Dash and Lily's Book of Dares

Imagine you're in your favorite used book store perusing the titles from your favorite author. You notice a notebook tucked between the titles that looks like it doesn't belong. When you take it down to look at it, you realize it contains a dare. Following the dare and reciprocating leads to an adventure that takes two teens all around New York City and out of their comfort zones. Along the way, they learn the difference between what's on the page, the ideal, and reality. What a fun read!  Here's a link to a great book trailer about it.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwo-XWm4MQk

Why We Broke Up

This book is not in our library at FMS.  It's rated for 9th grade and above.  Min Green has a book full of memories from her relationship with Ed Slaterton. When they break up, she decides to give him a box containing all of the mementos. As each item is presented, the story of their relationship unfolds with Min telling Ed the significance of each item. Because of the title, we know the unfortunate end of the relationship. For most of the book, we wonder how things could get to that point. Here is a couple that overcomes the typical popularity constraints that stifle most relationships and grows because of it. In the end, the reason they break up is that much more shocking because we as readers have watched the progression of a beautiful relationship. For me personally, I have boxes of mementos from previous relationships, so I had an added buy-in to the character. I loved the illustrations of each artifact. Great storytelling!

The Mark of Athena

Annabeth, Percy, Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, and Leo are off on their latest adventures. Now that the Greek and Roman camps know about each other, we hope they can work together to defeat Gaea. Alas, there seems to be another plan at work and forces unlike any the heroes have encountered before. Along the way, the heroes deal with a strange past that connects some of them, discover new abilities, rescue people (and some sea creatures) from impossible situations, and even meet Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. Rick Riordan does it again with his great storytelling infusing new myths like the stories of Echo, Narcissus, and Arachne with the Greek and Roman gods he's already made us know and love.

Crank

This is definitely not a book for everyone.  Kristina is an average young lady.  She grew up with her mother, sister, and brother.  Even though her mother is remarried, things have been normal.  Then she goes to visit her dad.  Everything changes.  She discovers her inner wild child she names “Bree,” and Bree does all kinds of things Kristina would never do.  Bree breaks up a relationship and hooks up with a bad boy.  Bree tries crank and instantly gets addicted to walking with “the monster.”  The time spent at her dad’s changes Kristina’s life.  When she returns, the monster still calls to her.  She has to find new connections to get the crank she craves.  Bree insists on flirting with boys as well as disaster.  Things get worse and worse for Kristina as the addiction gets stronger.  To find out what happens, read Crank. 

Kristy's Great Idea Graphic Novel

In this first book in the series, three girls who have grown up together start new adventures.  They all babysit, but sometimes it can be challenging for parents in their town to line up a sitter.  Kristy gets the idea to create a Baby-sitters Club, where the three girls and a new girl named Stacey all gather with their schedules ready, and the parents only have to make one phone call to access four girls.  It follows their adventures from dog-sitting (something they decide the club doesn’t do) to getting to know Kristy’s potential step siblings.  Along the way, they learn a lot about baby-sitting and friendship.  I absolutely LOVED the Baby-sitters Club books as a kid.  I worked hard to collect all of the books, and they were proudly displayed on my bookshelf in my room.  It was interesting to see the graphic novel depictions of each of the beloved characters and to go back and relive the adventures of the girls. 

How They Croaked--The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous

This gruesome book covers 19 famous people, starting with their
accomplishments and how a case of not having the modern medical advances we sometimes take for granted. For example, the horrific measures they put George Washington through before he eventually died could have been avoided with a simple round of modern day antibiotics. After each person’s entry, ththey became famous and ending with the circumstances surrounding the person's death. Often, it was ere is a more informative section about the times in which the person lived or an aspect related to him/her. I’m not a huge fan of reading non-fiction, but I actually enjoyed the way this information was presented. It was full of sarcasm, which I find appealing

Revolution

Meet Andi Alpers.  Her brother is dead.  Her mother is locked in a world of sorrow, and her absent father might as well be dead.  Ever since the loss of her brother, Andi is surviving the best she can.  She takes medicine for the depression, but nothing truly satiates the pain but music.  Though she’s capable, her grades start to fall, and the
school alerts her father.  He whisks her mother off to a psychiatric hospital and Andi to France, where he expects her to work on a thesis she must write to graduate.  It is the discovery of a diary written during the French Revolution and a boy she met playing her guitar near the Eiffel Tower that interests Andi much more than her paper.  Through Alex’s story of her affection for the royal family, specifically Louis Charles, readers get a first-hand account of the events of the French Revolution.  Through Alex and with some support along the way from Virgil and even possibly some adventures in time travel, Andi is finally able to cope with the loss of her brother, who looked strikingly similar to the young prince. I loved the story within a story aspect that was present with following Andi in present times and following Alex in the past through her diary.  The way the two stories came together in the end was a great ending.  It was a very unusual way to tell a story, but it sure captivated me. 

