SPECTACULAR POSSIBILITIES

I took a trip up to the Bay Area last weekend. It’s a 5.5 hour drive (without traffic) from LA, and I settled into the driver’s seat, automatically reaching for a familiar audiobook: Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt, read by Lincoln Hoppe. It’s a trip I’ve made several times and a story I’ve listened to several times more since its publication in 2011, yet it has never failed to elicit the same depth of emotion each time. It draws me back to a place I’d never visited and a time I’d never experienced: a small town in upstate New York in 1968, the peak of the Vietnam War era.

Fourteen year old Doug Swieteck is starting eighth grade in a new school in a new town, where his father has just secured a new job after being fired for a poor attitude and a questionable work ethic. The Dump, his family’s latest residence, is small and dingy. His father is spiteful. His older brother is a menace. His gentle mother rarely smiles anymore. And Doug can’t think of a single good thing about the stupid town they've just moved to.

You can easily envision the trajectory for a kid like that: he’ll grow up to be a bully, a thief, a liar, a victim and a victimizer. And everyone else in town thinks so too-- including Doug himself.

Until he finds unexpected solace in a public library and purpose in a rare copy of John James Audubon's Birds of America. There’s something mesmerizing about the paintings in Audubon’s book, even for Doug, who would be the first to tell you he’s no artist. Soon he’s drawn into the stories he sees in each carefully crafted bird, which become the metaphor by which he interprets his world. His spirit soars and dives throughout the novel as he faces a deluge of circumstances that test his resolve to sketch a different future for himself.

Another librarian (whose name I unfortunately cannot recall) wrote in her review of the book that it had broken her heart and put it back together a thousand times. I can certainly relate to that feeling. There’s a lot to mull over here: the tangible and intangible effects of the war on returned veterans and their families, the dichotomy of wealth and poverty, the cyclical nature of abuse, and the problematic prejudices of adults. At the same time there’s the thrilling freedom of art, the unexpected kindness of others, the gentle glow of first love, the healing found in offering compassion even when it seems undeserved, and a long lingering note of Possibility. It’s a tale of resilience and redemption.

I highly recommend listening to the audio version of book (which still counts as reading, in case you’re wondering!) Lincoln Hoppe’s reading of Okay for Now received an American Library Association Odyssey Honor in 2012 as one of the best audiobooks produced for children and young adults, available in English in the United States.

A truly rewarding read for grades 6 and up.

TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND COUNT TO SIXTY

From talented debut author Kathleen Lane comes The Best Worst Thing, an engaging and deeply perceptive novel about what growing up really feels like. Maggie is about to start middle school and is worried about pretty much everything--growing apart from her older sister, not seeing her father as much as she'd like, the fate of the cute little rabbits next door, the threat of the dangerous bully in her neighborhood, and, to top it all off, there's an actual murderer on the loose in her small town. Her helplessness in the face of the chaos of her world drives her to seek control in other ways--saying things twice (saying things twice), only eating an even number of snacks, and holding her breath and counting to 60. It's when she devises a pretty ambitious plan for keeping her and her loved ones safe, though, that things really start get out of hand. Will Maggie ever manage to feel like everything will turn out alright in the end?

Somehow Lane takes her readers into the mind of a preteen with anxiety-driven obsessive-compulsive tendencies and explores some fairly intense topics while managing to keep the tone relatively light and ultimately hopeful. Maggie's voice rings true and will certainly offer assurance to readers trying to find their place in a rapidly-changing world. 

An engrossing read best for 5th to 8th graders. 

AN UNFORGETTABLE SUMMER FRIENDSHIP

Two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo has done it again and given us another gem in her beautifully written and profoundly heartfelt middle grade novel, Raymie Nightingale. Things aren't going so well for Raymie, but she has a foolproof plan to get everything back to normal: if she learns how to twirl a baton, she can win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire 1975 competition--and when her father sees her picture in the paper, he'll have to forget about the dental hygienist he ran off with and come back home. Simple as that. 

But when she shows up at baton-twirling class instructed by former world champion Ida Nee, she meets a couple of other girls with alternate plans of their own--guileless Louisiana Elefante with her pink bunny barrettes needs to win the pageant to help save her long lost cat, Archie, while tough-talking Beverly Tapinski, whose father is a cop, wants to sabotage the competition altogether. But despite their plans being directly at odds with one another, the unlikely threesome soon form a strong bond that leads them through some unforgettable summer adventures and changes them all more than they ever thought possible.

