Antsy Does Time by Neal Shusterman

This book was a wonderful surprise. I enjoyed The Schwa Was Here several years ago and I had forgotten what a great character Antsy Bonano is. This is the sequel to that book, but I believe with its new plot and characters it could stand alone. It's hard to describe the plot because there's a lot going on. In a nutshell, Antsy befriends a boy named Gunnar who has only six months to live. Antsy comes up with a symbolic gesture of donating a month of his life to Gunnar and suddenly everyone wants to donate their time also. Antsy is awkward, funny, earnest, and fully aware that he is not the coolest guy in the school, but somehow he becomes famous for his "time donation" scheme and ends up dating Gunnar's beautiful older sister. There's tons of humor in this story, but the real charm of the book is Antsy and his realizations about family relationships, his girlfriend, and how precious time is. This is Neal Shusterman's writing at its very best and I think this book ought to be recognized as one of the best middle school books of the year. It would make a fantastic read-aloud. I highly recommend it to readers in grade six on up.

The Juvie Three by Gordon Korman

Although it has some humor in it, this isn't the usual funny Gordon Korman book. It's the story of three juvenile criminals, all imprisoned for different reasons, who are brought together to a halfway house by a well-meaning guy named Douglas Healy. They must behave perfectly or they will be sent back to prison. Of course, they don't all behave perfectly and when Healy takes a sort-of accidental fall the boys have a choice to make—own up to their part in the accident and get sent back to prison or cover up the accident and try to pretend that everything is normal. Healy goes to the hospital and wakes up with amnesia. Gecko, one of the boys, volunteers in the hospital to keep track of Healy's condition. There he meets a nice girl and they start a relationship. However, she doesn't know Gecko's true story. The ways that the boys cover up their secrets aren't always realistic, and the ending is definitely happier than real-life, but it's an engaging story with interesting characters who have complex motivations. This should appeal to kids who like to read about crime and gangs, as well as kids who like a good story with lots of action.

In Defiance of Hitler: The Secret Mission of Varian Fry by Carla Killough McClafferty

This book is one more example of "all I ever needed to know I learned from children's nonfiction." I had never even heard of Varian Fry before I picked up this book. He was a pretty ordinary American man who volunteered for a two-week rescue mission during World War II. The plan was to go to Marseilles, France and find war refugees wanted by the Nazis and get them to safety. His specific mission was to save a specific list of important artists, writers, and thinkers who were in grave danger of being sent to concentration camps. The mission took all of his creativity, stamina, and skills and in it Fry found the most meaningful days of his life. The two weeks spread out into more than a year as Fry desperately tried every way he could think of to get refugees out of France, into Spain, then Portugal, then on to other countries. Together witha selfless staff of other unsung heroes, Fry ultimately saved about 2,000 people from death at the hands of the Nazis. Sadly, his work destroyed his marriage and he never found another endeavor that so fully used his skills and his compassion. McClafferty's research is excellent and her organization makes this book easy to read and understand. She deftly shows how difficult and draining the work was and how many obstacles the rescuers faced. Middle schoolers with an interest in World War II could definitely appreciate this book, but I believe it is equally appropriate for high school students as well as adults. It's an inspiring look at an unsung hero. 

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Most of us don't get the chance to go to an elite East Coast prep school with future power brokers and secret societies, but that's Frankie's life. She's a formerly geeky sophomore in high school who blossomed over the summer and suddenly caught the eye of the most desirable senior boy in the school, Matthew. He's generally a good guy and Frankie loves many things about him. What she doesn't love is that he doesn't really take her intellect very seriously. When he snubs Frankie to go to secret meetings of the Order of the Bassett Hounds, Frankie's latent criminal mind kicks into high gear and she comes up with a scheme to manipulate all the boys in the secret society and play some good pranks at the boarding school. She thinks she will earn the respect of the boys she is manipulating, but that is not what happens. This intelligent book has a strong vocabulary and some clever uses of the English language. Frankie is a complicated character—likable but definitely struggling to find her own personality and voice. A curious, smart, independent-minded reader will find a kindred spirit in Frankie Landau-Banks.