Bodeen, S.A. The Raft.

Bodeen, S.A.  The Raft.    Feiwel&Friends/Macmillan Child Pub Gr                   231p      $16.99  978-0-312-65010-0   2012             jr/sr                         VG-BN                      Realistic fiction                    

A routine airplane trip becomes an elemental battle for survival in Bodeen’s dramatic novel.  No one knows Robie took a last-minute flight from Honolulu to her home on the Midway Atoll.  When a storm knocks her flight from the sky, Robie must survive until rescue arrives.  But if no one knows she was on the plane, will anyone be looking for her?

                   
Fifteen-year-old Robie lives with her research scientist parents on remote Midway Atoll.  When the island’s isolation becomes overwhelming, Robie grabs a ride on the supply flight to Honolulu to vacation with her aunt and enjoy civilization.   Robie is having a great visit when her aunt’s job calls her away.   Living alone turns out to more challenging than Robie thought it would be, so she takes the first available flight to Midway, even though her parents and her aunt have no idea she is going home. 

Unfortunately, a storm hits mid-flight.  The engine dies, and the copilot, Max, makes an emergency landing.  Robie finds herself in a raft, with injured Max, a bag of Skittles, and no sign of help.  Robie deals with one calamity after another, from shark attacks to a dwindling (make that non-existent) water supply.  How far will Robie go to survive?

As Robie’s mental state slowly erodes and her chances of survival grow increasingly slim, a surprise twist in the plot reveals a disturbing dimension to Robie’s story.

Readers, even reluctant readers, will recognize Robie’s authentic voice.  She is an imperfect teen facing overwhelming choices and situations.  She does what is necessary to survive, but still makes mistakes or behaves childishly at times.  The plot moves along briskly and readers will be swept up in the drama of Robie’s tale.
Survival-Fiction, Adventure                                                                                                                         --Hilary Welliver

 

Vail, Rachel. Just In Case: Shells, Smells, and the Horrible Flip-Flops of Doom.

Vail, Rachel.  Just In Case: Shells, Smells, and the Horrible Flip-Flops of Doom.   Macmillan/ Feiwel & Friends   179p      $16.99      978-1-250-00081-1 elem    VG-BNe    Realistic Fiction

Nicknamed "Justin Case" by his classmates, due to his cautious nature, Justin Krzeszewski is looking forward to summer vacation, all 80 days of it.  He is trying hard to be a brave kid (NOT a worried kid), but there is a lot on Justin's plate to cause anxiety.  Leading the list of things to worry about are Summer Camp (which emphasizes "sweaty sports that require skills") and Cash (a tough newcomer).

Vail gets the voice of a geeky-third-grader-going-into-fourth-grade perfectly.  Young readers will find many moments to relate to (keeping secrets, first crushes, mean teenagers, and group dynamics).  Vail manages to handle Justin's confusions, challenges, and small triumphs with deft humor and straightforward prose.  I found myself chuckling out loud several times.

Readers who haven't read Justin Case: School, Drool, and Other Daily Disasters will enjoy the characters so much they will go back to read the earlier volume, even though this one stands up well independently.  They will also eagerly anticipate the next book.

Summer Camp-Fiction, Humor                            --Hilary Welliver

Mihaley, James You Can’t Have My Planet

Mihaley, James    You Can’t Have My Planet      Macmillan/ Feiwel & Friends  245p   $16.99      978-0-312-61891-9       ms      E-BN  Science Fiction/Humor  

Giles is the least likely person to save the planet.  Having been told that humans have totally messed it up and aliens plan to take it over and evict all the humans, Giles goes to intergalactic court to fight the decision.  In an attempt to turn the tide, the court assigns Giles the task of cleaning up Manhattan in 24 hours.  All the trash must be picked up and all the graffiti removed, and he is allowed the help of only three other children.  Should he choose his best friends or his very smart but annoying brother?  How can clean-up be done in such a short time?  But Giles is also given the help of one of the maddest scientists the reader will ever meet.  Combine that with some robots, some aliens, and some dedicated children, and it just might succeed.

This is a hysterically funny romp through sci-fi but with very strong environmental overtones.  It shows what a small group of dedicated young people can do.  They use modern communication methods to spread the word, along with the help of some fantastic robotic creations.       

Science fiction, Humor, Environment-Fiction     -- Joan Theal

Laybourne, Emmy. Monument 14.

