OTHER WORDS FOR HOME by Jasmine Warga

 

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

Realistic Fiction, Novels in Verse, Syrian Immigration, Multicultural, Family

342 pages

Description

Publishers Weekly (February 25, 2019)

Written in first-person free verse, this timely book traces the internal journey of a young Syrian refugee adjusting to a new home and culture in the U.S. When violence erupts near their seaside city, Jude and her pregnant mother flee to Cincinnati to stay with Jude's uncle and his family while her shopkeeper father and activist brother ("He is always talking about change") stay behind. In the U.S., Jude is warmly welcomed by her aunt and uncle but treated with cool indifference by her cousin, who abandons her at school, leaving Jude to navigate seventh grade in a new environment on her own. Jude struggles to fit in among students who "don't look like me," but she remembers her brother's parting words-"Be brave"-and finds comfort with her new friend Layla, whose parents are from Lebanon. Rhythmic lines distill Jude's deepest emotions-homesickness, fear when her brother enters a war zone, shock over prejudice in the U.S., and a sense of victory when she receives a speaking role in the school play. Warga (My Heart and Other Black Holes) effectively shows, as she writes in an author's note, that "children who are fleeing from a war zone... want the same things all of us do-love, understanding, safety, a chance at happiness." Ages 8-12. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

My Comments

A book that will help people of all ages to understand how it feels to be new in a country, to be lonely, homesick and the target of prejudice. It is a book that inspires bravery and kindness.

An accessible read for middle school. Excellent! Highly recommended.

THE EPIC FAIL OF ARTURO ZAMORA by Pablo Cartaya

 

The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora

Realistic Fiction, Hispanic Latino, Adventure, Family, Community, Humor, Friendship, Romance

236 pages

Description
Booklist starred (April 1, 2017 (Vol. 113, No. 15))

Grades 4-7. Arturo is looking forward to a Miami summer filled with friends, ice cream, and working at his family’s popular restaurant, La Cocina de la Isla, but his plans get derailed from the start. Carmen, his mother’s goddaughter, comes to visit, and Arturo doesn’t understand why his stomach can’t settle down around her. His job at the restaurant is harder than he thought, and worst of all, his family’s plan to expand into an adjacent empty lot seems hopeless when flashy real-estate developer Wilfrido Pipo comes to town with plans of his own. Arturo hopes the community his abuela and abuelo loved for so long will support them, and with the help of his family, friends, and the work of Cuban poet and revolutionary hero José Martí, Arturo finds the strength to fight for what he believes in. Cartaya’s lively debut, filled with kind, dynamic characters and interspersed with letters, poems, and Twitter messages, offers a timely tale of a community steeped in tradition and multiculturalism, working together against encroaching gentrification, and Arturo’s inviting first-person narrative is the perfect entry point for middle-grade readers. Unitalicized Spanish phrases appear throughout, always with enough context clues that non-Spanish speakers will have no trouble following along. At turns funny, beautiful, and heartbreaking, this engrossing story will get kids cheering.

My Comments
A good choice for all middle school students. Family chaos with love, community values, and love. Funny and tender. A lovely read.

LET THE SKY FALL by Shannon Messenger

Let the Sky Fall (Skyfall Trilogy, Book 1) by Shannon Messenger

Fiction, Supernatural, Romance

404 pages

Description
Booklist (April 15, 2013 (Online))

Grades 7-12. When Vane Weston was seven years old, a category-five tornado killed his parents but inexplicably spared his life. Ten years later, he lives in California’s blistering hot Coachella Valley with his foster parents, normal teen angst, and childhood memories of a dark-haired girl. In Messenger’s refreshingly clean paranormal debut, the alternating voices of Vane and Audra, the dark-haired girl, narrate the rising action. Audra is a sylph, an air elemental, and she finally reappears in Vane’s life with astounding news: the world is in danger, Vane is the only one who can save it, and he is not human at all—he is also a sylph. With barely a week to master skills most sylphs need a lifetime to grasp (if he is to successfully fight off his unknown enemies), Vane responds to Audra’s hardened guardian ways with a mixture of rebellion against and attraction to the girl who secretly has been watching over him since the tornado. While the romance may be predictable, unusual paranormal entities and strong writing should interest genre readers in search of a fresh new series.

My Comments
I love this book! Not sure why the reviews say that it's slow. I totally disagree. This is a great choice for middle schoolers who are looking for more of a high school read that's also appropriate for middle school.

