Chasing Lincoln's Killer

Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I could not put this book down. An amazing account of the 12 days following Lincoln's assassination, with very cool photos to accompany the text. It reads like a murder mystery, and I had to keep telling myself that John Wilkes Booth's despicable act brutally ended the life of one of the most important people our nation has ever known. This is a great companion read to Ann Rinaldi's book, "An Acquantaince with Darkness".

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Found

Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A very good story from Margaret Peterson Haddix, who brought us "Among the Hidden". This book will also be a series,her sequel "Sent" is already out. This science fiction tale has a couple of 13 year-olds who have gotten mysterious letters saying simply "You are one of the missing". We know from the start that 13 years before, a plane landed at an airport with no crew, no adult passengers, just babies. A page-turner, for sure.

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How I Live Now

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
An interesting story about terror attacks, anorexia, young love, the English countryside, and the resiliency of kids learning to cope with whatever the world throws at them. Daisy, an anorexic 15 year-old who has been banished to England to live with her aunt and cousins because of her "wicked step-mother", finds herself in a country taken over by "the enemy", leaving the kids on the family farm with no electricity, Internet or phone service. A well-written story, the author has the dialogue and thoughts of the teen down perfect.

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Deep and Dark and Dangerous

Deep and Dark and Dangerous: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a scary, page-turner of a ghost story. Ali is a 13 year-old girl who is asked to babysit her young cousin for the summer, while her artist aunt wants to work on her painting. They are in a cabin in Maine, a cabin that Ali's mom and aunt used to visit every summer as young girls, until a tragic drowning accident. Now, Ali's mom and aunt can't (or won't) discuss that long-ago summer, but Ali is drawn into the mystery by forces beyond her control. A good, well-written, creepy ghost story.

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The Boy Who Dared

The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Wow, this book was both frightening and inspiring. This is a story based on the real life of Helmuth, a teen-ager who was a reluctant member of the Hitler Youth. The story is told in flashbacks, as Helmuth is facing his execution for crimes against the Nazi government. The photos in the book, especially a close-up of Helmuth, with very sad eyes, make the story even more chilling. This is a great addition to any young person's historical fiction collection. Bartoletti does a great job in depicting what life was like for those Germans who disagreed with the Nazi regime.

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Rules

Rules by Cynthia Lord


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a young girl's story of what it is like to have a sibling with Autisim. Catherine loves her brother, David, but because he is autistic, every aspect of her life is touched by him. Having friends over, going to a store, simple things that we take for granted, are hurdles in Catherine's life, because when you are a teen-ager, EVERYTHING matters. I admire Catherine's character, because in a similar situation, I don't know if I would have acted as couragously as she did.

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Fire From the Rock

Fire From the Rock by Sharon M. Draper


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A good story for young people, that explores the changing world of integration during the 50's. Sharon Draper gets inside the head of an 8th grade girl, who has been "chosen" to go to Central High in Little Rock. The young lady loves her friends, and really wants to go to the "colored" high school, where she would be able to participate in clubs, go to the dances, and so on. She is also afraid that she is just not brave enough to be up to this task.

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Devil on My Heels

Devil on My Heels by Joyce McDonald


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The setting is 1959, central Florida. Dove is a teenager, and her life has become quite complicated. She is good friends with a young black man, and that is not a good thing, because the KKK is a force to be reckoned with in her town. Lots of tension, drama and suspense in this page-turner, as she deals with suspicions about her own father. Is he a member of the dispicable KKK, too?

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Al Capone Does My Shirts

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read this book back in 2008, but never got around to discussing it in my blog. This story is both funny and serious at the same time. The setting is during the 1930's, when Al Capone is a prisoner at Alcatraz. Well, curiously enough, the guards and their families really lived on the island of Alcatraz at that time, and this story is about a young man, and how he copes with a sister who has major problems (autisim?) and how he makes friends at his new school. It's a good read, with the family problems, gangsters, and Alcatraz looming in the background.

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An Unlikely Friendship

An Unlikely Friendship: A Novel of Mary Todd Lincoln and Elizabeth Keckley by Ann Rinaldi


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was another incredible work of historical fiction by Ann Rinaldi. I learned some very interesting facts about Mary Todd Lincoln's childhood, that really added to my better understanding of the wife of my favorite American. Rinaldi gives the reader a look at life in the south from two very different perspectives, a young girl of privelige, and a young slave named Elizabeth. Elizabeth had an amazing life, overcoming all kinds of obstacles, to become a friend to the First Lady. A wonderful read.

