Junior High – Page 42 – Sneak Peek Books

Fortune Falls

In Fortune Falls, if you step on a crack you really will hurt your mother’s back. And four-leaf clovers, lucky pennies, and rabbit’s feet really do bring good luck. But twelve-year-old Sadie is used to being on the bad side of luck. When a cat the color of ravens begins following her, Sadie fears that her bad luck is irreversible and may be deadly.

The cat, and bad luck, seemed to be stalking Sadie. Sadie no longer expects to have good luck, but she is still determined to outwit fate. She has too much to lose if she doesn’t.

In just five days, Sadie is going to take the Luck Test, which will determine if she will go to Flourish Academy or be sent away. Her friend Cooper is determined to help Sadie come up with a plan to overcome her bad luck. But when Sadie breaks a mirror, her dog goes missing in a graveyard, and a black cat keeps following her, Sadie isn’t sure she can outwit fate. Is it possible for her to survive her bad luck? And if she survives, will she be sent away from everything she loves?

Sadie is a smart, clumsy, lovable heroine, who uses her wits to overcome obstacles in her life. Throughout the story, Sadie cares for her younger brother. Although their father is dead, his positive influence is shown through Sadie’s thoughts.

Throughout the story, Sadie learns many valuable lessons, including how people (and cats) are often misjudged based on their appearances and that friendships are more important than luck. At one point Sadie thinks about capturing the black cat and trading it for something that would bring her good luck, but she decides, “I wasn’t sure if it was worth being Lucky if it meant betraying who I was.” Because the story is entertaining, full of suspense, and has interesting characters, the book teaches lessons without being preachy. And in the end, the reader sees that “Fortune has very little to do with the charm and everything to do with perception.”

The ending of Fortune Falls doesn’t change Sadie’s clumsy nature. She is still imperfect and messy, but she no longer thinks that she needs luck or perfection. One of the best parts of the book is that Sadie conquers the mean girl without being mean herself. In the process of trying to outwit fate, Sadie leaves the reader with positive lessons as well as a story that will make them smile long after the book is put down.

Sexual Content

Sadie goes to a school dance. As she dances with Cooper, she thinks, “My skin tingled where Cooper’s left hand rested on my shoulder, and mine on his side. It felt almost electric where the fingers of our hands joined together, forming their own little tower between us.”

Violence

When Sadie thinks about running away, she thinks about the Unluckies who had tried to leave Fortune Falls. “Unluckies gave up on trying long ago—tires always blew at the edge of town, people suffered strokes and heart attacks just as they were about to cross over the city limits—like bad luck, there was no escaping it.

Drugs and Alcohol

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Language

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Supernatural

Sadie and Bessie go to a wishing well to drop in a coin, hoping for luck to help them pass the Luck Test. “Toss a coin into this well,/And the water spirit tell,/ Your deepest wish or favorite spell./ Fate favors those who luck befell.”
Sadie goes to the cemetery’s entrance, hoping to find her dog. While she is there she sees “to the left of the mausoleum and the black cat, and close to where I was standing by the fence, something was sticking out from the bushes. Slender, bony white fingers. A skeletal hand, reaching, stretching, grasping for the iron post. This was not the hand of someone who’d been buried in the cemetery. It was the boney remains of someone who’d thought they’d be able to dash in and out while holding their breath. Whoever it was had been wrong. Deadly wrong.
There is a field in Fortune Falls where a ghost appears at dusk or barely after dark. The ghost boy beckons people to follow him to the graveyard. “Almost everyone agreed that at some point they found themselves standing at the iron bars of the cemetery, not certain how they got there but feeling compelled to fetch the poor boy’s eternally resting parents. Perhaps that’s what happened to the person who had been reduced to an extending skeletal hand just inside the fence.”
Sadie’s brother has an encounter with the ghost, who wants him to go into the cemetery and look for his parents. Sadie’s brother tells the ghost that his father is dead. “Then he got a sad look on his face and ran off.”
Sadie scolds her brother for yawning and not covering his mouth. “Yawning without covering your mouth was like breathing inside the cemetery, only worse. Opening your mouth to yawn gave the Devil a gaping hole to slip into and, unlike with wraiths, his strength didn’t wane outside the parameters of the cemetery.” Sadie discovers that the black cat is really a Japanese bobtail and “one of the luckiest charms you could ever hope to encounter . . . no one will buy her for her luck, and she couldn’t hex something to save her life.”
Sadie considers buying a voodoo doll to hex a mean girl.

