Archive for the ‘Recommended’ Category
Choke Creek
Bridle Pass Press, 2008
Fiction/Historical Fiction
ISBN: 0615220118
299 pages
Synopsis
Set in the vivid, clear light of the West, Choke Creek tells the story of two families who trace their roots to the Indian Wars. Fifteen-year-old Evie Glauber is descended from the newspaperman who reported on the famous Battle of Choke Creek, while Eason Swale, the boy she loves, is the great-grandson of a cavalryman who fought in it. Eason enlists in the Army and goes to Vietnam, but when he comes back a deserter, everything Evie believes in is thrown into question—including the truth about what really happened on the banks of Choke Creek. …
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Odd and the Frost Giants
HarperCollins, 2009
Fantasy
ISBN: 0061671738
128 pages
Synopsis
In a village in ancient Norway lives a boy named Odd, and he’s had some very bad luck: His father perished in a Viking expedition; a tree fell on and shattered his leg; the endless freezing winter is making villagers dangerously grumpy. …
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Bog Child
David Fickling Books, 2008
Historical Fiction
ISBN: 0385751699
336 pages
Carnegie Medal
Synopsis
Fergus is recently 18, and on what should be a normal run to get peat to sell to the locals, he discovers a child in the bog—the child that time forgot. Unbelievably well preserved, she becomes the focal point of many theories about who she was, where she came from, and why she ended up there. Riddled with dreams about the child he’s found, Fergus must negotiate the complex world around him as Northern Ireland fights for its independence from England. …
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After Tupac and D Foster
Putnam Young Adult, 2008
Fiction
ISBN: 0399246541
160 pages
Newbery Honor Book
Synopsis
A summer of adventure and loss, the unnamed narrator gains a new best friend named D Foster. Mysteriously coming out of nowhere, D quickly becomes friends with the narrator and her best friend Neeka. Throughout this coming of age text, the narrator takes us on a journey throughout her summer, starting when D shows up, just after Tupac gets shot for the first time, and ending when Tupac gets killed and D leaves to go live with her real mother. Woodson takes us back a few years to show the reality of living in Queens as an African American family, and many of the personal and national events that effect the block the narrator lives on. …
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The Surrender Tree
Henry Holt and Co, 2008
Poetry
ISBN: 0805086749
176 pages
Newbery Honor Book
Synopsis
Taking place over the several wars that Cuba had with Spain in order to gain independence, the story centers on Rosa, a young slave girl who is eventually freed by her master when he revolts against Spain and becomes the most renowned healer throughout Cuba. …
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Cool Salsa
Fawcett, 1995
Poetry
ISBN: 044970436X
160 pages
Synopsis
Cool Salsa is a collection of bi-lingual poems written by Latin Americans in order to express their lives here in America, their thoughts about their old countries and cultures, and what they’ve left behind, and how they can fit into the culture they’ve found themselves in while keeping their heritage in tact. Many of the poems are interlaced with both English and Spanish, and most of them are translated into both languages side by side. …
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Thirteenth Child
Scholastic Press, 2009
Fantasy
ISBN: 054503342X
320 pages
Synopsis
Eff was born the thirteenth child in a magical family, her brother Lan, born fourteenth and the seventh son of a seventh son. This means that Lan will have natural amazing magical powers, and Eff will be doomed to bring only bad things to the people around her. However, her parents believe that it will be better for the twins not to grow up hearing such things, so they move their family out to the frontier where their father will work to be a professor of magic. Although things have gotten better, Eff can’t help but believe that there’s something wrong with her. She must learn to be herself and like who she is despite the fears that she keeps hidden in order to uncover a deadly adversary and save the people of the frontier. …
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