To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee**

Award-winner-Pulitzer Prize 

As a teenager I read this book and loved it.(I did not read many classic books in my younger years, so I have no idea what compelled me to read it!) Reading it aloud to my boys was a pure delight. Often they would ask me to "keep reading", which is the highest compliment. 

Scout and her brother Jem are comfortable on their street in their southern town, Maycomb-the gossipy ladies, their walk to school, the mysterious Radley house on the corner where Boo Radley only to emerge at night (supposedly), Atticus, their lawyer father who comes home like clockwork for meals, and Calpurnia, their Black housekeeper. Then their father agrees to defend a Black man accused of raping a white young lady. The town has its Opinions. Those Opinions affect the kids. Danger lurks in places they never imagined. Through it all, the children learn what their father means by, "You never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . .until you climb into his skin and walk around in it". This book made me cry while reading aloud-a rare occurrence.

I think this novel makes it into my top ten favorite novels. The writing is superb, the story is compelling, and the characters and the setting are well-developed.

A Bildungsroman novel

**Highly, highly recommend (but see warnings below).

Warning: swearing-even Scout, an eight-year-old utters some swear words, the topic of rape-nothing graphic but enough not to hand this novel to a junior higher or younger to read on own, prejudice behavior and actions, violence, the children are violently attacked and a murder occurs

A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin

 Both of Kitty's parents are dead, leaving her with their huge debt and four younger sisters. How can Kitty keep the family cottage, pay off the debt and support her sisters in the 1800s? Why, marry a wealthy man, of course! She hauls her sister Cecily to London to stay with Dorothy, a family friend, so the girls can be part of the Season (where ladies of age attend numerous balls and parties to hopefully find a husband). The search is on. Kitty is determined and clever. Then Lord Radcliffe arrives on the scene. Can Kitty's wit and guile outmaneuver this maddening man?!

Although the plot was predictable, Ms. Irwin wove in some surprises which made the story delightful and propelling. I loved the witty banter between Kitty and Lord Radcliffe. I looked forward to reading this novel and even squeezed in time to read it outside my "normal reading time"! Another plus for this new novel is no "bedroom scenes" exist. I vacillated between thinking that Kitty was manipulative and selfish  and then respecting her unselfishness to marry not for love but to help her sisters and save the family home.

Very-well written. I hope to read more by Ms. Irwin.

I am not highly recommending this novel because it is alluded that Kitty's mother and her friend Dorothy (where the girls stay during the London Season) had some affairs with wealthy men when they were younger and in the theater, almost like "gentlemen's ladies".

Also consider-some swearing, Archie develops a gambling habit and frequents a faro with a bad reputation.

-Borrowed from the library.

Pony by R.J.Palacio

 Ms. Palacio is a fabulous writer. Many years ago I read and loved her book Wonder .  When authors write well across genres, they are good writers. This book contains intriguing characters, insightful peeks into the West in the 1860's and captivating action. The story is well-crafted. 

Twelve-year-old Silas Bird's life is forever altered when men charge into the Bird family home and take his father away. All of his life his father has protected him, but now Silas ventures out into the open wilderness to find his father. Mittenwool, his best friend who is a ghost, accompanies him. Together they encounter a host of characters and adventures.

Warnings: Silas can see and commuincate with ghosts.  Some of the descriptions of the ghosts are graphic as they portray how they die (blood dripping down from a bullet wound etc.). Spiritualism (ghosts) is a theme of the book. Silas's mother is dead from the start of the book. During the book Silas's father dies. At the end of the book the reader finds out that Jack Beautyman is a homosexual. At first I thought I was reading into it, but Ms. Palacio confirms it in the "author's note".

-Borrowed from the library.

The Actual and Truthful Adventures of Becky Thatcher by Jessica Lawson*

Ms. Lawson asks "what if" Samuel Clemens actually met an adventurous girl like Becky and it was she who actually inspired him to write Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn?
Readers will fall in love with Becky's bold personality and her desire for excitement.  She and her new bosom friend, Amy, encounter brothers who are notorious thieves and maybe murderers in a graveyard.  Not only does Becky have to deal with threats from the thieves, but she has to process her beloved brother's recent death, her mother's depression, and has to clear an innocent villager's name.  Her doom seems imminent when she enters the thieves' cave hideout.  Will her quick wit and cleverness rescue her from death?!
Very exciting and entertaining!
*Highly recommend.

Points to discuss/warnings: lying, sneaking out in the middle of the night, superstitions, some violence, betting, a boy tries to smoke a left behind cigarette, accusing a woman in the village a "witch", brother's death, mother's abandonment(mother is shut up in room and won't interact with Becky)/depression

Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville*

I read this aloud to my two sons-ages 8 and 5 and they thoroughly enjoyed it.
As Jeremy is trying to escape some class bullies, he stumbles into a small shop he has never seen.  When he leaves the shop he is carrying a beautiful ball with instructions how to care for it.  What is the ball?  A dragon's egg!  Taking care of dragon is quite challenging but Jeremy grows to love her.  He also deals with an unkind art teacher and annoying girl who likes him.
Some sad parts and very funny parts.

