Title Summary Review - The Park School of Baltimore

Title
Between Shades of Gray
Summary
Sepetys’ first novel offers a harrowing and horrifying account of the forcible relocation of countless Lithuanians in the wake of the
Russian invasion of their country in 1939. In the case of 15-year-old Lina, her mother, and her younger brother, this means
deportation to a forced-labor camp in Siberia, where conditions are all too painfully similar to those of Nazi concentration camps.
By Ruta Sepetys: In 1941, fifteen- Lina’s great hope is that somehow her father, who has already been arrested by the Soviet secret police, might find and rescue
year-old Lina, her mother, and
them. A gifted artist, she begins secretly creating pictures that can—she hopes—be surreptitiously sent to him in his own prison
brother are pulled from their
camp. Whether or not this will be possible, it is her art that will be her salvation, helping her to retain her identity, her dignity,
Lithuanian home by Soviet guards and her increasingly tenuous hold on hope for the future. Many others are not so fortunate. Sepetys, the daughter of a Lithuanian
and sent to Siberia.
refugee, estimates that the Baltic States lost more than one-third of their populations during the Russian genocide. Though many
continue to deny this happened, Sepetys’ beautifully written and deeply felt novel proves the reality is otherwise. Hers is an
important book that deserves the widest possible readership. *William C. Morris Award Finalist *YALSA Top Ten Fiction Award
(Booklist) Historical Fiction 344 pages UG
By Pat Schmatz: Thirteen-year-old
Travis, living in cramped quarters
with his alcoholic grandfather,
longs for his old life in the
country, and struggles in school to
hide the fact that he cannot read,
but a persistent teacher and a
special girl open his eyes to a new
world.
Bluefish
Review
Travis lives with his alcoholic grandfather and his beloved dog, Rosco. When he and his grandfather move to a new town, the dog
disappears, and Travis is devastated. Worse, he feels like a “bluefish,” his word for stupid. And, indeed, school is a struggle for
him because, as the the reader soon discovers, he has a closely guarded secret. Things begin to change when he meets an
eccentric, extroverted girl who calls herself Velveeta. Though she has secrets of her own, she and Travis become friends and
cautiously, with the help of an understanding teacher, begin to find ways to deal with their troubles and losses. Travis and
Velveeta are sympathetic characters with believable problems. The story is well written and deals realistically with issues that
plague many teens. (Booklist) Fiction 226 pages MG
Title
Summary
By Steve Sheinkin: This spy thriller
examines the history of the atomic
bomb, discussing the discovery of
the behavior of uranium when
placed next to radioactive material,
the race to build a bomb, and the
impact of the weapon on societies
Bomb: The Race to Build - and around the world.
Steal - the World's Most Dangerous
Weapon
Boy 21
By Matthew Quick: Finley, an
unnaturally quiet boy is the only
white player on his high school's
varsity basketball team. When his
coach asks him to mentor a
troubled African American student
who has transferred from an elite
private school in California, he
finds that they have a lot in
common in spite of their apparent
differences.
Review
In late December 1938, German chemist Otto Hahn discovered that uranium atoms could be split, and just a few months later the
race to build an atomic bomb was on. The story unfolds in three parts, covering American attempts to build the bomb, how the
Soviets tried to steal American designs and how the Americans tried to keep the Germans from building a bomb. It was the eve of
World War II, and the fate of the world was at stake, "[b]ut how was a theoretical physicist supposed to save the world?" It's a
true spy thriller, ranging from the football stadium at the University of Chicago to the mountains of Norway, from the deserts of
New Mexico to laboratories in East Tennessee, and all along the way spies in the United States were feeding sensitive information
to the KGB. Groups of photographs are sprinkled throughout the volume, offering just enough visual support for the splendid
character development in the writing. It takes a lot of work to make a complicated subject clear and exciting, and from his
prodigious research and storytelling skill, Sheinkin has created a nonfiction story young people will want to read. A superb tale of
an era and an effort that forever changed our world. *Newbery Honor Book *Sibert Medal Winner *YALSA Nonfiction Winner
(Kirkus Starred) Nonfiction 266 pages MG
Finley pretends his earliest memory is shooting hoops in the driveway, where it was easy to zone out and forget what happened to
his family. Now a senior, Finley doesn’t talk much. “My mind is a fist and it’s always clenched tight, trying to keep the words in.”
Keeping the silence is important in his neighborhood, where the Irish mob and black gangs clash. Snitches and their families are
ruthlessly punished. He and his girlfriend, Erin, play varsity b-ball and dream of getting away. When Russ moves to the
neighborhood, Finley is worried about the newcomer’s basketball superskills, but Russ has problems, too. After his parents’ murder,
he adopted the persona “Boy21,“ a benevolent, emotionless alien stranded on Earth. Finley’s glum reluctance to help Boy21 grows
into surprising grace and friendship, and when Russ begins to heal, Finley confronts his own tragic past. Finley’s relationships are
sweet, supportive, and authentic. The revelation of what happened in Finley’s childhood is heartbreaking, but the hopeful ending
pays off. An unusual and touching story. (Booklist) Fiction 250 pages UG
Title
BZRK
Chomp
Summary
Review
By Michael Grant: In the near
future, the conjoined Armstrong
twins, under the guise of the
Armstrong Fancy Gifts Corporation,
plot to create their own version of
utopia using nanobots, while a
guerilla group known as BZRK
develops a DNA-based biot that can
stop bots, but at risk of the host's
brain.
With science as soft as pudding (though, really, who cares—pudding is delicious), Grant envisions nanotechnology so advanced
that brains can be rewired, memories manipulated, and senses hacked by robots and gene-spliced creatures the size of dust mites.
A war between two ultra-secretive, competing ideologies—one championing free will, the other promising enforced happiness—is
being fought “down in the meat,” and Grant gleefully exposes the biological ickiness of the body going about its everyday business
in paranoia-inducing scenes of nanobots scuttling across spongy brain matter or plunging probes into optic nerves. At the same
time, he doles it out on the macro level as two teens are enlisted to help stop a maniacal baddie and his team of “twitchers,”
who are planning to infiltrate the heads of the world’s most powerful nations. With simmering pots of near-nonstop action and the
threat of howling madness or brain-melting doom around every corpuscular corner, Grant’s new series is off to a breathless,
bombastic start. (Booklist Starred) Fantasy Fiction 386 pages UG
By Carl Hiaasen: The difficult star
of the reality television show,
"Expedition Survival," disappears
on location in the Florida
Everglades, where they were filming
animals from the wildlife refuge
run by Wahoo Crane's family, and
Wahoo and classmate Tuna Gordon
set out to find him.
