I posted this picture on my Facebook page,
with the caption, "A few of the 100 books I plan on reading this summer." FB friend Peter Lerangis tagged a few of the authors and I thought that was a great idea, so I tagged a couple more. Earlier this week, I went to school to bring my library jungle (plants) home for the summer and checked my mailbox. This is what I found with a note that read, "Hoping you'll add this to your 100 book summer reading":
The Paper Cowboy by Kirstin Levine. 333 p. G.P. Putnam's Sons/ Penguin Young Readers Group, September 4, 2014. 9780399163289.
Publisher synopsis: Though he thinks of himself as a cowboy, Tommy is really a bully. He's always playing cruel jokes on classmates or stealing from the store. But Tommy has a reason: life at home is tough. His abusive mother isn't well; in fact, she may be mentally ill, and his sister, Mary Lou, is in the hospital badly burned from doing a chore it was really Tommy's turn to do. To make amends, Tommy takes over Mary Lou's paper route. But the paper route also becomes the perfect way for Tommy to investigate his neighbors after stumbling across a copy of The Daily Worker, a communist newspaper.
Tommy is shocked to learn that one of his neighbors could be a communist, and soon fear of a communist in this tight-knit community takes hold of everyone when Tommy uses the paper to frame a storeowner, Mr. McKenzie. As Mr. McKenzie's business slowly falls apart and Mary Lou doesn't seem to get any better, Tommy's mother's abuse gets worse causing Tommy's bullying to spiral out of control.
Poignantly written, Kristin Levine proves herself a master of gripping and affecting historical fiction.
I absolutely loved The Lions of Little Rock and The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had. Thanks Stacey Barney!
Somebody on This Bus is Going to be Famous by J.B. Cheaney. 296 p. Sourcebooks/ Jabberwocky, September 2, 2014. 9781402292972.
Publisher synopsis: Who's it going to be?
Spencer's the smart kid. Shelly's the diva. Miranda's the scaredy-cat. Matthew's just average (so far). In fact, there's nothing about any of the nine middle-schoolers on Mrs. B's bus route that screams "fame." But before the end of the year, somebody on this bus is going to be famous.
Every morning, their school bus waits at an empty bus stop. Nobody ever gets on. Nobody ever gets off.
And Mrs. B refuses to answer questions about it. Strangest of all, it's Bender the bully who decides to investigate the mystery. But it will take all nine students to find out the truth, for each of them has a clue to the mystery that will change their lives forever.
These next three are courtesy of Mary Brown, of Books, Bytes and Beyond, bookseller extraordinaire. Schools and libraries in NJ, consider ordering through her - amazing knowledge of children's literature, competitive prices and excellent service.
Gabriel Finley & the Raven's Riddle by George Hagen. 371 p. Schwartz & Wade Books/ Random House Children's Books, August 26, 2014. 9780385371056.
Publisher synopsis: This fast-paced, exciting, and emotionally rich fantasy novel for middle graders reads like a cross between The Phantom Tollbooth and Harry Potter.
How can 11-year-old Gabriel find his missing father, who seems to have vanished without a trace? With the help of Paladin—a young raven with whom he has a magical bond that enables them to become one creature—he flies to the foreboding land of Aviopolis, where he must face a series of difficult challenges and unanswerable riddles that could lead to his father . . . or to his death.
I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. 371 p. Dial Books/ Penguin Group (USA), September 16, 2014. 9780803734968.
Publisher synopsis: A brilliant, luminous story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal for fans of John Green, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell
Jude and her brother, Noah, are incredibly close twins. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude surfs and cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and divisive ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as an unpredictable new mentor. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.
This radiant, fully alive novel from the critically acclaimed author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.
This radiant, fully alive novel from the critically acclaimed author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.
I absolutely adored The Sky is Everywhere a few years back and am so looking forward to this. Thanks Mary!
What's new with you? Leave a link to your stack in the comments section.
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