Lucky For Good

Lucky for Good

Susan Patron (2011)

Third in the Lucky of Hard Pan series. Hard to pin down what this book is "about" except it's about Lucky and how she deals with different events -- school bully, friend leaving, religious beliefs, her absent father.... Good characters, interesting stories.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated...

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In a Ship of Her Own Making

by Catherynne M. Valenti (2011)

Full of interesting creatures and people, a spunky, resourceful heroine, very Alice in Wonderland-like. I like books that I can hear myself reading to a class; even though the vocabulary in high, the story has a captivating tone and many reading levels would be able to follow along.

The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano

The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano

by Sonia Manzano aka Maria from Sesame Street! (2012)

Three generations of women deal with being Puerto Rican in New York City, the past and present of poverty, politics, and class struggle, and the family drama of being three women. Set in 1969 Spanish Harlem the story is full of true events and shows how larger events change personal daily lives, and how people can also affect larger events. Lots of discussion also for holding on to ethnic roots and traditions.
The newspapers from the story's events can be seen here at the book's website.

Flora & Ulysses

Flora & Ulysses
THE ILLUSTRATED ADVENTURES

Kate DiCamillo
Newbery Medal 2014

A fun book, whimsical and cartoony but poignant. A girl with divorced parents, and a distracted, disinterested mother, saves a squirrel from a vacuum cleaner and their adventures begin. Great vocabulary, some of it comic book creative, and parts of the story are shown in comic style panels. Good read aloud.

Extra Credit

Extra Credit

by Andrew Clements (2009)

Pen pals across international boundaries, a Midwestern girl not doing well in school and an Afghani boy excelling in his classes. Good read aloud with lots of ideas for research projects, letter writing, social studies, and of course pen pals.

My Brother's Ghost

My Brother's Ghost

by Allan Ahlberg (2001)

A short little book about a woman remembering her childhood and how the ghost of her older brother helped their family through rough times. Set in the 1930s (40s?) it's a bit old fashioned -- polio, cigarette cards, pork pie hats -- and British, but the story stays interesting and has a dramatic finish.

Adoration of Jenna Fox

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Mary Pearson (2008)

A techno-mystery thriller with questions of medical (and parental) ethics. Good supporting characters, quick paced, futuristic, and a little family drama. A girl awakes from a terrible car accident and must put together the mysterious pieces of her life. Friendship and a bit of teen romance, plus her strong courage, help her start figuring things out.

And now for our Guest Reviewer, Son #3:

I liked the book because it is suspenseful. Jenna Fox is a 17 year old girl that just woke up from a coma and is dealing with amnesia. She slowly finds out the danger of the whole truth about her survival of a deadly accident. The Adoration of Jenna Fox is a good story of the future of illegal medicine.

Mick Harte Was Here

Mick Harte Was Here

Barbara Park (1995)

A quick read and no mystery, we know from the beginning the brother died in a bicycle accident. Doesn't shy away from the pain and confusion of losing someone, but there is humor mixed in and a likable, connectable main character.

Should be required reading for our school, we had two helmet-less incidents last year, skateboard and motorcycle. Can we duct tape helmets on all kids until they turn 18?

The Fault In Our Stars

The Fault In Our Stars

John Green (2012)

Quite the prolific young man, this Mr. John Green. Author (5 or 6 books since 2005?), websites (leading the "fight to increase awesome and decrease suck"), and YouTube star... when does he sleep?

Cancer isn't new, rare these days is any person that hasn't been touched by it. And while this book is about the pain of living and dying with cancer, it does such a great job letting us know the characters as real, quality people that I didn't feel played when someone died, I felt thankful I was able to read the story.

And I'll probably kiss my boys a few extra times today.

Besides the whole painful death by cancer subject matter there is alcohol, language, and un-explicit sex. Nothing most kids don't see/hear/know about already but I'd still suggest waiting for the teen years to read it.

