Becoming Muhammad Ali by James Patterson and Kwame Alexander

 Cassius Clay's story is told through free verse by himself and in prose by his best friend Lucky.  It starts with a group of family and friends waiting on Cassius' call from him competing for the Golden Gloves in Chicago.  After the phone call, we flashback to his growing up and learn about his family, friends, struggles with school and how he got into boxing.  

I was sad, because I LOVE both authors, but I just wasn't super impressed with this book.  I feel like I needed more story and details of his life.  I liked the illustrations and I liked the relatability of his life growing up and the the historical aspect of being black in the USA during his childhood years.  Overall, I'll recommend to boys who are into sports, and anyone who is into history.  

Alone by Megan E. Freeman

What would you do if you woke up and everyone was gone?  Could you survive on your own?  That is what happened to 12 year old Maddie.  She and her two best friends hatch a plan to spend the night at her grandparents apartment by themselves.  Her friends are unable to come at the last minute and she ends up alone with her divorced parents thinking she is spending the night at the other one's house.  During the night she hears trucks rumbling and men talking and she is scared, so she doesn't look out the window or see what is going on.  When she wakes up in the morning she has missed calls and text messages from her parents and her friends telling her they will catch up to her thinking she is with the other parent.  Thus begins her three years of survival on her own.

Written in verse, this book reads fast and you want to keep reading to find out if she ever gets found.  Great survival story set in Colorado, in a type of dystopian setting with a dog!  Really enjoyed this one.

 

Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar

 Disclaimer:  I listened to the audio.

Sheetal is half human, half star.  Her mother returned to the heavens when she was young.  She is now 16, almost 17 and she is hearing star song and feeling called to the heavens.  She has to dye her hair to cover up the silver shining tresses.  As she accidentally burns her father and gives him a heart attack.  Her aunt and cousin help her get to the heavens to her mother to try to get a drop of star blood to heal him.  As she travels to the heavens, she meets her mother and her side of the family.  She is wrangled into a talent competition to represent her house to be in charge of the heavens.

Not my favorite.  Lots of Indian mythology and words that were not explained.  I don't think this will appeal to many kids unless they are familiar with Hindu and know the history and language.  I liked Aru Shah series better.  

Black Canary: Breaking Silence (DC Icons #5) by Alexandra Monir

 Dinah Lance lives in Gotham City, but after all the superheroes have disappeared.  She lives with her dad (who is a policeman), as her mom has already passed away in a car accident.  It is a type of dystopian society, where girls are the underdogs.  They can't sing, they have to dress a certain way, behave a certain way and pretty much have no rights.  Dinah LOVES music and she has heard that there is a vault in the Opera House that might have recordings of female singers!  She enlists her friends Mandy and Ty and they set off to break in, but are interrupted by a Talon, who is there to protect the Opera House.  As Dinah is fighting off the Talon, her dad shows up and intervenes for her and makes a deal to work with the Court of Owls (government).  As she meets a new student, Oliver Queen, and gets required to attend a citywide ball with him, things start to take a turn as the resistance crashes the party and people are injured and killed.  After she meets Barbara Gordon and learns her mom's secret.  She was the Black Canary and had a Canary Cry that she used as a weapon.  Dinah learns she is able to use singing to have superhuman hearing and  that Oliver also has a secret weapon.  Dinah, Oliver, and a few more begin to fight back against the system that holds them down.  

I'm not a big fan of superhero type stuff, but this book was a pretty fun read.  I had never heard of the Black Canary, so it was interesting to learn about another superhero in Gotham City.  Dinah is a strong female character and learns to stand up for herself.  

An excerpt from the book:  https://www.teachingbooks.net/qlef82d

Aggie Morton Mystery Queen: The Body Under the Piano

 Disclaimer:  I listened to the audiobook.

Aggie Morton is a young girl living in England.  Her father has died, her older sister has married and moved off, her grandmother lives with she and her mother. Aggie meets Hector, a refugee from Belgium, in her favorite sweet shop.  As Aggie and her friends put on a fundraiser for the refugees, it later turns into a murder scene.  Aggie finds a body under the piano the next morning at her dance lesson.   One of her friends, Rose, and her dance instructor (Rose's Aunt) is the body!  Aggie and Hector join forces to solve the mystery, but will Aggie solve it or become another murder?

 Agatha Morton is a character loosely based on Agatha Christie, mystery writer.  It is written as if she is a young girl sleuth, with her friend Hector Perot, who is a character in Christie's books.  

