Sam can’t remember life before his Grandpa Mack, but sometimes his memory brings up snatches of a cold and angry place. Although he is happy and safe with his grandpa, when Sam finds a newspaper clipping in the attic, he begins to question if he is where he belongs. The article talks about a missing boy and the picture looks like a three-year-old version of Sam. The problem is Sam can’t read the article. Dyslexia causes words to jump on the page and Sam can only figure out a few, key points.
In an attempt to puzzle out the article and learn about his past, Sam befriends Caroline, a new girl at his school. The two fifth graders build a strong friendship as they try to rebuild Sam’s past. Their experience teaches lessons about love, loyalty, and learning to belong even when life is hard. The author creates a compelling mystery and two great characters finding their place in the world. Her approach to the struggle of dyslexia is also compassionate and realistic, a good way for readers to understand that very real learning trial.
Recommended for ages 10-12.
Abby doesn’t fit in with the girls at her school in spite of her parents’ pressure to lose weight and get along. After months of enduring the harsh company of ‘the medium girls,’ Abby finally stands up for herself and goes off on her own. This brings harsh consequences from the girls, but Abby makes new and better friends.
Jake and Lily Wambold are twins so inseparable that they can read each other’s thoughts. They can’t play hide and seek, because they always know where to find each other. But the summer they turn twelve, things begin to change. Jake makes some new friends and Lily feels abandoned and lost without her brother. At first she reacts in anger, but then her Poppy inspires her to find her ‘just Lily’ life. As Lily finds her own life, she learns more about herself and others. Jake, through his experiences on his own, learns about himself as well.
Once again, Sharon Creech uses poetic writing and endearing characters to create a heartwarming story. Naomi Deane and Lizzie Scatterding are two orphan girls living in the town of Blackbird Tree. One summer day, a mysterious boy falls from a tree and into their lives. With the appearance of the ‘Finn boy,’ unexpected happenings and curious surprises begin to occur. Through these events and a wide variety of characters, Creech shares a tale that illustrates how ‘a delicate cobweb link[s] us all.’
When thirteen-year-old Mary Lou Finney is given the assignment to keep a summer journal, she has no idea her summer will be so eventful. First, her cousin Carl Ray comes to live with her family bringing all kinds of mystery with his silent and sad ways. Soon after, their neighbor has an unexpected heart attack. In the middle of that excitement, Mary Lou deals with her best friend having her first romance and Mary Lou encounters some unexpected romance of her own.
Izzy Roybal is used to her life of constantly moving from place to place with just her mother. She wonders about her father who died before she was born, but knows her mother refuses to discuss the topic. However, Izzy’s life begins to change when she spends the summer with her Nanna in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In the town where her mother was born and her father and mother met, Izzy catches glimpses of their past and the mystery surrounding her father’s death. Talking to long time residents of the magical town, Izzy learns more about her father with his special talent for baseball and love for his soon-to-be-born daughter.
Ever since her mother died, Lucky has been searching for her Higher Power. She listens in on all the anonymous meetings in Hard Pan, California, analyzing the stories of how people hit ‘rock bottom’ before they found their own Higher Power. With a best friend obsessed with knot tying, a five-year-old neighbor demanding cookies, and a guardian who wants to return home to France, Lucky is sure she needs extra help.
E.D. Applewhite is the only non-artist in a family and extended family of extreme artists. Together they live in a country inn turned artist compound and ‘creative academy.’ When Jake Semple, juvenile delinquent and school burner, is invited to join the creative academy, E.D. is sure she wants out of her family. However, soon her father’s local production of The Sound of Music is threatened and all the skills of the Applewhite Creative Academy are required to save the day.
Millicent Min’s summer is off to a rough start. As the only eleven-year-old finishing her Junior year of high school, Millicent doesn’t have much of a social life. She plans to spend her time taking her first college class, hanging out with her progressive grandma Maddie, and reading everything she can find. However, her parents have other plans. Her mom is forcing her to take a volleyball class and tutor middle school basketball star, Stanford Wong. Also, Maddie announces she is moving to England.
Zilpha Keatley Snyder writes great stories for readers between 8 and tween. Her stories feature strong, child heroes having fast-paced and intriguing adventures. However, she keeps the stories appropriate for young audiences in subject and content. Another great thing about Snyder is the number of books she has written. If you enjoy one, there are many more to choose.
