Gregor the Overlander

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I finally got around to reading this book by Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins.  My granddaughter really loved this book, and I know why.  It is a delightful fantasy book about 11-year-old Gregor and his sister, Boots, who fall down a grate in the laundry room of their apartment in New York City.  They end up in a new world, Underland, that is inhabited by humans, giant cockroaches, spiders, rats and bats (and who knows what else).  Gregor, as it turns out, is part of an ancient prophecy, which involves a war between the rats and the humans, bats, and roaches.  Although he doesn't feel destined to lead, he is thrust into the role. I truly enjoyed following Gregor and Boots into the Underland.  Collins creates a magical world.  Definitely a must read for middle schoolers.



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Dark Life

Dark Life by Kat Falls

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Although a little slow at first, it wasn't long before this undersea thriller had me hooked.  It is the story of a futuristic community that has taken up residence in the ocean due to the rising oceans and lack of dry land. Those who remain "topside" live in extremely crowded conditions.  The main character, Ty, is the son of some pioneers who began the settlement.  Since he was raised in the ocean, he doesn't have much regard for the "topsiders," until he meets Gemma.  Gemma has come undersea to find her missing brother, and enlists Ty's help in doing so.  Ty and Gemma soon encounter the Seablite gang,a group of criminals that seem to be set on destroying the underwater community.  Things get worse when the Commonwealth Government (located topside) decide that the undersea community must take care of the outlaws themselves.  Of course Ty and Gemma end up in the thick of the adventure.  The story holds the interest not only with the twists and turns of the plot, but with the imaginative creation of this underwater community, where people born there seem to have evolved special gifts.  This should be a hit for middle schoolers and above.



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Code Name Verity

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The subject matter and some of the content of this book make it a book for 8th graders and above, but it is definitely a must read for that demographic.  The story is of friends, Julie and Maddie, who meet during WWII as they volunteer to serve their countries.  Julie has been trained as a spy for the French resistance, and Maddie is a pilot who works to carry military passengers between British Airfields.  The story begins with Julie. She has been captured by the Gestapo, and we find out she has been tortured.  She has agreed to give the Nazi's the information they want, so that she can have her clothes.  As she writes the information, she tells the story of her friendship with Maddie, tying in the information she assumes the enemy wants to know.  The second half of the book is Maddie's side of the story, including how she finds out that Julie is being captured and tortured.  It is a wonderful story of a deep friendship, but would be an excellent companion book for units on WWII.



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Bomb

Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Perfect non-fiction book for YA.  Sheinkin managed to make it read like a good spy novel.  It was easy to get engaged in reading about the Manhattan Project and Oppenheimer's (and others)development of the atomic bomb.  Although there were far too many people involved to keep them all straight, it still was easy to read and very engaging.  This will make a perfect non-fiction pairing with WWII novels in the Common Core. 



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Liar and Spy

Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Although a different story than her Newbery winner,When You Reach Me, Stead's book also has believable characters and delightful twists and turns that keep you reading.  The story's main character, Georges, a seventh grader, has just moved into an apartment with his out of work architect father.  His mother works as a nurse, and is now working double shifts at the hospital to make up for the loss.  School is not much better.  His best friend has ditched him to sit at the cool table, and others delight in bullying him.  When a kid at the new apartment puts up a sign for "spy club," Georges responds.  He makes a new friend, Safer, who has all sorts of ideas about spying and who in the building needs to be spied on.  Safer tests the limits of Georges friendship as Georges makes realizations of his own about friendship.  Perfect for the new middle school 6-8 next year.



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Blue Sword

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Robin McKinley is definitely one of the best YA writers.  It is little wonder she won the Newbery Medal for the Hero and the Crown, and the Newbery Honor for the Blue Sword.  I used to wonder why so many of my 7th graders were drawn to this book years ago, and now I now why.  It is an excellent story about a young girl named Harry Crewe, who is sent to Istan to join her older brother after her father dies.  Harry feels a kinship to the stark landscape of Istan, so different from the green hills of her home.  When the King of Damar comes to ask for help from the people of Istan in fighting their common enemy, magical things start to happen.  And, this is the beauty of McKinley, she blends the magical so seamlessly with the ordinary happenings of the characters that it is easy to suspend disbelief. Thoroughly enjoyable for middle schoolers and old lady librarians.



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Starters

Starters by Lissa Price

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I have to say, this book was a delightful surprise.  At first I thought that it was just another dystopian spin-off.  I listened to Legend by Marie Lu not too long ago, and thought this was way too similar in the beginning.  The main character, a girl instead of the boy who begins Marie Lu's novel, is left to take care of her brother after a genocide spore has wiped out everyone who was not vaccinated.  The brother is sick, just like in Legend.  I thought it another "here we go again," dystopian novel as she struggles to take care of her brother in a hostile world.  Her parents have been killed by the spore. All that was true, but Price took the novel in a different direction when Callie decides she can support her brother by having her body rented by "enders", (the elderly), who through technology can inhabit the body of the young and live as a young person again. The company who arranges this service is called Prime Destinations, run by a mysterious old man.  Callie's financial problems look as if they will be solved as she completes without difficulty her first rental.  But on a subsequent rental, the  neurochip implanted in her brain malfunctions, and she finds herself in the life of the rich woman renting her.  The novel then twists and turns and resolves in a surprise ending. A sequel follows, but the novel can stand on its own. Great read for middle school and up.



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