1) "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Patterson
We meet Louise Bradshaw in the summer of 1941, smarting under the disproportionate attention lavished on her fragile, musically talented twin sister Caroline since their birth 13 years earlier. We get to know her better the next summer when she and her cumbersome male friend Cal take up with old "Captain" Wallace, a 70-year-old native of their Chesapeake Island who has returned after a 50-year absence. Louise resents Cal's special relationship with the Captain, and resents even more her sister's subsequent friendship with both Cal and the Captain. She is devastated when the Captain offers to send Caroline off to music school; and when Cal and the other young men go off to war, Louise willingly drops out of high school to help her waterman father with the crabs and oysters. Perhaps the biggest blow is when Cal returns from the war all grown up, and announces his intention of marrying Caroline, now off at Juilliard. The interesting aspect of all Louise's torment and self-sacrifice is the growing realization that it isn't being forced on her. But not until she has settled down as a nurse-midwife (the only medical help) in a small Appalachian community--marrying a man with three children to boot--does she recognize and freely accept that she was destined to fulfill herself in a life of service. Paterson has to get into these later years to make the point, and to avoid the instant realizations that substitute in too many juvenile novels. However, this tends to flatten the tone and blur the shape of the novel. Louise's earlier, intense feelings evoke recognition and sympathy, but this hasn't the resonant clarity of Bridge to Terabitha or The Great Gilly Hopkins.
2) "Three Times Lucky" by Sheila Turnage
What do you get when you combine Because of Winn-Dixie’s heart with the mystery and action of Holes? You get an engaging, spirit-lifting and unforgettable debut for young readers.
Turnage introduces readers to the homey yet exotic world of Tupelo Landing, N.C., well-populated with one-of-a-kind characters. A stranger with justice on his mind has just arrived in town, and Hurricane Amy is on its way. Rising sixth-grader Mo LoBeau leads the cast through a series of clues as the whole town tries to figure out who among them might be a murderer. The novel’s opening lines reveal the unflappable Mo LoBeau as a latter-day Philip Marlowe: “Trouble cruised into Tupelo Landing at exactly seven minutes past noon on Wednesday, the third of June, flashing a gold badge and driving a Chevy Impala the color of dirt.” This is the first of many genius turns of phrases. Pairing the heartbreaking sadness of children who don’t get their fair share from parents with the hilarity of small-town life, Turnage achieves a wickedly awesome tale of an 11-year-old girl with more spirit and gumption than folks twice her age. Mo LoBeau is destined to become a standout character in children’s fiction.
Readers may find they never want to leave Tupelo Landing. (Mystery. 10-14)
3) "After Eli" by Rebecca Rupp
Daniel (E.) Anderson looks back on the summer he fell in love and finally came to terms with his soldier brother’s death.
After Eli died in Iraq, Daniel added his initial to his own name and began compiling a Book of the Dead, a binder filled with his research on famous deaths. Three years later, still angry at his brother for joining the Army, the 14-year-old still keeps his book. Relevant entries, ranging from the princes in the Tower to Isadora Duncan and the 9/11 victims, begin each chapter of this poignant novel. Danny’s father is detached and displeased by everything; his mother, silent and withdrawn. But in the course of an idyllic summer spent with the beautiful Isabelle and her younger twin siblings, visiting from New York, Danny comes to terms with his brother’s death, finds a new, true friend in his dorky, formerly despised classmate Walter, and discovers that working on an organic farm is something he’s good at and cares about. Danny’s nostalgic first-person narration includes interestingly quirky information as well as sweet moments. Middle school readers will see the inevitable end of this first love long before Danny faces it, grieving his new loss but grateful for his healing.
Far more than a summer romance, this is a tribute to those left behind. (Fiction. 11-15)
4) "Wonder" by R.J. Palacio
After being home-schooled for years, Auggie Pullman is about to start fifth grade, but he’s worried: How will he fit into middle school life when he looks so different from everyone else?
