When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

From Goodreads,

"Winner of the 2010 Newbery Medal. Miranda is an ordinary sixth grader, until she starts receiving mysterious messages from somebody who knows all about her, including things that have not even happened yet. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she’s too late. For ages approx 9-14.

Four mysterious letters change Miranda's world forever. 

By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it's safe to go, like the local grocery store, and they know whom to avoid, like the crazy guy on the corner. 

But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a new kid for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda's mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then Miranda finds a mysterious note scrawled on a tiny slip of paper: 

I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own. 
I must ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter. 

The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows all about her, including things that have not even happened yet. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she's too late."

Goodreads - When You Reach Me

Awards and Nominations:

• Andre Norton Award Nominee (2009)
• Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction (2009)
• Newbery Medal (2010)
• IRA Children's and Young Adult's Book Award for Young Adult-Fiction (2010)
• Indies Choice Book Award for Middle Reader (2010)
• Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction and Poetry (2010)
• Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Nominee (2011)

I always read the summary/review of a book before I start reading it.  I know I shouldn't do this because it sets a tone before I ever start the book, but it is also good to have some kind of idea of what I'm getting myself into.  When I read through the Goodreads review for this book my first thought was that this sounded a LOT like the book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.  This gave me mixed feelings because I didn't really care for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close when I read it, and I had to hope that When You Reach Me wouldn't disappoint.

When You Reach Me is told by Miranda who is in the sixth grade.  She knows that she has her Mom and Richard, her best friend Sal, the lunatic on the street corner, and her favorite book.  All of these things are consistent and always there.  But one day Sal gets punched by a boy named Marcus and Sal decides that he doesn't want to be friends with Miranda.  This flips her world upside down as she tries to make new friends.  One day Miranda receives a mysterious note.  Then another and another and another.  There were 4 in total that explained they were just trying to save her friend's life and his own.  Miranda must work to figure out who is leaving the notes and what it all means.

This entire book is a mystery and I was absolutely there for it.  The entire time I was reading the book I was wondering who was sending the notes and why.  I did feel like it was someone we were introduced to early in the book, and sure enough it was.  Once I figured out who it was and what was happening I gave a loud audible gasp in shock.  I think that some my fourth graders would enjoy this book since there is the entire element of mystery of who was sending the notes.  I think that Stead did an excellent job at including lots of little hints sprinkled throughout the book, while also keeping an element of surprise until exactly the right moment.

There were two things I didn't like about this book.  One was that it referenced the book A Wrinkle In Time which interestingly enough was a Newbery Medal book.  The title of the book is never mentioned, but after a few references to the same book I did a little research and discovered the title of the book.  It was frustrating that the title was never mentioned, but I figure it was due to copyright.  I feel like I would have understood parts of the book better if I had read A Wrinkle In Time prior to reading When You Reach Me.  That being said, there were discussions that took place between characters that concerned time travel.  They talked about jumping forward and back in the future and the whole concept of it, and honestly it got a little confusing at times.  I feel that those parts would be something that would push kids away from reading this book because I think kids would say it was "hard" to read or understand.  There were some abstract concepts in this book and I would be weary about handing this to just any student.

Overall, this book was different that what I expected.  It was a good solid mystery, but was a little confusing at times.  I give this 4 out of 5 stars.  I would recommend it to some of my advanced readers, and as always recommend this to anyone reading the full list of Newbery Medal winners.  

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

From Goodreads,

"The story of Celadon pottery. From the Newbery Project: "2002 Newbery Medal Winner Tree-Ear is a young orphan boy who lives under a bridge with his companion, Crane-man, in 12th century Korea. The two friends never know where their next meal is coming from, but what is lacking in food and money is made up for in heart and friendship. When Tree-Ear is not scrounging for scraps of food, he watches master potter Min make his beautiful Korean Celadon pottery. One day he can't resist picking up a beautiful piece of pottery and ends up damaging the work. Because he can't repay Min in money, he agrees to work for Min to repay him in hopes of learning from this master potter. But Min has other things in store, and Tree-Ear finds himself doing excruciating manual labor. When the king sends his emissary to find potters for a lifelong commission, Tree-Ear finds himself going on a journey that forever changes his life. A Single Shard is a beautifully written and emotional novel about friendship, hope, love, and acceptance. Here's a passage near the beginning of the novel that particularly spoke to me: The gentle curves of the vase, its mysterious green color. The sharp angle of the plum twigs, their blackness stark amid the airy white blossoms. The work of a human, the work of nature; clay from the earth, a branch from the sky. A kind of peace spread through Tree-Ear, body and mind, as if while he looked at the vase and its branch, nothing could ever go wrong in the world. (p. 52) But things do go wrong in the world as we witness Tree-Ear on both his physical journey and his emotional journey in the book. Through Tree-Ear's story, the reader also learns a lot about pottery making during the 12th century and the hard work involved in creating one single piece of celadon pottery. The Author's Note at the end of the book along with an essay about celadon pottery teach us more about the time period and the art of creating this rare and beautiful pottery...""

Goodreads - A Single Shard

Awards and Nominations:

• Newbery Medal (2002)
• Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Nominee (2003)
• Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature for Children and Young Adult Honor (2003)
• Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award Nominee (2006)

When I was in tenth grade I had to take a beginning art class as a part of my graduation requirements.  I was blessed to have an amazing teacher who introduced us to so many techniques and mediums.  One of them that was by far my favorite was pottery.  I loved working with clay.  I remember making an Egyptian tablet that had my name written on it.  I also remember making a bowl that had Native American symbols around it.  While they were not perfect, they were definitely one of a kind and special to me.  So naturally when I realized this book was on my list of Newbery winners I knew I needed to jump in and devour it.

This book tells the story of a young boy named Tree-ear who is an orphan.  He lives with Crane-man who took him in as a young child.  Tree-ear enjoys watching the many potters in his village, but he enjoys watching Min in particular.  One day Tree-ear gets too close and accidentally breaks a piece of his work.  Min has him repay his debts, which later led to Tree-ear gaining an apprenticeship with Min.  As time passes Tree-ear must find if he has the courage and strength to complete the task Min has given him in hopes of one day working with clay.

Thousand Cranes Vase

I was 18 pages into this book when my boyfriend asked me how it was going.  I said it was horrible so far as I made fun of the characters' names and mentioned that the book took place in the 12th century.  He laughed along with me and I knew I would have to trudge through this book because it was on the Newbery Medal list.  The longer I read the more I found myself overlooking the names of the characters and I completely forgot that this took place in the 12th century.  I begin to focus on the pottery and the history behind it.  At the end of the book a piece of pottery is mentioned called the Thousand Cranes Vase.  No one knows who made it or even when.  Linda Park worked this piece of art into the book to leave the reader wondering if the fictional Tree-ear had made the vase in honor and memory of Crane-man.  After further research into this vase I came across a website for Linda Park that explained that the book was fiction, but the pottery and history mentioned in the book was based on actual pieces.  You can check out her website here, Linda Sue Park - A Single Shard.  I love that there was so much history in this book.  Park took a lot of time to research the process and methods of making pottery during this era.  If I were an art teacher I would be begging the literacy teacher to incorporate this to do some integration across the subjects.

