A delightful book about seventeen-year-old Rick Dresner who is spending the summer in Mexico working for friends helping to add to their home in a barrio. He learns much about living in Mexico, improves his Spanish so he can have real-life conversations, experiences the cultural differences that create some tensions between him and the family, and becomes more understanding of poverty, people crossing the Mexican-U.S. border, how hard the work is, and the differences in hospitality and foods. This book is excellent to go along with the study of the Spanish language and Mexican culture.
Author Archives: SSBRC Former Member
Into the Abyss
Into the Abyss is the second book in the dystopian series, Falls the Shadows. Reminiscent of The Hunger Games and Divergent, the story centers on Violet, a clone that replaced the dead two year old Violet years before.
Filled with action, chase scenes, and fights, Violet tries to escape the blame cast, unfairly, upon her for the infiltration of the Clone Control Advocacy headquarters. In addition to the action and adventure, there is a bit of romance.
Into the Abyss is a fast paced adventure that will appeal to readers who enjoy dystopian teen novels, although the reader needs to read the first book, Falls the Shadows, to fully comprehend the plot and characters.
Cherry
This is a funny, entertaining, and delightful look at four young women’s experiences with friendship, love, heartbreak, sex, and the worry of what will happen after they graduate that spring from high school. All four friends decide to lose their virginity before graduation, and the novel, told in alternating points of view, chronicles their journeys.
The stories are not about romance as much as about friendship between the girls. Sexuality is addressed in a positive light, with discussions of sexual desire and masterbation, but without slut-shaming or any negativity. Safe-sex is a must throughout the plot.
Without spoiling the plot by disclosing who did or did not lose their virginity, let me just say that this is a fun read that won’t disappoint, featuring confident young women honestly exploring their sexuality.
Boy Robot
Boy Robot is a fast paced adventure story of boy who until the age of 18 was a human, and is now a robot built as a weapon. As he tries to escape the soldiers who are hunting him, he is helped by a human girl.
The novel discusses themes of humanity, and switches point of view in each chapter. Best suited for high school students due to recounts of violent upbringings, sexual assault, bullying, and the use of profanity, this novel will appeal to readers who enjoy action and sci-fi. Additionally, the lead character is gay, and another major character is transgender. Author Simon Curtis is a young gay performing artist, who dedicates the book to those lost in the July 12, 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre.
The cliffhanger ending guarantees a sequel.
Outrun the Moon
Outrun the Moon has so much to recommend it: Historic fiction, a Chinese-American school girl living in Chinatown overcoming all odds to attend a prestigious all white girls’ school, and the action and adventure of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Readers will cheer at the spunk of the main character, Mercy, who has ambition and wants to be an entrepreneur. We cheer as she literally bribes/blackmails/connives her way into the school, in part by deceiving them that she is a Chinese heiress (although she was born in California and has never been to China). The reader fumes at the racism and how the Chinese are treated. And the reader roots for Mercy as she helps her fellow students, and others, survive on the day of the catastrophic earthquake and fire, and in the days following.
Invisible Fault Line
Callie, a teenaged girl who plays in a rock band, has her life turned upside down when her father goes missing. In addition to school and band practice, her days are spent trying to comfort her distraught mother, enlisting her friends to hang up posters, and reliving past conversations she had with her dad. But no leads turn up until Callie sees a photo of the great San Francisco earthquake and recognizes a familiar face.
This young adult novel will appeal to readers who enjoy relationships (parent / child, friend / friend, and a tiny bit of romance), and mystery. It’s an engaging story that is hard to put down.
Diary of a Haunting Possession
Possession is the second in the Diary of a Haunting series, and is similar in that the main character is a teenaged girl who experiences an onslaught of paranormal activities. In Possession, Laetitia, a 15 year old girl African American girl, has dreams of being a famous pop star signing to adoring fans. She wants to sing, sing, sing. But she is haunted by nightmares and visions, including images of race riots near her home.
Possession differs significantly from Diary of a Haunting in its religious overtones. Without spoiling the plot, let me just say that religion plays a fundamental part in the plot line and character development. A comparison that came to mind, although significantly different, is The Exorcist.
