by Wendy Mass

middle and intermediate readers will be interested to discover who is who and how lives grow and unfold

A few years ago Josie and Lyndsey suggested that I read books by Wendy Mass.  The ones they most highly recommended were a Mango Shaped Space and Every Soul a Star.  I paid attention that recommendation and read many of Wendy Mass’ books.  At last Every Soul a Star came to the top of my “to read” pile.  Lyndsey and Josie were right.  It is a book to read.  It is amazing to imagine  how such diverse people, with different lives can meet – collide – regroup – and move on changed forever.

Ally and her family has spent her whole life preparing for on total eclipse.  They built Moon Shadow, a campground at the site for best viewing for this particular eclipse and have waited years for this event.  Their campground has Unusuals like the Star Garden – full of telescopes for endless nights of star gazing or the Sun Garden – full of sun dials of all shapes and sizes to tell the time, or the Labyrinth – that will allow you to meditate on a question as you travel the paths to the center.  Annual star parties mean that friends come to meet for Meteor Showers year after year.  This year, though, thousands will be coming to the campground for this one main event.  How exciting, but change is on the way now that their mission has come to an end.

Bree has lived in the suburbs working on her social status and planning for the moment she will be discovered  and become a cover model.  Her scientist parents don’t see the value in this, but Bree lives for fashion, her A-clique friends and being as beautiful as possible at all times.  They are always sorting through data, searching for grants and investigating the stars and working to discover new solar systems, planets and galaxies. Their dream grant comes through and they are moving – no one can stay behind.

Jack failed science, not because he couldn’t do the work, but because he didn’t.  He’d rather sit in the back of class and draw or find some quiet time where he can fly.  It’s a skill that SD3 (step dad)shared before leaving.  He was into lucid dreaming and Jack developed the knack.  Knack or no, Jack will either have to attend summer school or agree to help his science teacher on the trip he is leading for amateur astronomers into following eclipses around the world. While all he wants it to be alone, Jack chooses the trip over endless dull classes and plunges himself into a social world that he can’t fade from.

Ally, Bree and Jack are so different, but also able to help and support each other to grow in ways they hadn’t known they wanted to.  When the eclipse is over each of them has become more strongly aware of both their inner worlds and the world beyond their own lives – it is a vast universe full of wonder and dreams.  Read Every Soul a Star – what dream will you discover and follow?

by Polly Horvath

215 pages for intermediate and middle readers looking for a place to fit in and feel good.

Last year after I finally got around to reading Everything With a Waffle I decided to add Polly Horvath to my “favorite authors” list.  Her writing has strong characters deeply connected to place and I like that.  I loved Primrose Squarp – spunky, independent, creative and resilient. (Love the guinea pig scene – both at The Girl on the Red Swing and in the school guidance counselor’s office.  It’s still making me snicker.)  I was glad that things worked out happily for Primrose, but I was sad to leave her behind. So you can only imagine how happy I was to learn Polly Horvath had written One Year in Coal Harbor – more time with Primrose, Uncle Jack, Miss Bowser and Bert and Evie.

Primrose is at home with her mom and dad and thankful for everything she has.  She is trying to think of how she can help Miss Bowser and Uncle Jack spend more time together now that Miss Honeycut is gone.  She’s busy with Mallomar and collecting recipes, though what she’d really like is a good friend her age.  Primrose learned that people treat you differently when you’re in foster care.  It’s as if they think it’s your fault or that you have something that might rub off on them if they get too close.  Primrose could hang out with Eleanor, but she wasn’t really much of a friend.  They were together because neither of them had anyone else, not because it was fun.  Then Ked came along.  He was foster kid staying with Evie and Bert in Coal Harbor for a while.  He and Primrose get along right from the start. Ked is interested in the peaceful quiet of Jackson Road.  He’s a kind gentle soul, who seems to know what to do to make others feel appreciated.  For instance, he’d never tell Evie he doesn’t really like mini-marshmallows, nor would he ignore the seer though he is unkempt and unusual.

Just as Ked arrives so does Dan Sneild.  His arrival seems to upset the balance.  Miss Bowser and Uncle Jack argue all the time.  Primrose’s plans seem to make it worse. Logging comes to Mendolay Mountain – a clear cut and nothing will be the same again.  Ked is going fishing with her dad all the time.  Eleanor seems to like the cat poet more and more.  Nothing is going right and Primrose is feeling alone and angry.  She forgets to tell others how glad she is to have them as her friends, and then Ked’s dad comes for him.  He moves north and Primrose doesn’t have the opportunity to say good-bye.  She doesn’t want to anyway.  She’s too angry.  But then there’s a news report telling of a boy who’d been abandoned on the ice.  No one knew where he was – though it was said no one could survive the cold.

