Sheinmel, Courtney. Edgewater.

Sheinmel, Courtney.  Edgewater.  Amulet see Harry Abrams  uncorrected proof    2015  317p.  $17.95  ISBN 978-1-4197-1641-6  hs  Conflict  E

Lorrie is dismissed from her elite riding camp for nonpayment of fees.  When she gets home to squalid Edgewater, she realizes that the money that was in a trust established by her mother has disappeared without a trace.  Her sister Susie, two years younger, collects stray animals and a questionable boyfriend.  Without supervision, the animals leave the house, looking and smelling atrocious.  The girls’ aunt and guardian suffers from mental illness and is not concerned about their destitution.  The house is an eyesore in a wealthy area, and Lorrie feels the stigma of living there.  As she struggles with finding a way to bring in money, including selling her beloved horse, she comes into contact with the wealthy and influential Copeland family, especially Charlie, the teenage son of a senator.  Worlds collide in most unexpected ways, and many surprises await the reader of this novel, with superbly drawn characters.  This is a wonderful book about family, love, secrets and the effects on a person of having lavish amounts of money.  The mystery of the missing inheritance builds continuously throughout the novel. 

How hard it is for Lorrie to reconcile her life, attending a posh private high school and summering at elite riding camps, with the rundown house in which she, her sister and her scatterbrained aunt live.  Character-driven plot with many surprises. Gr 8-12.          

Poverty-Fiction                                                   --Lois McNicol

Kinney, Jeff The Ugly Truth (Diary of a Wimpy Kid)

Kinney, Jeff The Ugly Truth (Diary of a Wimpy Kid)
Amulet see Abrams, Harry 2010 218p 13.95
978-0-8109-8491-2 elm/ms diaries - Friendships - family life E-BN


Greg has had a falling out with his exbest friend Rowley and school is about to begin. How is he ever going to get his friendship with Rowley back on track. Greg is also trying to figure out how growing up will change him especially when you don’t want to change yet.
Even though Greg has been waiting forever to grow up, now that he is almost grown he is not so sure that he wants to get there. It seems that growing up entails doing things he is not ready to do. With Rowely his best friend mad at him and his mom getting an outside job, Greg is beginning to feel overwhelm. The responsibility seems to have all of a sudden piled up on him. His dad does not want to wake him up in the morning, his chores around the house have multiplied and his parents have become more demanding. School is no better it seems that growing is a big event at school. The teachers keep talking about adolescence and puberty. They show films, give talks and even have classes on how to be a parents where everyone gets an egg and has to make believe it is a real baby.

A very hilarious look at Greg’s life as he grows into a young adult, deals with his friendships, girls, brothers and his parents. Like all the other books this is done nicely illustrated. Kids will enjoy this new episode in Greg Heffley’s life. Realistic Fiction Diaz, Magna

Abby Carnelia’s One & Only Magical Power

Pogue, David. Abby Carnelia’s One & Only Magical Power
Roaring Brook Press see Macmillan children's pub 2010 277p 15.99
978-1-59643-384-7 ms/jr Conflict E-BN


Abbey Carnelia was a typical sixth grader. During diner preparations, she discovered pulling on her ears would make a hard-boiled egg spin. Although the power was wimpy at best, Abbey wanted to discover what other powers she might possibly possess. After much discussion, her parents send her to camp where she meets others with a variety of magical abilities. Abbey was also selected to attend a “Special” camp for those kids who had unique powers. However, special gifts don’t always work out for the best. Abbey and her friends find themselves in a really weird situation. When they come to the realization that they have been setup as guineas pigs, they literally “hatch” an idea for an escape. Readers will frantically turn the pages as they urge the characters (Abbey, Ben, Ricky, and Eliza) to the end of the book.