A FORGERY OF ROSES by Jessica S. Olson

 

A Forgery of Roses by Jessica S. Olson

Murder Mystery, Fantasy, Painting

377 pages

Description

School Library Journal starred (February 1, 2022)

Gr 7 Up-Olson's newest offering is a satisfying dark fantasy of art, science, romance, and murder. Myra Whitlock is an art Prodigy like her mysteriously disappeared mother. In her world, Prodigies are an aberration to the Higher Power (called Artist), because of their ability to heal physical injury through the act of painting. Myra has been secretly called to bring the Governor's heir back to life by painting his portrait. She accepts the assignment for the money it will bring, which will pay for a doctor to diagnose her dying sister. Myra's inability to heal her sister reveals the intricacies of Prodigy magic: one can only fully heal another when the cause of the injury or illness is known. What follows is Myra's journey to find a murderer and a motive in the Governor's manor, and to fulfill her destiny. Olson weaves intense action and tender emotion in her multifaceted work. Descriptions of what a Prodigy feels when the magic overtakes them-experiencing everything the subject felt in injury/death-pierce with anatomical precision. Secondary characters such as pale red-haired August (the Governor's other son), the charismatic Forger, and Myra's spirited sister are as vibrant as the protagonist herself, allowing readers to hope for different outcomes throughout. The time period is perplexing, as there are carriages and corsets but also telephones and a hospital ICU, but it doesn't detract from the seamless storytelling and unexpected climax. Characters' race and ethnicity are not specified. VERDICT A triumphant second novel, Olson's not-to-be-missed tale of intrigue has something for everyone.-Jane Miller © Copyright 2022. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

My Comments

Loved, loved, loved! Give this to avid readers! The description of painting, the type of paint, the layering and a myriad of other details make this book truly special. Highly recommended

THE SCREAMING STAIRCASE (LOCKWOOD & CO. BK #1) by Jonathan Stroud

 

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Lockwood

Horror, Ghosts, Supernatural

390 pages

Description

School Library Journal (September 1, 2013)

Gr 6-9-Lucy Carlyle relates the exploits of the teenage ghost-hunting agency, Lockwood & Co. The world is still reeling from an infestation of malevolent, deadly ghosts that can only be detected by Talented youngsters with rare psychic sensitivities. Anthony Lockwood heads his three-person team, including Lucy and George Cubbins, in their efforts to defeat the evil spirits-and remain solvent. A minor haunting that turns into a major problem leads Lockwood & Co. to a brooding mansion that has already claimed the lives of more experienced ghost hunters. Combe Carey Hall is "the most haunted private house in England. an ugly oppressive mongrel of a building," and the trio quickly realizes that the dangers they face have human as well as supernatural sources. Authentically spooky events occur in an engagingly crafted, believable world, populated by distinct, colorful personalities. The genuinely likable members of Lockwood & Co. persevere through the evil machinations of the living and the dead and manage to come out with their skins, and their senses of humor, intact. This smart, fast-paced ghostly adventure promises future chills.-Janice M. Del Negro, GSLIS Dominican University, River Forest, IL (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

My Comments

Fast paced, witty, scary (but just enough)!

A RIP THROUGH TIME by Kelley Armstrong

A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong

 Time Travel, Mystery and Detective Story, High School

Description

Booklist (March 1, 2022 (Vol. 118, No. 13))

Popular fantasy novelist Armstrong (the Darkest Powers series; the Rockton novels; Tales of the Otherworld) launches a new series with this time-travel mystery. Mallory, an American homicide cop, is in Scotland, visiting her grandmother. After she’s viciously assaulted, she awakens feeling . . . different. Turns out she’s now 150 years in the past, in another woman’s body. The woman whose body she now inhabits works as an assistant to an undertaker who doubles as a medical examiner, and soon Mallory finds herself on the trail of a murderer. But how to solve the bigger mystery and find the time-traveler’s way back home? Readers who enjoy a good time-travel mystery might notice similarities to Julie McElwain’s A Murder in Time (2016) and its sequels (in which a modern-day FBI agent finds herself catapulted back to the mid-1800s), but Armstrong’s fans can be assured that this is no imitation: Armstrong has her own voice, and this is a promising start to a new series.

My Comments
Great page turner for grades 8 and up.