Topic: Family

Bad Island

Reese doesn’t want to go on a boating trip with his family. He doesn’t understand why he can’t just stay home alone. When the family heads out to sea, a surprise storm wrecks their ship, and they end up on a strange island. The island has weird plants, weirder animals, and lethal inhabitants.

The castaways must find a way to escape the island’s inhabitants. But they have few resources, and there are strange creatures swarming the island. When the family finds an artifact, they follow the clues trying to unlock the island’s secrets. Is there any way Reese and his family can survive on this bad island?

Bad Island is an action-packed story that combines two stories. Giant aliens are at war with another empire, and some of the aliens eventually come to Earth. The family, who just wanted to take a boating trip, ends up on the same island with the aliens. The beginning of the story is a bit confusing because the illustrations have very little text to explain the alien conflict. More information about the aliens, the war, and the conflict would have been helpful. Even though the story and the characters are underdeveloped, Bad Island still has many positive aspects.

The comic style illustrations bring the bad island’s creepy inhabitants to life. Much of the fighting is illustrated in kid-friendly pictures and contains bold onomatopoeias such as “Fling! Blaaarrr! Swack! Chomp! Whomp!” The action-packed sequences and character’s expressions give the story an added depth of emotion. As the book weaves the two stories together, the readers will see the parallels between the stories that focus on the father and son relationship.

Younger readers will be drawn to Bad Island because of the amazing illustrations, and they will also relate to the characters in the story. Anyone who has an annoying little sister will have empathy for Reese, who has to try to save his sister even while she drives him crazy. The story clearly shows the importance of family love. Bad Island contains little bits of text scattered throughout the story, a simple plot, and a positive message that is perfect for younger readers who are reluctant to dive into books.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • The story shows aliens at war; the pictures show the fighting in non-gory, kid-friendly detail over seven pages.
  • When the family captures an alien and ties it up, a huge tree-like creature chases the family. In order to escape, the dad cuts the vines of the tree.
  • Strange creatures attack the family; the kids are able to run away, but the parents are captured. As the kids run, Reese shoots a creature with a flare gun. The creature catches on fire. The parents are tied up and put in a hole. The scene takes place over 12 pages.
  • When the parents are captured, the creatures try to put the parents in a pit of acid. Reese throws rocks at the creatures, and the parents escape. Some of the creatures are thrown into the acid. The chase scene takes place over many, many pages.
  • Reese kicks a creature.
  • While exploring the inside of an alien robot, the robot awakens and snaps Janie in its teeth.
  • In another world, the aliens are fighting a war, and an alien is stabbed in the stomach; he is put in cryo-sleep.
  • Another alien attacks the family and uses some type of power to stop the dad from moving. Another alien helps the family escape.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Heck is used twice.
  • When Reece was born, he stopped breathing, and his dad said, “On that day, I was scared as hell.”
  • When Reece sees a monster-alien, he says “Oh, crud.”
  • The dad calls an alien a jerk.

Supernatural

  • A skeleton comes to life and is being controlled by an alien being.
  • When the kids touch a rock with a symbol on it, they turn invisible.
  • Janie’s pet snake comes back to life.

Spiritual Content

  • When the family’s boat crashes and no one is injured except a pet snake, the mom says, “Oh, Thank God it’s just the snake.”
  • When Janie’s snake dies, she asks her father, “Do you think he went to heaven?” The dad replies, “I don’t know, Janie. . .But if there is a snake heaven, I’m sure Pickles will be the first one to slither through that door.”

Sweeping Up the Heart

For spring break, Amelia wants to go on a vacation to Florida. But Amelia’s father doesn’t like to travel. He’d rather spent his time peacefully at home. Amelia wants adventure. Amelia already feels like a freak at school, and she isn’t thrilled about being the only seventh grader sitting at home, doing nothing over spring break.

Amelia plans to spend as much time as possible at Louise’s art studio. When she works with clay, she forgets all about her quiet, lonely house. When Amelia goes to the art studio, she meets Casey. Amelia is looking forward to the break now that she has a new friend to spend time with. While sitting in a cafe, Casey begins a game where he and Amelia make up names and stories for those who are passing by. Casey sees a woman, who looks similar to Amelia, and thinks the woman could be Amelia’s dead mother. Amelia begins to imagine that the woman is her mother and all of the ways that would impact her life.

Sweeping Up the Heart is a simple, beautiful story that deals with the complicated nature of family life. Amelia is insecure and often lonely. Although she has outgrown sleeping with her stuffed lamb, Dr. Cotton, she still tells him her secrets. Amelia, like many younger kids, wants a more exciting life. She doesn’t understand why she doesn’t have more friends. When she meets Casey, she is eager to have a friend to talk to. Like herself, Casey’s family life is not perfect. Casey has been on a campaign to keep his parent’s marriage from falling apart.

Although Amelia and Casey are relatable characters, who deal with grief, some readers may not like the slow pace of Sweeping Up the Heart. Much of the story focuses on the characters’ interactions, as well as Amelia’s struggle with her often silent father. The story is creative, interesting, and heartfelt, but lacks action. Amelia struggles with missing a mother she doesn’t remember, as well as wishing for more adventure in her life. Amelia relies heavily on Mrs. O’Brien, who takes care of the house and meals. Amelia’s loneliness is described in lovely language that allows the reader to understand Amelia’s longing for something more. However, the conclusion comes too soon and there are so many unanswered questions that will leave the readers with mixed emotions. Although Sweeping Up the Heart is an easy-to-read story, younger audiences may have a difficult time finishing the quiet story that focuses on Amelia who is dealing with the changes that come with adolescence. The story will resonate with anyone who feels like an outcast, has family problems, or just longs for more adventure in life.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Amelia has a stuffed animal that she talks to. She thinks, “she talked to him the way she supposed some people talked to God.”
  • Amelia’s mother wanted to name her Epiphany because “I was born on January sixth, the Feat of Epiphany. . . It’s the day the Three Kings supposedly visited Baby Jesus with their gifts. But we’re not very religious and my father thought it was an odd, trendy name.”

Caterpillar Summer

Eleven-year-old Cat is used to taking care of her younger brother, Chicken. She knows that he isn’t like other seven-year-olds. Cat understands that Chicken gets upset easily; He doesn’t like loud noises, tags in his shirt, or being called Henry. Sometimes he acts out, and Cat has become an expert at calming him.

Cat is looking forward to spending three weeks in Atlanta. Unexpectedly their plans change, and Cat and Chicken go to stay with their grandparent that they have never met. She isn’t excited about spending time with her mother’s estranged parents, Lily and Malcon. She doesn’t think they can take care of Chicken as well as she can. But as she adjusts to her grandparents and life on an island, Cat realizes it has been a long time since she has been able to be a kid. The more that she learns about her grandparents, the more she wonders why her grandparents haven’t been a part of her life.

Beautifully written, Caterpillar Summer is written from Cat’s point of view and does an excellent job putting Cat’s emotions into language that younger readers can understand. Her mother works hard to provide for the family, and her father has died, which leaves Cat in charge of her brother. Cat is a remarkably relatable character, who clearly loves her brother, but gets frustrated that she must always watch him. As Cat learns to trust her grandparents to care for Chicken, she is given more freedom and becomes aware of her own needs. Because of her newfound independence, she learns the importance of advocating for herself.

Readers will also love Chicken, who loves sharks and who wants to do things his way. Cat soon learns that her overprotective nature has not allowed Chicken to solve his own problems. And although Chicken needs to be watched over, he also needs to be able to interact with others and solve conflicts on his own. In addition to the lovable characters, the story also has cute black and white illustrations of a chicken and a caterpillar that connect to the characters and help the reader understand the conflict between the two siblings.

The story focuses on family relationships and the misunderstandings that can lead to lasting hurt. The story also hints at the difficulties biracial children encounter. The story is realistic and shows the complicated nature of family relationships. Themes of family love, forgiveness, and friendship are woven through the story. As Cat meets new people, she learns that people are “good and bad, at the same time.” Readers will come away understanding that all people have good qualities and bad qualities.

McDunn uses beautiful language and well-developed realistic characters to create an honest story about families. There are several scenes that are funny, some scenes that are heartwarming, and some that will make readers grab a tissue. Even though the story is written using easy vocabulary and simple sentences, many younger readers may not connect with the story because of the lack of action. If you are interested in action, adventure or fantasy, Caterpillar Summer will not appeal to you. Readers interested in realistic fiction will definitely find Caterpillar Summer worth reading. If you like Caterpillar Summer, you may also want to read Bob by Wendy Mass & Rebecca Stead.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • While at the library, Chicken and another boy get in an argument. The boy’s sister says, “Neddie told me he grabbed Chicken’s book, but Chicken wouldn’t let go. When Neddie lost his grip he smacked himself in the nose with his own hand.”
  • While on the merry-go-round, Chicken falls off and “then a foot thwacked him in the eye. He rolled onto his back.”
  • Cat sees two boys kicking their brother.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Cat’s grandfather tells her, “My plan for your mom’s life did not include a husband and a child, living on the other side of the dadgum country.”
  • Heck is used twice.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Daughters of Steel

Halan was a powerless princess. Now, she’s the queen of the Magi Kingdom, a blazing desert land where magic rules. Without any power, Halan wonders if she can be the queen her people need.

Nalah was a poor girl, from a kingdom that feared magic. Now she’s the Queen’s Sword, standing beside Halan at the helm of the kingdom. The more Nalah’s uncontrolled powers grow, the more dangerous they become. Will Nalah’s fear of her magic’s power cause her to hurt the people she cares about?

Nalah goes on a quest to discover how to control her powers. While she is gone, a friend from her world travels through the Transcendent Mirror asking for help. Halan decides to go through the mirror and help the Thaumas of New Hadar. As a dark threat draws closer, can Nalah and Halan reunite to save both worlds?

The second installment of the Sisters of Glass series continues the saga of Nalah and Halan; both girls need to learn valuable truths that will help them become leaders. Halan wants to be a good queen—one that will “stand up for people, do the hard things when it needs to be done, even if it means putting her own life on the line.” When Halan travels to New Hadar, she highlights the importance of caring for others, no matter their station in life. At one point, she tells her friend Marcus (a market boy), that “Your life and your brother’s and the lives of every single soul being held by the Hokmet are just as valuable as mine. If I were to put my safety above that of others, then I would be a very poor leader indeed.”

Nalah takes her own journey, where she must face several challenges. Throughout her journey, she learns that everything must have balance and that she has to prove her own worth to herself. Even though Nalah learns important lessons during her travels, even younger readers may have a hard time believing some of the unrealistic events. For example, even though no one has ever returned from a journey into the desert, Nalan is able to cross the desert in two days, albeit she gets injured. Nalah is also able to perform advanced magic, with no new instruction; she even successfully performs a healing magic spell that her mother could not control.

Through the sisters’ experiences, readers will explore the qualities of a good leader, as well as think about the nature of good and evil. At one point, Halan thinks about those who care for their own safety and questions, “Or was witnessing evil and doing nothing about it just as bad as doing it yourself?”

