Thanks A Lot, Universe by Chad Lucas

 

Brian has a lot of family problems, including his father abandoning him and his younger brother at the same time his mother attempts suicide. Brian also is an awkward 7th grade boy without a lot of friendships to help sustain him. Life is clearly going to be rough for Brian and there are going to be no easy answers. Enter Ezra, a classmate with friends and sporting ability and a slowly emerging crush on Brian. This is the story of what these boys do in the face of many hurdles and awkward moves toward friendship. It's a slow and gentle book with a very middle grade vibe, and I'm sure there are readers who will love to find this book as it might help them through tough times of their own. Recommend this book to young readers who like to read about family dynamics, mental health, and kids exploring their identities. I think this book's sweet spot is 5th-7th grade readers. 

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

This is one of those YA books I am going to tell all my adult friends to read...it's a beautiful story told in exquisite language. I love the characters, the complex interplay of religion, and the power of reconciliation and hope. A nuanced coming of age story--I'm going to recommend it to mature 8th graders on up. I read it on the same day that I finished Angie Thomas' new book On the Come Up. There were so many similarities it's almost eerie--it would make a great pairing to talk about Xiomara and Bri and their relationship to poetry and to their mothers. Although they come from very different backgrounds, they both have learned to use anger to ward off danger. They both have brothers that are key figures in their lives. Their words are their dreams and they speak out boldly and get in trouble when other people interpret their words. Would Bri and Xiomara be friends? This would be a great debate question for a book club.

Far from the Tree by Robin Benway

This National Book Award Winner about three young people affected by adoption is a lovely story with complex relationships and diverse characters. The protagonists are three biological siblings who find each other as teenagers and forget relationships at a time in their lives when they need each other for different reasons. Grace has recently given up her own baby for adoption and is grieving the loss, Maya has a family that loves her but her mom is dealing with alcoholism, and Joaquin has been a foster child for 18 years and can't bring himself to trust that his current foster parents really will stay with him permanently. The book explores these three teens and how they navigate their adoptive families, their bio siblings, and the issue of looking for their biological mother. It's a rich story, recommended for high school libraries.

How to Disappear by Sharon Huss Roat

Vicky Decker, a high school sophomore, has a lot of social anxiety and one good friend, Jenna. Unfortunatley, Jenna has moved away and Vicky is spending all of her time alone, afraid to even say hello to classmates or speak in class. In the safety of her own bedroom, she creates an Instagram personality named Vicurious, and Photoshops herself into all kinds of settings. Without really trying, Vicky becomes an internet heroine to people who feel alone and ignored. At the same time, she opens up to a few people at school, including a boy who sites next to her in a class and the yearbook staff members who see her talent with photo editing. Vicky's story is compelling and real, and compulsively readable. It deals with some of the usual YA lit issues, but Vicky is a character to root for and relate to and the Instagram fame makes the story really stand out. Definitely recommended for readers looking for a book with romance, friendship, and mental health issues.

Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith

Imagine winning 140 million dollars in the lottery! That's what happens to Teddy, who happens to be Alice's best friend and secret crush. Teddy has just turned 18 and Alice buys him the lottery ticket for a birthday gift. Alice doesn't want any part of the money--she just wants Teddy to fall in love with her. But when Teddy starts spending money like crazy and skipping school, it seems less and less likely that he will remain the same old Teddy that she has always known. Alice is the type to volunteer at a homeless shelter and apply to Stanford University, and this book follows the end of their senior year of high school and the choices that they make as they move toward adulthood. Jennifer E. Smith is a great choice for readers who like romance and intriguing stories. Recommended for grades 6-up.

Falling Over Sideways by Jordan Sonnenblick

Jordan Sonnenblick is one of my favorite authors, and this book does not disappoint. It's about a girl going about her ordinary 13-year-old life when everything is upended by her father having a stroke. While Claire navigates the new difficulties at home, she's still going about her ordinary life of dance class (where she's worse than her friends), braces, and a boy who may be more than a friend. You have to trust me on this one--just read it. It's great and it will make you laugh and cry at the same time.

Ghost by Jason Reynolds

Ever since the incident that put his father in jail, Castle prefers to be called Ghost. He's a middle school kid with some pent up anger, and a strong belief that he is a great basketball planer (even though he's never really planed much before). What Ghost is really good at is sprinting, and when he lands a spot on a competitive track team, he has to control his behavior or risk getting kicked off the team. Ghost has some strong adults in his life, including his mom, a neighborhood store owner, and his new track coach, but will they be enough to keep him out of trouble? I loved this story and I think it would be a great read-aloud or book for class discussion. Highly recommended for 5th-7th graders.

