A Good Long Way

March 27th is a day that starts at 2:34 in the morning for three kids.  Roelito was up late studying for an algebra test, so he's not happy to be awakened by noises in the hall so early on a test day.  When he realizes those noises are his older brother, Beto, and their father fighting, he starts to get nervous.  This fight is not like all the others.  There is so much intensity and anger between the two.  Roelito is horrified by what he sees especially when Beto doesn't just walk away; he runs away, and Roelito can tell he doesn't intend to return.

Beto may not be a star student, but he gets so angry with his father for not trusting him.  He may be out late playing pool with his friends, but he doesn't drink or smoke.  He just wants his dad to respect him, but it seems like that will never happen.  He's only a few months from high school graduation, but what's the point?  Now that he's out alone a night, he starts to feel a little panicky, so he turns to his best friend, Jessy, for encouragement.  He's sure she can tell him what to do.

When Beto shows up at Jessy's window, he's just another crisis in a stressful evening.  Of course, he doesn't know about the raging fight her parents had earlier or that she spent most of the evening locked inside her bathroom.  She's tried to run away so many times, but she keeps coming back; for what, she doesn't really now.  Like Beto, she's a senior, and no one messes with her at school, not even the teachers.  Everyone knows she's tough, maybe even a little scary.  Most people don't bother to look long enough to really see how smart she is or how much she loves art.

March 27th is a day that starts too early and too hard for these three, but by the end of the day all three will experience change, learn to see others in a way, and make decisions to that will affect the rest of their lives.

Read Rene Saldana's new book to find out what can happen in a day.

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.

The Summer Before Boys

Julia and Eliza have always been best friends, and this summer is no different.  They are both twelve, and Julia is spending the whole summer with Eliza because her mother has been deployed in Iraq, and her father is away working.

Everything starts out like normal, and the two girls can easily lose themselves in the world of make-believe they create.  They aren't walking to the lake; they are pioneer children crossing the plains.  They aren't two regular girls sweating away in tanks and shorts; they are Victorian ladies in white dresses with mothers looking for suitors.

Of course things are different this year because Julia is always worried about her mother, but something else has changed.  Almost immediately, Julia notices a boy.  For the first time, she's just as worried about getting him to notice her as she is about spending time with her cousin.  Maybe even a little more.  Will their friendship survive?

Nora Raleigh Baskin's newest book beautifully deals with the struggles of children of parents at war and the struggles between friends as they transition from children to teens.

Escape Under the Forever Sky

Lucy should be thrilled to be living in Ethiopia; her dream is to study African animals, but her mother keeps her locked within the walls of their small American community.  Besides that, her mother is the American ambassador to Ethiopia and is always busy.  It seems like Lucy only gets to see her when she is forced to attend boring events with other ambassadors.  To make matters worse, her father took a job in Indonesia, so Lucy rarely sees him.

Everything changes when Lucy and her best friend, Tana, sneak out to hear a band at their favorite cafe.  Now Lucy has been kidnapped!  She doesn't know where she is or what will happen.  Should she wait around to see if the kidnappers will release her, or should she risk an escape?

Lucky for Lucy she loves African animals!  At least she's spent most of her down time reading and studying.  Maybe that will give her some kind of advantage in this thrilling adventure.

I loved this book!  It's got danger, adventure, and the magic of Africa.  Even though Lucy is in mortal danger for most of the story, the reader never looses the sense of magic and mystery that is Africa.

Be sure to read the author's note at the end to learn how the Eve Yohalem based the most amazing part of the story on real life!

Hidden

Wren Abbott was hiding in the back seat of her mother's minivan the day it was stolen from a gas station parking lot.

Darra Monson's father is the man who stole that minivan.

As eight year old girls, these two met without meeting in an experience that would change both of them forever.

Now it is six years later, and each girl has her own memory and interpretation of that time together.  Wren is headed off to summer camp like she does every year, but as she is reconnecting with old friends, she hears a voice, sees a face from the past that paralyzes her with an old long buried anxiety.

Darra doesn't want to go to some summer camp for rich kids with perfect lives.  She feels there stares and hears their whispers as she and her mom pull up in their rusted out car.  Then she sees someone she never thought she'd see again.  Wren looks the same, older, but the same.

Now these two girls are caught up in a web of emotions and secrets that may not allow them to see the truth about who they are now or about what happened all those year's ago.

Helen Frost's new novel is written in verse, so it is a quick but intense read.  Be sure to read the author's note at the end, so you can go back into the story for something extra!

Eight Keys

Elise is about to start middle school.  She's excited...and nervous.  Her worst fears seem confirmed on the first day when she's assigned to share a locker with Amanda, a girl who seems determined to make Elise's life miserable.  She still has her best friend, Franklin, but even before the problems with Amanda start, Elise is starting to feel a little embarrassed by the way Franklin wants to "play."  Kids in middle school don't play, right?  This is confirmed when her friendship with Franklin makes Amanda's taunting even worse.

When she tries to tell her teacher about Amanda, the teacher doesn't want to listen, and Elise doesn't want to bring thoughts of all her school problems home, so she doesn't tell Aunt Bessie and Uncle Hugh either.    Elise's mother died when she was born, and her father died of cancer three years ago.  All the changes in her life are making Elise feel like she doesn't belong anywhere, and she can't even bring herself to get on the bus some days.  To make matters worse, she's so behind on her homework, that it seems pointless to even try.

That's when she finds the first key, a key left by her father that unlocks one of eight rooms in the barn that she's never really thought about.  As she discovers each key and room, she finds messages, images, and ideas left by her father that slowly help her to see her life and herself in a different way.

Suzanne LaFleur's new book will make you think about the relationships in your life, too.

Camo Girl

Z isn't just Ella's best friend; he's her only friend.  Ella doesn't really know how it happened.  It seems like one day everything was fine, and the next everyone had turned against Ella and Z.  The kids call Ella Camo Face because her skin has patches of brown and black.  Ella knows she's ugly, but it still hurts to hear the taunts of other kids.


Ella is Z's protector, and partner in the fantasy he's created.  He calls her lady Eleanor and milady and talks like he's in a story about King Arthur and Camelot.  Ella knows the fantasy helps him deal with life since his daddy left and they lost the house, but sometimes she's ready for the fantasy to be over.  Everyone else teases Z and calls him a freak.


One day a new boy shows up at school.  His name is Bailey, and Ella thinks he's beautiful.  Plus, he's the only other black kid in school.  For the first time in a long time, Ella wants to break out the protective circle she's drawn around Z and herself.  But part of her knows it's pointless.  Bailey is cool and normal and good-looking.  Why would he want to be friends with Camo Face?


But things aren't always what they seem on the surface, and Bailey, Z, and Ella have more in common than she would've thought.  Maybe being "normal" isn't as hard as Ella thought, but Z may not be able to handle all these changes, and all three kids may not be able to keep their secrets for much longer.  


Camo Girl is the newest book by Kekla Magoon, who also wrote one of my favorite books, The Rock and the River, so read that one, too!