The Science of Breakable Things

Mr. Neely wants everyone to answer an important question using the scientific method and notes in the journal for his class,  but all Natalie can think about is her mom.  Normally, Mom would have been all over this idea.  She's a botanist who studies a miracle plant, the cobalt blue orchid.  The flower grew out of a field flooded with toxic waste. She has always helped Natalie with science projects.  But now things are different.

Her mom came home upset about work one day in July, and she's barely left the bed since.  Natalie is scared and frustrated, but she tries to keep it all inside.  Her therapist father is always trying to therapize her, but Natalie can see right through him.

Her best friend, Twig, doesn't even know the truth.  She knows something's not right, but Natalie hasn't confided in her. 

When Mr. Neely sees Natalie struggling with her important question, he suggests she participate in a community egg drop competition.  Natalie isn't too interested until she sees there is a $500 prize for the winner.  She can use that money to get a new cobalt blue orchid to replace the one that died, and everything will go back to normal.

With help from Twig and her new genius friend, Dari, Natalie knows they will win. 

Tae Keller's debut novel is a touching look at depression and how it can affect an entire family.  The first person point of view shows the reader the situation from Natalie's limited and somewhat confused perspective.  I also really like that even though the father is a therapist, he still struggles to handle the situation in his own home.  I just wish there had been some kind of closure on the dad's struggles with accepting his Korean ancestry.  It's just sort of dropped in with no explanation.  Otherwise, highly recommended, especially for kids whose parents struggle with mental illness. 

Wizard for Hire

Fourteen-year-old Ozzy Toffy has been on his own for the last seven years.  When he was just a kid, his scientist parents packed up everything in a rush and moved to a house in the secluded forest outside Portland, OR.  Then, men in green showed up and dragged his parents away leaving Ozzy alone.  He hasn't seen them since.

He's spent his time reading books and living off preserved food stockpiled by his parents.  One day while digging through some boxes, he finds a strange mechanical bird, stacks of cash, and several cassette tapes.  After a few moments of sun exposure, the bird (named Clark) wakes up and starts talking!

Clark is one of Dr. Toffy's inventions, created to keep him company in the lab.  Along with the cassette tapes, Ozzy finds a solar-powered cassette player.  That's how he gets the first taste of his father's voice in seven years.

With Clark's encouragement, Ozzy decides it's time to venture out, maybe attend school for the first time and start looking for his parents instead of just waiting for them to return.  That's how he finds the add, "Wizard for Hire."  Ozzy isn't sure if magic is real or not.  He's lived alone since he was a little kid with only books as a guide, and Harry Potter seems pretty real to him.  He decides to call the number, and that's how he meets Rin, short for Labyrinth.

Rin is strange looking to be sure.  His robe looks too short (better for hiking and action), high top sneakers, a wizard hat, and a long beard.  But he never seems to want to perform magic.  He does, however, agree to help Ozzy look for his parents, and the three of them (Ozzy, Rin, and Clark) delve into the mysteries of his parents' work and disappearance.

Obert Skye's new book is tongue in cheek mystery that may or may not be a fantasy, that is never quite clear.  Is it magic or coincidence?  This is book one, so maybe subsequent adventures will answer the question.  The relationships and the madcap nature of the story were fun, but the experiments and "science" behind the mystery didn't quite work for me.  I think it's one of those times when you just have to go with it.  Skye's fans with definitely enjoy this one.

I Am Still Alive

After Jess's mom dies in a car accident, she has to go live with her father in the remote Canadian wilderness.  She is still struggling with grief and the aftermath of her injuries.  Plus, she barely knows her father, she hasn't seen him years.  Now she's supposed to live in this tiny cabin in the middle of nowhere with a man she barely knows?

He makes a deal with her.  They only need to stay for one more winter.  He has promises to keep.  But then some men appear, and her father orders Jess to stay hidden which is how she survives when they murder her father and burn the cabin. 

Now she's alone.  No one knows where she is.  She's probably going to die with no food and no shelter.  It's just Jess and Bo, her dad's dog.  She grabs onto the hope that the man who dropped her off will return early for supplies.  Either that or the men who killed her father will come back for the secrets they buried in the woods.   Then she can get her revenge and an escape.