Fans of the horror genre will enjoy the frightening scenes in this novel. A drawback is that the reader learns the source of Laetitia’s nightmares in the prelude, and that ruins it for me. It is the opening of this book that I didn’t like, as it was the ending of Diary of a Haunting that weakened that book.
Rocks Fall Everyone Dies
For those who enjoy the supernatural and magic, Rocks Fall Everyone Dies is a page turning, suspenseful mystery about a teenaged boy who can reach inside people and steal their memories, fears, sadness, and even their love.
The lead character, Aspen Quick, comes from a family who also has these powers, and who have used them for centuries to hold back the cliffs above their village from falling down into the valley. But as is often the case with power, it can be misused, and is in this story.
A coming of age novel that deals with addiction, handling power, and deciding what kind of a person one should be, complicated by the magical power his family welds, Rocks Fall Everyone Dies is best suited for high school aged readers, rather than middle school, due to swearing and sexual scenes (mostly making out).
The Tick-Tock Man
This is the third book in the Gadgets and Gears series by Kersten Hamilton. The series takes place in the early 1900s when idustrialization is booming. In this book, Kersten Hamilton introduces the readers to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whom she fictionalizes as a friend of Aunt Rhodope and to the Sisters of Suffrage. The story is being told by Noodles, the dachshund, pet of Walter Kennewickett, aka Wally. (Noodles uses quite a few ‘BIG’ words, but always explains them for the reader, much like in the Lemony Snickett series.) Wally’s parents- Oliver and Calypso are scientists and Wally is a scientist-in-training. The Kennewicketts are inventing gadgets all the time for the betterment of society. Their use of batteries and electricity is new for this time period.
As this book opens, Wally’s parents are taking part in a three country Electromobile Rally in London, England. Wally is helping his Aunt Rhodope photograph the rally when a strange ticking sound is noticed. Aunt Rhodope and Wally, also, notice a poor man in tattered clothes, who later turns out to be known as the villain The Tick-Tock Man. After the rally leaves town ,Wally is informed by a street performer (Dobbin) he’s been watching that the Tick-Tock Man is out to nap him. Wally and Dobbin talk. Later, Dobbin sends Wally a note asking to meet with him. It is a matter of life and death. It turns out Dobbin’s sister, Briney, has a wind-up heart. Dobbin needs to find Tick-Tock to save Briney’s life. Tick-Tock has the keys needed to wind up Briney’s heart to keep her alive (like a Grandfather clock), but Tick-Tock is missing. Wally will help find Tick-Tock because that’s what Kennewicketts do. Wally and Aunt Rhodope enlist the help of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to help solve the whereabouts of Tick-Tock. Along the way Hamilton adds flavor to the plot using London’s famous thick fog, constables, Scotland Yard, and in this case, wild swine who live in the sewers of London, much like the rats and alligators of other cities urban legends.
Tick-Tock comes to Briney’s aid, for he truly cares for the little girl, but it is too late for his keys to help her. What Briney needs is a bigger, new heart for she has outgrown the one she has. Tick-Tock holds Dobbin to the promise he made in exchange for Tick-Tock’s helping Briney. Dobbin will be required to “be a good man. From this day on…” and with that, Tick-Tock removes his own wind-up heart to save Briney. (114)
In the Epilogue, Oliver and Calypso Kennewickett will take Dobbin and Briney to live with them in America.
Readers should not skip reading the Author’s Note on pages 127-130. Here they will find some interesting information about the real Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The Cow Who Climbed a Tree
This book is outstanding! The artwork is gorgeous, colorful, and so unique! The story follows a cow (Tina) who has 3 sisters with no imagination. Tina goes exploring and climbs a tree where she meets a dragon who teaches her to fly. Eventually her sisters come looking for her and expand their horizons…literally. The moral of this story is “Yes, Why Not?” Told with a sparsity of words, the reader will come to discover that imaginations and a willingness to try will result in success.
This would be great for story times about dragons, cows, imagination, exploring etc.