Counting by 7s

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This has to be one of my all time favorite books.  The story is of a twelve-year-old genius named Willow Chance.  She lives in her own little world studying plants, and diseases, and about everything else.  Needless to say, she has a difficult time fitting in with her peers, but she is happy in her world.  Then her parents are killed in an automobile accident.  She is adopted, has no next of kin, and is likely a candidate for a group home.  Fortunately, she meets a group of people who become very protective of her, and she very unpretentiously changes their world as she changes her own.  Truly uplifting.




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Curveball: the Year I Lost my Grip

Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip by Jordan Sonnenblick

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Jordan Sonnenblick is always an entertaining, but thought-provoking read, and Curveball was no exception.  Curveball take us into the life of Peter Friedman, a freshman in high school, who is a star pitcher for his baseball team until he injures his arm so badly that the doctors tell him he will never pitch again.  He is also an excellent photographer, thanks to his grandfather who has carefully taught him the tricks of the trade. When his grandfather gives him all of his professional photography equipment, he turns his attention to photography, but also worries about his grandfather.  Why would he give him his equipment?  He soon realizes his grandfather is suffering from early signs of Alzheimers, but his grandfather has told him not to tell his parents.  It is a heavy burden for him to carry, but he figures he can handle it.  Add to that a new girlfriend, who is also into photography, and a job on the school newspaper, and we see some real character growth in Peter during this freshman year, as he learns that keeping secrets is probably not a good idea. Middle School and above boys and girls should enjoy this book.




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Belle Epoque

Belle Epoque by Elizabeth  Ross

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Belle Epoque by Elizabeth Ross was captivating.  I had to wonder how Ross came up with the story of an agency where plain girls were hired as foils to make the rich look more beautiful.  In the author’s note she explains that the inspiration came from a short story by Emile Zola called “Les Repoussoirs.”  Ross began imagining what it would be like to be such a girl and thus created Maude Pichon, the narrator of Belle Epoque.  Maude has run away from her home in Brittany to escape an arranged marriage to the butcher.  She dreams of a glamorous life in Paris, but soon finds it difficult to find a job.  She ends up as a repoussoir, who as in Zola’s story are hired to make privileged young girls trying to find suitable husbands look good by comparison.  Maude is hired by Countess Dubern to befriend her strong-willed daughter Isabelle to help her to look all the more beautiful in public accompanied by plain Maude.  Maude does become friends with Isabelle and struggles with loyalty to the job she desperately needs and her loyalty to Isabelle.  It is a well-told story that middle and high school girls should find a favorite.  Highly recommended.




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Scarlet

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Marissa Meyer’s sequel to Cinder, Scarlet, made me doubt my premise that the sequel usually isn’t as good as the first in the series.  Scarlet was every bit as fun as Cinder.  And, I think middle and high school readers will think so too.  The story of Scarlet, a flaming red-haired girl with freckles, begins as she is trying to find her grandmother, who has disappeared.  Her grandmother has been gone for three weeks, and no one seems to have any clue as to where she has gone.  She meets up with a handsome street-fighter named Wolf who offers to help her find her “grand-mere”   In a parallel story, we are taken back into the life of Cinder, who is able to escape from prison with another prisoner.  Captain Carswell Thorne.  Captain Thorne quite fortunately has a spaceship they can use for escape.   Meyer has the paths of Cinder and Scarlet cross and we discover the connections between Cinder, Scarlet and her grandmother.  The story is definitely action packed.  And I, for one, look forward to finding out if the third in the series can be just as good as the first two.   



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Born of Illusion

Born of Illusion by Teri Brown

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Born of Illusion # 1 by Teri Brown is one of the Beehive Book Award Nominees for 2014-2015, and rightly so.  The story, rich in detail from 1920 New York, unfolds as teenage Anna Van Housen, and her mother Marguerite finally find financial success with their mentalist and magic stage show that they perform for the very elite of New York thanks to a new manager, Jacques.  Their life to that point has been one of traveling from place to place.  Anna’s mother is a master showman, but doesn’t really have magical powers.  Anna, on the other hand, has special extrasensory powers, and is a gifted magician.  Perhaps that is due to the fact that she may be the illegitimate daughter of Harry Houdini.  She finds her extrasensory powers magnified when she meets a young Englishman, Cole, who also has special powers.  Another potential love interest, Owen, charms her, but leaves her wondering whom to like and whom to trust.  She soon finds out, however, as things unfold to an exciting conclusion.  Girls in middle school and above should find this an exciting series.



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Doll Bones

Doll Bones by Holly Black

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Doll Bones by Holly Black was the perfect middle school read.  The story has that “scary” element that most middle schoolers just love.  Doll Bones begins with 3 friends, Poppy, Zach, and Alice (who have been friends forever) in the middle of a make-believe adventure.  They like to play with action figures and make up elaborate stories surrounding the characters the action figures represent.  The problem is they are getting older, and some people (like Zach’s dad and basketball team) think that maybe he is getting too old for this sort of thing.  But, then a real-life quest presents itself.  Poppy has been having mysterious dreams about an antique bone-china doll that is locked in the family cabinet.  They call the doll “the Queen.”  In the dream, the ghost of the girl whose ashes reside in the doll communicates to Poppy that her spirit cannot rest until she is buried in the proper grave.  So, the three begin an adventure where nearly everything goes wrong, and the doll convinces them of her ghostly presence.  The cover could have more male appeal rather than the doll because I think boys would like the book as well as girls.      



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Dodger

Dodger by Terry Pratchett

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Dodger, by Terry Pratchett, was an interesting step back into time, Victorian England.  Pratchett does a good job of helping us see this time period through the eyes of Dodger, a “tosher.” A tosher is one who frequents the underground sewer system in hopes of finding detritus that might have worked its way into the sewer system.  Dodger is particularly good at this.  He also is good at making his living on the street, although he has found shelter living with an eccentric Jewish fellow named Soloman.  Dodger enters into a whole new world when his good heart drives him from the sewer to intervene in the beating of a young girl.  He rescues the girl, and soon becomes involved with Charles Dickens, Disraeli, and other prominent figures as they discover the reason why someone wants the girl named Simplicity, dead.    It is hard not to be charmed by Pratchett’s vivid description of the sordid aspects of Victorian London.  He really captures it. The story is quite involved and may lose some middle school readers for that reason, but for exposure to this time period, it can’t be beat.  



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