Restart

 Fiction by Gordon Korman

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Middle schooler Chase Ambrose wakes up in the hospital after falling off a roof, and he doesn't remember anything about his life. When he begins to find out about himself, he learns some things he doesn't really like: it seems like he was a real jerk before his accident. Can he become the person he wants to be, or is he stuck being the guy everyone remembers that he was before?

This was a great story for young people!

The Devil's Arithmetic

 Fiction by Jane Yolen

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In this classic story, Hannah, a young Jewish girl in the early 1990's, is kind of dreading Passover. She's bored by all the history her parents and grandparents seem hung up on. But then she's mysteriously transported back in time to take the place of a girl her own age in 1942 Poland...

This was a well-written story that would really help a young person understand the Holocaust.

No One Leaves the Castle

Youth Fiction by Christopher Healy

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This fantasy themed, locked-room mystery was okay but I didn’t love it.

Frankie and Amelia

 Youth Fiction by Cammie McGovern

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is a story for young readers written from the point of view of  a cat. It was a fun read.

I also read by this author: The Art of Seeing

The Westing Game

 Fiction by Ellen Raskin

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is a children’s/ young adult novel that’s kind of like a puzzle mixed with a mystery. 

In this book, several different people are brought together in an apartment building, but none of them realizes that they have been chosen for a purpose. The purpose, they will discover, is the “Westing game.”

This was a pretty good story with decent characters, but the plot was a little too contrived. 

Number the Stars

 Fiction by Lois Lowry

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is a classic but I hadn't read it before. It's about a Danish girl with a Jewish friend during World War Two.

I think it is really good for giving today's kids the emotional impact of wartime without the full horror of its reality.

 

The Ickabog

 Fiction by J.K. Rowling

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was a fun little story that was NOT like the Harry Potter series. It was more of a light fantasy. This edition had illustrations done by children across Canada and the USA that were very nice.

I enjoyed it.

I also read recently by this author: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Ghostsitter: a Crazy Inheritance

An Audible Original

Fiction by Tommy Krappenweis

https://www.audible.com

The story is about a boy who inherits an old amusement park filled with bunch of ghosts and monsters from his crazy great uncle or something. But the ghosts and monsters are all nice and friendly. Sort of...

This is a scripted audio performance with several voice actors, and is supposed to be meant for family listening. My son (12) and I listened to it together. I'd say it was okay, but not great. It was mildly interesting to the kid and super weird to the adult.

I also read recently from Audible Originals: Andrea Vernon and the Center for Ultra Human Protection

Double Identity

Fiction by Margaret Peterson Haddix

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book was in the kids' section of the library, but I'd call it more like a young adult story. It was an exciting novel for me to read as an adult as well.

Bethany is almost thirteen when her usually over-protective parents inexplicably fall apart, freak out, and dump her on an aunt she's never met. Her mom and dad then disappear, and Bethany doesn't know why. Her aunt doesn't want to talk about it but everyone is treating her strangely....

The answer to the mystery in this story was very surprising! I really liked this book.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

Fiction by Rick Riordan.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

We listened to this story over Thanksgiving weekend on a car trip. (Yep. All eleven-plus hours of it. IN THE CAR. And when the story was over we still had an hour of driving to do. Family fun at its finest.)

The story was good, but nowhere near as good as the first Harry Potter book, to which I've heard it compared. It was very imaginative, and a fun rendition of what Mount Olympus and the Greek gods might be like if they were real, but the characters felt less believable to me than I'd like. Also I had some trouble with the stark paganism of the whole thing, as a modern Christian, which sounds weird, I know.

So, the book was good enough, but I don't want to pursue the series.

Wonder

Fiction by R.J. Palacio.


https://www.barnesandnoble.com

I think this book is intended for kids, since the hero is a ten-year-old, but I'd say it's really for teens to adults, because it really deals with a troubling set of emotions. But maybe kids can understand it on their own level.

The boy in the story (August) has a facial disfigurement, and his parents decide to send him to school for the first time starting in fifth grade, which is Middle School. Obviously, this is a difficult transition.

I really liked this book because it did not go for the formulaic ideas one might expect from this kind of story:
Handicapped Boy =Saint
His family= Perfect and Ever Loving
His friends = Loyal and True
His enemies = Bad Bad Kids
The Ending = Everyone Happy Happy + Bad Kids Punished

This is a good story about realistic people. I haven't seen the movie, but this book is definitely worth reading.

Sky Raiders (Five Kingdoms #1)

Youth Fiction by Brandon Mull.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

I've been reading this book to the twins, who are about to turn nine.

It was unexpectedly scary at the beginning, since I picked it up at the thrift store and didn't know what it was about. It started out as a regular sixth-grade kid going to school with his regular sixth-grade friends, and then WHOA! BAD THINGS started happening. The twins were shocked. (So was I.)

And for those of you who think I should have known what was coming from the scary-looking cover --what IS that crazy black crab thing?!-- remember, I got it from the thrift store. It had a much calmer cover, I promise.

Anyways, it's pretty good so far. I might keep reading the series even if the twins lose interest.

The Blue Sword

Fiction by Robin McKinley.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

A sci-fi/fantasy type book, this is a good adventure story, although not as good as The Secret of Platform 13.

Night of the Howling Dogs

Youth Fiction by Graham Salisbury.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is a great adventure story for kids, probably 5th grade and up. It's set on the big island of Hawaii.

I got it because I was looking for something for my daughter to do a book report on. She wasn't interested, but I was. Good book!

The Cage

Youth nonfiction by Ruth Minsky Sender.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

A Holocaust memoir, this is the other autobiography my daughter rejected in favor of that snoozer about Einstein.

This story was well-told without being too horrifying, probably because it was intended for young people.

Chinese Cinderella

Youth Nonfiction by Adeline Yen Mah.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is a memoir of the author's childhood in China during the 1940's. (Hint from the title: she was cruelly mistreated by her stepmother.)

I got this because I was looking for a biography/autobiography for my daughter to read for a book report. This is one of the books she rejected but I thought it was very good. (More about the other book she didn't want in a couple of days.)

My daughter ended up reading about Albert Einstein instead, by the way. Much less interesting.

(Although we did learn that Einstien had a long-lost illegitimate daughter. Which makes him a little more fun.)

Snow in Summer

Youth Fiction by Jane Yolen.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com

Interesting retelling of the Snow White story, set in Depression-era Appalachia.

I also read recently by this author: Curse of the Thirteenth Fey

The Wrap-up List

Young Adult Fiction by Steven Arntson.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

Yeah, I'm on a YA kick. So sue me.

This was an interesting book, of the alternate-universe variety. In a world where one percent of deaths are called "departures," a process in which the Grim Reaper gives you notice by letter of your upcoming demise... things can get weird.

(THUMBS-UP)

Crash

Young Adult fiction by Lisa McMann.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

Teen book in the slightly supernatural genre. (By which I mean, there are no monsters or alternate universes, but strange things happen.)

It was interesting and exciting.

(THUMBS-UP)

Slayers

Young Adult Fiction by C.J. Hill.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

Good book.

Except apparently it's the opener for a series and Book #2 isn't out yet. Grr.

(THUMBS-UP)