Reviewed by Olivia

Rating: High Four

​Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of the War That Saved My Life, ​Breaking Stalin's Nose, the Devil's Arithmetic, and Jerry Spinelli's Milkweed.

Synopsis (from Amazon):
Felix, a Jewish boy in Poland in 1942, is hiding from the Nazis in a Catholic orphanage. The only problem is that he doesn't know anything about the war, and thinks he's only in the orphanage while his parents travel and try to salvage their bookselling business. And when he thinks his parents are in danger, Felix sets off to warn them--straight into the heart of Nazi-occupied Poland. To Felix, everything is a story: Why did he get a whole carrot in his soup? It must be sign that his parents are coming to get him. Why are the Nazis burning books? They must be foreign librarians sent to clean out the orphanage's outdated library. But as Felix's journey gets increasingly dangerous, he begins to see horrors that not even stories can explain.

Reviewed by Olivia

Rating: High Three
Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Lost in the Sun, the Honest Truth, and Fish in a Tree.
Synopsis (from Amazon):
After her best friend dies in a drowning accident, Suzy is convinced that the true cause of the tragedy must have been a rare jellyfish sting-things don't just happen for no reason. Retreating into a silent world of imagination, she crafts a plan to prove her theory--even if it means traveling the globe, alone. Suzy's achingly heartfelt journey explores life, death, the astonishing wonder of the universe...and the potential for love and hope right next door.

​

Reviewed by Olivia

Rating: High Five
Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of the Spy School series, Smile, and stories about middle-school age girls (with an interesting twist.)
Synopsis (from Amazon):
This debut tween novel stars the hilariously fresh Charlie Cooper as she tries to ditch her middle-child reputation and make cool friends at her new school in Los Angeles.
But being cool isn't as easy as it looks—especially when her dandruff-ridden psychologist tasks Charlie with finding the biggest loser in school and becoming her friend. In public.
As Charlie says, "Just kill me now, please."

Reviewed by Olivia

Rating: High Three 1/2
Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Out of My Mind, Inside Out and Back Again, Wonder, and A Mango Shaped Space.
Synopsis (from Amazon):
Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn't kept her from leading a quietly happy life . . . until now.
 
Suddenly Willow's world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world. The triumph of this book is that it is not a tragedy. This extraordinarily odd, but extraordinarily endearing, girl manages to push through her grief. Her journey to find a fascinatingly diverse and fully believable surrogate family is a joy and a revelation to read.

Reviewed by Olivia

Rating: High Five!
Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Katerina's Wish, the first Calpurnia Tate book, anything Pam Munoz Ryan, Navigating Early, Brown Girl Dreaming, and the Secret of the Bees.
Synopsis (from Amazon):
included-away from her mother's critical eye. Whether it's wrangling a rogue armadillo or stray dog, a guileless younger brother or standoffish cousin, the trials and tribulations of Callie Vee will have readers laughing and crying and cheering for this most endearing heroine.

(click the green "Read More" button in the bottom right hand corner of the post to see the full review)

Reviewed by Olivia

Rating: High Five
Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Jerry Spinelli, Pam Munoz Ryan's Paint the Wind, and anything Jacqueline Woodson.
Synopsis: 
When Jack Baker’s father sends him from his home in Kansas to attend a boys’ boarding school in Maine, Jack doesn’t know what to expect. Certainly not Early Auden, the strangest of boys. Early keeps to himself, reads the number pi as a story, and refuses to accept truths others take for granted. Jack, feeling lonely and out of place, connects with Early, and the two become friends. 
 
During a break from school, the boys set out for the Appalachian Trail on a quest for a great black bear. As Jack and Early travel deeper into the mountains, they meet peculiar and dangerous characters, and they make some shocking discoveries. But their adventure is only just beginning. Will Jack’s and Early’s friendship last the journey? Can the boys make it home alive? ​
(click the Read More button below to view the whole review)

Reviewed by (make a guess!) Olivia :P

Rating: High Four
Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Bridge to Terabithia, Home of the Brave, and historical fiction in general.
Favorite quote: "When Uncle knocked on the door, I told him to give me a password. He said, "Open this door right this minute young lady or bear my wrath." That happened to be the password, so I let him in." 
Synopsis (from Amazon): 
kira-kira (kee ra kee ra): glittering; shining. Glittering. That's how Katie Takeshima's sister, Lynn, makes everything seem. The sky is kira-kira because its color is deep but see-through at the same time. The sea is kira-kira for the same reason. And so are people's eyes. When Katie and her family move from a Japanese community in Iowa to the Deep South of Georgia, it's Lynn who explains to her why people stop on the street to stare. And it's Lynn who, with her special way of viewing the world, teaches Katie to look beyond tomorrow. But when Lynn becomes desperately ill, and the whole family begins to fall apart, it is up to Katie to find a way to remind them all that there is always something glittering -- kira-kira -- in the future.

Reviewed by Olivia


Rating: High Four
Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Jerry Spinelli's books, as well as unique ideas for our futuristic Earth
Fav Quote: (coming soon)
Summary (from Amazon): 
The Giver, the 1994 Newbery Medal winner, has become one of the most influential novels of our time. The haunting story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community. 

Reviewed by Olivia


Rating: High Four 1/2
Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of books with a different look on the world - Every Soul a Star, Hokey Pokey, and books like the School for Good and Evil - similarly, this book is darker than it appears. 
Fav Quote: (coming soon)
Summary (from Amazon): 
They called her Water Claire. When she washed up on their shore, no one knew that she came from a society where emotions and colors didn’t exist. That she had become a Vessel at age thirteen. That she had carried a Product at age fourteen. That it had been stolen from her body. Claire had a son. But what became of him she never knew. What was his name? Was he even alive? She was supposed to forget him, but that was impossible. Now Claire will stop at nothing to find her child, even if it means making an unimaginable sacrifice.Son thrusts readers once again into the chilling world of the Newbery Medal winning book, The Giver,　as well as Gathering Blue and Messenger where a new hero emerges. In this thrilling series finale, the startling and long-awaited conclusion to Lois Lowry’s epic tale culminates in a final clash between good and evil.

Reviewed by Olivia


Rating: High Four
Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of poetry books, Locomotion, Hokey Pokey, and Stargirl, as well as the Evolution of Calipurnia Tate
Fav Quote: 
Summary (from Amazon): 
Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become.