The Monsters of Rookhaven by Padraig Kenny

 Mirabelle lives in a big house with her family....family of monsters, but she is different.  She has no talent like the others, unless you count not sleeping or eating a talent.  All monsters come in from the Ether, it's kind of like being born.  Tom and Jemima, Jem, are running away from their uncle who was raising them, but abusive. Their parents are both dead and they have to steal and run to survive.  As their car runs out of gas, they discover Mirabelle's house and look to seek shelter there, but in the process stumble upon a weird, but wonderful situation.  Tom is sick and needs to recover and Mirabelle and Jem become friends, but as one of the house's inhabitants, Piglet, escapes to the outside world he attracts an evil they have never seen and one that can't be killed.  

I didn't care for the book at first because it had too many British English words like petrol and ration books and I didn't think kids would know what that was, but as I kept reading it was a superb story.  I really loved Kenny's creations and reminded me a little of The Graveyard Book by Gaiman.  Would definitely recommend to readers who won't be put off by the vocabulary.  

A Thousand Minutes to Sunlight by Jen White

 

It seems there is a plethora of anxiety/ depression books for middle schoolers and I’m glad. I think mental illness needs to be addressed for this age and the fact that it looks different for everyone. As Cora’s best friend moves all the way across the country, she is worried about school, she has no other friends, she had a panic attack and feels like she is a weirdo no one likes and everyone makes fun of. After running away from school she is put with a “friend” Patrick, who Cora thinks is a weirdo. She feels he is a forced friend. Her brain, Brain, tells her a lot of negative things and as Cora and her therapist work through things, she begins to realize that she can do things and can be in charge of Brain. I liked the story and will recommend this to students not only for anxiety, but for making friends.

Playing with Fire by April Henry

 

As a man sets a fire in a car to get rid of evidence, it spreads all over the nearby forest.  Natalia and Wyatt were doing an easy hike.  He wanted her to come because she had lived there all her life and never hiked!  As they were getting ready to leave, Wyatt sees the fire and turns them around.  Natalia HATES fire since she was trapped in one when she was 11.  As she Wyatt, and several other people band together to figure out a to get out, they are pushed towards another fire that was already burning.   Luckily for Natalia and all the others Wyatt seems to know a lot about the woods and she seems to know a lot about medical things, since she wants to go into medicine.  The question becomes will they get to a part that the fire can't get them and who will not survive along the way.

Intense story with a mystery/ thriller vibe, but not necessarily with the murder-mystery that it typically has.  I like that it brought up a lot of Natalia's character traits that were due to her history and what happened to her as a child, it showed her that she was a  strong girl.  I also was rooting for her and Wyatt to become a thing.  

 

The Gilded Girl by Alyssa Colman

 

Set in 1906 New York, Emma is a wealthy girl sent to school to learn how to kindle her magic so she can keep it forever.  Izzy on the other hand is a maid, who has magic, but will not be able to keep it since she is poor.  Emma's father is killed in an accident and she is then penniless.  She is put to work at the school to pay off her debts.  She and Izzy decide they will learn how to kindle their magic and keep it and in the process start an almost revolution for those who are less fortunate to have the rights to keep their magic.  

I liked the story.  It was okay, but not the best.  I really can't point to any one thing.  It had plenty of intrigue, girl power/ confidence, a talking cat, and an evil head mistress.  I would recommend it to my magical loving students.  

rez dogs by Joseph Bruchac

 

Malian was visiting her  grandparents when COVID-19 shut the country down.  Her parents decided to leave her there and she attended school online (when her internet was working) so that her grandparents didn't catch the illness.  One day a dog showed up and becomes her friend and protector.  It brings out stories from her grandparents of animal stories from their tribe and   also memories of their growing up years and her parents as well and how they were treated.  

