Posted - by J. D. Anderson

It's crazy how phone-obsessed kids are today, especially at Branton Middle School, where Frost and his friends just started 6th grade. When cell phones are banned, the kids come up with a new way to communicate: Sticky Notes! Of course, this could go very well, or very wrong. When you factor in preteen emotions, you can bet things will get crazy.

More than just a creative story about Post-it Notes, this is a story about friendship, courage, making hard choices, and the power of words. It is about finding "your tribe," the people who you click with, and who will support you through the hard times. And it's about what happens when a new person wants to join your group of friends, and not everyone is in favor. Lastly and most importantly, it's about accepting those who are different, and the important of all types of diversity.

I highly recommend this story.

The Exact Location of Home - by Kate Messner

Geocaching is pretty popular these days, and this book will tell you all about this fun activity.  Along the way, it will take you on the emotional journey of a young teen boy and his friends, leaving you with an aching heart, a thirst for exploring your neighborhood, and a new perspective on poverty and homelessness.

Kirby Zigonski is not your typical teenage boy.  First, his dad is missing, his mom won't tell him why, and they are about to get evicted from their apartment.  Second, Kirby is a whiz with electricity, and can repair just about anything.  This time, though, Kirby may have found a problem that he can't figure out how to fix.  His two best friends (both girls) try to help, but Kirby pushes them away, drawing closer to a mysterious stranger that he *hopes* is his missing father.

Kate Messner never disappoints.  Really.

Seriously, Norman - by Chris Raschka

International spies, bomber salesmen, weird parents, odd coffee-loving tutors, lots of new words, and four friends with a shared love of old movies and saving the day.  This is a zany but brainy, quirky but just-right story about young Norman and his worries about his father, whose job as a bombastic bomber salesman may be endangering them all.  Can his best bud Leonard and the twin girls from next door form a quadrumvirate (noun: a group of four powerful or notable people) without getting sidetracked by Norman's muddle-headed mother or taken out by two furry-hatted European spies?  Probably, but not definitely.

This is kind of a weird story, but I loved it.  Norman didn't do so well on his standardized test, so his parents hired a tutor, one Mr. Balthazar Birdsong, who seems more intersted in having Norman read the dictionary and watch clouds than in preparing him for the test.  In the end, though, Mr. B's lessons turn out to have been just what Norman needed to find his courage and save the day.

This book will get you curious about New York City, kites, dictionaries (my son asked for a dictionary of his own after we listened to this audiobook), and of course, hot chocolate.  It's well worth the read, even if the cover has you scratching your head (as it does me).  It's a well-voiced audiobook, too.

Honey - by Sarah Weeks

This is a very fun and sweet book, that has absolutely nothing to do with honey.  However, it does involve a dog, a beauty salon, tuna noodle casserole, an annoying 6-year-old girl, a wonderful teacher, a grumpy teacher, and some dandelions. Oh, and a dead mom.  Yeah, there's that.  Don't worry, though. It's a happy story, but some characters have to deal with a few issues along the way. You know, kind of like life itself.

Really, this is the story of young teen Melody, and her quest to find something she didn't even know she had lost.  Through the story, we meet her friends and family, a delightful stylist named Bee Bee, and her grandpa.  Lots of bad cooks, which strangely becomes a plot line. It's a swiftly-moving tale of growing up, learning secrets that your dad never knew when to tell you, and finding delight where you least expect it.

The strangest thing: This book got me interested in nail polish.  Really.  Nail polish.  Read it and you'll understand.

The White Giraffe - by Lauren St. John

This story takes us to South Africa along with Martine, poor thing. You see, Martine is a young teen from England whose parents died in a fire that she managed to escape from.  Before long, she was trundled away to her grandmother's home in South Africa, on the grounds of a wild animal reserve.  This was not the outcome that anyone wanted, and when Martine arrived, she could tell right away that her grandmother wanted nothing to do with her. Welcome to Africa.

However, there is quite a twist to this story.  Martine isn't your ordinary girl, and has a rare gift that ends up making all the difference.  As she navigates life in her new home, she makes a number of discoveries about the reserve, her family, the animals, and herself.

Why "The White Giraffe?"  There is a legend on the reserve that an exceedingly rare white giraffe lives nearby, sacred to the native people and hunted by greedy poachers.  This mysterious creature will prove central to Martine's sotry in ways nobody had expected.

This is a touching but exciting story about a girl's quest to survive in a world that is full of twists and turns, and is a testament to the beauty of South Africa and to the importance of family and friends.  It is the first in a series of promising novels.

A Whole Nother Story - by Dr. Cuthbert Soup

Strange, mysterious bad guys.  International super spies.  Sock puppets. Epic wads of bubble gum.  Dirt clods. Time machines.  A hairless dog that can sense danger, and finds many opportunities to use this skill.  A very odd narrator.  Such an odd list, but they can all be found within this strange and wonderful book.