Lots of kids think they live in a zoo; Wahoo Cray actually does. Wahoo's dad, Mickey, was the best wild-animal wrangler in south
Florida until an iguana, frozen solid in a flash freeze, fell from a tree and conked him on the head. Now, Mickey has migraines
and double vision, and the family's in such dire financial straits that Wahoo's mother has taken a temporary job. When offered
good money for the use of Mickey's tame animals, there's no saying no to the production company of Expedition Survival!, a
"reality" show starring Derek Badger. The Crays, however, draw the line at harming any animal; and Derek doesn't think the
scenes are "real" enough. The production company hires Mickey and Wahoo as guides on an Everglades location shoot, which is
complicated in true Hiaasen fashion by an abused, runaway girl from Wahoo's class, a toothy encounter with a jazzed-out snake, a
disastrously unsuccessful live-bat brunch...and a vanishing star. Hiaasen's novel features a shy, deep-feeling protagonist who's also a
pragmatist and plenty of nature info and age-appropriate cultural commentary. Humorous adventure tales just don't get any more
wacked...or fun to read than this. (Kirkus Starred) Adventure Fiction 290 pages MG
Title
Code Name Verity
The Diviners
Summary
Review
Wein’s exceptional -- downright sizzling -- abilities as a writer of historical adventure fiction are spectacularly evident in this taut,
captivating story of two young women, spy and pilot, during World War II. Wein gives us the story in two consecutive parts -By Elizabeth Wein: In 1943, a
the first an account by Queenie (a.k.a. Lady Julia Beaufort-Stuart), a spy captured by the SS during a mission in Nazi-occupied
British fighter plane crashes in Nazi- France. Queenie has bargained Linden to write what she knows about the British war effort in order to postpone her inevitable
occupied France and the survivor execution. She charms her captors (and readers) as she writes her report and, mostly, tells the story of her best friend Maddie, the
tells a tale of friendship, war,
pilot who dropped her over France, then crashed. Unbeknownst to Queenie, Maddie survived the crash; part two is Maddie’s
espionage, and great courage as "accident report" and account of her efforts to save Queenie. Wein gives us multiple doubletakes and surprises as she ratchets up
she relates what she must to
the tension in Maddie’s story, revealing Queenie’s joyously clever duplicity and the indefatigable courage of both young women. This
survive while keeping secret all
novel positively soars, in part no doubt because the descriptions of flying derive from Wein’s own experience as a pilot. But it’s
that she can.
outstanding in all its features -- its warm, ebullient characterization; its engagement with historical facts; its ingenious plot and
dramatic suspense; and its intelligent, vivid writing. *Printz Award Honor Book *YALSA Top Ten Fiction Award (Horn Book) Mystery,
Historical Fiction 343 pages UG
By Libba Bray: Evie O'Neill has
Bray’s lavish supernatural thriller plunks a macabre series of occult murders into 1920s New York. Newly arrived in Manhattan,
been exiled from her boring old
seventeen-year-old Evie O’Neill doesn’t plan to fade into the woodwork. As she tells friends back home in Ohio, “I’m going to be
hometown and shipped off to the
written up in all the papers and get invited to the Fitzgeralds’ flat for cocktails.” The first half of this prediction comes true, but
bustling streets of New York City.
not in the way she expects. Evie’s Uncle Will runs the Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult, a.k.a. the
Soon enough, Evie is running with
“Museum of Creepy Crawlies.” Early on, Miss Addie, Will’s eccentric elderly neighbor, recognizes that Evie is a diviner, someone
glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish
with a special connection to the spirit world. Eventually Evie’s more-or-less secret power to access people’s memories by touching
pickpockets. The only catch is Evie
one of their possessions allows her to help Will track Naughty John, a truly eerie ritual killer who happens to have died fifty years
has to live with her Uncle Will,
earlier. Bray switches perspectives among a variety of characters, some of whom also have supernatural abilities: a Harlem numbers
curator of The Museum of American
runner and poet; a world-weary Ziegfeld Follies dancer; the rakish con artist who fleeces Evie and then falls for her. Wisecracking
Folklore, Superstition, and the
Evie is a likable heroine, and all signs point to intriguing complications and more malevolent spirits on the rise in succeeding
Occult--also known as "The Museum
books. *YALSA Top Ten Fiction Award (Horn Book Starred) Fiction 578 pages UG
of the Creepy Crawlies."
Title
Dodger
A Dog Called Homeless
Summary
Review
This superb novel from Pratchett is not only a fine Dickensian novel- Dickens himself figures prominently. It follows a sewerBy Terry Pratchett: In an
scouring "tosher" and thief named Dodger, "a skinny young man who moved with the speed of a snake," who, like a knight in
alternative London ruled by a
soiled armor, leaps out of a drain one night to protect a young woman who is being severely beaten. Two of London's most
young Queen Victoria, Dodger, a famous figures, Charles Dickens and social reformer Henry Mayhew, appear on the scene a moment later. A complex plot gradually
resourceful, homeless boy,
unravels involving the identity of the mystery girl, known only as Simplicity, and the reasons someone powerful wants her dead.
unwittingly prevents Sweeney Todd Making guest appearances are such luminaries as Benjamin Disraeli, Queen Victoria, and Angela Burdett-Coutts, the richest woman
from committing murder.
in the world at the time. Full of eccentric characters and carefully detailed London scenes, the tale embodies both Dickens's love
for the common man and a fierce desire for social justice. *Printz Award Honor Book (Publishers Weekly) Fiction 360 pages UG
By Sarah Lean: Fifth-grader Cally
Louise Fisher stops talking, partly
because her father and brother
never speak of her mother who
died a year earlier, but visions of
her mother, friendships with a
homeless man and a disabled boy,
and a huge dog ensure that she
still communicates.
Cally Fisher hasn't spoken for 31 days. As she explains in the prologue, "Talking doesn't always make things happen, however
much you want it to." She knows that talking won't bring her mother back to life or keep her dad from selling their home in
exchange for a small apartment so what's the point in saying anything. But when her mother appears one day wearing a bright
red raincoat and the only other soul that sees her is a big scraggly dog, the girl knows she must find a way to convince her
father that the dog is the only thing connecting them to her mother. But her father's growing depression continues to separate the
family and Cally struggles to keep her mother from becoming a distant memory. When she meets Sam, who lives downstairs, the
friendship that forms between the boy who can’t see and the silent girl manages to reunite a family, and each character benefits
from the bond. Truly a lesson in the power of love and loss, this story shows that learning how to listen is more important than
what's being said. *Schneider Book Award Honor (School Library Journal) Fiction 202 pages MG
Title
The Drowned Cities
Enchanted
Summary
Review
By Paolo Bacigalupi: In a dark,
future America that has devolved
into unending civil wars, orphans
Mahlia and Mouse barely escape
the war-torn lands of the Drowned
Cities, but their fragile safety is
soon threatened and Mahlia will
have to risk everything if she is to
save Mouse, as he once saved her.