I really enjoy learning about the Native American culture.  Bruchac always does a great job of bringing to light little known  information and writes in a way kids (and adults) can understand.  I think the general public needs more of this information and I was shocked that social services would still come in like they had in the past to remove kids without just cause. 

Just Like That by Gary D. Schmidt

 

Meryl Lee Kowalski has just lost her best friend, Holling Hoodhood, in a car accident.  She is struggling to deal with the loss of him and just can't face all the places and things they did together, so her parents send her off to a boarding school on the east coast.  Matt Coffin has no family or parents and has run away from New York to the same town Meryl is in.  He has some really bad men that are trying to find him and he doesn't want to get anyone else involved in his life.  As Meryl attends school and Matt is befriended by the head mistress of the school their lives intersect and they both learn about dealing with their loss and they find friendship in each other and other people.

LOVED this book.  Kept me reading until the early morning hours to find out what happens to Matt and Meryl.  Has a great historic vibe to it, but not overwhelmingly so.  The characters are very relatable and both grow and develop throughout the book. 

  

From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Jenae Marks

 

Zoe just celebrated her 12th birthday with a baking party.  As she gets home she collects the mail and finds a letter addressed to her from her father.....who is in prison.  She doesn't tell her mom, but reads the letter and decides to write back to him.  She has never had a letter before and her mom won't talk about him.  Zoe and her dad start corresponding with one another and Zoe keeps it from her mom, but does end up telling her grandma, who is staying with her during the summer.  As Zoe starts to get to know her father and his crime, she begins to question if he is innocent and she and her neighbor start to investigate to prove him not guilty.  

This book has many great qualities such as, diversity, loss of friendship because of a misunderstanding, and reconciliation of friends and family.  On top of that Zoe is interested in baking so there are a lot of fun elements on top of the serious subjects. 

Halfway to Harmony by Barbara O'Connor

 

Walter Tipple doesn't really have friends, except his brother Tank, who died in the war.  It is the summer and Evalina and Posey and her three-legged dog Porkchop move in next door. As Walter's mom sends him over with a welcome gift, he and Posey start a friendship by exploring the woods and finding a man who fell out of a hot-air balloon.  He introduces himself as Banjo and thus begins a bodacious adventure of not only finding the lost balloon, but finding friendship as well.

I really liked this book all the way through.  It had some of my "country" language in it like, "Hold on to your skivvies 'cause you will not believe this."  or "Dead as a doornail." It also has some making friends lessons, as well as Walter dealing with Tank's death.

Long Distance by Whitney Gardner

 

Vega's dads have moved her all the way to Seattle from Portland and she is not looking forward to missing her best friend.  Her dads decide to send her away to summer camp to make friends.  As she leaves along with another boy.  Together they start to realize things are really strange at this camp and band together to figure out the mystery.  

I didn't love this book as much as Fake Blood (by the same author), but I think my middle school students will enjoy it.  

Breathing Underwater by Sarah Allen

 

Three years ago Olivia and her sister Ruth moved across the country with their parents.  Before they left California, they buried a time capsule and on their move played a treasure hunt.  Ruth has not been doing so well and Olivia plans to do another treasure hunt on a trip back across the US without Ruth knowing so she can surprise her and hopefully it will help Ruth feel better.  As they journey progresses Ruth makes it REALLY hard for Olivia and Olivia notices Ruth is kind of going down, but she doesn't know how to "fix" her.  Things kind of come to a head, but in the end sisters are sisters.  

Really loved this book for many reasons.  Olivia is so real and we see her thoughts and emotions as she is dealing with her sister's illness.  Ruth for giving real examples of what living with depression can look like and that at a teenagers age it is real and must be dealt with.  I think we need this book for empathy and either windows or doors for our students.  

