The Light in Hidden Places

The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron. Grades 7+ Scholastic, 2020. 400 pages. Review copy provided by publisher. 

If someone needed your help, would you give it? Even if it could cost you your life? Stefania Podgórska was a teenager when she started hiding Jews in her tiny apartment in Poland during WWII. It started with a close friend and as more and more people needed her help, she ended up with 13 Jews hiding in her attic. It was a life or death situation for them and a life or death situation for Stefania - she would be shot by  the Gestapo if anyone ever found out. She worked night and day to keep everyone fed and safe. And then the Nazis showed up at her door and commandeered her apartment. Two Nazi nurses who worked at the hospital across the street were moving in to her second bedroom. Stefania had no choice, she had to let them stay there. And she had to hope that they never discovered the 13 Jews living right above their heads. 

This absorbing historical novel is based on a true story about a real woman and it was Reese Witherspoon's December YA book club pick. It is definitely a fascinating story and if you love historical fiction that you can really sink your teeth into, this is a great one to pick up. It takes place over a number of years during WWII as Stefania moves to the city from her family farm and starts working for a Jewish family running a shop. As the war moves in and her employers find themselves in increasing danger, Stefania has to grow up quick and make a lot of decisions about what she will do. The hook in this booktalk doesn't happen until about three quarters of the way through, but I was so interested and invested in Stefania's story that I found myself completely absorbed. 

Author Sharon Cameron has done her research and includes a section at the end with photos of the real Stefania and information about what happened to her and her family after the war. This is a story about a little-known hero of WWII that needed to be told. It's teen, appropriate for middle school and up, and has a ton of adult crossover appeal. I added a short booktalk of this title to my Wowbrary email this week and it immediately got 5 new holds, even though it's not a new book. 

Readalikes:

Pick this one up if you've enjoyed immersive historical fiction like The Book Thief by Markus Zusak or The Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse. 

Brother's Keeper

Brother's Keeper by Julie Lee. Grades 4-7. Holiday House, 2020. 320 pages. Review audiobook provided by publisher via Libro.fm.

Life as the oldest sister is not easy for Sora in 1950 North Korea. Not only does her family already live by a set of ironclad rules set by the government - they can't leave their village, they can't speak their minds, they can't trust their neighbors - as a girl, Sora has to live by even more rules. She has to quit school to take care of her brothers and she must learn to keep house in preparation for being a wife one day. But everything changes when war is declared and her family decides to make a run for it. Early in their journey, Sora and her little brother Young are separated from their parents and they have to make this dangerous journey - hundreds of miles to the South Korean border - by themselves. Can they face hunger and exhaustion and the Red Army chasing them and make it to freedom? 

This is a riveting survival story that will appeal to young readers who enjoy books like Refugee by Alan Gratz and The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani. I am a huge historical fiction fan and I loved learning about Sora's struggles as a girl in a culture that venerates sons. As smart and strong as Sora is, her family still balks at sending her to school and letting her follow her own dreams. Sora is expected to set her own wishes aside to care for others (her brothers and eventually her husband and her own family). Sora's not perfect - she's impatient and careless sometimes - but she's definitely a heroine you can root for. And readers who love discovering history through story will really enjoy this tale. 

We Are Not Free

We Are Not Free by Traci Chee. Grades 7+. HMH Books for Young Readers. September 2020. Review copy provided by publisher. 

So, this book didn't have me at hello. It took me a little bit to get into it, but after the first chapter or two I couldn't put it down. This book is a masterpiece. It's not only a brilliant piece of historical fiction that brings the Japanese incarceration during WWII to brutal light for young readers, but it's a striking portrait of teen life. These kids are living in desert camps in the 1940s, but they're also falling in love and rebelling against their parents and playing sports and staying out too late and trying to figure out their futures. 

Each chapter is narrated by a different teen and the story unfolds over the years Japanese Americans (American citizens!) were held in prison camps. I wasn't sure how I would like that many narratives, but I loved that each chapter is unique and the narrators really stand out. It's an amazing accomplishment of writing. 

Hand this to fans of Ruta Sepetys, particularly her works that are told from multiple perspectives like Salt to the Sea and The Fountains of Silence. I would also hand it to fans of George Takei's wonderful graphic novel memoir They Called Us Enemy. 

Coming in September! Pre-order today! 

The Blackbird Girls

The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman. Grades 5-8. Viking, March 2020. 352 pages. Reviewed from galley provided by publisher. 

Booktalk:

Oksana is a bully and Valentina is a Jew. They are not friends. In fact, they're more like enemies. But on the day that they wake up to an angry red sky, friends and enemies have to be put aside. Something has happened at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant where both their fathers work. At first the think it's just a fire, something that happens and can be quickly put out. But soon the whole town realizes that this is something much more serious. 

Valentina and Oksana are forced to evacuate the only home they've ever known and travel by themselves to Leningrad to stay with Valentina's grandmother. For Oksana, it's the first time she gets to know a Jewish family and she starts to realize that the things her father had told her about Jewish people were not true. For Valentina, it's the first time she gets to know Oksana and begins to learn about the abuse she's suffered at home and the reason behind her bullying. 

If you like a rich, engrossing historical novel with characters that feel real or if you, like me, are fascinated by the Chernobyl disaster, this is the book for you. 

My thoughts:

I loved this book so much. With characters that I really cared about and a fully engrossing 1980s Soviet setting, this was a book that drew me in and didn't let go. You'll see it compared as a readalike to The War That Saved My Life below and I do NOT say that lightly (it's one of my favorites). 

