to a small Virginia town with his parents. The house looks pretty rundown and has been on the market a long time. The real estate agent had neglected to tell Logan’s parents that an old lady was killed in the house–pushed down the stairs–and the crime has never been solved. In fact, the kids in town call it the Murder House. The murderer appears to have been looking in the house for over $1,000,000 that Mrs. Donaldson was suspected of embezzling from the Magic Forest amusement park. The Magic Forest has been “closed for the season,” and it too has fallen into disrepair–entangled in fast growing kudzu. With his neighbor Arthur, Logan sneaks into the Magic Forest to try to find the money and the key to Mrs. Donaldson’s demise. More than the kudzu is creeping around in the amusement park! Dangerous suspects, unsavory characters, and clever heroes make this an exciting mystery.

Connections: Other suspenseful mysteries with middle school sleuths include View from the Cherry Tree and Scared Stiff by Willo Davis Roberts and Someone Was Watching by David Patneaude.

Crows & Cards

by Joseh Helgerson p. 279 Grades: 6-8 crows2

Twelve-year-old Zebulon Crabtree is angry with his father for shipping him off on a Mississippi riverboat to St. Louis to become a tanner’s apprentice. He quickly decides to disobey his dad when Chilly Larpenteur, a cardshark and con man, tricks him out of his money and convinces Zeb to join his racket. Zeb pretty much becomes Chilly’s prisoner, being locked in the cupboard of the gambling house each evening and forced to work the wire that signals Chilly about his opponent’s cards, so he can cheat. Zeb’s only hope is to escape, and with the help and friendship of a slave and a Hidasta Indian chief and his daughter, he may succeed. This is a humorous, rollicking adventure reminiscent of Mark Twain’s novels.

Connections: The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventues of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain and The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by W. R. Philbrick.

Runaway Twin

runaway-twin By Peg Kehret, 197 pages Grades 5-8

“Most people who have a life-changing experience survive a terrible injury or disease. My life was transformed by a craving for Twinkies.”

Twinkies remind Sunny Skyland of her twin sister who she hasn’t seen since their mother and grandmother died in car accident when they were 3 years-old. A sudden windfall provides the funding for Sunny to set off, alone, on a cross-country journey to find her sister, Starr, with only an old photograph to guide her. Along the way, she picks up a four-legged traveling companion and braves challenges from both man and nature.

Connections: For other stories about kids in foster care, try reading The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson or Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson.

The Big Game of Everything

By Chris Lynch, 275 pages Grades 6-10″You have to love your family. You do, even if you don’t right? You don’t have to agree with them or appreciate them or go to concerts with them, but you have to love them.” Twelve year-old Jock’s “hippy-frippy” parents named him Union Jack after their stay in England, and they run a barbershop where they try to convince their customers not to get haircuts. Jock is constantly jousting verbally with his money-obsessed brother who is a year younger and 30 pounds heavier. His grandfather owns an unfinished golf complex with 13 holes, where customers must replay their favorite 5 holes to golf a full game. Jock is looking forward to spending the summer at the golf complex, but he and his brother need to avoid the town bullies and help their grandfather get back on course after a visit from two of his old buddies.

Connections: For other golf fiction, try reading The Million Dollar Putt by Dan Gutman.

Escape Under the Forever Sky

escape-under By Eve Yohalem 220 pages Grades 5-8

Wouldn’t it be exciting to be the daughter of American ambassador to Ethiopia? Thirteen year-old Lucy Hoffman dreams of staying out overnight in the bush watching the animals or just visiting the marketplace and exploring with friends, but instead she spends her days at school or stuck inside their home within their walled community in the capital city of Addis Ababa. When she and a friend sneak out and go to the city, Lucy is kidnapped. When it looks like rescue isn’t coming, she has to decide whether escaping into the Ethiopian bush is going to improve her odds of survival.

Connection: For other survival tales set in Ethiopia, try reading The Return by Sonia Levitin or The Storyteller’s Beads by Jane Kurtz. To read about Eve Yohalem’s inspiration for writing this book, check out her website.

Nation

nation By Terry Pratchett 367 pages Grades 7-10

The tsunami seemingly washed away their distinctly different worlds and left them both stranded. After the wave, Mau returns by dugout canoe from his coming of age quest to his village (the Nation) gone, and the trail of destruction leads him to the grounded wreck of the Sweet Judy, the ship that was to bring Daphne from her home in Victorian England to join her father in the "South Pelagic." With supplies from the wrecked ship and Mau's knowledge of the land, the two start to rebuild the Nation as wounded survivors start arriving from other islands and as Daphne holds out hope that her father will come find her. Daphne (known as the ghost girl), with her curious customs, strange clothes and white skin, struggles to communicate and fit in with her new community while Mau, the very young chief of this new Nation, is called the demon boy for having no soul without the completion of his manhood ceremony. As this group struggles to survive, they live in fear of the inevitable arrival of the Raiders.

