Author: Lynda Mullaly Hunt Published: 2015 "Everybody is smart in different ways. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its live believing it is stupid." Ally is in sixth grade, but she cannot read. Because her family moves around a lot, she has tricked all of her teachers and they don't know that she has this problem. Ally distracts them by making other kids laugh and getting into trouble. They think she just has behavioral issues, and her principal is tired of having her being sent to the office.
When her teacher goes on maternity leave, she gets a new teacher, Mr. Daniels. She just thinks she'll trick him too, but he starts to pay attention to what is really going on with Ally. When Ally tries to read and write, she gets a headache and spends hours and hours just to get down a paragraph that is littered with mistakes. Mr. Daniels invites her to play chess after school, and he finds out that she is really bright. He asks her how long it takes her to do her assignments, and she tells him the truth. They find out that Ally has dyslexia, a disorder that makes it really hard to understand letters and symbols, making reading very difficult. Ally has been keeping her inability to read a secret for years. The relief she feels at having someone know and understand how to help her is huge. The quote at the top of the post is where the title of the book comes from. Ally is smart and capable. She just has a disorder that means she has to learn in a different way. This book will remind readers that people have different talents and learn in different ways. Fish in a Tree is a nominee for the Iowa Children's Choice Award for the 2016-2017 school year.
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Author: Ann M. Martin
Published: 2014 Rose Howard loves homophones (words that sound the same but mean something different). Her own name is a homophone--rose and rows. Her obsession with homophones, following the rules, and prime numbers exist because Rose has Asperger's Syndrome. Rose and her father don't get along. He just cannot understand why she can't behave and act "normal" in school. She gets kicked off the bus because she yelled at the bus driver whenever she or another driver made a slight mistake, and she gets in trouble at school for her outbursts. Most kids at school can't relate to Rose; her best friend is her dog, Rain, who was found outside in the rain by Rose's father. A bad storm hits their town, and because Rose's father made a careless mistake and let Rain outside during the storm, Rain has gone missing. Rose needs to find her dog before something bad happens to her. As a pet owner, this story hurt my heart. The love Rose has for Rain is very strong, and she has to make a really difficult decision in this book that will have readers with pets relating to Rose. Rain Reign is a nominee for the Iowa Children's Choice Award for the 2016-2017 school year. Author: Lisa Graff Published: 2014 Albie is a fifth grader who feels like he isn't good at anything. After being kicked out of a private school for not having good enough grades, Albie begins a new school at the start of fifth grade. Because both of Albie's parents work, they hire a nanny named Calista to watch Albie. At first, Albie thinks he's too old to need a babysitter, but he discovers that Calista actually listens to him and believes that he can do anything, including drawing amazing pictures of Donut Man and passing his impossible spelling test. She believes he is smart. Albie is picked to be in math club, much to his surprise. When he tells his math teacher, Mr. Clifton, that he thinks he should drop out because he's not good at math, Mr. Clifton shows him his old report card from when he was in school when he got an F in math. Mr. Clifton tells him that he hated math when he was younger and that he wasn't good at it. He decided to become a math teacher to help students who felt like he did when he was a kid. He tells Albie, "You can't get where you're going without being where you've been." I love Albie. He is kind, and he is passionate about things like donuts and Captain Underpants. He is funny and loyal, and he is absolutely good enough. Absolutely Almost is an Iowa Children's Choice Award nominee for the 2016-2017 school year. Author: Jerry Spinelli
Published: 2012 Jake and Lily are twins. They have something called goombla, a word they made up to describe the special connection they have as twins. They know when the other is in danger. They can never play hide and seek because they already know where the other is hiding before they even start looking. Jake and Lily have always been close. One summer, Jake starts to hang out with a group of boys who call themselves the Death Rays. Lily hates the leader of the Death Rays, Bump. She also hates that her brother spends more and more time with his new friends and away from her. Lily has always thought that Jake was the only friend she really needed. Now she must figure out how to be her own person with her own interests and her own friends. Jake likes hanging out with the Death Rays. They go looking for goobers, people who they find funny, and they laugh at them. One day, they find