The Girl Who Saw Lions by Berlie Doherty

This novel tells the story of two girls with very different lives. Abela lives in Tanzania on the continent of Africa, and is dealing with the death of her mother and baby sister from AIDS. Abela’s uncle has recently been kicked out of London for being there illegally, and he comes up with a plan to return that involves Abela possibly being sold as a domestic servant. Rosa lives in a suburb of London with her mother, who is considering adopting another child. The thought of sharing her mother, her home, and her life with another child who is a stranger makes Rosa very uncomfortable. This book sensitively and honestly deals with some tough subject matters, but the intertwining of Abela’s and Rosa’s lives makes for a positive and uplifting story. Review by Katie Corrigan

Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle & Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me by Nan Marino

 Tamara Ann Simson is mad.  She’s mad because her mother  watches soap operas all day and doesn’t fit in with the other mothers in their suburb.  She’s mad because her beloved brother is away at college, and when he comes home, their dad yells at him about his long hair, and he yells at their dad for “working for the man.”  She’s mad because the new kid in the neighborhood, Douglas McGinty, lies about everything (“Did I happen to mention that I’m training for the Olympics…” “Did I ever tell you about the time I sang on Broadway?” “My uncle is Neil Armstrong, the astronaut.”),  and all the other kids and adults seem to believe him. But most of all she’s mad because her best friend Kebsie moved away one day without even saying good-bye.  And worst of all, the new kid is living in the house where Kebsie lived with her foster mother.  Tamara calls him “Muscle Man” because he’s so scrawny, but he seems to like his nickname.  In fact, he’s cheerful about everything, no matter how mean Tamara is to him.  By the end of the book, when everyone in the neighborhood is watching the astronauts land on the moon, Tamara learns that even though someone is cheerful on the outside, they might be just as lonely on the inside as she is.  Author Nan Marino says that she chose 1969 as the year to set her first novel in because, “ The day that the first man walked on the moon is one of those moments in history that elevated the human race by filling our hearts with hope.”  Review by Stacy Church

The Ear, the Eye and the Arm by Nancy Farmer

This science fiction/fantasy book is set in the future, Zimbabwe in 2194, and involves two trios of characters: the three children of General Matsika, the country’s Chief of Security, and the three detectives the General’s wife hires to find them when they disappear on their first outing outside of the family residence.  Harare is a dangerous place full of gangs (especially The Masks) and criminals who are all too eager to get their hands on the General’s children.  The General would never have agreed to let the children' venture out on their own, if he hadn’t been tricked during his morning session with the Mellower (somehow no one can ever quite remember what the Mellower says to them during the combination praise and storytelling sessions designed to make every feel relaxed and happy).  Of course, the children disappear, the General and his wife suddenly remember the Mellower asking for passes, and, in desperation, they turn to a detective agency operated by three mutants with special talents (caused by a nuclear accident that killed and maimed many people).  The book is full of legends and history based on Shona history.  There is a glossary at the back of the book with a combination of the made-up terminology in the book, and actual Shona, Zulu, and Afrikaans words.  There is also an appendix with info on some topics covered in the book.  Review by Stacy Church

Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin

I was so excited to read this new book by the author of a few books I love--In the Company of Crazies, and especially, What Every Girl (Except Me) Knows –but I was completely let down. I had read the reviews, so I know my expectations were high, but still, that doesn’t account for all of my disappointment. Baskin tries hard to put the reader inside the head of an autistic boy, 12-year-old Jason, and she does a good job of describing his behavior, but it feels like someone on the outside describing him. I know that people will say she’s trying to show the detached way of thinking a person with autism has, but that doesn’t make the book any more engaging. For me, Baskin’s style of writing in the book prohibits any connection with the character. Maybe part of the problem is that there isn’t much of a storyline. If you want to read something about people whose minds work differently, I would suggest you try The London Eye Mystery, or Blue Like Friday, and, of course, for older readers, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Review by Stacy Church

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick

The time period: 1863, the Civil War.  The story begins when 7-year-old Homer and his 17-year-old brother, Harold, are forced to live with their nasty uncle after their parents pass away.  The uncle has a terrible temper, he doesn’t feed them, works them hard on the farm, and makes them sleep in the barn.  One day, in a fit of temper, the uncle sells Harold to the Union Army, despite his young age.  And here Homer’s adventures begin: he grabs his horse (which his uncle had stolen from him) and heads south to find Harold and save him from getting killed in the war.  His journey is anything but smooth!  He’s often at the wrong place at the wrong time, and he meets up with some not-so-nice people.  The thing that repeatedly gets him out of trouble is his ability to lie himself out of any situation.  Review by Joyce Levine