Spiritual Content

None

The Accused

Pete Duffy’s murder trial is about to begin; however, when Duffy disappears the night before his trial, the town wonders where Duffy went. Theo was hoping to follow Duffy’s trial, but when strange men begin following him and the police accuse him of robbery, Theo becomes consumed with finding out who has it in for him.

Because Theodore tells his own story, the reader has the opportunity to feel Theo’s confusion and fear, which helps to build suspense. As the story progresses, the suspense is created in a way that will allow younger readers to be interested but not frightened.

The Accused has surprises, humor, and positive adult-child relationships. The story is easy to read and the engaging mystery will appeal to both younger and older readers. Although this book is part of the Theodore Boone series, The Accused can be enjoyed without having read the previous books in the series.

The only downside is Theo’s Uncle Ike, who convinces Theo to steal the password to his parents’ case files. Afterward, Theo feels guilty and wants to tell his parents. However, Ike convinces him not to because it’s not dishonest to not tell. Ike continues rationalizing dishonesty by saying, “We all have our little secrets, and as long as they’re harmless, who really cares? With time, the secrets often go away and things don’t matter anymore.”

Sexual Content

None

Violence

The plot discusses the trial of Pete Duffy who is accused of murder. Some boys in Theo’s class discuss the disappearance of Pete Duffy. “Another had Pete Duffy murdered by drug lords.”
Someone throws a rock through a window and almost hits Theo.
Several boys at school get into a fight, including Theo. “Woody lunged with a right hook that landed perfectly on Baxter’s face. Baxter, to his credit, managed to land a solid punch before both boys locked each other in death grips and tumbled to the floor.”
Ike tells a story about when he was younger and was being bullied. He filled his lunch pail with rocks. “He was about to punch me when I suddenly swung the lunch box and hit him in the face. Hard. I mean it was a nasty blow that cut a gash in his cheekbone. He screamed and fell down and I whacked him a few more times in the head.” At the end of the story, Ike says, “I should have used my fists and nothing else.”

Drugs and Alcohol

Theo’s uncle drinks beer. “Theo knew he drank too much . . . Two or three times he had picked up on comments that suggested Ike Boone struggled with the bottle, and Theo assumed this was true. However, he had never witnessed it.”
Theo thinks about “Spike Hock, a kid who lived one block away and was caught selling drugs in the ninth grade and spent eighteen very unpleasant months in a juvenile detention center. . .”
Theo thinks about a family because the sister was “arrested for drugs.”
A boy in the story “was caught with marijuana and went through Youth Court.”

Language

None

Supernatural

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Spiritual Content

At church, the pastor’s sermon expands on the eighth commandment. The pastor talks about how it is wrong to steal, including “stealing time away from God, family, friends. Stealing the gift of good health by pursuing bad habits. Stealing from the future by missing opportunities in the present.”

My Diary from the Edge of the World

Maddie’s world isn’t ordinary. She lives in a world where dragons, mermaids, and giants exist. In her world, Dark Clouds come for people when they die, and one is after Maddie’s little brother, Sam. In an effort to save Sam, Maddie’s family sets off to find the only place where Sam will be safe—the Extraordinary World. The only problem is that most people do not think it exists.

As Maddie and her family travel, they must learn to work together to avoid the dangers of the world. And after traveling through many amazing places and facing many obstacles, Maddie learns that sometimes the biggest obstacle of all is to stop running from the inevitable.

My Diary from the Edge of the World is engaging because it is written in diary form from Maddie’s point of view. The world created is familiar because it contains many of the same places as the United States; however interest is added because witches are real (and Maddie’s grandmother is one), ghosts exist, and genies can grant wishes.

Even though the book has magic and mystery, the story has little action or suspense to keep the reader completely engaged. Maddie is a typical girl that has some interesting adventures, but her story lacks excitement. However, the ending does contain several scenes that will surprise the reader and give them hope.

Sexual Content

When Maddie’s parents stop talking to each other, Maddie wonders if her mother is going to run off with the ship’s captain. Maddie’s sister says, “They laugh together a lot . . . Mom and Dad never talk anymore, much less laugh together.”
When the ship’s captain asks Maddie’s mother to stay with him, he “reached up to touch her face, trying to raise his lips to hers.” She reminds him that she is a married woman and refuses to leave her family.
Virgil, an angel, has a crush on Maddie’s sister. In one scene, Maddie’s sister, “leaned up toward him and gave him a small kiss on the lips. A kiss that must have felt like a brush of air, but a kiss all the same.”