Dr. Ethan Cheeseman and his children are truly exceptional, but they've got some problems.  For one, they are on the run, changing identities and homes more often than they can count, on the run from a wide variety of evildoers.  They are also missing their mother, but the details of that particular problem don't become clear until later in the story.  As the Cheesemans make their way across the country in search of the answer to their biggest problem (which can not be disclosed here), they meet an interesting cast of characters, all of which help to make this odd story a bit more zany.  Through it all, the cheeky and slightly ridiculous narrator, "Dr. Cuthbert Soup," gives all sorts of commentary to the reader.

This really is a silly book, but it is a lot of fun to read, and hard to put down.  The narrator thing is a bit like the books of Pseudonymous Bosch or Lemony Snicket, and makes the story even more interesting.  The second book, Another Whole Nother Story, is just as good if not better.

Absolutely Almost - by Lisa Graff

Sad, sad, sad.  That's what my Guys Read book club decided kept us all from loving this book, it was just kind of sad.

Don't get me wrong, no book is completely sad, and there were definitely some interesting and enjoyable parts of the book.  It's all about this kid in New York City, Albie, who although he tries his hardest, just can't seem to please his teacher, his parents, his best friend's family, or anyone else.  Albie is kind of stumbling through life when he gets a new nanny, Calista.  This girl is dynamic: An art student who is full of creativity and encouragement, just what Albie needs. Through Calista, Albie has all sorts of great times, realizations, and happiness... but then things go wrong, as they often seem to in Albie's life.  See?  Sad.

This is the story of Albie not exactly improving his situation, but finding inner strength and coming to terms with who he is and what he is capable of, even if it's not quite as much as anyone had hoped.  It was a well-written book, with short chapters, interesting characters, and some fun pictures, but in the end it was a little too much of a downer for my group of 3rd-5th grade boy readers.  A bright note:  One of our favorite characters was the endlessly-bullied, stuttering Betsy, who through her gummy bears and fortitude, proves to be the strongest and the best character in the book.

Sunny Side Up - by Jennifer & Matthew Holm

What young girl wouldn't love to spend a summer in sunny Florida?  Sunny Lewin was pretty excited about the opportunity, until she realized that her grandpa's retirement community was not what she expected... just a bunch of geezers sitting around all day doing boring, boring, and more boring.

Before long, though, Sunny realizes that there may be a little more to these old folks than she first thought.  Once she meets another kid, they begin having adventures, making new friends, and turning the summer into something special after all.

This is a fun, thoughtful graphic novel about one girl's everyday adventures over the course of a surprising summer.  It will appeal to readers of Rain Telgemeier, for sure.  

Wilder Boys - by Brandon Wallace

Two boys and a dog, escaping into the wilderness on a special quest, running toward an unknown dream, and away from a scary man.  This is an excellent story of hope and survival, of using wits to overcome a terrible situation, and of friendship and family.

Jake and Taylor Wilder had been taking care of themselves for a long time.  Their mom was sick, their dad missing somewhere in the mountains since he left home years ago, and their mom's abusive boyfriend was getting even worse.  With pages from their dad's old notebooks, a confusing clue from an old letter, and whatever they could shove in their backpacks, the boys suddenly found themselves on a cross-country adventure that makes for an amazing story.

This book is fast-paced, full of interesting characters, and deadly serious at the same time that it is full of hope and adventure.  I highly recommend it!

House of Robots - by James Patterson

Imagine that you're the fifth-grade son of a famous robot inventor mother, and one day she asks you to bring her newest invention to school with you. Two problems:  You are the second-most unpopular kid in your class (after your best-friend Trip), and the invention is a walking, talking nerdy robot that you are sure will ruin your life forever!

As E (the robot)  tags along with Sammy (the kid), we are dragged along on a very surprising and funny school adventure.  E is definitely a talented robot, and before long everyone at school finds out what a difference a robot can make.  Even the school bully gets a surprise, which leaves the reader cheering!  This is a fast-paced, smart story about fitting in, standing up, and giving new things a chance.

This is a great book for boys, and for anyone with an interest in robotics (along with the excellent Winter of the Robots, also reviewed on this site.)  It's one of my favorites so far among all the new series being pumped out by Patterson and his co-authors.

All the Answers - by Kate Messner

What if your pencil were magical?  You know, you ask it questions, and it tells you all the right answers.  Would it change your life?  Would you never fail a test again?  Would there be any problems?

When 6th-grader Ava Anderson who is a bundle of nerves, and her best friend Sophie find the mysterious blue pencil, it seems that all of their problems are solved.  As they use their magical tool to navigate the ups and downs of middle school life, they soon find out that having all the answers isn't always as great as it seems.  In fact, sometimes you learn things you never wanted to know.