a supergoober named Ernie, who is attempting to build a clubhouse in his backyard. The safety goggles and the Mickey Mouse t-shirt he's wearing put him over the edge into the category of a supergoober. The Death Rays come back almost every day, making fun of Ernie. As time goes on, Jake starts to feel bad for Ernie. When Bump takes things too far, Jake has to decide if the Death Rays are really good people to hang out with or not. Jake and Lily is about growing up and figuring out the kind of person you want to be. It's about becoming your own person and finding yourself. Jake and Lily is an Iowa Children's Choice Award nominee for the 2016-2017 school year. I am currently making my way through the Iowa Teen Award and the Iowa Children's Choice Award nominees for the 2016-2017 school year. I highly doubt I'll get them all read before school starts, but I am trying my best to get a good chunk of them read while still reading at least one adult book a week so I have something to talk about at my public library book group. Author: Amy Timberlake Published: 2013 One Came Home is a historical fiction novel set in the year 1871. Georgie's older sister, Agatha, runs away from home after Georgie reveals a secret about her. The sheriff brings back Agatha's almost unrecognizable body a week later. The only way Georgie's mom can identify Agatha is because of the unique dress on the body. Georgie, however, is not convinced that Agatha is actually dead. She believes that the body belongs to someone else. She leaves town with Agatha's ex-beau, Billy, to find the truth. There is a lot of information on passenger pigeon migration, which I found really interesting. People in Georgie's town hope the pigeons nest near them. It would mean plenty of pigeons to sell and plenty of pigeon hunters new to town who need supplies. Georgie describes when the pigeons come and the sky goes black from the large amount of birds in the sky and how people had to run for shelter to escape the bird waste raining from the sky. I liked Georgie. She is stubborn and smart, and she knows what she believes. I appreciated how her story was messy and real. She explains why she includes these parts in her story, rather than making it seem like she was perfect-- "People in stories are sometimes expected to possess sterling character, to act with courageous purpose, and, on top of it all, to be a smidge smarter than everyone else. Well, maybe if I were writing my memoirs, I'd polish myself up and forget a few things. But I'm telling the entire truth now. My story, as best I can tell it, is all I have to offer." (p. 132) I like narrators like Georgie the best.
One Came Home is an Iowa Teen Award nominee for the 2016-2017 school year. Author: Sarah Darer Littman
Published: 2015 What happens when bullying goes too far? Lara and Bree used to be best friends. Now they're not. Lara had a tough time in middle school. She was bullied for the way she looked, and she was depressed. Ever since starting high school, Lara has been happier. She is happier with her body, and she is making friends. She even made the cheerleading squad, while Bree, who has been cheerleading a lot longer, did not. When a cute boy Lara has never met before starts flirting with her on Facebook chat, she thinks things are finally starting to fall into place. Until the boy writes mean things on her Facebook wall where everyone can see them. Then Lara makes a decision that will hugely affect her family and the community. Backlash deals with many issues readers may be able to relate to, including depression, cyberbullying, and the consequences that come after making poor decisions. I was very engaged while reading this book, and my heart broke for Lara and the pain she had to deal with. The portrayal of bullying and the way it harms people is very realistic and painful. Backlash is a nominee for the Iowa Teen Award for the 2016-2017 school year. Author: Ally Carter
Published: 2015 All Fall Down was a quick and suspenseful read. Grace knows her mother was murdered three years ago; she knows that 100%. The problem is that no one else believes her. When she claimed three years ago that she saw a man with a scar across his face shoot her mom, she was put into a facility and called crazy. Three years later, Grace is convinced she sees the "Scarred Man" again. She overhears him plotting to kill. This story takes place in a collection of foreign embassies in a country called Adria. Grace's grandfather is the ambassador of the United States embassy and is embarrassed of Grace and her reputation for being unbalanced. With the help of a few friends, Grace must figure out what the Scarred Man is up to and figure out how to get justice for her mom's death. I am usually the master at guessing endings (to the point where my husband hates watching crime shows with me), but I did not see this one coming! All Fall Down really made me think about how we label people without really getting to know them or understand them and somehow the label sticks, whether it's true or not. All Fall Down is a nominee for the Iowa Teen Award for the 2016-2017 school year. |
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