Bacigalupi returns to a dark, war-torn dystopian future in which severe climatic change and years of political upheaval have left
the United States a bloodied and ravaged landscape. Bands of child soldiers roam from village to village. Against the backdrop of
this blood-soaked chaos, two unlikely allies, a crippled teenage "war maggot" and a half-man/half-beast genetically altered killing
machine, risk their lives and their freedom to save a boy forced into servitude by rebel soldiers. Mahlia and Tool venture deeper
and deeper into the Drowned Cities, each fueled by unwavering loyalty. As they do, readers are given glimpses of proof that love
and humanity can shine through even the most unimaginable darkness. Arguably, the novel's greatest success lies in the creation of
a world that is so real, the grit and decay of war and ruin will lay thick on the minds of readers long after the final page. The
narrative, however, is equally well crafted. Told in the third person, the novel alternates between Mahalia and Tool's stories,
allowing both characters the time and space to imprint themselves on readers' hearts. Breathtaking. (Kirkus Starred) Fiction 437
pages UG
By Althea Kontis: When Sunday
Woodcutter, the youngest sibling to
sisters named for the other six
days of the week, kisses an
enchanted frog, he transforms back
into Rumbold, the crown prince of
Arilland--a man Sunday's family
despises.
Readers will discover a fabulous fairy-tale mashup that deserves hordes of avid readers. Sunday Woodcutter is the seventh daughter
of a seventh daughter, living in the shadow of the memory of her eldest brother, Jack Junior, who disappeared on a cursed quest
of his own. Sunday's siblings each have their own fates and secrets. It is Sunday, however, who becomes fast friends with a talking
frog, and it is Sunday's kiss that frees him--except she doesn't know. Kontis has deeply and vividly woven just about every fairy
character tale readers might half-remember into the fabric of her story. She does this so seamlessly, and with such energy and
good humor, that readers might miss a few references, caught up instead in Sunday's cheer and vivacity, or in Grumble-theFrog/Rumbold-the-Prince's intense romantic nature. Absolutely delectable in the wizardly grace of its storytelling. *YALSA Top Ten
Fiction Award (Kirkus Starred) Fantasy Fiction 308 pages MG
Title
Every Day
Fire in the Streets
Summary
Review
Imagine waking up in a different body every day. A is a 16-year-old genderless being who drifts from body to body each day,
living the life of a new human host of the same age and similar geographic radius for 24 hours. One morning, A wakes up a girl
By David Levithan: Every morning
with a splitting hangover; another day A wakes up as a teenage boy so overweight he can barely fit into his car. Straight boys,
A wakes in a different person's
gay girls, teens of different races, body shapes, sizes and genders make up the catalog of A's outward appearances, but ultimately
body, in a different person's life,
A's spirit--or soul--remains the same. One downside of A's life is that A doesn't have a family, nor is A able to make friends. A
learning over the years to never
tries to interfere as little as possible with the lives of the teenagers until the day A meets and falls head over heels in love with
get too attached, until he wakes
Rhiannon. A pursues Rhiannon each day in whatever form s/he wakes up in, and Rhiannon learns to recognize A--not by
up in the body of Justin and falls
appearance, but by the way A looks at her across the room. Levithan's self-conscious, analytical style marries perfectly with the
in love with Justin's girlfriend,
plot. His musings on love, longing and human nature knit seamlessly with A's journey. An awe-inspiring, thought-provoking
Rhiannon.
reminder that love reaches beyond physical appearances or gender. *YALSA Top Ten Fiction Award (Kirkus Starred) Fiction 324
pages UG
By Kekla Magoon: In the aftermath
of Dr. King's assassination in 1968,
Chicago fourteen-year-old Maxie
longs to join the Black Panthers,
whether or not her brother
Raheem, ex-boyfriend Sam, or her
friends like it, and is soon caught
up in the violence of anti-war and
civil rights demonstrations.
This companion novel to The Rock and the River is narrated by fourteen-year-old Maxie. Maxie lives for the Black Panthers. She’s
willing to pay her dues performing mundane chores in the office, but she pines for the day she can accept responsibilities typically
reserved for older members. In 1968, Chicago hosted the Democratic National Convention with its attendant riots, and the Panthers
(with Maxie and her friends in tow) are right in the thick of things. As the events of the summer segue into the fall, Maxie seeks
to renew her romance with Sam, but their relationship is complicated by other factors. He’s still grieving for his slain older
brother, while she’s dealing with problems at home. Her mother’s lost her job and has taken in yet another boyfriend; her older
brother, Raheem, can barely make ends meet. When the Panthers learn that there is a traitor in their midst, Maxie is sure that
finding the mole is her ticket to the party’s inner circle. Maxie’s voice is the big draw here, providing readers with a ground-level
view of an important historical moment but also of the nascent sociopolitical zeal of adolescence. (Horn Book) Historical Fiction
321 pages MG
Title
Four Secrets
The Good Braider
Summary
Review
By Margaret Willey: Through
journal entries required by their
social worker at a juvenile
detention center, middle-schoolers
Katie, Nate, and Renata relate how
they came to kidnap their
tormentor, Chase, a star athlete
from the town's most prominent
family.
Four secrets? This mystery twists like kudzu, creeping ever closer to truths that, as readers, we both need to know and are afraid
to find out. Katie, Nate, and Renata are three junior high school friends locked up after being found guilty of kidnapping the class
bully, Chase. Their stories are told in nonsequential, piecemeal fashion via journals for their social worker, Greta Shield. Katie has
two diaries, one for Mrs. Shield and a secret one filled with screenplay-style dialogue; Renata communicates only in skewed,
nightmarish drawings; and Nate tells his story as if it were a Tolkienesque fantasy. Gradually, Greta Shield emerges as the
protagonist, obsessed with digging up the truth. If Chase wasn’t really kidnapped, then why are all four kids sticking to their
stories? Rich in unique voices, Willey’s story masterfully teases out information until the final pages—and the ultimate revelations
are well worth the torture. (Booklist Starred) 227 pages Fiction MG
The Good Braider follows Viola on a journey from her home in ravaged Sudan to Cairo and finally to the folds of a Sudanese
community in Maine. Viola's story, told in free verse, is read with a constant lurking sense of both dread and hope. In the opening
scene she gazes at the curve of the back of a boy walking the street in front of her, only to view his senseless execution moments
By Terry Farish: A story of loss, later. This tension never completely dissipates, though it takes on different forms throughout her story; by the end it is replaced
courage and hope as a teenage girl not by the fear of execution or of the lecherous soldier who forces her to trade herself for her family's safety, but by the tension
escapes war-torn Sudan to face the of walking the line between her mother's cultural expectations and the realities of her new country. Yet while Farish so lyrically
challenges of a new life in America. and poignantly captures Viola's wrenching experience leaving her home, navigating the waiting game of refugee life, and
acculturating into the United States, she's equally successful in teasing out sweet moments of friendship and universal teenage
experiences. Viola's memorable, affecting voice will go far to help students step outside of their own experience and walk a mile in
another's shoes. (School Library Journal) Fiction in Verse 221 pages UG
Title
Summary
By Anna Perera: Khalid, a fifteenyear-old Muslim boy from England,
is kidnapped while on holiday with
his family in Pakistan and struggles
to understand when he is taken to
Guantanamo Bay and held without
charge.