This is a charming story about two girls trying to get the most out of life, with a little help from an unexpected source.  It paints a realistic and intriguing picture of family life, both good and bad. There are ups and downs, ins and outs, and some real twists and turns.  In the end, the pencil is not quite what they expected.

Ava and Sophie may not solve all of their problems, but they learn that there are more important things in life.  There are many lessons learned, and some real obstacles overcome.  This is a feel-good book, a great read for anyone who enjoys a little bit of mystical mystery tossed into a realistic coming-of-age story.  The author of Capture the Flag seems to have written another winner!

Tuesdays at the Castle - by Jessica Day George

Castle Glower is not your ordinary castle, and Celie is not your ordinary princess!  This 11-year-old has the interesting habit of mapping the castle, which is made all the more difficult by the fact that each Tuesday, the magical castle changes its layout! A new hallway here, new rooms there, you never know what a Tuesday will bring.

One fateful Tuesday brings more than changes: When Celie's brother graduates from Wizard College and her parents go to his graduation, a number of foreign visitors come to the castle, and they are NOT just there to pay their respects.  Before long, Celie has turned from the youngest sibling who nobody takes seriously into the only person who can save the castle and her brothers and sisters from their enemies.

This is a fast-paced, creative, magical, exciting story of adventure and courage.  What seems at first to be a silly magical princess story for young girls is ACTUALLY a rollicking adventure novel for readers of all ages.  The writing is excellent, the characters and setting intriguing, and the plot rolls out perfectly.  With a non-speaking magical castle as a main character, this is not your typical story, but it is unusually good, and I plan to read the entire series.

Heart of a Samurai - by Margi Preus

You will not believe that this is the author's first book! It's simply an amazing adventure story of the high seas in the 1800's, from Japan to New England and back again.  We meet Manjiro, a teenage Japanese fisherman who is stranded by a shipwreck and eventually picked up by an American whaling ship.  That begins Manjiro's odyssey, which includes adoption, learning to live in a small American town, dealing with all sorts of prejudice and anger, and growing into a man with a real mixed and conflicted cultural identity.  Will this poor stranded fisherman ever achieve his dream of becoming a samurai?

This is an amazing story, an epic tale of adventure, courage, and the power of the human spirit to overcome all odds.  I recommend this to everyone!  Especially history buffs, those who have an interest in Japan, fishing and whaling, life in the 1800's, classic sea adventures, and amazing writing.

The Fourteenth Goldfish - by Jennifer L. Holm

It really has nothing to do with goldfish, FYI.  This is actually the story of 11-year-old Ellie, a girl with serious boy problems, but they're not what you'd expect.  As she navigates the new waters of middle school and shifting friendships, Ellie also meets a new boy, Melvin, who seems suspiciously similar to her cranky old grandfather.

As Melvin and Ellie get to know one another, she begins to discover new interests and strengths, and finds the courage to break out of the direction her parents have hoped she would follow.  She makes new friends, has quite an adventure, and while she doesn't save the world, Ellie finds herself.

This is a fun, curious, charming, and imaginative story.  It blurs the lines between friendship story and science fiction, and is a fast and enjoyable book to read.  I would recommend it to anyone who wants to be pushed to think deeply about science and possibility, those who have a sweet spot for cranky old people, and anyone who wants to enjoy a touching coming-of-age story about a brave young girl.

Liar and Spy - by Rebecca Stead

This book has a few twists and turns, so let's call it a mystery. What it really is, though, is a story about some lonely kids in the city who somehow get connected, and through their friendship find ways to deal with the problems in their lives. Sounds boring, but it's not.  It's a book that will make you think.

Georges, Candy, and Safer.  Yep, those are the names of our three main characters, so you know the author has a thing about names. When seventh-grader Georges moves into a new apartment building with his dad, he doesn't expect to end up in the middle of a spy ring investigating a potential murderer in a dark apartment.  However, Safer has a way of shaking things up for him, and life is not likely to return to normal anytime soon.

Follow these kids through the everyday excitement of Georges' life and learn a thing or two about friendship, acceptance, and... candy.
This book has nothing to do with Stead's previous bestseller, When You Reach Me, though it definitely has some similarities.  City kids, unexpected twists, and friendship helping the characters to survive personal challenges.  This is an author to watch!

The League of Seven - by Alan Gatz

Bringing together a band of teenage oddballs in a futuristic/old-fashioned America, this steampunk story will capture your imagination and leave you cheering!  The heroes are flawed but worth cheering for, the villains both oddly familiar and ridiculously unimaginable.

Like all steampunk stories, this one relies on lots of futuristic 18th-century technology, such as brass laser guns, airships, submarines, and robot babysitters.  When Archie finds out that his parents have been brainwashed by giant insects, he must set out across the country to Old Florida to rescue them.  Falling in with two mysterious but distinctly talented new friends, it is up to the three to stop not only a crazed murderous inventor (Thomas Edison), but the largest monster in history, who lies trapped under the swamps.