The wealth of quirky characters and simple but deeply evocative writing will appeal to kids in fourth grade and up. 

ROLLER GIRL COMING AT YOU!

Fans of Raina Telgemeier will cheer for Roller Girl, a fun and poignant graphic novel by Victoria Jamieson. When twelve-year-old Astrid discovers roller derby, she is instantly enamored. What's not to love about powerful women with cool names playing a tough and exciting sport? Especially the star of the Rose City Rollers, Rainbow Bite. Astrid can't wait to sign up for the summer Junior Derby Camp and assumes her best friend will too, but is in for a rude awakening when Nicole decides she'd rather be at dance camp with Astrid's longtime sworn enemy, Rachel. Roller Derby is a lot harder than she'd ever thought, especially without her best friend there for support. But rather than quit when things get hard, Astrid buckles down and focuses on her dream of becoming a real roller girl, like her idol Rainbow Bite. She faces more than a few embarrassing falls, bumps, bruises, and other assorted humiliations along the way, but she also finds out just how tough she really is. 

Readers will root for Astrid as she learns to skate, experiences her first real bout, picks her roller derby name, and discovers who she really is on her own. This entertaining graphic novel, which boasts relatable characters, exciting action, coming-of-age drama, and plenty of heart, will make a perfect read for fourth graders and up. 

WE'RE NOT IN BROOKLYN ANYMORE!

First they visited their long-lost mother in Oakland in One Crazy Summer, they returned to life with their father in Brooklyn in P.S. Be Eleven, and now the Gaither girls are back--this time visiting their paternal relatives in rural Alabama--in Gone Crazy in Alabama, the third and final installment of the series from award-winning author Rita Williams-Garcia. 

Much like the previous two novels, Williams-Garcia paints an all-at-once funny, poignant, and unflinchingly realistic look at life in the 1960s for these three young black girls and their family. As their father reminds 12-year-old Delphine and her younger sisters Vonetta and Fern while he's telling them to be on their best behavior, "the South's not like Bed-Stuyvesant and you can't get more southern than Alabama." 

And truer words have never been spoken: they get their milk and butter from a cow, the best entertainment is hearing their great-grandmother and great-aunt tell conflicting stories about their decades-long feud, and, perhaps most notably, they experience the very real presence of the KKK. But when a potentially deadly storm strikes, things get even more real as Vonetta goes missing after a fight with her sisters. Will the Gaither girls and their family ever be the same after their time in the deep South? 

This historical fiction novel really tells it like it was, and will make a gripping read for 5th to 8th graders, whether or not they've already enjoyed the previous two books in the series. 

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

A review by Theresa of the Children's Room: 

It’s the start of a new school year and shy seventh grader Ellie O’Brien is under attack from her former best friend and now the school’s reigning mean girl and her new sidekick and popular eighth grader Jack Mallory is suffering from extreme overbearing fatheritis in Megan Shull’s The Swap. 

Inadvertently they both end up in the nurse’s office nursing their wounds one Friday afternoon. What happens in the short time they are together ends up being a life changing experience when the two jokingly talk about changing places. A strange rhyme uttered by the school nurse and the next thing they know, Jack has long red hair and Ellie has a shiner. Unable to find her, the two kids realize that they will just have to make it through a weekend of soccer tryouts, hockey practices and sleepovers the best they can until Monday when they hope the nurse will restore everything back to where it should be. 

What results are at times funny situations, Jack's brothers use slang that leaves Ellie clueless and Jack getting a designer haircut and do, and at times challenging when the two excellent athletes have to play unfamiliar sports. Ellie and Jack each tell their own story in alternating chapters leaving no detail untold in this hard to put down story for grades 6 to 8.

WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE IS NOT WHO YOU ARE

That's what Laura Ebony found out during a two week forced stay with her grandmother.  Although she wants to be a fashion model and popular, she's more of an outsider, called Larda by her classmates and the popular girls.  She thought all that would changed this year until she finds out that her class will be going on a field trip to her family's "slave shack". A shack to Laura's mind that has nothing but bad memories and now the whole class will know about her family's horrible past.  

The Laura Line by Crystal Allen turns in another engaging coming of age story weaving in history, genealogy, self esteem and even baseball.  For readers in grades 5th -8th. 