Is torture ever justified? Can a confession given under torture be considered the truth? What if the suspect is only 15? Set six
months after 9/11, this unforgettable novel is told through the story of teenage Khalid, born near Manchester, England, into a
secular Muslim family. Close with his mates on the soccer field and excited about a girl in his class, Khalid grabs every spare
minute at home to play war games online with his Pakistani cousin, Tariq, whom Khalid has never met. Then, on his first family
trip to Pakistan, Khalid is suddenly arrested in the street, named an enemy combatant, beaten, and questioned, first in Pakistan,
then Afghanistan, and then Guantanamo Bay, where he is deprived of sleep, shackled, and water-boarded until he confesses to
everything in order to stop the pain and get back home. Tariq is also a prisoner. Did he confess and betray Khalid? Were they
victims of bounty hunters? (Booklist Starred) Fiction 339 pages UG
By Sara Zarr: Told from their own
viewpoints, Jill, in grief over the
loss of her father, and Mandy are
thrown together when Jill's mother
agrees to adopt Mandy's unborn
child but nothing turns out as they
had anticipated.
Still reeling from the death of her father, Jill resents her mother's plan to adopt a new baby. When soon-to-be birth mother
Mandy arrives, she brings with her more than any of them imagined. Struggling with the loss of her like-minded father, guilt over
her failings as a daughter and her heart, which she fears is permanently sealed, Jill is determined to dislike Mandy. Her
resentment, fueled by inconsistencies in the young mother's story, drives her to find an investigator. When a startling phone call
exposes Mandy's darkest secrets, Jill finds herself more confused than ever. Mandy, who knows firsthand what it is like to grow up
unwanted and unloved, is determined to find a better life for her baby. But what if, in the meantime, she can find a better life
for herself? Told from the perspectives of both Jill and Mandy in alternating chapters, this moving story explores love, loss and
whether a family can be more than the sum of its parts. Jill's cynicism is the perfect counterpart to Mandy's hopeful naivety.
Likewise, Mandy's vulnerability highlights Jill's tough independence. Woven together from two simple threads, the resulting tapestry
is as beautiful as it is real. A story that will resonate beyond its final page. *YALSA Top Ten Fiction Award (Kirkus Starred) Fiction
341 pages UG
Guantanamo Boy
How to Save a Life
Review
Title
In Darkness
Inside Out and Back
Again
Summary
Review
By Nick Lake: In the aftermath of "I am the voice in the dark, calling out for your help." Amid the devastation of the recent Haiti earthquake, in a collapsed
the Haitian earthquake, Shorty, a hospital, lies a teenage boy, waiting, hoping -- possibly in vain -- to be rescued. As he waits, his mind turns not only to the
poor, fifteen-year-old gang member events in his own life that have led him to this point but also, in alternating sections, to the life of Haiti's great revolutionary,
from the slums of Site Soleil, is
Touissant L'Ouverture -- and the parallels between Haiti in the past and Haiti in the present are not lost on the reader. The boy
trapped in the rubble of a hospital lives in one of the bleakest slums, and his life has been defined by violence, crime, and corruption: his father murdered, his sister
and as he grows weaker, he has kidnapped, his own innocence compromised by gang activity -- and all of it sanctioned by the corrupt relationship between the
visions and memories of his life of government and the gangs. There is a mystical thread that connects this boy not only to Aristide but to L'Ouverture, whose
violence, his lost twin sister, and of presence seems to visit the boy in his ordeal. The boy draws strength from the inspiring but heartbreaking story of this noble
Toussaint L'Ouverture, who
revolutionary leader, providing the impetus to re-evaluate his own life. The leisurely pacing allows Lake to develop his unforgettable
liberated Haiti from French rule in characters, harrowing settings, and lay the foundation for his timely and relevant themes. *Printz Award Winner (Horn Book)
1804.
Historical Fiction 341 pages UG
After her father has been missing in action for nine years during the Vietnam War, 10-year-old Hà flees with her mother and
three older brothers. Traveling first by boat, the family reaches a tent city in Guam, moves on to Florida, and is finally connected
By Thanhha Lai: Through a series with sponsors in Alabama, where Hà finds refuge but also cruel rejection, especially from mean classmates. Based on Lai’s personal
of poems, a young girl chronicles experience, this first novel captures a child-refugee’s struggle with rare honesty. Written in accessible, short free-verse poems, Hà’s
the life-changing year of 1975,
immediate narrative describes her mistakes—both humorous and heartbreaking—with grammar, customs, and dress, and readers
when she, her mother, and her
will be moved by Hà’s sorrow as they recognize the anguish of being the outcast who spends lunchtime hiding in the bathroom.
brothers leave Vietnam and resettle Eventually, Hà does get back at the sneering kids who bully her at school, and she finds help adjusting to her new life from a
in Alabama.
kind teacher who lost a son in Vietnam. The elemental details of Hà’s struggle dramatize a foreigner’s experience of alienation. And
even as she begins to shape a new life, there is no easy comfort. *Newbery Honor Book *National Book Award (Booklist) Verse
Fiction 262 pages MG
Title
Jump into the Sky
Liar & Spy
Summary
Review
By Shelly Pearsall: In 1945, Levi
is sent to find the father he has
not seen in three years, going from
Chicago, to segregated North
Carolina, and finally to Pendleton,
Oregon, where he learns that his
father's unit, the all-Black 555th
paratrooper battalion finally has a
mission.
With a style reminiscent of Christopher Paul Curtis, Pearsall takes us along as 13-year-old Levi Battle searches for his father and
struggles to find his place in the world. It's 1945 and he is sent to live with his father who is stationed in North Carolina. After
finding out that his father has shipped out on a secret mission, Levi and a young soldier travel to Oregon to join up with the
battalion. Much to Levi's surprise, his father is a well-respected officer in an elite, but little recognized, battalion of black
paratroopers. As father and son work on their strained relationship, a real threat calls the soldiers out to defend the Oregon
countryside. This well-researched novel brings to light some relatively obscure aspects of World War II. Coupled with rich
supporting characters and the folksy and humorous style in which it is told, this is a sure winner. (Library Media Connection)
Historical Fiction 344 pages MG
By Rebecca Stead: Seventh-grader
Georges adjusts to moving from a
house to an apartment, his father's
efforts to start a new business, his
mother's extra shifts as a nurse,
being picked on at school, and
Safer, a boy who wants his help
spying on another resident of their
building.
