The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as told to his brother) by David Levithan

 

Disclaimer:  I listened to the audiobook.

Lucas is 11 and his brother, Aidan, is 12.  Lucas wakes up one morning to find Aidan gone.  No one knows where he is.  They search the whole house, and then the whole town pretty much starts searching for him.  Lucas has NO IDEA why he would leave or where he could be.  One night as Lucas is trying to go to sleep, he hears a thud above him in the attic.  He goes up to investigate on his own and finds Aidan laying on the floor looking up at an old dresser.  Aidan has been missing for 6 days and says he was whisked away to Avienieu, an alternative universe.  As he sticks to his story to the police, his parents, and Lucas, he tells anyone else a made up story that he ran away.  Lucas questions him about everything and Aidan has an answer, but then it gets leaked from the police department what he told them about Avienieu and he then has to deal with all the aftermath.

I didn't love this book.  I was very excited from the title and the beginning, but then it just kinda dragged on.  Also at the end when things kinda go back to normal, it throws in that Aidan begins a relationship with a boy, which just felt thrown in, even though the Aunt is transgender.

One Way or Another by Kara McDowell

 Paige's best friend is Fritz, with her next best friend being Clover.  Paige has kinda a crush on Fitz, but watches him go out with all other girls, and it's hard, so she writes him a letter telling him she loves him, but hates him and can't be friends anymore.  The problem she faces is should she give it to him or not???  In a turn of events, he grabs the letter, but promises he won't read it because she tells him it is part of his Christmas gift. Fritz then invites her to his cabin to spend the holidays with his family, which she wants to do.  Her mom comes home from work and says she won a trip to New York over Christmas, now Paige has to make a decision, cabin in the woods or NY city???  Paige has a horrible time making decisions and plays the what if game, but about what all could go wrong.  HEr friend Clover has her download the Magic 8 ball app to help her make a decision about what to do and as they are leaving the store Paige slips and hits her head.  

This leads to the book splitting into two realities.  In one she goes to New York with her mom, meets Harrison, and experiences the city life.  In two she goes to the cabin with Fritz and Molly (Fritz's ex) shows up.  The back and forth from one reality to another intertwine some, but in the end both realities come together, and Paige learns about herself and why she is the way she is.

Recommended for anyone in the mood for a clean romance and anyone who struggles with anxiety.  

 

Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson

 Disclaimer:  I listened to the audiobook.

Told in verse, this book had me hooked.  At first it was upbeat.  ZJ's dad is a professional football player in NFL as a tight-end.  ZJ has 3 friends who he hangs out with and his dad knows and plays around with.  As the book progresses those friends help him as his dad starts to lose his memory and changes and ZJ feels like he is not really his dad anymore.  The doctors can't really determine what is wrong with him, but he has had a LOT of concussions.  As ZJ goes through "loosing" his dad the book got a lot more serious and sad, but it ends in a good place.  

Will recommend to my boys - with it being a quick read and about football it will pull them in and also touch on family and relationships.  

Abby, Tried and True by Donna Gephart

 Abby's best, and only, friend moved away to Israel and she is left behind with no friends.  Her brother Paul, goes off to camp for the summer and when he comes home he tells his moms he doesn't feel well.  As Abby starts 7th grade, she is dealing with no friends at school, a new neighbor (who seems nice) and a brother who is diagnosed with testicular cancer.  As Paul goes through his treatments, she becomes friends with Conrad (the neighbor) and starts to have feelings for him. 

Good book dealing with loss of friendship, diverse family (gay parents), and brother with cancer.

Hush by Dylan Farrow

Shae lives in a village, Aster, with her mom. Writing and reading are not allowed and can cause you to die from the Blot, her brother passed away from the Blot.  The town is having the Bards come to visit for their tithe gathering.  Shae asks her friend Fiona to tend to her herd, so she can go to see the Bards.  One thing Shae has always been able to do is sew and when she sews she is able to make things appear for a while.  After the Bards visit she goes for a walk with Mads, her friend (who is in love with her), after they talk he heads home and she stays out a bit more and falls asleep.  When she gets home in the morning, she finds her mother has been murdered. The town seems to cover up the murder, so Shae goes out of the village to see if she can find who murdered her mother and she thinks it was one of the Bards. As she arrives to High House, Cathal, the guy in charge, sees her gift of sewing things into being and says she will become a Bard.  As she starts training she falls for Ravod, a Bard, who she met in Aster.   He tells her not to trust anyone, even Cathal, but she is a good, kind and trusting person.  She should have heeded his warning as things are not always what they seem.

Great first book to the series.  Can't wait for the next one.  Would probably appeal to strong younger readers or 7th and up.  Nothing inappropriate in it.  

 

Millionaires for the Month by Stacey McAnulty

Felix and Benji are not really friends, but they have to be partners on a field trip.  While they are having lunch Benji finds a wallet in the park and takes a $20 to buy hotdogs and ice cream for he and Felix.  The wallet belongs to Laura Friendly, a tech BILLIONAIRE.  As they return the wallet, she goes to do some publicity and reward them for returning the wallet, BUT she knows the $20 is missing.  They make a deal that she will give them $5 million dollars to spend in 30 days.  If they can do it, they will get $10 million each!  HOWEVER, there are rules and the rules MUST be followed or they will get NOTHING.  

The boys realize it is HARD to spend $5 million dollars with all the rules and get creative with what they use the money for, but parents and others, who don't know the rules, think they are wasting their money and start trying to keep them from spending their money.  Will they be able to spend all the money?  Felix hopes so because their family struggles with money and his mom is going to quit her job.