A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban

I read this book in one day - I started it this morning and just finished it. :) Several students at school had read it and really enjoyed it ... so I was anxious to read it. I REALLY enjoyed it. I instantly connected with the main character, Zoe.

from Barnes and Noble:

Ten-year-old Zoe Elias has perfect piano dreams. She can practically feel the keys under her flying fingers; she can hear the audience's applause. All she needs is a baby grand so she can start her lessons, and then she'll be well on her way to Carnegie Hall.
But when Dad ventures to the music store and ends up with a wheezy organ instead of a piano, Zoe's dreams hit a sour note. Learning the organ versions of old TV theme songs just isn't the same as mastering Beethoven on the piano. And the organ isn't the only part of Zoe's life that's off-kilter, what with Mom constantly at work, Dad afraid to leave the house, and that odd boy, Wheeler Diggs, following her home from school every day.
Yet when Zoe enters the annual Perform-O-Rama organ competition, she finds that life is full of surprises--and that perfection may be even better when it's just a little off center.

Happy reading! If you read A Crooked Kind of Perfect, comment on this post and let me know how you liked it. :)

the dead and the gone by Susan Pfeffer

This is a companion novel to Life as We Knew It, but is set in New York City. This was a page turner ... but I felt that it was much darker and even a little sinister. However, it gave me much to think about.

from Barnes and Noble:
Susan Beth Pfeffer’s Life as We Knew It enthralled and devastated readers with its brutal but hopeful look at an apocalyptic event--an asteroid hitting the moon, setting off a tailspin of horrific climate changes. Now this harrowing companion novel examines the same events as they unfold in New York City, revealed through the eyes of seventeen-year-old Puerto Rican Alex Morales. When Alex's parents disappear in the aftermath of tidal waves, he must care for his two younger sisters, even as Manhattan becomes a deadly wasteland, and food and aid dwindle.

Happy reading! If you read the dead the gone, comment on this post and let me know how you liked it. :)

Rosa, Sola by Carmela Martino

I loved this little novel. It was at times, both heartbreaking and hopeful. I enjoyed the Italian words that were used throughout the text, and it was helpful that the author included a glossary that you could refer to.

from Barnes and Noble:
Living with her Italian immigrant parents in 1960s Chicago, nine-year-old Rosa, an only child, often feels SOLA and different. But as soon as she holds her friend AnnaMaria's baby brother for the first time, Rosa is sure that if she prays hard enough, God will give her a sibling too. Amazingly, Ma does get pregnant, and Rosa is overjoyed — until the awful day comes when she learns that her brother was stillborn, and Ma, who is weak and grieving, must stay in the hospital for a while. With her papa bitter and rarely home, and her bossy aunt Ida in charge, Rosa has an "empty cave" feeling and now is more SOLA than ever. Why would God answer her prayers, only to take her baby brother away? Will her broken family ever be happy again?

Happy reading! If you read Rosa, Sola, comment on this post and let me know how you liked it. :)

All the Lovely Bad Ones by Mary Downing Hahn

Mary Downing Hahn is known for her ghosts stories ... and this was certainly a ghost story. I didn't think it was a bad book, but I didn't think it was all that good either. I would be interested to hear what students think of the story. If you are a fan of ghost stories, this would probably be a good choice for you. :)

Happy reading! If you read All the Lovely Bad Ones, comment on this post and let me know how you liked it. :)

happy Summer :)

Summer is here...although I don't really feel like it is summer yet, it takes a little while to get used to be done with school. :) I recently read two books that I didn't have time to blog about because the last week of school was BUSY!

Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby interested me because it involved sign language. I have been signing for a long time so I was anxious to see what this book was all about.

from Barnes and Noble:
Thirteen-year-old Joey Willis is used to being left out of conversations. Though she's been deaf since the age of six, Joey's mother has never allowed her to learn sign language. She strains to read the lips of those around her, but often fails.
Everything changes when Joey meets Dr. Charles Mansell and his baby chimpanzee, Sukari. Her new friends use sign language to communicate, and Joey secretly begins to learn to sign. Spending time with Charlie and Sukari, Joey has never been happier. She even starts making friends at school for the first time. But as Joey's world blooms with possibilities, Charlie's and Sukari's choices begin to narrow—until Sukari's very survival is in doubt.

The White Giraffe by Lauren St. John was another animal story but had some mystical elements to it, which I enjoyed.

from Barnes and Noble:

Martine’s parents are killed in a fire, and she must leave her home in England to live on a wildlife reserve in Africa with a grandmother she never even knew she had.
As soon as Martine arrives at the reserve, she hears whisperings of a mythical animal living there–a white giraffe. No one has ever seen the animal, but it leaves footprints behind. Her grandmother insists that the white giraffe is just a legend, but then, one stormy night, Martine looks out her bedroom window straight into the eyes of the tall and silvery animal. The white giraffe is real!
But why is everyone keeping the giraffe’s existence a secret? To find out, Martine will use all of her courage and smarts, and an emerging gift for healing, in a daring adventure to save her new friend.

Happy Reading! If you read Hurt Go Happy or The White Giraffe, comment on this post and let me know how you liked it. :)