Divergent

In Beatrice’s world, the society is broken into 5 factions.  At the age of 16, each person must decide which faction to
join.  Leaving the faction of one’s upbringing means a separation from parents, family, and every known thing.  Before making that choice, each person is given a test to determine which faction would be ideal for him/her based on aptitude.  Beatrice gets unusual results that mystify the person giving the test.  The person encourages Beatrice to never tell anyone about the results.  On the day where the factions are announced, Beatrice chooses to leave her family and her Abnigation life for a life of adventure and risk.  Initiation is intense.  Adjusting to the dramatic lifestyle changes is tough.  Fist fighting is completely in opposition to the lifestyle Beatrice knew.  All of it must be overcome, or she risks being factionless.  Does Tris, as she refers to herself, survive initiation into Dauntless? What about the other danger that awaits her when she realizes what another faction is doing with Dauntless people.  The risks that she’s willing to take for those she loves are truly remarkable.  I absolutely loved this book!  It was not just another dystopian Hunger Games wannabe. 

Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading

Charlie Joe doesn’t read.  Period.  He has found ways to avoid it his whole life.  He starts the book with all kinds of tips to avoid reading that have worked for him, like suggestions about reading the beginning chapter, the ending chapter, and a few pages in the middle.  For book reports, he relies on his friend Timmy to read it and tell him about it.  When Timmy no longer agrees to help Charlie Joe, he finds himself in a dilemma.  With the drama of lacrosse and Eliza, the prettiest girl in school, Charlie finally attempts to convince his sister to read the book for him.  Find out what happens when his plan goes awry.

The School Story

Natalie Nelson has had a tough time since her dad died.  Her mother works at a publishing firm, and Natalie dreams of writing books.  When she shows her friend Zoe a story she’s been working on, Zoe is determined to help Natalie get it published.  The two solicit the help of several grown-ups in their lives, starting with their English teacher.  Everyone who reads the story falls in love with it.  The girls create a publishing firm and take on alternative names.  In the end, the book is published, and Zoe’s mom is the editor.  She is shocked to learn that her daughter wrote the book that she found so endearing. Perhaps I like my realistic fiction to be more realistic.  It just seemed like everyone was way too stereotypical.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Kit is recently orphaned.  Again.  Her parents died when she was  younger, and she was lucky to be raised by a loving grandfather.

When he dies, she embarks from Barbados to Connecticut to live with her mother’s sister.  It becomes evident on board The Dolphin that the life to which she is accustomed is very different than the life in Connecticut.  That point is further made obvious by the abrupt way she is treated when she arrives at her aunt’s home.  They live a Puritan life of hard work and simplicity, where there is no place for silk gowns and lace gloves.  Kit goes through spells where she simply can’t take any more.  One day, she escapes to a pond and meets Hannah, an older Quaker woman living there.  Hannah understands Kit in a way nobody else has, and they become friends.  Through a courtship that never should have been and  a sickness that almost takes both cousins and her aunt, Kit finds strength she never knew she had.  When she tries to share some of that strength with Prudence, a young lady in the village, things get much worse.

The Giver

Jonas is unusual.  His eyes are lighter than most of the people in his futuristic society.  He is about to find out what job the government has chosen for him, but he doesn’t feel a particular affinity to any of the jobs he’s tried.  In his society, the government is all about efficiency, so weather has been regulated, animals have been killed, and emotion has been removed.  Jonas gets the job of receiver, which essentially means storer of memories.  The Giver is getting old, and he’s passing
along the wisdom and memories of the past.  Because of his new experiences, Jonas is no longer satisfied in his old life.  When he discovers what the government is really doing to twins, he and The Giver hatch a plan that means changes for everyone.

Looking for Alaska

This book is not suggested for 6th or 7th grade and is not in the FMS library.  Talk to Ms. Walton if you're interested in learning more.  Miles has lived an unexciting life.  It fully hits him at his birthday party.  As a result, he decides to go to the boarding school his dad attended in search of “The Great Perhaps.”  Miles hits the roommate jackpot in The Colonel, who, with the help of Alaska, Takumi, and Laura, teach Miles about life.  They pull pranks, they disobey all of the school rules, and they have more fun than Miles has ever had in his life.  Alaska is not well, though, and she goes through massive mood swings.  The book is broken into a countdown “before” and then a section “after.”  The irreverant, live-out-loud endearing characters made this one of my favorite books. 

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

When the church lady who has been organizing the Christmas pageant for years falls ill,

Beth's mom takes over the pageant.  Because of something her brother told the trouble-making family at school, the Herdmans have decided to start attending church.  Through bullying and other coercion techniques, they land the main roles in the play.  The "problem" is that they haven't been raised with the Christmas story and encounter the message for the first time.  They bring their own interpretation to the story and ask legitimate questions.  In the end, the fresh take on the story brings a welcome change to the cast and audience.  The Herdmans' take on things people who have been raised Christian take for granted was priceless.  There were touching moments that brought tears to my eyes.  It took "outcasts" to help tell the message of the Christmas story, which is love.

Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I don't)

Missy doesn't like to read.  Miss Brooks, her librarian, tries all kinds of different books to get Missy excited, but none of them are working.  Miss Brooks even dresses up like characters from the books to get kids excited.  It works for her friends but not for Missy.  When there's an assignment to dress up like a chracter from a book and share it with the class, Missy is disheartened.  She doesn't relate to any of those princess-y girls in most of the books for her age.  When she learns about ogres, Missy's world of reading is finally opened, and she gets excited about dressing up like an ogre and sharing her story with the class.