Laybourne, Emmy.  Monument 14.  Macmillan/ Feiwel & Friends      296p  $16.99      978-0-312-56903-7   hs  VG-BN Realistic Fiction    

     

This is the story of six Colorado high schoolers, two middle schoolers, and six little kids caught in a gigantic hailstorm on the way to school one morning on their two school buses.  Mrs. Wooly, one of the bus drivers, rescues these kids from both of the buses and ensconces them in the Greenway superstore.  One of the fourteen kids is a boy scout and another is a technical nerd.  The rest range from the superstar football player to five-year-old carrot-topped twins Henry and Caroline.

After Mrs. Wooly gets everyone settled and sealed into the superstore, she leaves to get help.  Shortly the group moves to the media department of the store to watch TV.  It is then that they learn that a volcano has erupted on the Canary Islands and caused a half-mile tall mega-tsunami to race eastward and wipe out the east coast of the U. S.  The result is the creation of super cells that race across the country and over the Rockies, pelting everyone with giant hailstones and destructive winds, only to be followed by an earthquake that has ruptured NORAD’s germ warfare site, causing even more disaster.

The novel tells the story of how these fourteen kids come together to organize, comfort each other, and survive in a monstrous environmental disaster. 

The character development in this novel is superb.  The reader is drawn into the little personality clashes and mini-dramas going on among the characters while they are trying to figure out how to survive.  The relationships between the older kids and the younger ones are also well portrayed, with the older ones taking on parental roles in trying to protect the younger ones from the frightening truth about what is going on outside of the store, and what their chances of survival are.  The writing is superb and edgy, and readers will keep turning the pages in this gripping post-Apocolyptic saga.

Natural Disasters-Fiction, Post-Apocolyptic Fiction   --Linda McNeil

James, Brian. Life Is But A Dream.

James, Brian.     Life Is But A Dream.    Macmillan/ Feiwel & Friends   235p $17.99 978-0-312-61004-3       hs          E-BN      Realistic Fiction

In an in-patient mental health facility, Sabrina, a schizophrenic teen, and her new friend Alec make the decision to live life as they are, without medications to keep their illnesses under control.  What are the consequences of the choice that Sabrina and Alex make?  How do the people surrounding them cope? These are just two of the questions that are answered in this very well-written novel about the difficult topic of mental health, and specifically schizophrenia.  The characters are all well developed.  Readers can empathize readily with their illness, treatment and consequences.         

Mental illness-Fiction                                      --Lynn Fisher

Of Poseidon

Banks, Anna.  Of Poseidon.    Macmillan/ Feiwel & Friends   326p  $17.99  978-1-250-00332-4           secondary         VG      Fantasy    

Galen, a ‘merman’ literally bumps into Syrena while trying to find a girl who can communicate with fish and save his underwater world.  The problem is, Syrena does not at first realize that she is that girl.  This is a teen romance that grows as Syrena and Galen learn about the full power of her abilities.  This is a cute teen romance set in a world with merpeople with the oceans as a backdrop.  The story reads quickly, wrapping the reader into the tale from the beginning.  The confusion that Syrena feels when confronted with her possible talent and merpeople connection, as well as Galen’s falling in love at first sight with Syrena, make for a delightful read.  As a bonus, the cover art tells the tale and will draw female readers.         

Mermaids and mermen, Fantasy                                --Lynn Fisher

Buzbee, Lewis. Bridge of Time.

Buzbee, Lewis.    Bridge of Time.   Macmillan/ Feiwel & Friends   290p  $17.99 978-0-312-38257-5      elm/ms            E-BN      Science Fiction  

This is a historical and science fiction novel in which two middle-schoolers go back in time to the era when Mark Twain lived in San Francisco.  Joan Lee and Lee Jones have been classmates since Pre-K. However, they are going to be separated next year in high school because both sets of parents are getting divorced. Therefore this last middle-school field trip is going to be a downer for them. It eventually gets worse when the trip destination is changed to Battery Park because of a mix-up in the reservations.

Joan and Lee slip off to the lighthouse by themselves to nurse their wounds.  While they are there they fall asleep, only to be awakened by rifles firing and a strangely dressed man named Mark Twain.  He becomes their protector and guides them through his San Francisco of 1864.  They see a city without the Golden Gate Bridge and huts on the sites where their parents' houses would be in 2012.  They get to understand and live in a time where not even the simplest 21st-century amenities exist.