I went through a Chernobyl phase last year, devouring the adult nonfiction book Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham and the HBO docudrama Chernobyl, so I knew this was a book I was going to pick up. What I didn't know is that I would meet characters that felt real and had me rooting for them all the way through. The story is told in alternating perspectives and from the get go I knew I would sympathize with Valentina. Born into a Jewish family at a time when Judaism was forbidden, Valentina is the target of Oksana's racist bullying. But what I didn't expect is that I would grow to root for Oksana so hard. It becomes clear that there's a reason for her bullying behavior and that she's willing to change her mind. In fact, Oksana's character is one reason that I think The War That Saved My Life is such a good readalike. 

The Soviet setting was so well done, creating that air of mistrust and secrecy, the idea that any of your neighbors could turn you in for putting a toe out of line. I think it's written at an accessible and still engrossing level. Throughout the book, there's an alternate storyline of a young Jewish girl fleeing her home in Ukraine during WWII as Nazi soldiers grow closer and closer. Eventually, these timelines come together and you see how they're connected. 

Readalikes:

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (Dial, 2015). Both these books have unforgettable, strong female characters fleeing their homes for safety. While this novel is set in WWII England instead of Soviet Russia, both books share a rich, descriptive historical setting. 

Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin (Henry Holt, 2011). Readers intrigued by the Cold War Soviet setting may also enjoy this book that shares a strong sense of place and time. Breaking Stalin's Nose is set earlier in the 20th century, but both books still share the unease and mistrust that permeated the Soviet era. 

Refugee by Alan Gratz (Scholastic, 2017). Readers who enjoy multiple narratives in a story and realistic historical fiction will enjoy both of these. Refugee ties together three stories of kids in different time periods fleeing their homes.

Prairie Lotus

Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park. Grades 4-8. Clarion Books, March 2020. 272 pages. Review copy provided by publisher. Pre-order today!

Booktalk:

Life on the frontier in Dakota Territory isn't easy for anyone, but for Hanna, who is half-Asian, it's even harder. Hanna dreams of being a dress designer and creating gorgeous dresses for sale in her father's shop, but first thing's first. Now that she and her father have settled in a new Dakota town, Hanna wants to go to school and complete her high school degree, just like she promised her mother before she died. 

But Hanna has to be careful. She knows that many white people don't like living next to people who aren't white. She's determined to find a way to get the people in her new town to see past the surface. And she's determined to help her father's new dress goods shop succeed. She knows that if he gives her a chance to design one dress that she'll impress the town and get her dressmaking business off to a good start. But first she needs the people of LaForge - and her own father - to give her a chance. 

This is a compelling historical read, perfect for readers who are interested in pioneer life and stories like Little House on the Prairie. 

My thoughts:

Inspired by her own childhood love for the Little House on the Prairie books and the acknowledgement that they have problematic racial content, Linda Sue Park set out to write a reconciliation of sorts. This is a story that celebrates the frontier life of our country's earlier days while acknowledging the people that were displaced to make it happen and the racism that excluded non-whites from sharing the spoils. 

In one of the very first scenes in the book, Hanna is approached by a group of Sioux women who offer her vegetables in exchange for sharing some of her meal with them. I think this book does a wonderful job of acknowledging the tension between Native nations and white colonizers while depicting the Sioux women that Hanna interacts with in a realistic and positive way. 

It's wonderful to get a frontier story that's told through the eyes of a child of immigrants, as well. Hanna's father is white and her late mother was an immigrant from China. Now that she and her father are traveling to find a new place to settle, Hanna is the one experiencing the West as a non-white person, something her father thinks about in reference to her but doesn't have to deal with directly. 

Throughout the book, Hanna encounters racism; many of these incidents were drawn directly from Linda Sue Park's own experiences growing up. Hanna is exhausted after a morning spent completely tense at her school desk wondering what her white classmates think of her. Hanna constantly second-guesses the meaning of her classmates' words and wonders if they would make such comments if she was white. 

This is a must-have for library shelves, particularly where Laura Ingalls Wilder is popular. Make sure your staff know about it and have it ready to hand over alongside the popular Little House books. 

Readalikes:

This is a super book to hand to fans of Little House on the Prairie to provide another perspective and a book that is better at navigating the complicated racial landscape of 1880s America. 

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson (Delacorte, 2007) is another empowering story about a teen girl making her way in the American West. Set in 1917 Montana, Hattie inherits her uncle's homesteading claim and has a year to make a home for herself and prove the claim. Tween readers who enjoy spirited girls with big dreams living in the American West may enjoy both of these titles. 

The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee (Putnam, 2019) is another historical novel about an Asian American teen interested in fashion and trying to make a living for herself. Although The Downstairs Girl skews a little more teen, I think the content is still appropriate for a middle school audience and readers will enjoy both plucky heroines and root for them to make it. 

Orange for the Sunsets

Orange for the Sunsets by Tina Athaide. Grades 4-8. Katherine Tegen Books, 2019. 336 pages. Reviewed from galley provided by publisher. 

Booktalk:

Asha and Yesofu have been best friends forever, but now that they're twelve, their differences are starting to come between them. Both born in Uganda, Asha is of Indian heritage while Yesofu is African. That means they're from very different social classes - Yesofu's family works for Asha's family - a fact that Asha sometimes seems clueless about. Indians are white collar workers while Africans are manual laborers. Asha lives in a nice house with indoor plumbing while Yesofu lives in a shack and has to fetch water from the well every day. 

When president Idi Amin declares that all Indians have 90 days to leave Uganda, Asha is in denial that anything needs to change. She was born in Uganda and a Ugandan citizen, surely they can't force her to leave her home. But Yesofu is torn - Amin's promise that banishing the Indians will pave the way for a better life for Africans is appealing to him. He would love to have a better life. But does it have to mean that his best friend must leave Uganda forever? 