I didn't enjoy this book at the beginning, but the longer I read the more invested I became.  I settled into the names of the characters and the way of life.  I think I would have been more excited to read this book had my copy of the book had a different cover.  Like many award winning books there are multiple covers, and the copy I had had the cover that I included in this review.  The other cover was more updated instead of looking like it just came from the 80s.  I give this 5 stars and recommend this to teachers and artists alike.  I think both the teachers and students would benefit from this book integrated into the classroom.  

42 Is Not Just A Number: The Odyssey of Jackie Robinson, American Hero by Doreen Rappaport

From Goodreads,

"An eye-opening look at the life and legacy of Jackie Robinson, the man who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball and became an American hero.

Baseball, basketball, football -- no matter the game, Jackie Robinson excelled. His talents would have easily landed another man a career in pro sports, but such opportunities were closed to athletes like Jackie for one reason: his skin was the wrong color. Settling for playing baseball in the Negro Leagues, Jackie chafed at the inability to prove himself where it mattered most: the major leagues. Then in 1946, Branch Rickey, manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, recruited Jackie Robinson. Jackie faced cruel and sometimes violent hatred and discrimination, but he proved himself again and again, exhibiting courage, determination, restraint, and a phenomenal ability to play the game. In this compelling biography, award-winning author Doreen Rappaport chronicles the extraordinary life of Jackie Robinson and how his achievements won over -- and changed -- a segregated nation."

Goodreads - 42 Is Not Just A Number

I read The Hero Two Doors Down a while back and actually placed the book in my classroom library.  Some of my boys read the book and absolutely loved it.  I purchased this book in hopes that more boys would find a book they would enjoy reading that was a rough and tough book about strength and sports. 

This book is nonfiction and is written in third person narrative.  It tells the story of Jackie Robinson from the time he was a child until he conquered segregation in major league baseball.

This book was a little disappointing in my opinion.  By the time I finished I had a few complaints.  The first problem was that this book had no pictures in it except for the cover photo and a picture of Jackie Robinson on the back.  I think it would have been really beneficial to include a couple insert pages that had photos or even including pictures throughout the book itself.  There were a couple historic moments mentioned in the book that would have been nice to have a picture right there with it, but instead I had to go look up the picture myself. 

Another problem I had was the way this book was written.  This book was very dry.  The information was thrown at us quickly and I felt like I didn't really have time to process it all.  The first few chapters were short as they captured a few moments in Jackie's childhood.  The chapters got a little lengthier as the book went on into his adulthood, but there was still something that didn't sit right with me.  Each chapter was an important moment or milestone for Jackie, and I think that that took away from a good progression in the book.  One chapter would take place in one year, then the next chapter would be a few years later.  I felt like there were gaps in this which made me wonder what was going on in that time frame that wasn't included for us.  I'm a firm believer that if you are going to tell us the story of someone or something, then you need to be committed to doing it justice by giving us all the details. 

I think that some of my boys would enjoy this book, but I think that many would find it boring.  I expected so much more out of this book.  I was very disappointed and unfortunately have to give it 2 out of 5 stars.  I'm going to place this in my classroom library in hopes that some kiddo likes baseball decides to read it. 

Ascent by Roland Smith

From Goodreads,

"A few months after returning from Afghanistan, Peak Marcello is in Myanmar visiting Alessia. Myanmar has been in the grips of a brutal military regime for more than fifty years, but recently the government has allowed more tourists to enter.   While there, Peak is invited to climb Hkakabo Razi, one of the most isolated mountains in the world, to discover the exact elevation of the mountain. But getting to the mountain will involve a four-week trek through tropical rain forests rife with hazards—from venomous reptiles and leeches to corrupt police and military. In the end, summiting Hkakabo Razi may be the easiest thing Peak does."

Goodreads - Ascent

I read Peak when I was in high school.  I found the book at a thrift store last summer and decided to reread it.  That lead to me discovering that Roland Smith had published a second book titled, The Edge.  In ordering that book I found that Smith was publishing ANOTHER book titled Ascent.  I ordered was able to get it and quickly started reading it while the story of Peak and his friends were still fairly fresh in my memory. 

Ascent starts just months after where The Edge leaves off.  Peak gets the opportunity to go climb Hkakabo Razi with his friend Aleesia and her bodyguard Ethan.  But to get to the mountain they must first endure the hardships of the tropical rainforest from the animals and insects living within to the murderous mad man hunting them.  The book and Peak continue to ascend in hopes he reaches the summit. 

I absolutely loved Peak when I read it, and I thought that The Edge was okay.  But Ascent was a whole new level.  When the book first started in the rainforest I felt like I was just dropped off in the middle of a book with no back story on how or why we were where we were.  So naturally I hated this book when it first started.  It was slow and I was trudging through it, much like the characters were in the book.  Things picked up in the middle of the book, and I found myself getting a little more invested in it.  But once the third part of the book started I was so pumped up and excited for Peak to climb Hkakabo Razi.  It wasn't until the day after I finished the book that I realized Smith had written this so that the reader was feeling the same way as the characters in the book, and that they too were making the ascent to the summit.  I don't know if he meant for this to happen, but I definitely loved that the book started slow and picked up pace as we went on until we reached the top or the end of the book.

The only thing I absolutely despised was the beginning and ending of this book.  As I said earlier I felt like I picked up a book and started reading in the middle without getting a solid back story.  But the ending killed me.  I was so excited to see what happened on the climb back down and what obstacles they would encounter.  Did I get that?  No.  The book ended.  It just ended with everyone standing all happily overlooking the mountain.  I needed more after the summit.  I wanted there to be danger and excitement well after the summit had been reached.  I seriously hope that Smith decides to write a fourth book to give me more about Peak and his team. 

I am a big fan of the Peak Marcello series and this book did not disappoint.  I give this 5 stars and would love to get a set of the Peak series to put in my classroom.  (I rarely let students get their hands on my personal copies.)  I would recommend this to fans of the Peak series or people who enjoy adventure books. 

I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson

From Goodreads,

"“We were all heading for each other on a collision course, no matter what. Maybe some people are just meant to be in the same story.” 

At first, Jude and her twin brother Noah, are inseparable. Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude wears red-red lipstick, cliff-dives, and does all the talking for both of them. 

Years later, they are barely speaking. Something has happened to change the twins in different yet equally devastating ways . . . but then Jude meets an intriguing, irresistible boy and a mysterious new mentor. 

The early years are Noah’s to tell; the later years are Jude’s. But they each have only half the story, and if they can only find their way back to one another, they’ll have a chance to remake their world. 

This radiant, award-winning novel from the acclaimed author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once."

Goodreads - I'll Give You The Sun

Awards and Nominations:

• Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction (2014)
• Stonewall Book Award Nominee for Children's and Young Adult Literature (2015)
• Georgia Peach Book Award Nominee for Honor Book (2015)
• Josette Frank Award for Younger Readers (2015)
• Michael L. Printz Award (2015)
• Premio El Templo de las Mil Puertas Nominee for Mejor novela extranjera independiente (2015)
• Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award Nominee for Young Adults (2016)
• Milwaukee County Teen Book Award Nominee (2016)
• The Inky Awards for Silver Inky (2016)
• Lincoln Award Nominee (2016)

Summer means I get to spend all my free time lounging about reading.  But now that summer is wrapping up I'm trying to get all the reading in that I can before school starts up.  I typically grab a book off the shelf and start reading.  I just so happened to grab this stunning hardback.  The book was big, heavy, and daunting.  I wanted to put it back on the shelf, but decided that I was going to read it eventually so I should go ahead and start then.  After finishing this book I counted up how long it took me to read it.  I figured it was roughly 36 hours from the time I read page one to the time I finished it completely.  This book was absolutely phenomenal in so many different ways.

