Slayer (book 1) by Kiersten White

Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, welcome to her world.  Even if you don't know the Buffy story, you'll be fine.  

Nina, AKA Athena, and her twin sister Artemis are part of the Watcher's group.  The Watchers help Slayers to keep a look out for demons, vampires, and such to protect the world.  Nina, has not been feeling herself lately and when a hellhound comes to the castle she kills it with her bare hands!  She has become a SLAYER!!!  She has always been weak, kind, and helpful so to have the strength and desire to kill is foreign to her.  She has been studying medicine to help people, not hurt them.  As Nina, Artemis and Leo begin to investigate Nina's Slayer dreams, they open up a whole new set of problems.  But do they really know the real problem or are they just chasing smaller issues?  

8th grade and up for violence, supernatural, etc. 

 

24 Hours in Nowhere by Dusti Bowling

Nowhere, Arizona - Gus is 13 and lives with his grandma. His dad took off when he was 6.  He is bullied by Bo Taylor, who shoves Gus's face in a cactus.  Rossi trades her motorbike to save Gus from the cactus and Gus decides to try to get it back for her.  Bo tells Gus he has to go into Dead Frenchman's cave and get gold.  No one has ever gone into the mine and come out alive.  Gus decides to do it.  Along the way Rossi, his old friend Jessie, and Matthew, one of Bo's pals, comes with him.  They find not only a treasure, but themselves as well.

AWESOME book! 

The Divided Earth (Nameless City #3) by Faith Erin Hicks

This is the third book in this graphic novel series.  The city is being attacked from the inside (from someone who thinks they are helping), from the outside, and from "ones who are non-violent".  Rat and Kai are trying to help by taking the book that can cause terrible weapons.  As they are on their mission the forces outside have joined to try to save the city from the misguided ruler.  

Lots of action!

The Nameless City is book one and The Stone Heart is book two. 

 

The Fresh New Face of Griselda by Jennifer Torres

Coming August 2019

Poor Griselda.  She is entering 6th grade, her family has lost their house and is living with her nana, her dad has had to take a job in LA (which is several hours away) and she is having to share a room with her sister.  Griselda's sister, Maribel, sells Alma makeup (think Mary Kay or Avon) and goes door to door trying to make a sale with Griselda in tow.  Once school starts Griselda (aka Geez, GZ) ends up selling Alma lipgloss and decides to try to sell 500 for a contest that could win her $5000.  She hopes to bring her dad home and they can get back to "normal" with her winning.  

Great story, character development and true problems for kids.  I give it a 

Ben Braver and the Incredible Exploding Kid by Marcus Emerson

2nd in the series

Ben Braver is headed back to his second year at Kepler Academy, a superpower school, in a self-driving Volkswagen Beetle.  Last year he saved the school from the worm eating clones and he is hoping this year proves to be a little more calm.  He has not yet discovered his superpower yet, but his friend Noah can shoot fire after eating jerky, his friend Penny can control mice by playing her ukulele and so he feels like a failure.  As the year progresses, he thinks things are going well, no problems, until the end and it seems to all blow up, literally.  

Wow! What an action-packed adventure with a lovely twisty ending. Great set up for book 3. I had not read the first one and was fine just reading this one. Although I now want to go back and experience the first book. I will definitely be adding this series to my middle school library. Will be great for my fans of Wimpy Kid, Dork Diaries, Middle School, etc. I loved the characters and their growth, along with some level of a feeling of a Harry Potter type setting, but more futuristic with self-driving cars.     

The Lonely Dead by April Henry

As Adele is walking home, she hears her friend Tori calling her from under a tree.  As she investigates she realizes that Tori is sitting on her grave.  She is dead, only she doesn't know she is dead.  Adele starts to relive the day Tori died and tries to piece together what happened to Tori.  Adele has been able to see the dead since she was little which got her diagnosed as schizophrenic.  

As Adele investigates Tori's death, things begin to swirl out of control and she is a prime suspect.  Will she be able to find the killer before the killer finds her?  

More to the Story by Hena Khan

Available September 2019

"In a matter of weeks, Baba got a new job and moved across the world, Bisma got sick and has to be in the hospital, and I messed up everything with Ali and the paper.  How did my whole life get turned upside down so quickly?"

Jameela is in 7th grade and has been selected to be a features editor for her school newspaper.  She is so privileged and honored and hopes to be the editor in Chief next year.  She has 3 sisters:  Maryam, the oldest, Bisma, the third, and Aleeza, the baby.  Jam has two best friends, Lily and Kayla.  They are true friends.  Ali moves from the UK to live with his Aunt and Uncle.  His mom and little sister will be coming over to live shortly.  Jam has to deal with lots of different things as her life takes a tailspin.  I think the quote above pretty much sums up the book.

Great book for windows/ mirrors for Pakistani/ Muslim diversity and kids dealing with cancer from the outside.

