Laugh with the Moon

Clare is still struggling with her mother's recent death when her father decides to take her to Malawi, Africa, where he will work as a doctor for nine weeks.  She can't believe he would do this to her!  The pain of her mother's death is bad enough, but now she will be separated from everyone and everything she knows.

It doesn't take long, however, for Clare to befriend a Malawi girl named Memory and her little brother Innocent.  Soon she starts to look beyond herself to see what like is like for her new friends.  In Malawi many people are too poor to send their children to school, buy clothes, or even enough food.  Even clear water and mosquito nets are beyond some people, and textbooks are precious!

Despite all of this, Clare's new friends are happy and loving, and Clare's heart begins to open again.  But when tragedy strikes once more, Clare and her friends will struggle to find meaning and happiness.

Read Shana Burg's new novel about friendship, loss, and strength.

The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano

It's 1969 in New York's El Barrio where the residents are mostly Puerto Rican, and Rosa Serrano has decided that if there's one more thing El Barrio doesn't need, it's one more Rosa.  That's why she decided to change her name to Evelyn on her fourteenth birthday.  That's not the only thing she wants to change.  She's always worked in the bodega with her mother and step father, but now she wants in a different store, one that is a little less Puerto Rican.

Evelyn hates the way her mother always uses a "beggy" tone and decorated the house with plastic roses and plastic slip covers on the furniture, as if a few plastic roses could make the apartment look better.

That summer of 1969 is also the summer Evelyn will meet her abuela for the first time.  Where Mami is all rounded shoulders and plain dresses, Abuela is died orange hair and crazy outfits.  Soon she takes over the whole apartment with clothes, shoes, makeup, and her loud presence.

As these three generations of women frustrate each other, there is also change coming to El Barrio.  Who are these college kids who show up and start cleaning the streets and asking for social programs?  Is Mami right; are these outsiders just stirring up trouble?  Or should Evelyn listen to Abuela and join the movement?

Sonia Manzano's new book is wonderful story about the conflicts between generations and learning to accept people for who they are, but it also the story of the poor immigrants of El Barrio and the beginnings of the civil rights movements for Latino communities.

On a side note, after finishing the book I read the author bio, and discovered that Sonia Manzano played Maria on Sesame Street!  What a wonderful surprise for me to find that someone who played a role in my childhood can now play a role in my professional career and in our library!

Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World

Temple Grandin was different from the start.  She didn't act like other babies, and her father was convinced she should be institutionalized, but her mother believed in her daughter.  This is the story of Temple's life.  All through school and even her adult life people have discounted her because of her autism.

When Temple was in high school, she discovered cows, and these animals saved her life.  She has devoted her life to making living conditions better for the animals we use as food.  And she uses the gifts of her autism to do it.

This is a wonderful story about a woman who embraced the parts of her life that others saw as challenges and used them to her advantage.  Sy Montgomery's new book is a great read for anyone who has autism or anyone who knows someone with autism. 

Here is Temple Grandin's TED talk about autism:

Who Could That Be at This Hour?

Fans of A Series of Unfortunate Events rejoice! Lemony Snicket is back with a new mystery series that is just as snarky and twisted as his first.

This series chronicles Snicket's beginnings as an investigator for a secret agency when he was only a child.  Snicket and his chaperone have been hired to find a priceless statue and return it to its rightful owner.  But is it really priceless?  And who is the rightful owner?  Who can Snicket trust in the mostly abandoned town of Stain'd by the Sea?

In this book you will meet imposters, villains, and even a helpful librarian.  But will you find the answer to the puzzle?  And is there more going on here than Snicket wants you to know?

Find the answers to these questions and more in Who Could That Be at This Hour?

The Horse Road

This novel starts with a heart pounding horse race across the countryside!  Kallisto is determined to win this race for the honor of her family and her stables, but her horse, Gryphon, is just as eager to defeat his rivals.

Up until now, Kali has only worried about the horses, but that day she and her best friend, Batu, saw something that will change their lives completely.  From the top of a cliff, they see the invading Chinese army coming to take their beautiful Persian horses by force.

Kali will do anything to protect her family's herds, but Gryphon and her pure white mare, Swan, are the most important things in the world to her.

In her efforts to save Swan, Kali will face a leopard, a deceitful fiance, a tribal warlord, even the earth itself seems to struggle against her, and that's not to mention the Chinese army!

Will Kali be able to overcome her own fears and natural shyness to protect her beloved horse?  Read Troon Harrison's new book to find out!  Be sure to read the author's note at the end to find out how much of this story is based on real history.

This is a great choice for animal lovers who will understand Kali's bond with her horse, and while it is historical fiction, The Horse Road reads like an epic fantasy with plenty of adventure and action!