Life is lousy for Brooklyn seventh-grader Georges. His architect father has been laid off so they’ve had to move, and he never sees
his mother now that she’s doing double shifts as an intensive-care nurse. School is no respite, what with former best friend having
ditched him to sit at the cool lunch table and with bully Dallas’s endless torments. And so when he meets homeschooler Safer,
who lives in his new building and offers to train him as a spy, Georges figures, why not? Their target is one Mr. X, who lives on
the fourth floor and, according to Safer, has been behaving in some very worrisome ways. Wild parrots, Scrabble tiles, SweeTarts,
the Science Unit of Destiny, and America’s Funniest Home Videos all factor into this smart, slightly noirish tale. Stead’s spare and
elegant prose, compassionate insight into the lives of young people, wry sense of humor, deft plotting, and ability to present
complex ideas in an accessible and intriguing way make this much more than a mystery-with-a-twist. (Horn Book) Mystery Fiction
180 pages MG
Title
Matched
Summary
Review
By Allie Condie: Cassia has always
had complete trust in the Society
to make decisions for her, but
when she is being paired with her
ideal mate, a second face flashes
on the screen, and Cassia begins to
doubt the Society's infallibility as
she tries to decide who she truly
loves.
“Do not go gentle into that good night.” Cassia’s feelings of security disintegrate after her grandfather hands her a slip of paper
just before his scheduled death at age 80. Not only does she now possess an illegal poem, but she also has a lingering interest in
the boy who fleetingly appeared on her viewscreen, the one who wasn’t her match, the man she will eventually marry. What’s
worse, she knows him—his name is Ky, and he is an orphan from the Outer Provinces. How could she love him as much as
Xander, her match and best friend since childhood? The stunning clarity and attention to detail in Condie’s Big Brother–like world
is a feat. Some readers might find the Society to be a close cousin of Lois Lowry’s dystopian future in The Giver, with carefully
chosen work placements, constant monitoring, and pills for regulating emotional extremes. However, the author just as easily tears
this world apart while deftly exploring the individual cost of societal perfection and the sacrifices inherent in freedom of choice.
(Booklist) Fantasy Fiction 369 pages UG
Hoose explores the tragedy of extinction through a single bird species, but there is hope for survival in this story, and that hope
is pinned on understanding the remarkable longevity of a single bird. B95 is a 4-ounce, robin-sized shorebird, a red knot of the
subspecies rufa. Each February he joins a flock that lifts off from Tierra del Fuego and heads for breeding grounds in the Canadian
By Phillip M. Hoose: Chronicles a
Arctic, 9,000 miles away. Late in the summer, he begins the return journey. Scientists call him Moonbird because, in the course of
year in the life of rufa red knot
his astoundingly long lifetime of nearly 20 years, he has flown the distance to the moon and halfway back. B95 can fly for days
B95, also called Moonbird,
without eating or sleeping but eventually must land to refuel and rest. Recent changes, however, at refueling stations along his
following him through his migration
migratory circuit, most caused by human activity, have reduced the available food. Since 1995, when B95 was captured and
pattern and discussing the
banded, the rufa population has collapsed by nearly 80 percent. Scientists want to know why this one bird survives year after year
environmental problems that caused
when so many others do not. In a compelling, vividly detailed narrative, Hoose takes readers around the hemisphere, showing them
the rufa population to collapse by
the obstacles rufa red knots face, introducing a global team of scientists and conservationists, and offering insights about what can
nearly eighty percent.
be done to save them before it's too late. Meticulously researched and told with inspiring prose and stirring images, this is a
gripping, triumphant story of science and survival. *YALSA Nonfiction Finalist *Sibert Honor Book (Kirkus Starred) Nonfiction 148
Moonbird: A Year on the Wind
pages MG
with the Great Survivor B95
Title
My Name is Mina
Never Fall Down
Summary
Review
By David Almond: Prequel to
This is the story of Mina, the girl next door who, in Skellig, helped Michael cope with the man he found in his garage eating dead
Skellig. Creative, intelligent Mina flies and growing wings. Who was Mina before Michael arrived? Form as well as language bring Mina alive. Her journal introduces
keeps a journal in her own
us to this authoritative, imaginative, irascible child, and her entries appear in her childlike penmanship; the print is big and bold
disorderly way that reveals how her when she finds a word she loves (“METEMPSYCHOSIS!”), and she uses concrete poetry as she plays with language and thoughts. And
mind is growing into something
what thoughts! Mina is homeschooled, because, well, because she’s Mina, and she needs expanses of time to think about myths and
extraordinary, especially after she mathematics. She dreams of her dead father and wonders, wonders, wonders about birds. It is the birds that will lead readers into
begins homeschooling under the
Skellig—that, and glimpses of Michael and his family moving next door. This book stands very much alone, but the sense of
direction of her widowed mother. wonder that pervades the smallest details of everyday life remains familiar. (Booklist Starred) Fiction 300 pages MG
By Patricia McCormick: This is a
work of fiction based on a true
story. When soldiers arrive in his
hometown in Cambodia, Arn Chorn
Pond is separated from his family
and sent to a labor camp, where
he works in the rice paddies until
he volunteers to learn to play an
instrument--a decision that both
saves his life and lands him in
battle.
McCormick tackles a horrifying subject with grace while unsentimentally portraying the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge and
Cambodia's killing fields. This novel is based on a real person, Arn Chorn Pond, who was 11 years old at the time of the country's
Communist revolution. Arn's narration balances a palpable and constant sense of fear, starvation, and humiliation with his will to
survive. Doing so involves great moral compromises, bravery, and a capacity for love and friendship despite the nightmarish
circumstances. McCormick divides the narrative into five periods: life before the revolution; in the camps, where Arn learns to play
the music; his induction into the Khmer Rouge; his time in a refugee camp; and, finally, his transition to America. On how to
survive, Arn observes, "You show you care, you die. You show fear, you die. You show nothing, maybe you live." While never
shying from the ugliness and brutality of this genocide, McCormick crafts a powerful tribute to the human spirit. *YALSA Top Ten
Fiction Award (Publishers Weekly) Fiction 216 pages UG
Title
Summary
No Crystal Stair
October Mourning:
for Matthew Shepard
a Song
Review
Lewis Michaux provided a venue for his fellow African-Americans to have access to their own history and philosophy at a time
when the very idea was revolutionary. Michaux's family despaired of him, as he engaged in petty crime and was obviously headed
in the wrong direction. He began to read, however, and discovered a connection to the writings of Marcus Garvey and others, and
he determined that knowledge of black thinkers and writers was the way to freedom and dignity. With an inventory of five books,
By Vaunda Micheaux Nelson: Tells
he started his National Memorial African Bookstore as "the home of proper propaganda" and built it into a Harlem landmark,
the story of Lewis Michaux who
where he encouraged his neighbors to read, discuss and learn, whether or not they could afford to buy. His clients included
built a bookstore in Harlem despite
Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Langston Hughes and Nikki Giovanni. Nelson, Michaux's great-niece, makes use of an exhaustive
widespread opposition.
collection of interviews, articles, books, transcripts and FBI files, filling in the gaps with "informed speculation." Brief entries
arranged in mostly chronological order read seamlessly so that fact and fiction meld in a cohesive whole. A stirring and thoughtprovoking account of an unsung figure in 20th-century American history. *Coretta Scott King Honor Book (Kirkus Starred) Biography
with added Fiction 188 pages MG
By Lesléa Newman: On October 6,
1998, 21-year-old Matthew
Shepard, a gay student at the
University of Wyoming, was
savagely beaten and left to die.
