Tending to Grace. It is a lovely story about a young girl, Cornelia, with a stutter who is treated poorly by educators because of her inability to project her thoughts through speech. If her life wasn’t bad enough with the stuttering, then she must overcome her mother. That is a feat in itself. Mom is concerned about herself and the boyfriend she is currently dating. They drop her off with an aunt and it is there that she learns to accept life as it is and speak for herself. I couldn’t put it down.
Fifteen year old Evie has found herself in Florida on vacation with her Stepfather and mother just after the conclusion of World War II. Her stapfather, Joe, is a appliance salesman and after receiving a phone call in a long line of harassing phone calls, he decides to take the family to Palm Beach on holiday. While down there, Peter, a young soldier from his unit shows up and befriends the family and especially Evie. They both know it is wrong for them to feel for each other, he is 24, but she falls for him none-the-less. But there is something else amiss as the story progresses and Evie gets caught up in a web of lies that eventually are the downfall of poor Peter.
The reviews suggest this book for ages 14 and up for several reasons, there is adultery and some rather heated kissing sessions, but in the context of the whole book the incidents complete the story. This is a well-written compelling thriller (not jump out and scare you, but edge of your seat, are they going to get caught) and is most definitely meant for a more mature audience.
Imagine my surprise when I picked this up, started reading and remembered the story!! 
Firmament is about Luke, who’s father has died and who’s mother is getting remarried. Luke who is determined to find out what the crying is behind the locked doors at Mrs. Little’s house. Luke who plays the piano with such passion, grace and finesse that noone has heard that kind of talent sincehis father passed. Luke who is trying to avoid getting wrapped up with the local bully and starts ditching school to spend time with the lonely widow at the Grange.
Most of the time when I read a book about music, I can imagine a melody playing in my mind. Bowler’s words tell the story:
This time, as he played, he saw no pictures at all, only the twisting contours of the music as the notes danced throughhis fingers like the shifting sand patterns on the metaldisks the old man had talked about. He played on, no longer in a hall or a village or a country or a world, but in a firmament of stars and spheres, sounds and shadows, and more beauty than he could contain. (p 296)
Bowler’s imagery throughout was spectacular and often I could hear the music playing in my mind as I read what was going through Luke’s. This was a touching story of a boy finding his place in the world despite the pitfalls that had appeared in his chosen path. Truly magical.
Leave it to Mike Lupica to write a gripping baseball story with vivid details of events happening on the field and off. The story could have easily slipped into a play by play of each of Michael Arroyo’s games but Lupica weaves in a best friend, a tragic event in the Arroyo family and how Michael and his brother must overcome it. The adults in Michael’s life surprise him and become the support that he needs to play baseball. As with his other stories, this is about the players, their families and their friends. A great read for boys and girls in grades 5 and up!
It seems likely that one of my favorite chick lit authors would create yet another fun, inventive and action packed story with an unlikely heroine. Carter, author of I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You, does not disappoint with the introduction of Kat, a reformed thief at the age of 15, who has left the family business and is at the Colgan School, a prestigious school for the rich and famous. But she is framed and then kicked out and pulled into an action packed heist scheme in order to save her dad. She must assemble a crew and pull of a heist that makes the most experienced in the trade tremble and do it all in less than two weeks.
This book is just plain fun! The story, the romantic tension between the players and the eventual twist at the end kept the pages turning til I was done! Readers as young as 5th or 6th grade will enjoy this but that is not to discount its appeal to more mature readers that will pick up on the nuances of the romance developing between the characters. The best part? The ending left a wide opening for a sequel! Can’t wait!
Written at a reading level that will reach and encourage the most reluctant readers, this steamy first book in an on-going series is an excellent introduction into a new picture of vampire society. Rose is a guardian and she is in charge of protecting the Moroi princess Lissa. But the two of them have placed themselves in peril by running away from the Vampire Academy in remote Montana. Early on in the story they are captured and returned to the school where they must live up to the ramifications of running away. Their return isn’t easy and they must endure a series of related incidents that put a strain on the strong bond that formed during their time away from the academy.
This book is approved for the upper grades by all of the review magazines. It most definitely appeals to the PG-13 crowd with steamy love scenes and some really brutal teen hazing and bullying. But in light of all of that, the story is a lively one with the bad guy being one that no one suspects with a plan that even I didn’t anticipate. Highly recommend this to the high school readership out there!
This first person narrative was exactly what I needed in the midst of the vampire fiction I have been so immersed in lately! Set in the future on the cusp of World War Three this ‘realistic’ fiction story is about a girl named Daisy, and her new living arrangements. Her eating disorder is the least of her problems when she strikes up a romance with an unlikely, rather inappropriate mate. But her life is turned topsy-turvy when war breaks out and she and her cousin are separated from the rest of her cousins and must find a way to get back to them as quickly as possible.
This story is tainted with the reality of what anorexia does to the lifestyle of a teen as well as showing how passion for another can ignite the spirit and breathe life into a hopeless situation. While the story is not rude, crude or extraordinarily graphic, it does deal with some heavy topics (incest, teen-age intercourse, eating disorders and the realities of war) making it more appropriate for an older audience. It has been reviewed for as young as 12 but I would really recommend 14 and up.
The devil is in the details…That is the truth in the case of Bug Smoot, also known as Eunice, when Beals the repossession agent comes to take back the Cadillac her Papa C left her when he died. Bug also gets evicted from her apartment and loses her job on the day that Beals enters her life. But when she teams up with “her boy” Pesto, life starts to look up for her. With the help of NADS and a lawyer named E. Figg, Bug’s life starts to turn around.
This book was a fun read with many unpredictable turns. The street language is well used as it the author’s use of spanish. I would recommend this book to mature middle grade readers. It has some romance and a serious dose of humor!
Francie is a lovesick 9th grader who loves to bake. Her aspirations in life are to bake the perfect confection, to be recognized on Cooking with Lorenzo for the baking genius that she is and to finally have Tate, the boy of her dreams, realize her existence. But all of her hopes and dreams are dashed by the appearance of the underhandedly wicked Darlene. She steals Francie’s best friend, turns the boy Francie adores against her and makes fun of her baking at every turn.
With the same fantastic wit and style that Fergus crafted Exploits of a reluctant (but extremely good looking) hero, Francie’s fun and unfailingly fabulous story is a blast to read and a page turner from start to finish. The dialogue and Francie’s monologues are well-written and quick moving. I, without hesitation, recommend this book to romantics looking for a good read, teenage girls who are just getting ready for relationships and finally to a person wanting a fun, lighthearted story with heart.
The whole time I am reading this book, I am thinking to myself, its vampires…BUT it wasn’t. I was intrigued by the plot between Ever and Damen, but I kept thinking vampires!! The twist on the plot will keep you reading, wanting to find out more, the romance involved is addictive, you want them to get together, the “other woman” is spiteful and vengeful. This was a fabulous book! Can’t wait to read more of this fabulous author!
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