 Daughters of Steel has a complicated plot, graphic violence, and a ritual that requires collecting people’s blood. The story jumps back and forth between Nalah’s point of view and Halan’s point of view, which makes the story confusing at times. Although Sisters of Steel gives readers thought-provoking questions to consider, readers who are only interested in reading about sisters in a magical world may want to read The Unicorn Quest, which has less violence.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When a beam falls on a man, Nalah uses magic to try to help him. Nalah felt “for the splinters in the wood’s core, she concentrated on them and willed them to open like a wound. The beam split apart under her hands. . . The man trapped underneath let out a pained gasp as the beam was dragged off his lower torso. Blood was flowing freely from the legs of his trousers, where a jagged spur of bone was poking through his skin.”
  • Nalah accidently sets the building on fire. Workers begin throwing water on the fire, but it doesn’t help. “The workers backed up as fast as they could as the whole structure started to topple. It crashed to the ground in a shower of sparks, and there was a scream as part of it flew off and caught a young woman square in the chest. She dropped and rolled, and people ran to help her.
  • When Marcus jumps through the Transcendent Mirror, a soldier follows him. The soldier “lunged, swinging his heavy stick, and Halan had to push Marcus aside as she dived out of the way. Marcus toppled to the ground, quickly scooting away until his back rammed up against a bookshelf. . .” Halan throws a bottle of sleepsand at the soldier, and “he recoiled, staggering, and then crashing to the floor. Halan felt some satisfaction seeing that he landed face down in his own spittle.”
  • When Soren and Nalah begin a journey, a group of people surround them. Someone grabs Soren, and he “was on his knees, his arms twisted behind his back by one of the men, a knife held to his throat by another.” Nalah wonders, “Could she take on twelve armed adults—some possibly wielding Thauma weapons?” Nalah doesn’t fight, but gives herself up. A man makes her put on gloves that will not allow Thauma magic to “transmute skin.”
  • A group of people captures Soren and Nalah, and as the two are being transported a man hits Soren. “The man punched him hard in the stomach and he doubled over, gasping for breath as he was pulled through another door, which slammed with a clang.” Nalah is taken to another room somewhere. “Nalah had not given up, but she was helpless to stop them from dragging her over to a wide wooden table in the center of the workshop. They thrust her against it hard enough that it pushed all the air from her lungs. . . one of the women had leaned over and seized her wrist, pulling it across a table to rest palm up across a shallow metal bowl. The woman snapped a shackle over her arm and another over her other wrist, so that she was pinned down, the edge of the table digging into her stomach.” The capture of Soren and Nalah takes place over ten pages.
  • In order to escape an enforcer, “Marcus lobbed an old kettle across the room, striking the Enforcer on the shoulder. The man tripped over a box and landed on his back on the floor, cursing with words she’d [Halan had] never heard before. . .” Halan and Marcus go through a trap door. Then “the Enforcer burst out from the trapdoor, and by the time he saw the pole coming toward him it was too late. Powered by panic, the blow hit home, and the man dropped like a stone and sprawled there, unconscious.”
  • Trying to get Marcus and Halan to come out of a house, Enforcers throw a smoke bomb into the house. “the smoke tasted foul and bitter, and it snaked into her lungs and began to choke her.” They are able to escape.
  • Nalah is captured and tied up, and her wrist is cut so that her blood will flow into a bowl. She feels pain, “and then there was numbness, and then there was pain again. Nalah’s arm throbbed and her vision swam. Her knees gave out, but the manacles held her in place, still stretched over the table. Her shoulders and her calves ached from the strain.” Nalah tried to focus on other things, but “the stinging agony of the cut on her wrist always brought her back.
  • After some of Nalah’s blood is drained, two men come into the room. One man “was dragging Soren behind him. His hands and legs were bound, and there was a bloom of purple across one side of his face where he’d been struck, but at least he had the right number of eyes.”
  • In order to escape, Soren “grabbed the metal ruler from the bench and held it out in front of him, twirling it in his fingers like a scimitar. . . The man lunged at Soren, clashing his sword so hard against Soren’s ruler that sparks flew from the impact. . . With a flourish of her arm, Nalah sent the glowing chain whipping across the attacker’s back. His clothing sizzled at its touch, and the man cried out in pain. Nalah pulled the chain back in and whipped it again, driving the man into the corner of the room like a lion tamer.” Nalah and Soren get out of the room, but encounter more people. “The nobles rushed at them. Soren parried one blow and got a hard swipe across the shoulders of one of the women, drawing blood. But then he had to duck and roll under the table to avoid the swords of the other three nobles. Nalah spotted a box full of threads and ran over to scoop them up in her hands. Twisting some of the threads around her fingers, she concentrated on imbuing them with magical energy and speed. When the woman vaulted over a table to swing her sword at Soren, Nalah flung out her hands toward her. The threads shot out like arrows, winding around the woman’s wrist and waist, binding her. . . One of the nobles had got under his guard and stuck a short knife right into his belly. Soren choked and doubled up, the ruler dropping from his hand with a clang.” The capture, blood gathering, and escape takes place over two chapters.
  • As part of a test, Nalah must face a wolf. “The flickering light picked out the hundreds of tiny blades that formed its coat, two serrated metal ears, and a jaw that disguised rows of metal teeth. . . Nalah yelped and dived aside as it punted, snapping at the air where her throat had been. . . The creature’s snarling head twisted in midair, and its teeth closed on Nalah’s leg. She screamed. The pain spiked up through her body as the wolf’s fangs sank into her flesh. Half blind with agony, Nalah threw back her head and channeled her breath into a burst of heat that struck the wolf right in the mouth. It yelped and let her go, recoiling, pawing at its face.”
  • Enforcers try to capture Nalah and Marcus. Marcus “struck, stabbing the tip of the knife into the soft exposed flesh where the Enforcer’s show met the bottom of his still trouser.” Marcus uses a magic knife, so the Enforcer cannot speak and call for help. Later, they find other Enforcers, and “Marcus lunged wildly at one of the Enforcers with his knife and then tried to bolt around them, but the other one was too quick and gave him a stunning blow across the back of the neck with his truncheon. He sprawled on the floor and the knife skittered out of his hand. . .” Marcus is captured.
  • A man grabs someone with a glove “made of deep green iridescent fabric, like a beetle’s shell. As soon as he touched the bare skin, the man’s hand spasmed and turned ashen gray, the flesh seeming to sag and shrink away. . . the hand, which continued to wither with each passing second.”
  • Tam grabs Halan and “seized her wrist, twisting it up behind her back. She gasped as he pressed his knife to her chest. . . The pain was worse than what Halan had been prepared for. She let out a sobbing yell as Tam dragged his knife across her arm, holding it out over the crystal bowl. Blood cascaded down the blade and dripped into the black pool in long, viscous strings.” Tam attempts to kill Halan, but before he does Tam is killed when “his back hit the altar with a sickening crunch, and he wheeled away and struck the wall that was peppered with the shards of his crystal bowl. Tam hung there for a second and then slid down the wall and lay still.”
  • A man throws sand into the air. “Most of the soldiers managed to duck and shield their faces, but a few were too slow as the sand melted and twisted into tiny shards of glass and flew at them. Two men fell to the ground, gasping and clutching at their faces, blood beginning to seep from a thousand tiny wounds.” The man “reached out to grasp the branch of a nearby tree. Suddenly, all the trees in the garden began to whip their branches around wildly. Two of the soldiers were knocked on their backs, and three more standing too close let out choking screams as the branches wrapped around them, hugging them tight to the trunks of the trees.”
  • A man grabs Halan’s ankle with a glove. “Something seized Halan’s ankle, feeling like a hundred biting insects were all stinging her skin at once. She screamed and tried to pull away, but the grip tightened. Halan’s vision swam and she reeled, losing her balance and hitting the ground hard. She held up a hand and watched as her skin turned gray and began to wither before her eyes.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • In New Hader, several people refer to those who can do magic as “Thauma scum.”
  • “God” is used as an exclamation once. Someone says, “God, I was so worried. . .”
  • A man tells Nalah, “You’re too young, too stupid to have these powers, you see? They should never have come to you—they’re wasted on you. You’re not even from this world! You’re a street rat, a guttersnipe. . .”
  • Several times, someone calls a person an “idiot.”
  • When Marcus encounters a dark figure, he asks, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Supernatural

  • Thaumas have magical powers that allow them to make things with one element—glass, metal, tapestry, wood, etc.
  • In the story, each world has a tawam, which is another version of themselves. When Halan goes to the other world she recognizes Ester. “This girl was New Hadar’s version of Ester—her tawam! Not everybody from the two worlds had a tawam—Ester’s ancestors must have survived the quakes, met and had children, and their children met the same people and had children, and on down the generations, for hundreds of years.”
  • Halan and Nalah have the ability to “communicate through their thoughts, a benefit of their special bond. They’d quickly gotten used to using it, sending each other messages even when they were in the same room.”
  • When Halan finds an orb and looks into it, she sees a vision. Halan wonders, “Is this another vision of the future?”
  • When Nalah looks into an orb, she sees a vision. During the vision, “the eye focused on Nalah, and she felt as if in one glance it had seen her whole life, every moment she’d lived and every moment still to come. You are lost, Child of the Clan, said a deafening voice that seemed to come from the mountains themselves. Take the journey and be found.” Because of the vision, Nalah takes a journey to a shrine.
  • Nalah is given an Aqua Needle. “Nalah was fascinated when she first saw the hollow wooden stake, its end sharpened to a point. Apparently all you needed to do was follow its magnetic pull to a point in the desert and push it into the sand. Within moments, water hidden within the earth would begin flowing from its mouth.”
  • The Transcendent Mirror allows people to travel to the different worlds.
  • A man uses Nalah’s blood to make a blood cloak. An ancient text said, “that the blood of one of these Thaumas, when joined with certain other materials, can make a substance so powerful, it becomes like an extension of the Thauma themselves. It draws power from the Thauma and imbues that power into whoever is wearing it—Fifth Clan or not.”
  • When Nalah is in shackles, Soren puts a silver coin into her mouth. Nalah uses her magic to turn the coin into a key, which allows her to remove the shackles.
  • Halan finds a hold-all bag, which looks normal but holds as many items as one can put into the bag.
  • Nalah is told she must go to a shrine and “find you what the Seer has to tell you. Your destiny be the destiny of all of us, Starchild, and it must not be delayed. Read I this in the stars. . .”
  • Nalah must use her magic to pass a series of tests. When she gets to the shrine, the walls begin to burn, and Nalah must ignore them to focus on opening a box to get a key.
  • Halan is given a magic knife that “will render anyone it cuts unable to speak for at least an hour.” Halan’s traveling companion, Marcus, is given a staff that “strikes with twice the force you put into it and will bear almost any weight without bending.”
  • Tam performs a ceremony. Halan sees him “standing at an altar, his eyes closed and his mouth moving constantly as he muttered incantations. Placed on the altar was a large crystal bowl filled with a liquid so dark it was almost black, and giving off an eerie ghost light that hurt Halan’s eyes to look at. . .” Unconscious prisoners surround the altar, and their wrists had been cut. Tam “dipped the other hand into the bowl and began to write in the air, symbols that seemed to burn on the backs of Halan’s eyelids when she blinked, written with the blood of the innocent Thauma.” Tam is attempting to draw power through using the Thauma’s blood. The ritual is described over two pages.
  • When Tam performs a ritual, New Hadar begins to tear. The ritual is going to cause the end of New Hadar. Halan and Nalah are able to stop the ritual, which creates a permanent portal between the worlds.

