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The One Safe Place

I buried my own grandfather today. In the same ground we worked on every day. The same ground he called “fortunate,” because it survived in a world where everything has been burned away by the hot, way too hot sun.

I need help, and the city is the only place I can find it. Except I don’t find what I want, and I don’t even find what I need. I sweat. I starve. And the entire time the heat has a sound, like a never-ending pounding in my ears. Until I meet Kit, and we find a place that can save us.

But this Place...it isn’t what I thought it would be. They all tell me not to look, but I can’t help it. I HAVE to look, just to remind myself that the horror I’m living is real.

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The Truth About Twinkie Pie

Friends, I have never wanted to eat a book so much in my life. That was one of my first thoughts when I started this story. The second was “Man, would I love to be Gigi Barnes” whose recipe for success in her new life means being who you are and telling it like it is.

It’s hard to do that though, when you miss your mama so bad you follow random ladies around in department stores and the only thing you have to remember her by is her old recipe book.

And sometimes a recipe needs a little tweakin,’ no matter how much you resist it. Even if it totally changes the taste of your beloved Twinkie Pie.

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Mayday by Karen Harrington

Start on page 6: “I sat there thinking about the crocodile” all the way to the end of the chapter.

Now if an introduction like that doesn’t make you want to pick this one up. I don’t know what will.

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All Rise for the Honorable

Read pages 5-6 “Good morning”  up to “residents yawn themselves awake”

Any guesses where Perry lives?

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The Hour of the Bees

Instead of pool parties and shopping trips, Carol gets to spend her entire summer in the middle of the New Mexican desert with her parents, baby brother, half-sister, and delusional Grandpa who keeps going on and on about bees. 

But, it doesn’t take long for Carol to really see the bright side and experience the crumbling family ranch through her grandpa’s eyes. That knowledge, though, comes with a price. One that Carol isn’t sure she’s ready to pay. Especially if it means losing someone she loves.

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Awkward

Peppi Torres thinks there are two main rules for surviving middle school.

Don’t get noticed by the mean kids.

Seek out groups with similar interests and join them. Fast.

So when she breaks the first rule within seconds of stepping into the building, she freaks out. Shoves away the only person that has been remotely nice to her and runs away.

She has a bit more luck with the second rule. Seek out group with similar interest. Art club is awesomesauce, except when they are hardcore feuding with the science club. The two simply cannot coexist in peace.

Or maybe they can. And Peppi might have no choice but to break that second rule in the most surprising way possible.

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Making Friends with Billy Wong

When Azalea got shipped off to her Grandma Clark’s for the summer, the last thing she expected was to make any new friends. Willis DeLoach is a bully and Melinda Bowman is an annoying little gossip. They do not make promising first impressions.

Besides working at his family’s grocery store, Billy Wong likes to hang out in trees and people watch. It’s not easy for him to make friends, either.  That’s why he helps in Grandma Clark’s garden. Even if he has to be around bullies like Willis DeLoach, it’s better than being lonely.

Simply put, this is the story of how a friendship starts. Don’t we all have a story like that? Isn’t something worth remembering? That is why you should read this book.

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Last Day on Mars

Imagine a world where there IS NO WORLD ANYMORE. Specifically, no more Earth, and the human race has to flee to Mars so that they aren’t burned to ashes by the sun. Except Mars is only a temporary solution. It’s going to burn, too, and the human race must find another planet to call home.

This is the world Liam lives in, and his parents are the ones who find that distant planet. The one that will support human life, forever. Earth. 2.0. Now, it’s time to leave Mars for a 150 year journey to that new home, and Liam and his friend Phoebe aren’t quite sure that they’re ready to leave. Except lingering on an empty Mars is about get them in a whole lot of trouble with time, space, and some really bloody thirsty aliens.

It’s a good thing Liam’s such a great pilot and that he’s managed to maintain a link to the last starliner to leave Mars. Otherwise, survival might be impossible. And not just for Liam and Phoebe. For the entire human race.

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Some Kind of Happiness

Finley Hart has quickly jumped to the top of my favorite characters ever list. Mostly because she’s honest, and she has a lot going on in her life. Some of her problems might seem very familiar to you and others not so much. Either way, she’s complex and I like that in my main characters. 

Finley is a writer and her imagination has created Everwood, a place where can be completely herself. So when she finally arrives at her grandparents house for the summer, she can’t believe it when she stumbles on a patch of forest that just might be everything she’s ever dreamed about.

Read this one if you want to be surprised, scary, happy, sad and confused all at the same time.

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Short

So far, the only thing Julia knows about her summer is that she’s going to spend it not saying the word “short” and here’s why:

Read pg. 1 up to “I’m never going to say the word ‘short’ out loud again.”

Note: Maybe talk a bit about the passage. Have any of you ever felt like a part of who you are is a “problem” for other people? Why does Julia’s dad think it’s ok for her to be short because she’s a girl, but not if she had been a boy?