Now she just has to find a way to survive until then.

Kate Marshall's book is bleak and intense story of survival.  Give it to the kids who loved Hatchet and are ready for something with a little more weight.

Escape from Aleppo

Nadia hasn't left her apartment since she was injured by shrapnel in a bombing last year.  She barricades herself under the bed with her cat, Mishmash, at night.  But now she has no choice.  Now the fighting is coming to her building, and she has to leave now. 

The rest of the family runs ahead, but Nadia hesitates.  Then the bomb hits.  When she wakes up, she is hidden by rubble but protected from injury by a nearby car.  Her family is gone.  They left her.

But maybe it's not too late.  She knows the way to the dentist's office that was to be the meeting point, so she sets off across a city at war alone.  With only Mishmash for company and a desperate hope her family will be waiting. 

Along the way, she meets an old man and his donkey.  She isn't sure if she should trust Ammo Mazen, but he offers her help and seems to know how to avoid angry soldiers. 

Soon she realizes her only hope of seeing her family is to escape the city entirely and flee to Turkey.  Ammo Mazen agrees to take her, and she is happy to have a friend, but frustrated with the slow pace.  The old man is sick and getting worse.  All Nadia can do is try to be patient as she remembers Aleppo before the violence and takes in the destruction around her. 

N.H. Senzai's novel successfully brings the complicated situation in Syria to something more easily understood by its middle grade audience.  Readers will feel Nadia's pain, feel, and frustration as she faces the dangers of her devastated city.  Highly recommended.

Royals

Daisy just wants to be a normal girl living in her normal town working at her normal grocery store job.  Then she and her normal best friend will go to Key Con and meet their favorite author.  Normal Florida life. 

Except...her older sister went to college in the UK where she met Alex who just happens to be the crown prince of Scotland, and now they are getting married.  Which is great for perfect Ellie over in Europe except it's bleeding into Daisy's life in Florida. 

Her now ex-boyfriend tried to sell their prom pictures to the paparazzi, and now the Palace has decided Daisy should spend the next few weeks in Scotland instead of going to Key Con.

She's furious, but she doesn't really have a choice.  Her parents are persuaded and Ellie is adamant. 

So Daisy reluctantly heads to Scotland where she discovers that while Alex is great, his younger brother is an entitled trouble magnet. Even when she's just trying to stay out of his way, she somehow gets the blame.  Enter the younger prince's best friend/babysitter.  The palace has decided Miles and Daisy should have a fake relationship to throw off the paparazzi. 

Ugh.  Miles is a snob who seems incapable of smiling, but he is pretty cute.  After some time together this fake relationship just might have some real potential.

Rachel Hawkins's new book is for everyone who's sad the royal is over and loves a Hallmark movie.  It's a silly bit of diverting fluff, but that's all it aims to be.  Just go in looking to be entertained for a few hours, and you'll enjoy it.  Also, you have to pretend Scotland is an independent nation from Great Britain.  I wish there had been an author's note about this since a lot of readers will ignorant of the facts.

Fawkes

Thomas Fawkes is turning to stone.  It's a secret he's kept hidden at school, made easier by the fact that the stone plague seems to be dormant.  He's lost an eye, but that can be covered by a patch and explained away as a fencing accident.  He is on the eve of graduation, of taking his color test when he will bond with a color to help him focus his magical ability.  He hopes desperately to bond with gray; he hopes to hold the plague in check.  Many people have tried and failed to control the plague using color power, but Thomas believes he will be different. 

When his father fails to show up for his color test, his plague is revealed and Thomas is thrown out of school.  Only fathers can make masks for sons and mothers for daughters.  He vows to go to London and force his father to make his mask. 

But Guy Fawkes is more than just a military hero.  He's also involved in a plot to assassinate the king.  The politics of color power are more pronounced in the city with Keepers and Igniters in a deadly battle.  The king and most of the people are Igniters.  They believe in bonding with and using as many colors as they can.  They also believe the stone plague is caused by Keepers and their suppression of white light.  Keepers believe in bonding with only one color, that using multiple color powers leads to corruption and caused the stone plague.  Each side believes removing the other by death and destruction in an attempt to end the plague. 

