Creepy...in a good way

If you like stories that are kind of spooky, I definitely recommend The Old Willis Place by Mary Downing Hahn (an excellent writer of ghost stories). Diana and her brother Georgie live on their own in the woods near the empty, creepy Willis mansion. They can't leave the grounds, and they aren't allowed to be seen by anyone because of..."the rules." Caretakers for the house have come and gone over the years, but now somebody new is there - a man and his daughter Lissa, who's about Diana's age. Diana decides to break "the rules" and become friends with Lissa, but this decision becomes dangerous when Lissa tempts Diana into the mansion and accidentally releases the nasty ghost of the woman who used to live there. And what IS it about Diana and her brother? How do they live on their own? Why aren't they ever hungry? This creepy story moves at a good pace, has characters you really care for, and finishes with a great ending. What more could you want?

Could he be the youngest to climb Mt. Everest?

Here's another one that's hard to put down - Peak by Roland Smith. Peak Marcello is 14 and loves to climb, but when he gets caught scaling a skyscraper, he's really in trouble. The judge is more than happy when Josh, Peak's estranged dad and a famous mountain climber himself, offers to take Peak back to Asia with him. Soon Peak learns that Josh's intentions weren't very father-like: his expedition company is hurting financially, but if Josh can put Peak on the top of Mt. Everest - he'd be the youngest climber ever - Josh's company could make a ton of money. Peak's not thrilled about being used that way, but for a once-in-a-lifetime chance like Mt. Everest, he goes along with the idea. The realities of the mountain and base camp, the life of the Sherpas who help, the harshness of the weather, and the dangers that are truly life-threatening make this a fantastic, page-turning survival story. Will Peak make it to the top?

Four people's lives flow together

The beginning of Greetings from Nowhere by Barbara O'Connor was sort of sad, so it was hard for me to keep reading, but I'm glad I did. Elderly Aggie Duncan can't keep her tiny, run-down Sleepy Time Motel going, so she regretfully decides to put it up for sale. Within a few days, the motel has some guests: Willow (whose mom deserted her) and her dad, who wants to buy the motel; Loretta and her parents, who are trying to learn more about Loretta's birth mother; and Kirby and his mother, who are on their way to the latest reform school for Kirby when their car breaks down. As we get to know the characters, they slowly develop friendships and help each other out in ways big and small. By the end of the book, the four stories come together in a very satisfactory way - everything isn't 100% great, but that's real life and that's okay.

My first Cirque du Freak!

Once again, I was wrong - and that's okay! I honestly didn't think I'd like Birth of a Killer by Darren Shan, but it moved quickly and definitely kept my attention. This is the first book of a trilogy written as a prequel to the Cirque du Freak series, and it tells the story of how Larten Crepsley became a vampire. Sounding like something out of a Dickens novel, Larten had a pretty rotten childhood, complete with working in a nasty factory under a brutal boss. After Larten is on the run (I won't tell you why), he's hiding in a cemetery crypt when he meets Seba, a 500-year-old vampire who asks Larten to be his assistant. The story covers several years, during which Larten meets up with the bizarre Cirque du Freak and eventually becomes "blooded" as a vampire. Is it better to read the prequel and then the regular series, or the other way around? My middle school readers would have the best answer to that....

Couldn't be more different

I loved the varied voices in Faith, Hope, and Ivy June by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Ivy June and Catherine are seventh graders from different schools, and they're getting ready to participate in an exchange program in which they'll take turns living with the other girl's family and attending the other school. What makes this interesting is that Ivy June's family is poor; they live in the mountains, and their rundown house doesn't even have indoor plumbing or telephone service. Catherine, on the other hand, lives an upper-middle-class life in Lexington and attends a private school. Each girl has ideas and prejudices about the other's life, but as they spend time together, they discover the good and bad of both worlds. Chapters alternate between three points of view: the narrator and journal entries by Ivy June and Catherine. As they each face a family crisis toward the end of the book, you'll appreciate the girls' authentic words and feelings as their growing friendship helps them pull through.

Starting over in America

At the end of the story, you'll understand the multiple meanings of the title, Ashes of Roses by Mary Jane Auch. Rose Nolan and her family are emigrating from Ireland to the U.S. in 1911 with the hopes of starting a new life. However, at Ellis Island her baby brother is diagnosed with an eye infection; most of her family returns to Ireland, while Rose and younger sister stay in New York. Rose eventually rents a room from a elderly Jewish man and his daughter, who helps Rose get a job at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Rose starts to make friends and enjoy her job, despite the less-than-ideal working conditions, but soon she and the other workers are fighting for their lives in the infamous fire at the factory, one of the worst industrial accidents in U.S. history. I liked the author's ability to convey the Irish-ness of Rose and her sister; a great book for fans of historical fiction.

Dystopian thriller for fans of The Hunger Games

I bet you'll think of The Hunger Games if you read Divergent by Veronica Roth. In a future Chicago (check out the skyline on the cover), everyone is divided into five factions: Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite, each of which values a certain character trait. On your 16th birthday you undergo an aptitude test, and then you're given the choice of switching from your birth faction to another one. And that's what Beatrice (Tris) does - she leaves the safe but boring selflessness of her Abnegation family for the wild, fearless Dauntless. A big part of the book is about her initiation and the intense physical and mental tests and simulations she and the other initiates have to go through - not all of them will make it. And in a sub-plot that's minor up until the end, Tris learns that the Erudite are planning a war to take over the Abnegation faction, and they have a plan to get the Dauntless to do their dirty work. Be warned that the violence is more graphic than The Hunger Games, but the tone of the book and sense of fast-paced survival is quite similar.