The Boy on Cinnamon Street

Louise, AKA Thumbelina, has a secret admirer.  She loves the notes he send, and she's pretty sure she's figured out who he is.  When she sees Benny, the pizza delivery guy, she gets a funny feeling that must be a crush even though it isn't necessarily a good feeling.  Her best friend, Reni, assures her that crushes make you feel terrible.  Reni should know.  She's been crushing on Justin Bieber for years.

But maybe it isn't a crush.  Maybe this funny feeling has something to do with all the things Louise refuses to remember about her past.  The reason she lives in a condo with her grandparents instead of in the green house on Cinnamon Street.

Of course, there is also Henderson, Reni's brother and Louise's other best friend.  He's the one who gave her the Thumbelina idea.  Hen says everyone has a personal story they adhere to, and he should know.  He's writing a novel of his own, and Thumb always gets to read the pages first.

There are plenty of secrets in Louise's life waiting to be discovered, some good, some bad, but all of them could break her heart.

Read Phoebe Stone's new book for a bittersweet story about life.  Make sure to read the author's note at the end for a personal connection to the story!

Planet Tad

When Tad gets his dad's old computer as a Christmas gift, he decides to start a blog to record his deep thoughts and random adventures.  He has four goals for this year:  survive seventh grade, get girls to notice him, learn to do a kickflip, and start shaving.  Pretty much all of that, plus more, goes horribly and hilariously wrong.

Don't expect a straightforward story line with this book, but you should expect plenty of laughs as Tad blunders through his seventh grade year!

With plenty of misadventures, questionable choices, and even a mystery, fans of the Wimpy Kid books will love Tad!

Author Tim Carvell is a writer for The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and has been writing as Tad for Mad Magazine for several years.

The Raft

When Robie Mitchell decides to take a flight home from Honolulu to Midway, she has no idea she is embarking on the most terrifying adventure of her life.

Before that plane ride Robie is a little spoiled, a little selfish, and a little whiny.  Everything changes when the plane crashes into the ocean, and Robie is left alone on a raft in the middle of the ocean with only Max, a man she's never met before, as company.

No food, no water, little hope for survival.  Will Robie be able to overcome her fears and find the will to survive?  Even if she does, there are very real dangers in the ocean that she can do little to avoid.  Dangers like tiger sharks, who don't give a warning fin like great whites.  They just swim up from the depths and swallow things whole.

Read S.A. Bodeen's heart-pounding new story of survival and adventure!  You won't be sorry you did, until the next time you're swimming in the ocean!

Aaron-Martin, Tink--The girl who is so grounded this summer that she decided to write an encyclopedia of her life.

Aaron-Martin, Twins--These are the two older brothers who drive Tink crazy just with general older-brotherness from Lex and older-brotherness plus autism from Seb.  This will be a real source of frustration in Tink's life!

Afro--The hairstyle Tink is stuck with, but maybe it's not as terrible as she's always thought.

Anderson, Freddie Blue--Tink's BFF (maybe).  These two girls once did everything together, but now FB is acting weird and fake.  Plus, FB called dibs on Tink's cute (maybe) new neighbor.

Blue-haired boy--Kai is Tink's new neighbor, and even though she knows it's wrong to have a crush on the boy her BFF is crushing on, she just can't help it!  This might not be a problem anyway since Tink turns into a total spaz around Kai anyway!

Encyclopedia of Me, The--You should definitely read Karen Rivers's book!  It is filled with the laughter and heartbreak of Tink's summer before 8th grade year.  A lot can change in a summer, but maybe change isn't always terrible.

P.S.  You must read the footnotes!  They are some of the funniest parts of the book!

Liar and Spy

Georges (pronounced like George, the "s" is silent) is not happy to have moved into a new apartment.  He loved his old house, but when his dad got laid off the family had to downsize.  To make things worse, his mother who is a nurse is always at the hospital.

When he meets a kid named Safer and joins Spy Club, things start to get weird.  Safer is convinced that one of their neighbors is a murderer, and he enlists a reluctant Georges to help him spy.

At school, Georges is tormented by a group of bullies.  His strategy has been to ignore everything and try to float above life at school, but it's getting harder to do that as the bullying intensifies.

Rebecca Stead's new book is about finding safety and belonging.  Sometimes that means you have to face the truth.

I highly recommend this one!  It's a great story that doesn't reveal all it's secrets until the end.

Summer and Bird

What can I say about this book?  It's a new story, but it reads like an old world fairy tale with a modern update.  And if you know me, you know I love fairy tales! 

Summer and Bird live in an old cottage in the forest with their parents until the morning they awake to find their parents missing.  In their despair, they decide to go in search of them and quickly find themselves in Down.  In Up it was almost spring, but in Down it is still winter, and the two sisters are now grieving their parents and shivering with cold, but Down is a strange place in others ways.  Bird seems to be able to talk with the birds there, and Summer has strange visions.