Thomas swears loyalty to his father's group to get his promised mask,  but he is unsure about what he truly believes.  Plus, the plot will hurt Emma, a girl he's come to care deeply for.  Will he be loyal to his father and finally get his mask, or will he listen to Emma and increasingly persistent voice of white light?

Nadine Brandes's novel is an epic historical fantasy hinging on the very real gunpowder plot and the religious and political tensions of 17th century England.  This book has everything:  history, intrigue, magic, romance, a crisis of conscience, racism, and a deadly stone plague.  This one isn't necessarily for the casual reader, but those who are willing to inhabit this world for a while will be rewarded!  Recommended for grades 8 and up not for content but for text complexity. 

The Not So Boring Letters of Private Nobody

Oliver is obsessed with the Civil War.  He knows everything there is to know about battles, generals, and timelines.  It's like he's been preparing his entire life for the Civil War project in social studies, but thing quickly take a turn. 

First, he has to work with a partner which is bad enough, but his teacher assigns him to work with Ella Berry, a slacker with tangled hair who's failing every class.  Even worse, their randomly selected person isn't a general; it's some guy named Raymond Stone.  A quick search reveals he died of dysentery before the Battle of Gettysburg.  Basically, he diarrhead himself to death and never even fought in one battle. 

Also, Ella rejects his presentation idea in favor of a documentary which neither of them knows how to make.  This is a disaster. 

Enter Kevin, Oliver's lunch companion and the closest thing he has to a friend.  Kevin is obsessed with writing stories, and they convince his English teacher to let him work on the project with them for her class, too. 

It turns out, Kevin is more fun than Oliver thought, and Ella definitely isn't what he thought.  She's actually smart and kind of pretty, and she thinks his Civil War reenacting hobby is cool.  Could it be he's found his first real friends and maybe even a girlfriend while researching Private Nobody?

Matthew Landis's book is a fun and informative read about finding friendship and breaking down the walls we build to protect ourselves.  It's full of humor and self-realization.  Recommended.

Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World

Ivy Aberdeen has a secret.  She's not even sure what it means, but she has a notebook full of drawings of girls holding hands.  She isn't ready to show it to anyone yet, and she works on the drawings late at night when everyone else is sleeping. 

That's what she's doing the night her dad throws open her door to tell her a tornado is coming.  When the storm has passed, Ivy's house is gone.

The family is devastated.  Ivy only has the two things she grabbed on the way out--her notebook and pillow.  Her family spends the night in a temporary shelter where she feels isolated.  Since her twin brothers were born, Ivy has felt like she's not really important to the family anymore. 

When they get ready to leave in the morning, Ivy's notebook is missing.  She's angry and terrified at the thought of her private drawings out in the world.

On her first day back at school, one of the drawings appears in her locker with a note, "Maybe you should talk to someone about this."  Maybe she should, but she's just not ready.  The secret is making her distant from her best friend who only wants to talk about cute boys anymore, and her older sister who used to be so close isn't an option anymore.

The only person she's really connecting with is June.  June only moved to town a few months ago, and most kids think she's weird, but Ivy loves how enthusiastic and accepting June is.  Plus, she gets nervous and excited whenever June is around.  Could this be what a crush feels like?

Ashley Herring Blake's first middle grade novel is a beautiful and emotional story of a girl dealing with a tragedy while trying to find her place in her family and in the world.  This book is perfect for middle grade LGBTQ collections.  Blake handles what can be a sensitive issue for middle school audiences with gentleness and heart.  Highly recommended!

Saint Philomene's Infirmary for Magical Creatures

It all started when Chance decided to dig a hole in the backyard.  It's the deepest hole he's ever made, and he is intrigued when he hits something that turns out to be an underground mail delivery system.  He intercepts a letter that seems really important, so of course, he decides to follow the pipeline and deliver the letter in person. 

