Author: Lisa Schroeder
Published: 2014 The Bridge from Me to You is about Lauren and Colby. Lauren's part of the book is written in verse, while Colby's part of the book is written in prose. Lauren is the new girl at school. She has moved in with her aunt and uncle because her mom kicked her out of her home. We don't know why Lauren's mom didn't want to live with her anymore, but we know that Lauren wishes she could go home because she misses her baby brother. Colby is a star football player. As a senior, his dad is pressuring him to pick a college to go to on a football scholarship. Colby, however, doesn't want to play football after high school. He wants to study architecture and bridges in school instead. His father doesn't understand, and he pressures Colby to be the absolute best football player. When Lauren and Colby first meet, they realize that they have feelings for one another. When Colby's dad forbids Colby from seeing Lauren anymore because she distracts him from playing football, the two decide that they can't be together and can only be friends. But can they just be friends? This story is really enjoyable. I loved the fact that half of it was written in verse. Lauren and Colby are both struggling with families who don't understand them. With each other they find acceptance and love. The Bridge from Me to You is an Iowa Teen Award nominee for the 2016-2017 school year.
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Author: April Henry Published: 2014 "For Alexis Frost, Nick Walker, and Ruby McClure, it all started with a phone call and two texts. It ended with fear and courage, love and loathing, screaming and blood. Lots of blood." The Body in the Woods begins with this memorable, spine-tingling quote. Alexis, Nick, and Ruby are a part of the teen Search and Rescue team in Portland, Oregon. This means that whenever someone goes missing, they are called to help look for the missing person. One day, a man goes missing, and the group is called to help find him. Another group finds the missing man; the group Alexis, Nick, and Ruby are in find the body of a dead teenage girl in the woods instead.
Now the three teens are trying to figure out who murdered this young girl. Ruby, an awkward and intelligent girl, thinks that this case is connected to another murder that occurred previously. She believes that serial killer is out there killing teenage girls. The police don't believe her; they think they are unrelated and that Ruby is just wasting their time. When another body shows up, it is up to the teens to review the murder cases and find out who the murderer is. They have to figure out who did it before the murderer kills one of them next. The teenagers are very believable characters. Each is dealing with their own issues. Ruby's parents don't want her on the Search and Rescue team because they think she is too obsessed with death. Nick's father died in Iraq, and he wants to be the hero that his father was. Alexis' mother is mentally ill and has run away; she is living on her own while looking for her mom. This book is very suspenseful, and it was so hard to put down! It's not often that you find thrillers in YA literature, but April Henry did a great job with this one. The Body in the Woods is an Iowa Teen Award nominee for the 2016-2017 school year. Author: Alex Gino
Published: 2015 George is a fourth grader. Other people see him as a boy, but George believes that she is a girl. She keeps a bunch of magazines that discuss make-up tips and show the current girls' fashion hidden in her closet so that she can look at them in private and imagine being able to dress up like the girls inside the magazines. Every year, the fourth grade classes put on a play for the younger kids in school. This year, the play is Charlotte's Web. George wants to be Charlotte so badly. She even auditions to play Charlotte, but her teacher says that only a girl can play Charlotte. George is devastated because she believes she is a girl, and she thought that if other people could see her playing Charlotte that they would begin to see her as a girl too. George describes the frustration and the sadness she feels at the thought of being stuck in a boy's body. There are bullies who try to make George's life harder, and many adults and kids just don't seem to understand. George hides her feelings. She tries to tell her family, but she finds it hard to get the words out. She finally tells her best friend Kelly, and the two come up with a plan to show everyone that George can be Charlotte and that she is truly a girl. This is such a great book. It is dedicated to "You, for when you felt different." Being different is something we can all relate to. The representation of a transgender character in junior fiction is really important, and it should be made available to all readers. Author: Avi
Published: 2011 This book was recommended to me by some sixth graders during Media class last week. They said it was really good, and they were right! This book takes place in 1893 in New York. Maks is a newsie, a person who sells newspapers on the streets. His family does not have a lot of money, so the money he makes all goes to help his family survive. A mean group of boys called the Plug Ugly Gang are after the newsies, robbing them and beating them up whenever they can. One day, Maks is about to lose the money he earned for the day by the gang, led by the biggest meanest boy named Bruno, but someone comes to his rescue. Willa, a homeless girl, beats the boys with a stick and scares them away. Now, the Plug Ugly Gang wants revenge. Maks brings Willa home with him and discovers that his sister has been arrested and is in jail for stealing an expensive watch from the hotel where she is an employee. Maks' parents are immigrants and do not know the system well enough to help their daughter. It is up to Maks and Willa to prove Emma's innocence with the help of an grouchy, old detective. This was a really great read. I felt like I was helping the kids solve the case along the way. The suspense made it hard for me to put the book down. I really loved the way that everything seemed to be connected. It made the end of the book very fulfilling. Will they solve the mystery? Is there more to Willa than meets the eye? Read City of Orphans and find out! Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Published: 2015 Ada never leaves her apartment. She only can stare out the window every day and watch the world pass her by. She would love to go outside, but her mother forces her to stay hidden inside, all because Ada has a twisted foot that keeps her from being able to walk. The War That Saved My Life takes place during World War II. Ada and her brother Jamie live alone with their mother. Their mom loves Jamie, but she absolutely hates Ada, all because she is embarrassed to have a child who was born the way Ada was born. Ada's mom hits her whenever she disobeys or tries to act like a normal girl. Often Ada is locked up in a small cupboard as punishment. During this time period, many children in England were sent to London to be kept safe from the threat of bombs. Ada's mom is going to force Ada to stay home and risk her life, but she sneaks away with Jamie. Jamie and Ada are sent to live with a woman named Susan, who makes it clear that she doesn't want to have children come live with her. As time goes on, the children become more and more comfortable with Susan and Susan starts to care for the children. Ada can go outside, and she experiences life like she never was able to before the war. Ada even gets crutches, and there is talk of an operation to help fix her foot so that she can walk on her own. But what will happen when the war is over and the kids are sent back to live with their mother? This story is heartbreaking. Ada has grown up believing that she is worth less than everyone else all because her foot was twisted when she was born. She struggles with accepting kindness from Susan and from other people because of her abusive mother. This is an interesting view on the war. While the war ruined lives, it saved Ada's life. Author: Maggie Thrash
