Chains

Chains

By Laurie Halse Anderson

When their former owner dies, Isabel and Ruth should be free. Instead they are sold to a cruel Loyalist couple in New York City. There, 13-year old Isabel struggles to protect her younger sister and soon she discovers that the island of New York makes for an ideal prison from which escape is near impossible. With the Revolutionary War beginning and England taking over the city, Isabel is torn between aiding the Colonists or the Loyalists. Both sides fail slaves, continually using them. To find her own way Isabel must use her head and determine who she can trust and how to use what little power she has. Tories, loyalists and spies ... Wonderfully written!

When You Trap a Tiger

 

When You Trap a Tiger

By Tae Keller

"Long, long ago, when tiger walked like man..."

The summer before grade 7, Lily, her sister, and her widowed mother move in to take care of their elderly grandmother, Halmoni. We first meet the family on their drive up from California to Washington State when Lily sees a tiger in the middle of the road and talks to it. Soon bedtime stories swirl with reality as Lily wonders what is true and what is false. Trapping and striking a deal with this tiger, she agrees to find the story jars, open them, and (this is the hardest part) listen to their stories. Thinking by doing so, Halmoni will be healed, Lily listens to these stories fueled by Korean folklore. Ages 10-14.

Newbery Award Winner.

One Came Home

One Came Home

By Amy Timberlake

Thirteen-year-old Georgie Burkhardt’s older sister, Agatha, has disappeared.  To her family’s horror, a mostly unidentifiable body is found on the wagon road to another town and everyone assumes it's Agatha.  But even though the body is wearing Agatha’s blue-green dress and has the same auburn hair, Georgie does not believe it is her sister and sets off to find her.

She is joined by Agatha’s former boyfriend, Billy McCabe.  They travel from their home in Placid, Wisconsin along the same road Agatha followed, looking for clues.  Eventually, they are led to the home of the Garrow family, way up in the Wisconsin hills.  The Garrows may have seen Agatha, but they are not entirely reliable witnesses. 

Georgie and Billy soon discover much more than they bargained for.  They become fully embroiled in an adventure complete with criminals, counterfeit money and shootouts.  But the mystery of Agatha’s disappearance remains.  Is Agatha really still alive as Georgie thinks?  Will they ever get back to their day-to-day life?

Set in 1871 Wisconsin, One Came Home is historical fiction, mystery and western all rolled into one.  I couldn’t put it down!

 

Wildwood

Wildwood 

Wildwood, by Colin Meloy

Prue McKeel is a 12 year old girl from, Portland, a small town across the ravine from Wildwood, known to her townspeople as the Impassable Wilderness, due to its inhabitability, dangerous creatures and overall wildness. One Saturday morning Prue is playing with her baby brother, Mac, at the playground, when he is suddenly and inexplicably carried off by a murder of crows into Wildwood. Prue follows him as far as she can, but quickly realizes she has lost Mac to the crows. 
 
Formulating a plan, Prue gathers supplies and goes into Wildwood with Curtis, a classmate, to rescue Mac. Once they enter the woods, they meet the animals and people that live in the different neighbourhoods of the woods.  Prue and Curtis become separated and they discover that not everyone is as they appear. In these woods lies good and evil and a history that has divided the woods, causing wars and political upheaval that is unresolved. 

As outsiders, Curtis and Prue each become involved with different factions - the Mystics, the Coyotes, the Bandits, and the Dowager Governess to name a few, as they struggle to learn the whereabouts of Mac and enlist the help of people and animals they meet to rescue him. 

Wildwood is the first in the trilogy of  the Wildwood Chronicles and sets the stage for other adventures involving Prue and Curtis. This volume can be a bit daunting at 541 pages and it uses a lot of uncommon vocabulary, but this only adds to its descriptive writing and its fantastical setting.

This book, intended for middle graders, is worth the journey into Wildwood, it does not move quickly, but there is a lot going on that is all explained and nothing is taken for granted.

Roller Girl

Roller Girl

By Victoria Jamieson

Twelve-year-old Astrid has been best friends with Nicole since grade 2.  Nicole loves ballet and is starting to like boys, and Astrid just isn’t interested.  But when Astrid’s mom takes them to see roller derby, Astrid knows exactly what she wants to do.  

Immediately, she signs up for roller derby camp.  Much to her chagrin, Nicole does not, and Astrid must face this challenge on her own.  

Believing she will blow the other girls away with her skills, Astrid is surprised to discover that skating is hard, and working out for hours at a time is exhausting.  Walking home afterwards isn’t much fun either.  But she aspires to become the star of the roller derby like her hero, Rainbow Bite, and she keeps working away.

As Astrid struggles along at camp, she also drifts further and further away from Nicole. She wonders how two people can suddenly not be friends anymore.  Luckily, she meets Zoey at roller derby camp, but even their relationship can be a little rocky at times.  Meanwhile, Astrid hides all her feelings from her mother, and even lies to her.  She is becoming more and more unhappy. 

But when Astrid learns that the girls at roller derby camp will compete in a “bout”, complete with spectators, Astrid has to muster all her strength.  Can she do it without her best friend and her mom supporting her?

Roller Girl is a graphic novel about a girl who’s trying to figure out who she is and where she “fits”.  It’s also tonnes of fun!  Watching the girls race around trying to bump each other out of the rink is super exciting!  And learning the roller girl names like Braidy Punch, Draculola and Scream Soda is fun too.  If you like to read stories about friendship and tough girls who love to compete, try Roller Girl.

Highly recommended!

 

See You In The Cosmos

See You In The Cosmos

By Jack Cheng

Alex is only eleven years old but already he’s very independent.  He has to be.  He lives with his mom, but she can hardly get out of bed most of the time.  Alex makes all the meals, gets himself to school, and takes on much more responsibility than most kids his age.

Because he basically takes care of himself, he sees no problem in taking a trip on his own.  Alex loves learning about space and he plans to attend an event called SHARF, where regular people attempt to launch rockets into space.  Alex has built his own rocket and filled a “golden iPod” with recordings of himself talking about life on Earth.  He plans to launch both and hopes to connect with alien life forms.

So he sets out with his dog, Carl Sagan, on the adventure of a lifetime.  Along the way, he meets a series of people who take him under their wings and look out for him on the road.  In fact, his trip takes him much farther than expected and he even meets family members he never knew he had.

Throughout the book, Alex remains incredibly positive in the face of adversity.  He encounters many obstacles and must face some hard realities about his life.  But Alex cannot be beaten and learns never to let him dreams die.

Incredibly touching and inspiring, See You In The Cosmos is a must read!

Ghost

by Jason Reynolds

Castle Cranshaw, aka Ghost, has been running for a long time. Three years ago, his father tried to shoot Ghost and his mom. His father is now behind bars, and Ghost has a lot of anger issues that lead to him continually getting into trouble at school.

His mom works long hours at a hospital cafeteria to try and make ends meet, and Ghost is bullied at school in part because of the fact he and his mom don't have much money. 

One day Ghost comes across a track team practicing, and he convinces the coach to let him run one race.  Much to everyone's amazement, Ghost is fast. Like really fast. Coach agrees to let him be part of the team, as long as Ghost can stay out of trouble at school, and Ghost starts training with the team after school.

Ghost has a lot of anger inside - will being part of a team help him find something to help work out his anger in a positive way?

This is the first book in a planned series, with each book featuring one of the kids on the track team.