Pieces of Why by K.L. Going

Tia is twelve and lives with her mom in New Orleans. She is a gifted singer, and her life revolves around singing in The Rainbow Choir with her best friend Keisha. Tia knows very little about her father except that he is in prison and she is not allowed to talk about him with her mother. But when a tragedy happens during a choir rehearsal, Tia finds out things about her father that change the whole way she sees the world. The question is, will she continue to pour out her heart and soul into her singing, or will her newfound knowledge make her withdraw into herself? This is a book about grief and forgiveness and one girl's personal journey toward healing. Kids who sing will relate to this book, as well as kids who like to get into other people's heads and "walk a mile" in their shoes.

Half a World Away by Cynthia Kadohata

Jaden was adopted from Romania at the age of 8. He is now 12 years old and he still remember how it felt to be abandoned by his birth mother. His parents in the United States have loved him and cared for him, but he has trouble connecting with them or anyone else. In this book, Jaden and his parents travel to Kazakhstan to adopt a new baby. Jaden doesn't expect to care about a new sibling, and he certainly doesn't expect to feel attached to a special-needs toddler at the orphanage. Jaden has deep-seated problems for which there are no easy solutions, but this is a story about the power of love and the ability of people to change and grow. I enjoyed this book as an adult reader and I think students will also empathize with Jaden's complicated emotions.

Heaven is Paved with Oreos by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Fourteen-year-old Sarah Zorn and her best friend Curtis tell people they are dating just to get them to stop wondering. The truth is they are best friends and they do science projects together (like reconstructing the skeleton of a dead calf). Things change when Sarah's hippie grandmother takes her on a pilgrimage to Rome and Curtis decides he wants to stop pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend. This book is Sarah's journal of her trip and her changing feelings for Curtis. It's also the story of family secrets that her grandmother brings to light on the Spanish Steps in Rome. It's a sweet story about travel, family and romance that would be great for middle school girls. BONUS: It's also the companion book to Dairy Queen, which is one of my all-time favorite young adult novels. Curtis is D.J. Schwenk's quiet younger brother and D.J. and Sarah get to be friends in this book. Hopefully this will become a gateway book for middle schoolers to move on to Dairy Queen.

52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody

Lexington Larrabee is a spoiled rich girl who is on the brink of inheriting twenty-five million dollars from her business-tycoon father. Unfortunately, she makes headlines when she crashes her $500,000 car into a convenience store and her father takes away the trust fund. Instead he gives her a list of 52 jobs she must do for one week each. The jobs include cleaning houses, working at a fast food restaurant, digging graves, working at a funeral home, and the list goes on. She will only inherit her money if she completes the jobs. Her father, totally uninvolved with her life, sends his stuffy young intern to keep track of her progress. Along the way Lex starts to take charge of her life and to unravel the family secrets that have made her life not-so-perfect. It's a predictable book in many ways, but very fun to read. It's definitely on the fluffy side, but well-written with a few twists and turns to keep you guessing. It's also pretty clean and totally appropriate for grades 7-up.

The Edumacation of Jay Baker by Jay Clark

Jay Baker, the freshman narrator of this book, is so full of jokes and pop culture references that sometimes I could hardly keep up with him. He's secretly in love with his cheerleader best friend, dealing with his parents' separation, and fighting off a bullying homophobic former friend who constantly torments him at school. Although Jay Baker would have you believe he's kind of a wimp, he seems to have no problems with girls falling for him—in fact, he starts up a relationship with tennis-playing Caroline who can match him joke for joke, and then finds he has two girls vying for his attention. It's a very enjoyable, funny book about the trials and tribulations of an unusually smart, funny guy with a lot going on in his life. His interactions with his mom, dad, sister, and history teacher all seemed very true to life—and I appreciated that the adults were meaningful characters in the book. I read through this quickly and liked it a lot—it's Jay Clark's first book and I'm sure he will be a talent to watch. Recommended for high school guys and girls.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

This boy-meets-girl story was made to be turned into a movie. It takes place during 24 hours in the life of Hadley, who is reluctantly flying to London for her father's second wedding. She misses her flight and while waiting for the next one meets a young man named Oliver. They strike up a friendship during the long overnight flight then go their separate ways. Hadley to the wedding and Oliver to an unknown destination. Hadley is nursing a lot of resentment and sadness toward her father and Oliver is secretive about his reason for traveling. When Hadley pieces together some of Oliver's backstory she takes off through London to find him and continue their new and promising relationship. It's definitely a feel-good story, but with enough depth of character and complexity of relationships to save it from being too fluffy. It's an enjoyable read for romantic-minded readers in grades 8-up.

How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr

Imagine you are a teenage girl with problems of your own (including the heartbreak that your father passed away last year) and your grieving mother decides to adopt a baby. Then imagine that the pregnant teenager carrying this baby moves in with your family while waiting for the baby to be born. This is what happens to Jill and she's not very nice to anyone—her mom, her boyfriend, Dylan, or Mandy, the unwanted pregnant teenager. The book alternates between Mandy and Jill's perspectives and readers see that both have good reasons for why they are the way they are. The question is, will they be able to overcome their own problems and make their new life together work? This is actually a kind of quiet book that delves into the minds of these two girls. Sara Zarr is a good writer and this is definitely worth reading.

