Moon, Sarah. Sparrow.

Moon, Sarah. Sparrow. Scholastic/Arthur Levine  2017   264p.            $18.99  ISBN 978-1-338-03258-1       ms/hs            Realistic Fiction          VG-BN         

Sparrow does not have friends and really doesn’t know how to make friends.  To escape the stress of life, she flies.  She sees birds and takes off with them in flight.  One day at school she is on the roof and it is assumed she wants to jump.  After a stay in the hospital, she is sent home on the condition that she meet with a therapist.  Sparrow is very slow to open up at all (and it takes 90 pages). The therapist is the most patient person on the planet.  Eventually Sparrow is open enough to try attending a camp for rock musicians.  Among other things, Sparrow learns that other girls have problems too, but they learn how to deal with them.
  

The writing is in the first person so the reader really knows what Sparrow is thinking.  The beginning leads the reader to think that Sparrow is weird, but as the story progresses the reader comes to sympathize with and better understand her.  The triumph Sparrow experiences at the end makes the whole story worthwhile.
  

Although every teenage girl feels disconnected at times in their teen years, it takes a mature reader to handle Sparrow’s thinking.  It may give hope to others who are feeling isolated, but some would not be able to cope with all of Sparrow's thoughts.  

Summary: To escape her social ineptness, Sparrow tunes out and flies.  The story concerns her learning to cope and improve very slowly with the help of a therapist.  About an eighth grader, but psychologically very deep.  Grade 7 up.                               

Shyness-Fiction, Social skills-Fiction                             --Joan Theal

Stork, Francisco X. Disappeared.

Stork, Francisco X.  Disappeared. Scholastic/Arthur Levine     2017     326p.  $17.99  ISBN 978-0-545-94447-2    hs       Realistic Fiction          E-BN

Sara Zapata is an up-and-coming reporter in Ciudad Juarez invesigating the Desaparacidas, young women kidnapped and trafficked by the ruling drug cartel.  The story is personal, as her best friend Linda disappeared over four months ago.  When she receives an encrypted message threatening both her life and that of her family, she decides to intensify her digging to save Linda and uncover the truth. 

Her brother Emiliano is a high-school soccer star and the boyfriend of Perla Rubi, the wealthy daughter of one of the cartel’s lawyers who offers entrepreneurial Emiliano financial security, but with a hefty cost to his conscience. 

This fast-paced thriller takes place in one eventful week when Sara discovers the whereabouts of her friend Linda, and the identities of her captors, Emiliano’s new business associates.  This forces Sara and Emiliano to flee Mexico, pursued by the cartel.
 
This timely, beautifully written, harrowing story vividly depicts how Mexico’s poverty, corruption, and violence forces young people like Sara and Emiliano to risk illegal and unsafe border crossing in hopes for not only a better life, but life itself.  This is YA literature at its best.                                     

Summary: Siblings Sara and Emiliano Zapata must escape their home in Ciudad Juarez after they are targeted by the ruling drug cartel for Sara’s exposé about the cartel’s involvement in trafficking.          

Drug trafficking-Fiction, Mexico-Fiction             --Lisa Teixeira

Stork, Francisco X. Disappeared

Stork, Francisco X.     Disappeared  Scholastic/Arthur Levine     2017   326p   17.99  978-0-545-94447-2            hs        Realistic Fiction          E-BN            

Siblings Sara and Emiliano Zapata must escape their home in Ciudad Juarez after they are targeted by the ruling drug cartel for Sara’s expose about the cartel’s involvement in trafficking.       Sara Zapata is an up and coming reporter in Ciudad Juarez invesigating the Desaparacidas, young women kidnapped and trafficked by the ruling drug cartel.  The story is personal, her best friend Linda disappeared over four months ago.  When she receives an encrypted message threatening both her life and that of her family, she decides to intensify her digging to save Linda and uncover the truth. 

