Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

This is another MHL book for this year and it's a thick one! It's a fantasy set in a world where huge airships are the way people travel (much like they used to travel on luxury ships like the Titanic). The story involves Matt Cruse, a poor but ambitious boy who works on the ship and dreams of becoming a sailmaker. He becomes involved in a wealthy traveler's quest to discover the truth of her grandfather's strange journals. When the airship is boarded by pirates and crash lands on a remote island, Matt and Kate find out that there really are flying carniverous beasts in the air, but their biggest problem is that the pirates have a station on the island. This book starts our a little bit slow then gets really exciting. The vocabulary is rich and the author never talks down to his readers. This one will be perfect for good readers of all grade levels.

The Clique by Lisi Harrison

This book is wildly popular with middle school girls, including several girls in Pageturners Book Club, who recommended that I read it. I will start off by saying that I can see why this book is in demand. It is fast-moving, has characters that you love to hate, and is full of contemporary references to fashion and popular culture.
However, I also have to say that this is one of the worst books I have read in a long time! The characters are completely shallow--even the "good" girl (Claire) that we are supposed to identify with. I just did not believe that a) Claire would want to be friends with the awful clique of girls after the things they did to her and that b) she could sneak into the mansion and text message from Massie's computer. And the final scene in which Claire and Massie are in a bush listening to their drunk fathers sing 99 Bottles of Beer is about as contrived an ending as I could think of.

The mean things that the clique does to the new girl are truly awful, and I'm sure there is some therapy in reading about kids who are meaner than the people who are mean to you. There is nothing wrong with reading these books--kids love series books and of course everything a person reads doesn't have to be well-written, but I just had to give my true opinion of this one. If you're looking for a better book about the horrors of middle school, try The Girls by Amy Goldman Koss or Define Normal by Julie Ann Peters.

Soldier X by Don Wulffson

Wow. This is one of those books that taught me a lot. Erik is a German teenager and he is forced into the Nazi army at the end of World War II when there was really no hope for Germany. Although he is half German, his grandparents are Russian, and his language ability comes in handy when he is wounded in a battle on the Russian front. He takes the clothes and identity of a dead Russian boy soldier, and he recovers from his wounds in a Russian army hospital. There he meets an orphaned teen named Tamara, and they flee together from both armies. Full of the horrors or war and details that evoke the smells, sights, and sounds of battle, this book has strong characters, a strong plot, and will be of great interest, especially to boys.

Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes

This is a MHL nominee for next school year. It's about a high school English class in the inner city and the Friday poetry readings that reveal the lives of the students and bring the class together. It's loosely narrated by Tyronne, who at first thinks school is a joke and that he has no future. The format is to read a little of the inner thoughts of a character, then to read the poem that that character reads to the class. Janelle is overweight and wants people to see her as she is on the inside. Devon is a smart jock who secretly goes to the library to read and study. Chankara was smacked by her boyfriend and is through letting people beat up on her. Raul is an artist who wants to paint the beauty of his people. Gloria has a baby and is determined to go on to college. Lupe wishes she could have a baby to love her. I did think it was a bit unrealistic that all these kids could (and would) write wonderful poems revealing their inner selves, but it was fun to read their stories and poems, and it is most definitely a well-written book. I'm not sure how middle school students will like this one--it will be interesting to find out.