Connections: For other tales of shipwrecks or deserted island survival, try reading Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss, Overboard by Elizabeth Fama or Seaborn by Craig Moodie. For more background on the book and the process of writing it, watch this video interview with the Terry Pratchett.

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

by Phillip Hoose p. 104 Grades 6-8

claudette-21

I bet you know who Rosa Parks is and what she’s famous for, but have you ever heard of Claudette Colvin? She was a fifteen year old girl who refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus nine months before Rosa Parks became famous for the same thing.

On March 2, 1955, fifteen year-old Claudette Colvin courageously refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white woman. Two white police officers came onto the bus and ordered her to give up her seat. When she refused, stating that it was her Constitutional right to sit there, they dragged her off the bus, shoved her into a police car and handcuffed her. On the way to the police station, they called her names and made disparaging comments about her as Claudette sat terrified in the backseat next to one of the officers. She was charged with violating the segregation law, disturbing the peace, and assaulting the policemen who had pulled her off the bus.

Why is it that Rosa Parks became the symbol of the Montgomery bus boycott and is considered one of the people who started the Civil Rights Movement, but most of us have never heard of Claudette Colvin? At first she was a heroine to the Black community for standing up to the unfair practice of segregated seating, but then she became viewed as a troublemaker, and even her classmates shunned her. Leaders of the Civil Rights Movement felt it was too risky to have a teenager represent them. Hurt and isolated, Claudette still summoned the courage to testify at the trial that ended bus segregation in Montgomery.

Connections: Other good nonfiction books about teenagers active in the Civil Rights Movement include Marching for Freedom : Walk Together, Children, and Don’t You Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridge, Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals, and Freedom’s Children : Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories by Ellen Levine.

Blood on the River: James Town 1607

blood1 by Elisa Carbone p. 224 Grades 5-8

Barely escaping the gallows in London, orphan Sam Collier finds himself the page to Captain John Smith and on his way to the New World to help settle the Jamestown colony. Smith believes the survival skills Sam has honed on the streets of London and even his violent temper will make him a successful settler in this challenging new frontier. Captain Smith faces challenges of his own. Although he has a good relationship with the Powhatan, the British aristocrats resent the leadership role he’s taken and do everything in their power to undermine and even arrest him. This is gripping historical fiction, based on primary source documents, that presents the Indian perspective as well as the colonial.

Connections: The Winter People by Joseph Bruchac, A Pickpocket’s Tale by Karen Schwabach, and The light in the Forest by Conrad Richter are other good novels about the Colonial Period in America.

The Rock and the River

rock-river by Kekla Magoon p. 283 Grades: 7-10

Fourteen-year-old Sam is caught between a rock and a hard place. It’s Chicago 1968. His father, a close friend of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, is a lawyer and Civil Rights leader who has been organizing nonviolent protests and demonstrations most of Sam’s life. His seventeen-year-old brother Stick is impatient with the nonviolent approach, and after King’s assassination, joins the militant Black Panther Party. Sam’s life is thrown into further turmoil when he witnesses the brutal police beating and arrest of an innocent Black teenager and finds a gun hidden in the bedroom he shares with his brother. This wrenching story propels the reader along with Sam toward his ultimate decision: will he be the rock or the river? Through Sam’s personal story, the reader comes to understand how 1968 was the year that the Civil Rights Movement changed course.

Connections: Freedom Songs by Yvette Moore is another novel about the Civil Rights Movement. Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe tells the infamous story of Emmett Till, a fourteen year-old African American boy from Chicago who was kidnapped and murdered in Mississippi. Our library owns many nonfiction books about the Civil Rights Movement. One of special interest is Freedom’s Children : Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories by Ellen Levine.

Flygirl

flygirl1 by Sherri L. Smith p. 271 Grades 6-8

It’s World War II, and the Japanese and Germans aren’t the only enemies. On the homefront, Ida Mae Jones is fighting racism and sexism. All she wants to do is become a pilot and to help in the war effort. The U.S. government has formed the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots), but they won’t accept African Americans (“colored”) into what was still the segregated armed services. Risking her life and disappointing her family, Ida Mae decides to pass for white by joining up and reporting for training in Texas, where enforcement of Jim Crow laws was especially harsh. To avoid the constant threat of danger, Ida Mae must skillfully maneuver not only her airplane but also her relationships so that her true identity is not discovered.