Spiritual Content

  • Halan enters a secret meeting. “Thank you, Halan thought, sending out a message to the spirit of Nalah’s father. It looks like your luck even works for me.”
  • Halan meets a prophet, Cyrus, who has been dead for hundreds of years. Cyrus tells her, “I am not alive, Nalah. . . Not quite—not the way you would understand it. I exist here. I have existed here since before I was born, and I will exist here for a long time after you are dead. In my short time as a mortal being, I was a Fifth Clan Thauma named Cyrus, also called the Prophet, the Blind Seer. I was blind, then, although it might be more true to say my eyes were simply . . . elsewhere.” Cyrus tells Nalah, “Since you picked up my prophecy orb, I have not left your side.”
  • Halan prays for a miracle.

Louisiana’s Way Home

Granny thinks the day of reckoning has arrived. In the middle of the night, Granny wakes up Louisiana, telling her they must leave immediately. Granny often had ideas in the middle of the night, so Louisiana thinks that they will return home soon. But this time, Granny crosses the Georgia border and drives into Florida.

Now Louisiana is living in a hotel room with her sick Granny. Louisiana doesn’t want to be separated from her best friends or her pet. She wants to find her way home. But soon, Louisiana begins making friends. She meets a boy with a crow that sits on his shoulder, a kind minister, and a grumpy hotel owner. As Louisiana tries to navigate a new town, she wonders if “the curse of sundering” will determine her fate? Will Louisiana always be forced to leave those she loves?

Louisiana’s story “is a long and tragic story full of dark alleys and twists and turns and many unexpected happenings. . . And also curses. There are curses in the story.” Louisiana’s Way Home is told from Louisiana’s point of view, which allows the reader to understand Louisiana’s thoughts and emotions. Louisiana is a spunky, irresistible character who struggles to understand her well-meaning, but unstable Granny.

Throughout the story, Dicamillo expertly crafts an array of characters who are both realistic and interesting. Some adults are so jaded by their own experience that they have lost all compassion, and others who are willing to open their doors to a lonely, lost child. However, the most fascinating character is Burke; he is “the kind of person who, if you asked him for one of something, gave you two instead.”

Louisiana’s Way Home is realistic fiction that touches on themes of friendship, family, love, and forgiveness. The story also shows the importance of attending school. When Burke skips school, his mother tells him, “After a time, it will catch up with you, and you will find that life has closed its doors to you. . . Open doors. That is what we want—doors that are open to us.”

Even though Louisiana’s Way Home uses simple sentences, the word choice may make the story difficult to read. For example, the author uses words such as inopportune, ascertained, irrelevant, and juncture. At the beginning of the story, Louisiana talks about a “curse of sundering” that has affected her family; however, the meaning of the word sundering isn’t discussed until much further in the book, which may cause some readers to be confused about the curse.

Even though Louisiana was introduced to readers in Raymie Nightingale, readers do not need to read the story to understand and enjoy Louisiana’s Way Home. As Louisiana navigates difficult situations, she learns that “We all, at some point, have to decide who we want to be in this world. It is a decision we make for ourselves.” As Louisiana tries to figure out who she wants to be, readers will be engrossed in her heartwarming story.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • After having all of her teeth removed, the grandmother is given antibiotics and painkillers.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • According to Louisiana’s grandmother, there is a curse of sundering on the family. The curse began when “My great-grandfather sawed my great-grandmother in half, and then he walked away. He left my great-grandmother on the stage. Sawed in two. . . Someone else put her back together. . . and the two of them ran away together and my granny was left entirely alone.”

Spiritual Content

  • Louisiana thinks, “Granny didn’t believe in heaven. But that didn’t mean I had to not believe, did it?”

How to Be Popular

Steph has been a social outcast for the past five years because she accidentally spilled a cherry Big Gulp on a popular girl. This year, Steph’s determined to step out of her comfort zone and join the popular crowd. In order to change her social standing, Steph plans to follow the book How to Be Popular.

In the process of gaining the friendship of the popular crowd, Steph must decide if she’s ready to get rid of her nerdy best friends Becca and Jason. Will Steph throw away her old friends in order to party with the popular kids and hang out with the school quarterback?

Steph is a relatable character who, like many, struggles with the desire to be part of the popular group. Steph’s character is well developed, and her point of view is endearing. Steph’s family relationships add an interesting and often comic element to the story. The book revolves around the usual cast of stereotypical high school characters—the mean girl, the cute high school quarterback, and the nerdy friends.

How to Be Popular is an easy-to-read story that follows a familiar, predictable plot. Although the story contains few surprises, Steph’s journey will entertain those looking for a romance appropriate for middle school readers. If you’re looking for a fun story to take to the beach, How to Be Popular would make a good choice.

Sexual Content

  • Steph finds a “steamy romance novel from the eighties. . . the heroine in one of them turned out to like having sex ‘Turkish-style,’ which in the book did NOT mean ‘while wearing a fez.’”
  • Steph thinks about Mark and Lauren who, “were totally canoodling” and how her friends, “don’t like seeing people putting their tongues in other people’s mouths, on account of the grossness factor.”
  • If Steph looks through her bathroom window, she can see into her neighbor’s window. She likes to watch him undress. She thinks, “my interest in seeing Jason undressed is purely scientific. Which is why I use the binoculars. . .”
  • Darlene has a large bust and Steph thinks boys “flock to her in hopes of someday being able to sink into her soft good-smellingness.” When Steph sits next to Darlene, “all eight of the guys at Darlene’s table yanked their gazes off the front of her chest and looked at me. Or the area just above the sticky part of my thigh-highs, to be more exact.”
  • Someone says that Steph’s grandpa is “warm for your form.”
  • Steph’s grandpa tries to explain how he got his fiancée. He says, “Well, the fact is, Steph, we Kazoulises, well, we’re a passionate bunch, and we know how to please a woman. . . Kitty’s a woman with needs, you know. . .”
  • Steph’s mom thinks Mark is going out with Lauren because Lauren “puts out.” Steph thinks her mom is “out of touch with reality” because “if I were going out with Mark Finley, I would totally put out, too. Even Father Chuck would understand that.”
  • When Steph is looking through her neighbor’s window, she sees him kissing a girl. “BAM!!! They were smashing their lips up together.”
  • In order to manipulate Steph, Mark kisses her. “. . . Mark had leaned down and put his mouth over mine. . . I have no idea whether or not I kissed him back. I was so surprised, I didn’t know what to do. . . I think I just stood there, letting him kiss me. . .” While kissing she “tried really hard to see the fireworks and hear the choir and the birds. . . And I saw them. And heard them. Did I ever.”
  • Steph kisses a boy “so much, in fact, my lips feel a little chapped. But in a good way.”

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • While watching teens cruise up and down the street, Steph sees a girl “barf up all the Mike’s Hard Lemonade she ingested while sunning herself over at the lake that afternoon.”
  • During an assembly, Steph describes the convocation, “when we all gather in the auditorium to listen to ex-drug addicts and people who killed their friends in drunk driving accidents talk about their experiences.”
  • Several times Steph’s mom says, “God, I need a drink.”
  • A boy from school is planning a party where everyone will get drunk. Someone brings a keg to the party.

Language

  • Damn, dang, and beeyotch are used once.
  • God and oh my God are occasionally used as exclamations.
  • Steph thinks she is a moron.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Steph is Catholic and thinks about going to confession. “I am fully going to ask God for forgiveness about this during Communion in church tomorrow. Since I can’t ask Father Chuck. Might as well go straight to the top.”
  • Steph’s “Grandpa stopped going to church after Grandma died. . . But Grandpa says he can worship God just as well on the ninth hole as he can in the church—if not better; since he’s closer to nature, and therefore, God, on the golf course than he is in our pew at St. Charles. I fear for his immortal soul. . . but I figure if God really is all-forgiving . . . Gramps will be all right.”
  • Steph thinks that Darlene is nice because when the mean girls “were in line to get meanness from God, Darlene must have seen a butterfly and gone running after it, or something, since she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.”

Ana María Reyes Does Not Live in a Castle

Ana María Reyes’s last name means “kings,” but she doesn’t live in a castle. Instead, she lives in a two-room apartment with too many people—her parents and her three sisters. When her parents tell the family that a new baby is on the way, Ana María isn’t thrilled. With so many people in the house, Ana María wonders why her parents would want another child.

To make matters worse, Ana María is given a chance to earn a scholarship for the Eleanor School, New York City’s best private academy. She is excited at the prospect, but in order to earn the scholarship, she has to amaze the judges at her piano showcase. Every time she tries to practice, something or someone gets in the way!

Then the family takes a trip to the Dominican Republic, and Ana María realizes that while she may not live in a castle, she isn’t as poor as she thought. When disaster strikes her family, Ana María must figure out what’s most important to her. Will following her dreams conflict with doing what’s best for others?

Ana María Reyes does not Live in a Castle follows the struggle of a large first-generation Dominican family living in New York City. Despite having a loving family, Ana María wants more—more space, more attention, and more nice things. She struggles with how her parents always help those in the community, even if it means putting Ana María’s needs aside. When she sees others struggle, Ana María thinks, “other people’s problems weren’t my responsibility. We should take care of ourselves.” However, in the end, she realizes the importance of helping those in need. Unlike many stories, Ana María does not Live in a Castle highlights the fact that giving to others doesn’t always make a person feel good. Sometimes helping others means making painful sacrifices.

Ana María’s story is realistic fiction that deals with the hard topics of substance abuse, child labor, and complicated family relationships. Because the story is written from Ana María’s viewpoint, the topics are covered in child-friendly terms. Ana María feels ignored, but later realizes that she has misinterpreted her mother’s actions. She thinks, “Maybe instead of being mad at Mami for hanging out with my sisters, I should have been thanking her for helping me concentrate on my practicing.”

Despite the fun cover, Ana María Reyes does not Live in a Castle is not a lighthearted children’s story. The number of characters, the tough topics, and the length of the story will be difficult for many readers. The story has some Spanish words, which also may confuse readers. Ana María’s story is interesting, but readers who are still used to illustrated children’s books may have a difficult time finishing Ana María does not Live in a Castle.

 The themes of hard work, supporting your family, and giving to others are reinforced throughout the book. In the end, the reader will come away knowing, “That’s one of the great things about family. Nobody’s perfect, but we still love and support each other.” Ana María is a relatable character who learns some valuable lessons. The positive messages in Ana María Reyes does not Live in a Castle make it well worth the read.

Sexual Content

  • One of the teen characters is pregnant and unmarried.
  • Gracie went to the apartment’s lobby to meet a boy. When she went, Gracie “was wearing lipstick and a white tank top, and she had rolled up the elastic waistband on her red shorts to make them even shorter.” When Ana María says she is going to the apartment lobby to meet Pedro, her little sister “made kissing noises.”
  • On Halloween, Gracie’s friends dress up. “Vicky was dressed as a ‘sexy cat,’ and Rebecca was a ‘sexy nurse.’”

Violence

  • When Ana María says something mean, her mother slaps her. Later her mother apologizes and says, “I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that.”
  • While driving drunk, Ana María’s uncle hits someone with his car. “The car slammed into Rosie and sent her flying up in the air. . . The car rammed into the streetlight, which tumbled to the ground with a vibrating clash. . . But Rosie was lying completely still in her ripped tutu on the edge of the sidewalk.” Rosie has a “concussion, a broken leg, and two fractured ribs.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Ana María’s uncle likes “to have a little drink ‘every now and then.’”
  • At a graduation party, Ana María’s uncle was “swinging around a beer.” Later in the story, he hugs Ana María and “he smelled like beer.”
  • Ana María’s father says that her uncle “drinks too much, and driving drunk is illegal and dangerous. It’s only a matter of time before he kills someone.”
  • When Rosie is injured, the doctors give her painkillers.
  • A mother of one of the characters is “addicted to drugs.” The mother “came home one day and the house was empty. She had sold everything for drug money. Even my little brothers’ shoes.”

