Nice YA mystery

I enjoyed this mystery, and think many YA readers will as well.  Despite it centering on a missing girl, who is presumed dead, it has many light moments, due to the protagonists' sense of humor.

The main character Pippa is engaging, and believable. She sets out to prove the boy accused of the murder, which took place 5 years earlier is innocent.  Her main companion during this, is the suspect's brother, and he is quite likable as well.

She does this through a senior Capstone project, and so it does venture from 1st person (when she is writing it in some chapters) to 3rd person, when the plot moves along.

While some aspects were obvious to me as an adult mystery reader, I think the various mysteries will intrigue, and stump newer mystery readers.

Lovely story

Not sure I love this cover, but the story is great. The characters were believable, helped each other, overcame differences, and worked together quite well.

Theater groups, and Mock Trial are the main groups featured in this YA novel. Narrated by two protagonists, you learn bits about them with each chapter, thus the character development is quite nice.  The chapters are set up as if they are part of a trial, which is nicely done.

I never heard about "yarn bombing" prior to this book, but it features prominently in this novel.
If you are looking for heartfelt drama (with plenty of humor) this book is for you.

                                                       ANOTHER GREAT DEBUT!
We are so fortunate that we have another wonderful author coming to our school. She is a debut author, whose wonderful debate experiences in college, led to her job as the debate consultant for the Tony-nominated Best Play on Broadway: What the Constitution Means to Me.

Her Debut novel, is a middle grade book titled Pippa Park Raises her Game.  It is essentially an ode to Great Expectations, or perhaps a wonderful new version of it.

Pippa lives with her sister and brother-in-law, since her mom had to move back to Korea.  She is dealing with juggling her love of basketball, her struggles with math, and just generally being a young teen, when she suddenly receives a scholarship to a private school.

She now has to adjust to new friends, and a host of other issues.

This was a great story, and will make a wonderful read aloud as well.

Another Debut: this one a compelling MG novel

Wow, another compelling middle grade novel. I have had some ups and downs with "adult" books, but the MG and YA novels I have read recently have been home runs. 

From the Desk of Zoe Washington is a debut novel from Janae Marks.  I loved it. In addition to being a MG novel, it is a mystery. It touches on friendship, families, racism, and the issue of wrongly convicted prisoners.  The Innocence Project, and other groups like it, have recently been in the news for freeing innocent prisoners.  It is a complex topic, that is beautifully, and skillfully told here.

I will wager that any young person reading this, will want to explore the issue more, after reading this lovely novel.

Decent Debut

I truly enjoyed this well written debut.  Had recently read a self-published book whose plot left quite a bit to be desired, then read a new best seller that has been promoted everywhere, and was bored by that (try not to name books that disappoint me).
The Tenant featured characters I cared about, and a plot that kept me guessing.
I am hoping it might be the start of a series, as the police detectives would be a good pair to follow.
I enjoyed the fact that the plot involved a landlady writing a book, a murder mystery, only to realize her plot has been put into reality.

There were perhaps a few too many red-herrings that proved to be awful people, but not the murderer; made me think parts of Denmark are just too bleak, but I really enjoyed figuring out who the guilty party was.

 








I have loved everything I have read by Kate Messner, so I was really looking forward to this book.  She surpassed my high expectations.

Chirp is a beautifully told story.  Mia is in Vermont for the summer, dealing with new activities, friends, and helping out her grandmother.  She is also dealing with a secret.  The plot and character development are simply masterful. 

The mystery of who might be sabotaging the cricket farm is also developed nicely. I loved how Messner discusses other middle grade mysteries, via Mia's friend, Clover's love of mysteries.

Ideally this book will be available in all middle schools.  I think it pairs naturally with Kelly Yang's Parachutes, for teens who are a bit more mature.  Both tackle the issue of sexual harassment/abuse beautifully.

Highly recommend, Chirp! 

A perfect MG read

This was a perfect MG read.  The protagonist is believable and likable.  Her mom, grandparents, even dad are all drawn out well.  I loved her friends, and the school settings were accurately portrayed.

It is one of those books that not only was enjoyable to read, but one that I know will be a good read aloud.

I enjoyed this book so much, that I downloaded sample chapters of all of his other books. Not all of those are grabbing me, but a few are. The Passengers is essentially a Black Mirrors story in novel form. I loved the premise: it's set in the near future where driver less cars are mandatory in England; some cars are suddenly taken over, and the passengers have no control, and no way to leave the car. Marrs pulls it off quite well. I enjoyed the character development, the plot and the pacing.If you enjoy thrillers, light sci-fi, and if you are a fan of the show Black Mirrors, I recommend this book.

I loved the premise of the book, and am very happy it didn't disappoint me in any way.

The character development, and plot were excellent; I mean truly it was just great.  The narrative style was nice, and the ending was perfect.

I think this is the author's first book. It is truly hard to believe it is a debut.  If you like the TV show The Good Place, you will really enjoy this novel. 

If you enjoy YA novels, you will also enjoy this.  Highly recommend.

Required Reading

This novel enthralled me from the beginning.

Firstly, I learned a great deal about international high school students from China.  I also learned about the host families these students live with (the good and the bad, and the perhaps dubious process of becoming a host family).

Secondly, the character development was beautiful.  The friendships formed throughout the novel, good and bad, were  deftly drawn out. The issues that arise were believable, and relate-able for anyone who has ever attended school as a teen.

