#26--Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Auggie says, early on, "I won't describe what I look like.   Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse." He is an average 10-year-old in many ways except that he has never been in public school because of a facial deformity he was born with that has required numerous surgeries and hospital visits over the course of his young life. But Auggie is about to enter fifth grade at Beecher Prep.

This story follows Auggie, his family, and classmates through the year and how different people react, or don't, to Auggie. There are immediate friends, bullies, and eventual friends throughout the course of the year.

This was one of the best books I read this summer because it is an amazing story. It doesn't matter that Auggie is 10.  This book is geared for all ages because of Auggie and how he handles himself, his detractors, and his family and their apprehension about sending him to school.

I would recommend this book to everyone! Some of my teachers are thinking about using this book in their classroom as a read-aloud with their classes, which I am really excited about. I will also be adding this title to my book talk rotation too!

Happy Reading!!

#25--The Captive by Joyce Hansen

Kofi is the beloved son of an Ashanti chief who has been betrayed by a beloved family slave, kidnapped, and sold into slavery in Massachusetts, post American Revolution--when slavery was illegal, but often tolerated.  Kofi does not understand what is happening.  All he wants is to get back to his family and village. He even tries to convince his captors that if they return him they will be richly rewarded.  Which, of course, they all laugh at and continue in their nefarious ways.

On the route to America, he befriends two other young boys on the ship: one, Tim, is a white indentured servant, and the other, Joseph, a black orphan who was born on the ship.  These three boys become inseparable and are eventually purchased together by a Puritan man and his wife.  While slavery is illegal in Massachusetts, white indentured servitude is not.  The man is not kind to any of the help on the farm, but especially not to the three boys.  The mistress gives all three boys lessons and Kofi especially eats it up.  Kofi eventually tries to explain to the mistress, thinking she is his friend, that he wants to go back to Africa to his family and village.  She is horrified and from then on holds him at a distance, demanding that the three boys pray for their salvation--even though there is never any explanation to the boys why they go to a long building once a week or the purpose behind the kneeling every night while the master drones one.

Kofi and his two friends eventually escape and end up on a boat belonging to Paul Cuffe, who happened to be a free black and the captain of the ship, as well as a Quaker.  The boys are taken to jail because though the master claims he has paid good money for Tim's contract, the boys claim ill-treatment and that Kofi is a kidnapped African and Joseph is an illegal slave.  In order to sort everything out, there is a trial.  Paul Cuffe has promised to take the boys under his wing and make them his apprentices in ship-building.  The boys are eventually awarded their freedom and go to live with Cuffe and his family.

In the epilogue, Kofi is an adult, married, and working tirelessly with Joseph and other Quakers to end slavery and to make life better for blacks in America.

This book is based on a journal from the late 1700s.  I was able to find out a little more information about Paul Cuffe but Kofi is a creation of the author's imagination, based on the journal.

This was a quick, easy read that I will recommend to students interested in this time period, or to teachers working on a history of slavery lesson/unit.

Happy Reading!!

#24--My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen

Gary Paulsen is a favorite with my students, especially my boys.  I remember reading Hatchet at some point in elementary or junior high and loving the adventure of it all.  As an adult I enjoy finding out about the author's themselves and if they have had personal experiences that have influenced their writing.  In reading My Life in Dog Years I discovered that Gary Paulsen has lived a very adventurous life, including running the Idiotarod a number of times.

My Life in Dog Years is autobiographical in that it recalls nine different dogs out of hundreds Paulsen has owned over the course of his life....from Snowball, his first ever puppy while the family was stationed in the Philippines to Josh, the trusty and brilliant border collie that was Paulsen's current dog at the time of publication in 1998.  There were stories that made me giggle as well as stories that made me sniffle.  This was a quick and easy read and I know it is a book that my students and dog lovers of all ages would enjoy.

Happy Reading!!

#20--Soldier X by Don Wulffson

Have I ever told you that I love historical fiction?

Not only to I love the stories that are expected from history, but I love those unexpected gems that pop up every once in awhile (Code Name Verity and Between Shades of Gray, to name a few).