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Ana María’s family attends mass. The services are not described.
  • When Ana María’s aunt gets engaged, the aunt’s mother “looked at the ceiling in thanks to God.”
  • When Ana María gives a poor man some food, he says, “God bless you.”
  • When Rosie is injured, her Abuelita says, “God will protect her.” Later Abuelita “took her rosary out of her purse. Then she closed her eyes and prayed.”
  • Abuelita says that “God knows how to take care of us.”

Ghosts

Caterina doesn’t want to move. But moving to the coastal town Bahia de la Luna, with its cool, salty air, will help her little sister Maya’s cystic fibrosis. When the two sisters start exploring their new home, they meet their neighbor, Carlos. According to Carlos, Maya isn’t the only one that likes the cool, salty air—so do the ghosts who visit Bahia de la Luna.

As the town prepares for El Día De Los Muertos, Maya is determined to meet a ghost. But Cat doesn’t want to have anything to do with the celebration, and she certainly doesn’t want to meet a ghost. Will Cat be able to put aside her fears? Will Maya fulfill her dream of a ghostly encounter?

Ghost focus on Cat’s fear of losing her sick sister, who has cystic fibrosis. The story shows Maya’s treatments in a fun, illustrated format. Even though Maya is sick, she remains adventurous and inquisitive. Maya is curious about what will happen to her after death.

The beautiful color pictures help tell Cat’s story. Cat is also fearful of the ghost and wants them to leave her family alone. Cat doesn’t want to learn about the Día De Los Muertos or think about her sister’s illness. The illustrations portray Cat’s varied emotions—fear, worry, embarrassment, and love. Even though Cat’s fear is a central part of the story, the ghosts are not portrayed in a frightening manner.

This easy-to-read story gives readers a glimpse into the life of someone with cystic fibrosis. The traditions of Día De Los Muertos come alive through the illustrations. For readers who want to learn more, the end of the book contains more information about Día De Los Muertos and cystic fibrosis.

Ghost is a simple story told through both illustrations and text. Each page contains seven or fewer sentences. The easy vocabulary, simple sentences, and fun pictures make Ghost accessible to all readers. The story contains some Spanish words, but most readers will be able to understand the meaning through context clues. The message and the plot will be interesting for readers in elementary and junior high.

Sexual Content

  • Cat kisses a boy on the cheek.

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • “Oh my gosh” is used several times.

Supernatural

  • The story focuses on the Day of the Dead. “It’s a day to welcome back the spirits of the loved ones we’ve lost.”
  • The town’s mission is “a doorway to the spirit world.” Later in the story, someone takes Maya and her sister to the mission because “It’s where the ghosts’ world and ours most closely overlap. . . so heading up there is our best chance of making contact.”
  • When Cat and Maya see a ghost, the ghost hurts Maya because “ghosts just get a little overly excited by kids. Their energy is like a breath of fresh air.”
  • On the day of the dead, ghosts come to the town and interact with the living. “Some of them can speak, and some of them can’t.” One of the ghosts grabs Cat’s hand and flies her home.
  • A character thinks that “keeping seashells in your house is bad luck. . . unless you want to lure the discontented dead.”
  • At the end of the story, traditional Mexican foods magically appear on Cat’s family’s table.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

The Penderwicks at Last

The Penderwicks are back for the final installment of Jeanne Birdsall’s beloved series about family, friendship, and adventure. The entire family is coming together once again for a wedding, and it just so happens to be at their favorite place in the world, the Arundel estate. Lydia, the youngest Penderwick sister, is now eleven years old and is a boundless ball of dancing energy, excited to experience the wonderful place that she has heard so many stories about. New surprises await as the charming family returns to the estate where it all began.

Following the same simple, yet charming style of the first four books, The Penderwicks at Last is a delightful read. However, it is the least interesting of the series. Although it has the trademark humor and wonder that captivated readers from the beginning, this book tends to drag and lose momentum. Curious readers excited to discover the fate of the family that they have grown to love may find that part of the magic has faded.

The best elements of the book include when Lydia interacts with her family, rather than what the majority of the book focuses on–her relationship with her new friend Alice. As Lydia becomes a better person over the course of her stay at the enormous estate, she learns important lessons about kindness, friendship, and familial bonds.

The story revolves around Lydia as she navigates and discovers Arundel for the first time. She begins to understand the secrets of what makes the Berkshire estate so magical to her family, from the gardens to the rolling fields, allowing the reader to feel the wonder and excitement along with her. Since Lydia was only in the last two books of the series, she is less fascinating than her siblings are. Readers willing to overlook this will find it an enjoyable tale of weddings, space alien movies, and new friendships.

Although The Penderwicks at Last can be read as a stand-alone novel, readers will find the story more amusing if they have read the previous books. Younger readers may find the diction difficult and may not be interested in the older characters and their adult problems.

Despite disappointments for long-time fans of the series, Birdsall uses her trademark style to create a story that is still pleasant to read. Mimicking the mood and story arc of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, The Penderwicks at Last is a feel-good story for readers of all ages.

Sexual Content

  • Batty has a boyfriend from college named Wesley who is a dedicated art student. “Lydia liked him more than any of Batty’s boyfriends from high school. Indeed, he was among her top four or five picks of all her sisters’ boyfriends put together.”
  • Jane has distinctive views about love in her life. “She cared only about becoming a great novelist. Everything else was secondary, including love and romance. Those she’d sworn off after a few heartbreaks had used too much of her writing time.”
  • When they were young, Enam promised to marry Lydia when they grew up. When Enam gets a girlfriend when he is older, Lydia “wasn’t awfully upset, but was also comforted when Aunt Claire told her that boys–even her own two sons–can be dopes when it comes to love, and then took Lydia out for ice cream and a movie.”
  • Tifton perpetually is getting married, divorced, and remarried.
  • Alice tells Lydia the story of how her parents fell in love. “Dad met her when they both started teaching . . . and fell in love with her because of how talented she was, but then he had to beat out the math teacher, the gym teacher, and also Mom’s boyfriend from college before he could win her heart.”
  • When Lydia is trying to stage a procession rehearsal for the wedding, Rosalind, “sneaked off with Tommy to hide behind the pavilion, where they thought they couldn’t be seen.” Alice laments that they are kissing again.

Violence

  • Lydia dislikes a girl in her dance class. Lydia wishes that she could, “do something dramatic about her dislike–shout it to the world or kick Deborah in the shins.”
  • Alice has a conspiracy theory about Mrs. Tifton murdering her husbands in her giant mansion. “She could have poisoned them and used the ax to chop them into pieces. Look right there….I bet that’s blood.”
  • In a tragic scene of Ben’s sci-fi movie, Alice acts out the part of a dying alien who gets murdered. They shoot this scene several times and Alice is regarded as being very good at it.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Jeffrey comes back home to Arundel. “He spotted me at the tunnel and thought, What the heck is that, and do I need to protect my friends from it–”

Supernatural

  • Arundel is described as a magical place. “Jane had said that the stone pillars were a magical boundary that kept out the real world.”
  • Alice believes that all of Mrs. Tifton’s husbands became ghosts after she allegedly killed them. “The husbands could now be ghosts, waiting for their revenge.” These ghosts make Lydia reluctant to sleep alone in the mansion.

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Morgan Filgas

 

 

Saint Anything

Sydney’s older brother, Peyton, holds the spotlight in their family—first for his charm, and then for his stints in rehab and his poor decision-making skills. When he lands in prison after hitting a young boy while drinking and driving, the spotlight turns on Sydney. With this new scandal, she decides to switch schools, hoping for anonymity and a chance to start over.

She starts over by becoming friends with the Chatham family, a family that shows Sydney what it looks like to have parents who are present and supportive and friends who accept you for you. Dessen does all this without feeling cheesy or unrealistic. Readers will see the lesson shown when Sydney is finally able to stand up for herself and the people she loves. Readers will appreciate the character development of Sydney as well as her parents.

Saint Anything is a heartfelt story that doesn’t only focus on romance but also captures the ups and downs of real life. With just the right amount of romance, suspense, and family drama, Saint Anything explores Sydney’s personal growth as she deals with tragedy.

Sydney’s character is genuine and relatable. Her story explores the complicated nature of family relationships. Readers will walk away feeling satisfied at having read a story that not only had a well-developed plot, but also realistic characters and an engaging conflict. The realistic dialogue and uncomplicated vocabulary make for an easy-to-read, engaging story.

Dessen writes a beautiful story that focuses on dealing with grief, guilt, and loneliness. The heart-warming story, with well-developed characters, shows readers the importance of becoming comfortable in your own skin. Saint Anything is the perfect book for those looking for a sweet romance that focuses on family and friendship.

Sexual Content

  • Margaret says to her friend, “Thank me forever for hooking you up with the guy you’re crazy about?”
  • Margaret walks up the stairs with a boy, implying that they are going to have sex. She asks Sydney what she is doing, and Sydney thinks, “Considering she was alone with the guy Jenn had clearly stated she was crushing on, in Jenn’s house, on her way to where there were only bedrooms, I wanted to ask her the same thing.”
  • While on a walk in the woods, Mac and Layla kiss. “I took my hand from Mac’s, then reached up to touch his cheek. When I did, his fingers moved to my waist, pulling me in closer. It was fluid and easy, like everything had been since we’d met, as I stood on my tiptoes and finally, finally kissed him.”
  • Layla thinks about Mac while reflecting on their new relationship, “Not just that he was a good kisser (very good, actually) and had the tightest set of abs I’d ever seen or touched.”
  • When Layla and Mac say goodbye, “he leaned in, kissing me once on the lips, then on the forehead. I felt safe enough to close my eyes.”
  • Spence and Layla kiss before going downstairs to the recording studio. As Spence is headed towards the studio, Layla “allowed herself to be pulled in for a kiss. To her surprise, not to mention mine, it quickly became open-mouthed and full-on tongue.”
  • Sydney’s mom speaks of Mac, “enunciating his name like you might the word herpes or molestation.”

Violence

  • Sydney’s brother is in jail. He was driving under the influence and hit a young boy riding his bike, “head-on.” The accident is not described.
  • Margaret is speaking to Sydney about her public school and says, “I hear there are fights there every day. And that’s with the girls.”
  • A boy attempts to sexually assault Sydney. “He grabbed my wrists. . . then tightened his grip on my wrists, pushing them back, back, against my ears. That was when I got scared. . . I tried to turn my head as he put his lips on mine, squeezing my eyes shut, but he grabbed my face, jerking me back to face him. I could feel his fingers digging into my chin. . . but then my palm was connecting with his face, the sound of skin to skin loud, a smack, and he stumbled backward. . .” Sydney’s dad stops the attack. “. . . I saw my dad. He had one arm hooked around Ame’s neck, tight, the fist clenched, and was pulling him backward down the hallway, away from me.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • In the beginning, Sydney explains the backstory of how her brother ended up in jail. She describes a background of breaking and entering, smoking pot, and possession of pills in his locker.
  • Peyton’s friend has a habit of smoking cigarettes. He would “duck out occasionally to the garage to smoke cigarettes, using a sand-bucket ashtray my mom (who abhorred the habit) put out.”
  • Peyton “drank several beers, took a few shots,” and then “got into his car, and headed home.”
  • In the past, Rosie became addicted to Vicodin that the doctor prescribed to her for a knee injury. She got into trouble when she attempted to get more by faking her prescriptions. “She got a bit too fond of the Vicodin they gave her. Tried to pass off some fake prescriptions.”
  • When Jenn’s parents are out of town, Margaret, Jenn, Meredith, and Sydney drink piña coladas. Meredith and Sydney are not fans of alcohol, but they stay to make sure Jenn is okay. Jenn drinks too much and Sydney helps her to bed.
  • A newspaper story speaking about Peyton’s past states, “After a string of arrests for breaking and entering and drug possession, among other things, he’d completed a stay in rehab and had been sober for over a year. But on that February night, after an evening spent drinking and getting high. . .”
  • Layla and her friends go into the woods behind their house and drink one or two beers before coming back home. Irv says, “Beer me, someone.”
  • Layla’s boyfriend has started taking drugs. Layla tells Sydney the extent of it. “Just pot. Some pills. They make him different. But when I nag him, he gets mad, then doesn’t answer my texts.”
  • When Layla’s boyfriend shows up at her house, she “got a strong whiff of alcohol.”
  • While in the recording studio, Spence, “proceeded to drink most of his bottle of vodka.”