This book is told by Jude and Noah who are a set of twins.  In their lives there is an event that happens.  Noah tells the story from when he and his sister were 13-14 before the event.  Jude tells the story when they are 16 after the event.  Their lives have changed over the years and they each have their own side to the story.  Each chapter rotates from one twin to the other, while they tell their side of the story until it all falls into place at the end in a blazing finale.

I honestly don't even know where to begin in reviewing this book!  That is how great it was.  But I must start somewhere, so I'll start with the structure of the book.  I don't mind reading books that rotate narrators, but it is a very delicate situation.  It needs to be approached in the right way in order for the book to be successful.  I recently reviewed a book where I absolutely hated rotating between the two narrators, which could have been because each character was written by two separate authors.  This book was completely written by Jandy Nelson.  I liked that because the writing style was similar from one character to the next, but there was still something that set Jude and Noah apart.  Since Nelson developed both characters, their stories were woven together delicately and precisely.  When I first started this I didn't really like how we were jumping from past to present every other chapter, but I eventually saw that we were getting small pieces of the puzzle from both the past and the present.  The moment I realized that was happening I was sold on the format of this book.

Jude and Noah were the two main characters in this book.  I absolutely love how they were one way when they were younger, but somewhat swapped places once they were older.  I like that they had independent and developed personalities, but they also had similar traits that somewhat connected them as twins.  I feel like so many characters in books nowadays are underdeveloped.  I felt like I knew both Jude and Noah on a personal level.  There were other characters in the book that I wasn't connected to due to lack of character development, but of course they weren't the focus of this book.  Nelson did an excellent job at developing Jude and Noah into what seemed to be living and breathing people.

Another thing I want to talk about is the wisdom that I found in this book.  Jude's grandma had a bible that was full of quotes and little scriptures and sayings.  Jude followed them religiously.  Things like giving someone an orange will make their love for you multiply.  There were some quirky sayings, but there were some that were good.  We also heard from some famous philosophers and painters and some of their quotes spoke to me, while some did not.  My favorite quote was:

"So Plato talked about these beings that used to exist that had four legs and four arms and two heads.  They were totally self-contained and ecstatic and powerful.  Too powerful, so Zeus cut them all in half and scattered all the halves around the world so that humans were doomed to forever look for their other half, the one who shared their very soul.  Only the luckiest humans find their split-apart, you see."

When I read this I got kind of tingly inside.  When people get married they will say they found their other half.  They are indicating that they found the other half of their body and their soul.  I wondered to myself if I would ever find the other half of my body and soul.  I also asked myself if I had already found that and let it go.  I loved the quotes and quirky sayings that were all throughout the book.  It made me excited to turn the page and see what else the book was going to offer up to me.

The only negative thing I have to say about this book was that some of the chapters were unbearably long.  There was one that was over 50 pages long.  At that point I have just read a mini book within a book.  I like shorter chapters because it makes it easier for me to pick up and put down a book.  I don't like to stop reading in the middle of the page in the middle of a chapter.  I like to read until the next chapter and stop.  There was one evening where I was sitting there reading and I decided that I would grab dinner at the end of the chapter.  I read and read and read and read.  I finally flipped forward until I found the next chapter.  It was over 30 pages away!  I ended up just pausing to get food then came back.  Long chapters are at turn off for me, but fortunately the book had tons of other amazing things happening.

I loved this book and the way it was written.  The long chapters were a downer, but the characters and quirkiness of the book was a huge plus.  Since I make the rules of the blog, I give this book 6 out of 5 stars.  It was an absolutely amazing read that I recommend to anyone!

Slider by Pete Hautman

From Goodreads,

"Competitive eating vies with family expectations in a funny, heartfelt novel for middle-grade readers by National Book Award winner Pete Hautman.

David can eat an entire sixteen-inch pepperoni pizza in four minutes and thirty-six seconds. Not bad. But he knows he can do better. In fact, he'll have to do better: he's going to compete in the Super Pigorino Bowl, the world's greatest pizza-eating contest, and he has to win it, because he borrowed his mom's credit card and accidentally spent $2,000 on it. So he really needs that prize money. Like, yesterday. As if training to be a competitive eater weren't enough, he's also got to keep an eye on his little brother, Mal (who, if the family believed in labels, would be labeled autistic, but they don't, so they just label him Mal). And don't even get started on the new weirdness going on between his two best friends, Cyn and HeyMan. Master talent Pete Hautman has cooked up a rich narrative shot through with equal parts humor and tenderness, and the result is a middle-grade novel too delicious to put down."

Goodreads - Slider

I feel like food always brings people together.  I have countless memories with one of my college suitemates of us making late night Taco Bell runs.  We would sit in our common room huddled around a tiny end table laughing and telling stories.  I have memories of going to Chili's with my best friend and always ordering the same thing, until we finally grew up one day and started trying other food.  Food brings lots of warm and fuzzy feelings for me, which is why this book with sliders all over the cover caught my attention.

Slider is told by a teenager named David.  David is the middle child with a studious older sister and an autistic younger brother.  He sometimes feels sandwiched in the middle where he doesn't get much attention.  But David is fascinated with people eating food in record time, which he realizes he is pretty good at himself.  After accidentally spending $2000 on his mom's credit card, he decides to sign up for the local pizza eating contest.  David must learn to eat in record time, while also learning how he fits in with his family. 

I absolutely adored this book.  I am a huge fan of diversity in books and this book had just that.  David was the typical kid, but he ate a lot.  There was the seemingly perfect sibling.  There was the workaholic dad and the busy mom.  But I think my favorite character of all had the fewest words, and that was the little brother Mal.  He is autistic, although his family doesn't like to label him.  Throughout the book we learn about what some of his sensory issues are and how he reacts.  I think this is a perfect way for other people and students to learn about people who have autism and that a label doesn't define them.  This wasn't the entire focus of the book, but it was subtly worked in so that you were still learning about it.  This is the perfect way to make a book diverse because so many students are on the spectrum, and we don't even realize it!  I loved Mal and all his little quirks.  It was really enjoyable to see David learn about Mal and how his autism affects him. 

Something else that I really loved about this book was all the food!  Each chapter, with the exception of a few, were labeled with a food item.  For example, pizza, Cheerios, onion rings, etc. were all names chapters.  But those items were somehow included in the chapter.  It was fun to find the title of the chapter somewhere in the chapter itself.  The only problem was that the chapter titles and their contents made me very hungry while I was reading!

There wasn't really anything that I didn't like about this book.  I can recall one instance where there was a cuss word, but other than that it was wonderful.  I give this 5 stars and will absolutely be putting this in my classroom library.  I think fourth graders would really enjoy this book and all the food included in it!

The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore

From Goodreads,

"A boy tries to steer a safe path through the projects in Harlem in the wake of his brother’s death in this outstanding debut novel that celebrates community and creativity.

It’s Christmas Eve in Harlem, but twelve-year-old Lolly Rachpaul and his mom aren’t celebrating. They’re still reeling from his older brother’s death in a gang-related shooting just a few months earlier. Then Lolly’s mother’s girlfriend brings him a gift that will change everything: two enormous bags filled with Legos. Lolly’s always loved Legos, and he prides himself on following the kit instructions exactly. Now, faced with a pile of building blocks and no instructions, Lolly must find his own way forward.

