Ripped Away by Shirley Reva Vernick

Abe is a loner.  He's smart and creative, but just quiet.  He likes a girl Mitzy and passes by her everyday after school, but never talks to her.  On one afternoon he sees a sign he has never noticed before.  Fortunes read.  He goes to have his read and ends up travelling back to 1888 London as a jewelry apprentice.  The next day Mitzy is transported as well.  They have both been given tasks of preventing a murder and travelling on a boat.  Jack-the-Ripper is on his killing spree and Jews are being blamed for it.  Abe and Mitzy work together to figure out their tasks and try to get home.  

Reminded me of The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen with the time travel back into the past. It is a quick read and keeps you going.  

 

 

Cautionary Tales by Ridley Pearson

California wildfires are happening so school has been cancelled.  Billie and Tim have gone to work with their parents at Disney Studios.  Tim loves helping in the archives with inventory and stuff, but he's been told to "NOT TOUCH ANYTHING".  Billie loves reading scary stories that involve Disney Villians.  Tim discovers a covered Mirror and it shows him with different masks on.  When he takes one off another shows up and he can never get to his real face.  He tries to show Billie, but she doesn't see it.  After she leaves he ends up getting sucked into the mirror and he is in Beauty and the Beast's story and the Enchantress has said he can't leave unless he gets her the handheld mirror.  In the real world Tim is missing and Billie decides to check out the mirror they were looking at earlier.  She sees the handheld mirror behind her in the mirror, but doesn't see it when she turns around.  When she feels it behind her she is also transported into the mirror. The question is will they ever get out?

Definitely for Disney fans.  Present day story is interspersed with Disney Villian stories until they pretty much become one story.  

 

Attack of the Black Rectangles by Amy Sarig King

Mac is entering 6th grade and his teacher Ms. Laura Samuel Sett is the self-appointed town watch-dog.  He and his friends are surprised, by how she runs her class until they are given copies of a book they chose to read for book club and find some words and sentences blacked out.  Well, of course that gets their curiosity up, so they head to the local bookstore to find an uncensored copy.  They are very confused why those words are not okay, so they begin fighting the injustice of being "protected".  Who gets to decide what is okay for everyone?  On the other side Mac is also dealing with his dad, who says he is an anthropologist alien studying humans.  Mac struggles with keeping his dad's secret or letting his mom know what is going on.  

I think this book is very timely with all of the book challenging going on in the world.  I would put this right up there with Ban This Book by Alan Gratz.  

 

The Keeper by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

James and his family move from Eagle Pass, Texas to Oregon.  That is a big culture shock.  James decides not to play baseball, because he feels he would be disloyal to his friends from Texas, but his sister Ava ends up getting him to join a group of kids playing in the neighborhood.  James and Ava have a LONG time prank war going on, so when some weird things start happening they think the other one is pranking them.  As they start to unravel the weirdness, they don't know who they can trust and it becomes a race against survival.  

I liked this book for the spooky/ mystery factor, but it was off putting with Spanish words thrown in and that this was based on a true story, but didn't really give any detail in the author's note.

 

This Might Get Awkward by Kara McDowell

Gemma's best friend is gone to camp for the summer and Gemma is hanging out at the beach when a ton of kids from school show up blocking her in.  She tries to leave, but gets roped back in by her long time crush Beau Booker, who tells her just to pretend they are together.  As she and Beau head back to the beach he ends up knocking himself out in the water and she is the only one to see it.  She saves him, but he is put into a medically induced coma for his brain swelling to go down.  Everyone now assumes she is his girlfriend and due to her social anxiety she just can't correct anyone.  

Fun book.  Reminded me of the movie While You Were Sleeping, but for teenagers. Clean romance with some plot twists.  Gemma is raised by her dad, Beau's brother has some "issues" and Gemma learns to deal with her anxiety and make some friends. 

 

 

In the Key of Us by Mariama J. Lockington

 

Andi Byrd is dealing with the loss of her mother and having to move in with her aunt and uncle.  Her aunt is expecting a baby, so Andi wonders how she will fit in to their family.  Andi is sent off to music camp for the summer.  She plays trumpet, mostly by sound, she is not as skilled at reading music.  

Zora Lee Johnson has been to music camp many years and she is skilled enough to keep her first chair flute every week. Zora's parents have super high expectations for her and she feels like she has so much pressure to achieve(which she deals with by cutting),  but her dreams may include something different, like dancing.  

Both girls end up in the same cabin and are put together for Zora to help Andi in reading and learning the music.  As they begin working together, each one helps the other in ways they never expected. 

The book is told in two voices, Andi and Zora.  However, there is actually a third voice, the camp.  It is told in verse in-between the main two voices.   Lockington also wrote For Black Girls Like Me.

I like the fact that this book deals with loss (death of a parent),  pressure from parents, and again that you never know what people are going through and we should all be kind.  

Jennifer Chan is not Alone by Tae Keller

 

Jennifer Chan moves to a small town in Florida from Chicago with her mother.  Her dad had died when she was younger.  She happens to move across the street from Mallory Moss.  Mal is best friends with Reagan and Tess.  Mal really cares what people think of her and being accepted.  When Mal meets Jennifer for the first time, Jennifer shares that she trusts Mal enough to tell her she believes in aliens, yeah, those kind of outer space aliens. Mal knows that is not something she can share with her friends because it will be bad for Jennifer.  As school begins Mal notices Jennifer is not really fitting in anywhere, and she feels bad, but not enough to do anything.  Soon Jennifer is missing(did she run away or did aliens abduct her?) and Mal decides it is up to her to find her.  

Told in part present and part past (great for teaching flashback) it is a struggle of fitting in, making the right choice, and not always knowing what others are going through.  Mal also struggles with figuring out who she is, who she truly is.  Is she a mean girl or just making mistakes?  Very relatable for middle schoolers.  I also think that this book is not all perfect people, perfect ending, etc.  

To me this book was okay,  however it is setting with me and I'm thinking on it.  I would recommend it to my students.  

Life gets in the way, or...

maybe I'm just lazy.

Wow.  I just noticed I had not posted any book reviews since LAST year!!!  I will begin to remedy that immediately.  Not only to help others, but for my own remembrance.  I read so many books that sometimes I forget if I've read it and what it was about so blogging it helps secure it somewhat.  Look for reviews coming soon!