Language

  • “Oh, my God” and “My God” are used several times as exclamations.
  • Layla’s dad says, “Blah my ass,” and then apologizes for his language.
  • Rosie flips another character off.
  • Layla speaks about her brother’s ex-girlfriend. “She was a mean hippie. Who even knew such a thing existed? Bitch.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Layla and her brother went to church when they were young. She speaks about meeting a friend “whom I’d known since our days at Trinity Church Preschool.”
  • Mac explains that the pendant he wears around his neck is “actually a pendant of a saint.” He explains further saying it is of “Bathilde. Patron saint of children. I guess she [his mom] figured we’d need all the help we could get.”
  • Sydney thinks about Mac’s mother, “Like my mom, she was that center of the wheel, with everyone connected drawing strength from her. She needed a saint of her own.”
  • Mac and Layla deliver pizza. “At the next stop, we interrupted a teenage Bible study and were greeted at the door by a beaming girl with braces, who invited us in for a slice and some testimony. Even though we declined, she tipped generously. Jesus would have approved.”
  • Mac speaks about saints and the pendant again, saying Mrs. Chatham “always liked the idea of protection, but especially since she got sick. I’m not wholly convinced. But I figure it can’t hurt, you know?”
  • Mac speaks about saints and his mom. “But there are a few that can be applied pretty broadly. Like the saint of wanderers, travelers, the lost. Or whatever. . . My mom’s favorite is Saint Anthony, the finder of lost things.”
  • Sydney speaks about her saint pendant. “My Saint Anything. I liked the thought of someone looking out for me, whoever it might be. We all need protecting, even if we don’t always know what from.”

by Hannah Neely

Soof

Aurora knows all the Heidi stories. All of her life, Aurora has heard about Heidi and how Heidi brought her family luck. But sometimes Aurora thinks her mother doesn’t feel so lucky to have her as a daughter. Her mom thinks she’s weird and wants her to have friends. Aurora has her dog, Duck, as a best friend, and Duck’s friendship is enough.

When Aurora’s mom announces that Heidi is coming for a visit, everything changes. Her mom is obsessed with making everything perfect for Heidi’s visit. Right before Heidi’s visit, bad luck hits the family. When a fire damages their house, Duck disappears, and Aurora and her mother begin fighting like alley cats.

Aurora knows her mother believes in Soof, which means love. But she’s left wondering if her mother loves Heidi more than her.

Although Soof is the companion novel to So B. It, Soof can be read as a stand-alone novel. However, reading So B. It will help readers understand the relationship between Aurora’s mother and Heidi. Soof, which is told from Aurora’s point of view, focuses on Aurora’s struggle to feel loved. Aurora doesn’t mind being labeled as “weird” and not having friends; however, her mother has taken her to several doctors to see if she is “on the spectrum.” Aurora sometimes wonders if her mother was hoping to have a daughter like Heidi, not a weird daughter like herself.

Aurora is a complex character who understands herself, yet still feels insecure. The interactions between Aurora and her family drive the story. Her imperfect family is portrayed in a positive light. Even though Aurora’s family loves each other, the reader can understand why Aurora feels threatened by Heidi’s visit.

 So much of the story focuses on Aurora’s internal conflict that the story lacks action. Although Aurora and her parents are interesting characters, the complicated family issues that drive the story may be difficult for younger readers to understand. For readers who are interested in family dynamics, Soof would be a good choice. So much time is spent building suspense around Heidi’s visit that the short interaction between Heidi and Aurora is a disappointment.

Soof teaches the importance of communication as well as accepting yourself, even if others think you are weird. The satisfying conclusion of the story will leave readers with a smile and a feeling of hope. The easy vocabulary and short sentences make Soof an easy read; however, the story will be best suited for readers who are ready to delve into the interpersonal relationships of families.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • On Aurora’s parents’ anniversary, her parents have champagne with dinner and Aurora has sparkling cider. During dinner they, “clinked glasses, and after a few more toasts my parents were both a little tipsy and I was ready for bed.”
  • Aurora and her mom meet a woman who is smoking a cigarette.

Language

  • Aurora’s dad says “darn” once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • When Aurora is looking for her dog she says, “Dear Saint Anthony, please come around, something’s lost that must be found.”

 

In Plain Sight

Megan, who has moved all over the country, knows how to make friends. Now living in Las Vegas, Megan “Cause Queen” Caliente organizes a protest, where she is detained by police. When her mother comes to pick her up from jail, the police arrest her mother. Megan discovers that her mother has been living under an assumed name, and her father is a convicted terrorist.

Megan’s life is suddenly turned upside down. Her friends turn against her, and gossip spreads like fire. Megan struggles to understand her mother’s decisions. She also wonders if she will follow in her father’s footsteps.

Written from Megan’s point of view, In Plain Sight focuses on Megan’s journey to understand her mother’s choices as well as how her father’s terrorist act will affect the person she becomes. After people discover who her father is, Megan must deal with gossip, and one student shouts, “Muslim go home!” Suddenly, Megan is stereotyped as an extremist and some of her friends abandon her.

Throughout the story, Megan learns about the impact of choices. Her friend Matt shares his own troubled background and teaches Megan that genetics don’t determine who you become. Matt tells Megan, “Everything in life is a choice . . . You can choose to be you. Or you can let someone else choose for you.” This theme is reinforced when Morgan struggles to deal with her father’s deadly actions and decides to go to a memorial for those who her father killed. While there, a girl whose father died in the bombing, tells Megan, “. . .but if you came here looking for forgiveness, you’re not going to get it. . . It’s not yours to get. . . You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Written as a part of the Orca Soundings books, which are specifically written for teens, In Plain Sight is a fast-paced book that looks at the timely issue of terrorism in a teen-friendly manner. Teens will enjoy this high-interest, easy-to-read story.

Sexual Content

  • Megan is upset when she finds out who her father is. In anger, she yells at her mom, “Well, sharing that [a computer] got you into a shit-load of trouble. And sharing your body got you pregnant.”
  • Megan and Matt go on a road trip. They sleep in the vehicle for the night. When they get out their sleeping bags, Matt suggests, “Why don’t we zip them together?” When Megan declines, Matt said, “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • During a protest, Megan saw a tourist with a can of Coors Light.
  • Megan’s “big love is current events, not parties and weed.”
  • Megan’s aunt drinks a glass of wine.
  • Matt tells Megan, “I’m the son of a guy who dealt drugs for a living, and you don’t see me selling the white stuff.”

Language

  • Profanity is scattered throughout the book and includes ass, bitch, crap, damn, hell, pissed, and shit.
  • “Oh my god” and “my god” are each used as an exclamation once.
  • Someone calls Megan a “lying hag.”
  • A police officer tells a protester, “Stay where you are and stop being a smart ass. . .”
  • When Megan’s friend is goofing off, she thinks, “He’s such a smart ass.”
  • Megan makes a huge mistake and tells her mom she won’t do it again. Her mom replies, “Damn right you won’t do it again.”
  • When Megan yells at her mother, she thinks, “I know I’m being a bitch. . .”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Tell

David isn’t sad that his stepfather is dead. However, he didn’t expect to become the prime suspect of his murder. The detective investigating the case is convinced that David is keeping secrets—and he’s right. David knows the truth about his stepfather’s death. But can he convince the police that he’s not guilty of shooting his stepfather and leaving him to die?

Tell, published by Orca Book Publishers, is specifically written for teens who want to read short, high-interest novels.  The story focuses on David and his struggles with his stepfather, Phil. The easy-to-read story shows the harsh realities of life without going into graphic descriptions. Even though David tells his own story, the mystery of his stepfather’s death leaves the reader wondering if David is actually the murderer.

The suspenseful story has a dark undertone. David struggles with his brother’s death, his mother’s deceit, and his stepfather’s manipulation. As David interacts with his mother, her uncaring and lying nature becomes obvious. In the end, Tell shows that sometimes the monsters in people’s lives are the ones living under their own roof. The sad ending can lend itself to some good discussion between parent and child.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • David’s brother, Jamie, “drowned when he was eight years old.”
  • David thinks Phil intentionally let his brother die. David said, “Phil could have saved him. Phil was right there. He was a good swimmer. He could have saved Jamie, but instead, he did nothing.”
  • After Phil goes to an ATM, a man approaches him. “Phil shoved him away and swore at him. He turned away from the guy. Then I saw the guy take out a gun. He pointed it at Phil . . . The guy shot him.” When David approached Phil, “he was making a sort of gurgling sound . . . Then Phil stopped making that noise. . . and I ran.” David didn’t get Phil help because Phil didn’t help his brother.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Throughout the story, people talk about how David’s stepfather would drink beer. Sometimes he goes to the bar and drinks. He would also play poker with his friends and they would drink beer.
  • David said that Phil carried the picture of his dead brother around because “he got a lot of sympathy from it. One time he told me he got a lot of free drinks too . . .”
  • Jack, a friend of David’s mother, “took a quick gulp of beer” while he was talking to Dave. Jack is also seen drinking beer several times in the story.

Language

  • Profanity is used a few times. “Ass” is used once. “Damn” and “pissed” are each used twice. When Phil gets home from work, his stepson would act up, which “really pissed Phil off. . . “
  • A character said Phil could be a “jerk.” Later, David said he “wanted his mom to know what kind of jerk she married.”
  • Phil calls David a “pain in the ass.”
  • “Oh my god” is used as an exclamation once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Fire the Depths

Thirteen-year-old Max Tilt’s life changes in a moment. When his mother becomes ill, his cousin Alex comes to care for him. When Max discovers his parents are in danger of losing their home, Alex and Max want to find a way to help. They head to the attic to find items to sell and discover Max’s great-great-great-grandfather Jules Verne’s unfinished manuscript The Lost Treasures. What begins as a quest for artic items becomes a treasure hunt as Alex and Max learn that everything Jules Verne wrote in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea was true.

As Alex and Max begin their journey, a strange skunk-haired man named Spencer Niemand appears. He’s determined to steal The Lost Treasures’ manuscript and claim the treasure as his own. However, he needs the kids’ help. Can Max and Alex outwit the devious man who is willing to use violence to gain the treasure?

There is a lot to like in Max Tilt: Fire the Depths. Right from the start, the story is fast-paced and interesting. Although the story is a bit far-fetched, especially the part where his parents leave knowing the electricity will be turned off and the house repossessed, these events explain why Max and Alex are willing to go on a dangerous treasure hunt in order to help.

