Gone to Drift

    

Oh, found 2 cover images.  I am guessing the one on the right is from original publication and the one on the left is US publication.

Lloyd's grandfather has gone missing.  He was supposed to come back from fishing days ago and hasn't returned.  Lloyd is really worried - his grandfather had gone out to an area he usually never gone to and his father doesn't even seem to care.  As more time goes on Lloyd becomes even more worried and suspicious that foul play is involved.  Interspersed with the narrative from Lloyd's perspective we get the history of the grandfather who is, in fact, stranded on a rock in the ocean.  Can Lloyd get to the bottom of his grandfather's disappearance and find him before it is too late?

This was a good book.  The language took a bit to get used to with Jamaican terms and dialect but there was a good message and good growth.

The Creature of the Pines

This is the first book in a new series by Adam Gidwitz - The Unicorn Rescue Society - geared for younger readers.

In this first installment we meet Elliot who is brand new to school.  Elliot's first day features a field trip with his teacher Miss Vole and the social studies teacher Professor Fauna.  On the bus Elliot meets Uchenna and they hit it off immediately.  The field trip itself is pretty bizarre - they go to the Pine Barrens, meet a storyteller named Dr. Thomas, and Elliot and Uchenna discover a New Jersey Devil.

When the New Jersey Devil follows Elliot and Uchenna home but then runs away the kids have no choice but to fill in Professor Fauna.  Of course, then he fills them in on his secret society.

A cute first installment that is sure to please fans of books like Spiderwick Chronicles or Dragonslayer Academy.  Not a lot of character development but a fun introduction which promises more cute creatures.

Ebb & Flow

What a beautiful poetic narrative about regret and second chances.  After Jett's father is imprisoned he makes the wrong kind of friend and starts to get it trouble.  It culminates with an incident that cause his mom to send him to live with his grandfather for the summer on a rocky island.  Over the course of the book Jett slowly begins to heal, face his regrets, own up to his mistakes, and forgive himself and others who have let him down.  While a somewhat slow book, as a poetic narrative it is already a bit short and I think readers will stick with it.

Following Baxter

Jordie is so excited when someone moves in next door.  She becomes even more thrilled when she finds out that Professor Reece is taking care of a dog and later decides to keep the dog.  Baxter, the dog is huge and friendly and seems to have this magical ability to understand and respond to Jordie.  

Soon Jordie finds out even more about Professor Reece and her experiments - she is figuring out how to teleport things.  The weird thing is that the hat she teleports does not end up where it is supposed to.  Even weirder?  Baxter can find the hat after it is teleported.

When Dr. Reece decides to teleport herself to see if she can figure things out she ends up disappearing.  Can Jordie, Baxter, and her brother figure out how everything works and find Dr. Reece.

I liked this so much better than I thought I would.  Fun science and dog story.

The Doughnut Fix

When Tristan's parents decide to move from NYC to the middle of nowhere, none of the kids are happy.  But while his older sister still seems able to connect with friends from the city and his younger sister is just having fun, Tristan is floundering.  That is, until he hears about some mysterious chocolate cream doughnuts that a local store owner used to make.  Now, with time on his hands until he starts school, Tristan decides to recreate the recipe and go into business for himself.  Along the way he starts making his own friends and learns a bit about business as well.

This was a pretty cute story.  Nothing overly flashy but a solid middle grade book.  I was a bit confused about the cover - the raccoon makes a brief appearance right before the end of the book and that's it.

The Key to Everything

So darn sad.  The book starts with Tash angry at her uncle and her neighbor who watches over her.  She has to go to camp while her uncle is in New Zealand and she takes her anger out on the neighbor, Cap'n Jackie.  Through a series of letters from camp everything seems resolved and forgiven but Cap'n Jackie is gone when Tash gets back.  She fell, broke her hip, and is in rehab refusing to talk to anyone.  Tash and her uncle go visit several times, and while there are a few instances where everything seems forgive, there isn't much communication and then Cap'n Jackie dies.  In between it all there is a mysterious key, Cap'n Jackie's imaginary dragon, and memories.  

It just wasn't enough.  Maybe if we had seen their relationship more before the going away to camp, etc but that was all through memories.  Didn't work for me.

Aru Shah and the End of Time

This book was a lot of fun.  With Rick Riordan's new imprint we are getting similar books - tone, gods and goddesses, young heroines - but expanding the cultures.  This book features Aru and Mini must find 3 keys and prevent the "Sleeper" from destroying the world.  Kids who have enjoyed Percy Jackson and other Riordan books will find a lot to like in this new series.  

Mapping the Bones

This book appealed to me initially for three reasons

• Jane Yolen!!!
• A tie in to Hansel and Gretel  - intriguing
• A Holocaust book with twins

Oh, I wanted to like it but...

The tie in the Hansel and Gretel was really thin.  I had hoped for a book more similar to Briar Rose by Yolen which was fabulous.  This just didn't have the same punch.

The twin angle really didn't kick in until the last 100 pages of this 400 page book.  It was a horrifying aspect of the story but it took a long time to get there.

The story is mainly about Chaim and Gittel who start in a ghetto, escape with their family and another family to join the partisans, get separated from all the adults, and end up in a camp working with munitions where they meet a doctor inspired by the terrible Mengele.  

In the end I did like it but not as much as I hoped.