Soldier X has been in my book talk rotation for several years now, but I have never had the chance to read it--since it is usually off the shelf and I have yet to have a student come to me after reading this book and tell me they didn't like it.  So, I decided that I needed to read it this summer....and it just so happens that I had a copy of this book in my "books removed from the library, but I still want to read" pile (it was in ratty condition and unable to be repaired anymore, so I had taken it out of the collection), so I grabbed it for part of my vacation reading.

The book opens with an old man, Professor Erik Brandt, explaining that his student had often asked him about his prosthesis and other injuries...to which he replied that he received the injuries while fighting in World War II in the woods in Russia....but he never tells his students that he was fighting for the Germans.

Erik is 16 and a member of Hitler Youth when he is sent to the Eastern front in 1944.  Growing up in a bilingual household of German and Russian, the Germans plan to use his skills to help interrogate Russian prisoners.  (Erik's deceased father was German and his mother and maternal grandparents, who helped raise him, are Russian.)  During his first days of battle, most of his friends and platoon are decimated.  He is stuck in a trench, behind enemy lines, with a dead Russian soldier about his age.  In a split-second decision, Erik decides that his only chance at survival is to exchange clothing with the dead Russian and try to pass as a member of Russia's army.  Because of injuries sustained during the battle, Erik is taken to a Russian hospital, where he is thought to be a Russian soldier with amnesia and is given the name X.  At the hospital he falls in love with a young Russian nurse named Tamara.

Not only is X able to pass as a Russian soldier, he is able to make friends on this side of the war as well.

In some ways this book reminded me of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front due to its easy ability to wipe away the romance of war and to simply demonstrate the vast evil of it.  This book would be a great way to introduce students to a different viewpoint of the war, as well as be a great discussion starter for loyalty and the justness of war.

I will definitely be keeping this one in my book talk rotation and use it to try to spark my reluctant readers!

Happy Reading!!

#18--The Cookcamp by Gary Paulsen

This was another one of the titles I grabbed for vacation from the "books removed from the library, but I still want to read" pile.  This story is about a little boy with no name who sent to the wilderness of Canada to live with his grandmother during World War II while his mother works in a factory and his father is off to war.  The little boy befriends the men who are building the road into the wilderness and his grandmother is their cook.  The little boy is happy here, but he misses his mother.  Eventually he goes back to his mother and doesn't see his grandmother again for many years.

This was a quick, easy read.  I like Paulsen's work, however, I have trouble connecting to characters who have no name, like the protagonist in this story.  I would say that this story is more geared for an elementary reader than for a middle school reader, but a middle school student could still get something from it.

Not my favorite of Paulsen's works, but still pretty solid.

Happy Reading!!

#16--A Night to Remember by Walter Lord

It is an established fact that I love history.  I am also fascinated by events in history where something went wrong and how people handled it.  Case in point, the Holocaust....so many wrongs and yet there were people who tried everything to make it as right as they could, in their limited capacity.  Other events, like disasters--the sinking of the Titanic and the Hindenberg disaster--are also fascinating to me for similar reasons.

Several years ago, while conducting a weed (to remove unused/out-dated materials from the collection) of the library, I came across a dilapidated copy of this title.  Because of its condition and age, it was removed from the collection.  (It was first published in 1955, so the author had had the good fortune to be able to interview survivors of the Titanic sinking.)  Because of my interest, I took the deleted copy home with me, in the hopes of reading it someday.  That someday finally has come.  I was recently on vacation and grabbed several weeded books to take with me (these are books that I don't worry about losing or misplacing--which makes them perfect for vacation).

The author thoroughly did his research and has recreated the events of that fateful night with as much accuracy as is possible.  While reading, I felt like I was with the people, experiencing the events right along with them.  Everyone knows how this one ends....the boat sinks, with hundreds of people on board.  However, the descriptions of the acts of heroism and courage (and stupidity/cowardliness) make the story come alive for the reader.