His path isn’t clear—and the pressure to join a “crew,” as his brother did, is always there. When Lolly and his friend are beaten up and robbed, joining a crew almost seems like the safe choice. But building a fantastical Lego city at the community center provides Lolly with an escape—and an unexpected bridge back to the world. 

David Barclay Moore paints a powerful portrait of a boy teetering on the edge—of adolescence, of grief, of violence—and shows how Lolly’s inventive spirit helps him build a life with firm foundations and open doors."

Goodreads - The Stars Beneath Our Feet

Awards and Nominations:

• John Steptoe New Talent Award (2018)
• Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award (2018)

Favorite quote from The Stars Beneath Our Feet, 

"Rosamund, when you die, they bury you, but your soul flies to the stars.  Your mama, your daddy - they were buried under the ground, but they're stars now, girl, stars beneath our feet."

The title of a book is one of the most important parts of a book in my opinion.  The title has to be strong enough to catch the attention of the reader, but also strong enough to carry the entire meaning and soul of the book.  Most books have the title of the book somewhere in the book itself.  I always look for the title while I'm reading.  Interestingly enough, the title of this book happened to be found in my favorite quote from this book.

The Stars Beneath Our Feet starts with a young boy named Lolly who is trying to come to terms with the fact that his older brother Jermaine is dead.  The streets of Harlem finally got to his older brother and it cost him his life.  Lolly is trying to figure out how to live with the fact that Jermaine is dead, and that they had a big fight before he was killed.  Lolly's mom's girlfriend keeps bringing Lolly trash bags full of Legos.  He works to create a masterpiece that will hopefully help piece his life back together.

Partway through the book Lolly makes a new friend named Rose.  Rose is dealing with things just like Lolly is.  They end up building Lego cities together in the same room, and eventually they interact with each other.  We didn't really learn a lot about Rose, but there were noticeable markers that made me say, "Yup.  She is on the autism spectrum."  Of course Rose told Lolly she wasn't.  Eventually Rose had to move to a different home because she tested on the spectrum.  I absolutely loved that this girl was included in the book and that she had made leaps and strides to overcome her social anxiety and had learned to read people's emotions and body language.  But along with her making all this progress, she had to leave her home because she wasn't getting the care she needed.  I really liked that an adult in the book reported her case because she was being neglected.  I feel like so many times adults make excuses for other adult's actions.  I hear it all the time that they are doing the best they can and they are trying.  That is great that they are doing the best they can and that they are trying, but is the child suffering because of it?  Is the child getting the care they need and deserve?  As an educator, I have to think of the child and their needs first.  I think it was great that the person that called in Rose's situation did it because it needed to be done.  She wasn't getting the help she needed.  It isn't easy to make that call, but sometimes it has to be done.

There are so many things about this book that I did not like, but I'm going to focus on the one big thing that drove me crazy...the grammar.  The grammar was absolutely atrocious in this book.  The author's note at the end explained that it was written that way because that is how they talk in Harlem.  That there are so many different vernaculars it is hard to tell one from the other just blocks apart from each other.  While I was reading this book I actually mentioned to my boyfriend how difficult it was for me to read because I wasn't used to this vernacular.  I told him that when I was in junior high we read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and I failed so many tests over that book because their vernacular was so foreign to me.  About halfway into the book I somewhat settled into their language, but it was still a hard read for me to get through grammatically.

This book had a lot to be desired.  I'm not sure how it won two awards.  I felt like the storyline of Jermaine being shot was kind of lost.  It was mentioned here and there throughout the book, but it wasn't really a big pivotal piece of the book.  I give this 2 out of 5 stars.  I don't know that I would recommend this book to anyone.  I don't think it is interesting enough for young adults, but I think it is too boring for adults.  

The Courage Test by James Preller

From Goodreads,

"Will has no choice. His father drags him along on a wilderness adventure in the footsteps of legendary explorers Lewis and Clark--whether he likes it or not. All the while, Will senses that something about this trip isn't quite right.

Along the journey, Will meets fascinating strangers and experiences new thrills, including mountain cliffs, whitewater rapids, and a heart-hammering bear encounter.

It is a journey into the soul of America's past, and the meaning of family in the future. In the end, Will must face his own, life-changing test of courage.

A father-and-son journey along the Lewis and Clark Trail--from Fort Mandan to the shining sea--offers readers a genre-bending blend of American history, thrilling action, and personal discovery."

Goodreads - Courage Test

This past school year one of my students had a lot going on in life.  They enjoyed reading and had ask for some book recommendations.  It was a precarious situation because I wanted to make sure I got a book that would be a positive thing and not something that would trigger a past memory.  I let the student read through some of my book recommendations on Scholastic and pick which one he wanted me to order.  He settled upon this book.  Once the book got in I gave it to him and told him to return it when he finished as it was my copy.  Needless to say he never started the book and it appeared back on my desk within the week.  I however read through this book in a day.

This book follows Will and his dad as they follow in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark.  Will's mom practically shoves him out the door to go on the trip with his father.  He doesn't want too and makes plans to dig in his heels.  But as the trip progresses Will learns things about his father and about himself.  Together they must complete the quest together and figure out how to tackle any situations that are sent their way.

Favorite quote from The Courage Test, 

"When it comes to finding a way to get my dad to light up, books are the best conductors."

This book centers around Will and his dad trekking across the country while following in the footsteps of famous explorers Lewis and Clark.  Since Lewis and Clark had such an important piece in this book it immediately fell into the historical fiction genre.  I am 25 years old and I don't honestly remember a lot about Lewis and Clark and their journey across America.  There are little tidbits that I remember, but this book retaught a lot of their expedition.  I love that Preller brought the historical facts about Lewis and Clark into this book.  The majority of the information was given by the dad.  He is a fan of the journey and he shares a LOT of information about the two and their expedition.  I think the information was included perfectly because the book does take place in present day.  I'm not usually a fan of historical fiction, but I really enjoyed this book and the history that was included.

I had two problems with this book.  One was that the cover really had no connection to the book itself.  The cover shows a board game type situation.  Spoiler alert:  There were no board games in this book.  The second problem I had was that the back cover stated that someone was going to be facing a life changing illness.  Honestly, the illness could have been excluded from this book.  It was something that was barely mentioned, and only then at the VERY end of the book.  I honestly expected it to be a big storyline that was woven into the journey, but it wasn't.  I felt like that was a bit of a letdown because I was looking forward to Will having to find himself and the courage to handle the illness that was presented before him.  But he didn't.  I personally would have left the illness out of the book entirely.

Overall, this was a good historical fiction book for young adults.  I think many students would enjoy this book especially in the fourth to sixth grade range.  I give this 4 stars and will be putting this in my classroom library.

Missing May by Cynthia Rylant

From Goodreads,

Since Summer was six years old she lived with dear Aunt May and Uncle Ob.  Now, six years later, Aunt May has died.  Summer, who misses May with all her might, is afraid something will happen to Ob.  Most days Ob seems like he doesn't want to go on.  But then Ob feels May's spirit around him and he wants to contact her.  Cletus Underwood, a strange boy from school, reads about someone who could help him do that.  Summer wants to hear from May too.  

Ob and Summer don't know what to expect when they set off on their search for some sign from May.  They only know they need something to ease their sorrow and give them strength to go on living - always knowing they will never stop missing May.  