It's the End of the World as I Know It by Matthew Landis

Available September 24, 2019

The end of the world is coming on September 21, according to Derrick and a website he follows.  He is prepping by constructing a shed in the backyard with a steel door, gas masks, waste management system, MRE's and more.  His friend Brock and Tommy go along with him as does his family, but they don't really think the world is going to end.  As we read we see that Derrick has some memory lapses, like with Misty, his neighbor.  He doesn't remember her coming over, he doesn't really remember how she was sick and missed a lot of school.  She says he used to be funny.  We watch as Derrick becomes unraveled and discover that his mom was killed in the line of duty in Iraq.

GREAT book.  Highly recommend, will keep you reading and on the edge of your seat.

Mean by Justin Sayre

Apparently this is the third novel, I hope his other two were better.  Ellen is considered "mean" by her friends (aka honest, I guess) and I really didn't see any of that in the tone of this book.  The story also seemed very disjointed and jumped around.  I think there was too much story in this book.  I almost stopped reading it, but decided to finish. 

Ellen is Jewish and is getting ready for her Bat Mitzvah.  She has a best friend, Sophie and Davis , along with Charlie (who she plays Call of Duty with online).  Her mom is a heart doctor and her dad is a doctor as well. Her mom seems to never be home as she is out "saving the world" and her dad is also out late.  Her younger sister Hannah is deaf and they are looking to get cochlear implants for her.  She also has a "nemesis", Allegra, who starts going to Hebrew school with her to get ready for her own Bat Mitzvah.  The story pretty much tells us about Ellen and her struggles with her body development, her parents lack of attention, and her crush, Noah.  It also delves into Charlie and Davis' relationship. 

Shadow School #1: Archimancy by J A White

Available August 27, 2019

Cordelia's family has to move all the way from California to Vermont.  Her new school looks like a haunted house:  black iron gates, freaky paintings, weird hallways that don't make sense.  As she is hiding out in the gym, she hears someone crying under the bleachers, it's a little boy.  But as she tries to help him, she realizes he is a ghost!  Then she finds out another student, Benji, can see ghosts too. They begin to realize the ghosts are trapped and they can set them free if they can figure out what the ghost is looking for/ missing.  It is the key to releasing them. Together the two of them with their friend, Agnes (who can't see ghosts), begin to realize something weird is going on at school with the ghosts, they are being erased a little at a time.  They begin a journey to figure out what is going on before the little ghost boy is erased. 

Super duper spooky, JA White has done it again!  If you love spooky ghost stories, this one is for you!

Dead Voices by Katherine Arden

Available August 27, 2019

This is the second in the Small Spaces series (blog post here SMALL SPACES).  Ollie, Coco and Brian are headed on a ski trip with Ollie's dad and Coco's mom.  Ollie's dad won the trip through work to a brand new ski resort, Hemlock Lodge.  As they travel there is a snow storm occurring and the trip is treacherous, but they finally make it.  As they get settled in for the night both Coco and Ollie have dreams about a ghost girl named Gretel, who is looking for her bones.  They also discover another boy went missing and they start to see him around the lodge.  The next day a man shows up who is a journalist and ghost hunter. As the day progresses the snow comes down harder, the generator goes out, the heat goes out, and so does the fire. Mother Hemlock, another ghost, starts to chase them and tries to trap them so they will be stuck forever.  

A great ghost story and lots of twists and turns that will be sure to keep you guessing up to the end.  Arden leaves it open for more sequels in this series.  Can't wait!! 

Honeybees and Frenemies by Kristi Wientge

Flor's best friend, Brooke is headed off to band camp for the summer and Flor is stuck at home helping with the family mattress business.  As summer starts in Honeydale, OH, the 50th anniversary of the Honey Festival is being planned and Flor was a former Miss Honeybee and is asked to return along with all the other Miss Honeybees.  She is not interested until they move on the first runner up, Candice, who is her enemy.  Flor and Candice have to work together to compete and volunteer in the community.  

Along the way Flor's parents are fighting and she realizes the mattress store is not doing well and her mom is interviewing for a job in New Jersey!  She decides to work with Candice to win the money from the Honey Festival to save her dad's business and not have to move.

Such a great story about mending friendships, working together, and people are not always what they seem.  

Just South of Home by Karen Strong

Sarah and her younger brother Ellis are staying home alone for the first time this summer!  No more working for their grandma, Mrs. Greene.  But just when they think it's great they find out their cousin Janie has to stay while her momma goes to California to do screen tests for commercials.  Janie is a sticky finger, negative, and trouble causing cousin!  UGH.  As Sarah tries to entertain Janie, she gets sucked into a ghost story and sees actual ghosts.  Between Sarah, Janie, Ellis and their friend Jasper they must figure out how to break the curse and keep the ghosts away.  

Lots of history set in Georgia of sharecroppers, KKK, and family secrets.  Does have some spirituality (seance, voodoo, etc.).