The Book of Lies

Quinn is at her mother's funeral, but no one knows her.  She's covered her distinctive red hair so she won't stand out.  She's not even sure why she's there.  It's not as if Isobel was ever much of a mother to her.  Quinn has spent her life in the country with a strict grandmother and occasional visits from a disapproving mother.  But then from the back of the room, she sees her--another girl with the same fiery red hair.  Does Quinn have a sister?

Piper is at the center of love and support from her family and friends at her mother's funeral.  She and her father will have to support each other now, and, of course, she has Zak, her beautiful and adoring boyfriend, but Piper wants more.  Then she sees her--the girl in the red coat at the back of the room.  Her hair is covered by a scarf, and Piper only glimpses her face, but that's all it takes.  Piper would know that face anywhere.  It's identical to her own.  Her twin has made an appearance at the funeral.

Twins.  Separated at birth because of some vision from their grandmother that one would destroy the other...something about being half dark.  Now they are together, and the truth is going to come out.

I was excited to read this book first because the cover is awesome and next because I saw it was written by Teri Terry, author of Slated.  It started out great and then started to lag.  It was never enough that stopped reading, but it did take me a couple of weeks to get through this one.  I think part of the problem is the alternating narrative.  Piper and Quinn have different parts of the backstory to contribute, but otherwise their voices are very similar.  I think Terry was afraid of giving away too much too soon, but she ended up with two characters without much personality.

In the Shadow of the Sun

Mia is a bit puzzled by her dad's decision to bring her and her older brother Simon on a trip to North Korea.  It has one of the most repressive governments in the world, and people can be imprisoned for the slightest mistake.  But here they are.  Mia, who was adopted from South Korea as a child is making the best of things.  She can read signs and communicate a little thanks to Korean Saturday school, but Simon is angry and closed off about the whole trip.

Her father has traveled to North Korea before helping to get food to the starving population, but he's never been there as a tourist.  After Mia finds forbidden photos of conditions in the labor camps, her father is arrested for spying.  She and Simon decide the best way to save their father is to get the photos out of the country so the damaging evidence can't be connected to him.

Now the two Americans are headed out across North Korea on foot in an attempt to cross the border into China.  They will face hunger, the wilderness, North Korean soldiers, and their own strained relationship as they try to escape.

I particularly enjoyed the short profiles of North Korean characters sprinkled throughout the book to give the reader a sense of what life is like in the DPRK and the varying political ideologies of its people.

This new book by Anne Sibley O'Brien is inspired by her own experience growing up in South Korea and the feeling of always being a stranger in her home.  This theme of otherness in transracial adoptions is deftly woven into this action-packed adventure.  This will appeal to kids on many levels especially considering the current political climate.  Recommended.

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It all started with a text.  Kids are always texting at BMS when they think the teacher isn't looking, but one day, things go too far.  A teacher confiscates Ruby Sandels phone and right there on the screen is some pretty terrible stuff about another teacher.  That is the last straw.  Cell phones are banned.

Now kids have to communicate the old-fashioned way, face to face or on paper.  This isn't much of a problem for Frost.  His mom can't afford a cell phone anyway.  Frost and his friends come up with a new way to communicate.  They start using the post-it notes everyone has to buy but never uses to leave notes for each other on their lockers.  The idea catches on like wildfire.  Some of the notes are friendly, some are silly, but some just plain cruel, and there is no way to determine who left the note.

In the middle of this upheaval, Rose arrives as a new student.  She's tall and bigger than most kids in school, and this makes her stand out--and not in a good way.  When one of Wolf's friends strikes up a friendship with Rose, it strains the tight relationship amongst the other four.  They don't need another person and certainly not a new girl with a target on her back. 

As the sticky note war spins out of control, everyone has to choose a side, and Frost knows things will never be the same. 

I really liked this new book by John David Anderson, and the message is one all middle schoolers need to hear.  I'm just not sure Frost's voice is authentically middle school.  He seems much older than 8th grade.  I want to try this one on a few kids to see what they think.