This lands him in a hospital where all creatures are welcome except humans, but there is already another human there, and he is threatening to kill everyone in the vast unground hospital unless he gets what he wants.  Chance has the cure, but everyone is on the lookout for him, too.

Back on the surface, his older sister Pauline who doesn't believe in anything she can't see or touch realizes Chance has disappeared in the hole.  Can the siblings find each other and save the hospital before it's too late?

W. Stone Cotter's first novel is a wild ride where things are resolved a little too easily at times.  This book does have incredibly rich vocabulary, so it's great for the kid who should be challenging himself but always picks the thinnest book on the shelf.  Struggling readers, however, may not get more than a couple of pages in. 

Granted

Everyone makes wishes, but what you may not know is that some wishes actually come true.  In Haven, there is a tree that collects all the wishes and determines which ones will be granted by the fairies who live there. 

Ophelia Delphinium Fidgets is a granter, one of the fairies chosen to make wishes come true.  But so few wishes are granted that she hasn't been out into the real world yet to make someone's wish come true.  Until now.

Her first wish is from a girl who wants a purple bike.  Ophelia sets out to fulfill her destiny, but everything goes wrong.  Off course and injured, her quest becomes even more difficult.  In her efforts to get back on track, she runs across some humans who have a wish that seems to be a bit more important than her goal, and she begins to question everything she's always believed about granting wishes.

John David Anderson's new novel is cute but a little tedious.  Ophelia is not my favorite character, and things don't really get interesting until she befriends a stray dog.  Cute, but not required reading. 

The Red Ribbon

Ella is desperate to get the job in the workshop.  She's only fourteen, but she's tall for her age, so she can pretend to be older.  In another life maybe she could have been friends with the other girls and women in the shop, but not at Birchwood.  At Birchwood, you have to be hard, you have to be strong, or you die.

It seems like a miracle when Ella gets the job in the sewing workshop.  The world outside the windows is brown, gray, and desolate.  Inside, there are silks and warm tweeds.  Thanks to her grandmother, Ella is not only a good seamstress, but she can also make patterns.  It's the additional designing skills that make her special.  One day she wants to own her own dress shop.  For now, she will work for the wives and officers at Birchwood.

Almost despite herself, she befriends Rose.  Rose is smart and fierce.  She tells stories to keep the women's minds off the cold, starvation, and cruelty that surrounds them.  Unlike Ella, Rose was arrested because her mother spoke out against the growing Nazi threat.  Ella was taken on her way home from school, just for being a Jew.

The Nazis have another name for Birchwood.  They call it Auschwitz.  Every day people arrive at the camp, and every day people die.  The workshop is salvation...if the girls can keep their jobs there. 

Lucy Adlington's book is a different perspective on the experience at Auschwitz, highlighting the real workshop where starving inmates worked to create beautiful clothes for their oppressors.  This is truly a story about Ella's own development.  Will she be like Marta, the boss of the workroom, who will do anything to survive no matter who is hurt in the process?  What about Carla, the Nazi officer who takes an interest in Ella because of her design work and sometimes treats Ella as a friend but always reminds her she is less than human?  Then there is Ella who chooses to live in another world in her mind and who always chooses selflessness no matter the personal cost. 

This is a beautiful and heartbreaking book.  Recommended for grades 8 and up.

The Way You Make Me Feel

Clara Shin is infamous for being the prankster who doesn't really care what anyone thinks, but when she goes too far and ends up in a physical fight at the prom, her dad decides enough is enough. 

Her punishment is to spend the summer working on his Korean/Brazilian food truck.  Her dad has always taken a relaxed approach to parenting, so Clara doesn't take him seriously at first.  But he's not backing down.  No summer loafing with her friends.  No trip to a resort in Tulum with her mom. 

As if that weren't enough, Clara will be working with Rose, her arch nemesis and the reason she's in this mess to start with.  But it doesn't take long for her to realize Rose isn't quite the demon Clara thought she was.  Maybe they could actually become friends.  Is that even possible?

