Torn between two cultures

I could hardly put down The Queen of Water by Laura Resau and Maria Virginia Farinango, a novel based on the true story of the latter.  Virginia was born into the poor indigenas class of Ecuador.  When she is seven years old, she's sent to be the maid for a couple from the mestizos, or ruling class.  Even though she's promised pay, visits home, and an education, she receives none of this.  Fortunately, she's vivisima - very clever - and teaches herself to read and take advantage of the couple's prosperity.  But through the years, even though the wife beats her and the husband starts to behave inappropriately towards her, she's enjoying relative luxury.  What will she do when presented an opportunity to go home?  The ever-changing conflicts Virginia feels, trying to figure out who she is and where she fits in, are achingly described.  Older middle school students, especially those who might be parts of more than one culture, will easily be drawn into this incredible story.    

"Telling the truth don't come easy to me"

I finally decided that The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick was a good book, even though it wasn't what I expected.  Homer and his brother Harold are orphans being raised by their nasty uncle, Squinton Leach.  After Squinton illegally sells Harold to the Union Army, Homer runs away from home to save Harold from having to fight in the Civil War.  He encounters slave hunters, the Underground Railroad, scoundrels, a traveling medicine show, and more as his adventures take him closer and closer to his brother and the enemy lines. Homer's outrageous lies often add a touch of humor to the story, but his bravery, cleverness, and determination are impressive, too.  The author provides an authentic sense of the times, including the unfairness of slavery and the realities of war.  An excellent read for fans of historical fiction.

What does it mean to be human?

If you're a sci fi fan, check out the award-winning The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer.  Matt Alacran is a clone of El Patron, the ruler of Opium, a country between the United States and Aztlan (formerly Mexico), where workers called "eejits" - humans whose brains have been clamped - work endlessly in the poppy fields.  After being raised by the mother-like Celia in relative poverty, Matt ends on up El Patron's luxurious estate. Even thought El Patron lavishes all sorts of attention on Matt, he's despised by almost everyone else because he's a clone and not even considered to be human.  Usually clones' brains are more or less destroyed at birth, and eventually Matt learns why he's been allowed to grow and flourish - he's going to be harvested for body parts to keep El Patron (already over 140 years old) alive.  How can he escape?  Although the ending is a bit rushed, the rest of the book is a thought-provoking idea of the future.

A place between life and death

As I was grabbing audiobooks for my recent road trip, I didn't realize that Everwild, written by Neal Shusterman and narrated by Nick Podehl, was a the second book of a trilogy, and it took me a while to figure out what was going on.  Everlost is a land between life and death, a place for Afterlights, children who have died but aren't quite ready to finish the journey.  There's a complex cast in Everlost: Mary Hightower (the Sky Witch), who has creepy plans to keep the children there forever, and those who oppose her - her brother (and former monster) Mikey McGill, Nick the Chocolate Ogre (what?), and Allie the Outcast, who's a skinjacker - an Afterlight who can enter the body of a living person.  If you can go with the flow of the story and enjoy it, you'll read (or hear) adventure, humor, and a touch of romance, but it would be better to read Everlost first.  The third book of the trilogy, Everfound, is scheduled to be released in May 2011.

A long one, but definitely worth it

I was on a long road trip recently, and I'm really glad I took along the audiobook Incarceron, written by Catherine Fisher and narrated by Kim Mai Guest.  Two parallel stories take place in very different worlds: Finn can't remember how he became trapped in Incarceron, an unimaginably immense, technologically advanced, "living" prison.  Claudia is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, and although she lives a life of luxury, she's trapped in a different way - living in a carefully crafted seventeenth-century Era and preparing for an arranged marriage with the nasty Prince of the Realm.  The stories slowly come together when Finn and Claudia find identical crystal keys and learn how to use them to communicate; Finn is desperate to escape to the Outside, and Claudia, convinced he's the true Prince but troubled by her father's secrets, wants to help.  The description of the physical settings and character development are phenomenal, the pace is excellent, and when you find out where Incarceron really is, you'll be blown away!  Now I need to go get the sequel, Sapphique.

