Book: The Girl from Everywhere

The Girl from Everywhere
by Heidi Heilig

 

Length: 480

Format: eBook
Price: Free -downloaded from Overdrive

How I heard about it: it's on the book list I made from my YAL conference

Basic Premise: Sixteen-year-old Nix has been sailing with her father since she was two years old, but the thing about her father's ship is that it doesn't just sail the high seas, it sails through time. Desperate to return to a time when her mother exists, her father will stop at nothing to find a map that will take them there, even if it means sacrificing Nix's life.

My Take: 6 out of 10 (scale here)

This book was recommended at my young adult literature conference and one of my best readers this year read it and loved it. I did not feel the same way. I liked Nix and her sea-fairer persona, and the concept was interesting enough, but the odd arrangement of language and sporadic style of the writing had me constantly rereading and trying to figure out what the heck was going on. I did go back and forth between the book and the audiobook (which I also checked out form Overdrive), so that might be able to account for part of it, but mostly, I had to work to hard for a story that didn't really pay out. It's not one I'm buying for my shelf at school (although it is clean enough to).

1. Scythe by Neal Schusterman
2. Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson
3. Seeds of America Trilogy by Laurie Halse Anderson
4. Front Lines by Michael Grant
5. Steeplejack by AJ Hartley
6. The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry
7. Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige ABANDONED (reason here)
8. The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
9. The Reader by Traci Chee
10. Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story by Nora Raleigh Baskin
11. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
12. Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavski (review here)
13. The Distance to Home by Jenn Bishop
14. The Best Man by Richard Peck
15. Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart (review here)
16. Ghost by Jason Reynolds
17. This Is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp
18. The Bitter Side of Sweet by Tara Sullivan
19. The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola
    20. The Serpent King by Jeff Zetner  

Book: Lily & Dunkin

Lily & Dunkin
by Donna Gephart

Length: 352

Format: eBook
Price: Free -downloaded from Overdrive

How I heard about it: it's on the book list I made from my YAL conference

Basic Premise: Two outcast middle schoolers find that, amidst their struggles, joy can be found in friendships if they will take time to look closely.

My Take: 7 out of 10 (scale here)

This book was recommended at my young adult literature conference. I would definitely categorize as elementary it in terms of readability and style. However, it deals with a very controversial issue, which may be better suited for older readers. Ordinarily, I wouldn't have chosen a book like this, but I had a student this year going through some of these issues, and as I believe that reading is one of the best conductors of empathy and understanding, I checked it out on Overdrive and started it on the flight.

Like many middle schoolers, the two main characters have social issues that isolate them from their peers. Dunkin is bipolar and hallucinates. His father is out of the picture, but the reason for this is unclear until the end of the story. Tim was born a boy but is a girl in his heart and has renamed himself Lily. His mother and sister are supportive, but his father doesn't understand and the kids at school have begun to target him. The friendship that develops between the two is unlikely and painfully awkward at times, but the ending is quite heartwarming.

I think the author handled this delicate topic quite well. I was particularly interested to read the note to the reader following the conclusion of the story. In it, she discusses her own personal struggles with her son's bipolar disorder and her interest in a transgender girl she encountered when she was young.

1. Scythe by Neal Schusterman
2. Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson
3. Seeds of America Trilogy by Laurie Halse Anderson
4. Front Lines by Michael Grant
5. Steeplejack by AJ Hartley
6. The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry
7. Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige ABANDONED (reason here)
8. The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
9. The Reader by Traci Chee
10. Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story by Nora Raleigh Baskin
11. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
12. Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavski (review here)
13. The Distance to Home by Jenn Bishop
14. The Best Man by Richard Peck
15. Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart
16. Ghost by Jason Reynolds
17. This Is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp
18. The Bitter Side of Sweet by Tara Sullivan
19. The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

20. The Serpent King by Jeff Zetner

Book: Dorothy Must Die

Dorothy Must Die
by Danielle Paige

Length: 480

Format: Paperback
Price: I can't remember...I ordered it off Amazon several months ago

How I heard about it: it's on the book list I made from my YAL conference

Basic Premise: The story of Dorothy Gale from Kansas as we know it is a complete sham. Dorothy is the witch, and she must be stopped, or Oz will be ruined forever.

My Take:

I normally don't review books I abandon. It doesn't seem fair, as if I didn't give a book a fair shake. And perhaps I didn't. But I stuck with my 10% rule (I actually think I read more like 20%), and I just couldn't stick with it. Here are a few reasons why.

#1 - I wasn't a fan of the protagonist. The things that happened to her in the story are pretty outrageous, and rather than reacting with shock and consternation, like a normal person would, she seemed to accept strange turns of events with little concern. That made the story pretty unbelievable and made her an unreliable narrator. Now granted, I'm dealing with fantasy, so maybe I'm being too harsh here, but the things that should be unbelievable in a fantasy should be things like mythical creatures and magic, not personality traits.

