One Crazy Summer

Title: One Crazy Summer
Author: Rita Williams-Garcia
Genre: Historical Fiction

You will like this book if:

• You want to read a book with an easy reading level but is about a serious topic.
• You become frustrated because the expectations for you and your siblings are different.
• You are interested in the Black Panters.
• You like to read books that win awards.
• You know that having sisters can be embarassing, annoying, and fantastic.

You will not like this book if:

• You like to read books that challenge you.
• You prefer books that take place in current day.
• You don't like books that have mostly female characters.

Delphine is in for one crazy summer, surely is.  She and her sisters, Vonetta and Fern, are traveling from New York to visit the mother that left them nearly 8 years before.  Crazy, huh?  But then, the sisters quickly realize that their mother is crazy; she isn't excited to see her daughters, won't cook for them, and refuses to use one of the girl's names.  Crazy, right?  But then...Delphine's mother, Cecile, encourages the girls to go to a day camp run by the Black Panthers in her Oakland, California neighborhood.  This is an entertaining novel that illustrates how messy family dynamics can be, sheds light on the elusive group the Black Panthers, and shows how much one young girl can learn during a crazy summer. 

Before I Fall

Title: Before I Fall
Author: Lauren Oliver
Genre: Fantasy

You will like this book if:

• You wonder how even your smallest decisions can change your life.
• You like the movie "Groundhog Day" (I know this movie is quite old, but check it out!  It's a goodie!)
• You have opinions about how popularity effects all students in schools.
• You sometimes take your life for granted.
• You regret the way you treated classmates when they were younger.
• You like reading Thirteen Reasons Why; there are a ton of similar themes.

You will not like this book if:

• You are offended by language and sexual references.
• You like short books that you can read quickly.
• You are irritated by repition.

Meet Sam Kingston: one of the most popular girls in school with friends and a boyfriend less popular girls are jealous of.  Honestly, her character isn't even all that likable, but as the book goes on readers fall for her.  I mean-how can you not like a girl that dies over and over again and has to relive the last day of her life for a week?  Sam Kingston not only has to witness her death repeatedly, but she also has to recognize her flaws, her mistakes, and her lost opportunities to do better.  This is a long book, but definitely worth the commitment.  There is mature content in this book.

Looking for Alaska

Title: Looking for Alaska
Author: John Green
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction

You would like this book if:

• You like books about teenage angst.
• You have ever been interested in someone who is a bad influence on you.
• You are interested in what happens at boarding schools.
• You think your life is boring and want some adventure.
• You understand why friends are so important.

You wouldn't like this book if:

• You like books with some unrealistic details.
• You like a lot of action when you read.
• You are easily offended by language and other people's decisions.
• You prefer upbeat, happy books.

Home of the Brave

Title: Home of the Brave
Author: Katherine Applegate
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction

You would like this book if:

• You like animals.
• You are interested in refugee's experiences moving to America or Minnesota.
• You like novels in verse.
• You enjoy when the author is creative with the words he/she uses.

You wouldn't like this book if:

• You like to read books with a lot of action.
• You don't like animals or feel emotional attachments to them.

Kek has lived in two very different places: first in his homeland of warm, sunny Africa and now as a refugee in bitter cold Minnesota.  There is very little about his new life that reminds him of home: not his cousin, not his only friend (a young girl living in foster care), and definitely not school.  Kek has a lot to learn about America, and he can't wait to teach his mother.  Except, he hasn't heard from her yet and worries he might not ever again.  But there is one thing that makes him happy in his new home-Gol, the cow.  I know you are thinking that this book sounds terrible, but it is very heart-warming and I wouldn't be surprised to hear your smiled when you finished it.

The Graveyard Book

Title: The Graveyard Book
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Fantasy

You would like this book if:

• You like to read ghost stories or believe in ghosts.
• You like books that only come together at the end of the novel.
• You enjoyed Coraline, the book or the movie (same author!)
• You are fascinated by the history of cemetaries and dead people.
• You like to visualize things that are impossible based on what you read.

You wouldn't like this book if:

• You like to read books that are realistic.
• You are scared of the dark.
• You like books that explain mysterious events right away.

The first chapter is startling: murder and an orphan saved from abandonment by ghosts!  I promise I am not spoiling anything for eager readers because all of this occurs within the first 30 pages, literally.  This dark, mysterious novel is about Bod, short for Nobody, Owens and his life living amongst the long-dead in a graveyard.  His family and friends (all ghosts) have vowed to raise and protect Bod from a violent killer who hunted his parents and is now hunting him.  Each chapter reads like a different short story but all of the pieces come neatly together at the end. 

