TOWERS FALLING by Jewell Parker Rhodes
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Deja hates that her family has to live in the homeless shelter. She hates that her father can’t seem to pull himself together, get out of bed, and get a job. She is determined not to get too close to people who might make fun of her. But when she starts at her new school, not only does she immediately meet two kids who seem determined to be her friend, but she also connects with one of their lessons. Deja has lived in Brooklyn all her life but she has never heard about the towers that fell fifteen years ago. Now, as she and her classmates gradually uncover the story of the tragedy, Deja learns how the past can have ripple effects in her own life and community.
Intense, but good. Graphic, but not gratuitous. Challenging, but important. Since much of the book takes place in the classroom, parts of it read like a lesson with both characters and readers learning from the same lectures or classmates’ Q&A. The history is intertwined with both classroom and real life lessons about what it means to be a family, community, and society. This context adds depth to the discussion of the tragedy, helps illuminate why students should care about history, and steers the book away from the territory of pure horror and violence. I would recommend this book to middle schoolers, mature younger readers, and adults searching for a way to broach this subject or other challenging similar subjects with children.
A FIERCE AND SUBTLE POISON by Samantha Mabry
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Lucas has always been an outsider to San Juan: the rich white developer’s kid who only visits in the summers. But all his life he has soaked up the culture, especially the stories the old women tell about the scientist’s house and the supposed witch-girl who lives there. As Lucas gets older, the stories begin to seem less real. Until the summer that the island girls begin to disappear and everything leads Lucas back to the old house and the mysterious girl shrouded in the trees.
A poetic literary thriller nestled somewhere between realistic and science fiction, this novel gripped me from the start. I actually read it in one sitting, a rare occurrence for me. Mabry immerses readers in a vivid setting of blended reality and folklore as Lucas struggles to define himself, caught between two worlds and a disappointing relationship with his father. One of the best written books I’ve read this year and a stunning debut novel. I highly recommend it!
THE BIRTH HOUSE by Ami McKay
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Many people in town believed Ms. B was a witch, perhaps because of her Cajun past, her Catholicism, or her many herbal remedies for women’s illnesses. But Dora always looked up to the midwife. She began helping Ms. B deliver babies when she was still a child herself. She delivered healthy babies to their mothers’ arms, rocked dying babies in their few moments of life, and observed Ms. B’s methods for helping desperate women prevent or end pregnancies. When a doctor arrives in town and opens a women’s hospital on the other side of the mountain, Dora’s philosophy of birth is suddenly threatened. The technological advances of the hospital come at the price of women’s freedom and individualized care. As Dora finds herself at the forefront of the fight against Dr. Thomas, she risks becoming the new town outcast.
Set against the historical backdrop of the Suffrage and Temperance movements, the story of a town midwife’s struggle against the medical profession shows how seemingly beneficial progress can be twisted into a form of oppression. This book will likely resonate most with readers who enjoy slow-moving historical fiction, especially those readers who have given birth or have an interest in birth practices.
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN by Paula Hawkins
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Rachel’s life fell apart before the divorce, really. It was the drinking. If she hadn’t been such a drunk would Tom have taken up with Anna? Maybe he wouldn’t have kicked Rachel out and taken his new wife and child into the house that used to be hers, the house she still passes every day on the train to London. To distract herself from looking at the home that used to be hers, Rachel focuses on a couple a few houses down who seem to be perfectly in love. She makes up stories about their perfect life together. But one day, she sees something that makes her wonder if their lives are so perfect after all. And the next morning, Rachel wakes bruised and bloody with no memory of the previous night except a vague certainty that she went to her old neighborhood. Even worse, she discovers that the woman she has been watching disappeared that same night. Despite warnings from the police, Rachel cannot help but begin her own investigation, trying to recover the memories of what she saw–or did.
This excellent thriller will soon be a film. Through the perspectives of the three main female characters, the mystery slowly unfolds with enough foreshadowing to allow readers to gradually solve it themselves and enough complications to make them second guess every one of their inferences. Even once my suspicions of what had happened were proven correct in the final chapters, I still wasn’t sure how it would end. Well-crafted, full of deeply flawed and suspicious characters, and impossible to put down, this is a must-read for thriller lovers.
HOUSE ARREST by K. A. Holt
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Timothy wouldn’t be writing in a journal if the court hadn’t ordered it. He’s supposed to show that he’s sorry. Only he’s not sorry he stole the wallet to buy his baby brother’s medicine–just sorry he got caught. And that they took the medicine away. Now he’s on house arrest, which is better than juvie. In fact, it’s not that different from his life before–staying home, helping change the bandages on Levi’s trach, wishing his mother didn’t have to work overtime, that they could afford a nurse more than two days a week, that his father hadn’t left. But he had better get things right this year, or else he’ll end up in juvie after all.
Through poetry, Holt reveals Timothy’s evolving relationships with family, friends, and authority figures, and his own transformation. His love and care for his brother is beautiful, and his resentments toward his father and probation officer believable and complex. The ending left me waffling back and forth between depression and hope. I highly recommend this nuanced novel to teen and adult readers who enjoy realistic fiction!
