Noah Barleywater Runs Away

Boyne, John. (2011). Noah Barleywater runs away.

Close to Famous

Bauer, Joan. (2011). Close to famous. New York: Viking. When ten-year-old Foster McFee and her mother leave Memphis to escape from an abusive boyfriend who impersonates Elvis and delights in denigrating Foster for her poor grades, they end up in a small West Virginia town called Culpepper. The kind couple who towed their car provides a place for them to stay, and they begin to settle down. Despite being unable to read, Foster is an accomplished baker, able to memorize recipes and create scrumptious cupcakes. She heads to Angry Wayne's Bar and Grill to sell her goodies and follows her new friend Macon on his job working for Miss Charleena, an eccentric former actress who has withdrawn from the world for reasons of her own. When the wealthy woman realizes that Foster is unable to read, she offers to tutor her.

Favorite Lines:

“I’d never seen a prison before, unless you count sixth grade” (p. 18).

“I was in my own kind of jail where the gates lock tight, and no matter what, you just can’t get out” (p. 150).

“Knowing you belong is like putting frosting on a cupcake. It totally seals the deal” (p. 225).

The Friendship Doll

Larson, Kirby. (2011). The friendship doll.

Saint Louis Armstrong Beach

Woods, Brenda. (2011). Saint Louis Armstrong Beach. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin. Those of us who lived through Hurricane Katrina and her aftermath in August 2005 know that it's hard to get the details of that catastrophic event right. In this book, Woods comes as close as possible in making readers feel as though they are in New Orleans in the days before and during the hurricane.

Desperate Measures

Summers, Laura. (2011). Desperate measures. New York: Putnam. Life hasn't been easy for twins Vicky and Rhianna, 13, and their younger brother Jamie. Their mother's death and their father's disappearance for long periods of time left the siblings to fend for themselves. Their foster family has had to give them up because of the mother's life-threatening pregnancy, and they decide to head toward their elderly great-aunt's home rather than being separated in foster care. The story alternates from the point of view of Vicky and Rhianna, providing readers with unique perspectives on the events in the story. While Vicky is serious and concerned about the consequences of their actions while also being worried about her brother and sister, Rhianna is more concerned with current conditions, such as how tired or hungry she is, and she resents being bossed by her sister. Clearly, all three youngsters have been affected by the many life-altering events that have occurred recently, and Jamie is prone to bouts of outbursts and impulsive behavior. The journey on which they embark is his idea. But as often happens, their plans do not go as expected, and once they reach their destination, someone else is living in their relative's home. Naturally, they find allies along the way as well as others who seem to bent on cruelty just for the sake of cruelty. It is particularly interesting that they left bullies behind in the schools they attended, and they have brief encounters with bullies in the countryside to which they flee. The author makes it clear that bullies can find the most unlikely reasons to tease others; in the case of Rhianna, it is her learning disability that makes her seem different; in the case of Daniel, the boy who befriends the children, it is his reluctance to fight back or respond to teasing. The book offers readers much to consider regarding human behaviors such as bullying and stealing and also examines what comes after death. Ultimately hopeful, this book allows all of its main characters to grow in subtle ways. Rhianna especially touches the heart with her refusal to believe what she is told about death; instead, she interprets the afterlife in her own fashion.

Favorite Lines:

“I tried to conjure up her face in my mind’s eye, but it was as if some invisible force was rubbing out the details as fast as I tried to remember them. Shocked, I concentrated harder, but all I could see was the vague shape of someone wrapped in warm blankets and huddled in a deck chair” (p. 132).

“All the anger that had been stored up in me for the last two years suddenly ebbed away like the tide on a beach” (p. 207). 

Boys, Bears, and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots

Across the Great Divide

Wrede, Patricia. (2011). Across the great barrier. New York: Scholastic. This book follows the continuing journey of Eff who lives in an alternative reality form of the Wild West just as settlers are making their way westward to claim land for homesteads. Eff herself is a magic-maker, and while not as adept at magic as her twin brother Lan, she clearly has gifts. Those gifts, however, are something of a mystery to her since she hasn't learned how to harness them.

Cleopatra Confesses

Favorite Line:

“My sisters preen and smile. They probably think they are very beautiful, but to me, they seem false, like painted statues” (p. 17).

Music Was IT

Rubin, Susan Goldman. (2011). Music was IT: Young Leonard Bernstein. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.

Many aspiring musicians will draw inspiration from this biography of Leonard Bernstein, composer, conductor, and pianist. Rubin covers this talented virtuoso's early years, from his birth and growing up years in Boston to his triumph as a conductor at 25 in Carnegie Hall.

A Brief History of Montmaray

Cooper, Michelle. (2009). A brief history of Montmaray. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Favorite Lines:

"She looks like an elderly Ophelia risen from a watery grave—sodden hair straggling over her face, black dress plastered to her body—as she staggers towards the stairs” (p. 253).