Goodreads - Missing May

Awards and Nominations:

• Newbery Medal (1993)
• Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Nominee (1994)

It's time for another Newbery Award book!  This one naturally has a special place because this was the book that won the award the year I was born.  For me it kind of gives an example of what was popular in the book world in 1993.

Missing May is told from the perspective of a young girl named Summer.  We quickly find that her mother died when she was just a child and that her lovely aunt and uncle took her in.  But one day Aunt May passes away and it leaves Summer and Uncle Ob upset and sad.  They don't know if they can get on without Aunt May, Uncle Ob especially.  With the help of a strange kid Cletus, Summer is determined to make Uncle Ob feel better and not miss Aunt May so much. 

I consider the Newbery award to be the highest honor in children's books.  So when a book receives this award, or even the honor award, I take it seriously.  I think highly of the award and 90% of the time I will purchase a book just because it was Newbery award or honor book.  This was the first time that I really disliked a Newbery Award winning book.  I sat down and read this book straight through.  At the end of it I was like wow...that was shallow and horrible.  I felt like the book lacked character development with all of the characters.  They were all dull with no personality.  On top of that there was absolutely no storyline in this book.  Aunt May passed away and then they all went on a trip.  That was it.  No fun and light hearted events.  No serious events that made the characters reach into their souls and feelings.  It was absolutely horrible. 

This book was highly disappointing, but not nearly as disappointing as the list of other books that were up for the award.  If you are going through the entire list of Newbery winners, then you'll naturally have to read this book.  I give this 1 star only because I refuse to give books a 0.  

Polar: The Titanic Bear by Daisy Corning Stone Spedden

From Goodreads,

"Written by American heiress Daisy Corning Stone Spedden for her son Douglas--as a Christmas present the year after they escaped the doomed Titanic--this charming and intriguing story gives an enthralling account of the disaster as seen through the eyes of Stephen's teddy bear. Illustrated with evocative watercolors, family photos, postcards, and keepsakes."

Goodreads - Polar: The Titanic Bear

Awards and Nominations:

• Books I Loved Best Yearly (BILBY) Awards for Younger Readers (1998)

When I was in second grade I fell in love with a Titanic book that was in our classroom library.  There happened to be another person in my class who also loved the book.  She ended up becoming my best friend and we like to say we bonded over the Titanic.  Needless to say the Titanic and everything surrounding it absolutely fascinates me.  I love the movie, the documentaries, the books, the museums.  All of it.  Over spring break I went on a mini vacation to the Titanic Museum in Branson.  I was in my element and wanted to read and listen to absolutely everything.  Unfortunately I didn't due to time.  At the end of the museum is a gift shop.  I shopped around and checked out the books.  This book was there and I wanted to purchase it, but decided the Titanic ship piggy bank I wanted took priority.  Luckily I found this book in good condition at a resale shop.  I immediately pounced on it and devoured it. 

Polar: The Titanic Bear is about a Steiff bear that belongs to a very fortunate little boy.  The story is told from the perspective of the bear from the beginning to the end.  The boy is referred to as Master by the bear.  We see the two become best friends and endure hardships and journeys.  Eventually they end up on the grandest ship of them all.  We all know how that story ends, but the real story lies in what happens to the boy and his bear.  

I absolutely loved this book!  The first big thing is that this is based on a true story.  There are first hand accounts written into this book which makes it all more genuine.  There are pictures of the actual people integrated into the pages and story.  I really like how there are pieces of historical events in this book.  We see the boy and bear endure the measles and enjoy the Panama Canal.  There are pictures of all of these memorable moments throughout the book.  Of course we eventually reach the story of the Titanic.  We find that the entire family got off safely, but we also find out how they felt and their reactions.  For example, the little boy clung to his bear and slept.  I love the entire historical integration that was in this book, especially at the end.  The epilogue was wonderfully written and was full of details of the family throughout the years and what happened to them after the sinking.  

I think that many of my students who find interest in the Titanic would find interest in this book.  I recommend this to all Titanic lovers.  I give this 5 stars!

Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner

From Goodreads,

"What if you could spend one last day with someone you lost?

One day Carver Briggs had it all—three best friends, a supportive family, and a reputation as a talented writer at his high school, Nashville Academy for the Arts.

The next day he lost it all when he sent a simple text to his friend Mars, right before Mars, Eli, and Blake were killed in a car crash.

Now Carver can’t stop blaming himself for the accident, and he’s not the only one. Eli’s twin sister is trying to freeze him out of school with her death-ray stare. And Mars’s father, a powerful judge, is pressuring the district attorney to open a criminal investigation into Carver’s actions.

Luckily, Carver has some unexpected allies: Eli’s girlfriend, the only person to stand by him at school; Dr. Mendez, his new therapist; and Blake’s grandmother, who asks Carver to spend a Goodbye Day with her to share their memories and say a proper goodbye to his friend.

Soon the other families are asking for a Goodbye Day with Carver, but he’s unsure of their motives. Will they all be able to make peace with their losses, or will these Goodbye Days bring Carver one step closer to a complete breakdown or—even worse—prison?"

Goodreads - Goodbye Days

Awards and Nominations:

• Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction (2017)
• AML Award for Best Young Adult Novel (2017)
• Lincoln Award Nominee (2019)

Everyone has a cell phone, including young kids.  It has become a part of our body.  We take it with us to the bathroom, we have it nearby when we eat dinner, and we most definitely have it within arms reach while we are driving.  Everyone will admit that texting and driving is wrong, but alas we still do it.  The phone buzzes and we reach for it to see who it is.  We will send a "quick text" while we are stopped at a stoplight, because we aren't technically driving at that moment.  Texting and driving is so dangerous, and thankfully this informative book tells the story of a texting and driving accident through the eyes of a teenager.  

Carver is a typical teenager with three best friends: Mars, Blake, and Eli.  Carver's three friends were on their way to pick him up when Carver sent a text to Mars who was driving.  Mars tried to respond and ended up crashing the car which fatally killed all three passengers.  In the days following the aftermath Carver must figure out if he is guilty or not.  While Carver is trying to figure out how to live again, Blake's grandma reaches out about doing a goodbye day to have closure and peace to what happened.  Together they spend the day doing all of Blake's favorite things.  One by one, Carver has a goodbye day with each of the families to help them get closure, and to help himself get closure on what happened.  

Favorite quote from Goodbye Days: 

"Night descends as a falling blanket.  The city is a constellation of lights, each one representing a hand that turned the lightbulb.  A hand attached to a mind containing a universe of memories and myths; a natural history of loves and wounds."

This book was perfect in every single way.  The biggest and obvious message in this book is to not text and drive and to not text people when you know they are driving.  I absolutely hate when I tell someone that I'm leaving and driving to X location and a few minutes later they will text me.  It's irritating and distracting.  I should probably turn my phone to silent to help alleviate this distraction, but like many people I know, I don't.  This book sends such a strong message about not texting and driving.  Carver texted his friend who was driving and that resulted in him looking at his phone and the car crashed.  Carver had to deal with the guilt he felt over what had happened.  I think for many young people they can picture themselves and their friends in this book.  Carver went from being a member of a group of four to being the only one left.  He was all alone because of one text message.  I think this book should be a required read for everyone when they get their learner's permit or their driver's license.  Young people (and adults!) need to know the dangers of texting and driving.  It takes one simple glance at a phone to end your life or someone else's.