The Nightmare Thief by Nicole Lesperance

 

Maren lives in a town that is full of magical creations.  Maren's family happens to have dream magic.  Her grandmother, mother, sister and she can create dream packets from items.  They can be good dreams or nightmares.  Maren's sister is in the hospital after being in a car wreck.  She is in a coma and Maren wants her to wake up.  Maren breaks the one rule about dreams, you can't give a dream without their person's consent.  She gives her a dream about flying and someone sees her.  Mrs. Malo wants lots of nightmares, but she can only by three at a time and she gets Maren to steal her 12.  Maren knows she is up to no good and doing something bad, but she doesn't want her grandmother or anyone else to find out about her giving her sister the dream.  As things progress, Maren has to decide to keep her secret or tell and save her family and town.  

I really enjoyed this MUCH more than Lesperance's story The Wide Starlight.  This is the first of a duology and I can't wait for the next one.  

Book Trailer

Never After: The Thirteenth Fairy by Melissa De la Cruz

 

Filomena Jefferson-Cho is so excited because the 13th and final book of her favorite series, Never After, is coming out today!  As she goes to the bookstore to grab her copy, she finds that there are no copies and there will NEVER be any copies!  She is so disappointed, but as she leaves she encounters someone following her and ends up getting swept up in an adventure.  She meets Jack Stalker, the main character from the series!! He gets her to come with him to Never After and try to save their world, but she gets scared and leaves.  Once she gets home she decides to re-read the books and notices they have changed, and not for the better.  She must go back to help fix things and as she tells her parents she discovers who she really is. 

This was a book that intertwines the real world with a fantasy world.  It was okay for me, I didn't love it.  It was a quick read and I'm sure there are some tween girls who would love it.  

 

The Circus of Stolen Dreams by Lorelei Savaryn

 

Disclaimer:  I listened to the audio.

Andrea's little brother went missing from their house three years ago.  Her parents are divorced, and her mother has decided to get rid of Francis's things.  Andrea can't stand the thought of Francis being gone forever and his things so she leaves to take a walk and encounters a magical circus where the price of admission is a dream.  She pays the price and enters a world unlike anything she has ever seen. Penny shows her around and introduces her to a dream about flying, pirates and then challenges her to go into a nightmare.  There is always a way out, but don't stay in a nightmare too long.  The Dream Clock seems to never move time and as Andrea and Penny discover that something is amiss they have to figure out how to escape from the circus.

I liked this book, but it was a little slow getting into it.  Andrea is dealing with her parents divorce and loss of her little brother.  It has a dark feel to it, but good wins in the end.  

The Wide Starlight by Nicole Lesperance

 

Disclaimer:  I listened to the audiobook.

Eli lives in Cape Cod with her dad.  She is 17 and 10 years ago her mom was swept up into the Northern Lights and taken away forever.  Now the lights are showing up again and Eli calls her mom down from them.  Her mom shows up, but she is not the same.  As Eli tries to save her mom, she encounters all the memories told through stories from her and her mother.  As she makes her way to save her she encounters magic, some good and bad.  

It was okay, not my favorite and I was really looking forward to it.  I will not be purchasing it for the library.

City of the Plague God by Sarwat Chadda

 

For fans of Percy Jackson...

Sikander Aziz lives in New York with his parents, who own a deli.  One night as he is cleaning up the deli, he hears people talking in the alley and discovers two demons who are there for him.  He escapes and it starts a journey to save New York and the world from Nergal, the Mesopotamian god of plagues.  

Great story and kept me engaged.  Definitely getting for the library and highly recommend for fans of mythology.

Remember Me by Chelsea Bobulski

 

Nell and her father are moving to the Winslow Grand Hotel for him to be the social director.  She starts to have weird "memories" and feelings like she remembers stuff from there.  Aurelea is also telling her story of how one summer she went to stay with her family and was marrying a wealthy man at the end of the summer to save her family from poverty.  Nell lives in 2019 and Lea in 1907.  Told in alternating voices from the past and the present until they collide into one another.

Really enjoyed the book, story and premise.  Has all the elements for me...horror, mystery, supernatural and then adds some romance to the mix.