Based on real events, this is a story about a friendship torn asunder and a country in crisis. 

My thoughts: 

 This is a historical event that I really knew nothing about and I always really appreciate learning more about our world through compelling fiction. Author Tina Athaide was born in Uganda and her family left shortly after Amin made his announcement, so she has experience with this subject as more and more family members showed up on their doorstep in London after they fled. 

The story is told from both Asha's and Yesofu's points of view, alternating chapters between viewpoints, and I think that's really effective at providing more than one view of this event. Both characters grow and change their minds as the story progresses. Asha begins to realize how unfair her treatment of Yesofu has been throughout their friendship - she treated him more like a pet than a true friend - and Yesofu, at first hopeful about the changes that President Amin promises, realizes that there are going to be no easy fixes for his country. Maybe my favorite aspect of the novel is the character development of Yesofu's African friend Akello who is mild mannered at the beginning of the book but progresses down a violent path and eventually joins the soldiers who are beating people in the streets. 

Scenes of violence against Indians are compelling as Asha finds herself in the middle of a riot on India Street and her family is present at a riot at the Uganda - India national cricket match. As time progresses, sections count down from the 90 days Indians were given to leave the country, an effective method of building tension as the deadline looms closer and Asha's family still has not left. 

Back matter includes a timeline of events and an author's note that explains more about why there were so many Indians living in Uganda and gives more details about what happened. 

Readalikes: 

• The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani (Kokila, 2018). Young readers interested in kids coping with times of historical political turmoil will enjoy both of these stories. The Night Diary is about the partition of India in the 1940s. 
• The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney (Little, Brown, 2014). Kids face violence as they flee their countries in these historical stories about political upheaval. 

Planet Earth is Blue

Planet Earth is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos. Grades 4-7. Random House, May 2019. 240 pages. Review copy provided by publisher. 

Booktalk:

It's 1986 and Nova has just been placed in a new foster home, a home without her older sister for the first time, and Nova is devastated. Her sister said she'd always be there for her, which is especially important to Nova because Nova has autism and she is almost completely nonvocal. Bridget was the one person who could always understand her and who knew that Nova understands more than anyone gives her credit for. Nova can read, she knows the alphabet, she knows what's going on around her, but since she mostly doesn't speak, most adults in her life assume that she's developmentally delayed. 

Nova is obsessed with space and right now she's particularly obsessed with the upcoming Challenger launch - the chance to see a teacher in space for the first time. Her sister Bridget has promised to come back for the launch, so they can watch it together. As the days count down and the launch gets closer and closer, Nova starts to get nervous that Bridget won't keep her promise. 

Written partly in the third person and partly in first person as Nova writes letters to her missing sister, this is a book that will have you feeling all the feels. 

My thoughts:  Readers who like to feel ALL THE FEELS need look no further. This book absolutely broke my heart. All I could do after I finished it was sit in the dark and listen to "Space Oddity" by David Bowie on repeat. Okay, that's maybe a little dramatic. But seriously. The feels. The title of this book and the heavy referrals to Nova's favorite song are so apropos because the way that song makes me feel is exactly how this book made me feel.

I kind of feel like this book is a love letter to what foster families and special education teachers can be, too. It's set in a time when our understanding of autism was much different than it is today. Nova's unfortunately used to being shuffled around since her mentally ill mother lost custody of the girls when Nova was little. But this new foster family is the first family that begins to really understand Nova and learns how she communicates. They know she loves space and enroll her in an astronomy class at school, they put her in a school with a good special ed program and teachers that begin to reach her in a way no teachers have before.

The book picks up speed as it goes along and the countdown to the Challenger space shuttle disaster gets closer and closer. Of course we know what's going to happen, we know it's not going to be good. I do kind of wonder if middle grade readers will be familiar with what happened at the Challenger launch - you might want to make sure before you hand this to kids or else the ending could be pretty devastating.

The author of this book was a teacher at a school for children with autism and has a lot of experience working with kids with autism and with foster kids. So, although it's not an own voices title, it's written by someone who has a lot of knowledge.

Readalikes:

Readers who like Sharon Draper's Out of My Mind (Atheneum, 2010) for its glimpse inside the mind of a nonvocal child with disabilities will love Nova's story, as well; particularly the parts written from Nova's point of view.

Ann M. Martin's Rain Reign (Feiwel & Friends, 2014) is another heartfelt story about kids on the autism spectrum who face really hard things in their lives.

The quest for understanding and for people in their lives who will communicate with them on their own terms is also a strong theme in Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly (Delacorte Press, 2019). Twelve-year-old Iris is Deaf and goes to a mainstream school where many people assume she's not smart or struggle to communicate with her.

#MiddleGradeMay: My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich

Okay, I cheated and finished this one up in April so that I would have something to post right away for #MiddleGradeMay. 

My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich by Ibi Zoboi (Dutton, August 2019). Grades 5-8. Galley provided by publisher.

Booktalk:

Ebony Grace would much rather be spending the summer at home with her granddaddy, one of the first black engineers to integrate NASA and the inspiration for her obsession with all things space, especially Star Trek and Star Wars. INSTEAD, she's been sent to another planet - Harlem - to stay with her dad while her mom takes care of something having to do with her granddaddy (no one will tell her what). E-Grace uses her imagination location to turn her summer trip into a mission for the starship Uhura, but the other kids in her neighborhood do NOT want to play along. 

