Insignificant Events In The Life Of A Cactus

InsignificantEvents In The Life Of A Cactus by Dusti Bowling, 262 pages

“New friends and a mystery help Aven, thirteen, adjust to middle school and life at a dying western theme park in a new state, where her being born armless presents many challenges.” This book was so much more than I expected it to be.  It was funny and mysterious, and real all at the same time.  Kids who like realistic fiction will enjoy this book a lot.

Moo

Moo by Sharon Creech, 278 pages

Reena and her brother Luke and their family move to Maine from New York City. It’s a huge change but one the whole family is ready for. However, Reena and Luke are not quite prepared for cows, especially Zora, who is owned by Mrs. Falala.  Mrs. Falala is something else they are not ready for.  Mrs. Falala is pushy and rude, and has the nerve to call them disrespectful.  Their parents agree that they just need to get to know each other better and volunteer Reena and Luke to help Mrs. Falala for a few days each week, which Reena thinks could end in disaster.  This novel in verse was excellent.  I would give this to reluctant readers because of the length and white space but I would also give it to kids who like realistic fiction.

Golden Boys

Golden Boys by Sonya Hartnett, 238 pages

Colt and his younger brother, Bastian, have just moved to the neighborhood.  They have some money and their dad buys them almost every toy imaginable, seemingly to help make them more popular.  Freya and most of the other kids in the neighborhood are enamored by Colt’s family at first but Colt’s dad may have more nefarious reasons for wanting his sons’ friends around all of the time.  Overall, this wasn’t a bad story but I absolutely hated the ending.  Without giving anything away I didn’t feel like there was any kind of satisfactory resolution to the problems.  I felt like it was a story without a real ending.  It was a segment from these people’s lives and in real life not everything is resolved.  However, I read stories because they aren’t real life so I left this book feeling dissatisfied.  I probably wouldn’t recommend it to anyone unless someone specifically asked for that type of story.

The Cemetery Boys

The Cemetery Boys by Heather Brewer, 273 pages

"When Stephen's dad says they're moving, Stephen knows it's pointless to argue. They're broke from paying Mom's hospital bills, and now the only option left is to live with Stephen's grandmother in Spencer, a backward small town that's like something out of The Twilight Zone. Population: 814.  Stephen's summer starts looking up when he meets punk girl Cara and her charismatic twin brother, Devon. With Cara, he feels safe and understood--and yeah, okay, she's totally hot. In Devon and his group, he sees a chance at making real friends. Only, as the summer presses on, and harmless nights hanging out in the cemetery take a darker turn, Stephen starts to suspect that Devon is less a friend than a leader. And he might be leading them to a very sinister end. . . ."  I haven't liked all of Brewer's books.  I actually really dislike the Vladimir Tod series, although I understand why the teens like it.  However, I really liked this book. It was a great horror book for teens and I definitely plan to read Brewer's works going forward.

The Perfect Place

The Perfect Place by Teresa E. Harris, 263 pages

When Treasure’s father leaves everyone assumes he’ll be back soon or will send for them.  That’s what he’s always done.  This time though, there’s been no word and Treasure’s mom can’t afford the rent.  So she packs up Treasure and her little sister, Tiffany and drops them off at their Great-Aunt Grace’s house while she goes to look for Treasure’s dad.  Great-Aunt Grace smokes, has a cat, and can’t cook.  She also has rules and expects the girls to help out in her candy store without even the perks of free candy.  Treasure can’t wait until her mother comes back with her dad so that they can live in the perfect place but not everything may work out the way Treasure expects.  This is a really good realistic story about family for kids.

A Girl Called Problem

 A Girl Called Problem by Katie Quirk                       242 pages

Shida means problem in Swahili.  She was given this name because bad luck surrounded her birth.  Because mothers are called by their first born children’s names, Shida’s mother is called Mama Shida and most of the bad luck seems centered around her, especially as Shida has gotten older.  She is almost the right age to get married but she doesn’t want that yet.  She wants to continue to learn about healing and help the people in her village.  Her grandfather has decided to move their village and merge with another, larger, nearby village so that both villages will benefit from schools and a clinic, as the president of Tanzania has asked people to do.  Even girls will go to the school so maybe Shida can have her dream.  But her mother is reluctant to move and many people are upset that girls will be allowed at the school.  They think that only boys should be educated and that their village may be cursed if the allow all of these changes.  Will Shida be able to follow her dreams?  A fairly easy read for young teens, this is a pretty good story about life in Tanzania and kids who are interested in other cultures will probably like it.