Weekly Reads: The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl is a really sweet new book from Stacy McAnulty. I picked it up because I had heard great things and I thought it might make for a good option for the teen book committee I'm a member of. And it did not disappoint. It was such a sweet book about friendship and being different, and I think a lot of 4th-6th grade students would love it.

My rating: 5 stars

Summary from goodreads:

Lucy Callahan was struck by lightning. She doesn't remember it, but it changed her life forever. The zap gave her genius-level math skills, and ever since, Lucy has been homeschooled. Now, at 12 years old, she's technically ready for college. She just has to pass 1 more test — middle school!

Lucy's grandma insists: Go to middle school for 1 year. Make 1 friend. Join 1 activity. And read 1 book (that's not a math textbook!). Lucy's not sure what a girl who does calculus homework for fun can possibly learn in 7th grade. She has everything she needs at home, where nobody can make fun of her rigid routines or her superpowered brain. The equation of Lucy's life has already been solved. Unless there's been a miscalculation?

Weekly Reads: Circus Mirandus

Circus Mirandushas cropped up on a few Mock Newbery lists so I was dying to get my hands on it, not to mention that people have compared it to The Night Circus, but for children. I could not put it down. It was amazing. And every kid and adult should read it. I would not be surprised if this walks away with an award!

My rating: 5 stars!

Summary from goodreads:

Fans of Big Fish, Peter Pan, and Roald Dahl will fall in love with Circus Mirandus, which celebrates the power of seeing magic in world.

Do you believe in magic?
Micah Tuttle does.

Even though his awful Great-Aunt Gertrudis doesn’t approve, Micah believes in the stories his dying Grandpa Ephraim tells him of the magical Circus Mirandus: the invisible tiger guarding the gates, the beautiful flying birdwoman, and the magician more powerful than any other—the Man Who Bends Light. Finally, Grandpa Ephraim offers proof. The Circus is real. And the Lightbender owes Ephraim a miracle. With his friend Jenny Mendoza in tow, Micah sets out to find the Circus and the man he believes will save his grandfather.

The only problem is, the Lightbender doesn't want to keep his promise. And now it's up to Micah to get the miracle he came for.

Weekly Reads: Goodbye Stranger

When I saw that Rebecca Stead was coming out with a new book, I was ecstatic. And then I was even more excited when I got an e-ARC of the book to read and review/promote to library customers. Her Newbery award winning book, When You Reach Me , is one of my all time favorite books.

Goodbye Stranger did not disappoint. It dealt with a lot of middle school issues like peer pressure, relationships, friendships, but did so in a truly honest manner. And the unnamed perspective that is woven into the story really draws the reader in because you have to know who this girl is and what happened ASAP.

My rating: 4 stars.

Summary from goodreads:

Bridge is an accident survivor who's wondering why she's still alive. Emily has new curves and an almost-boyfriend who wants a certain kind of picture. Tabitha sees through everybody's games--or so she tells the world. The three girls are best friends with one rule: No fighting. Can it get them through seventh grade? 
This year everything is different for Sherm Russo as he gets to know Bridge Barsamian. What does it mean to fall for a girl--as a friend? 
On Valentine's Day, an unnamed high school girl struggles with a betrayal. How long can she hide in plain sight?

Weekly Reads: Wonder

I have been wanting to read Wonder for quite some time, but I made it a book club selection for my reading group at work, so I had to waaaaaaaaait until it was time to read it. Well, it was finally time to read it. And I devoured it. Every kid at my library has either read it as a read aloud in school, or wants to read it, and that makes me so so happy..... The book has such a great message of acceptance and strength, so important for anyone at any age to learn and be reminded of.

I loved that the book was told from dual perspectives that helped you understand August even more in depth. I just loved most everything.

My rating: 5 stars

Summary from goodreads:

You can't blend in when you were born to stand out.

My name is August. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.

August Pullman wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things. He eats ice cream. He plays on his Xbox. He feels ordinary - inside.

But Auggie is far from ordinary. Ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. Ordinary kids don't get stared at wherever they go.

Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life, in an attempt to protect him from the cruelty of the outside world. Now, for the first time, he's being sent to a real school - and he's dreading it. All he wants is to be accepted - but can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, underneath it all?

Narrated by Auggie and the people around him whose lives he touches forever, Wonder is a funny, frank, astonishingly moving debut to read in one sitting, pass on to others, and remember long after the final page.

Weekly Reads: The Honest Truth

I added The Honest Truth to my to-read list when it showed up on a Mock Printz list that I follow. When it came in for me at the library, it was classified as a children's book, but it's certainly on the cusp. I read the book in one afternoon and was physically and emotionally exhausted when I was done. I don't know if I have ever felt more for a character in a book in my life. And his dog sidekick? Do not even get me STARTED on the dog sidekick. Read it, but not on a work break or without kleenexes or a sleeve you can wipe away tears with.

My rating: 5 stars

Summary from goodreads:

n all the ways that matter, Mark is a normal kid. He's got a dog named Beau and a best friend, Jessie. He likes to take photos and write haiku poems in his notebook. He dreams of climbing a mountain one day.

But in one important way, Mark is not like other kids at all. Mark is sick. The kind of sick that means hospitals. And treatments. The kind of sick some people never get better from.

So Mark runs away. He leaves home with his camera, his notebook, his dog, and a plan to reach the top of Mount Rainier--even if it's the last thing he ever does.

The Honest Truth is a rare and extraordinary novel about big questions, small moments, and the incredible journey of the human spirit.

Weekly Reads: The Thing About Luck

The Thing About Luck was this year's National Book Award winner and was on many mock Newbery groups list for their Newbery selection as well. Interesting fun fact: rarely do the National Book Award committee and Newbery selection committee honor the same book. Unfortunately my library didn't acquire this title until after the Newbery selections were made, and it didn't make the list anyway. Regardless I was excited to get my hands on it.

It was a lovely, quick read full of many character nuances. Summer's character and hardships are crafted in such a way that you can't help but pull for Summer and her family to succeed. Growing up surrounded by farmland and farming communities, I found it really interesting to hear the processes of harvest. I think farm kids will really enjoy this read.

My rating: 4.5 stars


Summary from goodreads:

There is bad luck, good luck, and making your own luck—which is exactly what Summer must do to save her family in this novel from Newbery Medalist Cynthia Kadohata.

Summer knows that kouun means “good luck” in Japanese, and this year her family has none of it. Just when she thinks nothing else can possibly go wrong, an emergency whisks her parents away to Japan—right before harvest season. Summer and her little brother, Jaz, are left in the care of their grandparents, who come out of retirement in order to harvest wheat and help pay the bills.

The thing about Obaachan and Jiichan is that they are old-fashioned and demanding, and between helping Obaachan cook for the workers, covering for her when her back pain worsens, and worrying about her lonely little brother, Summer just barely has time to notice the attentions of their boss’s cute son. But notice she does, and what begins as a welcome distraction from the hard work soon turns into a mess of its own.

Having thoroughly disappointed her grandmother, Summer figures the bad luck must be finished—but then it gets worse. And when that happens, Summer has to figure out how to change it herself, even if it means further displeasing Obaachan. Because it might be the only way to save her family.