What I'm Reading
Before She Ignites by Jodi Meadows
It is no wonder that the main character, Mira, struggles with anxiety. Will she be able to overcome the barriers that anxiety sets for her? As she returns home from imprisonment she knows nothing was as it appeared to be. Her safety is jeopardized because she has discovered family secrets. A mathematical genius, will Mira’s anxiety become her salvation or is she doomed to fail?
How It Feels to Fly by Katheryn Holmes
How does it feel when your body betrays you or your brain betrays you or maybe it's a bit of both? My friend and I often say to each other: Wouldn't you like to get "inside" and "see out" to see and to feel what so-and-so is trying to verbalize, trying to act out. All of your life you train to become a dancer, a singer, a doctor and suddenly you can't control your path. Do you dig a deep hole and crawl inside? Do you yell and rage against the path life is taking you? Do you stiffen up and deal with it? What do you do? Once you have a broken wing, can you fly again? How should this story end?
It's Not Me, It's You by Stephanie Kate Strohm
Stephanie Kate Strohm's It's Not Me, It's You is a great introduction to subjective ideas for an oral history project. Surely Avery's project would not get her teacher's approval. How could it? The whole storyline is just too much to believe. Did Avery ever find time to finish homework. How could she? And, if Avery is too busy to know what her prom committee members are up to, how in the world will the prom happen? Everyone knows that the venue for the prom is still unannounced and it is the day before the event. Of course, none of this is Avery's fault.
Grenade by Alan Gratz
War is not made by children or is it? War is not made for children or is it? Now is the time all good men come to the aid of their country. When does one become a man? Set in Okinawa, near Japan, this historical novel of World War II tells the story of a boy on his own. He is bullied and surrenders to it at school. He is courageous and never knows it. Follow in the footsteps of one fifth grade class that becomes a dedicated military unit: dedicated to their country, their rulers, their families, but most of all dedicated to survival. You will not be disappointed with heroism, fear, failure, and persevance.
The Summer of Broken Things by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Set in Spain, two teens discover secrets their parents have kept from them. This is quite difficult not only because they barely know each other but the ethics of parenting and gestational birthing are at stake. At sixteen, teen lives seem to fall apart every day. You are expected to know who you are, what you plan to do the rest of your life, and accept a career someone else considers good for you. Ask me what happens to Kayla and Avery.