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Baba Yaga’s Assistant

This is Baba Yaga. She is, as you might expect, the exact opposite of a fairy godmother. Her story is very much rooted in fairy tales. Baba Yaga is every villain you have ever seen all rolled into one. So, who in her right mind would want to find this terrifying person, let alone WORK for her? 

Masha would, and would consider it an improvement on her current living situation. One in which her father has found a new family and pretends she doesn’t exist. It has been better working for a soul-sucking witch than being totally invisible to your dad, doesn’t it?

The good news is that Masha does indeed find Baba Yaga. The bad news is that she finds Baba Yaga. Either way, she’s in for an adventure. This one is for fans of just about any genre. If you love fantasy, you’ll love this. If you love adventure and survival stories, you’ll love this. If you love realistic fiction, ala Raina Telgemeier, you’ll love this. You really can’t go wrong.

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The Great Greene Heist

The Greene Code of Conduct Rule #15: If you’re going to pull a con, know how to pull a con in style.

The Infamous Jackson Greene is a reformed con man. Until he finds out that someone is trying to rig the student council election. Then, all bets are off. Nobody is going to be allowed to steal the election from Gaby. Gaby, his ex-best friend/almost girlfriend. I mean, sure, she hasn’t spoken to him since the Kelsey Job but that doesn’t mean she should lose an election because people like Keith Sinclair think they can buy it.

This is a fast-paced caper novel with tons of unpredictable twists and turns. You’re never really sure which way is up when it comes to Jackson Greene and his crew. And that’s just the way they like it.

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The Doll’s Eye

Normally, I try to sell you on every scary book that I bring. It doesn’t take much. Usually, reading a scary part of the book aloud works. But guys and girls, I can’t do that with this one. There isn’t just one part of this story that is creepy. It’s the whole darn thing.

Hadley has just moved into a new house with her mom, stepdad and stepbrother. She’s still adjusting to the idea of having to share her mom. It is not going well. One night, while trying to sleep in her new room, a doll’s eye rolls out from under her bed. She sticks it on her nightstand and wonders. The following day, while exploring the house, she comes across an old dollhouse in the attic, one that looks exactly like the house she lives in. Then, she meets the kindly woman who lives in the spare room above the garage. She happens to make dolls and offers to make some for Hadley, small replicas of her own family members…

You might be able to see where this is going. If you don’t, that’s ok, too. Maybe it’s better not to know. I can tell you that even I was surprised at the ending. Not all ‘once upon a time’s’ end with ‘happily ever afters.’

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The Uncommoners: The Crooked Sixpence

Let’s think about some common objects, useful things that are found in everyday life. What would you normally use a belt for? (Nope! It’s a levitation device.) How about a sewing needle? (Surveillance camera.) How would you use a bell? (GPS system).

In the underground world of Lundinor, objects like these are known as “uncommon” and the people that can operate them are known as “Uncommoners.” Ivy Sparrow and her brother Sebastian stumbled into Lundinor (in an uncommon suitcase, btw), when they were trying to protect their Grandma Sylvie from two men in strange clothes, carrying toilet plungers as weapons. It’s overwhelming to be sure, discovering a whole new world underneath London. But it’s about to get a whole lot worse for Ivy and Sebastian, when they realize that their family history is connected to the deepest, darkest secrets of Uncommon legend.

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The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl

Not your typical superhero novel. Please observe:

Read pg 1 up til “Yeah, squirrels are awesome.”

Doreen Green is the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. She lives in a New Jersey suburb just outside of New York City. NYC, of course, is Avengers territory and far, far away from her sleepy little town. Doreen is not a superhero. She’s just your average girl with a squirrel tail and a love of her chittering little friends that follow her around everywhere. But, when you threaten the most adorable baby in the world, everything changes.

Sidenote: I do have to say that I LOVE this story, and how it shows the Marvel Universe in such a different way. And let me just say, Doreen’s text messages with the Avengers (after she has her squirrel BFF break into the Avengers mansion and steal all of their phone numbers) is my absolute favorite part of this story.

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Lesser Spotted Animals: The Coolest Creatures You’ve Never Heard Of

A real-life edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Read the introduction on pages 8 and 9.

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Ivy by Katherine Coville

A simple, sweet, uncomplicated story if there ever was one. Ivy lives with her grandmother on the edge of a tidy little town called Broomsweep. Grandmother is the town healer, and it’s Ivy’s job to assist her in her work. Her cottage is not as tidy as the rest of the town, but she can cure a chipmunk of the sniffles, and set a baby robin’s sprained foot in a jiffy. But when the new queen announces a contest to declare “the best town in the kingdom” all of Broomsweep’s residents want Grandmother and her wild animals gone! But what happens when magical creatures from all around the kingdom start mysteriously arriving on the healer’s doorstep? It’s not like you can just turn a griffin (half eagle, half lion) with a broken wing and a MAJOR landing problem out on the streets, right? At least, Ivy doesn’t think so.