Author: Louis Sachar
Published: 2015 Fuzzy Mud is a unique and interesting book. It combines mystery and suspense with science fiction and environmentalism. Tamaya is in fifth grade, and every day she has to walk home with Marshall, a seventh grader. Marshall used to be well-liked. He used to have friends, until Chad chose to make him a target. In order to avoid getting beat up on his way home from school, Marshall tells Tamaya that they should take a shortcut through the woods to get home. Unfortunately on their way home, they get lost. Chad, who spends a lot of time in the woods, finds them and threatens to beat them both up. In order to save them both, Tamaya picks up this weird fuzzy-looking mud from the ground and smashes it in Chad’s face. This distracts him enough for Marshall and Tamaya to run away, and they eventually find their way home. Later that day Tamaya notices her hand starting to tingle, itch, and turn red. Soon she has a huge rash that nothing can cure. When she wakes up she has weird white powder all over her sheets. When she gets to school, she has the nurse wrap it up for her. Soon, she hears an announcement that Chad hasn’t been seen since yesterday after school. He is now missing, and Tamaya and Marshall were the last ones to see him. When Marshall refuses to tell the school what happened in the woods, Tamaya leaves school to find him. If the fuzzy mud did that to Tamaya’s hand, what did the fuzzy mud do to Chad? Something strange is happening in those woods, and you have to read it to find out! Fuzzy Mud is an Iowa Children's Choice Award nominee for the 2016-2017 school year.
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Author: Katherine Applegate
Published: 2015 This book starts with Jackson seeing a surfboarding cat, and not a regular surfboarding cat, a giant surfboarding cat. We soon find out that this is Crenshaw, Jackson’s imaginary friend from when he was younger. Now Jackson is about to go into the 5th grade. He is confused and a little worried that Crenshaw is back. Don’t people grow out of seeing their imaginary friends? Jackson remembers when he first met Crenshaw. His family was going through a rough time. They had to sell most of their things, and eventually they couldn’t make payments on their house so they had to leave. Jackson, his parents, and his younger sister had to live in their van. They had to live like this for longer than Jackson thought would be possible. Crenshaw was there to make Jackson feel a little better. Once his parents saved up a little money, they were able to move into an apartment, and when things were back to normal Crenshaw vanished. Now, Jackson feels like the same thing is happening again. His parents are low on money, and Jackson is worried they will have to live in the van again. Maybe that’s why Crenshaw came back. This book was wonderful. Jackson’s family is in a very scary and relatable situation to many kids. He is stressed out. Luckily he has Crenshaw there to help him along the way. Crenshaw is an Iowa Children's Choice Award nominee for the 2017-2018 school year! Author: Neal Shusterman
Published: 2007 Unwind is the first book in a series of four by Neal Shusterman. This book takes the pro-choice/pro-life viewpoints and creates a what-if situation. What if a pregnant person had to give birth if she was pregnant, but when the child was between the ages of 13 and 18 years old, the parents could at that point decide to get rid of them. This is called having them unwound. The child is taken to a harvest hospital where every piece of their body is used and donated to someone else who needs or wants them. The child dies, but society doesn’t look at it that way. Instead they live on in other people. Connor is a difficult child. He finds out that his parents are going to unwind him. Instead of following the law, he decides to run away instead. This is illegal. Once his parents signed the form, Connor belonged to the government. He runs away and meets two other characters during his escape. Risa is a girl who grew up in the state home. She is going to be unwound because they have no use for her anymore. The other character is Lev. He was raised by his religious parents to be an unwind. Some families did this as a sort of charity to give back to the community. When Lev is taken by Connor and Risa, at first he believes that they are wrong to take him from his purpose in life. He wants to get back so he can go to the harvest hospital. He changes his thoughts soon. These three find themselves in all kinds of interesting situations together. This book was really interesting. It was different from anything I’ve read before now. A student recommended that I read this book series, stating that he had read it many different times. I can totally see why! I am anxious to get the next one in my hands. Author: Nicola Yoon
Published: 2016 This is the ultimate love-at-first-sight story. Natasha is an extremely logical teenager who believes in science and facts. Daniel is a dreamer and a poet who is feeling forced by his parents to get into medical school and become a doctor. These two meet one day on a street in New York City and right away Daniel can tell that there is something between them. Natasha, the logical thinker, is less sure. Daniel is supposed to be on his way to a college interview. Natasha is on her way to meet with a lawyer. Natasha and her family are going to be deported back to Jamaica that very night. She is hoping that she will be able to talk with a lawyer and that they will get to stay. At her appointment, she gets the name of another lawyer that she needs to see later that day to help her and her family. While she is waiting, Daniel and Natasha spend the day together and begin to get to know one another. Natasha begins to feel the same way Daniel felt when they first met. I loved the way this book was set up. Each chapter is focused on a different character. Sometimes it’s Natasha or Daniel, and sometimes it’s someone like Natasha’s dad or the security guard in the building Natasha goes to for her appointment. We get to learn about more than just the story of Natasha and Daniel; we get to see the motivations behind some of the other characters. This book deals with a lot of tough subjects like deportation, family expectations, and regret. Even though Natasha and Daniel only have known each other for a very short time, I had myself believing in their love story. The Sun is Also a Star is written by the same author of Everything Everything. |
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