Forget Me

FORGET ME by K.A. Harrington. Putnam, August 2014.

Her boyfriend is dead.
Or is he? What is the truth?
Morgan must find out.

Girls Like Us

GIRLS LIKE US by Gail Giles. Candlewick Press, 2013.

Quincy, Biddy, friends?
Forced to live together they
Forge a deep friendship.

THE FOURTEENTH GOLDFISH

THE FOURTEENTH GOLDFISH by Jennifer L. Holm. Random House, August 2014.

Wen her mother brings home a teen aged boy, Ellie is sure he is just one of her new causes. Turns out, though, that this big is actually Ellie's own grandfather who has reversed his aging through an experiment. Life is bad enough with a sullen teen, but add in Melvin's imperious nature, his constant criticism, and having your grandfather going to your school and, well, you can see how much fun this is NOT for Ellie. The book design (floating goldfish at chapter headings) adds to the delight of this funny book about family, friends, and science!

The Crayon

THE CRAYON by Simon Rickerty. Aladdin, 2014.

Red and Blue feuding
Over which is the best one
Will they learn to share?

Lily the Unicorn

LILY THE UNICORN by Dallas Clayton. Harper, 2014.

Roger the Penguin
Is afraid of many things
Lily tries to help

Brimsby's Hats

BRIMSBY'S HATS by Andrew Prahin. Simon & Schuster, 2014.

Brimsby makes wonderful hats. He loves his work, and he loves spending time with his best friend. But when he is best friend decides to go off and be a sea captain, Brimsby is lonely. He does not feel like working. And then he sees the birds.

Reality Check

REALITY BOY by A.S. King. Little Brown, 2013.

Gerald was on a reality TV show when he was barely more than a toddler. It was one of those nanny knows best programs, and Gerald was the star, famous for taking dumps in places other than the bathroom. When the cameras were turned on, Gerald was the center of attention briefly, but once the cameras and audience were gone, Gerald had to deal with his family problems without any help. A mother who ignores what is happening, a father who substitutes work for family, one sister who has fled the house and the country. Now it is just Gerald and his sister, Tasha, who is the cause of so much of Gerald's fame and pain. King has created characters that will make readers look beyond the surface, beyond the veneer, to see the person, the real person who lies beneath. She does this with her usual blend of harsh reality and perhaps a touch or two of magic.

Doll Bones

DOLL BONES by Holly Black. Audio by BOT/Listening Library. Narrated by Nick Podehl. .

Even though I am not serving on an audio committee, I still enjoy listening to audio on my commutes. Nick Podehl's narration of DOLL BONES achieves just the right level of creepiness as the tale of a doll that is more than simply a be china doll. As Zach and Poppy, and Alice undertake their quest, their friendship is teetering on the brink of extinction. Perhaps this journey will pull them back together to the friends they once were. The story is a mystery adventure combined with elements of a ghost story and perhaps even a touch of peculiar possession. This would be a terrific read aloud (or you could play a chapter a day as well). It is certainly one that deserves a booktalk early in the school year.

Lost and Found

THE LOST (AND FOUND) BALLOON by Celeste Jenkins with illustrations by Maria Bogarde. Aladdin, 2013.

Balloon with message
Travels far and wide only
To land right next door.

FLORA AND ULYSSES: THE ILLUMINATED ADVENTURES BY Kate DiCamillo. CANDLEWICK Press, September 2013.

How to do justice to this book? Very seldom do words fail me. Thankfully, they do not fail DiCamillo who gives readers an incredible story of Flora and the squirrel she rescues from a wayward vacuum cleaner, Ulysses. Who knows whether it was the ride into the vacuum cleaner or not, but Ulysses seems to understand everything going on around him, especially as it relates to Flora. Flora also feels the special new connection, and so Ulysses becomes a part of her life. It is not a simple transaction, this, because Flora's mother, a preoccupied writer, does not want a squirrel in her home. After all, they carry diseases, right? And then there is the matter of the neighbor and her great-nephew, William, who insists he is temporarily blind. from giant donuts (with sprinkles) to kind retired doctors, and an attack cat, DiCamillo has created a wonderful story about friendship, about finding one's way, and about poetry. MUST READ.