Forensic Science by Alex Frith

I love this book about crime scene investigation!  It’s gory, but not too gory, because it’s in comic book style.  It’s full of information about what evidence scientists use to solve crimes, interspersed with actual cases.  There’s a list of who’s who in a criminal investigation, from the victim to the coroner and jury.  There’s an illustration of a crime scene, showing what evidence was collected where: fingerprints, bloodstains, files on a computer hard disk.  There’s even a chapter called Criminal Identity that includes forensic psychology, or profiling. In the back is a timeline of forensic science and some internet links for those of you who want to learn more.  Review by Stacy Church

Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan

This is a really fascinating book by the author of my favorite graphic novel, The Arrival.  It’s a collection of 17 stories with a wide variety of illustrations, including a very dark-looking landscape in grandpa’s story, and an essay told in collage called Distant Rain (about what happens to all the poems people write) .  The author has a very unusual viewpoint, which in this book he gets across not only with bizarre illustrations, but also with his seemingly unconnected short stories and essays.  “Shaun Tan was born in 1974 and grew up in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. In school he became known as the 'good drawer' which partly compensated for always being the shortest kid in every class.” (www.shauntan.net)  Check out the author’s website for some really cool line drawings and his thoughts on art, picture books and creativity.  Review by Stacy Church

Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls

If you had only a short time to live on this earth, what would you still like to experience, to learn, and to accomplish? The best way to get started would be to make a "bucket list" by recording all the things you still want to do before "kicking the bucket" --before dying. Eleven-year-old Sam starts writing a book when he finds out he has leukemia. He wants to find answers to questions nobody ever seems to want to talk about. He especially wants to break a world record and get his name published in The Guinness Book of World Records. He also wants to become a scientist and do important research. Then, Sam meets Felix, who uses a wheelchair to get around. They work on Sam's book together and have a lot of fun plotting against the adult world that surrounds them. Here is a book about two young boys who want to enjoy themselves while asking some serious questions about the meaning of life and death, and the many "Ways to Live Forever." Review by Trudy Walsh

For another review of Ways to Live Forever, see Jan. 25, 2009

The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry

I was drawn to this book because of its beautiful cover. In this fairy-tale-like book, a well-to-do girl is forced to live with her evil aunt after her parents pass away. There is a magic stone, a witch, and a prince which all come together at the royal ball. So if you're a fan of fairy tales with happy endings, this book won't disappoint you! Review by Joyce Levine

Thank You, Lucky Stars by Beverly Donofrio

Ally is actually excited to start the fifth grade. She and her best friend, Betsy, are going to wear the same outfit on the first day, and this is the year that they can enter the 5 th grade talent show. But when she arrives at the bus stop, Betsy isn’t wearing the same outfit as her. Worst of all, she’s talking to Mona, a girl that Ally can’t stand. Betsy’s and Mona’s families had vacationed at the same place that summer, and now they are the best of friends. Ally had never had a lot of friends – just one had been enough for her. Now she doesn’t have any. But then she meets the new girl, Tina, who is super weird. Her clothes are odd, she says the strangest things in class, and sometimes she wears her hair like Princess Leia! But Ally has fun with her. Tina doesn’t make fun of Ally the way Betsy did when she gets the heebie-jeebies and needs to dance around to get rid of her pent-up energy. Tina thinks the same way Ally does, and even agrees to dance disco with her in the talent contest. But then Betsy and her band decide that Ally would make a great go-go dancer for their talent show act. Will Ally go back to her old best friend, or stay true to her new one? Review by Katie Corrigan

All Shook Up by Shelley Pearsall

I really love this book! I thought it was going to be a light read, and it is because it's funny and it is, after all, about a kid whose father becomes an Elvis impersonator, but it has a lot to say, too. Poor Josh! The summer he turns 13, his grandma breaks her hip, and his mom has to go to Florida to take care of her. So that means Josh has to go stay with his Dad in Chicago for a few months. What his father hasn't told anyone is that the shoe store where he'd worked for years went out of business, and since he won the Elvis singing contest at the mall, he's been working as an Elvis impersonator. I don't think I need to tell you how embarrassing that would be. Josh has to go to a new school, and his main concern is to fit in and not draw attention to himself. This plan works pretty well until he meets his dad's new girlfriend, and finds out that her daughter is one of the "losers" at school. She dresses in 60's clothes from her mom's vintage shop and starts leaving notes on Josh's locker signed, "Elvisly yours." Of course by the end of the book Josh learns not to be so concerned with what everyone else thinks about him, and to be more concerned about the feelings of the people around him. Review by Stacy Church

Scat by Carl Hiaasen

This is the latest book from Carl Hiaasen, author of Hoot and Flush. It's another environmental, fun mystery with great characters who have to go through some difficult times to save a species of endangered wildlife, in this case, the Florida Panther. There are some bad guys (oil company executives), some good guys (the main character Nick, his best friend Marta), and some people who seem like bad guys that aren't (Mrs. Starch, the dreaded biology teacher; Smoke, the juvenile delinquent). If you liked Hiaasen's other books, you're sure to enjoy this one, too. Review by Stacy Church