EL DEAFO by CeCe Bell
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After an illness severely damages her hearing, four year old CeCe must wear hearing aids and learn to read lips. As she goes through elementary school, she sometimes struggles to fit in with her classmates, some of whom treat her differently because of her disability. She constantly wonders what people are thinking about her and feels left out in situations where she can’t understand what others are saying or listening to. But she also knows that her hearing aids let her do some things that the other kids can’t, and someday her classmates will need El Deafo to save the day.
This graphic novel is sure to resonate with all middle grade readers, who will relate to CeCe’s struggles to find true friendship and fit in with her peers. Reader’s with disabilities may find CeCe’s story particularly easy to relate to, while typically-abled readers will get a glimpse into the frustrations of being treated differently and set apart (for example, when CeCe’s friend refers to her as her “deaf friend” rather than just her friend). This novel will both introduce readers to what it is really like to be deaf and remove some misconceptions and other barriers that may have made hearing children hesitant to befriend a deaf classmate. Engaging, educational, and a great story–I highly recommend it!
If you liked El Deafo, you might like Smile by Raina Telgemeier.
YOU’RE NEVER WEIRD ON THE INTERNET (ALMOST) by Felicia Day
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Before “The Guild” and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Felicia Day was an isolated, home schooled kid who discovered a community and her own voice on the then fledgling internet. Her memoir goes beyond hilarious anecdotes from an unconventional childhood with the history of the Internet and online gaming from a user’s perspective, her experience with video game addiction, a glimpse into the life of an unknown actor trying to make it in LA, an account of creating a low budget Web series (“The Guild”), and her perspective on and experience with Gamergate. A truly gifted writer, Day divides her memoir into semi-chronological sections by topic, giving each individual part its own arc in addition to the overall narrative arc of the memoir, which encourages readers to pursue their creative passions.
I picked up this book as a Guild fan, thinking it would just be an interesting glimpse into Felicia Day’s life. Instead I found one of the most interesting and entertaining memoirs I have ever read and a new audiobook favorite! If you are not a Felicia Day fan already, the book may lack the “squee” factor it had for me, but if you are an Internet user who enjoys memoirs, you will probably still find her story engaging. Definitely listen to the audiobook!
CARRY ON by Rainbow Rowell
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Watford School of Magic changed Simon’s life. When he was eleven, the Mage plucked him from the orphanage and told him he was the most powerful magician ever to live–the one who was prophesied centuries ago and who is destined to defeat the Insidious Humdrum which has been stealing magic. Of course Simon wishes he were born into a magic family, and that his magical abilities were not quite so unpredictable and destructive, and that the Insidious Humdrum weren’t making his life quite so miserable. Perhaps most of all, he wishes the Humdrum didn’t inexplicably look exactly like him. But when in his final year the Mage suggests that he leave Watford for his own safety, Simon’s answer is an emphatic no. He couldn’t possibly leave his brilliant and brave friend Penny or his girlfriend Agatha. And he couldn’t ever leave Baz, his vampire archnemesis/roommate, unmonitored–especially now when Baz’s parents and the other old magic families are planning a rebellion against the Mage. Unfortunately, Baz doesn’t show up for the start of term. Although he is initially worried the vampire might be planning something evil, when the ghost of Baz’s mother shows up looking for him, Simon begins to worry for his safety. When Baz finally does return, released from an embarrassing kidnapping, Simon feels obligated to help him find his mother’s killer–even if it means trusting the person he knows is destined to kill him.
Carry On, Simon was the hypothetical “Simon Snow” fan fiction novel written by character Cath in Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, a novel inspired by the Harry Potter fan fic world. In actually writing Carry On, Rowell created a vivid and nuanced fantasy world that has many direct parallels to Harry Potter, which makes the differences and twists all the more meaningful. I wish there really were eight books set in this world, but the one is brilliantly crafted, engaging, and poignant. It will be most appreciated by older teen and adult Potter fans. It is not necessary to read Fangirl first, but I recommend it.
BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson
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Jacqueline’s childhood was shaped by the Civil Rights movement, her grandfather’s garden, the kids playing in the streets in Bushwick, and so many other things. She gathers her memories and turns them into poetry in this National Book Award winning memoir. Her story is accessible and beautifully told with vivid imagery and a depth of reflection that inspires similar personal reflection from readers of all ages. A beautiful book. I highly recommend it!
DOLL BONES by Holly Black
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It’s not that Zach doesn’t care what other kids think of him. He does his best to hide his secret imaginative life from his friends on the basketball team. But it’s worth the risk of getting caught in order to keep playing the game with Poppy and Alice. When Zach is being William the Blade, it is like his whole identity changes; he becomes a pirate. And the creepy bone China doll they pretend is their queen really seems to have deadly powers. When Zach’s dad throws away all of his action figures, Zach feels like his world is falling apart. He can’t get up the courage to tell Poppy and Alice why he can’t play anymore. But the bone China doll isn’t about to let Zach go so easily. A ghost appears to Poppy in a dream and suddenly Zach and his friends find themselves on a real adventure every bit as dangerous and magical as any of their games.
This creepy adventure story combines the family and friendship tensions of growing up with an intriguing ghost story. I wouldn’t call it scary, but it definitely has a chilling tone at times. The main thrust of the book, however, is the evolving character relationships and Zach’s coming of age. I would recommend this book to middle grade readers who enjoy fantasy adventures set in the real world.
Susan the Librarian 