Braced by Alyson Gerber is the touching story of Rachel Brooks and her courage and determination to overcome the challenge of scoliosis. Wearing a back brace and starting 7th grade is a recipe for social and personal scrutiny. She battles through hardships of strained family and peer relationships. Rachel faces this adversity with a tenacious spirit not to let her brace define her.  Gerber paints a heartfelt and realistic picture that can only come from someone who has experienced wearing a brace. Characters are authentic and believable. Gerber captures the emotions and experiences of the typical middle school girl. Once you start this book, you won’t want to put it down. Hand this book to fans of Sharon Draper’s Out of My Mind. Highly recommended.

The front cover of this book will catch any action-fan by the eye. Trent Reedy’s book, The Last Full Measure is the third in the series Divided We Fall. This book is a roller coaster, though it is full of action there are moments where the reader sympathizes with characters in the story. It can give a glimpse of the pain people endure in their life, whether or not they participate in war. This story follows a fictional character, PFC Daniel Christopher Wright and his group of friends. Earlier books explain how he was part of the Idaho National Guard, and the events that concluded from this. He helped start a second civil war in the US, where states are splitting from the union and becoming sovereign countries. In the storyline, Daniel is inside Freedom Lake, his home town. Although Idaho is a free country, the policing and laws are not in place as they are in the US. A militia, the Brotherhood of the White Eagle, are acting as temporary police, and control many towns and cities including Freedom Lake. Daniel and his group of friends find out that there is a mask covering the Brotherhood of the White Eagle. They devise a plan to escape Freedom Lake and live on their own, rather then under the control of others. On the run from the Brotherhood, Daniel meets new people and makes alliances. He used to be all for the war, but as time has passed he’s just wanted to get out of it. Now his plans are to end it entirely. Trent Reedy had a lot of sources to insure the realism of his story, letting us believe this could happen. He describes the setting so closely you can picture the scenery and destruction of the war. If you like action with a mix of emotions in there, you will love this book.

Review by Josh

Ascent is the 3rd in a series of books focusing on Peak Marcello, a teen whose life revolves around mountain climbing. His summit of Everest with his father in the 1st story was not on Peak’s terms. In book two, both extreme action and characters are brought into Peak’s life as he attempted to climb in Afghanistan. For his 3rd major climb, he just wants to return to the natural art of climbing, to have a “clean” climb. But in extreme sports, it is rare anything is easy. This reviewer read Ascent as a stand-alone 1st and it can hold its own as that, though knowing more of the background story with his father Josh, Zopa the wise spirit, and other characters really gives the story depth. Once the climb begins, Smith’s pace in events picks up, though the mystery and twists in the 1st half of the novel keep readers interested too. This is an additional purchase, especially if your library already holds Smiths earlier Peak stories.

Serena plans a holiday vacation with her mother and older sister for a Romance Tour following the itinerary of their parent’s honeymoon. At the last minute, Serena’s mother cancels, but Serena is determined that the tour will go on. After arriving in Paris on a red-eye from New York, Serena discovers that her older sister made other plans as well.  

Serena finds herself staying with Jean-Luc, a friend of her sister’s boyfriend. Fighting a creative block, Jean-Luc accompanies Serena on her Romance Tour hoping to find inspiration.  Personalities and priorities collide, making sparks flicker with the possibility of a new romantic tour of Paris. Will Serena toss out her Romance Tour plans and make memories of her own or will she hold fast to the one thing she believes holds the keys to her memory of her father? Young adult readers will get lost in this tender romantic adventure.

Being LGBT I find it hard to find a relatable main character and Star-Crossed gives me that character. The main character starts to have a crush on a new girl and they become close friends. Later on in the book, the two realize they both have feelings for each other. I loved this book because it gave me a relatable main character, funny best friends, different relationships between different characters, LGBT characters, and drama! I highly recommend this book to anyone in the LGBT community.

Reviewed by Lily

Just Another Girl shows readers that perception is not reality.  Hope has spent years pining for Brady – her best friend who she’d like to move out of the friend zone and into the boyfriend zone. Unfortunately, Brady is already taken, by someone Hope considers to have everything.  Parker appears to have it all, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Parker’s life spiraled out of control when her parents abandoned her and her sister. Parker has been able to keep up appearances for most of the town with only a few close friends knowing the truth about her living situation. Only her boyfriend knows the full truth about how bad things have gotten. That is until Hope takes advantage of her friendship with Brady and manipulates him into divulging Parker’s secrets. Now Hope realizes that sometimes what you think you see isn’t the way things really.  Being able to see through a new lense doesn’t automatically mean Hope will be Parker’s new best friend, but it does allow her to have empathy for a fellow classmate. Readers will relate to all three characters – the unique emotional pull for each unique situation. Recommended.