Out of the Wild Night

The ghost of Mary Chase has awoken and is to become the town crier and narrator of the the tale.  But she is not the only ghost in Nantucket.  Many have arrived and they are not happy.  Houses are being sold to be restored but instead they are being gutted destroying memories and maybe even the way of life in Nantucket.  The ghosts are back to stop the destruction and with the help of a gang of kids and an older man maybe they will be successful.

This was an interesting story with a real focus on culture and history - maybe more than most middle grade readers will be interested in.  The ghost aspect was slightly scary but then became a bit violent.  An unexpected twist at the end may leave readers either scratching their heads or going back to look for what they missed.

Verdict:  For areas where Blue Balliett's books are popular or where Nantucket life and history rings true this would be a good purchase.  For others it may be a struggle to stay engaged long enough to get to the spookier parts and the surprise.

A Possibility of Whales

Natalia's life is a bit odd.  She is the daughter of a famous actor (think "The Rock") but she doesn't know who her mother is.  They have recently moved to Canada to get away from the paparazzi due to an incident in San Francisco.  Natalia still writes to her friend there but it is complicated because her friend was the reason they left.  She also still talks to "The Bird" - a woman she randomly called on a phone she found and now talks to regularly.  In Canada, Natalia meets Harry.  Harry is going through his own stuff.  He was born Harriet and his parents are struggling with accepting him as Harry.  In the midst of it all Natalia is trying to figure out life, friends, puberty, and changes in general.

This was a decent book - some humor, some angst.  I thought there was a bit much that coincidentally happened around the same time.  Kids won't mind as much as I did.  Not sure yet how I am feeling about this overall - I think it needs to sit with me a bit more.

Every Shiny Thing

Told in alternating voices this is the story of Sierra and Lauren.

Lauren has always been a help to her family.  Her brother is autistic and she has worked on helping him communicate and negotiate through his frustrations.  But now he is gone to a boarding school and Lauren hates it.  To make matters worse, her best friend doesn't seem to understand.  In an effort to cope she focus her attention on raising money to get help for other autistic kids.  But her means of getting the money - stealing things and then selling them online is hardly the way to go.

Sierra has had a rough upbringing.  Her dad is an addict and in jail and her mom is an alcoholic and after the latest episode is in rehab and Sierra is living with foster parents next door to Lauren.

The girls finds solace and friendship with each other but Sierra ends up covering for Lauren just like she used to cover for her mom.  Can both girls get what they need?

I enjoyed the mixed format of this book and the story overall was well done and had some good themes.  My one issue was how fast Lauren's issue took root and bloomed from merely taking things from home that no one seemingly wanted to shoplifting and stealing.  Maybe realistic but it seemed a big, quick jump to me.  Kids won't mind though...

The Three Hares: Bloodline

After Ethan's father's mysterious death last year things have been unsettled.  His mom is a mess and his own life is upside down.  But that is nothing compared to what happens after he and his friend Jacob discover a map.  Instead of treasure they find a centuries old secret society and Ethan is directly related to its founder and expected to be the new leader.

Can Ethan, his new friends, and the Three Hares expose a plot by the new mayor and the Red Fox gang which is behind it all and determined to end both Ethan and the Three Hares forever?

This had some good action and some nice twists.  It was a bit unrealistic in that weeks went by with little involvement or concern from Ethan, Jacob, or Liz's parents - although part of that was revealed in a plot twist at the end (I saw it coming - will readers?).  All in all a solid and clever book.

House of Dreams

I may be the only person on the planet who, as heavily read in children's literature as I am, have not read Anne of Green Gables or any of L.M Montgomery's other works.  To me then a biography about her life was not a must read.  I have an ARC that was sent to me and I read it.  

What a sad life.  It is amazing to me that she overcame to the extent she did and produced works that have brought joy to so many people.  

This book is way too heavy for my own library but it may be a good fit at a high school level for students familiar with her works or interested in mental health issues from that last century.

Wizard for Hire

I love the cover so much I made it larger.  I just felt like Rin was so Hagrid like :)

Ozzy's parents mysteriously move the family to a deserted area near Portland, OR when he was about 7.  Shortly after they moved however they were taken by some men and Ozzy was left alone.  Fortunately his parents had stockpiled canned foods, he knew how to read, and he was able to survive.  Over the years he found tapes that his father had recorded and a mechanical bird his father had invented.  But he became curious and started venturing out - to the surrounding area and eventually to school.  Finally, he decided to really start looking for his parents, and after seeing an ad in the local flyer about a Wizard for Hire, he met Rin.

Just who is Rin?  A real wizard or a delusion man?  It didn't really matter because together they were able to track down what happened to Ozzy's parents and why.  Along the way Ozzy also made friends with Rin's daughter and learned some important lessons.  

This was a fun book.  Rin was a hoot - again Hagrid like - and Ozzy's innocence and efforts were awesome.  Clark the bird was also great.  I really enjoyed this.  A sequel is hinted at but not necessary. 

Snowy Owl Invasion

This is another informative, investigation into an unusual occurrence in the scientific world.  It is interesting and for those who like these kind of books it will be popular.

Chasing King's Killer

I was born in 1969 - a little more than a year about King's assassination and Robert Kennedy's.  Growing up I really had no sense of these events.  In history class we never got far enough to discuss Civil Rights, Vietnam, etc.  Were the events too new, recent, raw?  Was it because I grew up in a predominantly white area?  As such this was an informative read for me.  The book had a lot of background leading up to the assassination.  The title is a bit of a misnomer because the actual hunt of James Earl Ray only took up about the last 50 pages of the book.  

The book is worthy of reading, discussing, and having in collections for junior high and up.