Merci Suarez Changes Gears

Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina, 355 pages

“Thoughtful, strong-willed sixth-grader Merci Suarez navigates difficult changes with friends, family, and everyone in between.”  I loved Merci, the book and the character.  She is fantastic, very real and immensely likable.  This is a great read for kids who like realistic fiction.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth     485 pages

From Goodreads:

When Cameron Post's parents die suddenly in a car crash, her shocking first thought is relief. Relief they'll never know that, hours earlier, she had been kissing a girl.

But that relief doesn't last, and Cam is soon forced to move in with her conservative aunt Ruth and her well-intentioned but hopelessly old-fashioned grandmother. She knows that from this point on, her life will forever be different. Survival in Miles City, Montana, means blending in and leaving well enough alone (as her grandmother might say), and Cam becomes an expert at both.

Then Coley Taylor moves to town. Beautiful, pickup-driving Coley is a perfect cowgirl with the perfect boyfriend to match. She and Cam forge an unexpected and intense friendship--one that seems to leave room for something more to emerge. But just as that starts to seem like a real possibility, ultrareligious Aunt Ruth takes drastic action to "fix" her niece, bringing Cam face-to-face with the cost of denying her true self--even if she's not exactly sure who that is.

Review:

This is a well written book in the much needed, slowly expanding LGBTQIA Young Adult genre. I think many teens will relate to Cameron’s earnest, authentic voice and her experiences as she grows up. There are a lot of difficult topics brought up, but it’s important that they are and this book doesn’t shy away from them. I think, not just for young adults, but adults as well, this book is a great choice. Danforth really captures the teenage voice and the story is so compelling. It’s a long read, but it’s really worth it and for anyone who likes that slice-of-life or coming-of-age genre, this is a perfect choice. It’s all about what it means to be a teenager and the highs and lows of young adult life. I would definitely recommend it.

Laugh Out Loud

Laugh Out Loud by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein, 275 pages

“Imaginative middle schooler Jimmy follows his dream to start a unique book company while he is still a child.” This book may not be laugh out loud funny, but it is a lot of fun.  Kids who have read Patterson’s other books will enjoy meeting some of the characters they know and love from other books in this story and they will enjoy the humor in this story as well. 

Swing It Sunny

Swing It Sunny by Jennifer Holm, 218 pages

This graphic novel is the sequel to Sunny Side Up.  Sunny is back home from Florida, her older brother, Dale, is in boarding school, and her younger brother, Teddy, is annoying and hilarious in turns.  Sunny just wants to live her life and have everything be normal but it’s hard when she misses Dale.  But even when Dale visits, she still misses him because he’s not the same.  This is a nice coming of age story for kids who like graphic novels.

Wonder

Wonder by R. J. Palacio                      Audio Book:  8 hours, 6 mins           Hardback Book:  312 pages              

Great book.   Great story.    I saw the film first and was lucky enough to come across the book it was based on.   Auguste Pullman is a ten-year old who was born with mandibulofacial dysotosis, Treacher Collins Syndrome,  which is a distortion of the location and shape of the facial features.   Auguste or “Auggie” as his Dad calls him in reference to the son in the Huckleberry Hound cartoons, has had 27 different surgeries by the time he is 10 years old and even though some of that was reconstructive plastic surgery – according to the description of his features discussed at times lets the reader know his facial features must be similar to an extremely intensely burned victim.    At one time it is said he looks like his face has melted.     Auggie’s parents home-schooled him up until this time due to all of his surgeries and the sickness and trials that he went through after them.   Now, Auggie will be in the 5^th grade and his mother feels he has reached the limit of what she can teach him so the parents discuss it and decide to enter Auggie in a small private school.    He freaks out, but, ends up going along with the program.    He loves Science and his parents have surreptitiously checked out the school and saw the terrific Science lab they have there.    They sell it to Auggie finally on the Science note.    Life at school that year was not always fun and he was ostracized at first, no one would sit with him they didn’t want to get “the plague” as they called it.   But that soon was a thing of the past when a girl named Summer befriends him.  Much happens along the way and bullying occurs, there are side stories involving his sister and also friend and family relationships.     Excellent story – I enjoyed this book very much and I highly recommend it for people of all ages.    An in-depth experience of walking in the other person’s shoes and seeing both sides of issues.  Really, really good.   Another one of those books you don’t want to put down till you finish it.  

Wonder Woman at Super Hero High

Wonder Woman at Super Hero High by Lisa Yee     237 pages

Wonder Woman's desire to become a superhero takes her to Super Hero High, where she juggles new friendships, intensive training, and a roommate obsessed with social media.