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The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Wow! I began this book last Sunday, and could not put it down. What an exciting, suspense-filled roller-coaster of a read. This futuristic story of an evil government that pits 24 young people against each other to the death, introduces us to a memorable young woman named Katniss. Her bravery and resourcefulness as she takes her younger sister's place in The Hunger Games makes her an unforgettable character. This was an amazing book.

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This Full House

This Full House by Virginia Euwer Wolff


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I so enjoyed this final entry in the "Make Lemonade" trilogy. I started this series a few years ago, when LaVaughn was an innocent 9th grader who knew she wanted to go to college, no matter that she and her mom were struggling to make ends meet. This novel begins with LaVaughn in her final year of high school, trying to do her best in a special women in science program, that will help her get into college. There is an interesting turn of events involving Jolly, the young mother she has been babysitting for since 9th grade. Great story!

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The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What a scary, creepy story, and yet...it is also a story of love and caring about family. Neil Gaiman has outdone himself. I really liked Coraline, but I think this book was even better. Bod is raised in a cemetary by ghosts, which sounds unbelievable, but Gaiman's writing makes it all very real. And even though the story opens with a gruesome murder, it touched my heart.

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Elijah of Buxton

Elijah Of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is not my favorite Christopher Paul Curtis book. I love historical fiction, and this story is an important one, so I would still recommend it to middle school students. Elijah is a "fragile" eleven year-old, who happens to be the first free-born child in Buxton, way up there in Canada. The story is based on historical facts, and Curtis tries to infuse some humor while explaining about the horrors and tragedy of slavery.
P.S.
I really loved his book, "The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963".

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Harlem Summer

Harlem Summer by Walter Dean Myers


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really liked this YA book because of its cast of characters. I have read many Walter Dean Myers books, and enjoyed 145th Street the most.
Harlem Summer is a great book to use when teaching about the Harlem Renaissance because EVERYONE who was anyone is in this novel, including Langston Hughes, Fats Waller, W.E.B. DuBois, and even Dutch Schultz have a role.
Mark, the main character, takes a job at The Crisis, and learns what it means to be a "New Negro", but he's not sure he wants any part of it. The story has humor, some really scary parts, and was written through the very real voice of a young man growing up in New York City during a very interesting time in history.

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girl, going on 17 Pants on Fire

Girl, Going on 17: Pants on Fire by Sue Limb


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What a fun, funny book. Jess Jordan is a British teen, a little overweight, but with a huge sense of humor. Unfortunately, she gets into so much trouble on the very first day of the new school term, that it looks as if her life is doomed. Jess deals with her problems the way she knows best, by being outrageously funny. A good read for 7-8th graders. They will need to know a few British words, like loo and knickers.

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A Girl Named Disaster

A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What a wonderful story and setting. Nhamo is a young girl who begins an adventure that will change her life forever. She is an orphan, and one day is told that she must marry an old cruel man who already has three wives. Nhamo's grandmother advises her to flee the village, and find her father who supposedly lives in Zimbabwe.
As she escapes and makes her way through Mozambique, she encounters the spirit of her mother and other dead Ancestors, who help her along this perilous journey.
This book would be an excellent choice in middle schools when discussing diversity, and strong female characters.

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Twisted

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Laurie Halse Anderson is really amazing. This book is so dead-on when it comes to accurately portraying high school students and dysfunctional families, and still manages to not be depressing. At one point my heart was actually in my throat, as I quickly turned the pages.
This time her main character is Tyler, who has a monster for a father. Tyler is in big trouble, for vandalizing his school, and constantly mouthing off to adults. This book is one of my top YA faves.

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The Shakespeare Stealer

The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary L. Blackwood


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a very enjoyable book. It is a great introduction to Shakespearean times, without being too pretentious for middle-schoolers. Will Shakespeare himself actually makes a few appearances. It has dueling and suspense, so it is appropriate for both boys and girls. Widge, the main character, is an orphan apprenticed to a man who orders him to steal Shakespeare's play, Hamlet. He is off on a dangerous adventure.

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A Break with Charity

A Break with Charity: A Story about the Salem Witch Trials by Ann Rinaldi


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
It was really cool to be in Salem, Massachusetts as I was reading this book. Rinaldi did a great job in recreating 1691-92, when 19 people were executed in Salem for being witches. I think I could actually get some 7th and 8th grade students to read this book. It is a well-written page-turner, and Rinaldi provides lots of references that add to this historical drama.

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