Hattie Big Sky

Hattie Big Sky

by Kirby Larson (2006)

Newbery Honor Book

Having a soft spot for Laura Ingalls Wilder, this book fits right in, minus Michael Landon as Pa. A girl on her own on a Montana homestead facing extreme weather, diabolical neighbors, stubborn animals, poor baking skills, and the struggle to fence and farm her land in order to meet the claim.

Hattie is definitely independent and capable, but needs and helps her neighbors as they face the harshness of frontier life. The story also deals with the fears of "The Great War" as friends and family are in Europe fighting and the pressure put on German townsfolk to prove their patriotism. A lot of outside issues to explore with this book: WWI, propaganda, farm life, even baseball.

Water Street

Water Street

by Patricia Reilly Giff (2006)

Brooklyn, 1870s, as the city builds a bridge families try to build lives. Bridget, aka Bird, follows in her mother's footsteps as a neighborhood healer while being a friend to a boy with a drunk father and worrying about her older siblings. Interesting picture of inner city life and how friends and neighbors need to help each other.  Bird faces fears and has the strength to help when needed.

"12+" not for content but writing style, some passages jump back or forth and from character to character and can be confusing. The family life and interaction was done very well, easy to know and care for the characters.

Glory Be

 Glory Be

Augusta Scattergood* (2012)

Racial unrest during the summer of 1964 threatens the birthday plans of a girl in Mississippi. A small town deals with segregation, the Freedom Summer volunteers, and getting ready for the 4th of July celebrations. Similar to ...Gabriel King, but not as deep or dramatic; some of the storylines feel undone. Best parts were the sister relationship, Elvis vs Beatles, and the brave Librarian standing up to the town's racist bullies. Enjoyable story, likable main character.


*Gotta be one of the best author names ever!

Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone

by Leigh Bardugo (2012)

Several reviews call this "Hogwarts in Russia" -- orphan has magical powers, battles the dark power -- but it's not as imaginative or cute as HP and the teen romance gets a bit racier. But it is set in Russia, with snow and mythology and royal courts, and it does have some spooky creatures and dangerous battles, with an feisty underdog heroine and a quick pace that made it a good read.

Reminded me of a more serious, Santa-free The Guardians of Childhood, as well as Westerfeld's Leviathan and Pullman's Golden Compass.

The Shadow Thieves

The Shadow Thieves 

Anne Ursu (2006)
Book One of The Cronos Chronicles

Just started this one, supposed to be really good ("Harry Potter-like!"). So far the language, allusions, etc seem to be at a higher level than HP or Riordan's Lightning Thief, we'll see when the action starts...

If it keeps me up past midnight to finish it, it's a good book. This one is a good book, so I may nod off in middle of re-zzzzzzzz....
view.

Creepy yet nattily attired underworld villain, emotional teens, mythological action & adventure, with an almost Douglas Adams-like sense of humor. I started off thinking "12+" because of some vocabulary and the inferring asides, but a good 10+ reader would enjoy it too. Like some Sesame Street skits, you don't get what you don't get but you still can get it. Enjoyable, especially for fans of Percy Jackson and crew, great connections to Greek mythology, and strong family/personal courage and responsibility message.

Jacob Have I Loved

Jacob Have I Loved 

Katherine Paterson
Newbery Medal 1981 

I might have personally liked this book better if I was a girl, especially a girl with a sister. But I'm not, so I don't think some of the elements rang as deep with me -- jealous of her sister, romantic feelings, family role confusion. But there is a lot to still connect with for any reader -- finding one's place in the world, family dynamics and differences in siblings, friendship, strange grandmothers, hard work to achieve a goal.

Some interesting characters come and go in the story, and some stories are touched on but not explained thoroughly, but overall an excellent story. Lots of Geography (East Coast, Chesapeake, crabs and oysters) and History (WWII, German-Americans).

Is there a sequel? The last chapter rang a bell, like I've read that part before or it's part of the next book...?