Deadly wish is the second installment of the Deadly Flowers series.  In book two, we are reunited with Kata as she embarks on another mission.  She is living in the city and is using her ninja skills to obtain valuable items and information.  When she least expects it and when her guard is down, she is taken captive. Saiko has not forgotten what Kata has stolen from her and she is determined to get it back.  Kata must keep the cursed treasure safe and out of Saiko’s hands. Will she be able to escape without using another wish? Will the demon break free of his prison? Will Kata learn to trust friends or will her so-called friends reveal themselves as enemies?  Readers will embark on another journey filled with fantastic creatures, unlikely battles, and action that will keep the pages turning. Recommended.

This is an exceptional book, especially for students in 5^th-8^th grade who are interested in space and celestial objects.  This book provides numerous examples and illustrations of how scientists use geographic and geologic evidence, such as clues from craters impacts on the Earth’s surface, and the steps and procedures taken to determine if a collected sample is a rock, or in fact a meteorite and what kind of meteorite.  There are also fantastic descriptions and illustrations showing how craters are formed and the force required to create the crater. I also thought it was great to show scientists in the field and the gear, journal entries, measurements, and observations taken at the site of a meteorite impact.

This book also allows students to make connections with prior knowledge and learn through inquiry.  Students are able to make prior connections about dinosaurs and relate it to evidence that shows why or why not the dinosaur’s extinction may have been caused by a giant meteorite.  This book also integrates other aspects of science, such as observing patterns of meteorite impacts around the world, making inferences, and shows how infrared technology is being used help astronomers identify and track asteroids.  To conclude the book, inquiry and STEM strategies are introduced to ask the students the question of “what would we do if there was a huge meteorite that was headed towards Earth?” It allows student to think of criteria and constraints of how this problem would be confronted; some examples include bomb it, crash into it, push it, shoot it, vaporize it, etc.

This book keeps its readers engaged from start to finish with interesting facts, amazing illustrations and models, and content properly targeted to adolescent students to keep them engaged.   

Review by Jason

In the book One True Way by Shannon Hitchcock, a girl named Allie starts Daniel Boone Middle School. She meets another girl named Sam and finds herself beginning to fall for her. The book is an amazing depiction of what it was like to be part of the LGBTQ+ community in the late 1970’s. It accurately describes what people in the community look and act like. More specifically, it shows how they aren’t that much different than others. The characters are beautifully designed, showing how they aren’t all defined by gender and sexuality. The motives of the characters seem clear and easily relatable, making the readers truly feel like they know what the characters are feeling. It’s a nice and easy read that I believe all young middle school children should take the time to sit down and connect with at one point or another. All in all, I believe this is an amazing book worth the time and effort put into it.

–Reviewed by Guinevere

“Some Kind Of Happiness“ written by Claire Legrand is story about young girl’s real life mixed with mystery and fantasy, who tried to struggle with her anxiety and overwhelmingly difficult days all by herself, keeping her secret only in the notebook through imaginary stories.

      The book is best summed up in author’s pre-words/preview:

                            “If you are afraid, sad, tired, or lonely

                                  if you feel lost or strange

                          If you crave stories and adventure,

                       And the magic possibility of a forest path —

                                    this book is for you.“

   Finley, 11 year old girl, who has been sent to her unknown grandparents’ house (Hart’s House “enormous and white, the largest house I ever seen in real life…”), from her father’s side for the whole summer, until Finley’s mom and dad can solve their relationship problems.  This little girl tried to escape reality through her imagined tales, which helped her deal with real life problems, like dealing with her previously unknown cousins or her weird neighbors ( children of Bailey’s family ), who go on to become her best friends.  Through her stories, she creates an imaginary kingdom of Everwood – “towering green place full of sunlight”, where she pretends to be “an orphaned girl”, while everyone else had their own roles in the story.  Meanwhile she tries to uncover an old secret , why her father’s family got separated.  Her imaginary game ends up uniting the feuding families after years of avoiding each other.  This feud inspired her to seek out, what caused the falling out between these families ( Hart’s and Bailey’s ), which heavily involves her father.

This book spans three generations of her family, showing that family secrets can become huge issues, even between the closest family members.  But even with all the issues within the families, the children still love and cherish their parents, no matter their flaws.

In my opinion this story is very informative and educational to the young readers for several reasons.  Firstly, it shows how the reader can organize all their thoughts . Secondly, it introduces interesting words in a way that sticks with the reader, expanding their vocabulary in the process ( “ … one of my favorite words, a nine-letter word for “slow, heavy, rhythmic” : ponderous.” ). Thirdly, it encourages the young readers to use their imagination to create fun and adventurous games in real life.

Reading as an adult, it was interesting to see the world through 11 year old Finley’s eyes, especially the way she sees adults in her life, bringing me back to my own childhood and various games we used to play. It was fun.

I would highly recommend this book for young readers (middle school age) as well, as for adults.  This book manages to be both relaxing and breathtaking at the same time, gripping the reader with its mysteries and memorable plot . I really enjoyed this book.

Review by Marianna