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

DISCOVERING LOVE WITHIN A FOSTER FAMILY HOME

Carly Conners has known only one kind of life: a difficult and impoverished one.  She was raised by a mother who was involved with different men, and who taught her that crying is for the weak.
Carly is easy going and she learns to live this way of life until tragedy strikes.  Her mother is hospitalized as a result of domestic violence.  
Carly is then sent to live with a foster family, The Murphys. 

The Murphys are picture perfect in Carly's eyes.  They live in a beautiful home, have traditional roles and routines, and they treat each other with lots of love.  Although shocked by their lifestyle at first, Carly later finds that she too deserves a life like the Murphys.  Through the course of the story, she learns that picture perfect families don't always have picture perfect beginnnings.  Lynda Mullaly Hunt brings Carly's touching experience to life in One For the Murphys.

For 5th grade and up.

A ONE-GALLON JUG DOG

When Zelly's family moves to Vermont, she can see no reason why she shouldn't have a dog. She's DYING to have a dog, and her annoying grandfather attempts to help her prove she's responsible enough to have one - by giving her a fake dog made out of a juice jug! At first, Zelly thinks it's a little silly to treat something plastic like a living thing, but she'll do whatever it takes to prove to her parents that a dog will make her life complete! When Life Gives You O.J.  by Erica S. Perl is a funny, entertaining story that will appeal to most kids in 5th-7th grade, especially animal lovers.

SEPTEMBER 2012

FRANKIE JOE IS NOT A FREAK, JUST LONELY.

Frankie Joe is a total misfit within his new family.  His mom will be in jail for awhile. He's being sent to live with a dad he barely knows all the way in Illinois, far far away from his trailer park home on the border of the Chihuahua Desert in Laredo, Texas.  His half-brothers are not very welcoming, especially the oldest, who is now bumped to the second place and boy does he hate that.  There's nothing more important to Matt than being number one.  Come the first day of school and Frankie Joe finds out he hasn't been going to school enough to put him in the sixth-grade, so he's going to be demoted and be in the same class as Matt!  Arrrghhh!  The injustice and loneliness sets him on a path to scheme and plot his way back to Laredo.  

Frankie Joe is trapped in a small town with all kinds of rules not suited to a young free spirit like himself.  All he wants is to be reunited with his mom and go back to the trailer park and hang out with his retired friends just like before.  Life just threw him a curve ball and all he can do is be Freaky Fast Frankie Joe and make a new start for himself.  

An endearing coming of age story by Lutricia Clifton for readers in grades 6-8th.  

RUBIES ARE A GIRLS BEST FRIEND

I have just now finished RUBY RED by Kerstin Gier, the first of three books, and I CANNOT WAIT for the next one! The story takes place in England, so some of the language takes a little getting used to, but the characters will jump under your skin from the very first page. Gwen/Gwyneth is an ordinary modern day girl, or so it seems. But her family has many secrets, ones for which her cousin Charlotte has spent her entire life preparing. What's the secret? The ability to time travel! That much I can tell you, but you'll be surprised what happens to Charlotte, Gwen and a boy named Gideon in this century and throughout centuries of the past! I'm ordering Sapphire Blue as soon as possible! For grades 6 and up.

LONG LIVE THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB!

Heather Vogel Frederick has done it again with a new installation in this great series called HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS. Becca, Megan, Emma, Cassidy, and Jess are back, with boys to kiss, and family to argue with, and best of all - new books to read! This time they're reading an entire series of what are called the "Betsy-Tacy" series. At first, the girls think the stories will be too old-fashioned, but it isn't long before each girl identifies with something that Betsy or Tacy encounters or a situation the characters face. Even though it's all about Christmas time, fans of the "Mother-Daughter Book Club" won't be disappointed. For grades 4 and up.

POOR MOE

Moe is a button on Mattie's nightgown in a book called HOUND DOG TRUE by Linda Urban. Mattie is a shy girl who lives with her mother and her Uncle Potluck. Uncle Potluck is a Custodial Arts professional at the school Mattie will be starting in a few weeks. Only Mattie would rather be her Uncle's custodial apprentice than go to yet another school. Her Uncle tells great stories, that he swears are "hound dog true." Mattie is hoping that her mother doesn't pick up and leave any time soon, because she's finally found a place she can be comfortable instead of worrying all the time. Worry is what got rid of Moe in the first place! For grades 4 and up.