This was a cute story about DC superheroes as young teens. This book is part of a series, but the main superhero in this story is Wonder Woman. It follows her first year at Super Hero High, where young superheroes are taught how to use their powers effectively and for the greater good. I tagged this as middle-school, because that's how old I perceived these young supers to be, even though their school appears to be a high school. Part of what made this book a bit difficult to read as an adult is that they way the characters act seem very juvenile, certainly on the tween side. I thought the story was okay, though I struggled a bit to see Wonder Woman portrayed in such a naive way, despite her not having ever lived off of Paradise Island before. Much of what goes on the story focuses on her adapting to a new way of living, especially her interaction with her peers. The friction between her and the "villains" of this story is quite catty and, again, juvenile, but I can understand the reasoning behind this, since this book is geared toward someone much younger than me - I am not the target audience. That being said, the writing style is just so-so for me. It certainly didn't wow me. Otherwise, I think this is a fun, quick read for kids looking for a book that has a lot of action, especially if they're fans of superheroes. All the major DC characters are there to represent.

Patina

Patina by Jason Reynolds     233 pages

Patina, or Patty, runs like a flash. She runs for many reasons--to escape the taunts from the kids at the fancy-schmancy new school she's been sent to since she and her little sister had to stop living with their mom. She runs from the reason WHY she's not able to live with her "real" mom any more: her mom has The Sugar, and Patty is terrified that the disease that took her mom's legs will one day take her away forever. So Patty's also running for her mom, who can't. But can you ever really run away from any of this? As the stress builds up, it's building up a pretty bad attitude as well. Coach won't tolerate bad attitude. No day, no way. And now he wants Patty to run relay...where you have to depend on other people? How's she going to do THAT?
--
A solid second in the "Track" series. I like Patina, I think her character is well developed in this book. Reynolds is particularly skilled at voice, and each character has their own individual voice which helps separate out their character and keeps this book well grounded in realism.

I also appreciate the tendency for the prose to be steeped in poetic flare. As a poet, Reynolds clearly writes his prose with poetry in his head, and it shows in the writing. I really enjoy the syntactic structure of his sentences and the rhythm he injects into Patina's narrative voice. I'm sure this book would make a great read-aloud for this very reason.

I'd recommend this to middle-grade readers who enjoy realistic fiction as well as books that include sports, though the sports aspect of this book is not the majority of the story (much of which centers more on family and friendship, as well as Patina's school life). The writing is good, the story is short and sweet, and it makes for a good addition in this series. 

See You in the Cosmos

See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng     320 pages

11-year-old Alex Petroski loves space and rockets, his mom, his brother, and his dog Carl Sagan—named for his hero, the real-life astronomer. All he wants is to launch his golden iPod into space the way Carl Sagan (the man, not the dog) launched his Golden Record on the Voyager spacecraft in 1977. From Colorado to New Mexico, Las Vegas to L.A., Alex records a journey on his iPod to show other lifeforms what life on earth, his earth, is like. 

But his destination keeps changing. And the funny, lost, remarkable people he meets along the way can only partially prepare him for the secrets he’ll uncover—from the truth about his long-dead dad to the fact that, for a kid with a troubled mom and a mostly not-around brother, he has way more family than he ever knew.

What a complex story! I enjoyed it immensely as an adult, but I'm not too sure how much a middle-grade reader would understand or appreciate it. It's from the perspective of an eleven year old, but the book involves themes of depression/schizophrenia, affairs, and other grown-up issues that Alex, the main character, doesn't understand fully or isn't aware of until others around him explain it to him. As a kid, reading this, it might not been very clear until these themes are explained, and, again, it's told in as child-friendly a way possible, but I'm not sure how much a kid reading this would enjoy these parts of the book.

I enjoyed this book and I would give it to kids who are on a higher reading level and are also mature for their age. I just think they'd get more out of it. There is a lot of life-evaluation in this book and I think a mature middle-grade reader would find that interesting. Perhaps the space and rocket themes would be the hook. I'd also recommend it to any adults I know who enjoy juvenile literature. It's a very well written story and the characters are interesting. Definitely a solid read for me (however, I did listen to the audiobook version, which I'd also recommend - it includes several narrators, which is nice, and the boy who narrates Alex is very good!)

Pottymouth And Stoopid

Pottymouth And Stoopid by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein, 305 pages

Kids have been calling David and Michael Stoopid and Pottymouth since they were little.  They were just two nicknames that stuck.  David and Michael hate their nicknames and hate that kids make fun of them but there’s nothing they can do about it.  Until something crazy happens and then they may have a chance to lose those nicknames for good!  This was a super funny book for elementary age kids.  I would definitely give it to reluctant readers, especially boys.