Fiendish Deeds by P.J. Bracegirdle

This first book in The Joy of Spooking series introduces the very original and very strange character of Joy Wells. Wise beyond her twelve years, Joy enjoys dressing in the vintage clothes of dead people, sneaking into graveyards and other haunted places in the middle of the night, and reading scary stories, especially those written by the mysteriously vanished author E.A. Peugeot. Joy lives in a dying town called Spooking, but since there is no school she and her brother are forced to go to school in the neighboring city of Darlington, where they are taunted daily and called “Spookies.” Joy is angered when she learns that Darlington plans to build a water park over a bog in Spooking. She became interested in the bog after reading one of E.A. Peugeot’s stories, “The Bawl of the Bog Fiend.” She wonders, was Peugeot onto something? Is there really a bog fiend, and did it have something to do with Peugeot’s disappearance? I like the character of Joy – she’s funny, smart, and doesn’t care what people think of her. The writing style is humorous in a dry-wit kind of way, and the villain of the story is realistically creepy. However, I don’t know how it will do as a series. I enjoyed reading it, but the ending didn’t leave me dying to know what happens next. If you’re in the mood for an environmental mystery with quirky characters, then check out this book. Review by Katie Corrigan

The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had by Kristin Levine

When I first started reading this book, I thought it was set in the 1950's, a time during which there was rampant racial discrimination, and which has been written about extensively, so I was surprised when I realized that the setting for the book is much earlier -- 1917. The author drew on her grandfather's experiences growing up in Moundville, Alabama, gleaned from pages typed by her grandmother and given to each of their grandchildren. In the book, 12-year-old Dit has been waiting for the new postmaster to arrive because he heard that the family has a son his age. Instead, when the train arrives, the first person off is a young African American girl, followed closely by her mother, then her father, who "was just as black as the rest of them." The town is aghast, and so is Dit, but not for the same reason. His dreams of having a new best friend to go fishing with, play baseball with, and go hunting with are ruined. This is the story of an unlikely friendship between a white boy and a black girl, both about two steps away from adolescence, during a time in history when relations between the races were anything but casual. Dit has a true, original voice, which you see from the very beginning of the book. "I've been wrong before. Oh, heck, if I'm being real honest, I've been wrong a lot. But I ain't never been so wrong as I was about Emma Walker. When she first came to town, I thought she was the worst piece of bad luck I'd had since falling in the outhouse on my birthday." Review by Stacy Church

Itch by Michelle D. Kwasney

This is one of those heartfelt, personal stories that leave you feeling sad when you've finished the book -- not because the ending is sad (it isn't) but because you won't get to read about the characters anymore. The main character, Delores (called Itch after a bad case of poison ivy), has lived with her grandparents since her mother ran off. When Gramps dies suddenly of a heart attack, Gram decides that she can't stand to live in Florida anymore, where everything reminds her of him, and she takes Itch with her to live in a trailer park in Ohio, to be close to their cousin Effie. Itch really misses Gramps, who gave her lots of advice, such as, "Life is like a recipe. If you got two basic ingredeients --one, somebody to care about, who cares about you in return, and, two, a place to call home, no matter how humble --you'll be good to go." Itch finds plenty of reason to think back on things her Gramps told her, when she sees signs that her new friend, Wendy, is being beaten by her mother. Of course, Itch has to decide which is most important: to try to help Wendy somehow, or to keep her secret. Itch is also crazy about words, and at the end of the book is a list of her favorite ones, which includes enigma, persnickety, and talisman. Review by Stacy Church

One Small Step by P.B. Kerr

It's 1969 and 13-year-old Scott is living a normal life, except for the fact that his dad is a flight instructor for the Air Force, and has started letting Scott take control when they're up in the air - completely against Air Force regulations. When there's an accident and Scott's dad is knocked unconscious, Scott does such an amazing job flying and landing the plane that NASA comes to his house and tries to recruit him for the next test flight to the moon. It sound far-fetched when you outline the plot, but it's so well written that it seems believable while you're reading it. One of the many problems is that Scott's mother is completely opposed to his flying at all, and they have to concoct a cover story for her and for his school. There's lots of technical information about flying and space flight to satisfy those of you who are interested in that kind of thing, but not too much for those of us who aren't so interested. There are some pretty funny parts, like when they ask their astronaut instructor how they deal with "waste management" in space. This is definitely a good read. Review by Stacy Church

