THE MANY FACES OF HOPE

Ten-year-old Star Mackie moved to a trailer park in California from Oregon with her mother and sister. Although she sees that her sister Winter is very unhappy with their mother for making them live in a trailer and having to go to an alternative high school, Star has a more positive outlook. She tries to make friends at her school, which is not helped by the fact that her mom's hairdresser friend gave her a layered blue hairstyle which immediately gets mistaken for a mullet. But Star is not hindered. Determined to have her schoolmates understand that living in a trailer is not so bad, she decides to start a trailer park club at her school. Star encounters kindness and adversity from students and teachers, and manages to overcome all her challenges with strength and optimism.

Hope is a Ferris Wheel by Robin Herrera is a realistic fiction novel that helps its readers understand the diverse experiences of other children. Star Mackie is not so different from other ten-year-olds in her school, except for the fact that she does not live in a big house like many of her classmates. But far from focusing on the hardships of being poor, Star focuses on things in her life that make it normal. This lively protagonist is sure to capture the readers' hearts.

For grades 6 and up.

A FAMILY REUNION THEY DIDN'T WANT

Cecile is her mother's name, but she calls herself Nzila now that she is an artist/poet in Oakland, California. Her father insisted that Delphine and her sisters will have to spend a month of their summer with their mother. All Delphine wants is to know the truth behind why her mother abandoned the family.

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia is a beautiful historical novel of a non- typical family reunion. Set in the 1960s during the Black Panther movement, three girls set off for what they think will be a sunny, Disneyland, movie star filled summer of fun, but what they get is something else.

For readers in 6th-8th grade.