Plus, there's this cute guy named Hamlet, yep, Hamlet who works at the coffee kiosk near one of their stops.  He isn't Clara's usual type, too nerdy, but somehow she always finds herself flirting with him. 

As the summer progresses and she spends more time with Rose and Hamlet, Clara begins to change.  She actually cares about things, like the food truck and other people's feelings, and it's more and more difficult to hang out with her old prankster friends.

Maurene Goo's new book has a bit of an identity crisis.  It seems to want to be a romance, at least superficially, but it's really about Clara's internal struggle.  Don't get me wrong, it does have romance.  That's just not really the central focus of the book.  This one was not my favorite because Clara is so obnoxious.  She keeps making decisions that hurt other people, and everyone forgives her so easily, especially after her major climactic mistake.  But, bonus points for character/author diversity, and it is a nice light read.  The characters are older, but this one is fine for middle school.

Orphan, Monster, Spy

When Sarah's mother is killed at a checkpoint, she is left alone in Nazi Germany.  She has blond hair, blue eyes, and is small for her age, but she is Jewish.  In her blundering attempts to escape Germany, he meets a strange man who she quickly realizes is not what he seems.  She helps save his life and instantly feels a connection to him.

It's clear to Sarah the Captain is some sort of spy, and it doesn't take long before he realizes she can help with his current mission.  Her mission is to infiltrate a brutal girls boarding school, befriend, Elsa, the daughter of a high ranking scientist, get invited to her house, and steal the plans for a bomb. 

Sarah is confident she can pull it off since her actress mother has been training her since childhood, but this school is a breeding ground for monsters.  Students and teachers alike prey on the weak to gain power, and Elsa is part of the elite. 

In her attempts to complete her mission, Sarah begins to doubt her own morality.  Is she becoming just like the monsters she despises?

Matt Killeen's book is riveting, disturbing, and violent.  I could not stop reading even though each chapter was more disturbing than the last.  I will definitely recommend this to older readers, especially those who are interested in WWII and the Holocaust, but I would steer sensitive readers away from this one.  Trigger warning, this book deals with attempted sexual assault and hints at an ongoing pattern of assault.  Recommended for grades 8 and up.

Geekerella

Elle loves Starfield, the classic sci-fi series she grew up watching with her father.  It's one of the few things she has left to help her feel close to him.  She barely remembers her mother, but when her father died, she was left with her stepmother and bratty twin stepsisters. They are all about appearances and treat Ella like an unwanted servant.

When Ella hears about a cosplay contest at ExcelsiCon, she decides to enter. Her father was one of the founders of the can, but she hasn't been back since his death.  First prize is a ticket to the ExcelsiCon Ball, a meet and greet with the lead actor in the new Starfield movie, and tickets to the premiere in LA.  It's the airplane tickets she really wants.  This could be Ella's chance to leave her horrible stepfamily behind for good.

Starfield is Darien's first big movie role, and the teen soap that propelled him to stardom has many Starfield fans enraged.  They think he doesn't have the acting ability or the geek cred to play their beloved Carmindor, but what they don't know is that Darien is a closet geek himself.  Before he got famous, he attended cons for fun.  Now, that isn't part of the image his manager/father wants to portray.  The last thing he wants to do is show up to ExcelsiCon as Carmindor and be rejected by the fans.  He texts a number on the ExcelsiCon website hoping to get out the meet and greet, but the person who answers can't help him.  She does have a good sense of humor and a serious addiction to Starfield, so he continues to text her even though he's pretty sure it's not a good idea.

When Ella gets the wrong number, she isn't surprised.  She sometimes gets people looking for her dad since she has his old phone.  What does surprise her is how quickly she begins to trust her anonymous "Carmindor".  They've never met in real life, bu she feels more comfortable talking to him than anyone else.

Ashley Poston's Cinderella for the ComiCon crowd is a fun take on the story with plenty of allusions to real sci-fi classics to keep geeks interested.  The love story is sweet, and Ella and Darien are both well-rounded characters.  My issue is the stepmother who is completely one-dimensional.  Every time I thought she was going to get some depth, the story veered in another direction.  Despite that, this will be a perfect fit for the sci-fi crowd.