This engaging and whimsical action book is an exciting adventure. It offers both realistic and suspenseful action in a well-paced plot and with engaging characters. The story is engaging and full of interesting details, the locations are believably described, and the characters are very three-dimensional. The author once again mixes adventure, intrigues, realistic surroundings, and a little stress into this very well done novel for young readers. Lastly, kudos to David for working himself into the novel (similar to how Clive Cussler puts himself somewhere in his novels) as the man who picks the kids up on a deserted road (as the drug company staff is running after them) and reports their experience to the world.
This is a very well written book that will relate well to many young readers. It is recommended as a basic book for any middle or elementary library. It would make an excellent selection for a basic books list for school libraries. McNeil(3), Linda magic, families, conflict

Grant, Vicki. Comeback

Grant, Vicki. Comeback
Orca 2010 132 9.95
978-1-55469-310-8 hs Realistic Fiction E-BN

Ria’s father disappears and is presumed dead when his small plane crashes. His swindles of friends and relatives money through his stock brokerage business leaves Ria in turmoil. She and her small brother run away with disastrous results. Grades 8+
Ria has a charmed life. Her family is wealthy, she has a great boyfriend, and she is a good student. Her mother insists on separating from her father and moves the kids to a small apartment. Ria continues to see her suave, easy talking father and hatches a plan to move herself and her small brother into her father’s new home. Before she can broach the move to her father, he takes a business trip, piloting his own small airplane. The news that his plane has crashed in a lake and he is presumed dead rattles Ria’s world. She can’t believe he is dead and is offended by those who come to express sympathy. As news of her father’s swindling money from his stock brokerage’s clients surfaces, Ria can’t face her friends or her boyfriend who turn against her because their families have lost all their life savings. To get away from it all, she takes her small brother and goes for a drive that continues late into the night and on into the next morning. With very little money, she makes poor choices and ends up in an abandoned summer camp. When her brother has an asthma attack, she realizes she is in need of help. When Ria’s dad calls (yes, he is still alive) her on her cell phone, she realizes he is both concerned and a criminal. Realistic dialogue and excellent character development accompany a fast-paced plot. Great for a hi/lo reader. For grades 8-12.
Strongly recommended, grades 8-12, especially for schools in the suburbs. A headline topic of investment brokers misusing client’s money. Realistic dialogue and a fast-paced plot tackles the fallout that affects the families of a corrupt stockbroker .. McNicol(3),Lois

Rinaldi, Ann. Leigh Ann’s Civil War.

Rinaldi, Ann. Leigh Ann’s Civil War.
Houghton Mifflin/Clarion/Graphia/Kingfisher 2009 308p 17.00
978-0-15-206513-3 ms/hs
Leigh Ann’s estranged mother provides drama and intrigue for the family’s business during the time the dreaded Yankees invade Roswell, Georgia. Leigh Ann herself is branded as a traitor and sent North as a punishment after she tries to help her family by placing a French flag on their mill. This is a well written and researched novel that shows the readers the politics of war and the price of freedom. Leigh Ann is a young girl who lives on a Southern plantation with her father and two older brothers. When the Yankees come to Roswell, Georgia Leigh Ann tries to help her family by placing a French flag atop of their mill. The estranged mother, squired by a Yankee officer, returns to confiscate the plantation and arrest Leigh Ann. She is branded as a traitor for making cloth for Confederate soldiers and shipped North. This engaging historical fiction and an exciting adventure. It offers both realistic and suspenseful action in a well-paced plot and with engaging characters. The story is engaging and full of interesting details, the locations are beautifully described, and the characters are very three-dimensional. The author once again mixes adventure, political intrigues, realistic surroundings, and a little stress into this very well done historical novel. McNeil, Linda

Linda Sue Park.

Parker-Rock, Michelle. Linda Sue Park.
Enslow 2009 48p 23.93 978-0-7660-3158-6 elem
Authors Kids Love(Enslow)#8,9
This is a biography of the award-winning children’s author Linda Sue Park, who wrote A Single Shard. It begins with her childhood and and quotes her liberally on memories of family, schooling, friendships and her interest in writing. This is a well-organized little biography that will appeal to young fans of the author. One gets a fairly vivid portrait of her personality and her experiences. For example, we know what kind of child Linda Sue was, what her parents were like, and how she did in school. We also get to see her cute baby pictures! Kennedy, Carol