Even Bianca, the girl who lives in her daddy's building and who has spent many hours playing space missions with her on previous visits, has changed. No longer interested in visiting the junkyard and building rockets, Bianca is jumping double dutch and breakdancing with her crew - other girls on their block who have all named themselves after ice cream flavors. So how to survive a summer on an alien planet completely surrounded by strange beings with ways you don't understand? Use your imagination location, stay true to yourself, and don't forget the prime directive. 

My thoughts:

Ibi Zoboi's middle grade debut is a story about an oddball girl who doesn't fit in with the other kids - E-Grace doesn't understand the stuff they're interested in and she has no desire to compromise herself to get along. This makes for a hard summer, a lonely summer. E-Grace is facing a lot of challenges - not only with the other kids but also with her family. She's been shipped up to a different state to spend the summer with a father she doesn't know too well who doesn't actually have a lot of time to be with her. All in the interest of getting her out of the way of whatever is happening with her grandfather. She's out of the loop in a way that breaks her heart but that's not atypical for kids. When tough stuff happens, sometimes the kids are just gotten out of the way to try to make life easier for everyone. 

All this is to say that I didn't always like Ebony-Grace, but I think that's the point. She's one of those kids who is a little TOO MUCH sometimes. But I don't think I'll ever forget her and I was definitely rooting for her the whole time.

Readalikes:

I would hand this to readers who identified with or rooted for Sunny by Jason Reynolds - Sunny and Ebony-Grace are both quirky characters who march to the beat of their own drummers and aren't willing to conform to what others might want for them. 

And I would hand this to readers who enjoyed the strong sense of setting and capable girl leads of One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia. 

If You Leave Me

1950s and a Korea at war in If You Leave Me by Crystal Hana Kim.

The country is splitting in half and Haemi feels like she's splitting in half, too. Her family has fled their village due to the fighting and they're now refugees, surviving day to day. And Haemi has a choice to make. She is in love with her childhood friend Kyunghwan and he loves her back... but another boy in the village, Jisoo, has proposed marriage to Haemi. Jisoo is well off, he can provide for her family, while Kyunghwan has nothing but dreams. Haemi yearns to follow her heart with the boy she loves, but her heart cares just as much about her ailing little brother who desperately needs food and medicine. Haemi must make a choice that will affect not only her own life but the life of her family for generations to come. And that's only the beginning.

I loved this multigenerational novel set in Korea during and after the Korean War. It was a book that I just wanted to keep reading forever because I loved the characters and I was fascinated to see how their choices took their lives in different directions. Crystal Hana Kim writes with such emotion and her prose is heartbreaking; I felt like I was living the story along with the characters. Readers get the story from multiple points of view allowing us to see the story from different perspectives.

The setting is just as important as the characters as there are many parallels between a country being split apart and the characters being split, caught between their desires and reality. The book brings the Korean War to life, too, illuminating how families were literally split - if your family resided north of the dividing line you would likely never see them again.

This book is out August 4 - preorder now!

Readalikes:

Hand this to readers of multigenerational historical fiction. I would press this into the hands of Pachinko's many fans (Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, Grand Central Publishing 2017) or readers of The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri (Knopf, 2013). Readers of character-driven historical fiction set in wartime like The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (St. Martin's Press, 2015) will also enjoy it.

Book info: 

If You Leave Me by Crystal Hana Kim. Adult. William Morrow, August 2018. 432 pages. Review copy provided by publisher at ALA.

The Inquisitor's Tale

The Inquisitor's Tale, Or The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz, illustrated by Hatem Aly. Grades 5-9. Dutton Books for Young Readers, September 2016. 384 pages. Review copy provided by publisher.

Summary (from publisher):

1242. On a dark night, travelers from across France cross paths at an inn and begin to tell stories of three children. Their adventures take them on a chase through France: they are taken captive by knights, sit alongside a king, and save the land from a farting dragon. On the run to escape prejudice and persecution and save precious and holy texts from being burned, their quest drives them forward to a final showdown at Mont Saint-Michel, where all will come to question if these children can perform the miracles of saints. 

My thoughts: 

I loved this book so hard that I didn't want it to end, which is super high praise from me because finishing books and starting new ones is one of my very favorite things. 

The format reads like The Canterbury Tales with different narrators at a medieval inn trading off and telling the story of three children who are on a mission and who may or may not be saints (complete with miracles). It's a diverse group of children - Jeanne, a peasant girl who has visions of the future; William, a half-African student with super strength; and Jacob, a Jewish boy with healing powers. And each diverse role is specifically chosen to explore their role during the Middle Ages. This book says a lot about modern times while being exclusively set in the 1200s.

So, in addition to being a rollicking adventure story with good doses of humor and occasional bloody violence, this is really a philosophy book. There's the question of morality - when you know something is right or wrong, where does that knowledge come from? There's the issue of hating people that are different than you are, even people you have never really met, and what that means and what can be done about it. 

But even though this book is totally thought-provoking and asks some hard questions that may get young readers to think about things that had never occurred to them before, it's still a rollicking adventure story.

Tons of thought and research have obviously gone into this book. Man, I love it!

Readalikes:

For readers wanting more about the Middle Ages, try Good Masters, Sweet Ladies by Laura Amy Schlitz or Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi. 

For readers wanting more of Gidwitz's blend of humor, adventure, and bloody violence, try his Grimm trilogy, starting with A Tale Dark and Grimm. 

For readers wanting a thought-provoking philosophy book wrapped up in an adventure story, try ????? I have no idea, as this is pretty unique in my experience. Suggestions?!?

The Hired Girl

The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz. Grades 6-10. Candlewick Press, September 2015. 400 pages. Reviewed from ARC provided by publisher.