#2 - I probably could've recovered from the protagonist thing, but what I couldn't do was deal with the writing style. It was sloppy and uneven, and it makes for confusing reading. And I find this particularly frustrating because I think this is a brilliant concept! Dorothy as the bad guy? The witch was in the right all along? Who wouldn't want to be about that? Stories like this in the hands of writers like this make me scratch my head. (I feel compelled to note here that I also felt this way about the Twilight books. They are some of the best selling books of ever. This book, also, is a relatively well selling book. So it appears that few folks agree with me. But there you have it.)

1. Scythe by Neal Schusterman
2. Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson
3. Seeds of America Trilogy by Laurie Halse Anderson
4. Front Lines by Michael Grant
5. Steeplejack by AJ Hartley
6. The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry
7. Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige ABANDONED
8. The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
9. The Reader by Traci Chee
10. Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story by Nora Raleigh Baskin
11. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
12. Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavski review here
13. The Distance to Home by Jenn Bishop
14. The Best Man by Richard Peck
15. Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart
16. Ghost by Jason Reynolds
17. This Is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp
18. The Bitter Side of Sweet by Tara Sullivan
19. The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

20. The Serpent King by Jeff Zetner

Book: The Family Romanov

The Family Romanov
by Candace Fleming

Length: 304 pages

Format: Hardback
Price: Free - checked out from the public library

How I heard about it: it's a William Allen White Award book (I'm taking a break from my list and reading some of the William Allen White Award nominees for Battle of the Books at school)

Basic Premise: Nicholas II of Russia didn't know it when he was inaugurated in 1894 as supreme Emperor of Russia, but he was the last Emperor Russia would see, bringing an end to the Romanov dynasty after 300 years. 

My Take: 10 out of 10 (scale here)
I COULDN'T PUT THIS BOOK DOWN! I started on a Friday afternoon and finished Saturday morning. It was incredible. When I was in middle school, a traveling exhibit called "The Treasures of the Czars"came to our town. My father applied and was selected to be a docent at the exhibit. I remember hearing him talk about his experiences, and then when my class took a field trip to see the exhibit, he took the day off from school (he NEVER took the day off from school) and accompanied us to the exhibit. I remember seeing a pink stone, and the woman said the stone was worth enough money for me and a friend to go to the movies every day for the rest of our lives! WHAAAAAAAT?

The story alternated between the story of the Romanovs, in their wealth and glory, and the peasant class in Russia - the "serfs" - who were little more than slaves of wealthy land owners. It was a brilliant stroke by Fleming to tell both stories simultaneously, because the meeting of the two - the oppressors and the oppressed - is where the crisis began. It was well-written and so interesting. I loved it!

Book: Courage for Beginners

Courage for Beginners
by Karen Harrington

Length: 320 pages

Format: Paperback
Price: Free - checked out from the school library

How I heard about it: it's a William Allen White Award book (I'm taking a break from my list and reading some of the William Allen White Award nominees for Battle of the Books at school)

Basic Premise: Mysti Murphy's best friend invites her to be part of a "social experiment," in which he tries to be "cool" by ignoring her. Ever the optimist, Mysti thinks it might be fun. But when the school year begins, the experiment begins to feel less and less like an experiment, leaving Mysti feeling hurt and rejected by the only person who ever accepted her. 

My Take: 6 out of 10 (scale here)
This book was fine. I took it after one of my girls finished, and when she handed it to me, she said, "I have a love/hate relationship with this book." I think that's an accurate portrayal. There are deep, poignant moments to the story, such as Mysti's mother's agorophobia and the effects it has on the family - particularly when her father suffers a roofing accident and is hospital bound - but then there are issues that seem to need resolving and are left up in the air. I did like that the ending revolved around Mysti embracing her "weirdness" and the weirdness of her family and understanding that they were who they were and nothing anyone said or did mattered. Overall it's a good book for my shelf.

Book: Life on Mars

Life on Mars
By Jennifer Brown

Length: 256 pages

Format: Paperback
Price: Free - checked out from the school library
How I heard about it: it's a William Allen White Award book (I'm taking a break from my list and reading some of the William Allen White Award nominees for Battle of the Books at school)

Basic Premise: Arcturus Betelgeuse Chambers (Arty) comes from a family of stargazers (everyone, including is aunt Sarin, is named after a celestial body of some sort). All Arty has ever wanted to do is watch the stars, but when his dad announces they are moving to Las Vegas, the brightest city in the world, Arty believes his stargazing days are gone for good.

My Take: 7 out of 10 (scale here)
This book was fine. It's for younger kids (upper elementary), but I think reluctant readers will like it because Jennifer Brown and her characters are funny. There's all sorts of humor in the book, including a sister (Vega) whose boyfriend called "The Bacteria" and lots of factual information about astronomy and astrology that doesn't feel like a science lesson. The over-arching story involves an ailing neighbor who, at first, Arty believes is a serial killer, but upon actually meeting the man, he discovers they share a love of the sky. It's a cute story I plan to have on my shelf for next year!

