The Boy Who Saved Baseball by John H. Ritter

Sports fans will be happy to see that there is finally a Maud Hart Lovelace nominee for them. You don't have to love baseball to like this book, but I'm sure it helps. It is the saga of a small town steeped in baseball history that is about to lose its field, and it's heart and soul, when developers start building huge suburban homes where the field has stood for years and years. The kids of the town are given one last chance to save their field and their town, but they have to win a difficult baseball game, and they know they are not up to the challenge. But a boy from the country shows up in town, and he knows how to convince a reclusive baseball legend to be their coach, and he also has a theory about how to master the art of hitting. The story has some twists and turns, but primarily it is the story of a group of kids working hard to take on the world. As I said, baseball lovers will be happy.

Blizzard's Wake by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

This Maud Hart Lovelace nominee combines the danger of a real-life killer blizzard with the psychological drama of a teenage girl who can't forgive the man who killed her mother. Kate and her father and brother live in North Dakota, and the year is 1941. They are all trying to go on with their lives after their mother died four years ago. Zeke is the drunk driver who killed her, and he is just out of prison after serving three and a half years. When a deadly blizzard roars across the prairie, Kate is stranded in the house, her family is stranded in a car, and Zeke is wandering down the road. Finally they all end up in the house together, but Kate isn't about to let Zeke forget how much she hates him. The real action of this story is inside Kate's heart and mind, and if you like learning about people and how they think and feel, you will like this story.

Rising Water by P.J. Peterson

Rising Water is a short book with lots of action. It's about high-school-age siblings named Tracy and Luke, who work at an animal rescue center. Tracy can't stand it when a boy named Kevin is sent to do community service hours at the animal shelter. In her mind Kevin is irresponsible, doesn't care about animals, and on top of that is a criminal. Kevin is actually a pretty decent guy who made a mistake, and he isn't sure why Tracy is so nasty to him. Well, their town is flooding, and Tracy's brother Luke takes off in his boat to save a woman's dog. Tracy and Kevin go along, and as the teenagers navigate the flooded neighborhoods, they find a house that is being burglarized. Luke tries to stop it, and the kids get messed up with thieves with guns. As you might have guessed, the question is, can Tracy and Kevin work together and overcome their dislike for each other?
Readers looking for a quick book full of drama will like Rising Water.

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

Have you ever wondered what creatures might live under the earth? Could there be another world full of huge cockroaches, friendly bats, evil rats, and human beings who have adapted to the Underworld? If you want to be transported to another world, read Gregor the Overlander, one of this year's Maud Hart Lovelace nominees. Gregor is a normal kid who follows his 2-year-old sister down a vent in his New York City laundry room. They fall and fall until they end up in the Underworld and are escorted to the royal city by crawlers (giant cockroaches). It turns out that Gregor has a mighty prophecy to fulfill, and he will have to lead a team of Underlanders to rescue his father. Full of action and all the enchantment of an imaginative fantasy world, fantasy readers will LOVE this book and want to read all the sequels. Even if you don't usually like fantasy, give this one a try. It's not always my favorite thing, but this is one of those that will grab you and pull you into its world. It's a little bit like City of Ember, only much much stranger!

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.

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.

Buddha Boy by Kathe Koja

Buddha Boy is one of the Maud Hart Lovelace books for next school year. I listened to it on CD this week. It's about a new kid at a high school who at first seems pretty weird. His head is shaved and he begs in the lunch room. It turns out that a lot of what the new kid does is based on Buddhism, and when Justin unwillingly becomes his friend he finds out what an incredible artist he is. Unfortunately, the powerful jocks of the school pick Jinsen to harass, and Justin has to decide where he stands. This book has lots to think about--religion, art, friendship--and is short and easy to read. It's only mature because of some of the language in the book, which isn't anything everyone hasn't already heard, but it is not language you can say at school. I think this one will be enjoyed by 7th and 8th grade boys and girls alike.