Pumpkin Heads

Rowell, Rainbow.  Pumpkin Heads.  2019.  First Second.  New York, NY. 

Best friends Deja and Josiah have been working the Succotash Stand at the Pumpkin Patch for years.  Tonight is the last night that they will ever work together, as they will all be off in college next year.  Deja has made it her mission to make certain that Josiah gets together with "Fudge Girl".  For four years, Josiah has been mooning over her but he's never actually made the effort to meet her.  Tonight will be the night that this changes forever.  Deja is going to move the pumpkin patch to make certain that her friend meets the girl of his dream. 

But what happens once you finally meet the girl of your dreams?


Note from Bettina -
This was a really fun read.  I enjoyed the book, and I enjoyed the very real portrayals of the teen emotions and uncertainties that I certainly remember from high school!

Soupy Leaves Home

image: World Cat

Castellucci, Cecil.  Soupy Leaves Home.  2017.   Dark Horse Books, a division of Dark Horse Comics.  Milwaukie, Or.



Pearl runs away from home when she can no longer take her father's abuse.  Uncertain of where to go or what to do, she finds men's clothes and decides to find luck on the road.  Befriended by a Hobo named Ramshackle, Pearl takes on the road name of Soupy and travels across the country with Ramshackle, learning the unwritten rules of the world and finding a code of honor by which she can live. 


When Pearl's time on the road nears the end, will she be able to return home and live by her new rules?  Or will she be forced to fit back into the box that defined her world before she left?




*This historic fiction is based upon a time when women did not have the chances or opportunities that they had now.   It is based upon what is known about the Hobo Life during the Depression.

Last Pick

image: worldcat.org

Walz, Jason.  Last Pick.  2018.  First Second, an imprint of Roaring Book Press, a Division of Hotzbrinck Publishing Holdings LLC.  New York, NY.


Many years ago, on a beautiful day, Earth was invaded by Aliens.  The aliens quickly rounded up anyone between the ages of 16 and 65 who were fit and capable of working.  They left the rest behind.  Occasionally, the aliens will return to scoop up more people that they consider to be worth while, and then they will return to whatever part of the universe that they emanated from.


Sam and Wyatt are twins whose parents were taken in the original scoop.  Left alone to fend on their own, they learn to rely on each other. 


When the Aliens return on another scooping mission, Sam and Wyatt stand up to the aliens and become leaders of a very loosely organized resistance.  In order to force Wyatt to use his talents to lead the remaining humans to stand up to the aliens, Sam makes an unthinkable sacrifice.


Will Sam survive?
Will Wyatt be able to gather the remnants of humanity together to overthrow their alien overlords?