In the back of the book there are lists of each of the classes (first, second, and third/steerage) and who the survivors were.  The index also includes each person who is named, so you can find out more info about them.  The end-papers included a diagram of the boat itself and indicated on the boat the timeline of what happened, where, and when.

So much could have been different about this tragedy if little things had been done differently.  However, hindsight is usually 20/20.  And in the end, so much has been changed for the better because of this event: life boats are required for the capacity of the ship (as well as life-boat drills for the crew and passengers), 24-hour radio watch and distress rockets, the creation of an International Ice Patrol, and changes to how ships are designed.

Since we still have a copy of this title on the shelves at my school, I think I'm going to add it to my non-fiction book talk rotation this coming year, since I always have a few students who are fascinated by the Titanic.

Happy Reading!!

#13--Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip--Jordan Sonnenblick

I may have mentioned in the past that Jordan Sonnenblick has been a visiting author at my school....and we have been lucky enough to have him come TWICE!!

Curveball is his latest title to come out and it has been very popular with my students, so, since my goal was to read at least two books last week by previously visiting authors, I grabbed this one off one of my many stacks of unread books around my house.

At the end of his 8th grade year, star pitcher, Peter Friedman has a career-ending injury in his elbow.  After spending the summer in physical therapy after surgery, Peter isn't sure what his freshman year will be like since he is no longer an athlete.  His best friend, and pitching partner, AJ doesn't believe that Peter won't be back on the diamond come spring.  And he is working hard to get Peter back into peak physical condition, no matter what it takes.  Peter can't bring himself to tell AJ the truth--that he can never throw a ball again.

Fortunately, Peter also has photography--the passion that he and his grandfather, a professional photographer, both share.  When his grandfather realizes that he is beginning to suffer from signs of Alzheimer's, he gives Peter all of his high-grade camera equipment.  Peter has signed up for a photography class as one of his electives, and when he proves, on the first day, that he knows quite a bit about photography, the instructor sends him over to the advanced class....and within minutes, another cute freshman joins him...the only two freshmen in the class.  Peter and Angelika get paired together to work on projects, and Peter really likes her, but Angelika isn't interested in dating someone who can't be honest with those he cares about--Peter hasn't told AJ the truth, and he also hasn't told his parents what is going on with his grandfather.

One of the things that I really like about Sonnenblick is that he brings back main characters from other books as peripheral characters.  If you hadn't read his other books, the characters wouldn't necessarily jump out at you, but they are nice surprises every time it happens.  This time around, San and Emily from Zen and the Art of Faking It make an appearance, and it was nice to see them again, a little bit older in this outing.

This book made me both laugh and tear up, which Sonnenblick tends to do--and is the mark of a great book, in my mind.

Happy Reading!!!

#9--Little White Duck: A Childhood in China by Na Liu and Andres Vera Martinez

Every once in a while I come across a book that I just have to read, for whatever reason.  This was one of those books.  The cover intrigued me; and I also couldn't tell for sure whether or not it should be included in the collection as fiction or nonfiction.  And the fact that it was told in beautiful pictures drew me in even further.

The author, Na Liu, tells stories about growing up in China during the time period immediately after Chairman Mao died (1976-1980).  The artwork, done by her husband, is gorgeous, especially the pictures that are meant to look like Chinese propaganda from the time period.  I felt like I was in China during this time period and it was brought to life for me.  The story is broken up into several chapters that tell a continuous story.  I would love to know more about Liu's life between the time period portrayed in this book and when she emmigrated to the US in 1999 as you don't often find stories of this time and place, written for children or teens. 

I must say that I'm pretty excited to get this title on the shelf soon!

Happy Reading!!

#8--The Captive Prince (Three Thieves, Book 3) by Scott Chandler

While I was cataloging books last night, I came across this graphic novel.  This is the third book in the series....for some reason, we do not have the first one.  :(  I read through it to try to determine what genre sticker I should be putting on it and I think I will be looking into trying to find the first one to add to our collection. 

