Format: Chapter Book Fiction

This Is What It Feels Like

This Is What It Feels LikeThis Is What It Feels Like by Rebecca Barrow
Published by HarperTeen on November 6th 2018
ISBN: 0062494236
Pages: 400
Goodreads
four-stars

Upon graduation from high school, three friends put their differences behind them enter their band in the Sun City Originals music contest. Hanna, a recovering alcoholic, has some fences to mend with friends Jules and Dia. The narrative alternates between past events and the present to reveal conflicts that led the friends to become estranged. Dia is a strong character who works hard to support her baby daughter while Jules is trying to move on after the recent breakup with her girlfriend. The diverse characters are strong role models, especially for female readers. Themes of friendship, love and forgiveness make this a story that will resonate with teens.

Cathy Potter, Falmouth Middle School

four-stars

The Midnights

The MidnightsThe Midnights by Sarah Nicole Smetana
Published by HarperTeen on March 6th 2018
ISBN: 0062644629
Pages: 416
Goodreads
four-stars

When senior high student, Susannah Hayes’ alcoholic, retired rock musician father tragically dies during a California wildfire, the bond that they shared and her natural skill of creating lyrics becomes blocked.  Susannah must navigate a new school when her mother moves them to her grandmother’s house; a grandmother she thought was dead.  Layers of relationships, teen flirtations, garage band scenes, teens using drugs, alcohol and fragile friendships are the back drop that Susannah outwardly survives in as she inwardly fights to find her songwriting muse.  Finding closure happens on a variety of levels as heartache breaks her apart and music puts her back together.  Smetana allows her characters to be untrustworthy, confused, impulsive and immature without apology.

Reviewed by Sheila Dube, Springvale Public Library

four-stars

In Your Shoes

In Your ShoesIn Your Shoes by Donna Gephart
Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers on October 30th 2018
ISBN: 1524713732
Pages: 336
Goodreads
four-stars

This is a sweet story about friendship for readers in grades 5-8.  Miles loves his family’s bowling alley business and it is the one place that his chronic anxious thoughts can be stilled.  Amy, who wears a wedge in one shoe,  has recently moved into her Uncle’s funeral home business.  Since her father is off training to understand the business, she is left alone to ponder her grief of her mother’s death to cancer in her story writing.  When a flying bowling shoe accidently brings Miles and Amy together, their own points of view are expanded in the areas of friendship, self –discovery and acceptance.  Gephart captures the natural ways of dialog between friends and sets up realistic family dynamics.  The one drawback is the insertion of an unnamed narrator who processes ideas about friendship a few times throughout the book.  It is presented in italics and seems unnecessary to the story.

Reviewed by Sheila Dube, Springvale Public Library

four-stars

Drive

DriveDrive by Joyce Moyer Hostetter
Published by Calkins Creek Books on September 11th 2018
ISBN: 1629798657
Goodreads
three-stars

Told in alternating voices, the story follows the lives of twins Ellie and Ida. Even though the girls have a close relationship, they have different friends and very different interests. Ellie spends her free time watching NASCAR race while Ida enjoys writing and sketching. As they enter high schools, the girls venture in their own directions which causes conflict at times. Their father suffers from post traumatic stress disorder from his service in World War II which adds to the stress at home. Set in the small town of Hickory, North Carolina in 1952, this historical fiction novel explores themes of family, friendship and the effects of war. The characters are dealing with issues related to their high school classes and friends, yet at times they act like much younger students. However, readers who prefer character-driven stories will appreciate Drive.

Cathy Potter, Falmouth Middle School

three-stars

Storm-Wake

Storm-WakeStorm-Wake by Lucy Christopher
Published by Chicken House on July 31st 2018
ISBN: 054594032X
Pages: 320
Goodreads
four-stars

Lucy Christopher pays tribute to Shakespeare’s The Tempest in this suspenseful, middle grade fantasy novel. The story is organized into acts mirroring a play. In the first act, readers are introduced to Moss, a girl who lives on a magical island with her father. The two are far removed from all aspects of society and civilization. After a storm on the island, a boy and a horse appear on the beach and provide company to the lonely Moss. Christopher’s world building and descriptive language will immerse readers in life on the mystical island. When a boat crashes on the rocks and strands two boys from the outside world, Moss learns a shocking secret about her past, her father and the island she calls home. Middle grade and teen readers who enjoy magical realism will be drawn to this unique and mysterious story. Some readers may find the plot confusing at times, but the confusion will be cleared up in the last few chapters.

Reviewed by Cathy Potter, Falmouth Middle School

four-stars

A Bad Night for Bullies

A Bad Night for BulliesA Bad Night for Bullies (The Goolz Next Door, #1) by Gary Ghislain
Published by Boyds Mills Press on March 13th 2018
ISBN: 1629796778
Pages: 160
Goodreads
four-stars

The Goolz family moves next door to twelve-year-old Harold and his mom and life in quiet Bay Harbor, Maine will never be the same.  Harold, confined to a wheelchair after an accidental fall from a tree, has not yet found is foothold in Bay Harbor, struggling to make friends and easily becoming a target for Alex Hewitt and his vicious gang.  Harold has come home more than once with scrapes and cuts from encounters with the bullies. However, all that changes when Ilona Goolz becomes Harold’s friend. She is brave and fearless and also accustomed to dealing with creatures far worse than bullies.  Ilona’s father is world-famous author Frank Goolz who writes terrifying horror novels and it turns out that his inspiration for his vampire/ghost/monster gore actually comes from his family’s real and harrowing experiences. Now in Bay Harbor, a ghost is hunting the bullies and the same power (an ancient stone) that has brought the ghost back to the living world is threatening to take someone from the living back to hell.  This is an intensely taut and unsettling title for middle school readers. Some may find the demonic being just a little too violent but the new friendship that grows between Harold and Ilona is sweet and funny and helps to balance out this scary ghost story.