In this moment of crisis, all their sisterly rivalries are strengthened, and Summer awakes one morning to find little sister, Bird, gone.  Now they are on separate paths that will lead them through dangers, revelations, anger, and guilt. 

Bird will continue on a quest to find her heart's desire where she will meet the evil Puppeteer who whispers lies mixed with truth to capture your heart.  She is the little sister always longing to prove her worth to show that she has ideas and plans to be free of her older sister's tyranny.  

Summer will continue in her search for her family racked by guilt over losing Bird and helped by many strange and wondrous creatures including a raven and old man.  She feels the frustration of the older sister always having to be responsible for a babyish girl who steals their mother's affection.

Like any good fairy tale, this is a story of transformation, difficult journeys, sacrifice, and love.  But like real fairy tales and real life, there are no completely happy endings, and we all have to pay for our mistakes.

This is Katherine Catmull's first book, and it is a true gem!

The Last Dragonslayer

I cannot tell you how excited I am about this book.  I have been a Jasper Fforde fan for several years, so I couldn't wait to get my hands on his first book for young adults.  It was published in the UK a couple of years ago, but it is finally available in the US.  Friends, I was not disappointed!  Why do I love Jasper Fforde?  He puts fantasy elements in a contemporary, if slightly skewed, world.  His writing is clever, his characters range from completely sincere to completely ridiculous, and his books always surprise me!  I can't wait for the sequel!

Jennifer Strange, orphan and acting manager of Kazam's Magical Arts, has her hands full.  Magical power is on the wane, and it takes the combined effort of multiple wizards just to unclog a drain.  Her boss, the Great Zambini, is missing, and there's a new prophecy that the last dragon is going to die on Sunday at noon.

Jennifer doesn't want the dragon to die; he's the last of his kind, and the dragonlands are a beautiful natural landscape that will be eaten up by developers when the dragon goes.  But Jennifer seems to be the only one on the dragon's side.  With a warmongering king anxious to snap up the dragonlands and vanquish his neighbors and greedy corporations eager to create new shopping malls, there seems to be little hope for the last dragon.  In spite of all this, other forces are at work.  The wizards can feel it; Big Magic is coming, and no one can predict what will happen next!

The Lions of Little Rock

Marlee is afraid of everything from the high diving board at the pool to talking to kids at school, but this year will be different.  To start, all the high schools in Little Rock are closed because people don't want to integrate, so Marlee's older sister isn't even going to school.

The junior highs aren't trying to integrate yet, so Marlee is back at school going through her days in silence until Liz shows up.  For some reason Liz latches onto Marlee, and Marlee eventually realizes that Liz could be a real friend.  As their friendship grows, a revelation about Liz threatens to tear them apart forever.

Liz is "passing."  That means she is a black person pretending to be white, so she can get a better education.  People are already upset about integration, and this just makes things worse.  Marlee knows she should leave Liz alone, that it would be better for both of them, but she's never had a friend she could actually talk to before.

Can Marlee find her voice when it really counts?

I loved this book!  It's great historical fiction, and a great book about friendship and bravery.  It's a powerful reminder of the evils of racism and the beauty of friendship.  It is a reminder that sometimes the true heroes are ordinary people who decide to stop ignoring injustice and take a stand in their own neighborhoods.  Be sure to read author Kristin Levine's note at the end of the book to find out about her inspiration for the story!

Ungifted

I was really excited when I saw Gordon Korman's new book, and now that I've read it, I think it's my favorite of all his books!

When Donovan Curtis pulls a small prank with unexpectedly huge consequences, he starts a chain of events that will take him from Hardcastle Middle School to the Academy of Scholastic Distinction.  His placement at the Academy is definitely a mistake, but he figures it's the perfect place to hide out from a school superintendent bent on revenge.

At first Donovan doesn't get along with the Academy kids at all.  He resents the gifted kids' new school filled with great equipment compared to the outdated and crumbling school for the normal kids.  Plus, these kids are more than a little strange and reject him as "ungifted" right from the start, but it doesn't take long until Donovan is making his mark in robotics.  No, he has no idea how to do any of the work on the robot, but without even trying, he seems to humanize the robot and unify the team. 

Donovan's presence at the Academy is causing all kinds of ripples, some good and some bad, but he is desperate to stay in, not only to save himself but to give his family something good in a see of problems.  With a pregnant sister whose husband is in Afghanistan, a sick dog, and financial troubles, Donovan doesn't see how telling the truth can possible make things better.

While Donovan is giving the gifted kids a glimpse of normal life, they might just be changing his perspective, too.  This book is funny and unexpected, a must read!

The Unwanteds

Alex has know since he was ten years old that he was unwanted, so when purge day arrives for the 13 year old, he knows he will be separated from the life he's always known including his identical twin, Aaron, and sent to his death.

