Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff

Make Lemonade is a novel written in verse.  It is a story of two young girls, one looking to save money so she can attend college and get out of the poverty she lives in, the other is a teenage mother with few prospects for improving her life.  LaVaughn applies for the role of babysitter of Jolly's children.  At first LaVaughn regrets her decision to take the job, but soon she is wrapped up in Jolly's life and falls in love with her children.  Not willing to accept Jolly's station in life, LaVaughn encourages Jolly to attend school and accept the aid of others for her children's sake.  This story touches the heart and warms the soul.

Miracle on 49th Street by Mike Lupica

Miracle on 49th Street is a tale about a girl, Molly Parker, who has recently lost her mother and goes to connect with her father, who incidentally has no idea she exists.  To throw another wrench into the situation, Molly's father is the national basketball hero, Josh Cameron.  At first Josh is very skeptical of Molly's claim, but she convinces him to get to know her, and soon Josh's heart begins to warm to Molly.  Molly has some help along the way namely from her sidekick and best friend Sam, and Josh's housekeeper Mattie.  These two help Molly through some rough times, including Josh's selfishness, and skepticism.  Miracle on 49th Street is a heartwarming tale of friendship, trust, and realizing in order to reap big rewards, one must take huge risks.

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

13 Little Blue Envelopes is a fantastic book about first love, self discovery, courage, family bonds,  and forgiveness.  Ginny is a seventeen year old young woman who has just lost her Aunt Peg to a brain tumor.  One day after her death Ginny receives a mysterious envelope with a thousand dollars and a letter from her Aunt, telling her to go to NYC to their favorite restaurant to receive further instructions.  Soon Ginny is off on an adventure, not knowing what the next day will hold.  Each time she completes a task, no matter how strange, she can open the next envelope which will contain a letter from her Aunt with instructions on completing yet another unique task.  Ginny is faithful to her Aunt and ends up completing a quest of self discovery and personal growth.  

This novel would be a fantastic read for anyone who loves traveling, adventures, and unpredictable stories.  It is a great novel for those who are perhaps feeling a little bit stuck in a rut, and looking for a book about self discovery and personal growth.  One will find through this book, that you do not have to travel around the world to learn new things about yourself.  I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and found myself both laughing and crying along with the characters in the book.

Anya's Ghost

I recently read Anya's Ghost by Vera Brogol.  This graphic novel is about a young girl from Russia, trying to fit into American society at a private school.  She is first portrayed as a nasty girl who smokes, and is disrespectful to both her family and friends, but as the story continues the reader sees that Anya is a troubled girl who has poor self-esteem and is very lonely.  While taking a walk in the park, Anya falls into an abandoned well, and when she looks around a ghost appears! Anya just wants to escape the well and when she is soon rescued, she thinks she has left the well and its ghostly inhabitant behind.  The next day she finds out otherwise and as the story continues the readers finds that both Anya and her new ghost friend Emily Reilly are not who they first appear to be!

This is a graphic novel about growing up, being proud of who you are and where you come from, and being comfortable in your own skin.  It is also a thrilling story with twists and turns that will keep you turning the pages.  There is some strong language in this book, and I would recommend for more mature readers who can handle this.  Otherwise an enjoyable tale and a quick read.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent is a fantastic, action packed, and thought provoking novel written in the near future.  The inhabitants of the city once known as Chicago, have been split into factions.  Each faction cultivates a specific virtue in its members. Selflessness (Abnegation), Intelligence (Erudite), Bravery (Dauntless),  Love (Amenity), Truthfulness (Candor).  Each inhabitant takes a special test when they are 16 and are placed in a faction that best fits their personal attributes.  Then there are the odd balls, the ones that walk their own path,  and fit into many places, they are the Divergent.  It is dangerous to be a Divergent.  Tris, the main character, is divergent.

Divergent follows our main character through her chosen faction's, Dauntless, initiation training, through perils, heart ache, new friends, and new romance.  The novel builds to a cliff hanger of an ending, making you biting at the bit for the next book in the series, Insurgent! 

What I liked about this book is that it is great for all readers, it has action and suspense for the adventure lovers and it has romance for the whimsical, and for those that like thought provoking pieces of work, there is a whole lot of soul searching going on in this novel.  Divergent is sure to interest many readers of all ages. And for those Book to Movie lovers, the premier of Divergent the Movie is March 2014!!

Moon Over Manifest

This is a wonderful story told partly from the perspective of Abilene Tucker, a thirteen year old girl just arriving in Manifest, Kansas during the Great Depression.  This novel flashes between summer day adventures of Abilene Tucker and her two newly made friends Lettie and Ruthanne during 1936 and the lives of the Manifest townfolk in 1918.  The novel is told in a variety of formats, including first person narrative, news paper clippings, third person omnipresent storytelling, and letters written by one character to another.  Once the story picks up, it is full of mystery, suspense, humor, and drama.  This great work of historical fiction will keep students attention right through to the end of the book.  I chose to listen to this book as an audiobook, and really enjoyed the narrators voices that she gave each character, making it easy to follow and fun to listen to.  However if you are reading this novel the publisher has chosen to give each perspective a different font which makes the text easy to follow as well.  

Use in the classroom : This novel would fit in greatly with lessons on both the Great Depression and World War I.  Without knocking you over the head with facts this novel does a great job at "showing" the reader what it was like to live in both in the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression, in a small town in 1918, and in the trenches of World War I.

40 Book Challenge!!

Miss. Joy is taking the forty book challenge as well, stay tuned here for synopses of the books I read this year.  I am currently in the middle of Mood Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool.  So far so good!!