Reviewed by Suzanne Dix, Westbrook Middle School, Westbrook

four-stars

The Red Ribbon by Lucy Adlington

The Red Ribbon by Lucy AdlingtonThe Red Ribbon by Lucy Adlington
Published by Candlewick Press (MA) on September 11th 2018
ISBN: 1536201049
Pages: 288
Goodreads
five-stars

Lucy Adlington’s historical novel, The Red Ribbon, is set in Auschwitz’s prisoner run, haute couture dress shop. The main character, Ella, is a talented young seamstress and designer who fights her way to work in the Upper Tailor Studio. In the midst of starvation, death, and torture, Ella forges a friendship an imaginative young prisoner, Rose. Daughter of a dutchess, Rose lifts the spirits of those around her with colorful stories and her selfless heart. The desperation of the prisoners and the vanity of their Nazi guards lends to suspense in the storyline as we watch the characters become cutthroat in order to maintain their position in the shop. There are special benefits to be the designer for the Commandant’s wife.

Well written and not glossing over the horrors of the camp, Adlington has made characters that the reader can relate to.  The author’s ability to focus on the struggle of humanity will cause readers to think.  It also shows the power of love, friendship, and hope are more powerful than even the darkest prison.

I would recommend this book for young adult collections in all library settings.

This book belongs with the creme of the crop!

Reviewed  by Liz Davis, Children’s Librarian, Waterville Public Library

five-stars

That Night

That NightThat Night by Amy Giles
Published by HarperTeen on October 23rd 2018
ISBN: 0062495771
Pages: 320
Goodreads
five-stars

That Night

 

That Night was the worst night of Jess and Lucas’s lives when a shooter at a movie theater killed both of their older brothers.  The shooting came out of nowhere and the ramifications continue to haunt both characters.  Jess needs to find a job to earn money to keep her household going as her mother slips further into a debilitating depression.  Lucas is working at a hardware store, partly to escape from his parents’ concern and his panic attacks, and he and Jess meet at her job interview.  Lucas isn’t sure he wants to work so closely with someone else who went through the same thing he did.  But they both soon realize that they are each what the other needs to climb out of the depths of sadness and continue on with their lives.

This book covers what happens after a terrible tragedy when the tv cameras leave and the survivors feel guilt and depression while wondering why they were left alive.  The love story that develops is sweet, optimistic, and a strong part of what will get Jess and Lucas through.  It was refreshing that the conflict wasn’t between the main characters and wasn’t over something silly or half-heard conversations.  From the very worst day will come a positive future.

I would like to recommend this book for Cream of the Crop for young adults in grades 9-12.

 

Reviewed by Ellen Spring, Oceanside High School, Rockland

five-stars

Damselfly

DamselflyDamselfly by Chandra Prasad
Published by Scholastic Press on March 27th 2018
ISBN: 0545907926
Pages: 240
Goodreads
three-stars

Samantha Mishra, a teenage Indian American, and the others of her exclusive boarding school’s  fencing team are flying across the Pacific for a meet when their plane crashes, leaving them on a deserted island.  Their battle to survive and perhaps to orchestrate a rescue is reminiscent of Lord of the Flies, as some want to lead and others have to decide whom to follow. Some are killed, some are murdered, some commit suicide.  They are reduced to their basic and true personalities. Many topics are explored including mental illness, race, wealth and financial need, and survival of the fittest. Sam’s best friend, Mel, seems to have an incredible wealth of knowledge about a myriad of survival tactics, which this reviewer finds a bit difficult to believe. Ultimately, Sam has to decide with whom she will side as the group fractures and divides into two factions who disagree about what is the most important issue with which to deal. To top things off, they find they are not alone as someone is leaving threatening messages in the sand. The cliffhanger of an ending begs for a sequel and leaves the reader a bit unsatisfied. This would be a good modern-day offering for teenagers to read, a contemporary  LOTF, as it were. Perhaps a comparison of the two would be a good task.

 

Reviewed by Carla McAllister, New Gloucester Public Library, New Gloucester

three-stars

Sticky notes

Sticky notesSticky Notes by Dianne Touchell
Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers on February 20th 2018
ISBN: 1524765481
Pages: 224
Goodreads
five-stars

Foster is a ten-year old boy who enjoys a wonderful relationship with his father. His father tells stories, plays games with him and is always interested in Foster's thoughts and all aspects of his young life. Foster thrives on routine. At first when Foster's father begins forgetting things, it is funny, but all humor disappears when he is finally diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. How the family travels the journey of dealing with this huge change in their lives is heart wrenching. Foster, especially, has to handle his classmates jeers and taunts as they are hearing that his father is 'mental' and he is teased mercilessly. This is a very well done book around this topic and would be especially valuable for youngsters who, perhaps, are dealing with grandparents or other loved ones dealing with dementia issues.

Carla McAllister, New Gloucester Public Library, New Gloucester

five-stars