Connections: To learn more about women pilots in World War II, read Yankee Doodle Gals: Women Pilots of World War II by Amy Nathan.

Keeping Corner

by Kashmira Sheth p. 272 Grades: 6-8

Twelve-year-old Leela, betrothed at age two and married at age nine, suddenly becomes a widow when the husband whom she’s never lived with dies in a tragic accident.

It’s 1918 in Gujarat, India, and widows are not allowed to remarry nor to participate in community celebrations or activities. They are viewed as bad luck and must shave their heads and spend the first year in their parents’ home “keeping corner.” Life seems over for Leela until a tutor arrives to help her get an education. Gandhi is not only working toward freeing India from British rule but also for women’s rights, especially rights for young widows. This compelling story shows a young, self-absorbed girl growing into an accomplished, confident young woman against the backdrop of India’s independence movement.

Connections: Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelen also tells the story of a teenage widow, but in contemporary India. Neela by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni tells the story of Gandhi and the Independence Movement. Kashmira Sheth’s other novels are also excellent: Blue Jasmine and Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet.

The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones

39-clues by Rick Riordan p. 220 Grades: 5-8

If you were offered a million dollars or the the first clue of 39 in a race to discover the most powerful secret treasure of the most powerful family in human history, which would you choose? When Amy and Dan Cahill’s grandmother dies, they must make this decision. They give up the million and choose the clue . . . but so do a bunch of their backstabbing relatives. So begins an action-packed, dangerous adventure that takes Dan and Amy and their teenage babysitter halfway around the world. Warning: This is the first of ten books to be written by different authors. This book ends with a cliff hanger.

Connections: Other good puzzle mysteries are The Westing Game and Chasing Vermeer.

Wild Girl

wild-girl By Patricia Reilly Giff, 147 pages. Grades 4-7

Who is Wild Girl? Is she the skittish filly from South Carolina or Lidie, the twelve year-old girl from Brazil. After being raised by her aunt and uncle for the past five years, Lidie moves to New York to join her father and brother, who train race horses for a living. Her dad and brother are expecting the pink and Disney loving seven year-old that they remember from back home in Brazil, and Lidie is having a hard time showing them the strong, capable young woman that she has become. While Lidie struggles with her new life in a new home, new country, new school and new language, the filly is also having a hard time getting comfortable in her new home.

Connections: For other stories sharing the immigrant experience, try reading Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan, Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate, or Nory Ryan’s Song also by Giff. For other horse stories, try reading Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan, The Georges and the Jewels by Jane Smiley, or Season of Ponies by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Operation Redwood

operation-redwood By S. Terrell French, 353 pages. Grades 5-7

While forced to stay with his wealthy, manners-obsessed aunt and uncle so his mother can photograph temples in China, twelve year-old Julian Carter-Li discovers emails describing his uncle’s plan to level an old growth redwood forest and the even more horrifying plan to ship Julian off to math camp for the summer. With the help of his buddy Danny and a new email buddy, Julian creates Operation Redwood in the hopes of foiling both plans.

Connections: For other eco-minded adventure stories, try reading Gloria Skurzynski’s National Park Mystery series or Hoot or Flush by Carl Hiaasen.

All About Sleep from A to Zzzz

all-about-sleep1 By Elaine Scott, 58 pages. Grades 5-8

Have you ever wondered why you sometimes feel like you are falling as you go to sleep and wake with a jerk? Did you ever wonder what would happen to you if you didn’t sleep? Or, why we have nightmares? The author explores the science behind sleep walking, dreams, sleeping disorders and the stages of sleep in this nonfiction title.

Connections: For other books on sleep, try reading Sleep: The Mysterious Third of Your Life by Jonathon Kastner, Dead on Their Feet: Teen Sleep Deprivation and Its Consequences by Joan Esherick, and Sleep and Dreams by Alvin Silverstein.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: The Secrets Behind What You Eat

omnivores-dilemma By Michael Pollan and adapted by Richie Chevat, 298 pages. Grades 6-10

Here is some food for thought. . .

The omnivore’s dilemma in the past: Since we can eat almost anything, how do we know what is safe to eat?