The story opens with the three thieves, Fisk, Dessa, and Topper, on the run from Queen's Dragons (I'm guessing something big happened in book 2).  Dessa comes across a young man who has been kidnapped and she rescues him from his captors.  It is later revealed that Paladin (the young man), is actually the crown prince.  When Paladin's father discovers that Paladin is safe and who rescued him, he invites the three thieves back to the palace for a celebration.  And the story continues in predictable fashion.... 

Despite it's predictable nature, there were a few new elements to this story that I'm curious enough about to go back and read the first two books and will be looking for the next book in the series to come out.

Happy Reading!!

#4--Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech

I spent several hours yesterday after school cataloging books for my library.  Most of the books were ones that we specifically ordered, but some of the books were donated by students, and this one was one that a student had donated.  I wasn't familiar with the title, although we have a number of Sharon Creech's books in our library.  There wasn't much of a description and I try to avoid books about main characters who are younger than my students (7th grade).  So, I quickly read through this book this morning, trying to determine whether or not I would be putting it into the library collection.  Because the story, what there is of one, is told in poems, it made for a very quick read. 

The gist of the story is that Jack's teacher, who he had last year, expects them to write poems (and lots of them).  She uses several famous poems (by poets like Edgar Allan Poe, Walter Dean Myers, William Carlos Williams, Alfred Lord Tennyson,  and T.S. Eliot) to teach her students.  Jack then uses these poems to inspire his own poems.  Through the poems, Jack tells his teacher how much he dislikes cats and how much he misses his dog.  The poems take place over the course of the school year and by the end of the year, Jack has changed his mind about cats....to the point that his parents got him a black kitten for Christmas.  We also find out that Jack's mom is deaf and he wonders if she can hear onomatopoeia words and other similar.  Or does she just have silence, like a silent movie? 

There wasn't much meat to this story, as far as I'm concerned and I was not able to determine how old the protagonist is....the storyline indicates somewhere in elementary school, but some of the words used in the poems Jack "writes" indicate that he is more like in middle school....so I think I'm going to pass on putting this title in the library. 

Happy Reading!!

#43--Ungifted by Gordon Korman

Gordon Korman makes me laugh.  Everything I've read of his has, at some point, made me laugh out loud....sometimes even to the point of a snort :).  I grabbed this title off the new books pile last week and as soon as I finished The Fault in Our Stars, I picked up Ungifted, looking for a good laugh after a sobering, cancer-kid book.  And it didn't disappoint!  I found myself giggling through much of the first 100 pages yesterday and today there were even more giggles as I finished it.

Donovan Curtis is not known for thinking through his actions, which is what put him in detention in the first place.  Having been sent to the principal's office for a spitball incident with his two best friends, the Daniels, the PA microphone was too much of a temptation and he broadcast to the entire school "Our fans are great; our team is nifty!  We're going to get blown out by fifty!"  Not the best idea in the world on the day of the big game.  After sitting through much of detention, the Daniels help Donovan sneak out of the last ten minutes when the teacher leaves the room.  As he is running for freedom, he suddenly has the unstoppable urge to smack the statue of Atlas on the butt with a large branch....which snaps the single corroded bolt holding the earth on Atlas's shoulders, and sends it careening for the gym, where the big game is taking place.

As the globe is on a collision course, there isn't much Donovan can do to stop it.  Unfortunately for Donovan, the district Superintendent, Dr. Schultz, happened to be at the game and he caught Donovan, who he proceeds to haul off to his office for interrogation.  Fortunately for Donovan, Dr. Schultz is called back to the scene of the crime and he sends Donovan home for the night.  Little does Donovan know that Dr. Schultz has accidentally included Donovan's name on the list of students being recommended for the Academy of Scholastic Distinction. 

When Donovan gets the letter saying that he is being sent to ASD, he sees it as a golden opportunity to keep a low profile and out of Dr. Schultz line of sight.  It is apparent early on to his teachers and his fellow students that Donovan is not actually gifted, and no one is really sure why or how he came to be at ASD.  Over the course of the next month, Donovan makes friends and works hard at keeping his cover.  But what will happen when Dr. Schultz finds out where Donovan is hiding out? 