This collection of poetry honors
Shepard's memory.
In 1998 Gay Awareness Week was beginning at the University of Wyoming, and the keynote speaker was Lesléa Newman,
discussing her book Heather Has Two Mommies . Shaken by the events of Matthew Shepard’s death, the author addressed the large
audience that gathered and remained haunted by Matthew’s murder. October Mourning, a novel in verse, is her deeply felt
response to the events of that tragic day. Using her poetic imagination, the author creates fictitious monologues from various
points of view, including the fence Matthew was tied to, the stars that watched over him, the deer that kept him company, and
Matthew himself. More than a decade later, this stunning cycle of sixty-eight poems serves as an illumination for readers too young
to remember, and as a powerful, enduring tribute to Matthew Shepard’s life. *Stonewall Honor Book Poetry 111 pages UG
Title
The One and Only Ivan
Summary
Review
By Katherine Applegate: When Ivan,
a gorilla who has lived for years in
a down-and-out circus-themed mall,
meets Ruby, a baby elephant that
has been added to the mall, he
decides that he must find her a
better life.
"I am Ivan. I am a gorilla. / It's not as easy as it looks." In short chapters, Applegate has captured the voice of Ivan, a captive
gorilla who lives at the "Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade." When a new baby elephant, Ruby, arrives, Ivan promises the old
elephant, Stella, that he will take care of her. He comes to realize that their years of captivity in such a restrictive environment
are not what Ruby deserves. He hatches a daring plan that involves his own original artwork, a stray dog, the daughter of the
custodian, and a zoo thousands of miles away. The choice to tell this story in the first person and to personify the gorilla with an
entire range of human thoughts, feelings, and emotions poses important questions to the reader, not only about what it means to
be human but also about what it means to be a living creature, and what kind of kinship we all share. An author's note describes
the true incident that inspired this story and includes more information about the real Ivan. *Newbery Medal Winner (Horn Book)
Fiction 305 pages MG
It’s a familiar story: the magic season, the underdog overcoming all odds. The 1971 Macon, Illinois, high-school baseball team and
its misfit coach went all the way to the state finals, knocking off powerhouse teams with enrollments larger than their entire
central Illinois town. Coach L. C. Sweet, a free-spirited English teacher, had been a pretty good amateur ballplayer. His resemblance
By Chris Ballard: Tells the story of to Frank Zappa and his unconventional ways—holding practice only if the kids felt like it, letting them sew peace symbols on
a small-town baseball team from their caps, tolerating them “belting out ‘Yellow Submarine’ at the top of their lungs” as they arrived for away games—didn’t sit
Illinois in 1971.
well with the community. But the boys won. And when they beat formidable Lane Tech from Chicago to reach the state finals,
even the naysayers couldn’t argue with Sweet being named Coach of the Year. Ballard writes very well and avoids the usual pitfalls
of the “inspirational” story, the cloying platitudes and rah-rah nonsense. These kids were simply good ballplayers coached by a guy
One Shot at Forever: a
with an open mind, a lot of common sense, and a zest for fun. *Alex Award Winner (Booklist) Nonfiction 254 pages AD
Small Town, an Unlikely Coach, and
a Magical Baseball Season
Title
Parrotfish
Summary
Review
By Ellen Wittlinger: Grady, a
transgendered high school student,
yearns for acceptance by his
classmates and family as he
struggles to adjust to his new
identity.
"What I am is a person who's capable of loving other people. That's all that matters." This is the unwavering thrust of
Wittlinger's novel, narrated by Grady (born Angela), a transgendered teenage boy who is determined to show his true self to the
world. Supporters include nerdy Sebastian, gorgeous Kita, and Grady's upset but protective mother, whose ability to be loving and
supportive despite her confusion and unhappiness makes her the most complex member of the ensemble. The plot enriches a
thought-provoking discussion of gender roles and gender identity. Grady is ultimately both recognizable and likable -- an awkward,
slightly insecure, occasionally eloquent kid devoted to family and friends, just trying to figure out where he fits in the world. (Horn
Book) Fiction 294 pages UG
Joylin, 12, has always been comfortable in her own skin. Then strange things start to happen. She begins to notice boys; her
forever friend and b-ball buddy, Jake, begins to treat her differently on the court; and Joylin and her best girlfriend, Kaylee,
develop different interests. Joylin feels like an "alien" who finds herself in "Planet Middle School" by mistake, "searching for that
By Nikki Grimes: A series of poems
spaceship/that's gonna take me home." She tries to morph from a tomboy in baggy jeans and an old T-shirt into someone more
describes all the baffling changes at
feminine, trying lipstick, heels, and a skirt, each with disastrous results. That she emerges from these oh-so-embarrassing episodes
home and at school in twelve-yeareffectively provides reassurance and hope. Joylin's voice is revealed in spare, well-paced verse. Young and adult characters are
old Joylin's life.
plausible, likable, and supportive of one another. The story is by turns touching and laugh-out-loud funny, and readers will
appreciate the time they spend with Joylin, her family, and her friends as they live, grow, and learn as individuals and together.
(School Library Journal) Fiction in Verse 154 pages MG
Planet Middle School
Title
The Revolution of Evelyn
Serrano
Seraphina
Summary
Review
Set in 1969, Manzano's first novel offers a realistically mercurial protagonist struggling with her identity in Spanish Harlem.
By Sonia Manzano: It is 1969 in Fourteen-year-old Rosa Mara Evelyn del Carmen Serrano is frustrated with life in El Barrio. Tired of working for her mother and
Spanish Harlem, and fourteen-year- stepfather in their bodega, she takes a job at a five-and-dime and hopes to trudge through the rest of the summer. Everything
old Evelyn Serrano is trying hard changes when her abuela arrives, taking over Evelyn's bedroom and bearing secrets of the family's involvement in Puerto Rico's
to break free from her conservative tumultuous history. When a group called the Young Lords begins working to bring positive changes to the neighborhood, some
Puerto Rican surroundings, but
residents are resistant, including Evelyn's mother. Led by her grandmother's example, Evelyn begins to take an interest in the
when her activist grandmother
efforts of the activist group. As the months pass, the three generations of women begin to see one another's perspectives, and
comes to stay and the
Evelyn realizes the importance of her Puerto Rican heritage. Like most real-world teens, she changes subtly, rather than through
neighborhood protests start, things one earth-shattering epiphany. The author effectively captures this shifting perception in the dialogue and Evelyn's first-person
get a lot more complicated--and narration. Secondary characters of surprising dimension round out the plot and add to the novel's cultural authenticity, as do the
dangerous.
