Notorious

image: World Cat

Korman, Gordon.  Notorious.  2020.  Balzer & Bray, an Imprint of Harper Collins.


13 year old Keenan is recovering from Tuberculosis (TB) at his father's house on an island in the middle of Lake Michigan.  Keenan has traveled all over the world with his mother, who is an International Teacher.  Every year, he starts over again in a new country with new friends and new places to explore.  But he's never seen anything quite like Centerlight.  The International Border for Canada and the United States runs directly through the middle of the town.  This small and quirky little town was the home for smuggling during Prohibition, and many of the big name mobsters spent time in Centerlight, overseeing their smuggling operations.

While Keenan is laid up in the backyard of his father's house, he meets Zarabeth - ZeeBee for short.  ZeeBee is his age, but she lives on the Canadian side of the island.  She is fascinated with gangsters, the history of gangsters on the island, and the loss of her beloved dog Barney - who was the terror of the island.  She is convinced that Barney was murdered, but nobody will listen to her.  Everyone says that he died of old age.

But, as Keenan becomes more curious about the history of the island, he discovers that ZeeBee might not have been that far off the mark.  When he stumbles across evidence that Barney was murdered he and ZeeBee launch their own investigation to see who had reason to murder the terror of the island. When ZeeBee's house is broken into and destroyed, they realize that they are on the way to solving a much bigger crime.

But will anyone listen to them?


Author Web Site:  https://gordonkorman.com/

King and the Dragonflies

image: world cat

Callender, Kacen.  King and the Dragonflies.  2020.  Scholastic Press, New York, New York.

King's older brother died suddenly of a heart attack while on the soccer field.  While at the funeral, King sees a Dragonfly land on his brother's casket.  He is convinced that his brother is coming back to visit him in the form of a dragonfly.  The family that has been the center of his world slowly falls to pieces as they struggle to deal with their grief.

King's best friend had been Sandy Sanders.  King cut off his friendship with Sandy after he came out to Sandy and told him that he was Gay.  King didn't want other people to think that he was gay, too.  But when Sandy goes missing, King must re-evaluate his friendships and his way of thinking in order to come to peace with himself and his world.


The publisher recommends this book for children ages 8-12.

Bettina's note: While the publisher recommends the book for children as young as 8, I would shift the ages a little higher.  The main characters are in middle school, so I would suggest that middle school aged audiences.

Author Web Site:
https://www.kacencallender.com/

The Dark Matter of Mona Starr

image: World Cat

Gulledge, Laura Lee.  The Dark Matter of Mona Starr.  2020.  Amulet Books, New York.


Mona is a talented student who is haunted by her Dark Matter.  Join Mona as she struggles to understand and control the Dark Matter - this force that pulls her down, tells her she's terrible, and makes it difficult for her to be around other people.  Mona's journey to control her Dark Matter leads her to make new friends and reach out to other students n the school all while striving to turn her weaknesses into strengths.

The publisher recommends this book for readers ages 12 and up.

Author Web Site:  http://www.whoislauralee.com/

Almost American Girl

Robin Ha.  2002.  Almost American Girl.  Balzer & Bray, an Imprint of Harper Collins.  New York, NY.

Chuna's mom was a single mother and owned her own beauty shop in Seoul.  Chuna was into Anime, drawing, and her friends.  Together, they were an unstoppable pair who believed nothing could get between them.  And then came the day when her mother made an announcement that turned her wold upside down. "We are going to visit America".

Thinking that was a quick school break, Chuna packed what she thought she would need for a vacation and off they went to Hunstville, Alabama to visit her mother's friend, Mr. Shin. When they were supposed to leave and go back home, Chuna's mom announces that she is marrying Mr. Shin and they are staying in America.

Heartbroken at leaving her friends and her home so unexpectedly, Chuna struggles to find her place in this new land where she has no friends, Mr. Shin's children hate her, and the children at school constantly tease her and make fun of her because she speaks no English and there are no ESOL programs in the school to help her learn the language.

Can Chuna learn how to fit in?  Will she ever get along with her step-sister and step-cousins?
Will her dream of returning to Korea ever come true?

The Publisher Recommends this book for children in grades 7 and up.

Author Web Site:
https://robinha81.wixsite.com/robinha/

Go With the Flow: A friendship story. Period.

image: World Cat

Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann.  Go With the Flow: A friendship story.  Period.  2020.  First Second Books, an Imprint of Roaring Press. 


Sasha is the new kid in the high school and is trying to find her place to fit in.  Imagine her horror when she starts her period - her first one ever - and has nothing on hand to deal with the situation.  Christine, Brit, and Abby surround the new girl, help her out and take her into their circle of friends.  As the girls go through the school year together, they talk about Period Poverty, the inequity that causes girls to miss school because they can't afford period products.  They discuss cramps, and endometriosis and how it impacts the daily life of young girls everywhere.  The book also looks at the power structure that dismisses the concerns of women who live with the monthly challenges of their period.  And in the end, Abbey finds a way to help other women who are experiencing the daily challenges of period poverty.

Openly honest and factual - everyone needs to read this book! 



The Publisher Recommends this book for grades 4-6.