This story is told in alternating chapters between several different characters--something that Korman is rather adept at.  I typically enjoy seeing the same story from different angles from within the story itself. 

This title will definitely be added to the book talk rotation and I think that a few more copies will be making their way to the shelves in the library as well.

Happy Reading!!

#40--Borderline by Allan Stratton

The weather today when I left school was wet, dreary, and downright miserable.  Which made me want to curl up with a good book.

Sami Sabiri is first-generation Iranian-American.  His father fled his homeland as a child and grew up in Canada.  Sami's dad is strict and has high expectations for his son.  Expectations that Sami doesn't find all that easy to live up to.  He is the only Muslim student at his private school, which he refers to as Academy Hell because of the bullying he goes through at the hands of Eddy, a football player with a father who covers a multitude of sins with his checkbook.

Sami's dad has invited him on a trip to Toronto that will be combined with a business trip, a nice father-son getaway.  But at the last minute, he has to cancel the plans for Sami to join him.  Not only does this make Sami mad, but it also makes him suspicious that maybe his dad is having an affair. 

Several nights after his father returns from Toronto, Sami is webcam-chatting with his two best friends, Marty and Andy (who lives across the street).  Andy reports to Sami that there are people dressed in black, with dogs, outside Sami's house.  Sami goes to investigate, thinking that Eddy and his cronies have actually followed through with their threats toward him.  Instead, the FBI bursts into the house and hauls Dr. Sabiri out of the house in handcuffs and separates Sami and his mom for hours, questioning them, and destroys their house and much of their belongings.

It takes a while for the Sabiris and their lawyer to find out where Dr. Sabiri is being held and what the charges are.  In the meantime, the arrest of a research director (Dr. Sabiri) at a lab that stores anthrax, smallpox, and other viruses and linked to an alleged terrorist group, the Brotherhood of Martyrs, is all over the news.  The only person linked to the terrorist cell who was not arrested was the alleged leader, Tariq Hasan.  Despite their strained relationship, Sami takes it upon himself to try to prove his father's innocence, at any cost.

This story had me hooked from the very beginning and I couldn't wait to see how it ended.  There were a few surprises in store that I didn't see coming, which is always a refreshing change.  This is definitely going on my list of recommendations for my students.  It is a ripped-from-the-headlines story that will hopefully make them think.

Happy Reading!!!

#39--Eighth Grade is Making Me Sick: Ginny Davis's Year in Stuff by Jennifer L. Holm

As I was catching up on my cataloging this afternoon, this title caught my eye. The story of Ginny's 8th grade year is told through stuff--there are sticky notes, poems, journal entries, grocery lists, report cards, hand-drawn comic strips, homework assignments, bank statements, and STUFF. Over the course of the year, Ginny's family moves (twice), her mom has a baby, her older brother wreaks havoc, she writes lots of poems--for class assignments, her step-Bob loses his job, and Ginny survives 8th grade with her sense of humor still intact.

This was a cute and sometimes funny story and I think my students will like it. It was a quick, easy read and the graphics made it entertaining.  I may have to go back and re-read it, just in case I missed something.  :) 

Happy Reading!!

#23--Women Doctors and Nurses of the Civil War by Lesli J. Favor, PhD

One of the things I love about my job is that every so often I get to go into the classroom and teach with one of my teachers.  I especially love it when research of some sort is involved, whether on my part or the students'.  Tomorrow I will be co-teaching a lesson on medicine in the American Civil War with one of my 8th grade social studies teachers.  As I was working on finding information for this lesson, I read through today's book as part of my research.  One of the things that we wanted to find was information that will really grab the students' attention--especially the gory and gross, since middle schoolers, boys in particular, seem to love that stuff. 

I have done some reading on the Civil War in the past, but most often it has come in the form of a work of fiction instead of a nonfiction book.  One of the things that fascinates me about this time period is how the women were involved, particularly those who participated in a non-traditional role--doctor, soldier, or even as a nurse (it was considered unseemly for a woman, especially one of good-breeding, to see a man in any state of undress, who was not her husband).