What it's about: 

Sick of the demands and abuse her father heaps on her after her mother passes away, fourteen-year-old Joan runs away from the family farm to seek work as a hired girl in Baltimore. The year is 1911 and Joan ends up with a position in a society house. She's determined to take advantage of the city with all its cultural opportunities; her mother always wanted her to become a schoolteacher. But life in the city and life as a hired girl is much more overwhelming than Joan anticipated.

Inspired by the author's grandmother's journals, this is a rich story about turn-of-the-century society, religion, romance, and more.

My thoughts:

Oh, I loved this book, but with its early-1900s setting and plucky girl heroine, it was pretty much made for me. That's my favorite period to read about and the book reminded me of a couple of my all-time favorite books.

The beauty of this book is that it's written simply, but it delves into many complex issues without getting too weighed down by them. I completely bought Joan's voice and it really felt like I could have been reading someone's diary. The realistic voice immersed me in the story and I found myself not wanting to put the book down.

Joan is a little flighty, quite taken with all the new clothing she can buy now that she has a salary, but she's also a religious girl. Her quest to join the Catholic Church (her mother was Catholic) is sometimes at odds with the reform Judaism practiced in her master's home. Joan ends up learning quite a lot about both religions and dealing with conflicting feelings. This, also, speaks to the realistic nature of the book, as religious questions are something a lot of 14-year-old girls deal with.

I appreciated the glimpse into a 1911 Jewish household and really came to love every character in the book. Supporting characters are just as engaging as Joan herself and they're finely and completely drawn.

Overall, I just loved it and I would love to read more and more about Joan's adventures in Baltimore.

Readalikes:

Daddy Long-Legs by Jean Webster. This is an all-time favorite of mine, a classic that was written around the same time that The Hired Girl is set. It also features a plucky, intelligent heroine who longs to be educated and the book follows Judy's journey to college.

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly. This is ANOTHER all-time favorite of mine (you can see why I feel that The Hired Girl was designed for me). Mattie Gokey's story about taking care of her family while longing to go continue her education hits many of the same notes as Joan's.

The Sound of Life and Everything

The Sound of Life and Everything by Krista Van Dolzer. Grades 5-8. G.P. Putnam's Sons, May 2015. 262 pages. Review copy provided by publisher.

Summary: 


In 1950s California, Ella Mae's family is still dealing with their grief over losing Ella Mae's brother Daniel and cousin Robby in the war. When Ella Mae's Aunt Mildred responds to an ad in the paper claiming that scientists can bring Robby back if she has a sample of his DNA (which she does - the blood on his dog tags), Ella Mae thinks she's crazy. Crazier still is what happens next. It wasn't Robby's blood on the dog tags, but the blood of a Japanese soldier. When Takuma is brought back to life, lost and alone in this strange land, Ella Mae's mother ends up taking him in. But anti-Japanese sentiment runs strong in this small California town and it won't be an easy ride for anyone.

My thoughts:

This is a strange and beautiful little book. At first, I kept trying to wrap my head around what was happening, but eventually I just had to let go and enjoy the ride. This book combines a historical setting and characters and a science fiction premise in a really interesting way that harkened to classic science fiction stories like Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land.

The small community of St. Jude, California (a fictional town) is still reeling from the war. Families are mourning their losses and anti-Japanese sentiment is strong. Imagine if a Japanese soldier was plunked down in the middle of this community. In addition to dealing with racism and battle scars, the townspeople must grapple with the fact of Takuma's "unnatural" origin. He was born a person and died and then was brought back to life in a lab.

Ella Mae quickly dismisses all of these issues as she gets to know Takuma and comes to care about him. Her older brother died in the war and Takuma is not only a brother figure, but he's someone who desperately needs her help. She's determined to teach him English so that he can express himself and maybe bond with others in the community.

I think this is a story that's going to stick with me and I'm going to be thinking about it for a long time.

Readalikes: 

This one was billed as a good read for fans of When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, and I think that's a good comparison.

The Way Home Looks Now

The Way Home Looks Now by Wendy Wan-Long Shang. Grades 4-7. Scholastic Press, April 2015. 272 pages. Reviewed from ARC provided by publisher.

Booktalk:

Peter Lee and his family have always loved baseball. One of Peter’s happiest memories is going with his family to watch the Little League team from Taiwan compete against the American team in the Little League World series. It was such a beautiful day and a great game, plus an important one as Chinese-American families all gathered to support Taiwan.

But that was Before.

Before Peter’s older brother Nelson died in a car accident and everything changed. Peter desperately misses his brother and he wonders if his family will ever be happy again. Now, Peter’s mom just sits on the couch and watches TV all day, not cooking, not talking, not doing anything… until one day when Peter mentions that day at the Little League championships and she actually sits up and has a conversation with him for the first time in forever.

Peter thinks he’s found the key to bringing his mom out of her slump: baseball. So he convinces his father to let him join a baseball team, aiming to get really good and invite his mom to come and watch. But when Peter’s father volunteers to coach his team, Peter begins to doubt his plan. His dad has never coached before. He has weird methods. Some of the other kids don't like having a Chinese-American coach. Is Peter's team doomed to fail? Will his family ever be normal again? 

My thoughts:

This is a great sports story, perfect for baseballs fans, while also including some really interesting historical detail and a nuanced family story.

Set in the 1970s, the story is based on events that happened in the author's childhood - the Chinese-American community's strong rally of support for the Taiwanese Little League team, the question of girls playing on sports teams, etc. Reading the author's note helped me appreciate the story on a deeper level, knowing that it was based on some actual events.