Caught in chaos, surrounded by guilt and grief, Primrose has to figure out what to do.  Her Uncle Jack says, “although we can’t keep undeserved bad things from happening, we do have control in making undeserved good things happen.”  She has to find her way through the hurt and happiness, change and tradition to find a place where she feels satisfied that she has done all she can to make the world a good place.

Read One Year in Coal Harbor to find out how Primrose meets that challenge.  Along they way you might learns some things that will work for you – you might even find a good recipe too!

by Stephanie Barden

144 page middle grade tale of friendship, kindness and fun

Cinderella Smith is one of a kind.  She’s “vexylent.”  It may not be a real word, but it could be.  Combine very with excellent and you know Cinderella’s meaning.  Cinderella likes words and she likes to play around with them.  In third grade, Cinderella is determined to win her school spelling bee. It is important to her because, of course she would like to win, and because the winner plans a class party. She wants to plan a party everyone can enjoy.  She doesn’t want her once good friend, Rosemary T., to win. She’ll plan a unicorn party and that’s something that only Rosemary T. and her posse of friends will like. That doesn’t seem right to Cinder – a party should be fun for everyone.

While studying words with her friends, Erin and Charlie, Cinder notices that Rosemary T. has been using some pretty mean ones lately. Cinder’s parents are on a trip, her aunt is taking care of her and Rosemary T. is spreading rumors around the class.  She’s decided that Cinder is babyish and weird.  It doesn’t feel good to be excluded and Cinder , in desperation,  gives her the silent treatment. Aunt Flora helps her understand how important it is to be yourself and enjoy life. While creating “pancake surprise,” Cinder learns that putting tons of ingredients together makes very tasty pancakes.  And her idea of “the more the merrier” is born. This philosophy spills over to school and Cinder finds a way to include everyone.

You’ll learn some pretty great words by reading Cinderella Smith – the More the Merrier and you’ll also find some good friends.  They know they’re different, but they’re okay with that.  There are no adventures in “same.”

by Candice Ransom

152 pages of family adventures for middle readers

Iva longs for adventure.  Iva wants to do amazing things, but Iva is in the middle and that makes achieving greatness a challenge.  You see her mom and her aunt married brothers and planned to have children (double- first cousins) who would grow up to be best friends and neighbors.  That worked for her older sister, Arden and cousin, Hunter.  It worked for little sister, Lily Pearl and cousin, Howard.  But it did not work for Iva and her bossy, rule-following, perfect cousin, Heaven. Summer is here and Iva has decided this is her opportunity to make important discoveries.  Recently while her dad was cleaning out the attic he found some interesting artifacts:  a small black journal containing tire pressure records, a geography bee medal dated 1923 and a stack of magazines.  These things had once belonged to her great grandfather and reading through the old National Geographic magazines, Iva discovered a map.  It seems to show where General Braddock had stopped in Uncertain, Virginia (the very town Iva lives in now) and had buried a cannon full of gold.  The weight needed to be left behind so his troops could move more quickly to battle.  That treasure has been waiting in the ground for over two hundred years and Iva is determined it will be found. Iva’s plans for the summer are set, but things don’t go as smoothly as planned.  It’s hard to discover things on your own.  It takes time to avoid people – Iva will do most anything to keep away from Heaven.  Iva’s mom thinks she should be nicer to her cousin.  She thinks she should do things with her so she has a friend, but Heaven is always in the way and she never wants to do anything of interest.  First there is the yard sale, then there’s the kitten and then Iva’s only friend, Mrs. Compton becomes Heaven’s friend too.  Iva doesn’t know what to do or how to take Mrs. Compton’s advice, “If you are a friend you’ll have a friend.” You’ll have to read Iva Honeysuckle Discovers the World to find out about the discoveries that are made.  There’s more than one, and while they may not surprise you, you’ll be glad to have Iva Honeysuckle as an explorer friend.

by Jacqueline Davies

After the first glass you’ll want another.

With the start of school just around the corner The Lemonade Wars by Jacqueline Davies is a perfect reading fit.  What would you do if you discovered that your little sister was going to skip into your grade at school next year?  Not only your grade, but also your exact classroom because there is only one 4^th grade in the school?  That is the news the letter from school had to share.   Jessie is good at school.  She is smart.  She has great ideas.  She loves to get things done and to solve problems.  She does things, but she’s not that good at understanding people.  She doesn’t have many friends.  Other kids think she’s weird.  Evan’s not so great at school.  He is athletic and active.  He has friends.  Will that be the case now… now that everything has changed?