Emiliano is a high school soccer star and boyfriend of Perla Rubi, the wealthy daughter of one of the cartel’s lawyers who offers entrepreneurial Emiliano financial security, but with a hefty cost to his conscience. 

This fast-paced thriller takes place in one eventful week when Sara discovers the whereabouts of her friend Linda, and the identities of her captors, Emiliano’s new business associates, forcing them to flee Mexico pursued by the cartel.

This timely, beautifully written, harrowing story vividly depicts how  Mexico’s poverty, corruption, and violence forces young people like Sara and Emiliano to risk illegal and unsafe border crossing in hopes for not only a better life, but for life itself.  This is YA literature at its’ best.                          Teixeira, Lisa

Pincus, Greg. The Homework Strike.

Pincus, Greg. The Homework Strike. Scholastic/Arthur Levine 2017  264p  $16.99      ISBN 978-0-439-91301-0  elem/ms      Realistic Fiction   VG-BN

Gregory knew seventh grade was going to be hard, but he never imagined the amount of homework it would entail. He is fed up with the hours of homework each night as it devours all of his free time, preventing him from following his true passion, writing. To prove his point and make his voice heard, he embarks on a homework strike and rallies his classmates to join the cause. His parents are worried about his grades and his teachers and principal just want him to stop being a troublemaker. But Gregory is relentless.

This fast-paced, fun, and hysterically funny novel is sure to delight young readers. Gregory, his parents, his teachers, his principal and his friends are completely believable, as are the dilemmas and work that they face. This book will surely relate and resonate well with young students as the plot is true to the life adolescents experience at school and home.  The funny antics will have readers laughing out loud and cheering for Gregory on his quest to have less homework and more free time.

Summary: Gregory is fed up with all the homework in middle school; it devours all his time and does not leave him any time to do what he really loves--writing; so, he embarks on a homework strike to make his voice heard.    
                 

Homework-Fiction                                                  --Virginia McGarvey

Morrison, Megan. Disenchanted: Trials of Cinderella.

Morrison, Megan. Disenchanted: Trials of Cinderella. Scholastic/Arthur Levine 2016  404p  $17.99  ISBN 978-0-545-64271-2      Hardback    ms/jr Fantasy  E-BN

A retelling, sort of, of the Cinderella story. Ella is fed up with the superficiality of her wealthy friends and really wants to reform society. Dash (Prince Charming) has broken the Curse that held his family in a web of lying, cheating and flattery. He wants to be a better person but has so much trouble expressing himself without the glib voice of the Curse. The third major player in the story is Serge, a blue fairy godfather. He really would prefer to be helping needy children rather than catering to the whims of the wealthy.
 

These three characters work together to make a difference in their world. They start in the garment workhouses where young children work in horrible conditions. Ella knows of these conditions from firsthand experience, because she and her mother worked there before her mother died and her father remarried a wealthy woman.

 
This is an almost complete departure from the classic Cinderella story. Even the stepsisters become a stepsister and a stepbrother who belong to a band that plays at the Prince’s ball. They also are nice to Ella. Her Stepmother isn’t evil but a self-assured wealthy businesswoman who really wants to do right by Ella. Ella is the one who rejects everyone’s overtures and festers in the sorrow of her mother’s death.
  

The conditions in the garment workhouses are reminiscent of conditions that existed in the past. The fire that Ella is accused of starting draws authenticity from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. These connections add depth and veracity to the story.
  

Witty dialog, bits of magic, and interesting characters enliven this title. A previous adventure in the land of Tyme involved Rapunzel. The assumption is that other adventures are waiting to be written. It would be a great read for grades 4-8. The changes to the Cinderella story actually make it more believable.     

Summary: A retelling of the Cinderella story, sort of. Much has been changed, but the reader will recognize the basic story. Witty dialog, magic, and action enliven this tale. Great read for grades 4-8.

Cinderella-Fiction, Magic-Fiction                                 —Joan Theal