Thirdly, the issues the book raises were beautifully handled. Sexual harassment, abuse and rape were all discussed forthrightly, and the victims reactions were believable, and heartbreaking.  I think the way the school handled each situation was sadly true to reality as well.

I think this book should be required reading for all hs students. It touches on so many issues that need frank conversations.  Sexuality, racism, classicism, relationship, friendships..and what it really means to be a friend.

The novel might be a bit mature for my 6th graders, but I am going to recommend this novel to older students, and their classroom teachers.

Perfect for my students

More to the Story, by Hena Khan is a wonderfully engaging book. It centers on Jam (Jameela), a 7th grader who loves writing for her school, (and home) newspaper.  She has 3 siblings: Maryam is the oldest, Bisma is younger than Jam, and Aleeza is the youngest.  Each are nicely described, and Khan shares details that add more depth to each character as the story moves on.

Jam is dealing with quite a bit here! She is excited that she has been picked to be the features editor for her school paper. She has many supporters, but when one of her biggest, her dad, leaves for a job overseas, she starts dealing with some harder aspects in life.  In addition to that, her younger sister, Bisma get seriously ill. I thought the ways Jam dealt with this, what she thought, how people helped, how Bisma dealt with it, were all realistically portrayed.

I also thought the themes around the newspaper club were handled deftly.  I will share the story here with my media journalism class, as so many ethical issues were dealt with well.

While there are serious issues to contend with, humor abounds in this novel.  It is perfect for older ES students, and MS students.

I truly loved it.

I am a bit behind on my reviews, so am doing a post that briefly states what I read over the past couple of months.
1) The Guinevere Deception is a fun take on King Arthur/Camelot. It is the first of a series and I really enjoyed it.
2) Scars Like Wings is a debut, and is amazing. Erin Stewart the author visited our school, and gave a wonderful presentation, which I didn't see but did hear about (for 8th grade students). In short, a teen is recovering from a horrific fire, and is adjusting to going back to school. I predict pink wigs will soon be a fashion statement...statement being key.
3) Framed! A wonderfully fun start to a mystery series staring a 12 year old D.C student who assists the FBI. Great friendships, logic, and a good overall read for MS students
4) This Land is Our Land: should be required reading for all. It truly puts into perspective our history in the world, with our immigrants, and migration causes in general.
5) Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation. A fun, pretty wild espionage tale also featuring a 12 year old. Slightly less believable, but fun for students who love Spy School, and really love lots of chase scenes.

Historical Fiction

                                                                                              

I've read a few of Sepetys books, Salt to the Sea, and Between Shades of Gray being my favorites. They are both set during WW2, and like The Fountains of Silence, they were geared towards the YA audience. 

I knew a great deal about WW2 from classes in K-12, as well as a few history courses I took in college.  Somehow though I didn't know much about Franco.  Thus, reading this book took me more time than a typical read would.  I found myself looking so much up, and wondering if it all could be true.  Why didn't my courses teach me more about Franco?? All I knew was Hemingway and Orwell were there reporting during the civil war.

This is set in the mid to late 1950's, for the most part. 

The central issue in the book is how secretive the Spanish people feel they must be during Franco's reign. Those whose families fought against him, are especially secretive. 

The other aspect I learned, that is central to the story, is American Oil companies were making deals with the Franco government, and that too was a secret.  

It is heartbreaking to realize what families went through; murders, disappearances, and babies being kidnapped and sent to orphanages are a few of the issues addressed in this book. 

It is well written, but didn't flow as readily for me simply due to my lack of knowledge. This made me realize how difficult historical fiction has probably been for my 6th grade students. If they haven't studied a period in time, they too might wonder which parts are fictional and which are historical. 

I am rethinking my entire historical fiction unit now, and will do my utmost to coordinate with the history teacher on my team. 

The other historical fiction novel I read was The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates 

This is so beautifully written.  It is full of magical realism as well.  Some might say that softens the horrors of slavery, but I felt it was depicted well (well, as well as I can imagine human bondage).  

The magical realism plays itself out most when dealing with the underground railroad, and I know some complain that this diminishes the hard work, and bravery of Harriet Tubman, but in many ways I think it was perfectly fitting.  It does seem like a miracle that so many were able to achieve a path to freedom, given the horrors of people attempting to capture them, and what they suffered when caught. She does play a central role in this story, so Moses as she was often called, is fully recognized.

There were many terrific lines in this book.  Here are just a few. Speaking of how they had to be in the household, Hiram, a slave, writes: "Sloth was literal death for us, while for them it was the whole ambition of their lives." 

Another quote that brings up incredible images, is this: "The Flesh-Traders, vultures of Natchez...They were a ghastly sight, the lowest of low whites, because unlike their brethren, these men, while originating in the bottom file, had grown wealthy from the flesh trade, but seemed to revel in their debased roots, their slovenly dress, their missing teeth, their foul orders, their habit of spitting tobacco wherever wished, as a kind of absurd show."

A great line is this one: "There was no peace in slavery, for every day under the rule of another is a day of war."

When speaking of all of the horrible family separations, as children were sold out from mothers, husbands from wives, the narrator states: "The tree of our family was parted---branches here, roots there---parted for their lumbar." 

When speaking of the white slave owners, and how they treated female slaves, one of the main characters states: "You don't remember what they do to the girls down here? And once they do it, they got you. They catch you with the babies, tie you to the place by your own blood and all, until you got too much to let go of to go."

Both of these books were overwhelming to read, especially back to back. I keep thinking humanity will change, but atrocities keep occurring.  Will we ever actually learn from our past?