Peeled

Title: Peeled
Author: Joan Bauer
Pages: 247
Level: Middle School/High School
Content: PG
Language: G
Recommendation: Good Read

Summary: Hildy Biddle wants something monumental to happen so she can finally prove herself to be more than a high school journalist. The problem? Her town's biggest story stars a ghost, which is not an easy interview. But while the local paper is playing up people's fears with shocking headlines of creepy happenings, Hildy is determined to discover what's really going on. Unfortunately, her desire to uncover the truth is starting to cause a stir. With rumors swirling and tensions high, can Hildy push past all the hype ...

Review: Very easy read, with quirky characters.  Suspense, mystery, and teens bent on helping their small community in New York. 

Dear Blue Sky

Title: Dear Blue Sky
Author: Mary Sullivan
Pages: 248
Content: PG/PG13
Level: Upper Middle/High School
Langauge: PG
Recommendation: Good Read

Summary: A timely, eye-opening novel showing how war affects families on both sides. Ever since her brother Sef left for Iraq, Cassie has felt like her life is falling apart. Her parents are fighting over her brother having gone to war. Her smart, beautiful sister is messing up. Her little brother, who has Down syndrome, is pretending he's a Marine. And her best friend no longer has time for her. In her loneliness Cassie turns to a surprising source of comfort: Blue Sky, an Iraqi girl she meets through her blog. The girls begin a correspondence and Cassie learns that when Blue Sky says "I want my life back," she means something profound, as she can no longer venture out in her destroyed city. Cassie takes strength from Blue Sky's courage and is inspired to stop running away from the pain, and to reclaim her life.

Review: An interesting view of how war affects everyone - on both sides!  Cassie has a lot to deal with, and her character has to really grow up and search herself.  An interesting read for those interested in war, who deal wtih Down Syndrome, Blog (or read blogs), or want to appreciate all that is good in their life.

Dead End In Norvelt

Title: Dead End In Norvelt
Author: Jack Gantos
Pages: 352
Language: PG
Content: PG
Level: High Elem/Middle/High School
Recommendation: Must Read

Summary: Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets. But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jack's way once his mom loans him out to help a fiesty old neighbor with a most unusual chore—typewriting obituaries filled with stories about the people who founded his utopian town. As one obituary leads to another, Jack is launced on a strange adventure involving molten wax, Eleanor Roosevelt, twisted promises, a homemade airplane, Girl Scout cookies, a man on a trike, a dancing plague, voices from the past, Hells Angels . . . and possibly murder. Endlessly surprising, this sly, sharp-edged narrative is the author at his very best, making readers laugh out loud at the most unexpected things in a dead-funny depiction of growing up in a slightly off-kilter place where the past is present, the present is confusing, and the future is completely up in the air.

Review: LOVE LOVE LOVE this book.  I began reading this book to my children (ages 12, 10, 8) on a car trip....we read for HOURS!  All of us thoroughly enjoyed this book!  I seriously can't say enough.  Quirky, Funny, Tender, Hilarious!  I want more of this kind of book!!!!!!