A Newbery treasure

Quite deserving of the Newbery Award it won, Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis is a wonderful blend of humor, tenderness, and historical fiction. The story is set in 1936 in Flint, Michigan. Bud is a 10-year-old running away from the orphanage and the latest (horrible) foster home. He doesn't know anything about his father, but he has a clue: a flyer, left by his mother, of Herman E. Calloway and his band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!! Convinced that Calloway is his father, Bud sets out to find him, taking his beat-up suitcase of treasured belongings and keeping in mind Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself. I loved the description of the Great Depression, Bud's perception of life (he remembers Momma reading Twenty Thousand Leaks Under the Sea), and the way the band members embrace Bud's entrance into their lives. This would be a great book for sharing as a read-aloud.

Found a great one!

The action, adventure, and time travel in Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix had me hooked from the start! A plane mysteriously appears at an airport, and the only passengers are thirty-six babies...not an adult - even a pilot - in sight. Thirteen years later, two 13-year-old friends, Jonah and Chip start receiving threatening messages like, "Beware! They're coming back to get you." Jonah thinks it has something to do with the fact that he's adopted, and soon Chip learns that he's adopted as well. The boys learn that the FBI was involved with their adoptions, and together with Jonah's sister, Katherine, the three find out about lists of "Survivors" and "Witnesses," see two people appear or disappear, and end up in a time travel trap in a cliffhanger ending. This fast-paced and thought-provoking book is the first in the Missing series; Sent is on the shelves, and Sabotaged will be published in August 2010.

Can you keep a secret?

Well, this really isn't a secret - this book was a blast! A wacky combination of humor, mystery, and adventure, The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch reminded me of the Lemony Snicket books I used to read with my kids. Cass and her friend Max-Ernst discover two things left behind by a supposedly dead magician: a notebook (with missing pages, of course) and the "Symphony of Smells," a box containing vials of different scents. Soon they discover that the creepy Dr. L. and his equally creepy partner Ms. Mauvais want the notebook, too, because they think it contains the secret to...what? Immortality? And what does synesthesia - a confusion of the senses - have to do with it all? If you like action, riddles, and The Series of Unfortunate Events, put THIS book on your reading list.

History and mystery...

I liked this book for so many reasons that I'm not sure where to start! The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler takes place in 18th-century Japan. Seikei is a tea merchant's son, but he dreams of becoming a samurai. When a priceless ruby is stolen, Seikei is the only person to have seen the thief, and the famous samurai magistrate Judge Ooka asks for Seikei's help in solving the mystery. The description of the Japanese culture of the times is outstanding; the contrast between Judge Ooka's slow, methodical approach to the crime and Seikei's urge to just nab the criminal (you'll have a good idea who it is) was fun to follow; and the ending was both exciting and unexpected. Fans of both adventure and mystery will enjoy the action in this story of a boy who shows the courage and honor of a samurai.

Calling all horse lovers

If you like horses, this is the book for you! There seem to be two parallel stories going on in The Georges and the Jewels by Jane Smiley. Abby is a 7th grader growing up on a California horse ranch in the 1960s. Her father calls all of their male horses "George" and all the females "Jewel," so Abby won't get too attached to any of them before they're sold. Abby does tons of work with the horses, from feeding and grooming to riding and training. The author alternates between this theme and life at school, which features plenty of stress from the Big Four - Linda, Mary A., Mary N., and Joan - and changing friendships with Gloria and Stella. I kept thinking there was going to be a significant link between these two stories, but that never seemed to be developed. Another part of the book, when Abby was asked to help train a horse for Melinda, a shy and very wealthy young girl, had a lot of potential, but it also fell flat. If you like lots of detail about horse raising (each chapter starts with a few beautiful pen and ink drawings of horse equipment), give this book a shot. Otherwise, you may want to take a pass.