That’s the dilemma.  Evan and Jessie get along just great at home.  They like being together and since their dad has left the family they have made a pact never to fight and argue, especially in front of mom.  But now Evan is angry.  He doesn’t want to be shown up by his little sister.  She’s good at reading.  She’s GREAT at math, but she’s awkward.  Now everyone he knows will know too and it’s just too much to bear.

There’s a heat wave and Evan sets up a lemonade stand (one of Jessie’s favorite things to do) with Scott?!?  He purposefully excludes Jessie.  She’s hurt.  “Good,” thinks Evan.  “But Scott,” wonders Jessie.  He’s not nice and he’s not really Evan’s great friend.  One thing leads to another and before you know it that last dog days of summer have turned into an all out war – winner takes all!  When the final summer fireworks explode who will be the winner, Jessie or Evan?

Read The Lemonade War to find out.  You’ll be glad you did!

The story continues in The Lemonade Crime and you can discover more about the family in The Bell Bandit.  This is the third of the five books in the series full of great characters, relationships and genuine understanding of how things change no matter how much you wish they would stay the same.

by Delia Ray

306 pages for readers looking to discover an unusual story that looks into the past

It’s the end of one life and the start of a new one for Lincoln Raintree Crenshaw.  The old life had two parents, each with a passion to share and teach; a small basement homeschool where lots of the other professors’ children went; and a friend, Jeeter, who maintained the cemetery next door.  It might have been a bit different, but it was happy, interesting and safe.  The new life has one parent now that Linc’s dad had passed away; a public middle school full of ordinary classes and ordinary kids; and no friends – yet, or maybe never.  Linc wasn’t sure, but he knew he was anxious, still and scared.

Day one of the new life was going okay.  In his old school, a friend had described middle school like living in ancient Egypt.  When you looked at the kids he said you’d see the pharaoh, next the high priests and nobles and after them the peasants and slaves. Linc could see that was true.  He thought he was peasant and he could live with that until American Studies class when Mr. Oliver announced THE project.  They were going on a field trip to the Oakland Cemetery and while there they were going to meet with “one of the nation’s premier cemetery experts…to lead our tour.  Charlotte Landers.”

First of all the cemetery was next door to Linc’s house.  Second of all the “expert” was his mom.  Third of all Linc knew his mom was rather unconventional, but he didn’t need his entire class to know that.  And after that day, Linc was certain they would and now he wondered why he had ever thought his life could change…

One thing leads to another and by the end of the book Linc’s life has changed – in some good ways and some not so good ways; some predictable and some totally unforeseeable.  Here Lies Linc  helps you appreciate what you have and helps you realize there is probably more to a person or a situation than you think…even when you’ve known those people and truths your whole life.  It is an interesting look at families, friends, people, history and burial rites.  How would you like your epitaph to read?

by Marion Dane Bauer

197 pages especially for intermediate dog lovers

Buddy is a little black dog with four brown paws and a brown mask.  She has a ruffle of fur beneath her whip of a tail and ears like airplane wings that droop just so at the tips.  Her coat is satiny smooth.  She used to have a boy who loved her and took care of her, but now she is a lost little dog who only hears yells:  “Hey you!” and “Shoo!”

Mark is a boy who lives with his mom, the mayor of Erthly.  He has no dad so mostly he is home alone.  He is cared for and planned for but alone.  He wishes for a dog – his friend and companion.  He has read every book he can find on dogs and dog care.  He knows all there is to know, but his mother absolutely refuses – NO DOGS!

Charles Larue is a shy old man.  He lives in a mansion in the center of town.  Once he had taken care of the lady there; now he lives alone in the inherited house keeping his promise to take care.

Buddy, Mark and Larue each long for something and longing means hope.  Buddy hopes for a boy.  Mark hopes for a dog park where dogs can be free to play with their friends in safety.  Larue wants something, though he is not sure what.  One lonely night while Mark is lying in bed trying to figure out how to petition the City Council (remember his mom is the “No Dogs” mayor) for a dog park Buddy overcome with loneliness calls, “Bark!  Bark! Aaaawwwoooo!”  Mark hears, “Mark!  Mark! I need you!” He scoots out of his house in search of this dog.  Larue watches from his mansion tower and sees the almost meeting of the dog and boy in the night and that’s when he realizes he needs a friend.

The dog is afraid.  Mark is scared he will fail.  Larue hasn’t spoken to anyone in so long he’s not sure he knows how and certainly doesn’t know how to find a friend.  How will them meet?  How will they satisfy their longings for a home, a park, a friend? You’ll have to read Little Dog, Lost to find out – it’s not quite what you think, and that keeps it interesting.  Little Dog, Lost is written in verse – each word is carefully chosen and placed in the perfect spot. You won’t be able to keep yourself from smiling each time you think of this story. It’s a great book to read if you’re in need of a friend.