The modern omnivore’s dilemma: We have thousands of choices of food in our supermarkets, but we don’t really know what is in our food or where it comes from. How do we decide what to have for dinner?

Richie Chevat has taken Michael Pollan’s 415 page answer to the modern question (The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals) and cut it down to more bite-sized pieces without losing any of the flavor. To help us omnivores decide what to eat, the book shows us food production from four points of view: industrial (think McDonald’s), industrial organic (think Whole Foods), local sustainable (think farmer’s market), and hunter-gatherer (think hunting and gathering). After you ingest this mouthful, you might never look at food the same way again.

Connections: For other examinations of the food industry try reading Fast Food Nation or the young adult version called Chew on This by Eric Schlosser. For a look at the horrors of the early nineteenth century meat packing business that led to the first regulations in the food industry, read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.

Bystander

bystander by James Preller p. 226 Grades 5-8

Bully? Accomplice? Bystander? Victim? Upstander? Which will Eric be? As a new student at Central Middle School, he quickly sizes up the situation and recognizes immediately that pudgy David is a victim and that good looking, charming Griffin is at the top of the pecking order. At first, Eric is drawn in by Griffin’s charisma and attention but soon sees the creep beneath the smile. When ulitmately Eric refuses to do what Griffin demands, he becomes the target. Eric, however, is not a victim, and with the help of Griff’s ex-girlfriend, he devises a plan.

Connections: Other books with this theme are Shredderman: Secret Identity by Wendelin Van Draanen, Schooled by Gordon Korman, and Stepping on the Cracks by Mary Downing Hahn. Young adult titles for mature readers include The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier, Don’t Call Me Ishmael by Michael Gerard Bauer, and Inventing Elliot by Graham Gardner. For nonfiction, try Bullying : How to Deal with Taunting, Teasing, and Tormenting by Kathleen Winkler, Sticks and Stones by Karen L. Maudlin or Bullies Are a Pain in the Brain written and illustrated Trevor Romain.

The Georges and the Jewels

jewel by Jane Smiley p. 232 Grades 5-8

If you own a horse or wish you did, this is the book for you. Famous adult author Jane Smiley, who wrote Horse Heaven, seems to have written this book with middle school girls in mind. Seventh grader Abby Lovitt lives on a horse ranch in California. It sounds like a perfect situation for a girl who loves horses, but it isn’t. Her father buys and trains horses to sell. He doesn’t want the family, especially Abby to become attached to the horses, so he won’t allow her to name them. The geldings are all called George and the mares are Jewel. But each horse has its own personality, and Abby adds an adjective to each name. Ornery George becomes her challenge. Her dad can’t sell the horses until they are tame enough for a girl to ride them. Ornery George has bucked Abby off so many times that she defies her strict father and refuses to ride him . . . until one day when a stranger arrives at the ranch.

Connections: Here are some other good horse stories: Dairy Queeen by Catherine Murdock; Willow King by Chris Platt; and Hero by S. L. Rottman. Two short story collections are Horse & Pony Stories compiled by Christine Pullein-Thompsonand Horse Stories edited by Felicity Trotman. Classics include King of the Wind by Margerite Henry, National Velvet, and My Friend Flicka.

The Graveyard Book [print and audio]

graveyard-book by Neil Gaiman, p. 312 – Grades 5-8

“There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife,” and so begins the story of orphan, Nobody (Bod) Owens, who has been raised by the inhabitants of the graveyard since the night his family was murdered when he was just 18 months old. Given the freedom of the graveyard, Bod lives his life in the company of the dead, and finds adventures and dangers within its walls, involving ghouls, the undead and even a human playmate, Scarlet Amber Perkins. As long as he stays in the graveyard he enjoys many non-earthly freedoms and remains safe from the man Jack who was still looking to kill him, but he longs to learn his story and explore the wide world beyond.

Connections: For other great fantasy books dealing with the dead, try reading Sabriel by Garth Nix (in print and audio), The Seer of Shadows by Avi, and Ghost Girl by Tonya Hurly. Watch “The Graveyard Book Video Tour” to see/listen to the author reading the book chapter by chapter while on his national tour.

Cricket Man

cricket-man by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. p. 196 Grade: Young Adult

During the summer before eighth grade, Kenny Sykes has begun each morning rescuing the hundreds of crickets that keep jumping into his backyard swimming pool. As an inside joke with his little brother, Kenny assumes the super-hero identity Cricket Man and creates a t-shirt that he wears to school concealed under his regular shirt. The rest of his time he spends skateboarding or spying on and trying to get the attention of his beautiful sixteen-year-old neighbor, Jodie Poindexter. When Jodie appears to have fallen into a deep depression, it’s Cricket Man to the rescue.