 

Son

Son

Lois Lowry (2012)

The conclusion to The Giver etc....

Loved the first 60% of the book then suddenly there's some sort of magic involved??  Maybe it was late and I didn't read it right, need to finish it tonight.

Finished! And it turned out fine, just had me a little worried for a minute. The evil magic part is the weakest aspect, but it does tie in with the series characters having supernatural-ish "gifts" such as healing and future sight. It was an abrupt change from the rest of the book but I should have trusted the great Ms. Lowry. She does know what she's doing, after all. And of course now I need to go back and read all the other books.

Very well done conclusion (or is it?) to the series. The characters and stories all tie together, which may help students still confused and concerned over The Giver's ending. I might even suggest skipping from book 1 to book 4, then going back to the middle ones. I think Jonas was such a strong reader connection it is hard to have the ambiguous end to his story. The mother in this book, Claire, is also a strong character who shows courage, strength, fierce determination. Great Middle School discussion book, lots of Why's to ask.

The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z

The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z 

Kate Messner (2009)

"One can do worse than be a swinger of birches."

A lot going on in this book, seems like a good one to take your time on with a class. The pretty and popular girl bully angle, mother/daughter communication and understanding, procrastination on school projects, art brain vs over organized brain (also the mother/daughter deal), grandparents dealing with old age and possible Alzheimer's, funerals, running track, young romance, the poetry of Robert Frost, plus lots and lots of trees.

Personally I'm going to try to get my 6th grade boy to read it, although the only hook for him may be the electronic genius friend (sorry son, no dragons, robots, or time travel). But my father does suffer from cognitive issues and this might be a way to see if he has questions about that. It's not all serious stuff, it's an entertaining story with good characters and some humor.

4/5 stars

Secrets at Sea

Secrets at Sea

Richard Peck (2011)

It's Downton Abbey with mice!

Cute story with good dialogue, including a cockney accent, about a family of mice following their family of humans on a cruise to England. Lots of sister dynamics, ball gowns, and a few weddings.

Waiting for Normal

Waiting for Normal

Leslie O'Conner (2008)

Unfortunately, living in a trailer and dealing with hunger, neglect, reading issues, and separated families is the norm for too many children. This book touches on all of this (and more: cancer! music recitals!) in the life of a 6th grade girl but does it with a positive, confident cast of characters that brings hope to the story and reader.

Realistic but not too grim, great characters, humor. A good book to connect with lessons on empathy and recognizing other' circumstances.

Divergent

Divergent

by Veronica Roth (2011)

"The greatest book ever" says my 6th grade Son#3 and after months of bugging, and constantly re-positioning it at the top of my TBR stack, I gave in and read it.

Part Hunger Games, part Uglies series, part Hogwarts sorting hat, there's not much new; post-apocalypse society begins breaking down and young people must discover who they really are and, I presume by the end of the series, set the world heading in the right direction. The underdog heroine is likable, the parental deaths are tragic, and the questions/discussion possibilities interesting. Good action, although the climactic battle relied on far too much rote gun play. Teen romance does turn into teen sex, or at least the mention of it as a scary possibility, so now I guess it's time for the father/son birds and bees chat...?

I liked Hunger and Uglies better, but despite my aversion to trilogies I will go grab the next book off the shelf.

And it looks like Ms. Roth is a Blogger too: http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com/


**Guest Review by Son #3**

Divergent by Veronica Roth is a #1 New York times best seller. A teenage girl, Beatrice,makes a choice that will change her life depending on who she is. Life is hard where she is after her choice, but this almost perfect world collapses when some one strives to discover some of their cities history. Only a group of people including Tris survived, now she and the other survivors must take their life back. This book is great for people who like the Hunger Games,The Uglies, and The Maximum Ride series. I like this book because it is TOTALLY AWESOME and is impossible to put down, because so much is always happening and there a surprise at every chapter.