The Last Meeting of the Gorilla Club by Sara Nickerson

Coming August 27, 2019

Josh just moved to a new town for a new start and he is not looking forward to it.  The last school kids called him Kleenex and he saw a therapist because he saw imaginary people.  The one that was the most common was Big Brother. He "buried" him in the back yard (a rock) and then he was gone, but now he is showing up again and Josh can't seem to get away from him.  He also starts seeing another girl, "sparkly girl".  Josh has trouble fitting in, but Big Brother gets him riding his bike, going to a football game, and trying to socialize and make friends.  

Lucas Hernandez is in Josh's class and the story starts getting told from both boy's points of view. They both see the "sparkly girl" and the gorilla in the video (see below), but neither of them know it.  They have more in common than they know and eventually find that out. The story is great for middle graders and is mostly realistic with a little supernatural thrown in, but you don't find that out til later.  

A Monster Like Me by Wendy S. Swore

Sophie loves her book The Big Book of Monsters.  She loves it because it helps her tell who is a monster or a human.    She has discovered the main bully is a "goblin", her neighbor is a "witch", but a good one, and her new friend is a "fairy".  Sophie of course is a monster, because of her "monster mark", but she doesn't know what kind she is yet. She and her mom have just moved to a new town, Portland, to be near doctors for her.  She has a hemangioma, blood tumor, on her face.  As she navigates a new school,  her mom starting a relationship and her own insecurities about her looks, she learns who she truly is and accepts herself.  

The Candymakers by Wendy Maas

Told in 4 perspectives about the same few days.  Logan is The Candymakers son.  He is from a long line of candymakers and is finally old enough to enter the candy making contest that both his father and grandfather won when they were 12.  He lives in the candy factory with his parents and has full run of the factory.  3 other contestants are coming to learn how to make candy and put together their entry into the contest as well.  Logan is sooooo excited because he doesn't get out of the factory much and doesn't have friends his own age.  Daisy then tells things of what is happening from her perspective, then Miles, and then Phillip.  As each kid tells their story we start to piece more and more truth and what is really happening.  Lots of twists and turns and parts reminded me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  There is a sequel, The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase.  

Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly

Cinderella.  We all know the story, but this isn't her story. It is Isabelle's story.  She is Ella's stepsister, but this is not the story you know.  The story starts with Ocatvia (Tavi) cutting off her heel to fit into the glass slipper and then Isabelle cutting off her toes to fit into the slipper, but we all know how that turned out.  Ella is the prince's bride and the stepsisters and stepmother are left behind.  The town begins to call them the ugly stepsister's and shun and torture them.  The Fate's and Chance become involved and try to direct Isabelle's path, but so does Tanaquill, a Fairy Queen.  Isabelle asks to be pretty. Tanaquill says she must find the missing pieces of her heart, 3 of them to be exact and gives her 3 items as well:  a seedpod, a walnut shell, and a jawbone.  Isabelle is frustrated by the seemingly useless items, but they turn into magical items later when she needs them.  She thinks she needs to be kind and good and those are her missing pieces, but she is mistaken.  She begins a journey to find her hurts and make them right and only then will she be able to heal her heart and find her true self in the process.

8th grade and up due to some violence.  No language or sex.

Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation by Stuart Gibbs

Hold on to your seat, it's going to get bumpy!!  Charlie (AKA Charlotte) Thorne is a mathematical genius.  She is 12 years old and already in college. The CIA kidnaps her and puts her into service in exchange for a crime she committed - stealing money from a company.  She discovers that they are hunting for Pandora, a equation developed by Einstein and hidden away so it doesn't fall into the wrong hands, but who are the wrong hands?  CIA, Mossad, MI6?  Charlie doesn't know who she can trust.  

Plot has lots of twists and turns and will keep you guessing to the end.  Gibbs has left it open to a sequel, I hope he produces one. :) 

The Paris Project by Donna Gephart

Available October 8, 2019

This book has it all... a dad that's incarcerated, a friend that is gay, a sister that wants to go to college in another state, a mom that has to work to support them all, and losing a best friend.  Cleveland Rosebud Potts is a 7th grade student who is having to deal with all the above.  She has a list she is checking off of how she will be able to attend school in Paris.  She is saving her money that she earns walking dogs and checking off her list of "to-do's" in order to be prepared.  Through it all she learns how to forgive her friend for choosing an "enemy" for a friend and her dad for being in prison, how to make new friends and be positive through it all.

The Girl in the Locked Room by Mary Downing Hahn

I just finished this book and thought, WOW!  Jules has moved to a new town because her dad restores old houses.  She is not thrilled with the move and the house seems very creepy.  In the late 1800's a family went missing from the house.  Jules starts to have visions/ deja vu of things that happened in the past.  She meets a girl in town named Maisie and they start a friendship built over books about alternate worlds.  Jules and Maisie discover there was girl locked in a room of the house long ago and she is still there.  Can they help her escape or will she be trapped there forever??