“For we carry what we love inside us, always” (p. 293). 

Ruined

Morris, Paula. (2009). Ruined. New York: Point/Scholastic. Rebecca Brown loves living in New York City, and when her father insists that she live in New Orleans with an acquaintance of his while he's working in China, she is understandably upset. Still, she figures it will only be for a few months. She is enrolled in a private school with a social pecking order that leaves newcomers and outsiders to the New Orleans power scene at the botton. Hardly anyone is willing to be friendly to her, and she is alone.

Favorite Lines:

“Her aunt was bedraggled as a patchwork rag doll by the time they found cover in the garage” (p. 10).

“Anton and the others were approaching, swarming up the steps and around the tomb like invading cockroaches” (p. 73).

Dark Parties

Grant, Sara. (2011). Dark parties. New York: Little, Brown. Sixteen-year-old Neva Adams has lived all her life inside a dome that has been created to keep its citizens safe from whatever is outside.

Favorite Line:

“My life has been shaken like a snow dome, but instead of the happy figures and houses being covered with glitter, they have come undone and are floating free, crashing into one another and landing helter-skelter” (p. 61).

Out of Shadows

Wallace, Jason. (2011). Out of shadows. New York: Holiday House. Zimbabwe in the early 1980s is a country in the midst of change. After a war, there is a new president, Robert Mugabe, who seems to offer hope for the nation's black citizens while respecting the claims of its whites. For Robert Jacklin, the family's move from England to this new place means attending a boarding school where many of us classmates are among the most privileged in the country. Robert is desperate to go home to England and begs his mother to help him leave the school, but despite her best intentions, she has troubles of her own. Robert's father experiences white guilt for the country's riches, due in part to white's oppression of blacks in the past as well as theft of their lands and natural resources. On the first day at school, he introduces Robert to Nelson, one of the few black boys at the school, and urges them to befriend one another. The school contains older bullies who take advantage of the younger boys and make their lives difficult. At first, Robert and Nelson stick closely to one another until Robert makes the choice to side with Ivan, the son of a wealthy farmer who hates the blacks and the changes occurring in their country. All the notions of fairness his father has taught him seem to evaporate, and he is increasingly drawn into Ivan's circle and increasingly violent activities. Once Ivan comes under the tutelage of a charismatic teacher who seems to be still fighting the war, Robert watches as his friend grows angrier and angrier. Since the story spans 1983 to 1987, the years of Robert's schooling, it is possible to observe the changes within him as he finally faces the truth about Ivan and about some of his own unsavory choices. As the story builds to its climax, readers will be astonished at how long thoughts of revenge can be allowed to incubate.

One of the most appealing aspects of this book is the narrator's honesty. Robert recognizes his own weakness and the fact that many of his own actions are rooted in fear and a desperate need to survive, and once he realizes that he has reached as far as he is willing to go and takes a stand, his actions seem authentic. My enjoyment of the book was marred by some aspects of the ending, though, which seem all too convenient to be true.

Favorite Lines:

“The cold air tugged sharply that afternoon, but there was something about the day that made us believe summer could return” (p. 175).

Dark Souls

Morris, Paula. (2011). Dark souls. New York: Point/Scholastic. Intent on distracting their teenagers while combining a working vacation, the Tennants embark on a trip to York, England. Sixteen-year-old Miranda sees ghosts, the first one being her best friend Jenna who was killed in a car wreck while her older brother Rob was driving. Rob, too, has been scarred by the experience and becomes claustrophobic in tight places. As the two walk the streets of the historical place, Rob finds a possible romance with a local woman, and Miranda is attracted to a ghostly figure she sees across the alley from her bedroom. She also finds a kindred spirit in the form of Nick whose brother committed suicide years ago. Nick also is able to see ghosts, and Miranda feels as though she can share her feelings and experiences with him in a way that she is no longer able to do with anyone else. But when she realizes that Nick has a connection to their landlord, Lord Poole, she isn't sure how much she can trust her new confidant. As Miranda tries to figure out exactly who Nick is and solve other mysteries that may or may not be related, she gains confidence and takes some ill-advised risks. This is an engaging page-turner that will keep readers guessing right up until the conclusion.

Favorite Line:

“Miranda half expected someone in a long velvet gown to come sweeping out to greet them, and maybe the Brothers Grimm to drop by later for tea” (p. 151).

Flood and Fire

Diamand, Emily. (2011). Flood and fire. New York: Holiday House. The further adventures of Lilly, her friends Lexy and Zeph, and her seacat, Cat take the friends out of the marshes to Cambridge, then to London, and on their way to Scotland.

Raiders' Ransom

Generation Dead