As the two cousins begin their journey, they don’t realize the danger that follows. As the two follow Jules Verne’s path, they use clues he left behind, but they are soon trapped in a submarine with a villain. As they struggle against an evil villain, they dive to a city beneath the ocean, explore an ice cave in Greenland, and fight a giant squid. This page-turner keeps readers engaged using suspense, adventure, and a bit of humor.

The interplay between Alex and Max helps readers engage in the story. Throughout the story, the two cousins build a friendship and learn to rely on each other in dire situations. Each shows their bravery in different ways. Alex is unique in that he has synesthesia (where one sense substitutes for another) and the effects of synesthesia are shown in a simple, unique way.

Although this adventurous story is written for the ages of eight and up, the story is more appropriate for middle school students because of the violence and the truly evil villain. Although the violence is not described in graphic detail, the villain kills others in order to satisfy his greed. The action-packed plot takes Max and Alex on a submarine ride to an epic adventure that will engage students and teach that, “Sometimes you can’t be ready to do the things you really need to do. You just do them. And that makes you ready.”

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When a man grabs Niemand’s wrist, Niemand, “drew a knife from his pocket, and slammed it downward. As the man yanked his hand back, the blade sank into the tabletop.”
  • In order to eliminate witnesses, Niemand locks people into a warehouse and then sets off explosives. Niemand tells the event from his point of view, “on four, he heard sudden shouting and frantic footsteps inside the building. They finally realized. Good. Let them know there was no escape . . . On seven, the warehouse exploded.”
  • Niemand throws hot coffee in someone’s face. The man, “was squirming in pain on the worship floor.”
  • When bullies steal Max’s lunch, he uses a drone to get his lunch back. The drone hovers over the bullies’ heads and Max hits the release button. “The apple conked Dugan in the head. As he screamed and jumped aside, Max guided Vulturon downward, where Claw #3 grabbed onto his lunch bag.”
  • When a bad man tries to grab Alex, she hits him. The man, “recoiled with a howl of pain. But his reflexes were quick enough to wrap one beefy hand around Max’s throat.” Someone grabs the man’s foot and he lost his balance, “falling to the floor. His head smacked against the solid-steel edge of the Tilts’ coffee table.”
  • A man shoots at Alex and Max, but someone stops him before anyone is hurt.
  • In a letter, Verne writes about how Captain No One destroys an underwater civilization. “With a flash of fire, the carapace was breached. A hole shattered the thick material, jagged and mean as a lightning bolt. An explosion turned the sea to red.” Captain No One looted the city, and when two crew members tried to steal, they “were shot for their greed.”
  • A man falls from an icy ledge, “and then came the scream—deep, raw, animal-like—as Basile fell off the ledge and into the teeming white mass below.” Later, he is discovered alive.
  • Niemand ties Alex and Max to a snowmobile. “He circled it around each of them individually. He tied it down to various places on the snowmobile . . . Niemand flipped the lever to Drive. And he walked away.” The kids then fall into the frozen ocean, but they do not die. When the squid grabs Alex, Basile “swung the ax at the appendage that held Alex . . . The blade split it in two, the top part skirting upward in a violent spray of milky liquid.” The squid finally retreats.
  • A giant squid attacks the submarine and is able to get inside. Basile, Alex, and Max fight the squid in a battle that lasts eight pages.
  • When Niemand tries to capture Alex and Max, Max fights back. “As André approached, Max thrust himself off with his hands and kicked upwards, landing a solid hit on André’s chin. The scraggle-haired man fell backwards, arms flailing.” André grabs Alex and tosses her “like a bale of hay. Max saw her body fly over a thick copse and smack against a tree trunk. He heard her head thump and saw her limp body drop down to the forest floor.”
  • Niemand tells Alex to dig his own grave, but before he can get the work done, Alex hits Niemand on the head with a shovel. The kids are able to get away.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • “Crap!” is used once.
  • Max tells someone that they are about to feel like “asses.”
  • Someone yells at a bad driver, “Watch where you’re going, idiot!”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • While hiking, a character thinks “if God had meant for humans to live among hills, he would have made them goats.”
  • After defeating the squid, Alex said, “Thank God it’s over.”

Supergifted

Noah Youkilis has never been normal. With an extremely high IQ, this super gifted kid dreams of having an opportunity to fail. After years at the Academy for Scholastic Distinction, Noah dreams of being in remedial classes, being a failure at something, and having some unpredictability in his life. When Noah enrolls in his friend’s school, both of their lives begin to change.

Noah may be super gifted when it comes to school, but he’s not super gifted at making friends. Noah makes enemies out of the cheerleading captain Megan Mercury and lacrosse player “Hashtag” Taggart.  Sticking up for Noah makes Donovan a target, and he’s told to stay away from Hashtag, or else. When a freak accident makes Donovan a hero, he can’t let anyone know. In order to help his friend, Noah steps in and becomes “Superkid.” When the fame goes to Noah’s head, Donovan wonders if the lie may just cause more chaos than telling the truth.

Younger readers will be pulled into the stereotypical life of junior high as they watch Noah go from friendless to popular. One simple lie drives the suspense in the story and will keep readers wondering how Noah will ever keep his secret.

The story is told from a first-person point of view, which allows the readers to understand the different characters’ motivations and feelings. However, the point of view changes between five different characters and becomes confusing. Although the story focuses on Noah, it really is a story about Donovan trying to save his family pet and his friend. The balance between Donovan’s home life and school life adds interest and heart to the story.

Supergifted has many stereotypes—the mean cheerleader, the bully jock, and the smart kid who can’t pick up on social clues. The only character that breaks the stereotypical mold of a junior high student is Donovan. Donovan wants to keep Noah out of trouble and goes to great lengths to keep the bullies from harassing him—the only problem is that Noah doesn’t seem to notice anything that Donovan does for him. And when Noah becomes Superkid, he also becomes a super terrible person. At the end of the story, Noah doesn’t even seem to recognize what a super friend Donovan is.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A boy goes to the park with the intent of beating up Noah. Donovan sees the boy, who is “hauling Noah up by his shirt . . . He wrestled Noah to the ground and straddled him, a knee pinning each arm.” Donovan tackles the boy. “It hurt like mad when my nose slammed into his shoulder, but not as much as when I slid through the wood chips, picking up splinters over at least half of my body.” The fight ends when a dog bites the bully.
  • Donovan goes to a party he was not invited to. He climbs a tree and falls. “I pictured him dropping from the sky into the middle of my party. . . And I remembered what had happened a few seconds after that—that same Donovan tackling Peter out of the way of a falling tree branch.”
  • At an event, a robot malfunctions and “lurched around the room firing projectiles in all directions. Cries of shock and pain rang out as golf balls bounced off heads and shoulders. People tripped over each other’s feet and ran into one another trying to get out of harm’s way.” Donovan jumps on the robot and turns it off.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Someone calls a person a “jerk” and an “idiot.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Switch

Gypsy Beaumont used to love being a whirly-twirly girl who picked flowers and danced. She has been dreaming of her savvy—the extraordinary talent that strikes every Beaumont on their thirteenth birthday. Gypsy had imagined getting the wings of angels or being able to catch candy necklaces instead of fish, but when her thirteenth birthday arrives, Gypsy gets blurry vision and catches glimpses of the past and future.

Then in a strange turn of events, everyone’s savvy is switched and things become topsy-turvy. Gypsy must learn to use her new powers and try to stop the events of the last vision she saw. As she tries to change the future, Gypsy embarks on an adventure that will lead to new friendships and closer relationships with her family.

Right from the start, readers will want to turn the page to see what happens next in this entertaining story of adventure and magic. Switch shows the power of friendship and family in a heartwarming story. Being told from Gypsy’s point of view allows the reader to peek inside of her mind and understand her hopes, fears, and uncertainties. Gypsy’s personality comes to life and shows the difficulties of being different; however, the story goes on to show how being different should not be seen as an embarrassment, but as a gift.

Switch tackles several difficult issues including changing friendships and the effects of aging. Gypsy’s self-confidence takes a hit when her best friend stops talking to her because Gypsy acts like a “baby.” The story also focuses on Gypsy’s grandmother who is beginning to have difficulties remembering people and often lives her life in the past. Switch expertly weaves lessons about friendship, family, and accepting yourself into a beautifully written story with memorable characters.

Sexual Content

  • Two characters kiss twice. When it’s close to Valentine’s Day, Gypsy is reminded of the way, “Samson and Nola had secretly kiss-kiss-kissed behind Grandma’s house.”

Violence

  • Tucker throws a tantrum and grows “as tall as the house itself.” In his anger he uproots “trees in our front yard like they were daisies . . . tossed two leafless maples and a blue spruce into the field across the road.” He also “kicked over a tool shed.” Someone finally calms him down by offering him candy.
  • A bully tells B-Bug to punch someone. “B-Bug was already reaching over the counter. With an apologetic look, he grabbed the front of Del’s hoodie. Then he pulled back his arm, aiming his knuckles at the smaller boy’s face.” Before B-Bug can hit him, Gypsy stops time.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Savvy family members have special powers. At the beginning of the book, Gypsy can see into the future and past.
  • Samson can make fire. When he first learns of the power, he “glanced down at his hands as each of his fingers lit up in licks of red-and-yellow flames. He looked like he was holding ten candles. A second later, there was a whoosh and a crackle, and Samson’s entire body became a bonfire.”
  • Tucker grows bigger (he can grow larger than a house) when he is angry.

Spiritual Content

  • Gypsy’s family attends church once and Gypsy prays. In one scene she “asked God and all the angels to make everything go back the way it was before Mrs. Kim called . . . before we learned that Grandma Pat was ill and had to live with us . . .”

Surrounded by Sharks

Early in the morning, Davey wakes up in a small hotel room surrounded by his family. He sneaks out of the room because he doesn’t want to waste any of the vacation sleeping. Davey, with a book in hand, heads to the beach. The beautiful ocean is too much of a temptation for Davey to resist. When he sees the No Swimming sign, he decides to just dip his toes in the water. But the waves tear Davey away from the island and soon he’s miles offshore. He’s surrounded by water—and something else. Sharks are circling below the surface, watching, and waiting. Davey’s terrified he will become the sharks’ next meal. Then no one will find out what happened to him.

Northrop writes with the perfect balance of suspense and action. The short chapters allow the reader to see Davey’s struggle, the sharks’ thoughts, and the action that is taking place back on the island. As the people on the island search for answers about where Davey could have disappeared to, the reader knows that Davey is about to become shark food. Switching between perspectives keeps the reader in suspense to the very end.

Every character in Surrounded by Sharks comes alive and their unique personalities add to the story’s atmosphere. Although the story revolves around Davey’s predicament, there are also several other teens that make the story relatable. While Davey’s two-parent family is not shown to be perfect, they clearly love each other. Surrounded by Sharks is an easy-to-read, suspenseful story that will keep even the most reluctant reader turning the pages until the very end.

Sexual Content

  • Davey is distracted by a girl because “her T-shirt was so light that he could see her bathing suit right through it. Or, wait . . . was that her bra?”