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling     262 pages

Aven Green loves to tell people that she lost her arms in an alligator wrestling match, or a wildfire in Tanzania, but the truth is she was born without them. And when her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass, a rundown western theme park in Arizona, Aven moves with them across the country knowing that she’ll have to answer the question over and over again.

Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she bonds with Connor, a classmate who also feels isolated because of his own disability, and they discover a room at Stagecoach Pass that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined. It’s hard to solve a mystery, help a friend, and face your worst fears. But Aven’s about to discover she can do it all . . . even without arms.

This is a really well-crafted book about friendship. Aven, the main character, has grown up without having arms, learning to do things herself because her parents want her to be capable of caring for herself. She is good-natured, has a big heart, and isn't afraid to shut down those who want to make fun of her or others because they are different. While Aven is differently-abled, the book centers on her friendship with two other social "outcasts": Connor, a boy with Tourette's Syndrome, and Zion, a slightly overweight African-American boy. Through their friendship, Aven learns how to support those who, like her, get the "look" but also how to be supported by her friends as well. There's a mystery on the side that the friends try to solve, but mostly the book is about how Aven, Connor, and Zion work together to be good friends to each other and how to push themselves to step out of their comfort zones. I really liked Aven's narrative voice. She's strong, but she isn't completely invulnerable to the comments of others. She's confident in herself, but she has some learning to do and by the end of the novel, you can see the growth she's made. I particularly love Aven's parents, who give her the right amount of support, but also push her to try things for herself and to support herself so that she doesn't have to rely on them for everything. The setting of this story is also really neat and gives Aven a chance to stretch her wings and show her talents in ways even she didn't know she had. There's a lot of humor, thoughtful handling of differently-abled peoples and adoption, and the characters are so well rounded and dynamic. I'd recommend this book to anyone, but especially kids who are either in middle school or are entering middle school and are worried they won't fit in or if they just want a fun, realistic fiction to read.

Sled Dog School

Sled Dog School by Terry Lynn Johnson    208 pages

Aimed at kids in middle school, I think young readers will enjoy the problems eleven-year-old Matt is having in math. I know I can relate; I struggled with math from word problems in the third grade all the way through college algebra.

Matt has a chance to redeem his failing grade. He can start a business and keep the books. At first he wasn’t sure what to do. He hated his life: parents who had gone off the grid (really off as in no electricity) on a dead-end road and facing bullies at school was just the beginning.  But one thing he loved to was drive his dog sled.  Suddenly, that’s what he knew he could do, and Matt’s Dog Sled School was born.

Matt puts up posters at school and soon he has his first client. The only problem is, he needs three. But Tubbs will do although he is less than enthused about learning how to run a dog team.

Things go awry in a number of ways, but Matt stays the course.

A quick and easy read, the story flowed smoothly. The descriptions were vivid and the tension ran high. Johnson does a good job in creating lessons for the young ones to learn without being preachy.

Sled Dog School gets 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

    

Counting By 7s

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan     380 pages

Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn’t kept her from leading a quietly happy life...until now.

Suddenly Willow’s world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world.

This book was reviewed recently, so I'll keep it short. This was a bittersweet story about a girl who loses her parents and how her life goes on after. The story weaves her voice with several others, and together the characters create a patchwork portrait of a family. It's a very beautiful story and very touching. It would make a good Hallmark movie - not in a bad way. It's just a feel-good story, despite the tragedy that happens in the story.

Negima Volumes 1-6

 Negima Volumes 1-6 by Ken Akamats, 1226 pages (6 books)


The Negima series follows the academic life of Negi, a young(10 year old) wizard who has one last task to complete before he becomes a master wizard. Oddly that task is being the English task to a middle school class consisting of 31 girls. While acting as a teacher, Negi also is searching for clues about what happened to his father.

Negima is classified as a harem, romantic comedy. In terms of content, or illustrations, it certainly qualifies as ecchi, and possibly even further along that spectrum. Like most manga rated ecchi or higher, I found that it wasted story line development to show more skin. I found this manga to be rather slow developing, but with enough action to still keep it interesting. I eventually gave up reading this series, as one by one, all of the girls Negi is supposed to be teaching, fall in love with him. After that it takes on a really creepy teacher-student vibe that is unsettling to say the least.

I cannot say that I would recommend Negima to anyone, but nor would I try to talk people out of reading it, it is just meh to me.

Class Election

ClassElection by Neil Swaab, 232 pages

This is the sequel to The Secrets To Ruling School Without Even Trying.  Max Corrigan is back, as incorrigible as ever, and this time he’s encouraging the new kid to run for class president.  He’s got a foolproof way to get the new kid elected and, as in the first book, it relies on enlisting several people’s help along the way.  Some of Max’s ideas are a little less than ethical, but the new kid seems to recognize this and is willing to take the risks.  This book definitely had a surprise twist near the end.  I liked this book even better than the first and would recommend the series to fans of the Wimpy Kid series.  They are great for middle to later elementary school age kids.