The Abduction by John Grisham

This is John Grisham's second book about Theodore Boone, a 13-year-old lawyer wannabe who gets involved in solving crimes in his hometown. In this story one of Theo's best friends, an 8th grader named April, disappears in the night from her home. It is assumed that she has been kidnapped—possibly by a distant relative who recently escaped from prison. The police don't want Theo's help with the case, but Theo can't resist getting involved. While the police track down the escaped criminal and look for bodies in the river, Theo follows another lead and finds April himself. I think some kids might like this book but it lacks the complexity and intelligence of many kids' spy books. It rambles on at times (what was up with the animal court story?) and in the end the plot is pretty simple. I don't believe that the police wouldn't have tried to track down April's father in another state. If they had the crime would have been solved very quickly. I get the feeling that John Grisham is churning these books out without giving them the attention he gives to his adult books. This is a shame, because middle school kids are smart and they can handle action, suspense, and complexity. Grisham also throws in references to booze and gambling and fraternity houses that were jarring to me. I recommend this book to younger middle school readers who want a mystery that won't require too much thinking.

Bruiser by Neal Shusterman

Neal Shusterman is one of my very favorite authors for teenagers and, while very different from his other books, Bruiser was a real treat. I didn't know what to expect because all of the reviews I read tried so hard not to give away what the book is really about. I couldn't even tell if it was realistic or a fantasy until I read it (and I'm still not so sure how I could classify it now that I've read it!) Four characters narrate this book: Brewster aka "Bruiser," a high school boy with no friends and a reputation for being dangerous and violent, Bronte, the nice, normal girl who falls in love with Brewster, Tennyson, Bronte's twin brother who at first is adamantly against his sister dating "Bruiser," and Cody, Brewster's 8-year-old brother. Brewster and Cody live with a sometimes-cruel uncle who forces them to keep to themselves and to form no relationships. Once Bronte and Brewster find each other, though, Brewster begins forging relationships with people with disastrous consequences for himself. SPOILER ALERT—don't read more if you don't want to know why. The truth is that Brewster has a gift (or a curse, depending on how you look at it). He takes away the pain of those he cares about—both physical and emotional. His body is a wreck and getting worse with every injury those around him sustain. The deeper he gets involved with Bronte's family the harder the toll is on his body and spirit. It's a good story with complex characters, and, as always with Neal Shusterman's books, there's a whole other deeper layer to talk about and think about. Recommended for 8th-12th grades.

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

This is one of those books that you sink deeply into and when you finish you wish there were more. It's a modern story of a bright girl who is struggling with her younger brother's death. Andi is a musician and must write a paper about a French musician to graduate from high school. Her dad takes her to Paris over the winter holidays where she finds a diary of a girl that cared for the king's son during the French Revolution. Andi (and the reader) become engrossed in Alexandrine's story and their stories combine at the end. I enjoyed the story on several levels and learned some French history at the same time. I would recommend this to good readers (8th-up) who are willing to invest in a complex but rewarding story.

Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

Deanna lives in a small town and she feels trapped by her reputation. As an eighth grader her father caught her in the backseat of a car with Tommy, a teenage boy. Since then her father and everyone else think of her as promiscuous. Now Deanna is 17 years old and she's trying to break out of that stereotype. Deanna must deal with family, friends, and her new job as she tries to make the emotional journey toward a new self.

Burned by Ellen Hopkins

Ellen Hopkins writes books about teens with big problems. In Burned, Pattyn's biggest problem is her abusive, alcoholic, strict Mormon father. When Pattyn is caught fooling around with a non-Mormon boyfriend he sends her to live with her aunt in rural Nevada. There she is free to question her religion, learn to drive, herd some cattle, and fall in love with an older man. Unfortunately, her happiness can only last for the summer and when she returns to her oppressive home things come to a head. For most of the book I thought it had less drama than a typical Ellen Hopkins book, but then I got to the ending. I don't want to spoil things for you, but get ready. It's not a feel-good book. This is definitely for high school readers who like books dealing with teen issues.

After by Amy Efaw

What would you think of a person who left a newborn baby to die in a trashcan? Would you believe her if she told you she didn't even know she was pregnant? Would you see her as a cold-blooded murderer? Devon Davenport is this girl—fifteen years old, a star soccer player, a girl with big ambitions, and a girl who hides from her friends and her mother as well as from herself. The author begins on the day that Devon gives birth and takes the reader through the next couple of weeks as she goes from the hospital to the juvenile detention center to a court hearing. It's part psychological drama and part courtroom drama, and somehow Amy Efaw puts the reader on Devon's side and you find yourself willing her to speak up, remember, and open herself up to the people who care about her. This was a gripping story—but definitely for high school readers.