"I am poetry, surrounding the dreamer"

If you like to dream and wonder and ponder, I imagine you would enjoy The Dreamer by Pam Muñoz Ryan.  This is a fictionalized account of the childhood of Neftali, the boy who became Pablo Neruda, a popular poet who lived in Chile.  As a child, Neftali loves words and books,  and he treasures his collections of objects from nature, such as twigs and shells. Unfortunately, his domineering father makes his life miserable, but Uncle Orlando, a newspaper writer who recognizes the boy's sensitivity and writing talents, sympathizes and takes Neftali under his wing.  The lyrical expression of Neftali's emotions - the utter joy at finding the perfect place to read, the haunting sadness of his father's disrespect - are accompanied by the beautiful illustrations of Peter Sís.  A book to read slowly and savor.

Take the plunge

I kept thinking of the word "enchanting" while I devoured The Mermaid's Mirror by L. K. Madigan.  Lena is fifteen and lives on the California coast.  Even though she's a great swimmer, her father won't let her take surfing lessons because of an accident he had years ago.  However, after she thinks she sees a mermaid, she takes lessons on the sly and eventually learns an incredible secret about her past.  The author does such a great job with realistic thoughts, actions, and dialogue, that it's easy for the reader to go along with the idea that Lena learns she's half-mermaid and gets to take an amazing journey to their undersea world.  Will she stay, or will she return to her family and friends on land?  A wonderfully believable and mesmerizing story.

Telling the truth or stretching it?

Reviews of Zora and Me by Victoria Bond and T. R. Simon use words like "gentle," "brilliance," and "intriguing."  I have to agree.  This is a fictionalized account of one autumn in the childhood of author Zora Neale Hurston, and it's told in the first person by her best friend, Carrie.  Set in Eatonville, Florida, at the turn of the century, Zora is known for her fantastic storytelling talents.  When a murder occurs, she's convinced the suspect is Mr. Pendir, a reclusive neighbor who shape-shifted into a "gator man."  As Zora and Carrie slowly discover they truth, they also learn about secrets, family, and racial relations.  A terrific book for discussion, it's the only project endorsed by the Zora Neale Hurston Trust that wasn't written by Hurston herself.  

Brain cramp

Okay, I kept thinking, "Um....what?" as I read Brain Camp, a graphic novel by Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan.  Definitely different.  Underachievers Lucas and Jenna are sent to Camp Fielding, which claims to "prepare any child for the SATs and beyond."  It doesn't take long for them to discover a lot of weird stuff is going on, such as campers disappearing, counselors coming into the cabins at night with hypodermic needles, and kids acting like zombies.  Lucas and Jenna, besides starting to fall for each other, find out the truth (it involves a giant alien bird!), but can they get help before they get transformed themselves?  While the illustrations are appropriate for older middle schoolers, some are not for the squeamish. The pace of the story felt jumpy and rushed to me, but I know an eighth-grader who read this and really liked it.  If you're into graphic novels, check it out.

2011 Newbery winner

And the winner is...Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool. It's 1936, and Abilene is twelve years old.  For reasons she doesn't understand, her father has sent her to Manifest, Kansas, to live with his friend Shady - once a bootlegger and now a pastor. Through stories told by Miss Sadie (a diviner) and old newspaper clippings, Abilene starts to put together the pieces of Manifest's past, but she can't figure out why it's so hard to learn about her father's life there.  The imagery, characters, and dialogue seem very authentic for the time period, and they pull the reader along while Abilene uncovers many of the community's secrets.  I was a bit disappointed, though. I figured a Newbery winner would really impress me, and I was just left with an "okay" impression.  But if you like historical fiction and/or strong female characters, give the book a try!