Spanish and Spanglish words and phrases sprinkled throughout the text so seamlessly that a glossary would be moot. A stunning
debut. *Pura Belpre Honor Book (Kirkus Starred) Fiction 205 pages MG
In Hartman's splendid prose debut, humans and dragons--who can take human form but not human feeling--have lived in uneasy
By Rachel Hartman: In a world
peace for 40 years. The dragons could destroy the humans, but they are too fascinated by them. As musician Seraphina describes
where dragons and humans coexist it, humans are like cockroaches to dragons, but interesting. As the anniversary of the treaty approaches, things fall apart: The
in an uneasy truce and dragons crown prince has been murdered, anti-dragon sentiment is rising, and in the midst of it all, an awkward, gifted, observant girl
can assume human form, Seraphina unexpectedly becomes central to everything. By turns pedantic, lonely, scared, drily funny and fierce, Seraphina brings readers into
grapples with her own identity
her world and imparts details from the vast (a religion of saints, one of whom is heretical) to the minute (her music, in
amid magical secrets and royal
beautifully rendered detail). The wealth of detail never overwhelms, relayed as it is amid Seraphina's personal journey; half-human
scandals, while she struggles to
and half-dragon, she is anathema to all and lives in fear. But her growing friendship with the princess and the princess' betrothed,
accept and develop her
plus her unusual understanding of both humans and dragons, all lead to a poignant and powerful acceptance of herself. Dragon
extraordinary musical talents.
books are common enough, but this one is head and talons above the rest. *William C. Morris Award Winner *YALSA Top Ten
Fiction Award (Kirkus Starred) Fantasy Fiction 499 pages MG
Title
Somebody, Please Tell
Me Who I Am
Splendors and Glooms
Summary
By Harry Mazer: Wounded in Iraq
while his Army unit is on convoy
and treated for many months for
traumatic brain injury, the first
person Ben remembers from his
earlier life is his brother who has
autism.
Review
Ben has the talent to be a star on Broadway after high school, but instead “Broadway” just becomes his nickname with his
buddies in Iraq. Ben’s e-mails to his longtime girlfriend Ariela portray a young man much changed from the one she and Ben’s
best friend, Niko, remember. When a blast sends Ben home with a traumatic brain injury, Ariela and Niko deal with Ben’s
condition differently. Screwball Niko becomes an introspective and constant companion to Ben’s mom and brother. Ariela, away at
school, buries herself in new relationships while keeping Ben in her heart. Ben emerges from a coma struggling to remember
anything about his past self, including how to speak, construct meaning, and recognize loved ones. Although the reader may
despair at the tragic turn of a young man so full of promise, the ending offers a glimpse of light at the end of what will be a
long, dark tunnel. *Schneider Book Award Winner (Booklist) Fiction 148 pages UG
A brooding, Dickensian novel with a touch of fantasy and a glimmer of hope, Schlitz’s latest opens in London in 1860, when lonely
By Laura Amy Schlitz: When Clara
Clara, the only remaining child in a doctor’s grief-stricken household, attempts to celebrate her twelfth birthday. Grisini the puppet
vanishes after the puppeteer Grisini
master is engaged to perform, along with the two orphaned children, Lizzie Rose and Parsefall, who serve as his assistants. Clara
and two orphaned assistants were
bridges the class divide to befriend the children. After kidnapping Clara for ransom, cruel Grisini disappears, leaving Lizzie Rose and
at her twelfth birthday party,
Parsefall struggling to survive on their own. They make their way to the country house of a bewitched woman whose magical
suspicion of kidnapping chases the
amulet gives her amazing powers while draining away her humanity. There they learn certain grisly secrets involving their cruel
trio away from London and soon
master, Clara’s fate, and the wealthy witch, who seeks to control them all. The magic of the storytelling here lies in the subtle
the two orphans are caught in a
depiction of menacing evil. After working its way insidiously through the characters’ lives, it is defeated by the children, who grow
trap set by Grisini's ancient rival, a
in strength and understanding throughout the novel. Vividly portrayed and complex, the characters are well-defined individuals
witch with a deadly inheritance to
whose separate strands of story are colorful and compelling. Schlitz weaves them into an intricate tapestry that is as mysterious
shed before it is too late.
and timeless as a fairy tale. *Newbery Honor Book (Booklist Starred) Fiction 384 pages MG
Title
Summary
By Grace Lin: An innkeeper's boy
discovers that a visitor's stories
hold the key to returning the
moon to the Starry River of the
Sky.
Starry River of the Sky
Steve Jobs: The Man
who Thought Different
Review
When a troubled runaway arrives in an isolated Chinese village where the moon has disappeared, he initiates a quest to find the
missing orb and resolve his past. Escaping from home in a merchant's cart, Rendi's abandoned in the Village of Clear Sky, where
the innkeeper hires him as chore boy. Bad-tempered and insolent, Rendi hates Clear Sky, but he has no way of leaving the sad
village where every night the sky moans and the moon has vanished. The innkeeper's bossy daughter irritates Rendi. He wonders
about the innkeeper's son who's disappeared and about peculiar old Mr. Shan, who confuses toads with rabbits. When mysterious
Madame Chang arrives at the inn, her storytelling transports Rendi. She challenges him to contribute his own stories, in which he
gradually reveals his identity as son of a wealthy magistrate. Realizing there's a connection between Madame Chang's stories and
the missing moon, Rendi assumes the hero's mantle, transforming himself from a selfish, self-focused boy into a thoughtful young
man who learns the meaning of home, harmony and forgiveness. Lin artfully wraps her hero's story in alternating layers of Chinese
folklore, providing rich cultural context. Detailed, jewel-toned illustrations and spot art reminiscent of Chinese painting highlight key
scenes and themes and serve as the focus of an overall exquisite design. (Kirkus Starred) Fiction 288 pages MG
Blumenthal, a former business reporter, uses a speech Jobs made to a graduating class at Stanford as an inviting hook to draw
readers in. He told his audience stories about the most important incidents in his life, beginning with his adoption, and how the
By Karen Blumenthal: Chronicles
dots of his life connected in mysterious ways. His adoptive father was skilled with his hands and a perfectionist, a trait Jobs
the life and accomplishments of
carried on, sometimes to extremes. The worst moments in Jobs’ life, like being fired from Apple, the company he built, led him to
Apple mogul Steve Jobs, discussing
bigger and better moments, and an eventual return to Apple, where he would give the world iPods, iPhones, and iPads. His final
his ideas, and describing how he
story was about his cancer, and his message was to “follow your heart and intuition.” Through original interviews, a smart use of
has influenced life in the twentysource material, and a wonderfully easy-going style, Blumenthal gives a full portrait of Jobs, with his many well-documented flaws,
first century.
his original and far-sighted aesthetic, and his willingness to push himself and others to achieve the best—as he perceived it. This
is a smart book about a smart subject by a smart writer. *YALSA Nonfiction Finalist (Booklist Starred) Nonfiction 310 pages MG
Title
Three Times Lucky
Tiger Lily
Summary
Review
By Sheila Turnage: Washed ashore
as a baby in tiny Tupelo Landing,
North Carolina, Mo LoBeau, now
eleven, and her best friend Dale
turn detective when the amnesiac
Colonel, owner of a cafe and coparent of Mo with his cook, Miss
Lana, seems implicated in a
murder.
