Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee

 Valor Luck's employer has passed away recently, but they were supposed to travel on the Titanic to America.  Val decides to continue with their plans, even though she is Chinese/ British and is looked down upon.  She is denied boarding, but sneaks on board and assumes the identity of her employer by wearing a veil and claiming she is a recent widow.  Her brother Jamie is also on board and as she finds him to propose her plan, she wants them to audition for the Ringling Brother's Circus.  The owner is onboard, but Jamie is not interested in auditioning or going to America.  As Val and her brother work out the details, the prejudice of Chinese and her lie of who she is begins to catch up to her, then the unthinkable happens.  

Good historical account of Chinese passengers, who are never brought up in accounts of the Titanic.  Interesting back story and kept me interested, but most of the story is at the beginning, not much about the sinking and then the afterwards left me wanting more. 

Lupe Wong Won't Dance by Donna Barba Higuera

 Good Gravy!  Lupe's school is having a square dancing unit!  Yuck!  She will do anything she can to get rid of it, BUT she has to make an A in every class to meet her hero, pitcher Fu Li Hernandez.  She wants to be a player in the MBL one day, and he is Chinese/ Mexican like her, so she looks up to him.  Her uncle has said he will introduce her to him this summer as long as she makes all A's.  Will square dancing keep her from her goal?  The lengths she goes to is entertaining, as well as eye opening.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book, very entertaining and also has some good lessons about acceptance and learning to get along with others.  Highly recommend for girls and boys.

Rivals by Tommy Greenwald

The whole book is written in a flashback along with different formats (newspaper, blog, interviews, etc), and this book tells the story of two schools from the same town...Walthorne North Middle and Walthorne South Middle.  Both teams have competitive captains of their basketball teams, but the question is what lengths are they willing to go to win?  As reporter Alfie Jenks digs into the two rivals, she brings up somethings that  are not exactly on the up and up.

This is probably a great book for middle guys, just wasn't my thing.  It is also from the author of the popular Game Changer, so I'm probably in the minority. :)

The Deepest Breath by MEg Grehan

 Stevie is 11 and gets very interested in whales, dolphins, and all kinds of sea creatures.  She lives alone with her mother and sits with two boys, one of whom she has known since she was little, and a girl, Chloe.  She really thinks Chloe is nice and she doesn't like Andrew, who she's known forever, "like that".  When she talks to or looks at Chloe she feels a "fizz" in her chest.  What does that mean?  She's not sure and she doesn't know how to tell her mom, so she goes to the library to find a book about it.  

Written in verse this book explores a girl struggling with her crush on a girl.  It doesn't go very deep and is pretty surface just dealing with her feelings and trying to understand herself.  Mom and others are very accepting.  

Remedy by Eireann Corrigan

 Cara has been sick her whole life.  She can't remember her dad, she lives with her mom and doesn't see any other family.  They move around a lot and she sees a lot of doctors.  She doesn't really have a diagnosis.  When she starts her freshman year and is only present for 18 out of 45 days, the assistant principal gets involved with her attendance.  Her mother comes unglued, how dare he!  Cara wants to go to school, but just doesn't feel well.  As she tries her best to go to school, and prepare for semester exams, she ends up fainting and in the hospital.  Her mother quickly takes her out and finds a new doctor, Dr. Eric.  As Cara makes a friend in her peer tutor, she comes to realize something is not right with her mom, medicines, and that she also finds her grandparents.  

Kind of obvious to me what was going on early on in the book.  It was an okay book, but I would say it would be geared more for high school and up just based on the topic.  

Starfish by Lisa Fipps

 Ellie has a nickname at school, Splash.  Her older sister actually started it, which is very hurtful, her mother is constantly telling her about her food, weighing her, watching what she eats, limiting her choices and talking about bariatric surgery for weight loss.  Her older brother picks on her as well, with mean jabs.  Her best friend is moving to Indiana and she has no other friends at school, and gets picked on constantly with no teacher intervention.  The only one who seems to be on her side is her dad, except he takes her to a therapist!  Ellie ends up making a new friend, Catalina, her new neighbor.  She also learns to stand up for herself at home and school.

Told in verse, this book was sad and empowering.  I love the fact that overweight kids and "skinny" kids will see themselves in this book and hopefully will create empathy for others.  I think that kids wanting a sad book will definitely have it in Starfish.

Gold Spun by Brandie June

 Eleanor (Nor) is homeless and lives with her 3 brothers in the woods.  They survive by hoaxing people with a magic elixir.  One day as she is scoping out the town on her return to her brothers she runs into a man in the woods who is lost, as she pick-pockets a gold ring she seals her fate.  On her return home she encounters a couple of men who have captured a fairy and she helps the fairy escape.  The fairy, Pel, tells her he owes her a favor and gives her a way to contact him along with a rope of gold.  This gives her an idea of a con, spinning straw into gold.  She and her brothers work up the con and go to town to make some money, when the man she pick-pocketed shows up.  He is the new king! He recognizes her and his ring and sees her conning his people.  He takes her to the castle to spin gold for the court and Nor has to call on Pel to help her.  

A wonderful retelling of Rumpelstiltskin.  June does a great job of adding in details and filling in the story.  It left me hanging at the end and I'm glad to report there will be a second book to make a duology.  

 

Gone to the Woods: Surviving a Lost Childhood by Gary Paulsen

 Gary Paulsen shares his growing up starting when he was five.  His mother had him entertaining men at bars for her in Chicago, his grandmother intervenes and sends him to live with his aunt and uncle in Minnesota.  His uncle takes him under his wing, teaching him the woods, farming, and how to be a man.  Sadly, his mother swoops back in and takes him across the sea to the Philippines to live with his dad, who is in the Army.  His mom and dad fight a lot and Gary escapes by hiding in the basement and creating hisself a place of his own.  As his family moves back to the states, Gary continues living a hard life trying to escape his house and going out on his own.  

Great story giving us a glimpse into the life of the man Paulsen is today and where some of his stories came from.  Has some deep issues that may not be for younger readers.  

Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales by Soman Chainani

 This book is a telling/ retelling of famous fairy tales.  12 tales including Red Riding Hood, Peter Pan, Little Mermaid, Snow White and many more.  Chainani has told parts that would be familiar to us, but added details and twists that change the story completely from what we know.  

The cover is AMAZING, and that drew my attention, but I was disappointed by the stories.  I guess, I was hoping somehow it would all tie together, but they are all separate tales.  The twists and added details didn't keep me reading and I really had to make myself go back to finish reading the book.  Just not for me, but maybe my middle schoolers will enjoy it.