The Secrets To Ruling School Without Even Trying

The SecretsTo Ruling School Without Even Trying by Neil Schwab, 226 pages

“It's the first week of middle school, i.e., the Worst Place in the Entire World. How do you survive in a place where there are tough kids twice your size, sadistic teachers, and restrictions that make jail look like a five-star resort? Easy: with the help of Max Corrigan, middle school "expert" and life coach. Let Max teach you how to win over not just one, but all of the groups in school, from the Preps to the Band Geeks. Along the way, Max offers surefire advice and revealing tips on how to get through universal middle school experiences like gym class, detention, faking sick, dealing with jocks and bullies, and acing exams (without getting caught cheating).”  This is a fun book for kids.  This is the Reading Pays book this fall and I’m pretty sure it will be an easy sell to kids if they like humor in their stories at all.

Keegan's Point

Keegan’s Point by HD Smith  140 pages

Marcus Keegan owned a mansion on the island known as Keegan’s Point, just off the coast of Florida. The house has been abandoned for the last twelve years, since Keegan died under mysterious circumstances. The only things that were removed after the body was discovered was the body and twenty passports.

This mystery has always fascinated twelve-year-old Charlie Parker. He’d give his eye teeth and left arm to learn more about Keegan. In fact, the island is the subject of a presentation that he is due to given during fourth period.

He overhears a man in his mom’s restaurant talk about investigating the island and searching for a missing treasure.  In his efforts to learn more, Charlie spies on the man and is kidnapped by him and his two accomplices. Charlie is torn between the excitement of going to Keegan’s Point and fear of what the three men will do to him. And the biggest problem of all is that for the next t that next three days, no one will know he is missing. His mother thinks he’s on a fishing trip with his friends, while his friends believe that Charlie’s mom made him stay home.

Nick has a set of clues that should lead him right to the treasure. Only problem is, Nick and his team don’t know what they mean. After they learn that Charlie is considered the local expert on Keegan, they plan to use him to unlock the mystery.

This is a great book for a young reader who might not truly enjoy reading. It has everything: a treasure hunt, mystery, danger, action, and adventure.

I give Keegan’s Point  5 out of 5 stars.

Oh, Snap!

Oh, Snap! by Walter Dean Myers, 120 pages

The Cruisers are back in their fourth book. These books don’t have to be read in order to understand them. Zander, Kambui, LaShonda, and Bobbi are the Cruisers. They run an underground newspaper at their school. They also like to shake things up. In this story they are worried because another kid at school was accused of holding up a store at the mall with his friends. The boy, Phat Tony, claims he wasn’t at the mall that day but the Cruisers were at the mall and Kambui snapped a candid photo of him. The Cruisers don’t believe he actually committed any crime so they don’t want to offer the photo to the police and get him into more trouble. Plus, if he did hold up a store at gunpoint, they are a little afraid of what he might do if the narc on him and he finds out. On the other hand, they don’t want to get in trouble with the police for withholding information. The group has a real dilemma. Great for reluctant readers, these basic real life stories about school and friendship will appeal to a wide variety of older elementary or young teen readers.

Vote

Vote by Gary Paulsen   
 131 pages

This is part of a series of books about Kevin Spencer, a fourteen year old boy who is full of schemes.  Each book stands alone.  In this story, Kevin has managed to have one date with Tina, the most gorgeous girl in school.  He is determined to impress her so she will keep dating him.  When he finds out that the position of class president opened up because the president moved, he decides to run.  He is full of great ideas but Kevin has always had trouble following through with his ideas.  And he is running against the most good-looking guy in school.  And he is currently taking care of Markie, his four year old neighbor, whose parents had leave town for a few days.  Kevin is up to ears and worried about the outcome.  This was a fun addition to the series.  Fans of humorous everyday life stories will probably like this book.

The Secret Language Of Girls

The Secret Language Of Girls by Frances O’Roark Dowell     

247 pages

Kate and Marilyn have been best friends since preschool but now they are starting sixth grade and everything is changing.  Marilyn is becoming interested in things like painting her toenails and cheerleading while Kate is more interested in basketball.  By the time Marilyn makes the cheerleading squad, the really aren’t even friends anymore.  Marilyn has become friends with the other girls on the squad and Kate is reaching out to other kids in their grade but they still kind of miss each other.  This is a quiet, slice-of-life, coming of age, type story.  A lot of older elementary girls or pre-teens would probably enjoy it.