Auggie has had 27 surgeries to correct facial anomalies he was born with, but he still has a face that has earned him such cruel nicknames as Freak, Freddy Krueger, Gross-out and Lizard face. Though “his features look like they’ve been melted, like the drippings on a candle” and he’s used to people averting their eyes when they see him, he’s an engaging boy who feels pretty ordinary inside. He’s smart, funny, kind and brave, but his father says that having Auggie attend Beecher Prep would be like sending “a lamb to the slaughter.” Palacio divides the novel into eight parts, interspersing Auggie’s first-person narrative with the voices of family members and classmates, wisely expanding the story beyond Auggie’s viewpoint and demonstrating that Auggie’s arrival at school doesn’t test only him, it affects everyone in the community. Auggie may be finding his place in the world, but that world must find a way to make room for him, too.
A memorable story of kindness, courage and wonder. (Fiction. 8-14)
5) "The Boy At the End of the World" by Greg van Eekhout
A boy, a robot and a mammoth struggle to survive after the apocalypse.
Fisher “becomes born,” as he thinks of it, out of a gel-filled pod in a destroyed Ark meant to preserve dozens of species along with human life after environmental cataclysm. He seems to have been endowed with a complete understanding of language and of his surroundings, and with, as he notes in awe, an awareness of hundreds of ways to catch fish: “I know all of them.” He is accompanied by the somewhat damaged guardian robot Fisher christens Click and by a juvenile mammoth Fisher calls Protein (after deciding not to kill and eat the gentle giant…just yet). This trio makes its way across the North American continent in search of a second and finally a third Ark in order to help Fisher fulfill his mission of continuing the human species. Self-reinventing weaponry meant to defend each of the Arks leads to the destruction both of Fisher’s birthplace and the Southern Ark, where an encounter with nano-technology is by turns hilarious and creepy. Part speculative fiction, part cinematic survival adventure, the novel features a brisk pace and clever and snappy dialogue.
The real, scary possibility of human destruction of our own environment is tempered by this diverting tale of the possibilities of continued existence and the meaning of hope, friendship and community. (Science fiction. 8-12)
6) "See You At Harry's" by Jo Knowles
Sit back in a comfortable chair, bring on the Kleenex and cry your heart out.
Seventh-grader Fern, in pitch-perfect present tense, relates the dual tragedies of her family. Her high school freshman older brother Holden has come to the place in his life where he’s acknowledged that he’s gay and is taking the first painful, unsteady steps out into a less-than-fully-accepting world. Fern offers him support and love, but what she can give is not always what he needs. Their older sister, Sara, spending a frustrating gap year after high school supposedly helping with the family restaurant, makes life hard for everyone with her critical eye and often unkind comments. And then there’s 3-year-old Charlie, always messy, often annoying, but deeply loved. Fern’s busy, distracted parents leave all of the kids wanting for more attention—until a tragic accident tears the family apart. The pain they experience after the calamity is vividly, agonizingly portrayed and never maudlin. Eventually there are tiny hints of brightness to relieve the gloom: the wisdom of Fern’s friend Ran, the ways that Sara, Fern and Holden find to support each other, and their thoughtfully depicted, ever-so-gradual healing as they rediscover the strength of family.
Prescient writing, fully developed characters and completely, tragically believable situations elevate this sad, gripping tale to a must-read level. (Fiction. 11 & up)
7) "Diamond Willow" by Helen Frost
Diamond Willow, a young Alaskan of Athabascan and European descent, doesn’t have many friends; she’s happiest when she’s sledding her father’s dogs and visiting her grandparents. When her first solo dogsled trip to her grandparents ends with a terrible crash that blinds her father’s favorite dog, Roxy, she sets to making sure that Roxy will live out her days with care and not undergo euthanasia—a decision that leads to an amazing revelation about her family. Frost presents her story in a series of poems in Willow’s voice, using a form inspired by the marks on a diamond willow stick; roughly diamond-shaped and no two exactly alike, each contains a “hidden message” printed in boldface that spans several lines and encapsulates the poem. It’s a novel idea, and largely works quite well. Less effective are interstitial narratives in the voices of the characters’ ancestors, who take part in the story as animals. This device, although integrated into the narrative as a whole, serves to distract the reader from the quiet power of Willow’s story. Flawed, but not fatally so. (author’s note) (Fiction. 10-14)
8) "Inside Out and Back Again" by Thanhha Lai
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