Book: Rain Reign

Rain Reign
by Ann M. Martin

Length: 304 pages

Format: Hardback
Price: Free - checked out from the school library

How I heard about it: it's a William Allen White Award book (I'm taking a break from my list and reading some of the William Allen White Award nominees for Battle of the Books at school)

Basic Premise: Rose hasn't really felt at home in her house with her father since her mom left. School complicates things because, as hard as she tries to be normal, Rose just can't seem to squelch the urges her Autism seems to bring about in her. But when her father brings home a dog one day, Rose begins to feel understood for the first time.

My Take: 7 out of 10 (scale here)
This was a cute story about a girl with difficulties and a deadbeat father. It once again made me think of students like her with struggles at school and home and wish I could take them home. It also explored the relationship between Rose and her dog, which is something rather foreign to me. I didn't grow up with inside dogs, so I don't really understand the attachment people form with pets. (When dogs of friends die, I struggle to respond appropriately. I recognize that makes me a terrible person.) I appreciated this glimpse into that bond. Rose is fascinated with homophones and lists many throughout the book. It wasn't until I finished that I made the connection with the title. I think this is a great book for elementary schoolers, but my middle schoolers liked it too!

Book: El Deafo

El Deafo
by Cece Bell

Length: 248 pages

Format: Hardback
Price: Free - checked out from the school library

How I heard about it: it's a William Allen White Award book (I'm taking a break from my list and reading some of the William Allen White Award nominees for Battle of the Books at school)

Basic Premise: Cece isn't like the other kids...she's a superhero! She may look funny with her hearing aids and phonic ear, but these tools enable her to hear things the other kids at school only wish they could hear. It's her superpower!

My Take: 8 out of 10 (scale here)
This book was so cute. It's a graphic novel (bleh), but I actually enjoyed it. I have almost no experience with interacting with deaf children (or people, for that matter), so it was incredibly enlightening to read about a girl whose hearing was lost due to illness when she was 4. It was also the sort of book that really promotes empathy and understanding among students. One of my boys read it and he said it was actually really good, despite his expectations, for that reason. It's definitely a book I will read with Brother!

Book: Half a Chance

Half a Chance
by Cynthia Lord

Length: 224 pages

Format: Hardback
Price: Free - checked out from the school library

How I heard about it: it's a William Allen White Award book (I'm taking a break from my list and reading some of the William Allen White Award nominees for Battle of the Books at school)

Basic Premise: Lucy is the new kid...again. This time, it's to a lakeside community in New Hampshire while her photographer father heads off to Arizona on a job. Convinced she will be bored stiff all summer, she discovers that perhaps things aren't what she perceives, if she'll only give them half a chance.

My Take: 6 out of 10 (scale here)
This book was fine. If I taught 4th grade, I would probably have liked it more because I would have thought of specific kids to hand it off to, but because this book was so elementary, I don't have many of those. I did like that the book focused a lot on photography. That is something I don't know much about, so it was interesting to explore through the eyes of this young photographer. I did get to the end of the book and feel a little let down, though. It felt a lot like the book Hoot by Carl Hiaasen, where you get to the end and you're like, "That's it? Really?" When I was a kid, I remember reading William Allen White Award books and being BLOWN AWAY by how amazing they were. Maybe it's because I'm an adult now, but I didn't feel like there was anything particularly special about this book.

Book: Kill the Boy Band

Kill the Boy Band
by Goldy Moldavsky

Length: 320

Format: eBook
Price: Free -downloaded from Overdrive

How I heard about it: it's on the book list I made from my YAL conference

Basic Premise: The Ruperts are coming to the US and four of their biggest fans (Strepurs...Ruperts spelled backwards) are not missing this opportunity to see their idols in concert. But when one of them goes to get ice at the hotel and she runs into a real live Rupert, she isn't quite sure what to do. So she knocks him out and drags him back to their hotel room, where the pandemonium begins.

My Take: 8 out of 10 (scale here)

This book was SO FUN. I read it in four days, which is pretty remarkable considering how busy I am this time of year. It's told in first-person from, arguably, the sanest member of the fangirls. It took me by surprise in several regards. First, there was much more mystery than I anticipated. Once the story got rolling, the plot became deeper and more and more twisted. It's another one of those stories where one bad decision leads to another, much worse decision, and the whole thing starts to spiral. Secondly, this was the first novel from this author, Goldy Moldavsky, and I think she did a great job. I am interested in reading more of her stuff. Lastly, and sadly, I cannot have this book in my classroom. Now that I think about it, I remember that the presenter said it is a book for high schoolers, and I would agree. Between the language and sexual content, it's probably a book suited for older readers. But it was super fun, and the first one off my list!

1. Scythe by Neal Schusterman
2. Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson
3. Seeds of America Trilogy by Laurie Halse Anderson
4. Front Lines by Michael Grant
5. Steeplejack by AJ Hartley
6. The Girl I Used to Be by April Henry
7. Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
8. The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
9. The Reader by Traci Chee
10. Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story by Nora Raleigh Baskin
11. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
12. Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavski
13. The Distance to Home by Jenn Bishop
14. The Best Man by Richard Peck
15. Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart
16. Ghost by Jason Reynolds
17. This Is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp
18. The Bitter Side of Sweet by Tara Sullivan
19. The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

20. The Serpent King by Jeff Zetner