ONE MAGICAL SUMMER

A review by Theresa:  

Summer is supposed to the best time of the year. It should be a time of no school, no homework, and no schedules just lots of free time to do what you want and hang out with your friends. For Ashley it is just the opposite. Her best friend is going off to camp and then moving across the county. They had planned to spend their last weeks together but instead Ashley has to entertain some strange little girl her mother has invited to come and stay with them for the first three weeks of summer. 

Life looks bleak for her as she faces the worst summer of her life. Without her best friend Lucy she wonders how she will cope with the rare condition that causes her brain not to recognize people even if she knows them well. But cope she does even when Claire, the summer visitor, turns her life upside down and Ashley finds a magic wish jar in the basement that has the power to send her back to a time of two girls very much her and Lucy. Before she knows it the three weeks she had dreaded and all the changes this summer brought to her life mean that her worst summer might just be the best one ever. 

Dreamer, Wisher, Liar by Charise Harper is best for readers in grades 5-8.

GIRLS ARE SO MEAN SOMETIMES

It's summer vacation on Darcy Lane, and Julia is looking forward to a season of swimming, sitting around with her best friend Taylor, and thinking about the neighbor boy Peter. Lo and behold, the new neighbors move in with a girl Julia's age named Alyssa, and that changes everything. For some reason, Alyssa is rude to Julia from day one, steals best friend Taylor (is she such a good friend after all?), and basically makes Julia's life miserable - until the day of the great battle of Russia! 

THE BATTLE OF DARCY LANE by Tara Altebrando is your typical, tween angst novel, but is original enough to keep you reading to the very end. Questions like "will Peter and Julia become more than friends?" and "who is the mystery prank caller" intermingle throughout the story, with everything tied up in a nice neat bow at the very end.

 For 4th - 6th grades.

JUNE 2014

ALL KINDS DELICIOUS DUMPLINGS

Pacy loves dumplings and the thought of dumplings is what keeps her spirit up at the thought of spending a whole month in Tawain instead of having a regular summer like her friends in New Hartford.  She doesn't speak the language, so her parents enroll her and her two sisters in a sort of enrichment class for Taiwanese American kids like herself.  Uggh... school in the summer. 


Taiwan is a different world from New Hartford except for the dumplings.  She didn't realize there were so many different kinds.  Everyone in her family gets into the dumpling mood and introduces her to soup dumplings, pan fried dumplings, the night market, chicken feet and most of all she gets to know all that is Taiwan and family.  


Dumpling Days by Grace Lin is a great culture-filled, food-filled book for readers 4th-6th.  

THE 2012 NEWBERRY WINNER IS VERY UNUSUAL

A 2012 Newberry Winner

This is an odd but truly enjoyable story about a boy who is grounded for the entire summer during the 1960s in a dead end town named, Norvelt.  With nothing else to do, his mother lends him out to the next door neighbor with the arthritic hands.  Whenever someone in Norvelt dies, it's up to him to help write the obituaries/history trivia.  In exchange for the use of his hands, she teaches Jack how to drive and fixes his bloody nose problem (which seems to squirt blood every time he gets excited or stressed).

 The once model town seem to hosting a lot of funerals for their elderly residents over such a short period of time that it all becomes suspicious.  When a Hell’s Angel motorcycle member accidentally dies in Norvelt, a chain of events set off monumental changes for Jack, his parents and the entire town.

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos seems like an autobiography but it’s not, even though the author lived in Norvelt and the main character is named after him. It’s a very unusual tale for that special reader who has read everything! For readers in 6th-8th.

SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN ADVENTURE

Even though their parents told them to stay off Superstition Mountain, when their cat escapes their new home and head straight up the mountain, the three worried brothers disobey their parents and go search for their pet. When they discover three white skulls, the boys become curious and go off searching for the identity of the three skulls. could it be the three boys missing from the 1950s?

Missing On Superstition Mountain by Elise Broach is another solid suspenseful adventure story.

VIOLET RAINES AND THE LIGHTNING!

Violet is an innocent young girl whose idea of having fun is to jump into a pool for a swim and hop around from tree to tree. She has planed to spend her summer with her friends, eating fresh fruits, running around and enjoying the calmness and the beauty of her town.

However, all her plans change when a new girl comes into town... Melissa is the same age as Violet, but her idea of a good time are watching soap operas, getting her hair and makeup done and gossiping about the people in her newly adopted town.

Suddenly, summer does not appeal to her anymore and she is torn about betraying her beliefs or conforming to Melissa's ideas.

VIOLET RAINES ALMOST GOT STRUCK BY LIGHTNING by DANETTE HAWORTH.

For grades 6th 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.

SUMMER TRAVEL

It's summer vacation and everyone knows that means ...ROAD TRIP!!!! What else will you do do with the kids for the next two and a half months? Check out these two books about two families crossing across all fifty states.

Our 50 States: A Family Adventure Across America by Lynne Cheney and Illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser is inspired by Cheney's experiences with her grandkids to write what is basically a history book in the guise of tour book. It's lavishly illustrated and accompanied with lots of tidbits about each state on a double page spread. Sometimes the information is too much and your eyes kind of glaze over but overall it's chockful of stuff and it's great to pore over a few states at a time with your kids.

Go, Go America: 50 States of Fun by Dan Yaccarino has a more retro feel, theYaccarino family way back when perhaps? Yaccarino also gives each state a double page introduction with his stylish minimal approach to illustration. There are kooky historical facts, obscure head scratching laws as well as the more straight forward info all rolled into one really fun book for everyone from the very young all the way up.


And if you don't get to go to all 50 states this summer, these books might inspire you to look for a fun event going on in your local town or discover an intereseting fact about your area . Start your station wagon, I mean your SUV, or maybe Prius? Well, your car. Start exploring everybody!