Wasn't my favorite mystery, but it did have good writing and also some side conversations Aggie would imagine or have with herself.  

Namesake (Fable #2) by Adrienne Young

 Fable is captured on Zola's ship and has become a pawn for him to get what he wants.  She discovers Clove, her dad's shipmate who she thought was dead, is working for Zola!  What a traitor!  As she is taken to Bastian to meet Holland, the gem trader in charge, she agrees to do what Zola wants so she can get back to West and the Marigold.  She gets to Bastian, meets Holland, discovers Clove is still working for her dad (but undercover), Zola gets killed, and Fable is "rescued" by West.  She is tasked with finding a rare gem, Midnight, for her and West to be able to be free and on their own.  She is worried that Holland is going to take over the narrows gem trade and kill her father to do it.  

Lots of action, deceit, secrets, and a little romance with lots of feelings of betrayal.  I liked the book, but not as much as the first one.  I really can't pinpoint why, however I would recommend this 2nd book in the duology.

The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez by Adrianna Cuevas

 Disclaimer:  I listened to the audiobook :)

Nestor Lopez is moving to New Haven TX to live with his abuela and mom.  His dad is in the military and is deployed overseas.  New Haven is SMALL.  Like nothing is there to do small.  He goes to school in 6th grade for his 10th first day of school in his school career, as they have moved around a lot with his dad.  Nestor has a special gift, he can talk to animals.  He meets a raven at his abuela's house who goes to school with him and the raven and a deer tell him that  something weird is going on in the woods and there is a witch.  He doesn't believe them, but as he meets a boy at school who has lost his dog and a girl who has lost her goats, he begins to see there is something weird going on.  

Nestor is a great character.  He is a nice kid, who helps humans and animals alike.  He is brave and smart.  I could see more books about Nestor coming.  Great story.  

Fable (Fable #1) by Adrienne Young

 Disclaimer:  I listened to the audiobook.

Fable was dumped off on an island for thieves and traitors by her father, Saint, after her mom died on a shipwreck.  He told her if she could get off the island and get to him he would give her what she deserved.  She is a gem sage, who can "feel" gem stones and find them in the ocean.  As she finds pyre and sells it to save enough copper coin to escape Jeval (the island), she gets herself into a tricky situation with another Jevali who wants to kill her and steal her coin.  As she escapes onto a ship  with a small crew, the helmsman, West, tells her once he gets her to Ceros she is no longer his problem.  As they arrive into port, she plans her visit with her father and learns he will not let her crew for him and all he tells her that the Lark (wrecked ship) is her inheritance.  She is so disappointed and sad that she ends up working with West for his crew, making a deal to split her inheritance with them if they will help her get to the wrecked Lark.  Before they can leave, Zola (from a rival ship), beats West up and rips the sails on their ship.  Fable gets the 800 coin to repair the sails and they are able to get away just as Zola is coming for them.  

I LOVED this book, BUT it has several uses of ba***** and a little physical romance.  Would probably recommend for 8th and up.

Recommended For You by Laura Silverman

 Shoshanna is working in an independent bookstore, Once Upon, for the holiday season.  It is her home away from home.  She loves the owner, the books, the customers and helping people find their perfect book.  The owner hires a new worker, Jake, who is a non-reader and Shoshanna and he do NOT hit it off.  In fact, they rub each other the wrong way.  The owner starts a contest for whoever sells the most books will win a $250 bonus.  Shoshanna really wants to win so she can have enough money to fix her old car.  She is working double shifts and has a great chance to win, but Jake is also trying to win and the rivalry really starts up.  

Shoshanna is also dealing with her moms not getting along at home and she is worried they will get divorced.  Then she hears that Once Upon may be closing!  Overall, a diverse, clean romance with some real life struggles thrown in.

Friend me by Sheila M. Averbuch

 

Roisin moved with her mom and brother from Ireland for her mom's job.  She works in the tech field.  Roisin's dad is still in Ireland finishing up an artificial intelligence project he is working on.

Roisin is having trouble making friends and in fact is getting bullied on social media and in person by Zara.  She meets Haley online and starts a friendship with her, because she was bullied and learned how to stand up for herself.  Haley tries to help Roisin be more confident and Ro shares with Haley about Zara and then an accident happens to Zara and she almost dies.  Ro is scared her messages with Haley could sound incriminating, but she didn't do anything.  Ro decides to try to visit Haley while she is with a friend and have her delete the messages, but when she tries to find Haley, she is nowhere to be found.