KEEP YOUR SUNNY SIDE UP!

Sunny is sent off to stay with her grandfather for a month in a retirement community in Florida with visions of Disney World dancing in her head but instead they do "fun" stuff like go to the post office and early bird specials - all you can eat dinner at 4 p.m. with the "girls".  

Her summer seems like a bust because her parents have to deal with an incident with her older brother drinking and using drugs until she meets another kid at the retirement home who introduces her to finding golf balls and superhero comic books.  

Sunny Side Up is a touching story set in 1976 that's semi-autobiographical by Jennifer Holm and her brother Matthew regarding substance abuse and keeping secrets.  For readers 5th-8th and fans of Jennifer Holm's other books with similar tones such as Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf and Turtle in Paradise.  

12 IS A MAGIC NUMBER

The year that children turn 12, their minds are capable of almost anything.  Learning a new language, taking on advanced mathematics, and moving things with their minds are simple tasks for the trained tween.  At Myers Holt Academy, a few select children are recruited to harness and train what researchers call "The Ability" - where anything is possible.  One of this year's students is Christopher Lane.  A boy with a hard home life and not many prospects, Chris has the opportunity of a lifetime, but at a price.  The students of Myers Holt Academy will be asked to put their lives at risk to save the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from the deadliest use of The Ability, something most people only hears stories about - The Inferno.

Fans of the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson series will appreciate taking a normal, misunderstood kid and placing him in a setting where the world is at his fingertips.  The Ability by M.M. Vaughn is for students in Grades 5 and up. 

A FETCHING ROMP

A review from Mr. B. of the Grandview Branch:  

Who would have thought rescuing a border collie who is about to be “put down” in a distant animal shelter could be such an adventure? Ben Duffy explains it all, from the moment his dad and their dog, Atticus, wake him up before dawn for the surprise Road Trip for the three of them (“Dad, did you tell Mom about this?” No, he didn’t) to manipulating Dad into taking Ben’s best friend, troubled-teen Theo, along for the ride; from trading the suddenly disabled truck for an old school bus (and its owner, Gus) to drag racing a cop car in that bus, with the cop driving the bus. Along the way, they add young waitress, Mia, to their ever expanding party, and are nearly defeated by a teenage gang member.  

Spoiler: yes, they arrive at the shelter in time to rescue the border collie, but that’s not the end of the story.  Authors Jim Paulsen and his famous father, Gary Paulsen, even find a voice for Atticus, who acts as a Greek Chorus from time to time on his own page, without breaking the spell. This dog-loving slapstick comedy successfully supports a serious spine about adolescence, identity, and family.

RL: 4-8

Age: 10-14