Author Web Site: 
Lily Williams: https://lilywilliamsart.com/

Karen Schneemann: https://www.karenschneemann.com/

Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier

image: World Cat

Ottaviani, Jim and Maris Wicks.  Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier.  2020.  First Second, an Imprint of Roaring Press.  New York, NY.


The United States sent their first manned mission to space on May 5, 1961. But the first US woman was not launched into space until Sally Ride blasted off on the Space Shuttle Challenger on June 18, 1983. Why did it take so long for women to be allowed into the astronaut program?

Find out the story behind the story as you explore the history of women in the space program in both Russia and the United States.  With Challenger Astronaut Mary Cleave as your guide, you will follow the history of women as they tackle the final frontier.


The publisher recommends this book for ages 9 - 13.


Websites:
Maris Wicks: http://www.mariswicks.com/

Jim Ottaviani Twitter: https://twitter.com/gtlabsrat?lang=en

Snapdragon

image:  World Cat

Leyh, Kat.  Snapdragon.  2020. First Second Publishing, an imprint of Roaring Book Press. New York, New York.

Legend says that a witch lives in the old house at the top of the hill.  A witch that is so evil, she gave her eye to the devil, eats roadkill, and casts spells with their bones.

Snapdragon inadvertently becomes entangled with the witch when she goes in search of her dog who had gone missing on the side of the road.  When she finds her injured dog bandaged happily snuggled into the witch's house, Snap realizes that the witch is actually more than she seems.

An unlikely friendship grows between Snap and the Witch as she discovers why she collects the bones of roadkill (she sells them online) to the everyday magic that she uses to get through the world and protect the ones she loves. Even more bizarre, as the two unlikely friends work together, Snap realizes that the witch has deep ties with her family.

But when her mother's boyfriend arrives to take the dog and threaten snap, can the everyday magic that she learned from the witch help her?  Or will she lose everything that she has come to love about this strange old woman?



The Publisher Recommends this book for ages 10-14.

Author's Web Page:  http://katleyh.com/

Clean Getaway

Stone, Nic.  Clean Getaway.  2002.  Crown Books for Young Readers, New York, NY.

image: bw

After a mishap with a kid at school, spring break has been cancelled for Scoob, he is sitting around the house doing nothing but feeling sorry for himself.

Enter G-Ma, with her plans to have the trip of a lifetime.  She sells her house, buys an RV and sneaks Scoob and his still packed suitcase out while his Dad is at work.  Armed with a copy of The Green Book, Scoob and his G-Ma begin a rollicking trip across the South and through their family history.

But when G-Ma insists that he not call his Dad, and begins to act a little more shady each day Scoob begins to worry that everything is not as OK as he thought it was.

This wonderful road trip tale tenderly explores the love between a Grandson and Grandmother while looking at the history of the segregated south through the lens of time.


The publisher recommends this book for children ages 8-12.

Author's Web Page:  http://www.nicstone.info/callmenic

Welcome and Well Met!

I began this blog many years ago as a requirement for Graduate School.  I was working on my MLiS (Master's of Library and Information Science) and for our Young Adult Literature Course, we were required to keep a blog of 20 books that we had read - to do an annotation and an online book talk - in a genre that we did not normally read within the Young Adult Literature section of the Library.  After I finished the class, I kept adding to the blog because I enjoyed it so much!

We find ourselves in the midst of a Global Pandemic like we haven't seen in 100 years, and here we all are, searching for books for us to read, and books for our children to read.  And here's my blog, to help you all find good books.  (I hope you consider them as good as I do!)

There are multiple ways to access the titles in my blog.  There's scrolling directly down through years of content.  There's the search feature. I also have the lists that I attempted to sort out by genre.  It works for me.  I hope it works for you.

*Note - I just added Tweens today.  I'm starting with Tween Literature that begins today.  I have other Tween Lit in the blog, I just haven't sorted it out yet, because Tween Lit was not the original focus of this blog.

Accessing books when the library is closed.
There are a lot of books here, and you would quickly go broke attempting to buy them.  Instead, use the digital services at your local public library.  If you have a library card for your local library, you have access to the online services.  The big e-Book services in the United States are Cloud Library, RB Digital, and Libby (part of Overdrive).  These readers are available in your App store for your device.  If you have a Kindle, be forewarned that only Overdrive plays nicely with that reader.  But that's okay, because you have many options available through Overdrive.    Don't have a device?  You can download the book on your laptop or desktop and read from there.

You will need a library card to access your account. And a pin number.  Many library systems set a default pin number of the last 4 digits of your phone number.  Don't have a library card?  You can register for one online - even if your library is closed - and access the e-materials.  If you're still confused, find the online "ask a librarian" service for your local public library.  (The link is somewhere on your library's home page.)  While your library may not be open right now, the virtual reference desks are being checked and someone will be able to get back to you and help you access your card. Maybe not right away, but within a couple of days.

Teens and Tweens
As of today, I've switched the format from solely Teen Books to Teens and Tweens.  For the time being, I'm going to highlight any books that I think are appropriate for kids 10 and up.   (Those are the Tweenagers).  I'm also adding the publisher's age guidelines. 

I advise all parents to check the content of books in the YA section.  If you are wondering whether or not a book is appropriate for your 11 year old to read, you can check out Common Sense Media before you hand them the book: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/. 

I'll be updating the Blog periodically today.

Stay healthy, everyone!