Favor's book covers eight different women who worked tirelessly during the war as either doctors, nurses, or administrators/matrons.  I had previously heard of some of these women, like Dorothea Dix, Clara Barton, and Mary Ann Bickerdyke.  But others, Phoebe Yates Pember, Dr. Esther Hill Hawks, Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, Sally L. Tompkins, and Kate Cumming, were all new to me.  For example, I knew that Dorothea Dix had been a champion of the rights of those who were mentally ill; but I did not know that she headed up the all-female nursing corp for the Union army.  Two of her standard requirements for applicants were that they "were at least thirty years old and plain-looking".

The author offers up anecdotes for each of her subjects, but one of my favorites was about Mary Ann Bickerdyke.  "On one occasion, a surgeon, angry with Bickerdyke for accusing him of misconduct, complained to General Grant.  Though Grant responded with humor, he meant every word he said: 'Mother Bickerdyke outranks everybody, even [President] Lincoln.  If you have run amuck of her I advise you to get out quickly before she has you under arrest.'"  A drunken surgeon who Bickerdyke had removed from service asked General William T. Sherman for reinstatement and Sherman replied, "I can do nothing for you.  She [out]ranks me."  :)

Overall I thought this was a great overview of some of the important women of this time period, some of whom were very influential, but in medicine and beyond.  There were also some great photos and drawings in the book to help the reader visualize some of the situations these women were put in during the war. 

Now to put the finishing touches on the lesson for class tomorrow!

Happy Reading!

#20--Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps by Andrea Warren

So, as I was getting book talks ready after school today for a teacher I started flipping through this particular choice, mainly to see if it would work for the assignment the students will be doing, and I got sucked into it. 

Jack Mandelbaum was only 15 when he was deported to a concentration camp during Nazi Germany and he was shipped to a number of camps before finally being liberated on May 7, 1945.  At the first camp the man in the bunk next to him, Aaron, tells him to treat it like a game that he wants to win, that if he plays everything right, he might beat the Nazis.  Jack is determined to survive and meet back up with his parents, brother, and sister, who he is certain are still alive and waiting for him.  Jack eventually arrives in the United States and becomes an American citizen, marries, and has a family.  He does find a few family members, but his parents and siblings all perished at the hands of the Nazis. 

This would make a good introduction to the Holocaust for someone who wasn't very knowledgeable, or for a late elementary student.  It was a quick and easy read.  And it should do just fine for the project, so my students will be hearing about this one on Wednesday.  :)

Happy Reading!

#19--The Shadow Children by Steven Schnur

My 8^th graders study The Diary of Anne Frank as part of their Language Arts class and several teachers typically require the students to read an additional book about the Holocaust as part of this unit.  One day last week this title was turned in by a student and I noticed that it had a fantasy genre sticker on it (I put genre stickers on all my fiction books so that the students—and I—have an easier time picking out a specific genre), and I was curious as to why I had put a fantasy sticker on a book that also has a Holocaust sticker on it.  So, before putting it back on the shelf, I grabbed it and quickly read it.  (It took me less than 40 minutes to get through, so it is a quick read--less than 100 pages.)

The story takes place several years after World War II is over, in a small French town, Mont Brulant.  Etienne is looking forward to spending the summer with his grandfather and this is the first year his parents will not be joining him.  Etienne is surprised to notice on the drive back to his grandfather’s home from the train station that the town is much quieter than he remembers.  They also pass a group of children begging on the side of the road, but his grandfather doesn’t notice them.

As the summer goes on and Etienne goes exploring, he comes across a group of children living and hiding in the woods, who run and hide when they hear a train coming.  Etienne knows that the closest train is miles away and the children couldn’t be seen from it.  He doesn’t understand what they are hiding from. 

When he mentions the children to his grandfather, Grand-pere brushes it off, but Madame Jaboter (who comes to clean and cook for Grand-pere) overhears Etienne and begs him to promise he won’t go back to the woods.  Eventually, Etienne learns who the children are and why they are hiding…they are the souls of the children the people of Mont Brulant tried to save from the Nazis, but were forced to hand them over. 

