100 Sideways Miles

100 SIDEWAYS MILES by Andrew Smith. Simon & Schuster, 2014.

Finn, Cade, Julia
Circumstances dictate their
Accidental ties.

Skink No Surrender

SKINK NO SURRENDER by Carl Hiaasen. Knopf, 2014.

Can Skink help Richard
Find Malley before she's harmed?
Comedy-myst'ry

Port Chicago 50

THE PORT CHICAGO 50 by Steve Sheinkin. Roaring Brook Press, 2014.

Fifty stand accused
Though none is guilty. The trial
though may just be rigged.

Picture Me Gone

PICTURE ME GONE by Meg Rosoff. Putnam, 2013.


Mila travels with her father who is trying to find his long time friend, Matthew, who has gone missing. As soon as Mila steps into the cabin where Matthew lived, she senses something is wrong. The mystery of the missing Matthew is just one thread in this remarkable novel by Rosoff. Mila must confront new information about her own parents and their past as she struggles to make sense of Matthew and his disappearance, too. Complex, like the relationships it examines, PICTURE ME GONE is a puzzle which readers, along with Mila, must piece together.

Grimm story

FAR FAR AWAY by Tom McNeal. Knopf, 2013.

Finalist for the National Book Award for 2013, this is the story of a young boy named Jeremy Johnson Johnson. His mother disappeared years ago, his father never gets out of bed. Jeremy faces many obstacles not the least of which is the presence of the ghost of Jacob Grimm who speaks to Jeremy in an effort to protect him from harm. When Jeremy agrees to help his friend Ginger play a prank on the local baker, Jeremy has no inkling of the change of circumstances this will cause. History meets mystery meets fantasy in a story that will compel readers to turn page after page to learn the fate of Jeremy and Ginger and Jacob.