This is also a story that tackles the subject of a grieving family and acknowledges that grief does not just magically go away. It's a story of family members doing their best to support each other, even as each person in the family grieves in his or her own way. Peter doesn't really understand why his mom is so out of it, but it's something he has to accept. True fans don't give up if their team has a losing season; they continue to show their support and hope that things will get better. This simple message really connects baseball to the deeper themes of the novel.

And the beauty is that this nuanced family story is organically nestled in a great baseball story. The book includes some of the play-by-play action that sports fans will look for, as well as fun baseball facts and coaching techniques. Peter and his teammates challenge themselves to come up with the answers to seemingly impossible plays, like "How do you get a no-man triple play?" 

Readalikes: 

The Only Game by Mike Lupica - I read this earlier this spring and it shares a lot of the same themes: a boy mourning the loss of his older brother in an accident with lots of play-by-play baseball action. 

Nest by Esther Erlich - kids who more identified with Peter's family mourning and who are interested in the 1970s setting might like Nest, a story of a girl dealing with her mom's MS diagnosis. 

Audacity

Audacity by Melanie Crowder. Grades 7+ Philomel Books, January 2015. 400 pages. Reviewed from ARC provided by publisher.

Slam
twist, click.

Locked inside
a brick box

bile rises
lungs pump

workers shuffle
to their stations. 

Stools creak
heads bow

needles stabbing
bobbins banging
thread marching in

straight

steady

seams. 

Breath settles
panic swallowed
footsteps click
stool creaks
my own head
bows down. 

(lock, page 143)

Imagine going to a job every day where you're locked in, not allowed bathroom breaks. You have to work long hours in a dusty, dark room, breathing in fibrous dust. The foreman can touch you, can yell at you whenever he wants. For this, you're paid barely enough to stay alive. You have no recourse for complaints. If you complain, you might get fired. If you're sick and can't come to work, you'll be replaced. For many working women at the turn of the 20th century, this picture was reality.

Clara Lemlich, an immigrant from Russia, couldn't stand it. She wanted to stand up for her own rights and the rights of thousands of working women and girls. It was not an easy fight. Although unions were forming for men, they did not allow women to join.

Based on the life of real-life worker activist Clara Lemlich, this is a novel in verse that brings history to fiery life.

My thoughts:

This novel in verse illustrates the terrible working conditions in the garment factories of NYC at the turn of the century and the struggle that women faced to get better working conditions. It's an engrossing story, starting with Clara's young-adult-hood in Russia and the family's journey to America.

Not only did Clara face violence and oppression in the workforce, she faced it at home, too. Her father forbid her to get an education, so Clara went against his wishes to read, learn English, and study, even though her father beat her for it. Crowder does an admirable job of making this a personal story firmly set within a larger historical movement. The reader clearly sees Clara's personal struggles - she gives up her dream of education and becoming a doctor in order to see her cause through. She's not afraid to face violence - she faces it at home from her father and she faces it on the streets as she speaks out for women's rights.

A detailed historical note lays out just what liberties Crowder took with Clara's story and talks about how lasting change came about only after the tragedy of the Triangle Factory fire.

This is a great choice for teens interested in American history, particularly women's history. 

Readalikes: 

Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909 by Melissa Sweet. Although this is a picture book aimed at younger readers, it could provide scaffolding for this novel and would work as a class readaloud. 

Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and its Legacy by Albert Marrin. This is a good choice for teens who are interested in the history of this book and want more information. 

Like Water on Stone by Dana Walrath. Although not thematically similar, this historical novel in verse may appeal to teens who enjoy the verse format and historical detail of Audacity. 

Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix. This historical novel examines the 1909 shirtwaist strike from the points of view of three different young women - two immigrants and a girl from a wealthy family.
 

The War That Saved My Life

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Grades 4-7. Dial Books, January 2015. 320 pages. Review copy provided by publisher.

Booktalk:

Ada is 10 years old and she’s never been outside of her family’s one-bedroom apartment. Born with a twisted foot, which her Mam calls the mark of the devil, Ada is not allowed to be seen by other people. Her Mam doesn’t let her go to school and has never bothered to help her learn to walk - Ada has to crawl around their apartment. Worst of all, when Mam is angry at her, which is pretty often, she shuts Ada up in a damp cabinet with the roaches for hours.

World War II is brewing and the children of London are being sent away from their parents to live in safety in the country. When Mam decides to send Ada’s younger brother Jamie away to safety, Ada sees her chance. She teaches herself to walk - very painfully - and she sneaks out to join her brother.

They’re sent to the English countryside and taken in by a lady named Susan, a lady who never wanted children but feels it’s her duty to help out in wartime. For the first time, Ada gets crutches so she can walk, she learns how to ride a horse and even to read… but she knows that at any moment Mam could change her mind and everything could be taken away from her.

My thoughts:

There is so much to love about this book, but what I loved most of all is the complicated characters that Ms. Bradley has created here. It's one thing for siblings to experience abuse together, but it's a completely different animal when one sibling suffers abuse and one does not. Ada loves Jamie and wants to protect him more than anything, but as the younger sibling, Jamie cannot reciprocate and he doesn't even see some of the abuse that has been going on. When Jamie gets homesick and longs to go home to Mam, Ada cannot understand how he feels because she is so grateful to have escaped. Logically, she knows that life in London was different for Jamie, but emotionally she cannot identify with what he's feeling.

At the same time, Ada cannot trust in what's happened to her. Sure, life is way better in the countryside, but Ada is very guarded. She knows that at any moment her new life could come crumbling down around her. Her emotions are overwhelming and often volatile... and through it all, Susan is steadfast.

Susan is suffering her own loss. We learn by bits and pieces that Susan is mourning the death of her "good friend" Becky whom she lived with. Becky was obviously someone very important to Susan and we see how having the children around, having others to care for, having someone to come home to is helping Susan deal with her grief.