Quick-thinking and precocious Mo LoBeau is hilarious in this modern-day mystery set in a small North Carolina town. The 11-yearold discovers the true meaning of family as she searches for her "upstream mother." As a baby, Mo was found washed ashore
during a hurricane and has led a quiet life with the Colonel, a cafe owner with a hidden past, and Miss Lana, the fun and colorful
cafe hostess. Then one day, this idyllic town is turned upside down by a murder investigation. The twists and turns in the plot will
keep readers on their toes, and the humorous interactions between Mo and her quirky neighbors will keep them coming back for
more. While the story is amusing and mysterious, the author also skillfully touches on tough issues. The mood of the book stays
light and keeps youngsters rooting for Mo in all of her adventurous endeavors, yet elicits empathy for the secondary characters as
they endure and conquer challenging circumstances. *Newbery Honor Book (School Library Journal) Fiction 312 pages MG
It's no paradise. White-sand beaches and spectacular sunsets come with mud, mosquitoes and croc-infested swamps. But guided by
By Jodi Lynn Anderson: Fifteen-year- fragile, insect-size faerie Tink, readers are drawn into this richly re-imagined Neverland. Adopted daughter of shaman Tik Tok, Tiger
old Tiger Lily receives special
Lily is proud and competitive, kept at a wary distance by her peers except for gentle Pine Sap, whose unconditional love she
protections from the spiritual forces appreciates but doesn't return. Athletic Tiger Lily, nonathletic Pine Sap and Tik Tok, whose self-identity doesn't match his gender,
of Neverland, but then she meets share a bond that's shaken after Tiger Lily rescues an English shipwreck survivor, then falls in love with Peter, following him into
her tribe's most dangerous enemy-- an emotional wilderness as intoxicating and dangerous as Neverland itself. Tink's love and helplessness (faeries read thoughts but
Peter Pan--and falls in love with cannot speak) become a source of tension and metaphor in this post-colonial fable that covers a lot of ground: wilderness and
him.
civilization, gender and power, time and change. Working with the darker threads of Barrie's bittersweet classic, Anderson weaves
an enchanting tale. (Kirkus Starred) Fiction 292 pages UG
Title
Titanic:
Voices from the
Disaster
Under the Mesquite
Summary
Review
Hopkinson puts a human face on the Titanic's sinking in this riveting nonfiction chronicle of the ship's collision with an iceberg
and the tragic aftermath. She threads together the stories of many passengers and crew members, focusing on a handful of
By Deborah Hopkinson: Draws on survivors that includes an Argentine-born stewardess, a rambunctious nine-year-old British boy, a science teacher from England, and
stories from survivors and archival an American teenager traveling with his parents. The author quotes these four and others freely, their voices forming a deeply
photographs to describe the history intimate account of the tragedy. Hopkinson packs her thoroughly researched story with a wealth of information about the ship
of the "Titanic" from its launch to itself, and her portraits of the shipmates are fully realized and often heartbreaking. Chapters detailing the sinking, the scramble for
its sinking.
lifeboats, and the harrowing wait for the Carpathia's arrival are fast-paced and riveting. Photos of the ship, the (purported)
iceberg, telegrams sent to and from the Titanic, and of the survivors' rescue add significant context and amplify the immediacy of
the drama. *YALSA Nonfiction Finalist and *Sibert Honor Book (Publishers Weekly) Nonfiction 289 pages MG
A resilient Mexican-American girl copes with familial obligation and loss in this free-verse novel. Drawing from her own teen years
for inspiration, McCall highlights life in the borderlands: "En los Estados Unidos / I trained my tongue / and twisted syllables / to
By Guadalupe Garcia McCall:
form words / that sounded hollow, / like the rain at midnight / dripping into tin pails / through the thatched roof / of our
Throughout her high school years, abuelita's house." Lupita's first-person tale captures pivotal moments of her high-school years in the border town of Eagle Pass,
as her mother battles cancer,
Texas, with glimpses back at her first six years in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico. During her freshman year, Lupita discovers
Lupita takes on more responsibility that her mother has cancer. While her mother fights the disease and her father struggles to support the family financially, Lupita
for her house and seven younger sometimes becomes the de facto parental unit for her seven younger siblings. As she worries about food and money, Lupita
siblings, while finding refuge in
experiences troubles and triumphs of a teenage girl; her drama teacher, Mr. Cortez, helps her find an outlet for her talent and her
acting and writing poetry.
pain. Meanwhile, family members continue to draw strength and support from each other on both sides of the border. With
poignant imagery and well-placed Spanish, the author effectively captures the complex lives of teenagers. A promising, deeply felt
debut. *YALSA Top Ten Fiction Award (Kirkus Starred) Fiction in Verse 224 pages MG
Title
Wonder
Summary
Review
By R.J. Palacio: Auggie Pullman,
who was born with extreme facial
abnormalities and was not expected
to survive, goes from being homeschooled to entering fifth grade at
a private middle school in
Manhattan, which entails enduring
the taunts and fear of his
classmates as he struggles to be
seen as just another student.
Due to a rare genetic disorder, Auggie Pullman's head is malformed, his facial features are misshapen, and he has scars from
corrective surgery. After much discussion and waffling, he and his parents decide it's time for him to go to a regular school for
the fifth grade instead of being homeschooled. All his life Auggie has seen the shocked expressions and heard the whispers his
appearance generates, and he has his coping strategies. He knows that except for how he looks, he's a normal kid. What he
experiences is typical middle school-the good and the bad. Meanwhile, his beautiful sister is starting high school and having her
own problems. She's finding that friendships change and, though it makes her feel guilty, she likes not being labeled as Auggie's
sister. Multiple people tell this story, including Auggie, two of his new school friends, his sister, and his sister's former best friend.
Palacio has an exceptional knack for writing realistic conversation and describing the thoughts and emotions of the characters.
Everyone grows and develops as the story progresses, especially the middle school students. This is a fast read and would be a
great discussion starter about love, support, and judging people on their appearance. A well-written, thought-provoking book.(School Library Journal) Fiction 315 pages MG