"For the most part, you don't hold the people you love in your heart because they rescued you from drowning or pulled you from a burning house.  Mostly you hold them in your heart because they save you, in a million quiet and perfect ways, from being alone."

I loved the quote above because it really made me think about the people I care about and cherish.  Carver, like many people, took his friends for granted.  He didn't realize what he had until it was gone.  People live their day to day life and don't think about people and the way they have impacted us.  I know that when I was in high school I was one member of a group of eight.  We were a very close group and we have many memories together.  The last time all eight of us were together was at graduation.  I honestly thought we would all keep in touch and continue to be friends, but we didn't.  We have drifted apart.  I still keep in touch will some of the girls, but there are others that I haven't heard from in a while.  I will forever hold these girls close to my heart because as the quote above says, "They saved me in a million quiet and perfect ways from being alone."  If we hadn't all become friends we would have been alone throughout the ups and downs of high school.  I honestly didn't know what I had until graduation was over and we had all parted ways.  Unlike Carver, all of my friends are still alive and well, and I miss each and every one of them every single day.

I absolutely loved this book and think that all teenagers should have to read it.  It was so moving and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time wondering what was going to happen with the investigation and during all of the goodbye days.  It was wonderfully written by Zentner and it made extremely excited to read some of his other work.  I give this a solid 5 out of 5 stars! 

Bionic by Suzanne Weyn

From Goodreads,

"Mira has always almost had it all... until it all crashes and burns. She's hurt in a horrible car accident, and the only way the doctors can help is to try experimental prosthetics and chips that are implanted directly into her brain. It's a huge risk, but after months of testing and therapy, Mira is back, and better than ever.But soon her friends turn against her as their parents call her on unfair advantages and get her cut from lacrosse and the scholarships she was depending on for college. And with her enhanced hearing, she knows how many people in her school and her town are calling her a robot, a cyborg.Is that true? Is Mira human, or is she somehow something other? How can she overcome the ways people see her and just be herself... especially if she's not really sure who that is anymore?Suzanne Weyn is always at the cutting edge when it comes to new tech and the questions it raises about the world we live in."

Goodreads - Bionic

People always say, "Don't judge a book by its cover."  Which is a great saying and all, but doesn't the cover usually have some kind of connection with the story itself?  The cover of this book mesmerized me.  There was something about the way the blue faded into the pink that caught my attention.  Plus there was the appearance of wiring and hardware that appeared on top of the photo.  The cover of this book had me sold.  After reading the book I realized that the cover, the summary, and the actual story didn't entirely line up.

This book follows Mira who was an excellent lacrosse player and was in a band.  Then one night the band is in a car accident which results in her losing limbs and being severely injured.  Mira gets the newest prosthetics and gets a chip implanted in her brain that responds to her new limbs.  She now feels like she is at the top of her game all the time, but at what point does she stop having feelings at all.

This book was definitely strange, but I loved the whole concept of advanced technology helping us.  In the book Mira is fortunate enough to receive prosthetics that can respond to a chip that is implanted in her head.  Scary, I know.  But think of how amazing it would be to have a chip implanted that can now respond to your prosthetic.  If you lost a limb then you would be able to resume a fairly normal life all thanks to a chip.  This could help veterans who lost limbs during war or help victims of bombings and accidents gain their life back.  I'm glad that Weyn really centered her book around the technological advancements, both the good and the bad.  I think that having this kind of positive outlook on technology really helps spark interests to go into STEM careers.  Somewhere out there is a kid who read this book, they connected with it on a personal level, and they are going to want to go into a career to help make advancements like this happen.

I really enjoyed the technology theme in the book, but I did not like how the book was written.  It was really choppy.  The first chapter was written as if Mira was in and out of consciousness, which I guess technically she was.  I thought that once she was out of it the book would resume a normal chapter schedule, but it didn't.  The book had some chapters labeled with months, or there would be a new month in the middle of a chapter.  It was a very confusing structure.  I would have enjoyed the book more if Chapter 1 had been a month, then Chapter 2 the next month.  But unfortunately Weyn took a strange approach, and I think it took away from the book a little.

Another thing that was bothersome was that the cover, the summary, and the actual book didn't exactly line up.  The summary that I read indicated that someone was going to start controlling Mira.  The cover gave the impression that it was about a girl and technology.  The book however was about a girl having a copper chip and prosthetics and learning how to live a normal life again.  I was so disappointed that the three did not line up.  From the summary itself I was totally looking forward to a girl having prosthetics and a copper chip that would later be controlled by the government.  I was definitely excited about the government or some bad guy stepping in and controlling her until she eventually had enough.  Unfortunately that didn't happen and I was let down. 

I think that this book is best fit for teenagers.  I expect that teens who have lost a limb or know someone who has would find the most joy out of this book.  I personally did not connect with any of the characters.  I give this 3 stars out of 5.

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

From Goodreads,

"Chronicles the close friendship between two Japanese-American sisters growing up in rural Georgia during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the despair when one sister becomes terminally ill. kira-kira (kee' ra kee' ra): glittering; shining Glittering. That's how Katie Takeshima's sister, Lynn, makes everything seem. The sky is kira-kira because its color is deep but see-through at the same time. The sea is kira-kira for the same reason. And so are people's eyes. When Katie and her family move from a Japanese community in Iowa to the Deep South of Georgia, it's Lynn who explains to her why people stop them on the street to stare. And it's Lynn who, with her special way of viewing the world, teaches Katie to look beyond tomorrow. But when Lynn becomes desperately ill, and the whole family begins to fall apart, it is up to Katie to find a way to remind them all that there is always something glittering -- kira-kira -- in the future. Luminous in its persistence of love and hope, Kira-Kira is Cynthia Kadohata's stunning debut in middle-grade fiction."

Goodreads - Kira-Kira

Awards and Nominations:

• Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature for Youth Literature (2005)
• Newbery Medal (2005)
• Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Nominee (2006)

My boyfriend and I decided to read all the books that had been awarded the Newbery Medal Award.  We started at the top of the list with the 2017 winner The Girl Who Drank The Moon.  I quickly devoured the book while he slowly trudged through it.  He eventually stopped reading it and never finished it.  I guess you can't force a gamer to become a book nerd.  But I figured it had been a while since I had read and reviewed a Newbery Medal book that it was time to get another one crossed off the list.  

Kira-Kira is told from the perspective of Katie, a young Japanese-American girl who is the middle child of three.  She adores her older sister Lynn, and her younger brother Sam adores her.  Her sister taught her about kira-kira which means glittering in Japanese.  When they were younger they would use the phrase carelessly talking about all the things they thought were kira-kira.  Katie goes through life as her parents work constantly to care for her and her siblings.  Over time her sister started to grow up, but she also started to grow sick.  Katie learns the true meaning of kira-kira as the book comes to a close. 

When I first started this book I was trying to figure out why it was awarded the Newbery Medal Award.  The book seemed to be moving slowly with nothing truly interesting happening.  But there was some pivotal point in the book where I started to realize why it was awarded the Newbery Medal.  As I read I realized some of the hardships that Japanese-Americans faced during the 1950s.  Their work conditions were absolutely horrendous.  In the book they all worked at hatcheries or at chicken plants.  That was the only job opportunities that they were given.  They were seen as outcasts in the towns they lived in.  The book states that they didn't have friends outside of their circle of people because people looked down on them.  Katie in the book continues to talk about how hard her parents are working and how tired they are.  Every time Katie talked about her parents working or how tired they were, I saw them in a different light.  Her parents were treated differently and had fewer opportunities, but they still worked hard and had hope that things would get better.  I don't feel that a child or even a young adult would be able to pull this theme of hope out of the book, but I did.  Hope became even more vital once we found out what was truly wrong with Lynn.  Everyone in the family had hope that Lynn would get better even though they could all see her deteriorating and getting worse.  Hope became a major player in this book, and what is initially kept the book and everyone in it moving forward. 