The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman

Global warming has caused the polar ice caps to melt and sea levels to rise; consequently, much of the Earth’s land has disappeared, leaving only high-lying islands. A corporation run by a woman known as Earth Mother now rules all of the islands. Honor and her family have moved to Island 365, and from the outset it looks like they’ll have a hard time fitting in. First of all, Honor’s name is all wrong. Everyone born in her year has a name that begins with H, but Honor’s name has a silent H and is therefore all wrong. Honor’s family also sings songs (forbidden), stays out past curfew (a serious offense), and worst of all, has a second child. Honor grows more and more embarrassed by her family’s disrespect of the rules, but her embarrassment turns to concern when she finds out what happens to people who do not fit in. This book is similar to other futuristic children’s books, like the City of Ember books and the Shadow Children series. If you liked those books then you’ll probably like this one; however, it’s not a standout. I liked how some of Earth Mother’s rules were similar to the rules of the former Chinese ruler Mao Zedong, like how all people had to hang a picture of her in their house and have a book of her sayings. It is truly frightening how Earth Mother and the people who work for her are able to control the population. Review by Katie Corrigan

Piggy by Mireille Geus

This is a very disturbing book. It's the story of a girl who is content to lean against a lamppost and watch the neighborhood boys play ball in the street, until one day, on the opposite side of the street, there's another girl leaning against a lamppost, watching the kids, just like she is doing. The story pretty much goes downhill from there. The first girl, Lizzie (who calls herself Dizzy because of the dizzy spells she suffers), tells the story, and it's somewhat disjointed as it jumps back and forth in time between the aftermath of the terrible thing that happened, and the story she is telling to a nice policewoman about the terrible thing that happened, and the time when the terrible thing actually happened. See what I mean? Lizzie tells the story firsthand, but I'm not sure I really got a sense of her as a round, complete character. She is very detached, but I guess that is the point, and the bully character, Piggy, is very emotional. There is a strong sense of foreboding throughout the book, but little explanation of what is actually different about Lizzie. This is a quick read, but it will be a while before I stop thinking about it. Review by Stacy Church

My So-Called Family by Courtney Sheinmel

I really enjoyed this book. It deals with an unusual topic: having a father who is just a sperm donor. Leah told everyone that her father lived in Europe until she was in the fourth grade and her mother told a new friend the truth about her parentage, and the friend told her daughter, who was a friend of Leah's. That's when she gained the nickname "Science Experiment." So when her mother and stepfather tell her that they're moving to a new city to live, Leah realizes it's the perfect opportunity for a fresh start. The new school is good, she makes friends right away, and her new friends even like having her little brother, Charlie, around. Leah is an interesting character, because even though she seems so independent, her desire for people to like her and not find out the truth about her background makes her willing to go along with her friends plans even when it gets her in big trouble with her parents. She also finds herself drawn to a website she discovered: Lyon's Sibling Registry. It's a website that connects the children of sperm donors from the Lyon's Sperm Bank. She uses her mom's credit card to join, and learns about a girl who has the same father. In secret, Leah becomes friends with her and even goes to visit her without her parents knowing. I'm not sure how believable the story is, but it doesn't really matter. I like the resolution: Leah finds out that her parents and her new friends are a lot more accepting and understanding than she thought they would be. Review by Stacy Church

How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found by Sara Nickerson

Sixth-grader Margaret's life has gone downhill since her father's death. Her mother spends entire days lying on the couch in front of the TV, her younger sister is obsessed with "The Hardest Jigsaw Ever Made," which she takes with her everywhere, and their "Family Fun Day" involves going to the laundramat and the grocery store. So the girls know something is up when their mother loads them into their pick-up truck one Sunday, drives them a long way to a broken-down mansion at the end of a lonely road, and then plants a "For Sale" sign on the lawn. Boyd lives next door to the mansion and is obsessed with a series of hand-drawn comic books by an author named Ratt. He finds the comics at the local library which isn't really a library at all: there's no catalog, all the books are hand-written, and there are no patrons except for Boyd, who comes every day to get the latest Ratt comic, which will have shown up on the doorstep during the night. This is one of only two books that I know of that incorporate graphic novel sections into the text. The other is The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, published in 2007. Margaret goes into the mansion when her mother isn't paying attention, and finds an unopened package addressed to her mother. It's marked Return to Sender, and Margaret takes it. When she opens it later, she finds a comic book, a swimming medal and a key to the old house. Margaret's father drowned, so when she finds out the championship swimming medal was his, she knows she has to find out what really happened to him. How could he have drowned if he was a championship swimmer? There are other mysteries, too. Who is in the old mansion and what is he trying to tell Boyd and Margaret? Is he trying to kill them or help them? He chases them out of the house, along with some growling, hairy monster they never really catch sight of, but he also leaves them pages from comics that chronicle whatever has just happened or is about to happen. This is a creepy mystery with lots of suspense. For more about this book, visit http://westwoodyoungadultbookclub.blogspot.com/ Review by Stacy Church