Warning/points to discuss:  Mary Ann, a girl in Jeremy's class, has a crush on him and "threatens" to kiss him after school (1st chapter).  At one point in the story, the author states alludes that Jeremy says a "bad word".  Word is not written in the text.

Guided Reading Level: R (4th grade)
Grade Level Equivalency: 5.9
*Highly recommend.

The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond by Brenda Woods*

I love Violet Diamond!  She is funny, genuine and so real.  
Ms. Woods has an amazing gift of making a character come alive.
Violet is biracial and is trying to figure out who she is and where she belongs.  Her mom is white; so is her older sister.  Her African American father died before she was born.  She has no interaction with his side of the family.  With her tenacity, Violet discovers a way to meet her black grandmother and discover an entire new part of herself.
***Highly recommend.

The Madman of Piney Woods by Christopher Paul Curtis*

**Highly recommend.
Through a powerful story about two thirteen year old boys in the early 1900's, Mr. Curtis reveals how one's past and its hurts can either destroy one's life or transform one into a more compassionate person.
Mr. Curtis shares the prejudice of an Irish woman and her tragic past; an African American man suffering from post traumatic disorder; two boys entering manhood trying to make sense of the adult world.
Characters are very well developed.  Humor is intertwined with the serious issues.

Strategies: check for understanding/monitor reading (Red and Benji take turns telling the story-alternating chapters), synthesizing, inferring,  main idea

A companion book to Elijah of Buxton (but you can read Madman without reading this one and understand it fine.).

What the Moon Said by Gayle Rosengren*

Esther's family moves from Chicago to a farm in Wisconsin.  The Depression has caused her father to lose his job so they try to find success in farming.  Esther loves the farm but slowly the family's food rations dwindle.
This book offers an insight into the Depression era but explores so much more---contending with Old Country superstitions, defining love, and becoming one's own person.
*Highly recommend.
Strategies: check for understanding, synthesizing, inferring-character traits

Screaming at the Ump by Audrey Vernick*

Casey lives with his father and grandfather in NJ at the "third best" umpire school in the nation,Behind the Plate (there are only three umpire schools in the nation!).  At Behind the Plate, the umpires are taught that the rules are the rules and you call it with confidence.  When Casey stumbles upon a potential mind-blowing story to write and print in his school's newspaper, he discovers that a story may have different angles, not like umpiring where there is one right angle for viewing the play.  Maybe he can apply this new perspective in his own life concerning his mother who left him and his father for another man.
This story contains many opportunities for discussion:  middle school, integrity in journalism, substance abuse, divorce.
*Highly recommend.

The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer L. Holm*

"Believe in the impossible possible"
What a fun book!!
Sixth grader Ellie has enough adjustments but when her grandfather shows up as a teenager!!, her life takes paths she never imagined!  Her grandfather has two PhD and has discovered a way to reverse aging.  Through lots of discussions about various scientists (Curie, Falk, Oppenheimer, Newton, Pastuer), cooking from her deceased grandmother's recipe box and discovering new friends, Ellie learns a lot about the precious gift of life and using it wisely/for the good.
I love how Ms. Holm takes many different topics -science, becoming of age, the tumultuous adolescence stage, family members quirks-and weaves them into a superb story that causes one to think.  To achieve all of "that", now that is talent!!
*Highly recommend.

Smile by Rain Telgemeier*

This graphic novel shares the author's true story of enduring braces, surgery and finally being secure in who she is-from sixth grade through her senior year.  Deals with the typical  issues of a girl going through puberty and trying to figure out one's identity.
Raina's "friends" are not very nice to her.  It takes her awhile to be confident in herself to find true friends.
Points to discuss: crushes; spin the bottle game; thinking about kissing a boy; unkindness-finding friends who appreciate one for who one is
Award Winner- Will Eisner Winner (for graphic novels)
*Highly recommend.

The Meaning of Maggie by Megan Jean Sovern

First I loved the cover.  http://www.chroniclebooks.com/titles/the-meaning-of-maggie.html

While reading it, I adored the main character Maggie.  Ms. Sovern developed a believable, likable character with lots of depth.  All the characters are well developed.  Love the footnotes "Maggie" includes throughout the book.
This book focuses on one year of a family's fight to as they adjust to life with a father suffering from Multiple Sclerosis.  It seems like the book is a bit of a memoir.
*Highly recommend for older readers-see below:
Points to discuss/warnings: references to marijuana (medical and otherwise); french kissing, making out and sex mentioned (in junior high manner/point of view);  the attitude that God is too busy to hear and answer their prayers; cocktails and other alcohol references