For readers of all ages.

WHO ARE POPEYE AND ELVIS?

Well, this here is a book that reminds you of lazy hot days in summer, waiting for something exciting to happen. When you're a kid like Popeye, "exciting" doesn't happen that often. Fayette, South Carolina is a slow kind of place, where Popeye lives with his grandma Velma and good-for-nothin' Uncle Dooley. It's Dooley's fault he's called Popeye, since he was the one that shot him in the eye in the first place. But now it's time for a new adventure involving a clan of ragamuffin kids, boats made of Yoo-Hoo boxes, and dead dogs. THE SMALL ADVENTURE OF POPEYE AND ELVIS by Barbara O'Connor is a slow, southern style of book that will hang around in your head for a while after you read it. For grades 3 and up.

EVERYTHING IS NOT FINE

Much like Ann Dee Ellis's last book, EVERYTHING IS FINE leaves a lot to the imagination at first. Mazzy's mother has been in bed for over a month. Her father is nowhere to be found. To top it off, Mazzy, who tells the story, seems to have some serious mental issues herself. The story unravels through little windows into Mazzy's life, with a cast of characters helping the plot along. Mazzy has discovered art to help her deal with the madness of her life. She ties her different emotions to different art mediums, such as when a boy she likes is being a jerk, she calls it "chalk on paper" or if it's something she feels good about, it's "oil on canvas." Not everyone will like this book, but there is a shocking secret that explains everything. For grades 6 and up.

A TREE WORTH READING

THE DRAGON TREE by Jane Langton is not about dragons. This is the story about a family of free-thinkers, an evil tree inspector, and a girl kept captive in an attic. You would think that these things would have absolutely nothing to do with each other. But they are all brought together by a magical tree that grows foot by foot in a matter of minutes, with leaves that tell stories and fruit that feeds body and mind. It's a quick read for a chapter book, with a lot of excitement and some political activism thrown in for your reading pleasure. Plus, you get to learn a little bit about Henry David Thoreau. A great read for 4th grade and up.

LAWN BOY

Lawn Boy
Gary Paulsen

He’s bored. He’s flat broke. His friends are away at summer camp. His bike doesn’t work. And worst of all, his grandmother just gave him his "big" present for his 12th birthday. A lawn mower. An old one that used to belong to his grandfather. So without much else to do, he rides around his lawn on his new set of wheels. Soon he’s hired to mow a neighbor’s lawn and then another and another. He is starting to develop a nice small lawn mowing business when he takes on a new client named Arnold. Arnold is a stockbroker with a cash flow problem. So he pays our lawn boy by investing in stocks for him. Within a month, lawn boy has more than 12 employees, a financial manager, and a pretty good stock portfolio. From that point on, things get a little crazy. Lawn boy has to deal with a hostile takeover, a stockbroker held for ransom, and a professional boxer. You'll have to read this book to find out Lawn Boy's surprising fate!

LEARN ENGLISH FROM BASEBALL

With a name like Shirley Temple Wong, something's bound to go wrong! Shirley Temple Wong has just moved from China to New York. She has a hard time getting adapted because she doesn't speak English very well and everyone treats her differently. When she makes friends with the toughest girl in the class by accident, she learns how to play stickball, and becomes a huge Brooklyn Dodgers fan. BROOKLYN DODGERS?!?!

IN THE YEAR OF THE BOAR AND JACKIE ROBINSON by Bette Bao Lord is set in 1947, when the Dodgers still played for Brooklyn, and even though it takes place 70 years ago, you'll see that kids are still pretty much the same. An easy to read chapter book for 4th grades and up.

STUMP... I MEAN, ALISTAIR

This is how Alistair became "Stump" and back to Alistair again. You take an angry kid with one leg, send him to a rich place in California for the summer, force him to spend time with his estranged dad and new double amputee stepmother, throw in a chance encounter with a beautiful actress, and an opportunity for personal growth by way of a crotchety old swim coach.

Funny and biting novel for mature readers in 6th -9th grade. The One Where the Kid Nearly Jumps to His Death and Lands in California by Mary Hershey is a fast-paced novel, unlike its long-winded title.

LEMONADE FOR SALE!

What started out as a friendly end of summer activity for brother and sister, Evan and Jessie, has turned into a very unfriendly competition when Evan finds out that his super smart sister will be skipping a grade and be in his fourth grade class. Evan and Jessie have their own worries about this news and it brings out the worst in each.

The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies is a great short read for third through fifth graders.

A SUMMER READ FOR GIRLS

Three weeks into her summer job and on her way to her dream career of owning and operating a hair salon based on the hairstyles of great heroines of literature, Irene is fired. Irene gets a new job babysitting (the only job she can get) two kids for the summer. While babysitting the kids she meets Starla and is intrigued by her hair, her beauty, her obsession with her ex-boyfriend, and her “fabulous” blog. She quickly discovers that beauty has a dark side.

Middle schoolers needing a little drama in their reading will want to read My Almost Epic Summer by Adele Griffin this summer.

A GREAT SUMMER READ FOR ALL

1 Box + 4 keys = the meaning of life.

Jeremy's life consists of his mom, Lizzzy, his best friend and neighbor, and grandma. He eats the same thing everyday. No kidding. He stays in his neighborhood where he knows where everything is. You see, Jeremy doesn't like changes. And he thought the summer of his 13th birthday would be no different. Things are fine the way they are, except that he misses his father.

His father died at the age of 39, just like the fortune teller predicted. Out of nowhere he gets this unexpected box from the past. What could his father have put in this box so many years ago? Jeremy is deteremined to find the missing keys and unlock the secrets and wisdom his father has left for him.

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass is perfect for middle school boys looking for a meaningful summer read.