West of the Moon

Astri and her younger sister, Greta, live with their aunt, uncle, and cousins.  Their mother died when Greta was just a baby, and their father left for America.  He is saving money to bring his daughters over from Norway, but he's been gone for years.

When Svaalberd the goat man shows up looking to buy a girl work on his farm, Astri knows it won't be like the fairy tale.  In that story, when the bear shows up to take the girl, he leaves her family with riches, and takes her to a world with soft furnishings, full bellies, and kindness.  Svaalberd is a a goat man.  He smells like the goats he keeps, has a hump on his back, bad breath, and a foul temper.

As she suspected, Svaalberd is not a kind a master, and Astri takes the her chance when she sees it to try to escape.  Thus begins her quest to save her sister and get the two of them on a ship to America to find their father.

They will have to face many dangers and challenges along the way, but they will also find friends and uncover the secrets of the past.  Astri knows the traditional Norwegian folktales by heart, and she blends them into her own tale of survival.  But life is not a fairy tale, and as Astri realizes early in the story, no one is going to show up to save her by magical or mortal means.  If Astri wants to be saved, she will have to save herself.

This story was inspired by the diary of Margi Preus's great great grandmother.  Make sure to read the author's note at the end for more information about Preus's ancestor and Norwegian fairy tales.  It probably won't surprise you to learn that I loved this book.  The mix of fairy tales and reality is wonderful, and Astri's tale is dark and painful but also hopeful.  A great read!

Ship Out of Luck

Antsy Bonano is back in a new book that takes him into international waters.  Old man Crawley wants to celebrate his 80th birthday in style and not alone, so he has invited (commanded) Antsy's family to join him in the best suite on a new and fabulous cruise ship.

Things will never go as planned for our hapless hero starting with a case of missing luggage, but that's the least of his worries.  Antsy quickly gets involved with beautiful stowaway, Tilde, and her plans to help some Mexican immigrants in a not so legal way.

Join the Antsy and company on another funny and thoughtful adventure from one of my favorite authors, Neal Shusterman!

Gaby, Lost and Found

Gaby Ramirez Howard is struggling to get along without her mother.  It's been three month's since her mother, an illegal immigrant, was deported to Honduras.  Since that time Gaby has been struggling to get through each day hoping for the time her mother will return.  For now her dad has moved in, and he's supposed to be taking care of her, but she spends most of her time alone, and sometimes he even forgets to provide food for her.

When she and her classmates start volunteering at the Furry Friends animal shelter, Gaby is happy to find something to take her mind off her troubles.  Gaby begins writing profiles for the animals to get them get adopted.  She loves all the animals, but one cat in particular captures her heart.

Feather's owners abandoned their declawed cat at a rest stop.  By the time Feather gets to the shelter she is sick and malnourished.  Gaby instantly feels a connection to the Feather.  But will she go too far in her efforts to protect the cat, and will she be able to face the truth about her mother?  Read Angela Cervantes's new book to find out.  Animal lovers and anyone who's ever felt alone will identify with Gaby and her struggles.

Flying the Dragon

Skye is not happy to learn that she will have to spend extra time in Japanese classes instead of at soccer practice.  She's never met her Japanese relatives who are moving to America, and she doesn't really consider herself Japanese.  Her father may have grown up there, but Japan isn't a part of her daily life.

Hiroshi loves his life in Japan making kites with his grandfather.  He can't wait for the upcoming kite fighting battle, but all his plans are changed when he learns his family will be moving to America.  He loves his life in Japan.

Skye and Hiroshi will have to figure out how to communicate with each and how to navigate this new world.  Things go wrong from the start, and at the center of their conflict is Grandfather.  Hiroshi is jealous of any time Grandfather devotes to Skye.  He wants things to be the same as they always have.  Skye thinks Hiroshi is being selfish.  He's had his whole life to get to know Grandfather, and she's only just met him.  But time may be running out for Grandfather who just wants his grandchildren to be friends.

This book alternates chapters between the two main characters highlighting Hiroshi's confusion and frustration with new food, customs, and language as well as Skye's embarrassment over her Japanese cousin who makes her seem different from the other kids at school and her anger at having to sacrifice something she loves for a family she's never met.

You will also get interesting information about kite construction and rokkaku battles.  Read Natalie Dias Lorenzi's tale of two kids in unfamiliar territory.

Watch the video below to see a rokkaku battle!

Inside Out and Back Again

Ha has always lived in Saigon with her mother and three older brothers.  Her father went off to war with the Navy so long ago that she can barely remember him, but the family hasn't given up hope yet.  Even though things are getting worse in Saigon and the communist army is getting closer, Ha doesn't want to leave her home.

When the time comes, Ha's family will flee Vietnam with more people than she can count headed for an uncertain future.  A series of spur of the moment decisions leads them Alabama.

Her new small American town is so different from Saigon, and it seems almost impossible to find a way to fit in especially when so many people don't even want to bother with their new Vietnamese neighbors.  And in the Alabama of 1975, the law may say segregation is other, but Ha feels lost somewhere in the middle.

This beautiful novel written in verse takes the reader through a child's journey, forced to immigrate by war and thrown into a new and confusing world.  Be sure to read the author's note at the end to learn how Thanhha Lai based many of the events on her own experiences.