Ravenous Things by Derrick Chow

Reggie Wong has lost his father.  His mother doesn't seem to be dealing well with it and has basically closed herself off from everything.  When Reggie meets the Conductor, who promises him his hearts desire to get his dad back, he goes on a subway with all the other kids who have been promised the same thing.  After he is reunited with his dad, he realizes something is not right and that his dad is not the same.  They start to relive the same day over and over and Reggie finds out it is all a hoax, however when he tries to return home he and his friends realize the Conductor has taken over their lives and their town.  They wonder if things will ever go back to how it should be.

This is loosely based on the Pied Piper.  Great creepy, crawly book.  I listened to the audio book for part of it and read the rest because I just had to finish to find out what happened.  Great for grades 4 and up.

What Comes Next by Rob Buyea

Thea lost her best friend Charlie and a terrible accident during spring break.  She can't even go back and finish 6th grade, so her parents homeschool her.  Her family decides to move to another town to give her a fresh start and her dad decides to get a new dog.  They go to the rescue to pick out a dog and Thea ends up selecting, a little dog with a lazy eye...just like Charlie had.  They name him Jack, or Jack-Jack, or Jackson.  They all call him various versions of the name. :) Thea has gone mute since the accident, but slowly Jack gets her talking again and then she meets her little sister's teacher Ms. Stacey, who helps her out, but also introduces her to Rory.  With all their help, she is able to start living again.

By the end of the book there are so many ties that I didn't see coming.  I just love that it is a window into grief and how people handle things differently.  The little supernatural touch of the dog is just perfect.

 

Dead Wednesday by Jerry Spinelli

Robbie, AKA Worm, is in 8th grade.  Every year the 8th graders participate in Dead Wednesday where the students are assigned a teenager who died in the previous year by things that could be avoided, such as drugs, alcohol, texting while driving, etc. The students always look forward to it because they become "invisible" and can pretty much get away with anything, burping in people's faces, climbing on desks, you name it and they get out 1/2 a day early.  Robbie and his best friend Eddie along with the entire 8th grade is planning on going to watch a huge fight at 12:30, but Worm's mom keeps texting him that she needs him to come home and help with the writer's retreat they own.  As Worm starts his day he gets his assigned dead kid, Rebecca Finch.  Things are kinda weird as the teachers don't talk to them, make eye contact with them, or anything.  Worm really thinks it's weird that he keeps seeing a girl in raspberry colored pjs. Once he gets close enough to see her face he realizes it is Rebecca, his dead kid!  Is he going crazy or is something else at work here?  He and Rebecca try to figure it out.  

Wow.  What a great book.  Worm is insecure, shy, and defers to Eddie.  He thinks the whole Dead Wednesday is stupid, but in participating learns a lot about himself and life in general.  Such a great what if book for small choices we make everyday.

 

 

Turtle Boy by M. Evan Wolkenstein

 Will is starting 7th grade.  He was supposed to get community service hours over the summer in preparation for his bar mitzvah, but he didn't so now he has to start visiting a 16 year old in the hospital.  He does NOT want to do that, he HATES hospitals.  His dad died when he younger in the hospital.  Will also has a health issue and his chin and mouth area will need surgery.  Because of his chin deformity he wears his hoodie around his face, but a couple of boys at school started the nickname Turtle Boy.  He also really likes turtles and has captured 4 in the nature preserve behind the school and has them at his house.  As he and the boy in the hospital, R J, begin to become friends, RJ shares with Will his bucket list for Will to work on.  One thing at a time, and eventually will realizes that RJ is terminally ill.  

LOVE THIS BOOK!  So many great things to say... compassion, empathy, doing hard things, dealing with death, not fitting in, overcoming fear, standing up for others even when you're scared, etc. This would be a great book for a book study group or even a read aloud.  

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. 

  

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.

It's the End of the World as I Know It by Matthew Landis

Available September 24, 2019

The end of the world is coming on September 21, according to Derrick and a website he follows.  He is prepping by constructing a shed in the backyard with a steel door, gas masks, waste management system, MRE's and more.  His friend Brock and Tommy go along with him as does his family, but they don't really think the world is going to end.  As we read we see that Derrick has some memory lapses, like with Misty, his neighbor.  He doesn't remember her coming over, he doesn't really remember how she was sick and missed a lot of school.  She says he used to be funny.  We watch as Derrick becomes unraveled and discover that his mom was killed in the line of duty in Iraq.

GREAT book.  Highly recommend, will keep you reading and on the edge of your seat.