Reviewed by Olivia

Rating: High Five!

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Ida B., anything by Katherine Applegate, Kira-Kira, Be Light Like a Bird, Wonder, and other inspiring stories.

Synopsis (from Amazon): 
Heidi’s brother, Donald, is 16 and Autistic. She has always loved playing with him, but now she's 11 and her life is changing. She’s embarrassed to have her brother around and doesn’t want her friends to know about him. High school boys bully him. When the kids at her school find out about him, she gets bullied too. It’s not fair. No one seems to understand. But Heidi needs to understand too. She can't change her brother, but she can change how she feels about him, and she can get people to see why her brother is special.

Reviewed by Olivia

Rating: High Five!

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of My Diary from the Edge of the World, the Wings of Fire series, the Magyk series, the Toymaker's Apprentice, and the Fablehaven series.

Synopsis (from Amazon):
Young mouse Calib Christopher dreams of becoming a Knight of the Round Table. For generations, his family has led the mice who live just out of sight of the humans, defending Camelot from enemies both big and small. But when Calib and his friend Cecily discover that a new threat is gathering—one that could catch even the Two-Leggers unaware—it is up to them to unmask the real enemy, unite their forces, and save the castle they all call home.

Reviewed by Olivia

Rating: High Five!

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of The Blackthorn Key, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and Peter and the Starcatchers.

Synopsis (partly from Amazon):
After the death of his dad, Martin and his mum move into an enormous stately home where they encounter a mysterious being called the Keeper of Portals, who claims to control every portal on the planet, except for the door at the end of Martin's bedroom, which has been sealed for 400 years. One morning, Martin wakes to discover the Keeper of Portals is missing and the door at the end of his bedroom has been opened. Martin steps through the door to find himself in the 17th century where he meets Isabel, the house's maid. Martin and Isabel quickly learn that everything on earth, from time and causality, to pleasantries and buttons, is controlled by its own keeper, but they soon become entangled in a battle against the Keeper of Questions. Their adventures takes them on a journey through time, ending up in London. But when they arrive there they find the town deserted - the Keeper of Questions has control of everyone in London and it won't be long until Martin and Isabel are next.

Reviewed by Oscar


Rating: High Five!

Who I'd Recommend To: Fans of Survivor the TV show and survival books.

Synopsis (from Amazon):
Thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson is on his way to visit his father when the single-engine plane in which he is flying crashes. Suddenly, Brian finds himself alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but a tattered Windbreaker and the hatchet his mother gave him as a present—and the dreadful secret that has been tearing him apart since his parent’s divorce. But now Brian has no time for anger, self pity, or despair—it will take all his know-how and determination, and more courage than he knew he possessed, to survive.

Reviewed by Oscar

Rating: High Five

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Archie's Alien Disguise, Geronimo Stilton, the Sword of Summer​, and the Silver Chair.

Synopsis (from Amazon):
One day, Isaac Thompson is just your average fifth grader playing the part of a porcupine in the school play. The next, he has strayed into a mysterious subterranean realm that has been lurking beneath his school Castle Elementary and launches his quest to knighthood. When Isaac's little sister Lily goes missing from their school's creepy basement, he and his best friends Max and Emma set out in search of her. Their search takes them to the Underground, where they encounter an army of spear-wielding rats, a talking human-sized bat, and a thumb-nosed prison guard. But humans who stay in the Underground too long transform into weird, unpleasant creatures and are forced to work for the horrible Elf King. Can Isaac and his crew escape the Underground before it's too late for them to ever return home?

Reviewed by Olivia

Rating: High Five

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Fans of Snow Treasure, Once, Number the Stars, and Each Little Bird That Sings.

Synopsis (provided by the publisher): 
Set in Norway during World War II, Bjorn’s Gift continues the adventures of Mari, a young Norwegian girl who faces growing hardships and dangers in her small village in a western fjord. German occupation troops and local Nazi supporters move closer to her family’s daily life, and her classmate Leif becomes active in
the Norwegian Nazi youth party. Mari struggles to live up to her brother Bjorn’s faith in her, as she becomes more involved in risky resistance activities, trusting only her family and a few close friends. Across Norway, oppressive laws are imposed in the months from Fall 1941 to the early 1943, with dire local consequences. Difficult decisions force Mari to admit that many things in life are not easily sorted into good or bad, and she begins to wonder if Hitler will ever be defeated and . . . whether the occupation of Norway will ever end.

Reviewed by Olivia


Rating: High Five!


​Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Snow Treasure, Once, Number the Stars, and Each Little Bird That Sings.


Synopsis (from Amazon):
Eleven-year-old Mari grew up tucked under the wings of her parents, grandma, and older siblings. After Hitler's troops invade Norway in Spring 1940, she is forced to grow beyond her "little girl" nickname to deal with harsh new realities. At her side for support and protection is Odin, her faithful elkhound. As the year progresses, Mari, her family, and her neighbors are drawn into the activities of the Norwegian underground resistance. 

Reviewed by Olivia

Rating: High Five

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Mayday, Lost in the Sun, the Thing About Jellyfish, and other compelling realistic fiction books surrounding a tween's struggles with death. 

Favorite Quote: "Be light like a bird, and not like a feather."

Synopsis (from Amazon): After the death of her father, twelve-year-old Wren finds her life thrown into upheaval. And when her mother decides to pack up the car and forces Wren to leave the only home she's ever known, the family grows even more fractured. As she and her mother struggle to build a new life, Wren must confront issues with the environment, peer pressure, bullying, and most of all, the difficulty of forgiving those who don't deserve it. A quirky, emotional middle grade novel set in Michigans Upper Peninsula, Be Light Like a Bird features well-drawn, unconventional characters and explores what it means to be a family and the secrets and lies that can tear one apart.

Reviewed by Olivia

Rating: High Five!

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of I Am Malala and other books about women prevailing in extraordinarily terrible predicaments.

Synopsis (from Amazon):
Eleven-year-old Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital city. Parvana’s father — a history teacher until his school was bombed and his health destroyed — works from a blanket on the ground in the marketplace, reading letters for people who cannot read or write. One day, he is arrested for the crime of having a foreign education, and the family is left without someone who can earn money or even shop for food. As conditions for the family grow desperate, only one solution emerges. Forbidden to earn money as a girl, Parvana must transform herself into a boy, and become the breadwinner. 

Reviewed by Oscar

Rating: High Five!

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Eragon, The Ranger's Apprentice, and the Young Samurai series.

Synopsis (from Amazon):
When the Brotherband crew are caught in a massive storm at sea, they’re blown far off course and wash up on the shores of a land so far west that Hal can’t recognize it from any of his maps. Eerily, the locals are nowhere in sight, yet the Herons have a creeping feeling they are being watched.
 
Suddenly the silence is broken when a massive, marauding bear appears, advancing on two children. The crew springs into action and rescues the children from the bear’s clutches, which earns them the gratitude and friendship of the local Mawagansett tribe, who finally reveal themselves. But the peace is short-lived. The Ghostfaces, a ruthless, warlike tribe who shave their heads and paint their faces white, are on the warpath once more. It’s been ten years since they raided the Mawagansett village, but they’re coming back to pillage and reap destruction. As the enemy approaches, the Herons gear up to help their new friends repel an invasion.