Violence

  • A shark tries to bite Davey. When it attacks, “the black eyes rolled back in its head, and its permanent frown widened for the bite, revealing two rows of sharp, serrated teeth. BONK! It hit the water cooler bottle.” Davey has the air knocked out of his lungs but is otherwise uninjured.
  • A shark attacks Davey. As Davey is being pulled into a boat, “the smaller shark surged forward below the surface and clamped onto Davey’s leg, harder this time. It swung its head to the side with surprising power and pulled Davey out of Drew’s grasp and clean off the side of the boat. Davey’s head dipped under the water, and a mouthful of seawater slipped into his lungs.” Davey is saved.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Davey sits by a bar stand on the beach and worries about getting drunk off the fumes because then he’d get in trouble if he was “stumbling back into the hotel room completely blitzed on alcohol vapors.”
  • One of the characters, Zeke, had “been out at the local bars the night before. It was what they called ‘a late night’ in most places. . .” Later Zeke is described as having a “faint smell of booze.”
  • A man at the bar stand tells someone, “Come back at eleven. Mimosas and Bloody Marys. Full bar at noon.”
  • A character goes into a liquor store, but his wife doesn’t approve.

Language

  • “Frickin’” is used several times.
  • “Oh my god” and “god” are used as exclamations several times. For example, after being pulled into the ocean by a riptide, Davey thinks, “Oh my god, I’m an idiot!”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • While out in the ocean, Davey believes thata he sees land and thinks “Thank God.”

My Vida Loca

Seven-year-old Sofia turns everyday life into a grand adventure. In the first short story, Sofia gets the perfect Christmas gift, a Superstar Sing Box. Sofia loves showing off her singing voice, but she needs to find an audience that appreciates her. In the second short story, Sofia and Abuela make a batch of rice pudding. However, she soon learns there’s more to cooking than she thought. The final story involves Sofia’s cousins, a car, and a muddy mess.

Sofia Martinez: My Vida Loca is written for beginning readers. Each story contains three easy-to-read chapters. Beginning readers will appreciate the many pictures that are scattered throughout the story and the large print. Readers will be able to relate to the topics in each story. Spanish words and phrases are printed in pink and appear throughout the text. Although many of the words are understandable because of their context, a glossary is included at the end of the book.

Sofia’s story shows her cultural heritage through her stories. In each of her stories, her large family is portrayed as a positive influence. Her cousins add humor to the story. The illustrations are another positive aspect of the book. The illustrations are full of color and portray Sofia and her family as warm and stylish. The characters’ facial expressions will help younger readers decipher the emotions of the characters.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Polly Diamond and the Magic Book

Polly loves words. When a magic book arrives, she is excited to put her words on paper. Then Polly learns that the book is magic and can make everything she writes happen in real life. Polly begins writing, but she soon learns that it’s hard to write what you mean. Soon, her bedroom walls are turned into an aquarium, her sister is turned into a banana, and she is turned invisible. How is Polly ever going to fix everything before her parents get home?

Beginning readers will love Polly Diamond for many reasons. The text is broken up with cute black and white illustrations that appear on every page. Polly loves to write lists of words, which are scattered throughout the story. Polly and her magic book write back and forth to each other, which adds humor because the magic book often misinterprets what Polly wants it to create. The silly events that happen when Polly writes in her book come together to create a fun story. However, some readers will find the story a little too goofy. The plot jumps from topic to topic without clear transitions, which may make the story confusing.

Polly Diamond and the Magic Book has many positive attributes. Readers will learn new vocabulary, including how words can have multiple meanings. Through Polly’s narration, she teaches different types of figurative language such as similes and hyperboles. In the end, Polly learns the important lesson that she doesn’t need to change her home and family—Her home is perfect just the way it is. Polly Diamond and the Magic Book will entertain younger readers and teach vocabulary in a creative, fun way.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Polly Diamond has a writing and spelling book that writes answers to her questions. Everything Polly writes in the book comes true. For example, when Polly writes that she wants a room that looks like an aquarium, the walls change so that, “fish flash past. Big ones. Yellow ones. Purple ones. A crab scuttles along the baseboard.”
  • Polly asks the book to do a series of funny things including turning her invisible and turning her sister into a banana.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Heat

Twelve-year-old Michael Arroya dreams of playing in the Little League World Series. His pitching arm has some serious heat, but so does his day-to-day life. Michael must pretend that everything is all right, even though his father has died, and his seventeen-year-old brother is trying to take care of their needs. Michael and his brother keep their father’s death a secret from almost everyone. But then a man from social services gets curious and begins asking questions. Fear fills Michael because he’s afraid if anyone finds out the truth he’ll be separated from his brother or sent back to Cuba.

To make matters worse, some of the coaches wonder how a twelve-year-old boy can throw with so much power. When the league demands a birth certificate, Michael becomes ineligible. With no birth certificate, no parent, and no way to prove his age, how will Michael be able to make his baseball dreams come true?

Heat is not just a book about baseball; it is a book about family, friendship, and never giving up on your dreams. The story integrates play-by-play baseball action, with the suspense of Michael’s home life and the secrets he is trying to keep. The relationships between Michael’s friend, Manny, and his brother, Carlos, add interest and heart to the story. Even though Michael’s father has died, his voice still rings through his sons’ memories. This allows the father to voice important life lessons to his sons even after his death.

The story deals with the difficult theme of losing a parent, maintaining secrets, and the struggles immigrant families face. Carlos struggles to become the man of the house and keep Michael focused on his dream. The characters’ conflict has just enough detail to add suspense to the story while staying kid-friendly. By watching the characters struggle, the reader will learn the importance of staying positive and never giving up. Heat is an easy-to-read story that will appeal to sports lovers. Because the story has a lot of play-by-play baseball action, this book will not appeal to those who do not enjoy sports.

Sexual Content
• None

Violence
• When a boy steals a purse from Mrs. Cora, she “hit the ground hard, rolled on her side, feeling dizzy. . .”
• Papi watched an argument and then, “he saw the man raise a hand to the woman, knock her down to the ground.” When Papi told the man to stop, the man, “took one swing before Papi put him down . . . The man got up, tried to charge Papi like a bull. But Papi put him down again.”
• A pitcher “went into his full wind-up and threw a fastball that hit Michael in the head.” The story implies the pitcher hit Michael on purpose.

Drugs and Alcohol
• None

Language
• One of the characters is referred to as “Justin the Jerk” throughout the story.
• When a pitcher throws a ball and hits Michael, someone says, “I can’t believe they didn’t throw that puss out of the game.”
• Michael’s friend calls him “jerkwad” and later a “jerkball.”

Supernatural
• None

Spiritual Content
• Michael’s Papi told him that, “You cannot teach somebody to have an arm like yours . . . It’s something you are born with, a gift from the gods, like a singer’s voice.”
• When Michael has a baseball in his hand, he doesn’t “have a list of questions he wants to ask God.”
• Michael’s Papi would say, “If you only ask God ‘why’? when bad things happen, how come you don’t ask him the same questions about all the good?”
• Michael’s brother reminds him that, “Papi said if we had all the answers we wouldn’t have anything to ask God later.”
• Michael tells his friend to stop talking because “the baseball gods you’re always telling me about? They’re hanging on every word right now.”
• On the wall of the Yankee Stadium clubhouse a sign read, “I want to thank the Good Lord for making me a Yankee. Joe DiMaggio.”

Perfect Scoundrels

Katarina Bishop grew up in a family of criminal masterminds. Her family knows how to stay under the radar. They know how to steal. And Katarina knows that her family has her back. Although Kat’s family welcomes Hale into their lives, Kat was never meant to enter Hale’s ultra-rich world. When Hale’s grandmother dies leaving her billion-dollar corporation to Hale, everything begins to change.

With the death of Hale’s grandmother, Hale’s family gathers around to fight for the family fortune. In Hale’s family, when money is on the line, all bets are off. Everyone wants a piece of the family dynasty. As Hale becomes more entangled in the family drama, Kat realizes that there is no place for her in Hale’s world. When Kat learns that someone might have tampered with his grandmother’s will, she comes up with an elaborate plan to learn the truth. But first, she has to decide if learning the truth is more important than keeping her boyfriend.

Through Katarina’s eyes, Perfect Scoundrels brings Hale’s extremely wealthy world to life. From the outside, Hale’s life seems to be full of freedom that only money can buy, but in reality glamourous, greedy people surround him. Right from the start, the reader will be pulled into Kat’s struggle, as she keeps secrets from Hale in order to help him. As Kat and her family rally around each other to find the truth, their ambitious plot brings intrigue, suspense, and surprises around every corner.

The third installment in the Heist Society series will not disappoint readers. However, this is not a stand-alone novel. Those who have read the first two books in the series will be invested in the lives of the characters, which makes the conclusion even more surprising and satisfying. In typical Ally Carter style, Perfect Scoundrels is appropriate and will be enjoyed by both junior high and high school readers.

Sexual Content

  • After an argument, Kat and Hale are alone, and “Hale’s breath was warm on Kat’s skin. She could feel the rise and fall of his chest, and she wanted to kiss him, hold him, breathe him in . . . For a split second, he looked down at her, and she knew he was feeling that way too.” The moment is lost when Kat apologizes.
  • In order to hide, Kat and Hale go into a closet. While there, “Kat felt Hale’s mouth press against hers. His fingers wove into her hair, holding her close, gripping her tightly. It was the hungriest kiss she’d ever known, and Kat let herself get lost in it.” Hale then apologizes for kissing her.
  • Kat and Hale kiss several times, but the kisses are not described.

Violence

  • Hale’s family lawyer confronts Katarina, and he traps her against a wall. When he grabs her, Kat notices that “his breath was acrid and hot on her cheek. He brushed a finger down the side of her face until his hand rested on her throat. He squeezed gently at first. Then harder.” He then lets her go.
  • Kat and her Uncle Eddie meet up with the family lawyer to make a deal. When the deal goes wrong, Eddie ran at the lawyer and, “in a flash, Eddie was on the lawyer, the lawyer was spinning, striking the old man across the head with the metal briefcase. Blood rushed from Eddie’s mouth and he stumbled, disorient, too close to the edge. . .” Eddie falls over the barrier and a bystander says, “The man’s dead.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • While at a corporate event, Hale and another character “got into the liquor cabinet” and got drunk.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Uncommon Criminals

Katarina Bishop and her crew robbed the greatest museum in the world, which is why someone has asked her to steal the Cleopatra Emerald. Despite the curse of the Emerald, Katarina decides to take the job and return the jewel to its rightful owner. But when Kat and her crew go after the Cleopatra Emerald, they soon learn that the emerald is connected to their family in unexpected ways. Is there any con that can help Kat steal a treasure that has cursed all those who have tried before her?

The second installment of the Heist Society series has the same suspense and thrill as the first book. The characters’ personalities are described in more depth, which makes the book more enjoyable. Kat’s family secrets keep readers is suspense. The story’s intriguing, fast-paced plot ends with a satisfying conclusion. With plenty of plot twists, surprises, and a little bit of romance, Ally Carter’s Uncommon Criminals will delight readers of all ages.

Sexual Content

  • After a heist, Kat falls into Hale’s lap. “She didn’t think twice about the way her arms feel around his neck. When her lips found his, she didn’t pull back, she just pressed against him, sinking into the kiss and the moment until . . .” She then realizes that “Hale didn’t kiss me back.”
  • Kat kisses Hale. “She kissed him, quick and feather soft.” She tells him she kissed him “for luck.”

Violence

  • As a distraction, Nick and Hale argue over a girl. Hale hits Nick. Hale’s “fist was suddenly flying through the air. It struck Nick on the jaw, and sent the smaller boy spinning, the sound echoing in the empty hallway.” Security guards break up the fight.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Someone offers Kat a drink, and then changes her mind because Kat is a “child.”