This story has plenty of mystery, lots of action and suspense, and enough dramatic twists to keep any reader turning pages.  It is highly imaginative and a bit inspiring.  You may find yourself, like I did, wishing you could climb aboard their airship for just one short adventure.

We Were Liars - by E. Lockhart

This is not a book to be taken lightly.  It is a book for teens, and I would say age 12 would be a good time to read it.  That said, it was an amazing and surprising story that I could not put down.

It's all about four kids who grow up together during summer's at their families private island off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts.  Rich kids, that's right.  Privileged trust-fund children of privileged trust fund mothers, and everybody is just about perfect.  They are, after all, the Sinclair family.

The only thing is, everything is not quite as perfect as it seems. The title is perfect, and hits you on different levels by the end of the book.  As you read, you begin to realize that characters are twisted in unexpected ways, and that they are all twisted together as well.  The story is told from a seventeen-year-old girl, Cadence, about her fifteen-year-old self one summer on the island, and what happened that summer remains a mystery to us, and to Cadence as well, until the very end of the book.  It is suspenseful, full of interesting bends, and a very rewarding read.

The "teen" rating reflects some thematic elements that elementary-age children just don't need to think about.  Grab a copy of this for the teen in your life, and let them know it will be one knockout of a story.

Multiple Choice - by Janet Tashjian

Terrible cover, I know!  Perhaps you know this author better by her My Life as a Book series, which is great.  This book is also good, but it's a different kind of story.

It's all about Monica, a teen girl who has a terrible time making decisions. It's worse than that: She has OCD: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  She's basically a perfectionist whose anxiety is getting in the way of living a normal life, and her family and friends are totally frustrated with her.  Nobody can help her, and she doesn't seem to be able to help herself, until...

Scrabble.  It's a wonderful game, and kind of explains those squares on the cover of the book, but it also kind of saved Monica's life.  You see, she came up with a game called Multiple Choice, in which she would give herself options for what to do next, and she would draw Scrabble tiles to see which thing she would have to do.  It allowed her to move forward without locking up her brain like would normally happen, and it led to some funny and unexpected outcomes.  In fact, Monica began to think that the game was saving her life and restoring her to "normal" status.  Of course, it's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt.

In this case, Monica's game caused both emotional and physical harm to her friends, but she just couldn't seem to stop playing.  Could her cure become an even bigger problem than what it was trying to fix?

It's actually a really good story, telling a realistic and interesting tale of a likable and believable girl who struggles with the same thing that many girls do: anxiety.  I think most girls would like this story, and even though it's old and has a ridiculous-looking cover, it's worth checking out.

How to Train your Dragon - by Cressida Cowell

I know this book has been out for a while, and has ten more books in the series, but I had forgotten all about it and haven't read it for five years.  My loss! My son and I just finished this book, and it was really wonderful.  I didn't like it five years ago, but have changed my tune.   I can see why it's been so popular, and why it was made into a movie.

This is a funny book, told first-hand by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the least-heroic Viking in his long-ago village.  He is not only the biggest failure in his tribe, he also happens to be the chief's son.  When the boys are called to climb a cliff to the dragon caves and sneak away with sleeping baby dragons, it figures that Hiccup gets the scrawniest, most toothless of the whole bunch.  Will his luck ever change?  When his stubborn dragon gets Hiccup exiled forever from his village, things are definitely not looking up.

Join Hiccup on a grand adventure right in his own backyard.  This is a wonderful story, full of shouting, dragons, more shouting, more dragons, and some other stuff too.  This book will inspire would-be heroes, and will remind all of us that you just can't judge a book (or a Viking or his dragon) by the cover.

The Storm Makers - by Jennifer E. Smith

Sometimes books with awesome covers can end up being pretty bad, but this one was as good as it looks.  It feels like a story we've heard before:  A normal boy is minding his own business when a mysterious stranger arrives, and suddenly the boy discovers he has special powers.  The interesting twist here is that the main character is the boy's sister, the super power doesn't really work, and the bad guy seems kind of like a good guy.

The boy in question is 12-year-old Simon, who recently relocated from Chicago to a rural Wisconsin farm with his parents and twin sister Ruby.  A terrible drought is hitting much of the nation, and the big worry is whether the family can make farm life work when nothing will grow.  When Ruby catches a disheveled man sneaking out of their barn one morning, things start to get interesting.  What is Simon's power, and why isn't it functioning correctly?  What is Ruby's role in the story?  Can two kids on a farm save their country from a not-so-natural disaster?

It's an interesting story with good pacing, some fun surprises, and a satisfying ending that hints at, but doesn't require a sequel.  To top it all off, it's beautifully illustrated by Brett Helquist, the master.