Will she find her voice?

I always like books written by Pam Munoz Ryan, and Becoming Naomi Leon was no exception.  Naomi and her brother Owen are being raised in the Avocado Acres Trailer Rancho by Gram, their loving guardian since their mother abandoned them years ago.  It's a happy life until their mom (now going by the new name of Skyla) unexpectedly shows up with her nasty boyfriend Clive; they're planning on taking Naomi (but not Owen) with them to Las Vegas to be a babysitter for Clive' daughter.  Skyla's obviously got a lot of problems, but she may legally be allowed to take Naomi.  Gram takes the kids - and the trailer - down to Mexico in search of the children's father, hoping he can help.  Naomi's feelings and effort to speak up for herself, her Mexican heritage that she learns more about, and the love and strength of those who truly care are richly and warmly described.  Will Naomi finally make her voice heard when she's in front of the judge?

What does "family" mean?

Many of the older girls in the middle school have read Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen, so I decided to check it out. Ruby is 17, and after her alcoholic mother deserts her, she's sent to live with her sister Cora, whom she hasn't seen in ten years. Ruby's life was poor and rough, and she has a hard time getting used to the nice home and fancy school that she's moving to. She's also been so self-reliant for so long that she's determined not to have to depend on anyone. The characters in the story are great: Nate, the way cute neighbor boy with dark secrets of his own; Jamie, Cora's likable husband and founder of a popular social networking site (think Facebook); Harriet, the hyper owner of a jewelry store at the mall who hires Ruby to help out. The author's books tend to be formulaic, but sometimes that's alright. If you like to read about a strong girl making her way through a tough situation - and it's okay for a little romance to be thrown in - you should check this one out, too.

Very interesting premise behind Kick by Walter Dean Myers and Ross Workman. Myers is a well-known YA author; Workman is one of his teen-aged fans. They took turns writing the chapters - Workman writes as 13-year-old Kevin, who gets in trouble when he's caught driving (and wrecking) a car with his friend Christy as a passenger. Myers writes as Sergeant Brown, a police officer who can tell there's more to Kevin and Christy's story than he's hearing. There's a sub-plot about Kevin's soccer team heading into a championship; the action of the games is an interesting counterpoint to the rest of the story. Although the revelation of Christy's problem is somewhat anti-climactic, the developing relationship between Kevin and the Sergeant is great. A terrific collaboration!

Quite the rebel

After I read a summary of Scarlett by Cathy Cassidy, I thought, "This is a Caudill nominee?"  But now I see why.  At the ripe old age of 12, Scarlett is already trouble.  With her parents divorced, she's living in London with her mom and has just gotten kicked out of school...again.  Her mom can no longer handle Scarlett's rebelliousness and sends her to Ireland to live with father and his new wife and step-daughter.  Scarlett is full of anger at the family that seems so loving, the teeny-tiny school she's sent to, and the lack of attention from her mom.  But after she meets Kian, a mysterious boy with a horse named Midnight, she starts to soften and accept the love her step-family is offering.  Although Scarlett's character sometimes seemed older than the age of 12, I enjoyed watching that character develop, and the descriptions of both Kian and the Irish countryside added a lyrical touch of magic.

No lie...this was mesmerizing

I absolutely couldn't put down this his sophisticated story, best for readers in 8th grade and up. What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell takes place at the end of World War II. Fifteen-year-old Evie, her stepdad Joe, and her movie-star-beautiful mother Beverly go to Palm Beach, Florida, supposedly on a vacation. It's the off-season - an unusual time to visit. While there, Evie meets charming and handsome Peter, an army buddy of Joe's, and falls in love with him. But all is not as it seems, and (spoiler alert!) after Joe, Beverly, and Peter go on a boating trip, Peter ends up dead, while Joe and Beverly become murder suspects. Blundell's writing was incredibly evocative of the post-war 1940s, from the slang and clothing to racism and the relations between different socioeconomic groups. Winner of the 2008 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.