Connections: These novels for young adults also focus on special and unusual friendships: Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes; The Wild Kid; Stoner and Spaz and Define Normal.

The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan: An Enola Holmes Mystery

enola by Nancy Springer. p. 181 Grades 6-8

Fans of feisty, nonconformist Enola Holmes will enjoy this fourth installment in the Victorian mystery series. Sixteen-year-old Lady Cecily has been kidnapped and is being forced into an arranged marriage. Enola, the fourteen-year-old much younger sister of Sherlock Holmes, is trying to locate and rescue the poor girl while avoiding being captured herself by older brothers Sherlock and Mycroft, who do not approve of her independent ways. Disguises, humor, and high jinks abound.

Connections: The Case of the Missing Marquess; The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline are titles in this series by Nancy Springer. Other mystery series with strong female sleuths include: Grace Cavendish by Patricia Finney; Herculeah Jones by Betsy Byars; Sammy Keyes by Wendelin Van Draanen; and Gilda Joyce by Armstrong. For a more challenging read, try The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie King, which introduces fourteen-year-old Mary Russell and another great series based on Sherlock Holmes or read the Arthur Conan Doyle short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes himself.

Dairy Queen

dairy-queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock. p. 274 Grades 7-8

What a summer! Fifteen-year-old D.J. Schwenk of Red Bend, Wisconsin, works dawn to dusk on her family’s dairy farm after her father has hip surgery. Life is pretty dismal until the coach from her high school’s rival team asks D.J to coach his budding quarterback, the gorgeous Brian Nelson. While training and doing farm chores, the two teenagers become friends, but things get complicated when D.J. tries out for her high school’s football team.

Connections: The sequel is Off Season. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher is another football romance.

Adam Canfield Watch Your Back

adam-amazon by Michael Winerip. p. 329 Grades 6-8

Adam Canfield is literally shoveling in the money on a Snow Day by clearing his neighbors’ walks–when older bullies pull up in a van and mug him. Not only is he a victim of a crime, but he also becomes the embarrassing focus of a media campaign by The Slash to stop bullying. This sequel to Adam Canfield of the Slash is as good as its predecessor. While Jennifer and the other Slash staff take on bullies, saving a tree, and discrimination, Adam launches an undercover operation to expose the fact that parents are doing their kids’ science fair projects.

Connections: If you enjoy the Adam Canfield books, try these other novels based on school newspapers: The Landry News by Andrew Clements and Thou Shalt Not Dump the Skater Dude and Other Commandments I Have Broken by Rosemary Graham. The Watergate Scandal in American History by David K. Fremon describes how Washington Post investigative journalists broke the Watergate case.

The Trouble Begins at 8: A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West

trouble-begins by Sid Fleischman. p. 224 Grades 5-9

Like his famous character Tom Sawyer, Samuel Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain) sought adventure and often found trouble in his early life. His experiences in the small town of Hannibal, Missouri on the banks of the Mississippi River, getting lost in a cave and painting a fence, would become Tom’s experiences. He worked a printing press, became a steamboat captain and took the stagecoach out West to earn his fortune during the Gold Rush. While he eventually struck gold, it wasn’t from digging in the hills.

Connections: Other books by this author that help illuminate an individual or a time period in history include: Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini, The Entertainer and the Dybbuk, Jim Ugly, Bandit’s Moon, and The Whipping Boy.

The Unnameables

the-unnameables by Ellen Booraem. p. 318 Grades 6-9

In a world where things and places are simply named for what they are and people are named for what they do, how would you expect a boy named Medford Runyuin to fit in? He doesn’t. Instead the people of Island are wary of him and the children teasingly call him Raggedy or Plank Baby because of his messy look and his arrival on the island tied to a plank when he was a baby. To make matters worse, Medford has a secret that he is trying keep hidden from the people of Island, and the mysterious arrival of the stinky Goatman is likely to blow his cover, literally.

For other stories of characters fighting the unfair rules/laws of their world, try reading The Giver by Lois Lowry, Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Among the Hidden or Running out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix

To learn the story around the creation of the crazy character the Goatman, check out the author’s website http://www.ellenbooraem.com/evolution.html

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If you like graphic novels you might also enjoy: Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, by Barry Deutsch, or The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures, by Brian Selznick

The Mysterious Howling (Book 1)

The Hidden Gallery (Book 2)

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