They are unstuck in time.  Mark Twain also helps them to time travel between various slices of time so that they can get back to 2012. Their experiences help them to realize that they are not the only time travelers.

The book is a great read for young readers, and it shows them that most problems have a way of working themselves out.  It also allows readers to see what San Francisco might have been like to the well-known author Mark Twain.

Time travel, Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, Authors-Fiction, San Francisco-Fiction                                      -- Linda McNeil

The Humming Room

Potter, Ellen     The Humming Room  

 Macmillan/ Feiwel & Friends   2012  184p $16.99 978-0-312-64438-3  

ms    VG-BN      Mystery/Detective

When tragedy forces Roo Fanshaw to move to a remote island to live with her eccentric uncle, she becomes determined to discover what is behind the humming that comes from a part of the house that she is forbidden to enter.     In the tradition of The Secret Garden, Potter captures the dreaminess and tone of the original novel, as well as its theme of growth and awakening.

Potter’s characters are engaging and slightly dysfunctional.  Roo is still reeling from her parents’ deaths when she must relocate to isolated Cough Rock Island to a residence that once served as a tuberculosis sanitarium for children. Her wealthy but eccentric uncle forbids Roo from entering a part of the house.  Naturally, Roo is intrigued, and despite the best efforts of her uncle’s lackeys, Roo discovers the house’s hidden room -- a garden with a tragic secret.

Although the ending is contrived and a bit abrupt, Potter deftly weaves characters and plot together to create an atmospheric and memorable story.  Although it is a "rewrite" of a children’s classic, The Humming Room stands out due to its own merits.  This is a promising gateway book for middle-school readers.           

VG-BN       Hilary Welliver   Orphans, Gardens, Islands

 

Cinder

Meyer, Marissa    Cinder      

 Macmillan/ Feiwel & Friends   2012  387p  17.99 978-0-312-64189-4 ms/hs   E-BN    Fairy tale 

This is another Cinderella-type fairy tale with a technological twist and a totally unexpected ending.      This futuristic fairy tale takes place in New Beijing, sometime in the future after the occurrence of WWIV with its nuclear devastation. The country is in a state of emergency because there is an epidemic of letumosis killing many, including the Emperor.  It is a world with great technological advancement, yet it also lacks many amenities that we know today. The people depend upon robots and cyborgs to help with many of the daily tasks.

 
Cinder Linh is a 36% cyborg (part robot)who is gifted with mechanical skills. She lives with her stepmother and two stepsisters (Peony and Pearl) in a small apartment.  Since her stepfather was killed when he went off-Earth to adopt her, Adri (her stepmother and legal guardian) insists she earn a living in the marketplace repairing gadgets with the help of Iko, the household robot.  The family dynamics are hostile, with the exception of Peony, who befriends Cinder when she can.

One day Cinder meets Prince Kai at the marketplace.  He needs to have his pet robot repaired.  Before she is able to repair the robot, Peony is taken ill with letumosis ,and Adri volunteers Cinder to be a test subject for the vaccine program.  While she is at the palace she meets with Dr. Erland, who discovers that she is immune to the virus.  In addition, at the palace she has occasion to meet Prince Kai again and become better acquainted.  But with the death of the emperor and the arrival of Queen Levana from the Moon, everyone's daily lives are filled with conflict and intrigue.

 
With the upcoming coronation of Prince Kai, the deceitful Queen Levana wants to unite the two countries by marrying Prince Kai.  Prince Kai wants Cinder to come to the ball, but Cinder’s stepmother forbids her.  As expected, the stepmother goes, all decked out with her daughter Pearl.

The events of the night are full of dramatic events, with unbelievable twists and turns.  This all leads up to an unforgettable ending for the readers.

E-BN   Linda McNeil  Fantasy, Science fiction, Fractured fairy tales

 

Take Your Best Shot

Coy, John   Take Your Best Shot      

Macmillan/ Feiwel & Friends   2012

180p  $6.99 978-1-250-00032-3   VG    ms    Realistic fiction       4 for 4 series   

Life in sixth grade is very different for Jackson from life in elementary school.  Teachers seem to demand more, getting a date to the first school dance is a challenge, and his mother’s upcoming marriage and his dad’s new romantic interest test his emotions.  The four sporting buddies from the previous books in the 4 For 4 series have always hung together, and when Diego decides to play for a traveling basketball team instead of the school team, Jackson doesn’t know what to think.  Another buddy’s father is severely injured while serving in Afghanistan, and Jackson is the only one who can get through to his now reclusive friend.  This is definitely a feel-good novel about accepting challenges, and it offers confirmation that life changes, most often for the better.  The idea of writing a letter to oneself in the future will intrigue readers.  The basketball action is quick and fierce during the games and serves as the focus of the novel, which holds friendship high on the list of priorities in middle school.  Readers will be able to read this book independently from others in the series.  There is a lot going on in this slim volume, some of which might have been more fully explained to give added depth to characters and the situations in which they find themselves.           