Hole in my Life

Title: Hole in my Life
Author: Jack Gantos
Genre: Memoir

You would like this book if:

• You like to read about true events (non-fiction).
• You are curious about people's experiences while breaking the law.  
• You recognize that you make mistakes, but you ultimately learn from them.
• You like the Joey Pigza books.

You wouldn't like this book if:

• You disapprove of people's illegal actions.
• You are very dedicated to reading fiction books only.
• You are offended by strong language and drug references.

Have you read any of the Joey Pigza books?  Who would have ever thought that the author of those much-loved actually spent over a year in jail for his role in a major drug smuggling deal.  In his memoir, Jack Gantos, tells readers the stories about his bad decision-making, major failures, and his time in federal prison.  Readers are left inspired by his passion for writing and begin to not just enjoy his work but respect it too.  This book contains some mature content.

Tangled Threads: A Hmong Girl's Story

Title: Tangled Threads: A Hmong Girl's Story
Author: Pegi Deitz Shea
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction

You would like this book if:

• You are interested in an immigrant's experience.
• You feel caught between two sets of expectations.
• You like to read about Hmong characters.
• You like to become attached to the main characters in books.

You wouldn't like this book if:

• You like to read books that have male main characters.
• You prefer books that are breezy and don't make you have an emotional reaction.
• You like action in the books you read.

Anne Frank (Authorized Graphic Biography)

Title: Anne Frank: the Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography
Author: Sid Jacobson & Ernie Colon
Genre: Graphic Novel

You would like this book if:

• You are interested in the Holocaust or history.
• You like to read graphic novels.
• You want to know more about Anne Frank.
• You are interested in illustration.

You wouldn't like this book if:

• You like to read books in a traditional way: words, sentences, paragraphs, etc.
• You want to read stories that happen in the current time or the future.

The heroic story of Anne Frank is told as it has never been told before: as a graphic novel.  This novel doesn't discount the actual story of one of the most well-known Holocaust victims, instead it tells readers so much more.  The story starts when Otto and Edith Frank got married, follows their family through living in the Annex, Anne dying in Bergen-Belsen, and the publication of the novel and play.  This graphic novel reads like a comic book but is packed with facts and an interesting story. 

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Title: The Adoration of Jenna Fox
Author: Mary E. Pearson
Genre: Science Fiction

You would like this book if:

• You like to read books that are mysterious.
• You liked House of the Scorpion.
• You like to read books that make you think about them when you finish reading.
• You have ever wondered how medicine and technology effect our lives.

You wouldn't like this book if:

• You don't want to wonder as you read books.
• You have no interest in the future.

Fun Fact #1: It took a while for me to find any science fiction qualities in this book, in fact, I was beginning to be convinced that this book didn't have anything to do with science at all.  Sometimes readers shy away from science fiction because they worry that it will be over their heads (I know I do!).  However, once these details appeared in Adoration I found that they were explained well and I wasn't discouraged by the "science" in the book.  Actually, it left me with a lot to think about!

Fun Fact #2: UPDATE!!!  I just heard that a sequel to this book is being released at the end of August.  It is going to be called The Fox Inheritance and supposedly takes place 260 years after the first one ended.  Hmmmm...sounds interesting.  Stay tuned!

Out of the Dust

Title: Out of the Dust
Author: Karen Hesse
Genre: Historical Fiction, Novel in Verse

You would like this book if:

• You like to read novels in verse.
• You like to read about actual events in history.
• You feel guilty about an accident that you once had.

You wouldn't like this book if:

• You like to read prose (books with sentences and paragraphs).
• You like to read about events that couldn't actually happen.
• You like to read upbeat, positive books.

A Step from Heaven

Title: A Step from Heaven
Author: An Na
Genre: Comptemporary Realistic Fiction

You would like this book if:

• You enjoy reading about problems that other families have.
• You want to know more about what it is like to be an immigrant.
• You feel like you have survived a lot as you grew up.
• You like to read books that stirs up emotions.

You wouldn't like this book if:

• You like action as you read.
• You like to read books that have male main characters.
• You only like to read "page-turners".

Young Ju moves to "Mi Gook" when she is just 4 years old, far too young to understand how she will be impacted.  "Mi Gook" is Ju's name for America and demonstrates how little English she understands when she moves to this country.  She immediately starts school and has to work harder than every other student to just catch up.  As time goes on, Ju conquers the academic challenges but her life becomes infintely more complex through the lack of parents' assimilation and her father's alcoholism.  How much can one young immigrant take?