I just couldn't get enough of these characters and I loved learning their stories and seeing them grow and change.

This is also a great World War II story from a perspective - the English home front - that many kids may be less familiar with. Details bring this historical setting to life - blackout curtains, victory gardens, air raids, and more.

And it's even a sneaky kind of horse book! It may not be enough of a horse story to satisfy super fans, but there are definitely plenty of details about Ada learning to ride and taking care of Susan's pony which had been neglected after Becky died.

Readalikes:

Hand this one to kids who love to read about a character they can root for or kids looking for great historical fiction, particularly war home front stories or World War II.

Kids may enjoy The War That Saved My Life if they liked:

• Half a World Away by Cynthia Kadohata for its emotional and authentic portrayal of an adopted boy struggling to adjust to life in a new world.
• One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt for a foster kid protagonist who is easy to root for.
• Books about the WWII home front.

P.S. Be Eleven

P.S. Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia. Grades 5-8. Amistad, May 2013. 288 pages. Review copy provided by my local library.

After spending the summer with their activist poet mother in Oakland, it's hard for Delphine and her sisters to adjust to their old lives. Especially when Papa brings a new lady-friend around, Delphine gets a surprise new teacher, and the Jackson Five are sweeping the nation. Everywhere she goes, Delphine feels in-between. Not an adult (or even a teenager), but no longer a child, either.

Now this is a tween story. Delphine is nothing if not "between". Used to being in charge of her sisters, Delphine is forced to give up some of her control when Vonetta is chosen to be in charge of the sisters' savings for the Jackson Five concert. Even though Delphine has to start dealing with some adult situations - namely her uncle's struggles after coming home from fighting in Vietnam - her mother insists that she "Be eleven" in every letter she sends. Delphine's figuring out how to fit the black power teachings of last summer into her life. Tall and gangly, Delphine is the tallest girl in her class (taller than most of the boys), but her grandma still insists on dressing her in childish outfits.

Rita Williams-Garcia gets the setting just right, placing readers in late 60s/early 70s New York City. The way Delphine and her family and friends talk gives the setting authenticity without being over the top or confusing. Williams-Garcia also deals with the effects of the Vietnam War in a child-friendly way without shying away from real situations. A character "gets sick from drugs", but there's no depiction of actual drug use.

You're going to want to read the award-winning One Crazy Summer first, but it's okay if you've read it several years ago (like I did). P.S. Be Eleven stands on its own to a certain extent.

Readalikes:

For more books about the African-American experience around the Civil Rights era, try The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon. This story deals with the conflict between nonviolent and violent protests during the struggle for Civil Rights. You also might try The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. This is another family-centered story about African-Americans and Civil Rights.

For readers who like the strong urban setting, try Hold Fast by Blue Balliett (a contemporary mystery set in Chicago) or When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (a historical mystery also set in New York City).

P.S. Be Eleven is on shelves now!

A Soldier's Secret

A Soldier's Secret: The Incredible True Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero by Marissa Moss. Grades 5 and up. Amulet Books, 2012. 387 pages. Review copy provided by publisher for Young Hoosier Book Award consideration. This review reflects only my own opinion, not necessarily the opinion of the committee!

Plot summary from book jacket:

Frank Thompson isn't your ordinary Union Army soldier. He's also a nurse, tending to wounded soldiers on the battlefield... a spy, crossing Rebel lines and risking his life to find out what the enemy has planned... a mail carrier, delivering letters, foodstuffs, and news from home to his fellow soldiers. But Frank has a secret that could cost him his place in his beloved army. And maybe even his life. 

Frank Thompson is actually Sarah Emma Edmonds.

So, are you a reader who likes a historical novel that you can really sink your teeth into? Or maybe you're a reader who loves action-packed battle scenes that keep you on the edge of your seat? If you're either or both, you should definitely pick up this book.

Based on the life of Sarah Emma Edmonds, A Soldier's Secret is a great blend of historical detail and war action wrapped up in a character that you'll be rooting for throughout. The pacing varies to great effect as the reader is given meaty bits rich with historical detail interspersed with faster-paced war action.

This is a great choice for Women's History Month or for tweens who are looking for books with a kick-butt heroine!

Readalikes:

For a nonfiction take on the same subject matter, hand 'em I'll Pass for Your Comrade: Women Soldiers in the Civil War by Anita Silvey. This book features the true stories of many women who disguised themselves as men to fight in the Civil War.

If readers like the action and kick-butt heroine in a historical setting, try Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer or Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.

If it's the rich Civil War setting that they like, I'd try The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick or Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.

A Soldier's Secret is on shelves now!

Splendors and Glooms

Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz. Grades 5 and up. Candlewick, 2012. 384 pages. Review copy provided by my local library.

It's Clara's birthday and all she wants is a day of fun and frolic, a day she doesn't have to think about her poor lost sisters and brothers who died of cholera, a day when Grisini's marvelous puppet troupe will perform for her and her friends. Clara is fascinated by Grisini's puppets and by the children, Lizzie Rose and Parsefall, who bring the puppets to life. When Clara mysteriously disappears after the puppet show, suspicion immediately falls on Grisini, and as Lizzie Rose and Parsefall struggle to untangle the mystery, things will take a turn for the deadly.

Splendors and Glooms has the feel of a classic and I think it's a book that could appeal to a certain subset of a wide range of ages. Certainly it's a dark story with dead siblings looming over Clara's head, an evil witch plotting against children, and a diabolical puppet master who will stop at nothing to increase his own wealth. But it's also a story with a lot of love and hope and characters who strive to do the right thing and to protect each other. I can see this being a very special and beloved family read.