This was a different story than I was expecting, but thought it was pretty well done.  (It has a fantasy sticker because we use fantasy whenever there are ghosts or anything supernatural in the story.)

Now it is going back on the shelf for another student to read.

Happy Reading!

#16--The Scrapbook Riddle by S.D. Brown

Jessica thinks her summer has been ruined!  Jess and her mom have traveled to the home of her Grandma (Gram) and Great-grandma (Grandma Charlotte) on the opposite side of the state--and there is no TV available, let alone cable, and she isn't allowed to call her best friend because of the long-distance charges!  How will she ever survive the summer without anyone to hang out with?

When they arrive, Gram is in the hospital and Grandma Charlotte is acting very confused and there is a strange man, Mr. Thomas, and his nephew, Josh, living on the third floor of the house.  The man is creepy and acting somewhat suspicious to Jessica's way of thinking, and his rude nephew isn't much better. 

Grandma Charlotte has a scrapbook that she looks at because it reminds her of her father, who died soon after the Crash of 1929.  He sent her a letter for her birthday that year with a riddle that she refers to as the riddle of the Liberty Lady and died before he could explain the clues in the poem.  Jess takes it upon herself to solve the riddle, in hopes that it will lead to the great treasure that has been rumored to be in the family for decades, but no one has ever found.  In the meantime, Jess befriends Josh and discovers that he isn't really Mr. Thomas's nephew--Mr. Thomas is blackmailing Josh into helping him swindle Jess's grandmothers.

Will Jess and Josh be able to find the treasure and prove that Mr. Thomas is up to no good?

This was another freebie on my kindle--and a very quick read.  It was good and I didn't guess everything by the end, but it was a somewhat stock mystery. 

Happy Reading!

#14--A Gift of Two Silver Pistols by Nan Coleman

Happy St. Patty's Day!!  I don't know what the weather was like in your neck of the woods, but here it has been more like a late May day than the middle of March....but I'm definitely not complaining!!

This afternoon, in an effort to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather, I grabbed a chair and my kindle and headed out for some sunshine!  I recently downloaded a bunch of books for free onto my kindle, so I started with the one at the top of the list...today's book.  As I've demonstrated through a number of the books that I have thus far chosen to read, I'm a sucker for history, whether it is fiction or nonfiction. 

My first year as a librarian, I grabbed a book off the shelf that intrigued me...The Year of the Hangman by Gary Blackwood--about what life would have been like in the American colonies immediately after the Revolutionary War if we had lost.  It was a very interesting idea to me, and I have often wondered how things would have been different if certain events had been different: how different would the world be if Abraham Lincoln had not been assassinated?  if the Titanic hadn't sunk or the Hindenburg exploded? it the Archduke Ferdinand had not been assassinated?  And the questions go on. 

In today's book, Ainsley is 13 in 2011 and loves visiting her grandparents at their home in Charlottesville, VA, near the site where Thomas Jefferson grew up and near his home of Monticello.  Her grandfather has told her stories of her famous relative, Jack Jouett, who rode in the middle of the night on June 3, 1781, to warn Thomas Jefferson that British commander, Banastre Tarleton, was on his way to arrest as many important traitors to the crown as he could, including Jefferson specifically.  (An important side note--Ainsley's Uncle Myles is a professional ghost hunter.) 

On the night of June 3, the anniversary of Jack's ride, Ainsley decides that she wants to try to see a ghost for herself, and she wants to see Jack Jouett.  So, with some of her uncle's ghost-hunting equipment, she camps out down by the river where she and Uncle Myles have guessed that Jack crossed the river on his famous ride.  Not only does she get her wish and sees Jack, but he also sees her...and that sets a different set of events into motion.  With Ainsley in tow, Jack does not get to Monticello in time to warn Jefferson, who is then captured, along with Patrick Henry and Benjamin Harrison.  The men will be hanged for treason, as soon as Tarleton can get the gallows built. 