Language

  • None

 Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Stealing Parker

Parker loves her family, her church, and her life. But all that changes when her mother divorces her father and leaves with her new lover—a woman. When Parker’s church and best friend turn their back on her, Parker sets out to prove that she likes boys. But when the boys’ assistant coach catches her eye, Parker’s life spirals out of control.

As Parker struggles with how to deal with her secret relationship, she is besieged with more problems. Parker’s father is in denial. Her brother is always high. And her best friend, Drew, is hiding the fact that he is gay.

Parker works through her insecurities and frustration through a prayer journal, which gives the reader insight into Parker’s emotional state. The reader will be able to understand Parker’s desire to be loved and how that leads her to kiss so many boys, although the illegal relationship between Parker and the boys’ baseball coach leads to frequent and steamy sex scenes and ends with an investigation.

 Finding Parker hits on difficult topics relevant in today’s world. Parker explores her faith in God and how that faith impacts those who are gay. The story also tackles the difficulties of high school friendships; most of Parker’s friends abandoned her after her mother came out, classmates that don’t even know her talk trash her, and even her best friend stops talking to her. Finding Parker brings realistic problems to light and shows the dangers of being promiscuous. In the end, Parker learns to love herself and accept her mother’s new lifestyle.

Although Parker is a well-developed and relatable character, her sexual relationship with the adult coach contains graphic sexual details. The story contains mature content, which some readers may want to avoid.

 Sexual Content

  • Parker’s mom “announced she’s a lesbian and ran off with her friend who was more than a friend.”
  • Parker has kissed many boys, trying to prove that she isn’t a lesbian like her mother. She lost weight so she wouldn’t look “butch.” “All the guys know I look good. They know I want them and I love kissing and sometimes rounding a couple of bases (I never go further than second).”
  • Parker thinks about when, after church she, “let him kiss me beside the turtle sandbox thing, so people will know I like boys.”
  • When Parker decides to manage the boy’s baseball team, the coach tells her not to date or “mess around” with team members. The coach said, “the girl who managed the team last year, uh, well, we had some incidents on the bus and in the locker room.”
  • Parker and her friend talk about her “one-night thing” with Matt Higgins. She thinks, “I didn’t enjoy kissing Matt Higgins very much. He kept trying to go up my shirt.”
  • A boy said, “Everyone knows she (Parker) puts out.” Parker gets upset and thinks, “I’m still a virgin.” She then thinks about how she can’t insert a tampon.
  • At last year’s prom, Parker’s date “kept trying to feel me up in the middle of the gym.”
  • Parker has a few minutes, “before we need to leave for church, so I unzip my dress. . . lie down on my bed, and slip my fingers under the elastic of my underwear, wondering what it would feel like if a guy touched me there.”
  • Parker thinks that Seth likes a girl but “he’s too embarrassed to get involved with her, considering the whole scandal with her dad, the district attorney, screwing his secretary and all.”
  • Parker has a crush on the baseball assistant coach. During class Parker lets out a moan when she, “picture(s) myself tangled up in his crumpled sheets, our legs knotted. The idea scares me a little because I’ve never gotten naked with anybody.”
  • While at practice, someone yells, “Corndog’s got a hard-on for Coach!”
  • When a group of boys try to get Corndog to tell them how far he’s gone with his girlfriend, Corndog said, “Hell, no. I can’t tell you. She’d rip my balls off.”
  • A boy tells a story about, “how he saw a hot pink dildo laying on the concrete behind the cafeteria . . . ”
  • Parker and Corndog write notes back and forth discussing someone’s penis size.
  • At a party, a girl “French kisses” a boy she doesn’t know.
  • Parker has a sexual relationship with the assistant coach, who is an adult. The first time they kiss, “He digs fingers into my hip. . . My mouth found his, and I wrap my arms around his neck. . . I deepen the kiss. His tongue explores the inside of my mouth. My knees go wobbly.”
  • Parker and the assistant coach begin making out in the parking lot of the laundromat, behind the dumpsters. The first time they meet there, they make out. “He tastes like mint toothpaste. My hands are on his neck and his are in my hair, and I can tell he’s experienced. . . He pushes me backward and climbs on top, his weight heavy, yet comforting.”
  • Parker gets a hall pass and goes to the assistant coach’s office. “Then his lips were on mine and he lifted me onto his desk. He pulled my hips to his and kissed me until I was so dizzy I could barely breathe. Brian began to grind against me and I was so drunk on him, I couldn’t think at all.” They stop because someone knocks on the door. Parker then thinks about a couple nights before when, Brian went up my shirt again and unsnapped my bra, and ran his hands over my bare breast. Him running his calloused fingers over my skin . . . I couldn’t stop trembling. . . His teeth sank into my shoulder.”
  • One night when Parker and Brain were making out, “he kissed my breast and felt me through my jeans. I wasn’t comfortable enough to touch him yet. But he took my fingers and put my hand there anyway.” They stopped when a “cop knocked on the truck window and told us to move along.”
  • Brian asks Parker to give him a blow job, but she doesn’t. Instead, he “pushes my panties aside, making me moan softly as he works a finger inside of me. . . Later I straddle him and he wraps his hands around my waist and we kiss and kiss. . .”
  • Brian and Parker park behind the dumpsters and, Parker “felt him too. He shut his eyes and leaned his head back against the seat while my fingers moved up and down. I could tell by the noises he made that he liked how I made him feel, but it was almost as if I could be anybody. It didn’t matter who I was, it was only that somebody was giving him pleasure.”

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • At a party, a boy gets drunk and falls in a ditch. “. . . He was so drunk he started screaming about how he’d broken his leg. And Marie Baird had to convince him that his leg was already broken.”
  • The assistance baseball coach takes Parker out to eat and orders a beer.
  • Parker’s brother, Ryan, has a drug problem. She makes him eggs to “hopefully clean out whatever he drank/ate/snorted/shot-up last night.”
  • Parker goes to a party where teens are drinking beer. Some play beer pong and someone “takes a shot directly out of a Smirnoff bottle and wipes his mouth, then does another shot.”
  • Parker finds her brother passed out with “an empty bottle of Robitussin in his fist.” Parker and her friend take him to the hospital.
  • Parker’s mom tells her she needs to get on birth control.
  • Parker’s best friend is gay but hasn’t told anyone. Parker attempts to get him and another guy together. Later, Parker finds out that her best friend likes the same boy she does.

Language

  • Profanity is used often and includes ass, bitch, dick, fucking, hell, pissed, and shit.
  • When Parker and her friend look at a book of Kama Sutra, the friend said, “Jesus Christ, is that move physically possible?”
  • God is used as an exclamation often.
  • Someone lectures Parker on “how I screw over his friends.”
  • After being mean to Parker, Corndog apologizes, “Last night I heard my mom crying, and I got upset. That’s why I was a dick today. I’m sorry.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • The story contains entries from Parker’s prayer journal beginning when she was little. In the first entry, she writes, “as I prayed, I didn’t ask you for anything. I only thanked you for giving me Mom.”
  • Parker blames God for ruining her family. She often asks, “Why did God let this happen to my family?”
  • When Parker’s mother came out as a lesbian, members of the church began ignoring the family. However, Parker’s dad makes her attend church. They have a conversation about if the Bible says, “thou shalt not become a lesbian?” Her father replies “no.”
  • When the pastor’s daughter spreads rumors that Parker is “a butch softball player who probably likes girls,” Parker wonders where God went.
  • Parker makes a list of “Reasons Why I’m the Worst Christian of All Time.” Her list includes, “I don’t see how a loving God would split a family up like he did mine.”
  • When Parker was little, the pastor accuses her of lying and, “gave me a lecture on how lying is a straight path to Hell.”
  • When Parker flirts with the assistant coach, she thinks, “When God created the Earth, he had such a sick wicked sense of humor. He made everything that’s wrong feel really, really good.”
  • Parker’s dad breaks up with his girlfriend because his church friends tell him to. Parker prays, “Please help my family. Hasn’t our church taken enough from us?”
  • Parker and her mom have a conversation about God and church. Parker’s mom said, “God still loves me and he loves you too . . . All that matters is your personal relationship with God.”  Parker’s mom tells her that she doesn’t need to go to church because “I can talk to God while I’m walking the dog or running in the woods just the same as if I’m at church.”

 

A Little in Love

Thenardiers are strong. They are cruel. They steal. Eponine is a Thenardier. But she longs for more than a life of heartlessness. She dreams of a world filled with kindness and love.

When Eponine tries to show kindness, Mamam punishes her. When Eponine tries to show her mother affection, Mamam flinches. Mamam wants her daughters to be cruel and steal—from anyone. The only thing that Eponine’s parents care about is money and getting it any way they can.

When Eponine’s father kills a bishop, the family must flee. The family ends up in Paris, where Eponine desperately searches for goodness in the world. However, when her family ends up cold, starving, and out of options, Eponine wonders if being cruel is the only way to live.

A Little in Love captures the reader’s attention in the first few sentences and remains captivating until the end. The world Eponine lives in is described in wonderful detail and the characters are believable.

The story is told from Eponine’s point of view which allows the reader to feel her emotions and understand her struggles. Her personality drives the book. By the end of the story, the reader will fall in love with Eponine and cry when her story ends.

This story is based around Les Miserables; however, no background information is needed. Those who have a tender heart may want to avoid reading A Little in Love. Although the story is entertaining, the content is very dark and cruelty runs rampant in Eponine’s world.

Sexual Content

  • Eponine sees women that, “had pained their faces and they lolled in doorways. . .” Her father says the “harlots” are their kind of people.
  • A character in the book tells Eponine, “Love? It’s a myth. But there’s money in it. You’re not ugly. You could sell a kiss or two.”
  • A man kisses Eponine. But it was not a gentle kiss. “Montparnasse pressed his lips against mine and clutched at my dress and he pushed me against the gravestone very roughly and his tongue filled my mouth so I couldn’t breathe.” She then breaks free and runs away from him.
  • Eponine meets a woman who is in prison. The woman said, “I sold what no woman should ever have to sell.”
  • When Eponine realizes her sister likes Montparnasse, she wonders, “Perhaps she hadn’t run away from his mouth, as I had done. Perhaps she actually wanted to feel those hands. . .”

Violence

  • When Maman has a boy baby, she tells the family to leave the baby to die because she has always hated boys. Eponine thinks her mother hates boys because “she had two brothers and they used to beat her. Her father beat her too.”
  • When Eponine’s father tries to steal from a bishop, her father kills the man and runs from the law.
  • Eponine’s father talks about the law finding him. “They’ll put shackles on me, if they find me!  They will hang me or take me to the guillotine—and you too.”
  • Several of the characters talk about the executioner, “who works the blade—and he gets to keep the silver crosses or gold rings that the jabbering fools bring out with them. Once the blade drops, he pries these treasures out of their still-warm hands.”
  • One of the characters talks about murdering people. “If they’re very old, then what harm have you done? They’d have died soon anyway.”
  • At the end of the story, there is a rebellion. People die. Eponine sees a body. “His eyes were open. His chest was open too—like a red, wet cave.”
  • When a soldier points his weapon at Marius, Eponine, “threw my right hand across the end of the musket and pulled it toward myself.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • The family in the book runs a tavern. The patrons as well as the adult family members drink.  There are several references to drunks throughout the book.

Language

  • Eponine’s father calls her a “bitch.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Eponine wonders about intuition. “Some people think it’s the voice of God—but what about the people who say there isn’t a God at all?”
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