This book... made me feel the feelings. I got caught up in the lives of the characters and Laura Amy Schlitz broke my heart in certain scenes. Her carefully chosen words bring across the pain and betrayal felt by Clara, Lizzie Rose, Parsefall, and the witch Cassandra in a vivid way. They also bring the setting to life, from the dirty streets of Dickensian London to the crisp, clear winter at the witch's estate.

The book started off a little slowly for me, but once I was hooked I was hooked and I couldn't put it down until the story, with all its twists and turns, had played itself out. This is a book to lose yourself in and I'd hand it to kids looking to be transported.

Readalikes: As I was reading, I kept thinking of the book A Little Princess by Frances Burnett because Clara reminded me of Sara Crewe.

I've not read it, but I've heard comparisons around the interwebs to The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken, so I'd try that one as a readalike for its setting and storyline.

Splendors and Glooms won a 2013 Newbery honor and it's also been reviewed by these fine folks: Book Nut, The Book Smugglers, A Fuse #8 Production. It's on shelves now!

The Case of the Missing Marquess

The Case of the Missing Marquess (Enola Holmes #1) by Nancy Springer. Grades 4-8. Philomel, 2006. 214 pages. Review copy provided by my local library.

Enola Holmes has never been sure why her mother named her Enola. After all, it spells "Alone" backwards. But when Enola's mother mysteriously disappears on the day of her fourteenth birthday, Enola suddenly is alone. She calls on the help of her older brothers, Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes, but it soon becomes apparent that Enola's going to have to track down her mother herself. Luckily, her cipher-crazy mum gave Enola a book of codes as a birthday present and these prove very useful. It's not easy getting along as a young woman in a man's world, but Enola's determined and she soon finds herself swept up in an entirely different mystery on the dirty streets of London.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I am so glad I picked it up! This book has been recommended to me numerous times, but I don't consider myself a mystery fan and it took the powers of Twitter to get me to finally pick up this book for the genre challenge I'm starting with my staff. (I should have listened to Miss Julie  at the Barrington Library YEARS AGO.)

Enola Holmes is a quite capable, intelligent young lady and I never doubted for a second that she had the smarts and gumption to solve the mysteries she stumbled into. My problem with poorly written children's mysteries is that I want to shake the kids and tell them to go tell an adult. With Enola's father deceased, her mother run away, and her brothers determined to stick her in finishing school, I had no problem with Enola running off to do things her own way.

The language and strong setting also appealed to me. Enola's along-the-way commentary about the difficulties of being an independent woman added to the sense of time and left no question as to her indomitable nature. Details of life in late 19th century England and London are woven seamlessly into Enola's story, from the newfangled bicycle she rides to the constricting dress her brothers insist on.

Readalikes:

For kids who dig the codes Enola has to break to crack the case, I'd recommend The Puzzling World of Winston Breen.

For kids who dig the Sherlock Holmes aspect, of course I might recommend the original Sherlock Holmes stories. For kids who might not be ready for those, there are several series to choose from:

• Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars (chapter books)
• On the Case with Holmes and Watson by Murray Shaw (graphic novels)
• Young Sherlock Holmes by Andy Lane (teen/tween)

For tweens and teens who dig the setting and time period, I'd recommend the Jacky Faber books starting with Bloody Jack by L. A. Meyer or Gail Carriger's new Finishing School series, starting with Etiquette & Espionage. 

I read this book for my staff genre reading project. We're Reading Wildly (and widely) in 2013 (and beyond!). 

Code Name Verity

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. Grades 8 and up. Hyperion, May 2012. 343 pages. Review copy provided by my local library.

I don't even want to tell you too much about the plot because it's twisty and I think the best way to experience it is to just dive on in.

Her code name is Verity. She's a British spy and she's been captured in Nazi-occupied France. She never thought she'd be the kind of person to give up information if she was captured, but that was before she was tortured. Now, she'll tell them anything for a glimmer of hope that she might survive. She's already given up eleven lines of code. And now she's writing down anything else she can think of that might be of interest. But will her secrets be enough to ensure her own survival?

Holy cats. So, I picked up this book because it's getting crazy positive buzz around the blogosphere. War stories aren't necessarily my thing, but I was intrigued by the aspect of women serving in the British military in WWII. And once I got into the story, I just never wanted to put the book down. The thing about this book is that the characters are SO REAL and it's written in such a way that the reader can EASILY believe that all of the things actually happened exactly how they are written. This is a story to get lost in with characters that I came to love and root for.

The story is steeped in historical detail, meticulously researched by the author (and yes, she provides an author's note and a selected bibliography). She took great pains to make sure the details she included were plausible, even if they weren't necessarily exactly true (she made up place names, etc.). It's an intricate story with a lot of characters and a lot of action as Verity reveals how she came to be on her particular mission through her friendship with Maddie, a woman pilot for the British RAF. Really, this is a war story and a historical story, but it's very much a story about an incredible friendship. Maddie and Verity are the kind of best friends who would actually die for each other. Maybe it's the kind of friendship that could only be forged in an intense situation like a war.

I'd hand it to fans of World War II fiction, people looking for strong heroines (this would make a great Women's History Month selection), and possibly fans of Jenny Davidson's The Explosionist, which is another intricate WWII story with a female protagonist (although The Explosionist is alternate history!). I'd also try it on fans of Flygirl by Sherri Smith, which is another story about a strong young lady serving her country by flying planes during WWII.

Check out more reviews at Book Nut, Confessions of a Bibliovore, Forever Young Adult, Parenthetical, The Reading Zone, and STACKED.

Code Name Verity is on shelves now!