Monstrous Love

FRIENDS by Mies van Hout. Lemniscaat, 2013. Two friends who are quite different (starting with size) do what all friends do: fight, play, laugh, and CUDDLE. The illustrations, done on a black background, are eye-catching to say the least.

Tender, True, Touching

LIVING WITH JACKIE CHAN by Jo Knowles. Candlewick Press, September 2013.

The waiting list for my copy of the ARC is growing by the minute. Here is a companion book to JUMPING OFF SWINGS, but it is a book that will stand on its own two feet very well. This is the story of Josh who leaves his old school before senior year to go live with his Uncle Larry (may we all be fortunate to have an Uncle Larry in our lives). Josh needs a break from his family and friends and from the haunting memory at the hospital. Maybe time and distance will help him recover some sort of balance. Larry insists Josh join him in the evening karate class. There Josh gets to know his neighbor and fellow senior, Stella. But things are tense between them from time to time due to the secrets both of them are hiding. Knowles manages to let readers see the edges of the secrets, enough that they (if they are anything like me) will fret over the future of these two teens and the other folks involved in their lives. The book examines issues with care (tender) but honesty (true) and at an emotional depth (touching) that will keep readers turning the pages to see if all will be well.

Here's hoping

ELEANOR AND PARK by Rainboww Rowell. St. Martin's Griffin, 2013.

They are the unlikeliest of friends. When Eleanor boards the school bus that first day and is confronted with hostility, it is Park alone who makes room for her to be seated. He is subtle about the move so as not to call attention to himself and suffer the same sort of peer rejection as befalls Eleanor with her crazy hair and even crazier clothes, clothes that conceal a huge secret in her life. Over the course of a school year, Eleanor and Park move from seatmates to soulmates. Each discovers the secrets of the other; each learns to trust perhaps for the first time. Of course, love never runs smoothly, but Eleanor and Park can hope for a first, right?

Flora and the Flamingo

FLORA AND THE FLAMINGO by Molly Idle. Chronicle Books, 2013.

A textless picture books with some lift the flap action on several pages tells the story of Flora, she of the pink swimsuit and outsized flippers and the Flamingo. Textless books are perfect for the pre-literate reader, for second language learners, and for readers who long to tell their own stories.

Journeys Inside and Out

CHAMELIA AND THE NEW KID IN CLASS by Ethan Long. LBYR, 2013.

Jealousy, that green eyed monster, awakens in Chamelia when the new kid manages to upstage here with everything he does. Chamelia vows revenge, but then has to reconsider her reactions in light of some hurt feelings. <616>

A LONG WAY AWAY by Frank Viva. LBYR, 2013.

Here is a book that invites readers to travel one way through the book and then to go backwards on the journey as well. Pair with Ann Jonas' ROUND TRIP for an interesting text set. <617>

Panic!

PANIC by Sharon Draper. Atheneum, April 2013.

Dance is everything to Diamond and her friends. The hours spent at the dance studio bring them happiness and a sense of belonging as well. It allows Justin not only an outlet for his creativity but places him in close proximity with Layla, the girl he secretly worships from afar. For Layla, dance means she can forget her trouble with her boyfriend Donovan who is getting way too possessive. Through alternating narrators, Draper reveals what happens when Diamond is abducted by a pedophile at the local mall. How her family and friends react and how the dance studio brings them all together is a powerful metaphor. <574>

Addie as empath

When I read THE MISFITS by James Howe, I fell in love with Addie Carle. I loved that she was vocal about her beliefs, that she would speak her mind. In ADDIE ON THE INSIDE, a companion to THE MISFITS (Atheneum 2011) readers will see Addie once more. Outspoken? You bet. Vocal? Sure. But Addie has grown and changed. She is still advocating for no name calling. She is still best friends with Bobby and Skeezie, and Joe. But there is more. In this book we see Addie as an empathetic young woman, someone who learns to put herself in another person's shoes and see more than the surface of any individual. This lesson comes at some expense for Addie, as empathy does cost something. James Howe has taken a girl and allowed her to blossom into a woman, someone wholly her own. It was wonderful to witness this in ADDIE ON THE INSIDE. <482>