New titles to look for! Summer 2018

I might have mentioned that we went on an extended trip this summer.  It was great but one of the things I worried about was being able to have enough books along to keep me busy.  It turns out that the ebooks were a big help because I would have needed a whole big suitcase to take all the books I wanted along.  It also turns out we were pretty busy seeing amazing beautiful things.

But read I did!  (There were some extended plane rides and a rain delayed layover at the end of the trip) so here are some of the best from the summer so far!

I think my new favorite one is called "The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle" by Victoria Williamson.  It's written from three different points of view-one is Caylin, a girl who is dealing with the death of her beloved grandparents as well as the alcohol abuse and neglect of her mother, Reema, a girl who's family has fled Syria for the safety of a new home in Scotland, and then a fox, who is badly injured and then gives birth to four kits, but finds herself unable to feed the babies.  Caylin and Reema tell their stories in prose and the fox tells hers in poetry.   Unsurprisingly, the stories criss-cross and weave together until they are one.  What is surprising (at least to me) was how beautifully written this book was.  The language in it is amazing and the emotional connection I developed with the characters was strong (ask my brother, who kept interrupting me while I was reading, as the tears streamed down my face).  There are big themes of friendship and doing the right thing and taking responsibility and sharing the load when you need to, racism, war, family, tolerance and loyalty.  This one has all the best things about middle grade fiction-wonderful characters, connections to the big wide world as well as to your own experiences and it's written in a compelling and beautiful way.  DO NOT MISS THIS ONE. 

Here's the author reading from the book.  

The second one is probably for kids bigger than my elementary school kids.  But the voice was so much fun and so compelling, it will definitely be a big hit with kids.  It's called "Quid Pro Quo" by Vicki Grant.  It's about a boy named Cyril who opens the book explaining that he started law school when he was 10.  Not because he was so smart and he wanted to, but because his single mom started law school and she couldn't afford any day care for him, so he came with her to classes and helped her study.  He's small for his age, which is 14, wishing he could impress girls and is a bit of a wise guy.  All of which helps when his mom disappears and he has to figure out what happened to her.  It's a fast paced mystery and it was a lot of fun.  I think the kids are going to really like Cyril's character-I know I did!

The last one is for sure a YA book.  I was trying to read outside my self-imposed boundaries this summer.  I read a LOT of picture books.  A LOT.  And they're awesome but it's good to get to dig into something with interesting characters and problems and this one had both.  It's called "We Regret to Inform You" by A. E. Kaplan.  It's about a girl named Mischa who attends an exclusive prep school on scholarships and loans.  Her mom is a single parent and Mischa has worked really hard to get into a good (Ivy League) college.  When her friends start getting into their colleges of choice, Mischa is surprised to learn that she hasn't gotten into any colleges.  Not her first choice Ivy League schools, not even the last choice, loser school that she never would have considered anyway.  So she starts asking questions about why it is that she didn't get into any colleges and the answers surprise her and a lot of the other kids.  It's a really great mystery story with a little teen age romance to brighten things up.