VG    Lois McNicol      Friendship, Sports

 

Morpurgo, Michael. An Elephant in the Garden.

Morpurgo, Michael.  An Elephant in the Garden.  Feiwel&Friends/Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, 2011. 199p. $16.99  ISBN 978-0-312-59369-8  ms (Grades 5-8)   E-BN Historical  

     This is an excellent historical fiction set during World War II.  The story unfolds as an elderly lady in a nursing home relates her story to a friendly nurse and the nurse’s little boy.  When she was a child, her mother worked at a zoo with the elephants.  As the Russian army was advancing, plans were made to destroy all the large animals who could be a threat if let loose in the city.  A young elephant accompanied the family in their escape.
     Two different fonts are used to differentiate when the conversation is in the present time and when it represents the reminiscences of the elderly lady.  This is a very effective format to tell a story.
     The author’s note explains that the genesis of the story came from several factual accounts.  One was an account of a zookeeper saving a young elephant, and there were also first-person accounts of families escaping bombed cities and fleeing before the invading Russian Army.  This note helps the realism in the story, which is excellently rendered.
     Students will first be fascinated to find out about the elephant and then will be hooked on the story.  Like the little boy, they will want to know what happened next.  This makes the novel hard to put down.  Some of the action is predictable to an adult, but it is exciting enough to make the reader want to read on.
     This is an excellent choice for middle-school libraries, Grades 5-8.
Subject: W.W.II -- Fiction   

Joan Theal

 

Martin, Ann M. Ten Rules for Living With My Sister.

Martin, Ann M.  Ten Rules for Living With My Sister.  Feiwel&Friends/Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, 2011.  228p.  $16.99      ISBN 978-0-312-36766-4

elm/ms      VG-BN Realistic Fiction

     Ten Rules for Living With My Sister presents a year in the life of a nine-year-old New York girl who lives with her parents and teenage sister.  It has just enough humor, warmth, and plot to keep an 8- to 12-year-old girl reading.  Martin has a way with storytelling, and even though the main character still believes in Santa Claus, she also deals with preteen issues of friendlessness, embarrassment, and dealing with a beloved grandfather who is losing his faculties.  This will be sure to resonate with youngsters who like a realistic story told with attention to emotions and human relationships.   

Carol Kennedy

 

Valente. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship Of Her Own Making

Valente, Catherine M.   The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship Of Her Own Making       

Feiwel&Friends/Macmillan Child Pub Gr      2011  247p  16.99 978-0-312-64961-6 ms/jr E-BN  Fantasy     

  

    A twelve year old girl is spirited away to Fairyland.  She meets some very unusual characters and has the opportunity to demonstrate courage, bravery and faithfulness.
Reminiscent of Andre Norton and Frank L. Baum, for middle school. September, a twelve year old girl from Omaha is brought to Fairyland by the Green Wind.  All is not well in Fairyland at this time.  The Marquess rules tyrannically having made numerous changes in the rules.  September meets many unusual characters as she travels along .  She thinks she chooses to follow a certain path but she may be controlled by other forces.  In fact she was brought to Fairyland for a very specific purpose.
   As September chooses her path, she discovers in herself bravery, courage, and loyalty to friends.  September had not previously identified these characteristics in herself .
   The language is vividly descriptive and frequently almost poetic.  The style reminds one of Andre Norton, with a touch of Frank L. Baum.  The beasts and characters are totally original  such as the Wyvern who believes his father is a library or the herd of wild bicycles, but are so clearly described that the reader can fully imagine them.  The drawings that introduce each chapter do help give the reader some ideas.  They are full of whimsy and just twisted enough to fit the story.
   A thoroughly pleasurable fantasy read for middle school students who enjoy the challenge of sophisticated language and never ending immagination..               Fairyland  Joan Theal