What did he do to deserve this fate?  Alex's main infraction was drawing in the dirt with a stick.  In the the barren and desert land of Quill, creativity is forbidden and the people are protected and controlled by High Priest Justine and a barbed wire dome covering the city.  While life in Quill is harsh and oppressive, it is better than the certain death Alex and the other unwanteds must face.

But when they arrive at the Death Farm, the wasteland and lake of boiling oil magically transform before their eyes into lush gardens and jungles.  The grey walls of the buildings are transformed into a castle, and the unwanteds slowly come to realize they are not about to die.  They are now part of the greatest secret in the land.  While the Quillens sent them to die for their creative impulses, in Artime they are welcomed and praised by strange creatures and a mage called Today.

They are amazed by this new life, but the intrigues aren't over.  There are secrets and rivalries even in Artime, and in his desperate need to see his twin again, Alex could put everyone in danger.

If you are looking for something new to fill the Harry Potter shaped hole in your reading, give Lisa McMann's new series a try.  It's a fantastic adventure!

The Ghost of Graylock

Every town has it's secrets, and Hedston is no exception.  Everyone know the story of Graylock Hall, the mental hospital hidden in the woods outside of town.  Everyone knows about the kids who died there and Nurse Janet who killed them.

It's no surprise that ghost hunter Neil discovers the story soon after moving to town.  One of the first things he does is venture into the forest to investigate the abandoned building.  Once they are inside, though, Neil and his sister sister Bree have some ghostly experiences that seem all too real.

Bree wants to put this behind her and move on with her summer, but Neil wants to investigate.  As they unravel the mystery of Graylock Hall, it is clear they are in danger from forces both natural and supernatural.

And the ghost of Graylock isn't going to let them go so easily.

Visit author Dan Poblocki's website for more information about him and his books.

The False Prince

Sage is mostly minding his own business as a fourteen-year-old orphan.  Sure, he's hungry and filthy most of the time, but he supplements everyone's diet by theft and stealth.  This simple existence ends in an instant when a man named Conner plucks Sage from his orphanage and forces him into a dangerous plot.

It seems the country is on the brink of civil war, and the only way to avoid it is for a long lost prince to reappear and take the throne.  But Prince Jaron is dead, and Sage is part of a small group of boys who will be groomed and trained to become the false prince.  It will be a deception to last a lifetime with the throne and a beautiful princess as the reward, and the boys who aren't chosen face the only real way to keep the secret:  death.

Conner is a dangerous and cruel master, but he isn't the only threat.  The boys jealousies and frustrations among themselves as they struggle to overcome their orphanage childhoods and hide the secret plot from power hungry nobles.

Jennifer A. Nielsen's new book is filled with action, danger, political intrigue, and plot twists at every turn.  Can Sage survive in this world where no one is what he seems?

How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy

Lamar Washington is the maddest, baddest bowler at Striker's Bowling Paradise.  But bowling isn't his only game; he and his best friend Sergio have spent their days pulling pranks on anyone and everyone, but it's all in good fun.

Outside of the bowling alley, Lamar is dealing with some pretty serious issues at home.  Since his mom died, he feels like no one really cares about him.  His dad is all wrapped up in Lamar's older brother, Xavier the basketball savior, and the brothers' relationship is worse than bad.

When Lamar tries to get some attention from this super fine soccer goddess at Strikers, he begins to realize that maybe all those pranks weren't as funny to everyone else as they were to him.

Things really take a turn for the worse when Lamar starts hanging out with Billy Jenks.  Lamar has always heard that Billy is a delinquent, but he seems so different now that they are spending more time together.  But time with Billy is causing problems with Sergio and making Lamar focus on all the negative parts of his family life.

At least he has something to look forward to; his bowling idol, Bubba Sanders is coming to town on the fourth of July.

But Lamar makes one colossally bad decision that jeopardizes everything.  Holy crackers and cream cheese!  Now he has to try to find a way to be a real man and earn the respect of his family and friends all over again.

This book will make you laugh out loud and make you think!  This is the first book from Corpus Christi author, Crystal Allen.

The Always War by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Tessa has never known a world without war.  For longer than she or her parents have been around, the country has been at war.  This has left the people depressed, poor, and struggling to survive.  Tessa is happy to hear that a childhood friend and neighbor, Gideon, is winning a medal for his military service because she hopes this will inspire her community and give them something to live for.

But Gideon isn't happy about his award at all.  He is filled with guilt about what he has done and determined to do something to make things right.

As Gideon, Tessa, and an orphan named Dek set out on one final mission, they begin to realize a shocking truth about this always war that has consumed everyone's lives for generations.

This is a quick read and interesting perspective on war and intelligence.  The Always War will make you think about war and truth in a different way.  As you read, look for place names that sound familiar but are a little off.  See if you can figure out the real places Dek, Gideon, and Tessa discuss and visit.  I recommend this for everyone, 6-8.  Enjoy!