Violence

The ship’s captain tells Maddie about sea ghosts. “. . . Poor drowned sailors who never had a chance. They’re the most vicious ghosts on earth, I’d wager, intent on dragging sailors into the Underworld with them.”
Their ship is surrounded by a fleet of ghost ships. Virgil, an angel, uses his ability to create wind to outrace the ships and save everyone from certain death.

Drugs and Alcohol

While searching for a captain of a boat, Maddie’s mother goes into a tavern where men are drinking.

Language

None

Supernatural

In Maddie’s world, Dark Clouds come for people when they die. “They wait outside people’s houses until it’s time, then they scoop up their soul and carry them away.” If a cloud does not come for a person, it will “drift around in Limbo.”
Ghosts use caves to come and go from the Underworld. “They have a tendency to try to snatch people into the Underworld.”
They find the Extraordinary World does exist. “I could see it was our planet, but a different version of it.”

Spiritual Content

Angels live on Earth and are, “hiding out from the gods.”
Maddie wonders about the angels that live on the Earth. “Animals are made to eat each other, and sometimes I wonder why. I wonder if that’s part of why the angels rebelled—because they thought the gods were mean in the way they made the world, and that they were making mistakes, and I have to admit that if I were an angel I think I might rebel too.”

Crenshaw

Jackson’s world is turned upside down when his parents move the family into a mini-van. His parents, his little sister, and their dog don’t have anywhere to live and sometimes they don’t have enough to eat. Jackson tries not to complain. He tries to keep his confusion and fear to himself.

Then Crenshaw appears. He’s big. He’s outspoken. He’s an imaginary cat. Crenshaw is trying to help Jackson, but Jackson just wants him to go away.

Crenshaw is told from the point of view of Jackson, which allows younger readers to get a glimpse into the world of being homeless without going into too much detail. Through the story, the reader learns that homelessness can happen to anyone, even when they are trying their best.

Jackson’s life story has many lessons, including the importance of honesty. Jackson steals food for his sister because she was hungry. However the theft is not glamorized, and when his sister throws up on Jackson’s book, he figures that it was his punishment.

With the help of his imaginary friend Crenshaw, Jackson finds the courage to tell his friend and his parents the truth about his feelings, which is the most important lesson of all.

Crenshaw uses humor, a gigantic cat, and a realistic situation to teach about the struggles of financial difficulties and the importance of friendship. The author uses easy to understand language and dialogue to bring the characters to life.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

None

Drugs and Alcohol

When Jackson makes a box to sleep it, he wrote, “Keep out Jackson’s rum on the top. . . Dad said, if only it really was rum.”

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

When Jackson’s dad is getting ready to beg for money, Jackson’s mom said, “Write ‘God Bless,” at least. . . Everyone writes ‘God Bless.’” Jackson’s dad replies, “Nope. As it happens, I have no idea what God is up to.”

The One and Only Ivan

Ivan once lived in a jungle, now he lives in a small domain at Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. He spends his time watching the people who come by and television shows. Ivan doesn’t think about his life in the jungle, instead, he is content to talk to his friends Stella, an elephant, and Bob, a dog.

Ivan also likes to draw pictures. His favorite thing to draw is a banana. No one seems to understand his art, except for Julia, a little girl who sits outside of his domain in the evenings when her father works cleaning the mall.

Ivan thinks he is content with his life until he meets Ruby, a baby elephant who was taken from her family. Ruby makes Ivan remember what his life was like when he lived in the jungle and what it means to be a silverback—a protector. With the help of his artwork, Ivan hopes to help Ruby escape living in her domain at Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade.

Ivan’s first-person narrative is a touching story about Ivan’s friendships and his love of art. Through his eyes, the reader is introduced to how captive animals are treated. Although the story is told with humor, the topic may be upsetting for more sensitive readers. In the end, Ivan and his friends finally have a happy home that will make the reader smile.

Sexual Content

Ivan likes to watch romance shows on the television. “In a romance there is much hugging and sometimes face licking.” Commercials also have people that have people that “face lick.”