Carmichael, Clay Wild Things

Carmichael, Clay Wild Things
Front Street Books (see Boyd's Mill Press) 2009 240p 18.95
978-1-59078-627-7 elm/ms
Stubborn, self-reliant, eleven-year-old Zoe, recently orphaned, moves to the country to live with her prickly half-uncle, a famous doctor and sculptor, and together they learn about trust and the strength of family. Clay Carmichael has hit the mark in this novel about an orphaned eleven year-old girl who is too precocious, too independent and too tough for her own good. Zoe Royster needed to develop these personality traits as a defense mechanism to protect her feelings from her negligent mother; consequently, she trusts no one but herself. Her father was never a presence in her life and when her mother dies, Zoe is claimed by an uncle she didn’t know she had. Her uncle is Dr.Henry Royce, who left a promising medical career to pursue an even more successful career as a metal sculptor. The title refers to many wild things besides Zoe: the feral cat that contributes to the story by providing background information and foreshadowing, the sculptures that Henry creates, the albino deer and his companion. From the first page Zoe commands the attention of the readers, who want to know more about her unconventional past. She is a multidimensional character who surprises and enchants. Carmichael has taken care to provide Zoe with equally well rounded characters. Zoe’s narrative provides the structure of the story, with perfect pacing and plot development. The dialogue is a joy, particularly the first few chapter of conversation between Zoe and Henry, where the reader begins to wonder how this relationship between the two of them will turn out. It turns out just fine, despite the sadness and the tragedies that they encounter. Readers can leave Zoe knowing that she finds the love that she deserves. Zajko, Rosanne

McClintock, Norah. Back.

McClintock, Norah. Back.
Orca 2009 93p 9.95 978-1-551143-989-1 ms/hs

The family of a boy, beaten into a coma, must decide how to respond when the perpetrator returns from his jail term. Sides are chosen by neighbors. In a gripping read, teens must decide whether to seek revenge or support the reformed perpetrator. Another Orca Soundings hit by Norah McClintock. A boy, Eden, is beaten savagely with a crowbar for coming to the aid of a pregnant teenage girl who is being taunted and hit by the baby’s teenage father, Jojo. Eden’s brother, Ardell, spends two years brooding about the disintegration of his family, his comatose brother, and what he will do when Jojo returns from his two year prison sentence. Jojo is released from prison and quietly returns to the old neighborhood. The neighborhood is a study in contrasts. A neighboring teen narrates the tension-filled story relating the hostility of Ardell’s family toward Jojo, the reappearance of the girl along with her son and her desire to renew the relationship with Jojo against her father’s wishes. What not many people see is the loving manner in which Jojo takes care of his mother who has cancer. Revenge is at the heart of this social problem novel. The neighborhood is forced to take sides on the issue of whether Jojo has paid his debt to society or whether he should be harassed and shunned by the neighbors. Issues presented here are a vivid reminder of how families affected by violence. whether the perpetrator of violence or the recipient of violence, are left to deal with the fallout long after the event occurred. McClintock writes in simple prose alternating passion with tenderness. This book is a surefire hi/lo reader that will appeal to all middle and high school students whether from the inner-city or the suburbs. Highly recommended. LMN

Whitney, Tim. Thanksgiving At the Inn.

Whitney, Tim. Thanksgiving At the Inn.
Bancroft 2009 226p 19.95 978-1-890862-64-0 jr/sr

Heath’s father suffers with alcoholism and literary rejection. To make matters worse he is suspended from school at the same time that his estranged grandfather dies. The resulting story is both heart warming and heart rendering. Heath Wellington III is between a rock and a hard place when he gets suspended from school for supposedly cheating. His father (called Junior) has suffered repeatedly from alcoholism and literary rejection since his wife left him. It is definitely not a happy family situation. His father has been estranged from his father for years because of stubbornness and pride. This presents a conflict when the grandfather dies and Heath and his father must return to the family home to settle the estate.
The grandfather (Senior) was an unusual person. He made lots of money in his lifetime, but he decided that helping others was more important than making money. When he sold his business he turned the family home into the Sleeping Inn and collected people who needed to make something of themselves. In order for Junior to inherit his father’s estate, he would have to move into the inn and run it successfully for three months keeping the residents happy and content with his management. It is a story of conflict, humor, morals to be learn, and life-changing events for Heath.
This is a well written book in which the characters are well developed. It is easy for the readers to picture: Mustang Sally who is a over muscled, over tattoo grease monkey who writes children’s books, Winstead who is a wise Jamaican and former preacher and jailbird, Mrs. Farrell who is a elderly woman giving away her late husband’s ill earned fortune to needy people, and Carter who is a TV news junkie and Harvard graduate. The interactions between residents and Heath and his father allow the reader to connect with the characters and become involved with their everyday life. It is a timeless heartwarming story that is full of life’s lessons often overlooked in today’s fast paced world. MD,LM,HW

Perfect Chemistry.