While this book had a strong thread of hope weaved into it, it was overall very dull.  There were only a couple of exciting things that happened, and they all happened toward the end of the book.  There was nothing in the beginning that made me get excited to turn the page.  The entire time I felt like I was forcing myself to keep reading.  I knew this book was on my Newbery Medal list so I had to read it.  There were a couple of things in the first couple of chapters that I got excited about because I felt like something big was going to happen, but then it didn't.  It was a very plain book with very little excitement, much like the lives of Katie and her family.

This book wasn't what I was expecting it to be.  I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.  If you are planning to read all the Newbery Medal winners then you'll have to read this book.  I don't think that my students would enjoy this book.  Many would say it was boring just after the first long chapter.  

Suicide Notes by Michael Thomas Ford

From Goodreads,

"I'm not crazy. I don't see what the big deal is about what happened. But apparently someone does think it's a big deal because here I am. I bet it was my mother. She always overreacts.

Fifteen-year-old Jeff wakes up on New Year's Day to find himself in the hospital. Make that the psychiatric ward. With the nutjobs. Clearly, this is all a huge mistake. Forget about the bandages on his wrists and the notes on his chart. Forget about his problems with his best friend, Allie, and her boyfriend, Burke. Jeff's perfectly fine, perfectly normal, not like the other kids in the hospital with him. Now they've got problems. But a funny thing happens as his forty-five-day sentence drags on: the crazies start to seem less crazy.

Compelling, witty, and refreshingly real, Suicide Notes is a darkly humorous novel from award-winning author Michael Thomas Ford that examines that fuzzy line between "normal" and the rest of us."

Goodreads - Suicide Notes

May is mental health awareness month.  I read quite a few books about mental health, because it is such a huge issue in society, but also because we deal with it day in and day out at school.  I think a lot of problems we have today would be eliminated if mental health had been addressed.  Either way I thought it would be fitting to end the month with a review of this book about mental health. 

This book starts with a young boy named Jeff waking up in a hospital.  At first he isn't sure where he is, but he comes to find out that he is in the psych ward because he tried to kill himself.  Jeff attends group therapy meetings with other young people and he meets with his therapist to hopefully find out why he tried to kill himself.  Jeff makes friends with the people there and the new people who transfer in.  Over time Jeff finds them a little less crazy and starts to figure out why he tried to kill himself.

One thing that drives me absolutely crazy is when I am reading a book and I lose track of time progression within the book.  For example, I read a book where kids were trapped in a school due to a snowstorm.  As the book progressed the snow got higher and higher, but there was a total loss of time.  I couldn't tell how much time had passed and it really affected how I felt about the book.  This book on the other hand had an interesting format.  Each chapter of the book was titled with the number of days that Jeff had been in the psych ward.  This made it super easy to keep up with how long Jeff had been in the hospital.  It also made it a kind of countdown toward when he was going to be released.  It also fit with the title of the book Suicide Notes because each chapter was just a brief highlight and snippet of Jeff's day. 

This book was very similar to other mental health books I've read recently.  I think I am getting really burnt out on the mental health theme, and I probably need to take a break from it.  I feel like all mental health books are exploring the exact same topics.  Everything revolves around a teenager trying to kill themselves and them coming to terms with what happened.  However, I feel that authors need to be exploring other mental health issues.  We need to explore anorexia, bulimia, schizophrenia, depression, etc.  There are so many issues out there and we really need to start delving into all of them, not just suicide.  I think that because this book explored the typical suicide path that I felt like I had already read this before. 

I was slightly disappointed in this book because it was a lot like others I have read.  I enjoyed the format of the book, but felt really exhausted on the entire storyline.  I give this 3 out of 5 stars. 

Wishtree by Katherine Applegate

From Goodreads,

"Trees can't tell jokes, but they can certainly tell stories. . . .

Red is an oak tree who is many rings old. Red is the neighborhood "wishtree"—people write their wishes on pieces of cloth and tie them to Red's branches. Along with her crow friend Bongo and other animals who seek refuge in Red's hollows, this "wishtree" watches over the neighborhood.

You might say Red has seen it all. Until a new family moves in. Not everyone is welcoming, and Red's experiences as a wishtree are more important than ever."

Goodreads - Wishtree

Awards:

• Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Middle Grade & Children's (2017)
• NCTE Charlotte Huck Award Nominee (2018)

Every town has traditions that have existed for years.  Sometimes they are parades, sometimes they are festivals, and sometimes they are just a silly event that takes place one day out of a year.  In my hometown we have October Daze which happens typically the first weekend of October.  Local businesses and organizations set up booths where you can buy hand crafted goods or delicious greasy food.  I have worked at October Daze and I have been a visitor.  I have plenty of good memories with friends and family while attending October Daze.  Traditions are important and this book really focuses on that.  

This book is told from the unique perspective of the tree.  Red, the wishtree, is 216 years old and is a part of an important tradition in town.  A wishtree is a tree where people write their wishes on a scrap of paper or fabric and tie it to the tree in hopes of their wish coming true.  This tradition has been a long and well known tradition in this town, until someone threatens that by vandalizing the tree.  One woman, who has a long connection to the tree, must make the decision on if the tradition should continue or if the tree should be cut down for good. 

There are so many amazing things I have to say about this book.  First I would like to focus on the artwork that was incorporated into the book.  The cover of the book was absolutely stunning with vivid and realistic colors.  I was honestly pulled in by the cover of this book more than anything.  But only once I started reading the book did I realize that there were illustrations throughout the book.  Most of the illustrations were leaves or branches, but there were also pictures of the animals that lived in the tree.  However, humans were nowhere to be found in the book.  I think Applegate chose to do this for a couple reasons.  I think she excluded humans so that the reader could visualize themselves in the book, but also because the focus was supposed to be on nature.  I think it is great that the focus was on nature because I feel like everywhere is turning into a concrete jungle.  We are constantly clearing land to make room for more housing complexes or shopping centers.  Most people don't think about the fact that trees put off oxygen for us to survive and they take in our carbon dioxide.  Life on earth would cease to exist if we didn't have trees.  I love that Applegate focused on the nature aspect of things instead of focusing on the humans.

Another thing I loved in this book was the whole idea of May Day and a wishtree.  In this book the wishtree is Red, who is decorated with scraps of fabric and paper one day out of year.  People write their wish on these slips of paper and they hang them on the tree in hopes that they will come true.  I love this tradition and I honestly wonder if there are any locations in the United States that does this.  One of the things that was important about this tradition was where and how it all started.  I think that many of our traditions continue without us ever remembering why they started in the first place.  Every tradition has a story to it, and I think it is important to hear the story every now and then to remind yourself why you do something.  Applegate made sure to include the back story on how and why the May Day wishing event got started.  