Violence

A claw-stick is used to punish elephants when they do not listen to their trainer. “Once Stella saw a trainer hit a bull elephant with a claw-stick. . . when the claw-stick caught in the bull’s flesh, he tossed the trainer into the air with his tusk. The man flew, Stella said, like an ugly bird.”
When poked with a claw-stick, Ruby hits her trainer with her trunk. “. . . I know he must be uncomfortable, because Mack drops the claw-stick and falls down on the ground and curls into a ball and howls like a baby.”
Bob, a dog, “used to have three brothers and two sisters. Humans tossed them out of a truck onto the freeway when they were a few weeks old. Bob rolled into a ditch. The others did not.”
Ivan’s family is killed by humans. “They shot my father next. Then they chopped off their (his family’s) hands, their feet, their heads.” The hands were used to make ashtrays.

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

The Trap

You would think Henry and Helen would be two peas in a pod. After all, they are twins. But Helen is brave and fearless, while Henry must think everything through. Despite their clear differences, they, along with their best friends Carl and Nicki, are inseparable.

When Carl’s brother mysteriously disappears, the four friends go on a mission to figure out what happened. Their search leads them to a book called Subtle Travel and the Subtle Self, which explains how a person can leave their body in their sleep. As the four friends learn to travel, they quickly discover that their subtle self isn’t invulnerable when Henry’s subtle self gets trapped. His friends want to jump in and save him, but will that lead to more disaster?

Teens and preteens alike will enjoy The Trap because it is fast-paced and easy to read. This story contains a good mystery, a bit of the supernatural, as well as a bit of humor.

The Trap touches on racial issues of the 1960’s but doesn’t go into detail. The only negative part of this book is that Henry and Helen have no qualms about lying to their parents in order to solve the mystery. There is also a section in the book where Helen reveals that she likes to break into people’s houses because it’s interesting to look around.

The Trap shows the importance of understanding people of different cultures. It has a sweet ending that will leave readers satisfied.

Sexual Content

Henry and Nicki go to a school dance in their subtle forms. As they dance, Henry “leaned forward and kissed her. A subtle kiss is a strange thing. It’s slippery, and a little electric, and it buzzes on your lips.”

Violence

Carl punches Henry. “Carl’s big knuckles had come at me, his pimply face looming behind them . . . My nose and cheek backed up—right into my brain, and my brain retreated down my throat into my stomach. My stomach hadn’t expected that, and become upset.” Henry pukes, and Henry’s sister jumps on Carl.
A character talks about the Jews being killed during World War II. “They were murdered . . . I returned once, years after the war, to see the graveyard where my parents and grandparents were buried. It is all weeds now. There are no Jews left to care for their own dead.”
One of the children talks about her great-grandfather who worked on the Transcontinental Railroad. “And in Iowa, he got attached by an Irish railroad gang. They mobbed him and some other Chinese workers, saying that Chinese people were stealing Irish jobs. They almost killed him, and he ended up in the hospital in Cedar Rapids.”
In a TV show, the Devil tells a rich man he can live forever if he murdered two other people. The rich man finds two “bums drunk.” The rich man did not think those men deserved to live as much as he did. So the rich man puts rat poison in a bottle of whiskey, “intending to give it to the hoboes. Then the show took a commercial break.”
Henry’s dad talks about when he was in the war. When they heard shots, everyone ran, but one man got shot. “Lying out there on his back, in the street. And making a sound, like gargling . . . because they shot him . . . in the throat . . . The North Koreans . . . they went up to Davis. And I watched . . . as they. ..They stripped him. They took his gun, his belt. Jacket. Helmet. Boots. Right off him, while he was still trying to breathe. They took everything. And they left him there, naked in the street. He died there.”

Drugs and Alcohol

Carl’s father is disliked because he is a drunk. The father appears several times in the story and is seen drinking beer on multiple occasions.

Language

One of the adults complains about, “this damn back of mine.”

Supernatural

Henry finds a book that teaches him how a person, “could step right out of their body while their body was sleeping. You’d be yourself, but invisible. This was called ‘subtle travel.’ The part of you that did the walking, your second body, was called ‘the subtle form.’”
A ghost appears and helps Henry solve the mystery of what happened to Carl.
When Carl was in his subtle form, someone did something to his physical body. Carl isn’t sure if his body is alive or dead, and he is afraid if he goes back into his body he will die.

Spiritual Content