WOULD YOU LIE FOR SOMETHING YOU LOVE?

Ditty loves dancing. She loves her parents. She does not love lying. But she does not want to study Jewish tradition and get married to another Orthodox Jewish boy. Her parents act like their beliefs must rule everything about their lives. But Ditty isn't quite so sure if she believes these things any more. I mean, her parents have a secret television! So Ditty decides to take ballet, and has to come up with some elaborate stories to do what she loves the most - dancing! 

DANCING IN THE DARK by Robyn Bavati is about a girl who is transitioning from obedient child to daring teen, one who questions everything her parents ever taught her. How can dancing feel so right when her family thinks it is so wrong?! For grades 6 and up.

AUGUST 2013

STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

After Lilah gets struck by lightning, she starts to think she's going crazy - afterall, her dead grandmother, Bubby Dora, did just tell her that she needs to help her dad find a girlfriend.  The good news is, Lilah's not crazy.  She can now hear dead people, and more than just her grandmother.  She can hear a famous fashion designer, the lead singer in a band, and her crush's dad to name a few.  The bad news is, Lilah now has more advice and help than she could ever need.

Join Lilah as she navigates middle school and learns to live with people from beyond in Small Medium at Large by Joanne Levy, a novel for Middle Schoolers.

THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD FRIENDS

Annemarie Johansen lives in a Nazi occupied Denmark. While she does not understand why there are soldiers on her streets, she knows they make her feel very uncomfortable. Life takes an interesting turn when Annemarie learns her Jewish friend's family, the Rosens, must go into hiding. This opens her eyes to many things and she learns to be brave and compassionate as she and her family smuggle the Rosens out of Denmark. This is a Newbery Medal winner, and is one of the shortest books to win this award. I wish the book would've told me more about the characters because I didn't feel I got to know them very well. But let me know what you think! Post a response below...
For 4th graders and up.