Dark Waters (Small Spaces #3) by Katherine Arden

 Brian, Ollie and Coco are back and anxiously waiting to see what will happen next with the Smiling Man after they defeated him in Dead Voices.  They are scared to look in mirrors and keep doors locked.  When they get a black round paper from him with a message they try to figure it out to keep clear of him.  AS the three friends take a boat trip with Ollie's dad and Coco's mom, they end up in dangerous peril after passing through a fog and end up on an uncharted island, with no boat, a scary monster, and a ghost.  

I was very disappointed in this one.  I loved the first two books in the series and hope that the 4th book will come back strong to finish the series.  

Ground Zero by Alan Gratz

 Told in alternating voices and time:  Brandon has been suspended for the day for fighting and goes to work with his dad in the North Twin Tower on September 11, 2001.  His dad works on the 107th floor, the very top, in the restaurant.  Brandon decides to sneak down to a shop to buy a toy and on the way down in the elevator bad things start to happen.  The elevator gets stuck and then starts to fill with smoke and he and several others end up escaping out of it before it plummets to the bottom.  From there he tries to get back to his dad, but is unsuccessful and encounters Richard who takes him with him and together along with others try to escape the building.

Reshmina, and 11 year old Afghanistan girl, on September 11, 2019 is going about her day as normal until there is a fight among the Taliban and American soldiers.  She encounters a wounded American soldier, Taz, after the fight and decides to help him.  Because of her decision and her family's agreement to help Taz, her brother goes to tell the Taliban.  Reshmina tries to stop him, but is unsuccessful and puts her whole village in danger.  

I liked that the books gives different points of view and brings up some good points I had not thought of with our involvement in the Afghanistan war.  I think this book is EXCELLENT for point of view and getting a sense of how others might feel about things and empathy.

 

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.

 

City of Gold by Will Hobbs

The Hollowell family has moved to Colorado to start over after their dad died.  Owen wakes up one night to his mules whinnies and discovers they have been stolen.  He tracks them and finds them, but the man who stole them threatens to shoot him so her returns home.  As he tells his mom what happened they come up with a plan and he sets off to find where the man takes them.  He arrives in a mining town and finds his mules, Hercules and Peaches, but can't seem to get them back.  Then his younger brother Till shows up and they convince the sheriff to go after the mule rustler.  

This is not my favorite historical book, but it did give a lot of history and information about the west and the mining era.  The author also included a note at the end with lots of history and his research from writing the book.  Would be good for older elementary and up.