Published: 2015 Honor Girl is a graphic memoir about Maggie, the author, who has spent every single summer as a girl at a camp called Camp Bellflower. Maggie and her friends have a great time at camp. They also have a choice in participating in a few different camp events (like canoeing, doing a play, tennis, etc.). Maggie decides to do shooting at the rifle range this summer and discovers that she is really good at it, much to the annoyance of another girl who thinks she is the best. Maggie meets a camp counselor named Erin and instantly likes her. It isn't until the camp has a lice scare and Maggie has to get checked for lice by Erin that Maggie begins to develop a crush on her. Maggie is confused because she has always only liked boys before. This graphic memoir explores these feelings Maggie had as a young girl at camp. I love the way this is written and illustrated. The girls in the graphic memoir act like young teenage girls would. It is believable and funny. It's important that a library collection includes books that all different kinds of students can relate to. I think this book is a great addition to a middle school library collection. Author: Leigh Bardugo
Published: 2012 In the land of Ravka, a place of complete darkness called the Fold separates one part of the country by another. Created a long time ago by an enemy, the Fold contains terrible creatures called volcra that kill anyone who tries to pass through. Alina, a mapmaker, and her best friend Mal, a tracker, are a part of a group of soldiers who must try to pass through the Fold to get to the other side. They are attacked by volcra, but Alina discovers that she has powers hidden deep inside her. She is a Grisha, a person who has magic. She is the only Grisha who has the power to summon light, which makes her the only hope to destroy the Fold. The Darkling, a powerful man, takes Alina under his wing and has her trained to use her power. He believes that she is the key to a better future for Ravka. Alina is separated from the life she knew and is thrust into a new life with riches beyond what she could have ever imagined. Is this new world all it seems? Or is there something dark hiding under the surface? Shadow and Bone is the first book in the Grisha trilogy. It contains magic and twists and turns. There's romance and suspense and hope and sadness. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I will definitely be picking up the rest in the series. Author: Raina Telgemeier; based on the novel by Ann M. Martin
Published: 2016 Claudia and her older sister, Janine, don't get along. They couldn't be more different. Janine is the smart one who studies all the time and gets good grades. Claudia loves art and struggles with school. The girls get into a big fight one night, and shortly after, their grandmother (who they call Mimi) has a stroke and needs to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. Meanwhile, the Babysitter's Club is starting a new summer program and members of the club have to get used to the newest member, Dawn. Janine and Claudia still to get along throughout the book. Can they put apart their differences and become closer as sisters? Will Mimi ever get better? Claudia and Mean Janine is another great graphic novel by Telgemeier. Author: Henry Clark
Published: 2013 One day, friends River, Fiona, and Freak find a random sofa right by their bus stop. They decide to look in the cushions of the sofa, and they discover a domino, a zucchini-colored crayon, a double-sided coin, and other random treasures. The three friends decide to sell the unique crayon and find out that it is extremely rare and worth a ton of money. The discovery of this crayon sets a series of events into motion. There is now someone after the crayon for an unknown reason. There have also been random moments during the day where every single person (besides Freak and River) will stop what they're doing and start doing something really silly, like sing a song together or dance. The friends find out that someone is beginning to control the minds of the people in their town. A man named Alf recruits the three friends to help him stop the man behind the mind control, who also happens to be the man after the zucchini-colored crayon. I enjoyed this book. it made me laugh, and it kept me interested the whole way through. In addition to adventure, there are a lot of science fiction and mystery elements. What We Found in the Sofa and How It Saved the World is an Iowa Children's Choice Award nominee for the 2016-2017 school year. Author: Kirby Larson Published: 2014 After the Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor during World War II on December 7, 1941, all the Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants were viewed as dangers to the United States. This was an unfair view on these innocent people, but many people blamed them and thought they were a part of the attack. Mitsi is a Japanese American, and she begins to be treated differently by her classmates and friends at school, and her two best friends won't even talk to her anymore. She begins to be bullied at school. At least Mitsi has her dog, Dash, to keep her company at home. Soon, everyone of Japanese descent is ordered to move away from their homes and move into camps. Mitsi must leave behind her house, her schooling, and even Dash. These camps are small, crowded, and smelly. The people are not free to leave whenever they want; they are prisoners. This is something that really happened in American history. People were forced out of their homes and had to live in these terrible conditions because of something that they didn't even have anything to do with. This book will make you think about how we unfairly group people together and judge them. This part of our history is often something that we don't talk about in schools. This book is based on a person who really existed and was sent to live in these camps. Dash is an Iowa Children's Choice Award nominee for the 2016-2017 school year. |
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