A SURPRESENT FOR ANY READER

Delaware Pattinson, who goes by Delly, is always getting in trouble for one thing or another. She doesn't MEAN to get in trouble, but it seems to always find her. So when the principal and her parents threaten to send her off to reform school, she has to learn to straighten up - AND QUICK! TRUE (...SORT OF) by Katherine Hannigan is a dellylicious story about a girl coming to terms with being responsible, meeting new friends, learning patience, and feeling loved. The characters each have their own issues to deal with, and the author does a fantastic job of letting each one take the spotlight in some way. For grades 4 and up.

NOT JUST FOR CRAZY PEOPLE

If you hear the word "asylum" it's most often preceded with the word "insane." But in the early 20th century, asylums were not just for the insane, but were also there for depressed or out-of-sorts people. Verna and Carlie, and their widowed father come to live upon the grounds of an asylum, where he serves as a resident psychiatrist. Also in tow is their dead mother's sister, Aunt Maude, who is strict and unpleasant. When one of the depressed patients, Eleanor, comes to work as their maid, the girls are whisked into the world of mental health and experience all sorts of factors contributing to what might make a person end up in an asylum. THE LOCKED GARDEN by Gloria Whelan tells a beautifully sad story about different kinds of loss and how people recover from such sadness. For 5th-8th grades.

TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF MIDDLE SCHOOL

In this sequel to Claudia Mills’ Losers, Inc. Julius Zimmerman is stuck in French class. He’s sworn never to love a girl. He’s never going to be good in school like his brother. In fact, he’s just going to baby-sit all summer and deal with being twelve. Against his wishes, he starts to like Olivia, but only because of her beautiful singing voice, and excels at caring for three-year-old Edison Blue. YOU'RE A BRAVE MAN, JULIUS ZIMMERMAN deals with a boy whose mother has huge expectations, and she pushes him to succeed in those areas without acknowledging the strengths Julius demonstrates and things he does well. Julius tries to meet her expectations while still becoming his own person, as he transitions into adolescence. For grades 5 and up.

IS ORIGAMI YODA MAGIC?

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger.

First of all, this author is an absolute geek or an absolute genius. It's hilarious. Each character's story had me laughing out loud. One day, Dwight, the class weirdo starts giving his friends advice via a paper origami Yoda puppet on his finger. He would spout in a Yoda like voice some bit of wisdom. For example, Tommy wasn't sure if he should ask this girl to dance> Well, Origami Yoda said "Rush in fools do". Basically, no don't do it! Everyone else was saying go ahead. And before he can embarrass himself with the girl AND her BOYFRIEND in front of the entire school, he gets saved by Yoda, cause he stopped to think about it. AND that was what Yoda did for Tommy.

So is the advice of Origami real or not? It seems like a lot of things kids have asked Origami Yoda really came true and the only way to find out for sure is to investigate it scientifically and document it.

A truly funny read about boys and coming of age - falling for girls, standing up for yourself and your friends and what you believe in. Basically, the mystery of growing up but done in a hilarious way- a cross between Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Gary Paulsen's writing. A short read for readers in 6th - 8th grade.

WELCOME TO THE FAIRY GODMOTHER ACADEMY!

If I were a fairy godmother, I wonder who would be my responsibility? Would it be some poor child who can't afford proper dental care (or is that the tooth fairy's department)? Would I be Barack Obama's fairy godmother? That would be neat. In BIRDIE'S BOOK by Jan Bozarth (Fairy Godmother Academy Book 1), Birdie doesn't even know she is a fairy godmother-in-training until she arrives at her Granny Mo's house. There she learns she is the only person that can save her Arbor Fairy family lineage from complete extinction, and sets out on a dream quest to save the great Glimmer Tree and the line of fairy godmothers throughout the world. For grades 4 and up.

WHAT IF YOUR SISTER DIDN'T WANT TO KNOW YOU?

Sunny Skyland has run away from her foster home to find her long lost twin sister, who she hasn't seen since she was three years old. Sunny's had a rough road, and think that reuniting with her twin will make everything better. Along the way across three or four states, Sunny finds a dog who teaches her a lot about love and communication, and she begins to regret leaving her latest foster parent without saying anything. When she finds her twin, Starr, things don't exactly work out like she's planned. RUNAWAY TWIN by Peg Kehret is great for 4th-8th grades.