Elkeles, Simone. Perfect Chemistry.
Walker & Co 2009 360p 9.99 9780802798220 hs

Alex Fuentes is a gang member. Brittany Ellis is a blonde cheerleader from a wealthy family. Two teenagers from different worlds are about to collide and crossover boundaries into an unknown destiny of love and discovery. What transpires is a perfect chemistry that will have everyone questioning their values, feelings and reevaluating of their lives. A must read! Brittany appears to be the perfect golden girl head cheerleader, blonde wind blown hair, blue eyes, good grades and dating the captain of the football team. What no one knows is that Brittany leads a secret life full of family problems and is dealing with the care of a beloved sister that suffers from cerebral palsy.

Alejandro "Alex" fuentes is a gang member, owns a motorcycle, and acts as if he is the man to be feared on campus. The truth; Alex fears for his two younger brothers and is hoping to be able to keep them from joining the gang. He is going to make sure they have a future even if it means he will have to sacrifice himself.

Then comes the day when school starts and in chemistry class the perfect girl has to sit next to the "mean" gang member. Mrs. Peterson the chemistry teacher is a teacher to be reckoned with and what she says goes. The project should have been simple but life is not simple and love is fickle. When Brittany and Alex sit next to each other and must interact with each other sparks always fly. But are these sparks the beginning of something else? The crossover is not easy and leaving the gang is not like getting out of a club. The choices these two teens face is full of questions, uncertainties, strange friendships, violence and even death.
Teens will love this book!!! MD

Hello Goodbye.

Chenoweth, Emily. Hello Goodbye.
Random House/Knopf/Anchor/Three Rivers 2009 272p 25.00
978-1-4000-6517-2 hs/adult
Vacationing at an exclusive New Hampshire resort gives friends and family an opportunity to say their goodbyes to Helen, who has been diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer.
A beautifully written and compelling novel of love and loss, the story begins with Helen collapsing in the kitchen after her morning run. Only her husband, Elliott, has been told by the doctors that she has only nine months to live. Keeping the secret from her and teenage Abby, Elliott plans a vacation at an exclusive resort to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. While the story revolves around Helen, with third person narratives, Elliot and Abby, as well as their friends, deal with her decline.
Elliott is beautifully portrayed as the solicitous husband, who drinks to deal with his impending grief. Abby grows from a self-absorbed teen to grieving but competent young woman. The story glows with love and loss, and all the characters are believably portrayed.
A mild sexual encounter, drug, and alcohol use make this a novel for older teens, and the subject matter seems more appropriate for adult readers. PN

Dumbfounded by Matt Rothschild

Rothschild, Matt. Dumbfounded.
Crown see Random, 2008, 301p, $23.95, 978-0-307-40542-5

In Matt Rothschild’s memoir, Dumbfounded, we are confronted with a challenge to decipher. Is this book autobiographical? Is it purely fiction? Does it lie somewhere in between? Truthfully, it is so entertaining that we jump from page to page, hardly believing the stories that Matt tells us about the poor little rich boy, raised by wealthy Jewish grandparents. Yet, we come aboard and are drawn into each chapter as Matt describes the comedic horrors of growing up in New York’s East Side. It’s an oxymoron! Indeed, Matt is loved. He survives. He grows up with the right values. His grandparents are real people, demonstrating the tolerance and friendship necessary to create longevity in their marriage. Matt sees this and it becomes part of him. On the other hand, Matt describes his family as dysfunctional. Yes, his own mother has rejected him. And, yes, he questions his bizarre upbringing in each and every chapter of the memoir. We laugh, we feel and we believe. Rothschild’s characters are so very real. First, there is his best friend Elaine, again an oxymoron, as Elaine hopped into her limousine with a bag of toys from FAO Schwarz, leaving Matt at the door to take the rap for shoplifting. There is Mike, the captain of the lacrosse team who poured super glue into the teacher’s shoes, leaving Matt to take the blame and to be expelled. Second, there is a neglectful mother who only reached out to Matt for her own selfish reasons. She was bereft of personality as to intentionally exclude Matt from his grandmother’s funeral, despite that fact that his grandmother was his life. Finally, there is Matt’s grandmother, an abrasive, sarcastic, opinionated fighter of everything normal in life. From her we learn that it takes all kinds to raise a child to become a happy, productive adult. At times, the humor is subtle; other times, it is blatant.
This book is for the more sophisticated reader making it a good selection for a high school library or a public library. MS