The only thing that I didn't like about this book was the slightly far fetched idea that trees can talk.  (When the tree started talking I definitely thought about Grandmother Willow from Pocahontas.)  In the book Red talks to two children and tells them the story of how it became a wishtree.  That's a little far fetched and I think it took away from the book a little bit.  I think that many children who read this would see this as a magical tree, while it was really just a regular tree.  As Red was telling the story it mentioned that we should listen to the tree because it might talk back to us.  I took this more as a message of we should listen to the leaves rustling or the critters playing in the trees, instead of listening for the tree to tell its life story.  

This book was very interesting and well written.  I give it 4 stars and will definitely be including this in my classroom library.  

From You To Me by K.A. Holt

From Goodreads,

"Amelia Peabody lives in a small town where nothing changes. And that's just fine by her. After losing her big sister, Clara, a few years ago, Amelia can't handle any more change. But when she starts eighth grade, she accidentally receives a letter that Clara had written to herself. In it, there's a list of things she'd wanted to do before the end of middle school and never finished, like get on the softball team and throw an awesome birthday party on the lake.
Amelia wonders if it's a sign from Clara. Maybe if she completed the list, her heart would stop hurting so much, and she could go back to being her old self. But as she makes her way through, Amelia finds that there's no going back, only forward. And she realizes she'll have to put her own spin on Clara's list to grow and change in the ways she needs to.
K. A. Holt's beautiful new novel is about grieving and growing up, and the ripples loss creates for a girl, a family, and a community."

Goodreads - From You To Me

I have a bucket list.  A series of things that I want to accomplish before I kick the bucket.  When I was scrolling through Scholastic I read the summary for this book and it just screamed bucket list.  I knew I had to purchase this book because it was the type of book that I live for.  Sure enough, I was not disappointed by this book about a girl receiving a letter.

This book follows Amelia who is going into the eighth grade.  She has been grieving for three years over the death of her sister.  She finds that each day is difficult and driving past the lake makes the pain almost unbearable.  On the first day of eighth grade she is supposed to get the letter that she wrote to herself.  Only the letter she gets isn't hers.  It's her sisters letter.  Amelia reads the letter and immediately feels connected to her sister.  Her sister wrote a list of things that she wanted to accomplish.  Amelia takes it upon herself to complete her sister's list and to hopefully find peace with her sister's death.

Favorite quote from From You To Me, 

"Does it help if I tell you everyone is sad in their own way, and you are definitely not invisible?"

This book was absolutely amazing.  When I started this I really thought that the entire focus of this book was that Amelia was going to run around with her best friend completing everything on her sister's list.  This wasn't the focus, and I'm secretly glad it wasn't.  While the letter and completing the list was an important piece of this book, I ultimately felt like the focus was on Amelia finding happiness.  So many people get caught up in situations in life and they lose sight of their own happiness.  They don't take the time to stop and think about why they are doing something or if it going to bring them any happiness.  Why keep doing something if it isn't going to make you happy?  Why stay at a job if you go to work dreading it?  I think that we as a society aren't happy with life anymore.  I also think that we all feel like everyone else around us is happy.  We all think that our friends and coworkers have a better and happier life than we do, but in all honesty everyone is struggling with something.  Some people bottle it up and keep their problems to themselves, while others need to talk about and flaunt their problems.  Everyone is different, but ultimately everyone is unhappy in their own personal ways.  I'm glad that Amelia worked on completing the list.  She ultimately started it for her sister, but I think that over time she worked on the list for herself.  She worked on it to help find some happiness and closure to her sister's death, and that is exactly what she got.

There wasn't a single thing that I didn't enjoy about this book.  It was perfect in all the ways a book should be.  I give this book 5 stars and recommend this to young adults.  This book has a lot of good messages and I think everyone could take something away from it.

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

From Goodreads,

"This is the story of Paul, a sophomore at a high school like no other: The cheerleaders ride Harleys, the homecoming queen used to be a guy named Daryl (she now prefers Infinite Darlene and is also the star quarterback), and the gay-straight alliance was formed to help the straight kids learn how to dance.

When Paul meets Noah, he thinks he’s found the one his heart is made for. Until he blows it. The school bookie says the odds are 12-to-1 against him getting Noah back, but Paul’s not giving up without playing his love really loud. His best friend Joni might be drifting away, his other best friend Tony might be dealing with ultra-religious parents, and his ex-boyfriend Kyle might not be going away anytime soon, but sometimes everything needs to fall apart before it can really fit together right.

This is a happy-meaningful romantic comedy about finding love, losing love, and doing what it takes to get love back in a crazy-wonderful world."

Goodreads - Boy Meets Boy

Awards:

• Lambda Literary Award (2003)
• Lincoln Award Nominee (2008)

Favorite quote from Boy Meets Boy,

"Her husband was with her, they got married two days after she got her diagnosis.  He vowed he would never leave her side, and he didn't.  I don't know how to describe it.  She could be retching or shaking or not really there, and he would kneel right beside her, look her right in the eye, and say, 'I'm here.'  And the way he said it -- 'I'm here.' -- was an 'I love you' and a 'Hang in there' and an 'I'll do anything, absolutely anything' -- all these intense feelings in this one calm phrase.  If he had to leave the room, he made sure she had this teddy bear propped up next to her -- they called him Quincy -- to take his place.  Toward the end, there were these few moments when she got all anxious a few minutes after he left the room, and he would come right back in, as if he knew exactly how she felt.  I came to the room early on Saturday and I saw him curled up in the hospital bed, singing Beatles songs to her and looking her in the eye.  I couldn't go inside.  I just stood in the doorway crying, because it was so sad and it was so beautiful."

This book falls in the LGBTQ genre.  The book follows Paul who is a high school student who is openly gay and has known this since kindergarten.  He has his group of friends and everything is perfect until the new boy Noah waltzes into his life.  Paul then has to juggle his friends and Noah, and ultimately figure out how to fix everything with everyone.

When I first started this book I had some mixed feelings.  I felt like the book was slightly chaotic with a large number of characters being introduced quickly.  I felt like I couldn't keep everyone straight and there was just an information overload.  I continued to read a chapter here and there over the course of two and a half weeks.  Finally I sat down and decided I needed to just power through the rest of the book.  Once I powered through it, the book got better.  I came across the quote above and I really fell in love with it.  I sent a picture of the quote (okay, paragraph) to my boyfriend.  I explained that I could see us and our relationship in that paragraph.  Throughout the book Paul was dealing with feelings for Noah while Kyle had feelings for Paul.  It turned into a hot mess and ultimately led to Kyle saying the quote above.  It honestly moved me.  That is the picture of what love is supposed to be.  I feel like in today's society we get so caught up in the right and the wrong of who you love, and we don't focus on the fact that we should be simply loving one another.  We should be supporting one another in the best way that we possibly can.  But we don't.  We don't love each other through the good and the bad.  I think if we all just loved each other through everything that we would live in a much better world.

I hated some of the unrealistic aspects of this book.  For example, the cheerleaders rode in on motorcycles at a pep rally.  That isn't something that would happen at a high school.  At one point in the book Paul enters the school early before school starts and puts up decorations for Noah.  That isn't something that would be available or allowed to happen at a normal high school.  Or at least that wouldn't be something that would be allowed at my high school.  I just enjoy books that are entirely realistic or they are completely unrealistic.  I don't like a mix of the two worlds and this book really tried to mix the two.

Overall, I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.  The character and information overload at the beginning was a huge downer for me and the unrealistic aspects was a turnoff.  I would recommend this to anyone looking for a LGBTQ book.