Ainsley and Jack (the only one who can see Ainsley), with the help of a local tavern owner, Barbara (who can also see Ainsley), they come up with a plan to help the prisoners and attempt to put time and history back in their proper places.

After doing some research about Jack Jouett, I discovered that he has been called "The Paul Revere of the South," and some have even claimed that his ride was more crucial than Revere's because of the stakes involved if Jeffereson, Henry and Harrison, major leaders of the revolution, are captured.  (Thanks wikipedia!)  As a result of his heroics, the Virginia state legislature awarded Jack Jouett two silver pistols and a sword-hence the title of the book.  This fact wasn't mentioned until the very end of the epilogue, which makes me question the title...there has to be a better title for this story out there, one that will make sense much earlier in the story.

Overall, it was a quick easy read that I enjoyed.  It is currently available in kindle format as well as in paperback...this title may be finding its way to the shelves of my school in the near future....

Happy Reading!!

#12--A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass

Today's book was chosen by my students for me to read.  Wendy Mass was my school's visiting author last year and my students really enjoy her books--one of which came out as a movie last fall--Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life.

Mia appears normal, but she's been hiding something for as long as she can remember--sounds, numbers and words all have colors.  As a child, she thought everyone saw colors, but in 3rd grade she found out that she was a "freak" in the eyes of her classmates. 

As she enters 8th grade, Mia is terrified of taking Spanish and pre-algebra...because the Spanish words don't have the same color as the corresponding word in English, so it is difficult for her to connect the words, and pre-algebra is difficult because "Normally an x is a shiny maroon color, like a ripe cherry.  But here an x has to stand for an unknown number.  But I can't make myself assign the x any other color than maroon, and there are no maroon-colored numbers.  Without the color, I don't know how to proceed."

After she fails two math quizes, Mia has to come clean with her parents about what is going on.  Fortunately, they are eventually able to find a diagnosis--synesthesia, a mingling of the senses--and Mia finds ways to work around her gift.

Makes me wonder what having this ability would be like--and what color my name would be....

I really enjoyed this title and I will read more by Wendy Mass in the future.

Happy Reading!!

#11--Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

It is a good thing I'm ahead of schedule, since it has been two weeks since my last post.  I knew this time of the year was going to be hectic this year, but didn't realize just how crazy. 

One of the PE teachers at my school is a self-proclaimed "non-reader."  Over the years I have handed him a few books to try out, some have been hits and others have been misses.  This year, I think we have found his niche....sci-fi/fantasy with a little post-apocalyptic/dystopian thrown in for a little extra something.  He flew through the entire Hunger Games series in about two weeks and came in the library looking for something else.  It just so happened that Incarceron had just been checked in and I offered it to him, telling him that it was about a prison that was alive.  He jumped on it and within a few days, was back asking for the sequel Sapphique--which he finished in a few days as well.  When he found out I hadn't read Incarceron yet, he informed me that I had to read and after I did, he wanted to talk about it.  I started it last weekend and he and I had a brief conversation during the week, but he didn't want to give anything away.  Well, I finished it last night and I can't wait to talk to him about it this week!!

Many years ago, the king decreed that there would be no more progress--life would actually regress back to roughly the middle ages in dress, technology, science, medicine, etc.  All prisoners would also be shipped to a new prison called Incarceron with wise leaders, called Sapients, in order to create a perfect society.  What wasn't planned for was the eventual overthrowing of the system by the prison itself.  It began to generate life from those who died inside it as well as think and react of its own volition.

Finn, a prisoner in Incarceron, believes that he came from Outside--he doesn't remember anything before waking up in a cell three years prior.  Claudia, the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is pledged to be married to Caspar, the crown prince--a boorish oaf who she can't stand.  Her father has been grooming her for this position her entire life.  Claudia and Finn are both desperate to find an escape--Finn from Incarceron and Claudia from her arranged marriage. 

I won't say any more, for fear of giving away the good stuff!!  This is definitely a must-read if you like fantasy/dystopian fiction!!

Happy Reading!!